Dead reader by my own hand - oh noes!

LaughingVulcan · 07-29-2007, 12:25 PM

Hello all! I had forgotten my password, only to find when coming back that apparently my browser remembered.

So last night I'm doing the usual, trying to pick up the cat and bring him upstairs for bed. Cat is being cooperative for once. I pick up the reader one-handed... and it drops. OK, I've dropped it before.

I pick up the unit and we go upstairs.

I set the cat down (yep, same cat as in the "reader bedstand" thread.) He decides to be finicky and jump off the bed. My wife and I like having said cat in bed. So I pick up cat again and place on bed. Cat jumps down.

"Fine," I think frustratedly. I'll just read for a few minutes instead of playing with cat on bed. I set Reader up in improved bedstand (more about that in another thread.) I switch light on, switch reader on, and find that the screen must have impacted with the corner of the cat tower.

The funny part is, about a quarter of the screen is still perfectly readable. The impact took out all but the left lower quarter, and there are vertical lines all over the other 3/4 of the screen. But it's not like an LCD where breaking the contrast medium buggers the whole screen.

The only thing I can say is that I'm glad I purchased the 2 year with ADH warranty. I called Sony a few minutes ago and got a return confirmation number and they'll be calling about Tuesday to coordinate shipping a return box. If the rest of Sony warranty service is as good as the first call I'll be very impressed indeed.

Now I'll have to go and get out some of those old things with fixed fonts and single view screens that have to be rotated manually and laterally to change the text view. Oh, the humanity!

At least it gives me time to browse the forum again.

HarryT · 07-29-2007, 12:51 PM

Oh no! Thank goodness for the warrenty. Hope you get it back all new and shiny soon.

JSWolf · 07-29-2007, 04:07 PM

What would be a good idea for Sony is to keep some referbed units handy. You send yours in, they look at it, confirm it's broke, send you a refurbed unit, fix yours, and put it in the refurbed pile.

And don't forget to remove any books you have on it that you don't want Sony knowing you have on the unit.

RWood · 07-29-2007, 04:26 PM

Fill the unit with MobileRead downloaded ebooks. Give the techs a thrill.

mogui · 07-29-2007, 10:51 PM

Interesting style! Did you say that was the Hindenberg Reader?

slayda · 07-30-2007, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mogui

Interesting style! Did you say that was the Hindenberg Reader?

Or maybe a Schrödinger's Reader.

LaughingVulcan · 07-30-2007, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Oh no! Thank goodness for the warrenty. Hope you get it back all new and shiny soon.

So do I. I'm actually in Reader withdrawal. But they called my wife today, so I'm expecting a return box tomorrow or Wednesday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What would be a good idea for Sony is to keep some referbed units handy. You send yours in, they look at it, confirm it's broke, send you a refurbed unit, fix yours, and put it in the refurbed pile.

And don't forget to remove any books you have on it that you don't want Sony knowing you have on the unit.

Actually, I think that's what they're going to do. When they spoke with my wife today, the person pointed out that a screen replace would cost more than purchasing a new unit. Then my wife pointed out that we bought the accidental damage extended warranty. So I'm assuming that I'll get a new unit.

Tip, though: They told me that the 2 year ADH warranty would be fulfilled on this repair, and that I'd have to purchase a new one for the new unity if/when it arrives.

And I never store anything embarrassing on my unit's memory. That's what SD cards are for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

Fill the unit with MobileRead downloaded ebooks. Give the techs a thrill.

There's an idea. I wonder if the person who gets my old unit as a refurb will find them all there waiting...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mogui

Interesting style! Did you say that was the Hindenberg Reader?

More like a Poseidon Adventure Reader, especially the scene in the original when the guy goes through the glass light panel... I still need to take a pic to post it.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by slayda

Or maybe a Schrödinger's Reader.

I suppose whether I'll get my unit or a replacement back could be considered a probability wave right now. And the cat was involved....

dhbailey · 07-31-2007, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaughingVulcan

[snip]
Tip, though: They told me that the 2 year ADH warranty would be fulfilled on this repair, and that I'd have to purchase a new one for the new unity if/when it arrives.[snip]

So they're figuring that 2-years is up the moment your reader is damaged and they actually have to make good on the extended warranty? What kind of legalese b.s. is that?

Is there any fine print you can see in the paperwork which says "this warranty is good for two years or until you actually use it, whichever comes first, at which point the remainder of the two years of this contract is null and void. Any actual usage of this warranty will be considered an affront to our integrity and after we fulfill our duty to repair or replace your product, you can take what's left of this contract and shove it where the sun don't shine. Should you be silly enough to actually want further coverage under this contract, you're just s$#t out of luck and will have to give us more money for a new contract. And remember if you use that new contract, we'll screw you out of the full term that you've paid for again."

I knew there was a reason I never bought those warranties!

HarryT · 08-01-2007, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhbailey

So they're figuring that 2-years is up the moment your reader is damaged and they actually have to make good on the extended warranty? What kind of legalese b.s. is that?

That's the way that HP's extended warranty for the iPaq works, too. If you buy, say, a 3 year warranty, it's not a warranty for an unlimited number of repairs within 3 years, but a warranty for one "machine replacement" which is valid for 3 years.

mogui · 08-01-2007, 10:25 AM

How much do the warranties cost relative to the cost of the device? Is it a reasonable deal to pay that amount for a one-time replacement?

RWood · 08-01-2007, 10:59 AM

Around $65 as I remember. A good deal if you paid $350. Not a good deal if you paid $99.

JSWolf · 08-01-2007, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

Around $65 as I remember. A good deal if you paid $350. Not a good deal if you paid $99.

Why is is not a good deal? You bought a Reader from Tiger at $99, the credit card offer is over. Your Reader is broken. To replace it might then cost $299.99.

mogui · 08-01-2007, 02:22 PM

I am normally allergic to extended warranties, but a portable reader is also a droppable reader. I have dropped mine several times and have just been lucky. I have no extended warranty and considering that my Chinese family nicknamed me "the elephant" for my tendency to bump into things and knock them over, maybe I need this "I break it, you buy it" plan.

LaughingVulcan · 08-02-2007, 07:00 PM

Well, there is no faulting Sony's customer service and especially its' speed. My new reader is here, updated, authorized, and all my content is on it.

Now the weirdnesses. I debated reporting this or not, but decided that Mobileread's readers can know this: I haven't yet been given instructions to return my broken reader. I'm going to call them tomorrow to inquire, but they just up and shipped me a new Reader without further evidence. (Maybe they can track if the old unit is used again with the Connect software - though I doubt that.) My new unit arrived from Crutchfield (even though I purchased the original unit direct from Sony.) At any rate, on my say so they've fulfilled their end of the deal - very rapidly.

I wouldn't be surprised if I'm given return instructions, but my guess is that a screen replacement exceeds a refurbished sale profit margin.

Second weirdness: I had to authorize the new reader. So it gave me another Connect $50 book credit and the 50 Classics downloads credit. Again I'm going to do the honorable thing and ask if the credit should really apply or not. (Why???

'Cause I'm too damn honest for my own good.) But I'd love to hear them say "don't worry about it."

At any rate, I've got to say that I'm entirely satisfied with my Sony customer service experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhbailey

So they're figuring that 2-years is up the moment your reader is damaged and they actually have to make good on the extended warranty? What kind of legalese b.s. is that?
<snip>
I knew there was a reason I never bought those warranties!

True, and I suppose I could argue it. It is ironic that the extended warranty paperwork arrived after I bought the unit. But it's a new unit they sent me, and since the damage was by my own hand I can't complain much about putting up more money for a new extended warranty.

While I almost never buy extended warranties, it was the "accidental damage from handling" that sold me on it. As with Mogui below, I know that I can be really klutzy. And, looked at another way, I just saved myself $250 on buying a replacement unit. I'll happily pony up another $50 against the possibility of being a klutz again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's the way that HP's extended warranty for the iPaq works, too. If you buy, say, a 3 year warranty, it's not a warranty for an unlimited number of repairs within 3 years, but a warranty for one "machine replacement" which is valid for 3 years.

I'm sure that's the way this contract reads. I haven't consulted it since I bought the unit (and didn't need to with this kind of service.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mogui

How much do the warranties cost relative to the cost of the device? Is it a reasonable deal to pay that amount for a one-time replacement?

$49.95 is what I paid for 2 years. I slapped myself at the time (as I said above, I usually consider extended warranties a waste of money.) But now I consider myself wisely foresighted.

Colt · 09-03-2007, 04:45 PM

If you buy your unit from, say, Borders, Best Buy, or CompUSSR, how does the warranty get applied? Is it just a form in the box you fill out and send in or an address you go to online?

I'm glad to hear that Sony responded so promptly. Did you ever have to send the damaged one back, Vulcan?

07-29-2007, 12:25 PM	#1
LaughingVulcan Technophile Posts: 204 Karma: 617 Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Land of Lincoln Device: PRS-650 Sony, Nook Simpletouch, more legacy gear than I can remember	Dead reader by my own hand - oh noes! Hello all! I had forgotten my password, only to find when coming back that apparently my browser remembered. So last night I'm doing the usual, trying to pick up the cat and bring him upstairs for bed. Cat is being cooperative for once. I pick up the reader one-handed... and it drops. OK, I've dropped it before. I pick up the unit and we go upstairs. I set the cat down (yep, same cat as in the "reader bedstand" thread.) He decides to be finicky and jump off the bed. My wife and I like having said cat in bed. So I pick up cat again and place on bed. Cat jumps down. "Fine," I think frustratedly. I'll just read for a few minutes instead of playing with cat on bed. I set Reader up in improved bedstand (more about that in another thread.) I switch light on, switch reader on, and find that the screen must have impacted with the corner of the cat tower. The funny part is, about a quarter of the screen is still perfectly readable. The impact took out all but the left lower quarter, and there are vertical lines all over the other 3/4 of the screen. But it's not like an LCD where breaking the contrast medium buggers the whole screen. The only thing I can say is that I'm glad I purchased the 2 year with ADH warranty. I called Sony a few minutes ago and got a return confirmation number and they'll be calling about Tuesday to coordinate shipping a return box. If the rest of Sony warranty service is as good as the first call I'll be very impressed indeed. Now I'll have to go and get out some of those old things with fixed fonts and single view screens that have to be rotated manually and laterally to change the text view. Oh, the humanity! At least it gives me time to browse the forum again.

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07-29-2007, 12:51 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Oh no! Thank goodness for the warrenty. Hope you get it back all new and shiny soon.

07-29-2007, 04:07 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,896 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What would be a good idea for Sony is to keep some referbed units handy. You send yours in, they look at it, confirm it's broke, send you a refurbed unit, fix yours, and put it in the refurbed pile. And don't forget to remove any books you have on it that you don't want Sony knowing you have on the unit.

07-29-2007, 04:26 PM	#4
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Fill the unit with MobileRead downloaded ebooks. Give the techs a thrill.

07-29-2007, 10:51 PM	#5
mogui eNigma Posts: 503 Karma: 1335 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: The Philippines Device: HTC G1 Android FBReader	Interesting style! Did you say that was the Hindenberg Reader?

08-01-2007, 10:25 AM	#10
mogui eNigma Posts: 503 Karma: 1335 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: The Philippines Device: HTC G1 Android FBReader	How much do the warranties cost relative to the cost of the device? Is it a reasonable deal to pay that amount for a one-time replacement?

08-01-2007, 10:59 AM	#11
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Around $65 as I remember. A good deal if you paid $350. Not a good deal if you paid $99.

08-01-2007, 02:22 PM	#13
mogui eNigma Posts: 503 Karma: 1335 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: The Philippines Device: HTC G1 Android FBReader	I am normally allergic to extended warranties, but a portable reader is also a droppable reader. I have dropped mine several times and have just been lucky. I have no extended warranty and considering that my Chinese family nicknamed me "the elephant" for my tendency to bump into things and knock them over, maybe I need this "I break it, you buy it" plan.

09-03-2007, 04:45 PM	#15
Colt Comrade Rising Posts: 28 Karma: 30 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Empire of Alaska, Occupied Florida, Territory Command Device: Currently Pulp	If you buy your unit from, say, Borders, Best Buy, or CompUSSR, how does the warranty get applied? Is it just a form in the box you fill out and send in or an address you go to online? I'm glad to hear that Sony responded so promptly. Did you ever have to send the damaged one back, Vulcan?