Bought a PRS 700 from Borders...miserable...now what?

jesse · 01-12-2009, 01:43 PM

"Glare? How bad could it possibly be?" I thought. "Seriously. The folks complaining about a bit of glare have to be exaggerating. The models at the store don't seem to have much of a glare problem."

Boy is my face red. Or maybe that's just from the tears running down my cheeks. After about an hour of playing with my brand new PRS 700 in a variety of lighting conditions, I'm ready to throw in the towel. It's _awful_.

To be able to read anything, I have to hold it exactly right. And the LEDs? I'd have thought Sony could spring for a small bit of frosted plastic to diffuse the light a bit rather than giving us four big bright blotches on each side of the screen.

So. The folks at Borders tell me that "oh no. we can't take returns of the Reader. You have to talk to Sony."

Has anyone before me done this dance? How out of luck am I? And if the answer is "completely," is anyone interested in an almost unused PRS-700 at a reasonable discount?

Thanks!

lilac_jive · 01-12-2009, 01:46 PM

I haven't, but I know other people have and hadn't had a problem. One of them will chime in.

Nate the great · 01-12-2009, 02:16 PM

Here is their return policy:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/...reinfo#returns

Quote:

Exchanges of opened audio books, music, videos, video games, software and electronics will be permitted subject to the same time periods and receipt requirements as above and can be made for the same item only.

So I would push for an exchange, then sell it online.

zelda_pinwheel · 01-12-2009, 02:20 PM

if you are willing to ship outside of the US you should have no trouble selling it on ebay or in our flea market ; there are plenty of people not living in the US who would love to get one.

icebear · 01-12-2009, 03:25 PM

yeah. if you can't get a refund or exchange, put it on eBay... i saw one sold for $395 "buy it now" that was gone within 10 minutes of being listed. you may lose a little on it, but you sure won't get stuck with it.

dhbailey · 01-12-2009, 04:31 PM

Heck, let it go to bid, with a reserve of $380, and see what you get -- I heard of Kindles going for several hundred dollars above their list price when they were new and nobody could get hold of one.

Liviu_5 · 01-12-2009, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesse

"Glare? How bad could it possibly be?" I thought. "Seriously. The folks complaining about a bit of glare have to be exaggerating. The models at the store don't seem to have much of a glare problem."

Give it a day or two since it may just grow on you. I have been using the 700 since early November and read a lot of pages and hours on it and I cannot say I have been bothered by the glare.

I was so-so with the lights at the beginning, happy to have them, but being used with the strong backlight of the Nokia 770, they seemed sort of dim and uneven, and again they grew on me and now I actually like them a lot, especially in pitch dark.

RickyMaveety · 01-12-2009, 06:20 PM

Hmmmm ... yet another reason I would never purchase or recommend a Sony Reader.

I hope you are able to unload it without too much difficulty.

ddavtian · 01-12-2009, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Hmmmm ... yet another reason I would never purchase or recommend a Sony Reader.

I have had multiple Sony readers (500, 505, 700), never had a problem to exchange or return them to Frys, Target or SonyStyle. It's the Borders policy, what does it have to do with Sony?

badgoodDeb · 01-12-2009, 07:05 PM

I wonder if a different unit would look differently, glarewise? In the Border's store, does yours look the same as the model, or is it worse?

dordale · 01-12-2009, 07:11 PM

It might be your reader is worse than most. Try checking it against the reader in the Borders like badgoodDeb suggests.

My husband has a 700 and does notice glare issues sometimes, but they really aren't too bad. I notice the difference in crispness between his 700 and my 505 much more than any glare problems.

Good luck getting your problem resolved!

dordale

AnemicOak · 01-12-2009, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Hmmmm ... yet another reason I would never purchase or recommend a Sony Reader.

I hope you are able to unload it without too much difficulty.

How is it Sony's fault?

rjfarrell · 01-12-2009, 09:19 PM

I purchased my 700 directly from Sony Style online. At the very first, I was a little put off by the darkness of the screen. Glare is and has never been an issue for me. I have learned to really love this reader. Flipping the pages on screen is very convenient.

Now, my husband decided he wanted a reader. So we went to Borders and picked the 505 because the screen was "whiter". Got home, the on/off button was broken. The 505 would NOT turn off, even fully charged. The little power toggle slide was barely on the machine. We took it back within about 4 hours, and got the same story. No return. I stood there, at the front of the store, and LOUDLY said. Ok. This is Unacceptable. I will not leave here without an exchange. You failed to notify me of this policy before purchase. This is tantamount to theft, to refuse to exchange an item they took my money for .... in the same day.... for a broken object. That to me is fraud. So, when I told them I would just park myself there until they found a person who could authorize the return, they decided I must be serious, and they exchanged it.

I really hate being made to behave that way. But it was a few days before Christmas. That was his Christmas present. I was going to get a new one. And I did.

lilac_jive · 01-12-2009, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjfarrell

I purchased my 700 directly from Sony Style online. At the very first, I was a little put off by the darkness of the screen. Glare is and has never been an issue for me. I have learned to really love this reader. Flipping the pages on screen is very convenient.

Now, my husband decided he wanted a reader. So we went to Borders and picked the 505 because the screen was "whiter". Got home, the on/off button was broken. The 505 would NOT turn off, even fully charged. The little power toggle slide was barely on the machine. We took it back within about 4 hours, and got the same story. No return. I stood there, at the front of the store, and LOUDLY said. Ok. This is Unacceptable. I will not leave here without an exchange. You failed to notify me of this policy before purchase. This is tantamount to theft, to refuse to exchange an item they took my money for .... in the same day.... for a broken object. That to me is fraud. So, when I told them I would just park myself there until they found a person who could authorize the return, they decided I must be serious, and they exchanged it.

I really hate being made to behave that way. But it was a few days before Christmas. That was his Christmas present. I was going to get a new one. And I did.

To play the devils advocate here, Borders has their return policy displayed in store and it's on the receipt.

moz · 01-12-2009, 10:18 PM

Does the US not have *any* consumer protection laws at all?

Over here goods sold retail have to be fit for purpose and remain that way for a reasonable time (12 month minimum for most things, can be higher for goods a reasonable person would expect to last longer). So if it doesn't work when you buy it, that's trivial. I've also successfully returned things sans packaging despite claims to the contrary from shops. The easy start there is "give me a new one"... "oooh look, all the packaging you could possibly need". But for the plastic crud that you have to cut off, same deal, it still has a warranty and the shop can't contract out of it.

01-12-2009, 01:43 PM	#1
jesse Connoisseur Posts: 65 Karma: 30418 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Kindle 2	Bought a PRS 700 from Borders...miserable...now what? "Glare? How bad could it possibly be?" I thought. "Seriously. The folks complaining about a bit of glare have to be exaggerating. The models at the store don't seem to have much of a glare problem." Boy is my face red. Or maybe that's just from the tears running down my cheeks. After about an hour of playing with my brand new PRS 700 in a variety of lighting conditions, I'm ready to throw in the towel. It's _awful_. To be able to read anything, I have to hold it exactly right. And the LEDs? I'd have thought Sony could spring for a small bit of frosted plastic to diffuse the light a bit rather than giving us four big bright blotches on each side of the screen. So. The folks at Borders tell me that "oh no. we can't take returns of the Reader. You have to talk to Sony." Has anyone before me done this dance? How out of luck am I? And if the answer is "completely," is anyone interested in an almost unused PRS-700 at a reasonable discount? Thanks!

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Bought prs 700	arthur524	Sony Reader	8	07-16-2009 05:45 PM
PRS 700 Has anyone in UK bought one?	vally	Sony Reader	19	07-12-2009 08:22 AM
Ended Sony PRS-505 or 700 - Bought!	Lanik42	Flea Market	10	04-03-2009 08:07 AM
Comparing 505 and 700 at Borders Bookstore	booknut	Sony Reader	4	02-14-2009 08:12 AM
Borders press release - Carrying Sony's New Reader PRS-700 and Expanding E-books	kacir	Sony Reader	6	10-15-2008 03:31 PM

01-12-2009, 01:46 PM	#2
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	I haven't, but I know other people have and hadn't had a problem. One of them will chime in.

01-12-2009, 02:20 PM	#4
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	if you are willing to ship outside of the US you should have no trouble selling it on ebay or in our flea market ; there are plenty of people not living in the US who would love to get one.

01-12-2009, 03:25 PM	#5
icebear rank noob Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Maine, USA Device: PRS 700	yeah. if you can't get a refund or exchange, put it on eBay... i saw one sold for $395 "buy it now" that was gone within 10 minutes of being listed. you may lose a little on it, but you sure won't get stuck with it.

01-12-2009, 04:31 PM	#6
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	Heck, let it go to bid, with a reserve of $380, and see what you get -- I heard of Kindles going for several hundred dollars above their list price when they were new and nobody could get hold of one.

01-12-2009, 06:20 PM	#8
RickyMaveety Holy S**T!!! Posts: 5,213 Karma: 108401 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: San Diego, California!! Device: Kindle and iPad	Hmmmm ... yet another reason I would never purchase or recommend a Sony Reader. I hope you are able to unload it without too much difficulty.

01-12-2009, 07:05 PM	#10
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,501 Karma: 64095689 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	I wonder if a different unit would look differently, glarewise? In the Border's store, does yours look the same as the model, or is it worse?

01-12-2009, 07:11 PM	#11
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	It might be your reader is worse than most. Try checking it against the reader in the Borders like badgoodDeb suggests. My husband has a 700 and does notice glare issues sometimes, but they really aren't too bad. I notice the difference in crispness between his 700 and my 505 much more than any glare problems. Good luck getting your problem resolved! dordale

01-12-2009, 09:19 PM	#13
rjfarrell Zealot Posts: 111 Karma: 142 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Arizona (USA) Device: Sony PRS-505, Iphone, Ipad	I purchased my 700 directly from Sony Style online. At the very first, I was a little put off by the darkness of the screen. Glare is and has never been an issue for me. I have learned to really love this reader. Flipping the pages on screen is very convenient. Now, my husband decided he wanted a reader. So we went to Borders and picked the 505 because the screen was "whiter". Got home, the on/off button was broken. The 505 would NOT turn off, even fully charged. The little power toggle slide was barely on the machine. We took it back within about 4 hours, and got the same story. No return. I stood there, at the front of the store, and LOUDLY said. Ok. This is Unacceptable. I will not leave here without an exchange. You failed to notify me of this policy before purchase. This is tantamount to theft, to refuse to exchange an item they took my money for .... in the same day.... for a broken object. That to me is fraud. So, when I told them I would just park myself there until they found a person who could authorize the return, they decided I must be serious, and they exchanged it. I really hate being made to behave that way. But it was a few days before Christmas. That was his Christmas present. I was going to get a new one. And I did.

01-12-2009, 10:18 PM	#15
moz Addict Posts: 370 Karma: 1553 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Melbun Device: Kobo H2O	Does the US not have any consumer protection laws at all? Over here goods sold retail have to be fit for purpose and remain that way for a reasonable time (12 month minimum for most things, can be higher for goods a reasonable person would expect to last longer). So if it doesn't work when you buy it, that's trivial. I've also successfully returned things sans packaging despite claims to the contrary from shops. The easy start there is "give me a new one"... "oooh look, all the packaging you could possibly need". But for the plastic crud that you have to cut off, same deal, it still has a warranty and the shop can't contract out of it.