Sadly, this seems to be typical of Sony's response on screen, and other problems, certainly in the U.K.

And I would seriously doubt the Sony Centre staff are technically qualified enough decide the matter anyway.

Employees apear to have a "default" mode answer, which is "it must be your fault, whatever's wrong with it, and you must have been mistreating it".

From what has come up here in the past, Sony will agree to investigate the reader, then once they have their hands on it, tell you it is not covered by Warranty , give you a quote for how much it'll cost,(huge), and then charge £28/£56..(cant remember) anyway, whether you agree or not, to get it back.

The Sony centre seems to forget your contract is with them, it's their problem, and obviously have never heard of the Sale of Goods Act.

Threaten them with that, and the Small Claims Court.

They should be coping with all the hassle, not you.

Do the phrases Customer Care, Customer Loyalty, Consumer Law, or commonsense, actually get covered in whatever training these people get, I wonder ?

(And if it does get sent back, make sure you have extensive photographs of it's condition............. )

Lee - I am delighted - at last a reply in the Forum from Sony Service itself, & on topic..

(Although Specialist-convergence has popped in now and then)

If you care to take the time, there are many, many  instances on this Forum of people having had problems, and recieving a lot less than helpful responses from Sony. And it seems at times even getting a bad response is progress from getting none.

When I first joined the Forum, I was astonished at some of the things I read - the stylus question popped up a number of times in that period, I remember.    But it really made me nervous.

Now I love my 650, don't know how I did without it, and I think it's a great piece of kit, but it doesn't prevent me feeling bewildered at some of the posts on this - and other - Forums worldwide.

It seems at times that Sony don't know what to do with their readers ! It's many people's choice for it's engineering and features, despite no WiFi etc..., and it's high price.

But sometimes one wonders....  The strange lack of product, and conflicting information about availability and sales strategy, is pretty bewildering, from all over the world.

And, sadly ,  numbers of owners have said they would never buy a Sony anything again after their reader experiences.

Ummm... and I think you might be surprised at how unclued-up some of  your sales staff are about the SoG act, and consumer's rights  generally......

So it is fairly obvious something is going badly wrong sometimes, certainly regarding this product, and it's interesting that I think this is the first time, in my experience, a direct "official" reponse to a post, on the UK Forum has arrived.

So it would be great if a regular read of the Forum was on someone's "ToDo" list at the start of the week ?

Good service keeps customers, as I have found over 30-odd years in my business.

So well done for diving in !  Thanks.

Now, next, doing something about the non-speed of the site..................................

Yup, that's the other huge problem with the 650 (and I presume the 350 ?) - the software is awful, non-intuitive, and especially difficult to anyone non-techy, who you would think would be a huge market.

I've thought before now I've mastered it, then up pops another strange configuration. But the very basic getting going is terrible, and the manual equally bad.

A lot of users simply use Calibre, and other programmes if you use interesting sites like Singapore and Philly.

Come on Lee, who designs the "easy to use aspects..................... ?

I have had the exact same experience and dreadful customer service from the  Warrington shop who dont know the Sale of Goods act and made me feel I had no option but to accept the possibility of a repair when I have hardly used the thing and they accused me of sitting on it !! As if .

They said they had never heard of this happening before that the screen should fail so I was relieved to hear that someone else had had this experience

They also said it could take weeks to get it back and seemed completely unmoved by the fact that they had sold a faulty product and that I was entitled to a replacement or a refund as it was less than six months since purchase.It should be fit for purpose It is portable  and described as a pocket edition so it should be reasonably durable I took care of it and only used it twice Its only got one book on it.

I am going to complain further and will try to get a replacement or refund as I think it is a matter of principle. I have always bought Sony but this has definitly put me off.

Having the exact same problem with sony. My PRS600 wouldn't power up so Comet sent it to Sony for repair. When it left Comet it was in good condition with just a slight scratch to the back cover. Sony are now saying it is a terrible state with a loose cover and a dent to the top. I have been so careful with it, it has been my prized possession since Christmas. Neither Comet nor Sony want to know, I can't believe it.

I am a little out of my depth when it comes to the Sale of Goods act as I haven’t worked in a retail or sales environment for more than a decade.

A diagnosis accidental damage is always tricky, especially as it is almost always impossible for us to provide an explanation how or when the damage occurred. 

With this in mind, the Engineers work on the facts that are presented to them and will base their final diagnosis on the condition of the product as they find it.  If there is any damage, beyond the control of Sony to avoid, then a guarantee repair cannot be carried out.

If the Readers screen was fine when you left it with the retailer then, as Carpetmojo suggests you really should address it with Comet, who should have made a note of the Readers condition before they took it off you.

With regards to the Sony Centres, as they are not owned or operated by Sony but are totally independent, issues regarding their service would also have to be addressed with them.  While I concede my knowledge of the contract of sale could be better there is really no excuse for a retailer to not know it.

Regards
Lee

I am so depressed reading this as the same thing happened to me.  My lovely PRS-350 was tucked up in a padded bag whenever not in my hand but one moring the screen refused to work and could not be reset.  I bought it from WHSmiths who spent ages looking at it then told me that it was damaged by me.  It really was not.  I have no idea where to go from here as I know I didn't cause any damage and I am now seriously out of pocket.  The machine is still in warranty and I was hoping Sony would help and I will contact them and see what they can do but hope is fading.  I am going to research the OFT to see what they can suggest.