I read a lot of novels (when I'm not reading nursing texts) and after a lot of research I ended up purchasing a Sony E-reader on Boxing Day of this year. Most of the e-reader's have their own formats (Sony, Kindle, Kobo, etc) but recently there have been free programs for download to convert the files to be compatible with your reader. My main reason for chosing the Sony, was because it can play both Microsoft Word documents and Adobe PDF files. This is very helpful for me, because all of my lectures at school are in pdf format, and I take all my notes in Word. It's very handy; whenever I have a few extra minutes, or am on the bus to school, I can pull out my reader and review my notes... Or the Southern Vampire Mysteries (the Sookie Stackhouse novels, on which the tv series True Blood is based upon) which I'm hooked on and eagerly awaiting the upcoming novel!
Everything was going fine in Sony World until a couple of weeks ago; I turned on my e-reader to read a bit of a novel with my cup of tea before bed, and the screen showed up with thick black streaky lines all over. I turned it off, and the "loading" logo was still showing up, along with the black streaks. Now, I am very careful with everything I own... my ereader has its own little case (and a seperate, thicker one for when It's in my bag or being transfered to my boyfriend's place) and has NEVER been dropped, so you should be able to understand how upset I was. My boyfriend did a lot of research, and although there was no physical damage on the screen of the reader, quite a number of folks on various forums have had problems with the ink portion of the device cracking from the inside. I wonder now if it could be from our cold Canadian winters, but some people have mentioned that the e-reader's are supposed to be kept in a "lying" position at all time, to prevent the ink layer from bending which would result in a crack. That still does not make sense to me, because, when you read a book, especially sitting down or in bed, do you ever NOT tilt the book or hold it upright?
I called the guy at the Sony Store the next day, he told me I'm still under the 1 year warranty, and to come down so they could ship it off for repair. When I came down to the Sony Store, the guy I talked to on the phone was out for lunch. I explained my story yet again to another man, who took one look at it and told me "it's physicaly damage, you may as well purchase a new reader because Sony will not replace it." That was enough to get me going, because, first of all, if I only purchased the thing 6 months ago it should still be covered, should still work, and if Sony had decided not to fix it, there was no way I would ever re-purchase a sony item ever again. After lots of hassle, the other guy returned from his break and again tried to tell me I must've dropped the reader and broke it. But, where was the damage on the screen? The only damage I can see that was inflicted to the screen would be related to the pen device used to chose your books and turn the pages. If that is enough to crack the screen, the e-reader must be easily damaged, then. I've had my nintendo DS for YEARS and have not had any problems with denting or cracking in the screen, if with angry Zelda battles.
Anyway, after even more hassle and arguing with these men over a good hour, they filled out a form, boxed up my reader and told me not to keep my hopes up, that Sony would most likely not repair my item.
Now here we are, two weeks later. I received an notice this past Wednesday saying my E-reader was on route from Toronto. Even with holiday hours, the e-reader reached me today safe and sound. I opened up the package to find a Brand spanking new e-reader waiting for me. Needless to say I was very happy, and left them prompt feedback on their customer service site. I did however mention that although I will continue to purchase Sony products, it will not be from the clowns at my local Sony Store location. I haven't heard back from them yet, but I received a generic "Thank you for your time!" email & a 25$ off of a 100$ purchase coupon, which my boyfriend plans on using to buy new speakers. I'm still unsure whether Sony will contact me regarding their reps, but I'm very glad to have my e-reader back to me. The only downside was that I had to re-transfer all of my books to the new reader (they are all kept on a Sony Reader program, similiar to that of I-Tunes which is also very convienant!) I am hoping I will not have any more problems with this ereader, but either way, will continue to recommend Sony items, including their e-reader.
No comments:
Post a Comment