Sony Computer Services
VAIO VGN-Z540 Screen Marks Blamed on Customer, $250 Repair

I wanted to bring a problem to your attention and hope you can help me gain some satisfaction. Specifically, my complaint concerns customer service regarding a manufacturing defect. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated because this incident has made me fairly upset.
I own a Sony Vaio VGN-Z540 laptop, that I purchased in November. Recently, I started to notice lines appearing on the screen that I couldn't clean off. By June of this year it became clear to me that the lines on the screen were coming from the palmrest and keyboard resting against the screen.

I contacted customer support, and created a work order to have the problem repaired. Soon after, I was notified that the damage to the screen fell under cosmetic damage, and was not a manufacturing defect. I was told that I had caused the damage by resting heavy objects on the laptop when closed. The cost of the repair was going to be $299.99. I spoke to the CSRs at Technical support, the repair center, and customer relations. No one could help me out. I then requested to speak to a supervisor, and the best he could do was offer me the repair for $250.

I was quite upset, since I never misused the laptop, and NEVER put heavy things on it. I called the customer relations department, where a lovely girl named Julia informed me that she could not help me out but she understood my frustration. She told me that she would get me in contact with the national customer relations department. There, I spoke to another very pleasant lady named Kathy, who after looking into the work order and service order numbers, had told me that she could not extend any additional discounts to me because she was not convinced that it was a defect. I sent her the photos of the laptop, and after reviewing them, she said her opinion had not changed.
I am baffled by this issue, since I spent nearly $2000 on this laptop, never misused it, and now I am not being helped out at all. I even asked the sales agent that sold me the laptop if there could be any issues with screen imprints due to the layout of the keyboard, and was told that it should not be an issue and there were no accessories available that would even prevent such an issue. I am being told that I have to pay $250 to have the screen replaced, even though it clearly is a manufacturing defect, and I am not at fault. Is there anyone that can help me resolve this issue? Please let me know if you are having the same problem, so we can contact Sony and let them know that this is not an isolated incident.
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Company: Sony Computer Services
Country: USA

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