[Glashub]

I have been encouraged by forum members to share this anecdote.


Thanks to this forum, a few months ago, I became aware of the problems (e.g.moving vertical band) that others were having with the XBR800. I noticed that I had the same problems. I called Sony and they had a tech out within 2 weeks. He said that I needed a new board and that he would be back. He did come back with another board and it didn't fix the problem. I asked him what Sony would do about this and he said to call Sony service, which I did.


I explained the situation and corroborated my statements by referring to forums like this one. I made the point that I am not alone and this is a prevalent problem. The woman I spoke to said she would call back in an hour after talking to her manager and she did. She said that her manager authorized an exchange. I took a gamble and said that I didn't want another 800 but that I would rather have the new XBR910. I indicated that I would wait if they would allow that. She said that she would check again with the manager and would contact me the next day. Sure enough I received another call confirming that I could exchange the 800 for a 910 and that I could hold on to the XBR800 until I got the 910. I told her that if that was the case then I would need a stand because the 910 would not fit on the 800 stand. She said that she would send a stand as well.


During my wait the Sony Customer Service rep sent me regular timely updates on the progress of my exchange and represented Sony in a very professional manner.


Finally last week I received the T.V. and stand direct from Sony right on time. The TV and the stand look great together.


I hope this e-mail adds value in that it shows that I asked for what I wanted (which is sometimes hard for me to do) and I got it. Also, maybe this good experience will counter balance alot of the negative floating around about Sony.

 

[cajieboy]

Great to read Sony came through for you. How do you like the 910?

 

[Glashub]

I really like it now. I didn't like it out of the box. For the first day I really missed the 800. Then I did a V.E. calibration on 910 and I've remedied what I didn't like. It does not do the vertical band sweep, it truly is stunning on HD, and of course it looks great on DVD. I like the black around the picture tube. My friends noted that the black draws one towards the tube. I'm not a 910 fanatic. If the 800 didn't have the problems it had I would still have that T.V. and I would continue to look forward to viewing on it . The differences between the 2 are, geeze, I guess you could the difference are in the realm of the sublime.

 

[MrFister]

I was able to get the vertical white line problem fixed with just a service menu fix on my 800 last January. However the 800 just went dark in July with the standby light blinking 7 times. After 4 attempts at an in-home repair Sony agreed to replace it with a 910. I now am getting the vertical line problem again after going without for 6 months but I find it not as pronounced as on the 800 but still annoying at times. I hope the Service menu fix works on the 910 like it did on my 800. Overall I am just as thrilled with the 910 as I was with the 800. I wish they would have left the memory slot hidden like they did on the 800.

 

[Glashub]

MrFister, perhaps I have the vertical band sweep too. But from where I sit I can't see it and I'm not going to subject the screen to close scrutiny.......yet. Too afraid I may open up the Pandora's box again. Think I'll go into denial, kick back and enjoy for awhile. After all I have 2 years warranty.

 

[MrFister]

I was pleasantly surprised my Sony dealer gave the full two year warranty on the 910 as I had the 800 for one complete year before it blew up. The 800 was my first time for having bad luck with a Sony product and but for a little whining on my part after giving them 7 weeks to fix the darn thing, I have no complaints with Sony and will be back to buy more Sony stuff in the future.