replacement stylus

[cam6278]

Hi,

I have the pink PRS350. I have managed to break the top of my stylus and was wondering if i can get a replacment anywhere or if a Nintendo DS stylus will fit

Any suggestions ??

[ajohnson_shifnal]

I have a simmilar tale to tell. After 8-9 weeks the top of my stylus has snapped, I took it to Warterstones under warranty. The repair bill just arrived on my door mat for £56.00 (62.32 inc VAT) from Sony Repair Centre apparantly due to customer misuse I don't think so! This has been coddled, kept away from the kids and wrapped up in a jumper when travelling. But that's not the best part, if I decline the estimate it's going to cost £28.08!!! Bearing in ming my Reader is now in Sony's tender care I have 7 days to respond, offers one can not refuse! I think not.

I have taken this up with Waterstones, their response "Let me guess the stylus has broken !" it seems this is not an uncommon fault. As has been pointed out here, my contract under the SOGA is with Waterstones and they seem happy to take this up with Sony, since they have bigger guns than me I'm happy for them to pursue this. It looks like a production / design flaw so if you have a broken PRS stylus and you bought it from Waterstones my advice is to contact them as they are looking for all of the ammunition they can find.

For now itlooks like this is going the way of the Betamax! It's a good product let down by a fragile component and Sony seem reluctant to fix what is clearly a product issue. I originally gave the PRS-350 a 5 star review on Amazon, I have now revised this downwards one star for a fragile component and another for poor customer support.

Message was edited by: ajohnson_shifnal

[Thalamus.]

Hi all,

I have passed your comments/feedback on to Sony, as I'm not employed by Sony I'm afraid I can't do anything other than that, hope it helps..

[cam6278]

thanks for all the replies

£28 is very expensive for what it is especially considerly i paid a fairly low price for the unit.

Im still miffed at £50 for the cover and light!!

[ajohnson_shifnal]

Had a reply from my local Waterstones. Sony are refusing to budge, the matter has been "escallated" so I am told not sure what this means but I think we're beyond ear plugs here! I'm heading for a deep bunker.

What is certain this I am NOT paying £63.00 for what is clearly a materials / manufacturing fault, nor I am paying the £28.00 randsom demand to get my unit back in an unrepaired state. This stance is also supported by Waterstones.

Ohh look another e-mail add from Amazon for the Kindle..........

Sorry guys I'm going to be writing this off as a very expensive lesson in buying Sony products as in I just ordered a HP laptop instead of a Viao, the Bravia LCD for my room just got de-listed and the competition for the kids PS2 replacement just repoened (with one less contender).

[SteveF48]

The staff at Waterstones have been helpful, but tell me that they can't obtain a replacement stylus they are out of stock of PRS-350s. They suggested that I obtain it under warranty from Sony, but as we've seen Sony don't honour their warranty.

Anyone who is fobbed off with this sort of rubbish should quote the Sale of Goods Act. Apart from being fit for purpose goods should also be durable, it doesn't matter what Sony say the reader should not fail in less than six months.

This quote was copied from the Government's ConsumerDirect website (http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/after_you_buy/know-your-rights/SGAknowyourrights/):

If you have bought goods you have a right to expect that they should  be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality:

• ‘As described’ means that it should correspond to any  description given about the goods such as the quantity, colour,  measurements etc.  These descriptions may be verbal statements about the  goods, statements in the brochure, on a shelf edge or even on the box.
• Goods are of ‘Satisfactory quality’ if they reach the  standard a reasonable person would expect taking into account the price  and any description.
  - The law says that goods that are of  satisfactory quality are free from minor defects, have good appearance  and finish and are durable, safe and fit for all the purposes for which  such goods are commonly supplied.
• In addition to being fit for their every day purpose goods  should be fit for any specific purpose you agreed with the seller at the  time of sale [for example, if you specifically asked for a printer that  was compatible with your computer]

If your goods are not satisfactory you may be able to make a  claim for up to 6 years in England and Wales and 5 years in Scotland  after the purchase of your goods, for a refund, repair or replacement.

The stylus is not fit for purpose, durable, or safe. It should be able to withstand being removed from the slot designed to hold it without breaking, for several years. It is definitely unsafe, because a child could swallow the tip if it broke off.

Sony should do the honourable thing and replace everyone's stylus with a more durable one, or this issue will cost them a lot more!

[SteveF48]

If you are looking at broken styli how can you say that there doesn't appear to be an issue?

The problem seems to be caused in the manufacture when the metal tube is crimped around the plastic components of the stylus compressing the plastic and weakening it.

My PRS-350 also requires an unusual amount to extract the stylus (compared with my PDAs which also have a stylus and require minimal force to extract them), which causes the stylus to break in normal use.

Your message is typical of the sort of response I've had in the past from 'customer service' organisations, they blame the problem on the customer to avoid their responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act. It's very short-sighted. I, for one, am reluctant to spend another penny on Sony products.

In fact if any stylus has broken Sony should replace it without a quibble, because the PRS-350 has only been on sale for a few months. I bought my blue one on November 21st, a few days after it came onto the UK market according to the news item I read.

£13 is still an exorbitant amount for such a cheap and flimsy part. A quick search revealed a pack of 20 styli on Amazon for £2.90, a Belkin stylus pen for £8.99 and a 4 pack of Sweex styli for £2.99, unfortunately there is no way of telling whether they are thin enought to fit in the PRS-350 stylus slot.

Message was edited by: SteveF48

[ajohnson_shifnal]

My broken stylus is in the reader at Sony's Repair centre in Bridgend, feel free to ask them for it! (Job Number 484130)

It seems to be a common observation that the tip has a hairline crimp or groove on those stylii that have failed this is no help to me as Sony appear to have declared that I have missued my stylus (presumably by removing it from it's hold more than once!) so the ransom demand is still there. I have no idea what they'll do if their demands aren't met but I'm now contacting BBC Watchdog to find out just how common this issue is and if they can realy do this? I define it as theft!

I have recieved a second estimate from Sony but have been chasing around legal advice, the SOG act says within 6 months your warranty is with the retailer NOT the manufacturer. So I'll be asking those guys in Bridgend to contact Waterstones and stop bothering me as I don't have the authority to approve the repair!

As for Waterstones I am told this has gone to their chief buyer, I also note that they don't appear to be advertising any of the Sony readers at the moment except for 505 refurbs and are pushing the Elonex for almost the same price as my quoted repair from Sony!!

Definately never buying another Sony product ever...........................

[ajohnson_shifnal]

Final update form me. On Friday (21/1/11) apparantly after 15 e-Mails between Waterstones, Sony Customer services and the repair centre with zero movement from Sony Bridgend, Waterstones offered to replace my reader and sort out the onging mess with Sony in slower time.

So my wife now has become the unexpected owner of a new Sony reader, I have refuesd point blank to consider ever using it and was going to stick it on e-bay.

My case is solved, the issue continues for Sony and Waterstones plus the small detail that nobody in my local store or the surrounding stores that share staff now have a good opinion of Sony as a brand. Whatever the materials / production issues turn out to be with this component they will not be nearly as bad as the damage to Sony's reputation for quality and customer service.

[kevin999]

I'm so glad I stumbled across this forum! I have spent the afternoon researching whether to buy the Sony reader 350 or a Amazon Kindle and had just convinced myself to go for the Sony. However, from what you say it is clear their customer service is non existant and their guarantee useless - so Amazon here I come! From experience I can confirm that Amazon have excellent customer service and have previously replaced a product for me in similar circumstances 11 months after purchase with no difficulties whatsoever.  Perhaps in a highly competitive market Sony need to learn that it is happy customers which keep them in business.

[carpetmojo]

Sony, please, please, note above........................