2. New Laptop Arrives With DOA Battery and Fingers Point

After testing and writing about Sony's T350P laptop, I liked it so much that I decided to buy one. To save a little money and avoid state sales taxes, I bought mine from I Buy Digital. The Web retailer made it clear that it was not a Sony authorized seller and that I would have to deal with Sony if the laptop needed any kind of service, even on the day it was delivered. "OK," I thought, "I'm willing to take a chance."

The computer arrived and everything worked fine except the battery. It wouldn't charge. Fortunately the T350P loaner I had from Sony was still around and I tested the new laptop's charging system by recharging the loaner's battery. It recharged fine.

At around 11 pm on the day I took delivery I went up to Sony's website to see what might be done. I fiddled around in Support for a while and then saw an offer for "24/7 chat support". So, I clicked on the icon and in a few minutes I got a response from Chelsea. She asked what my problem was and I typed in something about how I get a DOA battery replaced. After about a minute, Chelsea, answered with something like "As I understand it you are having a problem with your battery, is this correct?" I replied yes and in another minute Chelsea gave me a bunch of links about batteries, none of which had anything to do either with DOA batteries or returning them.

So, I asked Chelsea if she was a real person or a computer and "she" answered back, "Why do you want to know that?" If you've ever played around with an old and primitive psychotherapy artificial intelligence program called "Eliza," you can imagine what ran through my mind at this point. My next question was something like, "So what about the malfunctioning battery in the T350P laptop I received today." Eliz... er I mean "Chelsea" answered with something close to, "As I understand it you are having a problem with your battery, is this correct?" "She" also spit up that same URL list. Bye, bye "Chelsea."

The next day I called Sony and was told that the company doesn't provide replacements for non-functioning components not purchased from authorized dealers. "Go to the unauthorized dealer for help." was the only solution offered.

So, I called I Buy Digital. There I was told that only Sony could exchange the battery. I asked that my call be escalated to the next level and was told there is no next level. So, I hung up, happy at least that it was only the battery that was broken. I ordered another battery from Sony's online store. I sure wasn't going to buy a replacement if yet another battery from an unauthorized dealer arrived in a non-functional state. The battery arrived the next day and worked fine and I was glad that I now had a functioning laptop and battery. The bad news is that, with the cost of the new battery, I had spent just about as much as I would have if I'd purchased the T350P directly from Sony. Ah well, live and learn and learn and learn and learn...and....

Then, miracle of miracles, someone from I Buy Digital called and noted that the support person I talked to felt I wasn't happy with the service provided. Hey, support person, good call. Even old AI Eliza could have figured that out. Anyway, he offered to broker a call to Sony to get the battery replaced. With me on the line he called Sony support and explained the problem as well as Sony's responsibility for providing a replacement. In two minutes, he was off the line and I was giving the Sony support person a mailing address where the replacement battery could be sent.

So, I now have two functioning batteries for my T350P, which eases a bit the pain of spending those extra dollars for the second battery. Now, I'm trying to figure out how to ease the pain of having bought the T350P just a month before Sony released a significantly updated version the TX670P.

Click on the links to see MobilityGuru's reviews of the T350P and the TX670P Part I and Part II. Both models received our rarely given Editor's Choice Award.