Sony

i like to write my reviews on a desktop computer, i’m old school like that.
i like the sony vaio desktop which i bought and fedex over from hk many, many, moons ago, i am old school like that.
and when my vaio decided to quit on me one day and refused to boot up due to a cpu cooler problem, i was put in a small time dilemma.
what should i do?
the devil said: buy a new computer!
the angel retorted: send it back to sony, it’s just a fan change.
d: they will charge you a bomb for it, so you might as well buy a new one!
a: but it will be replaced with original parts and it will be as good as new again.
d: bring it to sim lim, definitely cheaper!
a: bring it to sony, as they are haggle free and will give you peace of mind.
d: your vaio is soooooooo old it cannot even install windows 10, dump it!
a: why do you need windows 10???
d: sony has stopped making vaio, do they still have the parts to fix it???
a: it’s only a phone call 6544 8600 or three mrt stops away to find out!
being the ever so loyal sony supporter that i am, i took the opportunity to check in at sony to find out for myself.
the wait for servicing is hit or miss, sometimes there’s no queue but at other times you might well have to check in at starbucks and uniqlo whilst you wait for your number to be called.
oh, you do not need to be physically at sony itself as there is an option for them to sms you when your queue number is next.
some of the staff have been here since those days i was working at sony!
so the familiar faces makes me feel even more comfortable leaving my desktop here for repair.
my first consult was just a walk in without my desktop.
i described my problem to them and they advised me accordingly.
i must say they are really upfront with me with regards to the cost of assessment, labour fee and parts charges.
they even gave me a number to ring up to confirm whether or not they have the part that i require and find out how much that specific part would cost.
on my second visit, accompanied by my ill desktop, the wait was one double tall latte long.
there is a comfy sofa at the corner, if you are so inclined to wait within.
i also brought along my newish xperia z tablet which was hanging and not starting.
the advise given to me was that it is most likely a motherboard issue and thus not worth repairing, aka buy a new one!
that was a week ago.
today, i sit here in front of a deafeningly silent desktop computer, sans problematic noisy fan, finishing this review.
cpu cooler $ 196
labour fee $ 120
gst $ 22.12
finishing yet another Unilocal review, priceless!

Review is on the Sony Care Centre experience:
I guess it is an ok place. I like that it is open daily from 10am to 10pm so you can always drop in if needed.
I went early on a Saturday and was 2^nd in line. They opened before 10am and was already serving another customer when I got there just before 10am. I took a Q number and was given the option to have them SMS me when it was my turn.
The customer care service officer was not extremely helpful and was very perfunctory in telling me what they can do. So my laptop showed a message telling me to do a back up as the hard disk seemed to be failing. My tech geek friends told me the hard disk was dying and to get it replaced. I went to Sony since I bought my Vaio from them a few years ago and to see what they can do. I am the dream shopper for electronics store since I hate dealing with tech stuff and usually purchase my items from the shop and will do whatever they tell me to do.
So I found out Sony care centre would only replace the hard disk and reinstall all the software which came preloaded. They would not do the back up or cloning of data for customers. They could send it to a 3^rd party to do it at an additional fee, and this was only revealed after I badgered her about it.
She could not tell me the cost estimate of doing that and the range she gave me was too wide for me to do an informed decision. The difference was in hundreds. And she told me I would be better off to get it fixed elsewhere.
So either Sony was not interested in doing repairs on their own products, hence the pretty high quote, and to sell more new products, or the staff was the one who did not really care if they need to service their products.
Needless to say, I left without using their repair services.