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Official Sony US Notice

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Call again. I bought mine at Sears 3 weeks ago and Sony is picking it up Monday for repair. I did tell him I bought it at Sears. The man I talked to said that this particular problem will be fixed by Sony.

GlennA
Dan N said:
Bought mine less than two weeks ago from Sears with the MRA. There
are no Sears nearby with these in stock. This verifies the tests
I've performed. It's also my second 717 from Sears. The first was
also defective. I take many indoor pictures and it would be nice
to have the HAF on auto rather than off all the time.

Just got off the phone with Sony using the number listed in the US
announcement. They say that Sears must handle this issue
(1-800-473-7247). Sony does not handle issues for equipment bought
through Sears as a result of a special contract they have with
Sears.

This unit is definitely being returned until new units arrrive. I
like the MRA, but may consider getting at another place that has it
in stock.
Dennis said:
Not to get flammed, but I recommend ppl relax and enjoy their new
F717 until Sony "officially" announces this problem on the Sony US
website. The ppl behind the phones seems to know nothing about this
problem and the announcement seems to apply only to Canada for
right now. Some ppl are having problems and some are not, so it's
up to the Sony Engineers to determine the problem and post it.

Happy Holloween
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
Glenn A
 
I'm going to go see my Sears salesman tomorrow; it's right near my work. I will ask them about getting a replacement; how long it should take, etc. I really want to stay with them due to the 2 year return policy I've got.

I will let you know tomorrow evening what I find out.

Darrel
 
wiseone said:
Andrew said:
Kim Rue said:
Phil just posted the info here:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0210/02103002sonycaf717.asp
Click to expand...
Sony noted that it's a problem with the 'initial' production of the
camera. Well, my serial number falls within the range and it was
manufactured in October. The 'initial' run seems to have been in
August. Doesn't give one a secure feeling.

Andrew
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Look on the lens barrel, right side towards the bottom. There's a small Sony sticker with information. The last piece is the production date
 
Glenn A said:
Call again. I bought mine at Sears 3 weeks ago and Sony is picking
it up Monday for repair. I did tell him I bought it at Sears. The
man I talked to said that this particular problem will be fixed by
Sony.

GlennA
Click to expand...
I inquired about the closest facility to me and the gal at Sony said they were all going to one spot where they have people trained for this. They are picking up the tab and apparently everyone will be sending it to the same place. I would assume that Sears will be by-passed so I would also check again to be sure so you don't get yours into the hands of somebody at a local center that is clueless. THAT could really cost time and be a real foul-up.
 
The man at Sony said that FEDX will pick my camera up on Monday and it is going to the Sony repair facility in PA.

It only makes sense that Sony will repair these cameras. I made it a point to tell the person I talked to about the what was said in this thread about returning it to Sear and he said No, not in this case. It's going to Sony.

GlennA
santa said:
Glenn A said:
Call again. I bought mine at Sears 3 weeks ago and Sony is picking
it up Monday for repair. I did tell him I bought it at Sears. The
man I talked to said that this particular problem will be fixed by
Sony.

GlennA
Click to expand...
I inquired about the closest facility to me and the gal at Sony
said they were all going to one spot where they have people trained
for this. They are picking up the tab and apparently everyone will
be sending it to the same place. I would assume that Sears will be
by-passed so I would also check again to be sure so you don't get
yours into the hands of somebody at a local center that is
clueless. THAT could really cost time and be a real foul-up.
Click to expand...
 
All,

Thanks for the heads up. That Sony rep was apparently misinformed. Now I have to think thru my options, since it looks like most, if not all 717s on store shelves have this defect. I really do like this camera.

I have a background in engineering (software) and manufacturing, and I've always been wary of buying the first batch or even a new generation of a product (e.g., a revamped car model like the new Accords this year). There are generally two kinds of problems with manufactured products: production problems, and design problems. Production problems are fixed quickly as a manufacturer builds in volume over time. They learn something new with each production run. The design problems, especially hardware, tend to take longer to fix since that requires reegineering the product.

I was wary about getting the 717 so quickly after introduction, and my fears have proven right. I am impressed by Sony's relatively quick action.
Glenn A said:
It only makes sense that Sony will repair these cameras. I made it
a point to tell the person I talked to about the what was said in
this thread about returning it to Sear and he said No, not in this
case. It's going to Sony.

GlennA
santa said:
Glenn A said:
Call again. I bought mine at Sears 3 weeks ago and Sony is picking
it up Monday for repair. I did tell him I bought it at Sears. The
man I talked to said that this particular problem will be fixed by
Sony.

GlennA
Click to expand...
I inquired about the closest facility to me and the gal at Sony
said they were all going to one spot where they have people trained
for this. They are picking up the tab and apparently everyone will
be sending it to the same place. I would assume that Sears will be
by-passed so I would also check again to be sure so you don't get
yours into the hands of somebody at a local center that is
clueless. THAT could really cost time and be a real foul-up.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Not sure if us Sears Purchasers can send them in as I don't want to and prefer to just swap it out.

I'm going to check with them in the morning and see what happens. They may not even have a "good" unit in stock.

I can live with mine for a few weeks and swap it out then anyway.

tim
Darrel McDonald said:
I'm going to go see my Sears salesman tomorrow; it's right near my
work. I will ask them about getting a replacement; how long it
should take, etc. I really want to stay with them due to the 2
year return policy I've got.

I will let you know tomorrow evening what I find out.

Darrel
Click to expand...
 
Andrew said:
Look on the lens barrel, right side towards the bottom. There's a
small Sony sticker with information. The last piece is the
production date
Click to expand...
Not on mine. On my camera there's a sticker but it just says "Class 1 laser product" in four languages, and then there's a tiny number which is probably the part number for the sticker itself.

My camera was purchased in Denmark, and the languages on the sticker are (probably) Danish/Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish, as well as English.

The warning label may be due to an EU requirement - I don't know.

Rennie
 
Santa:

The information Phil posted and which came from Sony seems to indicate that the focus fix can be performed at any Sony service location. Can anyone verify this or know for sure that they are all going to one facility. As described by ZipperZ it seems like a simple and quick fix and I should be able to walk it in to a center and walk back out with it. Sony should like this as it will save them shipping charges back and forth.
santa said:
Glenn A said:
Call again. I bought mine at Sears 3 weeks ago and Sony is picking
it up Monday for repair. I did tell him I bought it at Sears. The
man I talked to said that this particular problem will be fixed by
Sony.

GlennA
Click to expand...
I inquired about the closest facility to me and the gal at Sony
said they were all going to one spot where they have people trained
for this. They are picking up the tab and apparently everyone will
be sending it to the same place. I would assume that Sears will be
by-passed so I would also check again to be sure so you don't get
yours into the hands of somebody at a local center that is
clueless. THAT could really cost time and be a real foul-up.
Click to expand...
--
RG
 
Well, I've been on the phone with Sony Service for over 20 minutes--not on hold, mind you--my call was taken immediately at 8am--they simply have no idea what I'm talking about! (And I'm still on the phone with them as I type this message.) The service rep AND a supervisor can't find any notice about this at all--this, despite the fact that I've read it to them and have given them the web address where they could find it posted.

Update: Okay, 35 minutes later, still on the phone, the Sony rep has finally found the notice and scheduled a pick-up... except he doesn't know where it needs to be shipped. He just hung up and will call me back with the shipping address.

UGH! I can only hope others will have a better experience.
 
My new 717 is due into my local Sears store tomorrow AM. It is a PPP replacement for my 707 that has a sticky button. This camera arrived in Chicago yesterday and is being shipped up to Minneapolis for me. This supposedly represents the newest batch of cameras in the Sears system. I will post tomorrow and let everybody know if the serial number is clean.

Kim
 
Just cause the #'s reflect a possible 18K units affected doesn't neccessarily mean exactly that. Plus it's safe to assume 17,900 of the total 18K cameras either owned or sitting somewhere on display or in stock mightl never be returned for lack of communication or users inability to recognize the problem. It's likely that only Dpreview Sony participants are aware of this problem.
John
Dan N said:
Bought mine less than two weeks ago from Sears with the MRA. There
are no Sears nearby with these in stock. This verifies the tests
I've performed. It's also my second 717 from Sears. The first was
also defective. I take many indoor pictures and it would be nice
to have the HAF on auto rather than off all the time.

Just got off the phone with Sony using the number listed in the US
announcement. They say that Sears must handle this issue
(1-800-473-7247). Sony does not handle issues for equipment bought
through Sears as a result of a special contract they have with
Sears.

This unit is definitely being returned until new units arrrive. I
like the MRA, but may consider getting at another place that has it
in stock.
Dennis said:
Not to get flammed, but I recommend ppl relax and enjoy their new
F717 until Sony "officially" announces this problem on the Sony US
website. The ppl behind the phones seems to know nothing about this
problem and the announcement seems to apply only to Canada for
right now. Some ppl are having problems and some are not, so it's
up to the Sony Engineers to determine the problem and post it.

Happy Holloween
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I went and talked to my Sears rep today. If you have the MRA (PPP) you can return your camera as many times as you need during the 2 year period (God forbid!). He is calling Sony tomorrow to get them to ship one without a problem for me. When it gets in, he's gonna call me and swap it out for me.

Guess that's the route I'll take...
 
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