Hi Fellow Ozbargainers,
I have purchased a Sony 1000XM4 wireless headset for $335 in May. Early this month, it stopped charging. I have reached out to Sony and when they checked it, they came back with a repair cost of $331 and said they found corrosion in the charging section and it is not covered in warranty. So they offered a trade-in for $274 which I felt is really ridiculous. Could you please recommend what should i do in this case?
No way, this is less than a year old. He is entitled to a refund, replacement or repair at the discretion of Sony for no extra cost.
That doesn't apply for water damage. No company offers warranty for that. Some might offer goodwill gestures.
Corrosion doesn't necessarily mean water damage. Even just from just normal use around the coast that might occur. I had a samsung TV where the fan stopped working and cooked the mainboard but they still had to replace it. These are places where people use the product and they should be able to handle it. 80% of the population live on the coast.
So they offered a trade-in for $274 which I felt is really ridiculous
That does sound ridiculous $274 for some headphones that won't charge
Corrosion should not occur in a new product that quickly. Point this out and say that as the headphones are less than 6 months old the corrosion must be due to some manufacturing defect where the metal did not have any protective coating and as such it is covered by the ACL.
I did point that out and they are not accepting it as manufacturing defect and thats why they are not offering a replacement. Instead they gave me 30% discount on trade-in for the same headset
I would dispute this. Make a formal complaint to Sony. You will need to find how to do this and also ring up the state fair trading and ask them what can be done about this.
I've had my XM3's for 2 years now and zero corrosion.
To get corrosion in the headset it has to of come into contact with water at some stage, corrosion doesn't happen by itself.
Unfortunately i'd side with Sony on this one. Although i'd expect a teardown of the headphone to make it possible to replace the USB-C connector with some solder and flux.
Else take the $274 and buy something else/another one
Hell you might even make money
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/656541
I am 100% sure i did not use it in rain. So i wonder how it got corroded.
They are offering 30% trade-in only. now cash back.
USB-C cable got wet, went into the port and corroded it?
In your defence there should be a reasonable repair option. This sounds like what apple would do where they grossly inflate the repair in order to get you to upgrade/buy a new one.
Else could do this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmfoTpZiX9U&ab_channel=JonRo…
Just mention ACL and threaten to take it to the obudsmen and I'm sure they will be happy to fix it or give your a replacement.
I did that. But they said directly to go ahead and complain.
Called your bluff
i have raised a dispute with my credit card now. need to see what happens and also, submitted review on Product review site. Sending a formal complaint email to them now.
I would go ahead and complain. It seems you have a leg to stand on and Sony has not offered a suitable remedy. For clarity, you did purchase these direct through Sony right? In Aus, your recourse is valid through the supplier, not the manufacturer.
i bought them from Good guys store
Well you need to do it now.
Hi sorry just found this old thread. I am wondering how did you get on with these headphones?
Did you end up trading them in? Or?
I am now in the same boat corrosion on the USB C board and yeah $337 to fix it! What a joke I can get a brand new pair for $355 good guys commercial
They have quite $218 ex GST for the part what a joke! For a lift PCB that probably costs $5 to make
So I'm about to go back to Sony and try my luck
I believe the corrosion is a manufacturing defect. So many people have reported sweat seeping into the headphones. I always wiped mine after use and never wore them in the rain
I have same issue. Exactly same problem! And I only used it twice! Absolutely no liquid contact and didn't wear it doing exercise. I brought it up to Fair Trading couldn't get it resolved and now escalate to NSW tribunal. I searched internet and many many more consumers have been bullied by Sony the same way due to unexplainable corrosion damage. I think we might need to take class action to defend our rights!
I ended up like others getting a trade in deal for I think $272 to get a brand new pair delivered assuming that meant they would keep my broken pair and refurbish them
but couple of weeks later the repairer contacted me and asked if I wanted to proceed with the repair or get them sent back. I was dubious but said sure send them back and they did. they didn't charge anything for inspecting them or to send them down and back to me so winning
I was able to find a second hand USB charging board on eBay which costs me like $60 Inc delivery, installed it and it works in the old headphones!
so now I have two pair of working headphones not really financially ahead since the cost of getting the part is the gap between the price I paid for the new pair and RRP but still at least Ive got 2 pairs now and it hasn't cost me any more than it would. Just wish I knew this was the part faulty before I sent them in I could have got this second hand part for the original pair and I wouldn't have needed to buy a new pair
trade it in or fix it, looks like you have your options already