7 On Your Side assists man with Sony desktop warranty issue

LOS ALTOS, Calif. (KGO) -- If someone buys a computer and it breaks down, they might be happy to have an extended warranty. However, a South Bay viewer found out that a warranty can break down too.

This customer was so happy with his computer. It could do everything: take pictures, store documents, build spreadsheets and make movies.

Apparently that was too much for the hard drive and it broke. When he tried to use his extended warranty, it didn't work either.

Dave Kolm bought a Sony VAIO desktop computer last year because it could do everything the family needs.

"We use it for Internet browsing, for accessing our emails," Kolm said.

It worked fine until something started happening. "It would just crash while you were using it. An error message would pop up. It was kind of a cryptic error message," he said.

Kolm would shut it down, start it up again and it would work for a while and then crash.

"As time went on, it got more and more unstable. It got to the point where sometimes it just wouldn't turn on," he said.

Kolm called Sony and explained the problem. "They agreed it was probably the hard disk and it needed to be sent in for repair," he said.

Kolm had a three-year extended warranty. Sony said to take it to Best Buy and the Geek Squad would fix it, but Best Buy had some bad news.

"Geek Squad said that Sony hasn't authorized them to fix this model of computer," he said,

Sony does contracts with Geek Squad to repair computers. However, somehow Kolm's particular model was excluded from coverage.

"Sony was very apologetic. They actually said they would send a repairman to my house," Kolm said.

Sony admitted there was a mistake in the warranty agreement and it would fix it within 48 hours. However, that didn't happen.

"Every time I called, they said, 'I don't know why someone hasn't called you. Someone will escalate your ticket. Someone will definitely call you within 48 hours,'" Kolm said.

That didn't happen, either.

Finally, Sony said to forget about fixing it and the company would give a partial refund. Kolm didn't get that either.

"I called them. They said, 'I don't know why. Give us 48 hours. I guarantee it'll all be taken care of.' That went on for about a month. It was at that point I called 7 On Your Side," he said.

7 On Your Side contacted Sony and right away there was relief.

The company refunded the entire $2,200 purchase price and kicked in a $200 gift card as a bonus.

"It took three full months of me trying on my own and not getting anywhere. With 7 On Your Side, within less than a week it was fully resolved," Kolm said.

Sony said in a statement, "The customer was provided with a full refund when he brought this to our attention. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication between Best Buy and ourselves with this issue, but it was addressed."

"I was very grateful," Kolm said.

7 On Your Side thanks Sony for stepping up with the full refund.

As you may recall, Sony sold off its PC business earlier this year and no longer makes the VAIO.

However, if you bought a VAIO under warranty, Sony says it will still service those computers.