After 5 months' use, my HD5 is dead

[vtah236]

I wipe a sad tear from my eye. I have bought many Sony products in the past, but this is the first one that has failed me. I grew to love my HD5 (my first ever mp3 player), even though it came with a lot of firmware baggage. A bit like falling in love with a supermodel: you love her for her beauty - but boy, does she have some hang-ups.

My silver baby simply refuses to boot up. Halfway through listening to a new album, it froze. This has happened before, and was simply solved by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery. Alas, this time, the swirly round-blobby boot up screen twirls tantalisingly for one minute, then switches off. Same thing happens when I reconnect it to the PC: one minute of swirly blobbiness, then catatonia. Windows Explorer doesn't recognise that anything is connected to the E: drive.

You know what it's like when you become attached to a new gadget: you hate the idea of sending it back because it could be weeks or months before it's repaired and returned...

Any tips? Has this happened to you?

 

[mrtbag]

You know what it's like when you become attached to a new gadget: you hate the idea of sending it back because it could be weeks or months before it's repaired and returned...

Any tips? Has this happened to you?

You'll need to get it looked at. Sony say they have an average turn around time of 7-10 days apparently. Call 08702 408060 to speak to their Central Service department. They give you a freepost address to send it in to.

 

[IanPM]

If its under six months old, contact whoever you bought it from and demand a direct replacement. Anything under six months and it is considered faulty from purchase.

 

[mrtbag]

Anything under six months and it is considered faulty from purchase.

Not exactly. In the first six months it is up to retailer to prove it was NOT faulty from purchase (and even if they can't, they do not have to offer a replacement). After the first six months it is the consumer who has to prove it WAS faulty from new.

Still worth asking the question though. Notice I use the word 'ask' and not 'demand'. In my experience, approaching a company with a demand usually results in a worse outcome than a reasoned and polite approach. Print of the brief summary of the sales of goods act and take it with you.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/salegoodsact.htm

This is the section that mentions the six months:

- If a consumer chooses to request a repair or replacement, then for the first six months after purchase it will be for the retailer to prove the goods did conform to contract (e.g. were not inherently faulty)

- After six months and until the end of the six years, it is for the consumer to prove the lack of conformity

 

[vtah236]

It was bought from Amazon by my wife, but I did call Sony as suggested, mrtbag. Very accomodating and friendly - I was told to send it to them using their Freepost address, along with the Amazon printout, and they'd fix it within 10 days.

I am curious to see if anyone else has had the same reboot problem with their HD5.

 

[shadowritten]

Just a tip for the future: Amazon take just about ANYTHING back, in my experience.

Had a Philips/Nike sports DAP for the wife. After three uploads, it died. We chucked it in a drawer, then decided to return it as faulty ... 8 months later! Good old Amazon. not a single quibble. Refunded the item. And the original postage. And what we spent on returning it. And paid for a holiday in Greece. (All right, I'm lying about the last bit.)

 

[KiNeL]

An unfortunate tale but if everything were 100% reliable and never went wrong there would be a huge number of people out of a job...lol