Sony Battery Rip Off!

[proffski]

I need to change the battery on my Sony NWZ-S739F and NWZ-A845 MP3 players. I bought them to drown out the noise when on public transport and some colleagues eating at work. In the past I could get the correct batteries from ePrey at under £10 including P&P. It is an easy job and with care takes less than 20 minutes. The batteries are unavailable on the bay at the moment so I contacted Sony Repair Centre for an estimate... Ye Gods! Over £73 pounds EACH just to have batteries fitted! I reiterate, it is a simple and easy job if you have the tools and patience. Why not sell the batteries for owners to fit at their own risk? I shall now do a less elegant alteration where at least batteries will be cheap and easy to change.

I've always gone on about the great sound quality (For MP3) of these Sony products but will certainly never buy another Sony product again. £146 for a couple of £4 batteries... NEVER!

 

[RobinKidderminster]

We need a 'rip-off' forum section to avoid these pitfalls.. Printer/ink.& phone/tablet/camera batteries are other examples where a product 'value' is not always as it seems. No excuse for any device to not have user changeable batteries imo, except to make money.

 

[proffski]

We need a 'rip-off' forum section to avoid these pitfalls.. Printer/ink.& phone/tablet/camera batteries are other examples where a product 'value' is not always as it seems. No excuse for any device to not have user changeable batteries imo, except to make money.

What a great idea. Was there not some EU incentive some time ago about consumer products having consumer replaceable batteries etc?

 

[bigboss]

Electric toothbrush is another rip off segment. They use Ni-Cd batteries which is the worst technology, advise that toothbrushes be constantly charged to destroy them, & deliberately make the batteries non-replaceable so you have to buy another one every 2 years! And they charge a fortune for it!!

 

[fr0g]

I need to change the battery on my Sony NWZ-S739F and NWZ-A845 MP3 players. I bought them to drown out the noise when on public transport and some colleagues eating at work. In the past I could get the correct batteries from ePrey at under £10 including P&P. It is an easy job and with care takes less than 20 minutes. The batteries are unavailable on the bay at the moment so I contacted Sony Repair Centre for an estimate... Ye Gods! Over £73 pounds EACH just to have batteries fitted! I reiterate, it is a simple and easy job if you have the tools and patience. Why not sell the batteries for owners to fit at their own risk? I shall now do a less elegant alteration where at least batteries will be cheap and easy to change.

I've always gone on about the great sound quality (For MP3) of these Sony products but will certainly never buy another Sony product again. £146 for a couple of £4 batteries... NEVER!

I agree that it's a rip-off, but what product would you suggest? Not buying anything Sony because they charge the going rate for change of a fixed battery is rather OTT if you ask me.

How much do Apple charge, or Samsung?

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Do watch repairers replace the like. I'm wary of 'phone unlockers' but maybe they do? I dread the day my Sammy 10.1 dies. My Nexus 7. My Kindle. My £100+ toothbrush. I'm becoming battery paranoid.(parabatteroid maybe?) :wall:

 

[proffski]

I need to change the battery on my Sony NWZ-S739F and NWZ-A845 MP3 players. I bought them to drown out the noise when on public transport and some colleagues eating at work. In the past I could get the correct batteries from ePrey at under £10 including P&P. It is an easy job and with care takes less than 20 minutes. The batteries are unavailable on the bay at the moment so I contacted Sony Repair Centre for an estimate... Ye Gods! Over £73 pounds EACH just to have batteries fitted! I reiterate, it is a simple and easy job if you have the tools and patience. Why not sell the batteries for owners to fit at their own risk? I shall now do a less elegant alteration where at least batteries will be cheap and easy to change.

I've always gone on about the great sound quality (For MP3) of these Sony products but will certainly never buy another Sony product again. £146 for a couple of £4 batteries... NEVER!

I agree that it's a rip-off, but what product would you suggest? Not buying anything Sony because they charge the going rate for change of a fixed battery is rather OTT if you ask me.

How much do Apple charge, or Samsung?

Point taken, but why just not sell me a battery? I have replaced previously as already mentioned as well as Kindle battery and others without problems...

 

[chebby]

Point taken, but why just not sell me a battery? I have replaced previously as already mentioned as well as Kindle battery and others without problems...

I don't know how complex this is, but you are a physics/science technician and know what you are doing.

Perhaps Sony don't want to be sued by people who injure themselves (or break the equipment) trying to fit them with no clue about what they are doing.

Some people have managed to close down major international airports just by packing a spare Lithium battery with terminals exposed and in contact with metal objects.

(Even Boeing engineers are having problems getting Lithium batteries to not catch fire in their Dreamliner aircraft!)

 

[fr0g]

The problem is supply and demand and people's will to accept less

I agree, replaceable batteries should be standard, but in the race for "form", the likes of Sony, Apple, Samsung,HTC and many others forgot about "function".

Or more likely they realised that most people would be happy with getting a couple of years out of a device and simply buying a new one when the battery fails, thus earning far more revenue.

 

[Fremdlieben]

Wish to lend my support to Proffski on the lack of same from Sony for replacement batteries. I have a NWZ-538, which is wonderful and has served me well. But efforts to find a replacement for the expired battery have been in vain. I finally ordered one online from i don't remember where. It arrived. It was the right one. It was unchargeable. Probably an old one that should have been discarded. Sony is of no help whatsoever. There's not even a "contact us" that allows you to complain. Cowards. Wish someone could get through the swine who run the site to let the exec board know how poorly the customer is being treated.

 

[jjbomber]

Do watch repairers replace the like.

With Omega batteries being £75 and needing replacement every two years, they are far too busy on their own scam!!!

 

[chebby]

Do watch repairers replace the like.

With Omega batteries being £75 and needing replacement every two years, they are far too busy on their own scam!!!

A cursory online check for Omega prices just now shows their cheapest mans watch is about £1750. Their normal clientele aren't going to give a stuff about the 10p per day it will cost them for batteries.

If it did bother them then they could buy a chronometer.

 

[nick8858]

I won't buy anything without a user replaceable battery. As good as they are claimed to be they do not last forever so I will not entertain phones without user replaceable batteries. Its very convenient being able to swap one when your phone or whatever dies on the move. I keep one in my wallet. Non replaceable batteries are in effect a built in obsolescence which means you have to buy a new phone or whatever long before the products life is over. Same reason I won't buy a phone without an SD card slot. Rules Apple out then!

 

[keeper of the quays]

Why not get a power pack and plug Sony into that? I have a Sony mp3/hi res player too...and fingers crossed the battery seems to last forever! Re apple batteries my iPod touch 4 is now very poor with it's battery..hardly holds a charge for two hours use if that.