Thanks for the reply. Yes the repair center is in France, but they can't say it will be fixed before the 7th (I imagine it all depends on theire actual load of work).
I should have the box tomorrow, they will pick up after tomorrow, then the week-end, then they repair and they send out... even if it take time, i'm not sure to receive the loan camera in time.
I just called them and I will send the camera on the 8th.
I have the back focus problem since purchase in december so I can live one more shoot with it :)
If one of you is in France with an EX1, it will be a movie on the Suzuki Vanvan Paris World Tour ( le site des Vanvan ) ... it will really be fun to film, and help is welcome :)

My camera went away to france last tuesday and when I called them today to see if it was shipping back tomorrow (day seven) I got a cold shower...

Even though I had confirmed with the support person on the phone before I sent in the camera that they would indeed send a replacement camera after day 7 I was now told that this does not apply for "modifications" only "repairs"!! Apperantly Sony does not consider bad back focus, flaking paint and batteries being drained by a shut off camera faults that should be repaired, but "modifications"!

I was flabbergasted and got quite upset. I told them that I had taken their word that there would be a 7 day guarantee and that I had planned work with my camera on monday. After talking to two support persons that both asked me to stay on line while they talked to their boss they finally changed their mind and told me that they would send a replacement tomorrow. I hope it will arrive!

What are your experiences with this? Anybody else get the same rap? And by the way - can anybody point me to this exception in the fine print of the Silver support agreement. Can't find it anywhere on-line.

Just sent my EX1 off to Sony Support in Los Angeles. I'm waiting to hear back from them and will report when I do. This is so sleazy of them.

Ola, According to a local Finnish retailer the Silver Support supplies a cover unit when the repair takes more or presumably will take more than 7 working days. I guess this latest fw up is also such as you CAN'T use otherwise the device with the parts you purchased, so that's no longer modification it's a repair in deed.

I think Sony Silver support is promising more than they can deliver on the first place, one probably need to fight for the proper treatments. E.g. in Finland the earlier provided toll free phone number is not in use anymore ( it worked in June). This I noticed when today tried to get a pick up because of the FW up. :-( what comes next??)
I left a message as the answering service suggested in three languages, but they haven't called me back yet. ( 6 hours)
( By the way the 1.11 FW it's only free for a limited period according to Sony UK. website)

Firmware Upgrade
 

Hi. FYI. I took my camera into Los Angeles Sony on August 4th to have the Battery Drain warranty fix. I received it back today, August 27th. Battery Drain seems to be fixed and Firmware updated to V1.11_0531. No charge.
PS. They lost the bnc plastic plug!

20+ days is unacceptable....I would lose a ton of money!!! Sony better just recall the cameras and send us new ones... I can not afford to be down for almost a month.

The turnaround time is UNACCEPTABLE for a small business. Given the lost income even at a modest $1200 a week it's almost worth bricking the camera to do the firmware upgrade yourself. My gosh why not the have the ability to use a local service center.

Sony, if you read these boards at all, understand we are BUSINESS people not people video recording our vacations. I'd PAY for the upgrade if I could do it locally!

For my own company I invested in a second camera, in case one gets trashed for whatever reason. We also do two-camera shoots on a routine basis.

We have a very good service center here in Hawaii, so turnaround times are very good for the most part.

In NYC we have a very good authorized service center in Queens NY as well as Teaneck New Jersey which we can NOT use. The service center in Queens will supply a loaner camera if it takes more than 48 hours to service your camera.

Apparently Sony will NOT allow us to use either the Queens or Teaneck service center. These are SONY AUTHORIZED service centers.

Sony will allow the Hawaii center to do the firmware upgrade. If so why the bias against the east cost against using SONY AUTHORIZED PROFESSIONAL service centers local to us.

I think you need to check whether the service center in Hawaii can actually do the firmware upgrade.

Craig...

Are you saying Sony Hawaii can or can't do the firmware upgrade?

My experience has been that ALL USA EX maintenance goes to San Jose, California.

You need to ask how Hawaii is handled but I suspect you'll find you'll have to ship thousands of miles with shipping, insurance, downtime.

Please tell me otherwise. It would make much more financial sense to have it done locally but, so far, Sony has NOT handled maintenance on the EX series that way that I know of or personally experienced.

I'll go check with the service manager here to see what the procedure is.

According to Cokie Roberts Hawaii seems like an exotic and foreign destination. Maybe Sony thinks the same way and gives us the status of a foreign country. :-)

Phil,

Did you send your camera in with the broken external mic holder or did you have it fixed before sending it int?

Sony are refusing to take my camera for firmware upgrade because of this issue (their reasoning: external mic holder missing = "physically damaged" camera = not supported by Sony Prime Support - see separate thread for details).

Ian

I spoke to sony norway (!) and they were sure all service centres had received the firmware..

Have just checked Sony UK. We have till November 30th to get firmware updated without charge. This is under the terms of our Silver Warranty.