back to article Sonex calls in administrators

Sonex Communications has called in the administrators to seek a way forward for its 15 ailing Sony Centres. The firm called in BDO LLP on 13 September after running into financial difficulties, but is continuing to trade with, as yet, no staff redundancies, according to a spokeswoman at Sony. "Sony Europe will be examining …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well

    To be honest I am surprised The Sony Centre still exists in the High Street. Surprised they have been there for the last ten or so years.

    1. L.B
      Meh

      I was about to say the same thing.

      The main reason being that the last time I went into a Sony Centre (about 8 years ago) all they had was old stock at high prices. I got the impression they were being used to sell off all the stuff Currys/Dixon had sent back as unsold relying on people thinking that they would be getting the latest and greatest.

    2. Gordon 10

      Really?

      What you mean like Apple stores?

      Sony is one of the few CE brands to come near to matching Apples cache.

      Their only issue is the rather old school layout and staffing reminisent of a posh dixons circa 2005.

      1. Anonymous Coward 101
        Meh

        I'm not a 'fanboi'

        but it must have been the nineties when Sony Centres had anything like the coolness of modern Apple Stores. They are a brand waiting to die.

  2. Ian 16

    a sign that...

    the Sony brand has become a rather old fashioned tarnished one ...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Sony seems to go in cycles these days.

      Many years ago they were the best maker of TV's, Video (Betamax was vastly better than VHS) and were the professional choice everywhere.

      In the last decade they seem to have been overrun with bean counters, causing good products to be downgraded to save a few pence on components. This results in bad PR and a drop in sales and reputation. Eventuall they then try to reclaim market share by making a few very good products again, until the bean counters start meddling again.

      A personal example:

      A few years back I got a new DVD-Recorder with Freeview for my mum, we read all the reviews which were all positive and saved ~£50 getting it from Amazon over the high street. It was so good that I upgraded my old LiteOn box a few months later (the excuse was mainly to get a freeview recorder) but the playback of DVD's was also noticable better.

      Back in January my sister's old DVD-Recorder failed (the DVD player bit), so we looked for the same model that I and my Mum got as it works so well. That model does not exist anymore there is "new model", to look at is identical just a new part number, but reading the reviews the new model was slow, noisy and was suffering from frequent crashes and corruptions of recorded data, so LG got a sale.

    2. Steve X
      Unhappy

      Sony Brand

      True, the brand is all that's left. So much of their kit is cheap badge-engineered stuff that the reputaton they once had for quality is fading. No-one is going to pay Sony prices for something when you can't tell whether it is "real" Sony or just rebadged junk.

  3. Dele-Himself
    Windows

    Not surprised

    Not really surprised, went to my local Sony Centre last month and only half the shelves had products on display while the staff were all just sitting on the sofa watching the TV, they were amazed when they saw i was an actual customer walking into their shop

  4. LuMan
    Unhappy

    Not good

    Despite peoples' view of Sony it's still sad that we hear news like this. At the end of the day someone's going to lose their job and there's every chance that it's not a well-paid manager or board member.

    Trading under administration is nothing short of soul-destroying. It happened to me about 16 years ago and all the thanks you get is turning up for work one day and finding a note on the shop door and an envelope with your cards in it.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Products

    If Sony could come up with some reliable, high end products... perhaps people would be willing to pay a margin for a sale via a Sony shop (e.g. if they offered a calibration service at a reasonable cost for the high end TVs)...

  6. darklord
    Facepalm

    Went in yesterday

    Looking for a particular item so pooped into my sony store. Dunno why complete waste of time. Issues arise when products go wrong to as they will only send back for repair not replace even straight out of the box.

    Wont buy Sony again. When my TV surround sound and playstation die thats it.

    However I prefer there MP3 players to crap pods. Audio quality beats apple hands down.

    1. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart
      Headmaster

      Oxymoron Alert!

      The words "Audio quality" should not be used in reference to MP3 unless the word "Low" is also used.

      MP3 is a lossey format.

      1. Steve X
        Thumb Down

        "MP3 is a lossey format."

        MP3 may be lossy, but it takes advantage of the physiological characteristics of the human ear so that it only looses the bits you can't hear anyway. 320kbit/s VBR MP3s are not, subjectively, "low" quality.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "pooped into my sony store"

      I think I know what you did wrong...

  7. MJI Silver badge

    Can get good deals

    Bought my most recent TV from a Sony Centre.

    There is a knack to buying Sony.

    Certain products are bought in. Learn them and avoid if necessary.

    Do not buy the cheap options - they are poor.

    The TV buying rule has failed since they changed the naming method - buy a TV with W in the name.

    Their VCRs were the best up to 1990.

    Their video cameras are still good.

    1. TeraTelnet

      Not all Sony products stocked, either

      Don't bother trying to find accessories or parts for a PSP or Playstation in a Sony store however - bizarrely enough, they don't stock anything to do with them.

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