This wasn’t exactly surprising — Matt’s complained about Sony’s abysmal customer service before — but it is significant. Watch the linked video all the way to the end to get the entire story. Via Marius Masalar:

Matt makes a great point, and I completely agree that a company that treats their professional customers so poorly doesn’t deserve their business. There’s just no excuse.

That said, I can’t help but feel that the entire point of Matt’s video is rendered rather moot after Sony’s recent announcement that they’re launching a proper professional customer service network. Matt himself acknowledges in the video that this changes everything, but he then goes on to complain about his bad experiences with Sony’s previous customer care network.

I mean, I get it; he’s saying that if the new system is anything like the old one then it’s going to be no good for him and many other pros, but I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that will be the case. This looks like a completely new service with well-defined features, requirements and deadlines, although that 3-day turnaround time promise does seem too good to be true.

I think Sony deserves the benefit of the doubt here. Let’s give them a chance to prove that they’re really willing to walk the talk before writing them off, because the truth is, I don’t see any other company innovating like they are these days — with the exception of Fuji, but that’s a different category. If professional customers abandon Sony, then those fancy a7-series cameras are going to stagnate and eventually be abandoned sooner rather than later.

I do believe Sony is serious about their professional photography business, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. I for one am willing to give them a bit more time to get it right. Of course, your mileage may vary and if your needs are anything like Matt’s, it does make sense to be skeptical. In any case, we’ll know soon enough.