In my experience, Philips is no worse than Sony in this regard. In fact, I've personally found the Philips CD transports night and day better than the Sony units of the past few years, though I can't speak to the Philips SACD units.
Like Gtfour45, you have my sympathy. Being the former importer/distributor of a line of high-end audio components showed me first hand the absolute frustration that CD transports/lasers truly are. In fact, it was one of the factors in my decision to give up the line. I consider them the achilles heel of the high-end audio hobby, and do not recommend costly CD players in most instances, as one is simply buying a glamorous case and (hopefully) well designed/implemented power supply and output section all wrapped around a cheap piece of junk that is more than likely destined for the type of failure that leaves one's machine not much beyond a large, expensive doorstop.
I agree with the advice to contact the manufacturer. Make some noise, and hopefully, they will consider your plight in a favorable and sympathetic light.
Like Gtfour45, you have my sympathy. Being the former importer/distributor of a line of high-end audio components showed me first hand the absolute frustration that CD transports/lasers truly are. In fact, it was one of the factors in my decision to give up the line. I consider them the achilles heel of the high-end audio hobby, and do not recommend costly CD players in most instances, as one is simply buying a glamorous case and (hopefully) well designed/implemented power supply and output section all wrapped around a cheap piece of junk that is more than likely destined for the type of failure that leaves one's machine not much beyond a large, expensive doorstop.
I agree with the advice to contact the manufacturer. Make some noise, and hopefully, they will consider your plight in a favorable and sympathetic light.