PS3 packed in: Sony don't want to know...

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Welfarite

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My son's PS3, 15 months old, packed in a few weeks ago. Of course it only had a 12 month warranty. Anecdotal evidence suggests that he is not alone. Many of his friends' PS3s have given up the ghost (in the machine?) as well, some within warranty others outside, all less than 2 years old.

Sony have failed to get back in touch to him as promised when he rang to complain and the shop will not replace the unit. Apparently, from speaking to other people, this is not an uncommon problem with these machines. It seems his only recourse is to buy a new HDD. Has anyone else experienced such poor service from this expensive bit of machinery and its manufacturer? Are there any other actions I can take? Is it as common a problem with the PS3 in Ireland as I am hearing anecdotally?
 
Welfarite said:
My son's PS3, 15 months old, packed in a few weeks ago. Of course it only had a 12 month warranty. Anecdotal evidence suggests that he is not alone. Many of his friends' PS3s have given up the ghost (in the machine?) as well, some within warranty others outside, all less than 2 years old.

Sony have failed to get back in touch to him as promised when he rang to complain and the shop will not replace the unit. Apparently, from speaking to other people, this is not an uncommon problem with these machines. It seems his only recourse is to buy a new HDD. Has anyone else experienced such poor service from this expensive bit of machinery and its manufacturer? Are there any other actions I can take? Is it as common a problem with the PS3 in Ireland as I am hearing anecdotally?
Click to expand...

Happened mine but it was under warrenty so the shop took it back straight away. They said at the time it was common enough. I would keep nagging Sony until you get a response. As far as I know Sony operate an out of warrent repairs service. Not sure of the cost but think it is about €100-150. I know this doesn't help after paying so much for something that breaks after 15 months but might be cheaper than buying a new one. Unfortuanately, Sony are not the best to deal with for these types of things. Nintendo put them to shame.
 
Hi

my sons xbox360 died well outside the warranty , Rang microsoft, they sent courier to pick it up and had it back approx 1 week later. Excellent service. No help to you but maybe your son should switch sides.
 
No charge? I understand that I can get the PS3 repaired by Sony who will charge me (note no mention of son paying me back!) an "out of warranty" repair charge up to €300. A new PS3 is €400 in Argos.

I have also discovered since I posted that it may not be the HDD as it still plays PS2 games: suspiciously enough it conked after an "update" download. All efforts to reboot, etc.. have failed. What maddesn me is that Sony must be aware of how prevalent such break-downs are but they have little on their website by way of explanation or information. I would advise any purchaser of a PS3 to get a 3 year warranty on it, even if you have to pay extra. Needless to say, I didn't check the length of the warranty until it broke ....
 
I've heard the consumer affairs guy on Newstalk (Andrew something) point out that you may well have a legal entitlement to expect a reasonable period of usage out of appliances, regardless of what the warranty period is. How you enforce this entitlement is another matter - maybe the Small Claims Court case against the retailer? You don't have any contractual relationship with Sony themselves.
 
Complainer said:
I've heard the consumer affairs guy on Newstalk (Andrew something) point out that you may well have a legal entitlement to expect a reasonable period of usage out of appliances, regardless of what the warranty period is. How you enforce this entitlement is another matter - maybe the Small Claims Court case against the retailer? You don't have any contractual relationship with Sony themselves.
Click to expand...

Correct. The warranty offered is in addition to your statutory rights. It doesn't replace them. If it's reasonable that the machine should last longer, and that it hasn't been misused, you're entiled to a repair or refund. This should be arranged through the retailer you bought it from rather than Sony.

If this approach fails, you could try the small claims court as advised.
 
Thanks for that, guys. I found [broken link removed] as a result of your answers. One last try with Sony, then down to the retailer, I think......
 
Update: Rang sony again. They said it was "hardware issue" adn my options was to go to a retailer who had an "arrangment" with them. They quoted names in my town, saying they had no "arrangment" with the one I bought from. If I went to "their" retailer, they would repair the PS3 if possible or replace it with another for an "out of warranty" payment of €250.

I then called to the retailer where I purchased 15 months ago and they said my problem was with Sony. I quoted Sale of Goods Act, sdaid things like "Not reasanably durable", "my contract is with you", etc.. They said they would send machine back to Sony for assessment as they still considered Sony responsible. They will contatc me in a week or 10 days.
 
If i were you id save yourself anymore hassle and time wasting and go to small claims.

I had a simular situation to yourself but with a sony dvd player that was about 18months old.Retailer said it was out of warranty to contact sony,sony wanted to be paid €180 to fix the problem,after about two months of being fobbed between the retailer and sony i went to small claims,it was ruled in my favour and as the model was no longer in production i was offered a simular current model or refund.
 
If you ever try to return an item to Dixons/Currys/PC World even within a few days of purchase for a warranty issue they will always refer you to the manufacturer. They will never accept the item back for them to get it fixed. This is clearly illegal but they continue to get away with it.

I agree with the previous poster, in these situations the small claims route is the way to go.
 
To update:

I went to retailer ( a local shop, not a chainstore) and went down the "rights of comsumer" road (as per their website). I explained that the PS3 was 15 months old, my contract was with him not Sony and that I wanted it replaced as it had not been "durable" within reasonable wear and tear.

He said he'd send it back to Sony first to see cause, etc (quoting "possible unreasonable use", etc..).

He rang me a few weeks later. Sony sent a brand new 80GB set (original was 40GB) "without question" (so the retailer told me) and I could collect it anytime. No charge. Result!
 
BEST ADVICE: RING SONY HELPLINE FIRST!!!
(Phone number found in back cover of all PS3 game manuals)

Same thing happened me on the 3rd January - PS3 got the "yellow light of death" and wouldn't turn on or eject the disc. When turning it on, the light goes green for a second then yellow a second then beeps and starts flashing red.

Rang Sony helpline on 4th Jan (Sunday) - very helpfull, they got me to try a few possible remedies which didn't work, then took my details and said Sony Ireland would email me in 2-3 working days.

2 days later got email, very apologetic and understanding about how annoying this must be. Said they would replace the console free of charge with a refurbished one even though the warranty was out by 5/6 months (only 1 yr warranty on PS3's), and also free the stuck disc and return it.

All I had to pay for was delivery charge (€15-€16). Got it collected by a courier that Sony specified on 13th January.

Sony Ireland had said it would take up to 6 weeks to get the console returned, but it arrived on 19th Jan (after only 6 days!).


Overall a very helpfull service, and surprising given the fact that all I had read about this problem on the internet seemed to lead to hassle with Sony.
 
The retailer is the person primarily responsible and should always be contracted first, statutory rights apply to retailer not manufacturer. As to the comment about currys dixons etc I returned an ipod to dixons, it had packed in after about 6 weeks, they gave me a new one, no questions
 
My son had this "yellow light of death" issue last night. Just got off the phone from Sony helpline they say the best they can do because the unit was bought in dec 07, Is to pick up my unit and send out refurbished unit with 3 month warranty for €160. The warranty on the unit was 12 months and was bought in Argos, I wonder if I went down the retailer route ala Welfarite, would I get any more joy?
 
My ps3 packed in a few months ago when it was 3 months out of warranty, the lens was gone they said, and gave me the same refurb offer. Shop told me it was a known issue which Sony denied. I did send a long email to their customer service, expressing my disappointment etc and how I had been a loyal customer (PS1, PS2, then PS3). Sony told me to pay something like €15 for delivery and they would pick up the console, and issue a refurb unit with no warranty as a goodwill guesture, but the main grounds for this was my PS3 was 3 months out of warranty.
 
A guarantee or warranty is a bonus and it is in addition to your rights as a consumner under The Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980.

If the reasonable lifetime of a given product exceeds the time period of any warranty, pursue the seller in respect of your statutory rights. If the trader refuses to offer redress for the faulty goods and you have exhausted all other options you may wish to pursue the matter with the Small Claims Court.

Question 11 - http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/FAQs/Faulty-goods/
 
I believe you have two years reasonable use with electronic items for which the shop is liable and should refund or replace. The one year warranty is used to confuse people. Enforce your contract with the shop and make a claim against them. We let retailers away with murder here. The main reason I'd pay the little bit extra in a shop is to have a visible point of sale. I had hugh problems with a Zen Creative MP3 player (bad customer service, poor return policy) and wish I had bought it in a shop so I could have returned it easily and demanded my money back.
 
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