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View Full Version : Warning to older-model PS3 owners


dolson
04-16-2009, 07:49 PM
I don't know why, but Sony Canada just screwed a co-worker of mine out of his backwards-compatible PS3.

He sent it in 3 weeks ago for repair, and the PS3 is covered under the extended Sony Care warranty, which is SUPPOSED to be an extension of the original warranty... MTC, the repair depot in Ontario, Canada, got the unit and determined it "would cost too much to repair." Sony Canada called him and told him this, and that he would need to pick up a new-model 80GB PS3 - WITHOUT backwards compatibility.

And not only that, but the new models also lack SACD support, two USB ports, and various built-in memory card readers.

This guy was a huge Sony fanboy, and now he's pretty depressed and angry at Sony for this. They refuse to give him one of the many 80GB BC PS3s that MTC has in stock, and they won't even give him a reason as to why! The only thing we can think of is that it's because he got his Sony Care warranty extension from the local Sony Style store, rather than directly from MTC (as I did).

Anyhow, the story was posted on my site last night, and I've been updating it since as the story progressed. It was posted on N4G and promptly reported as "fake" and "lame" due to some slight sensationalism/mis-comprehension on my/N4G users' parts. I had originally posted the story stating that it was an anonymous TAWKN.com user, but after the unanticipated backlash, I put his first name and linked to his profile on my site.. But the damage was done. I also had no actual proof of it.

But now, here's a video from YouTube of myself calling MTC and inquiring about their 80GB BC PS3 stock (as he was told by Sony Canada yesterday that they did not have any in stock anymore), and immediately after that is my friend calling in to Sony Canada.

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I was hopeful at the end of the video that they would fix it, but they called him on his cell not long ago, and told him the same as they did yesterday - he's SOL. He will be getting a new-model 80GB PS3 tomorrow (or the day after) and likely NO compensation - no free game(s), no free PS2, nothing extra.

Now, as you guys all know, I love my PS3, and you all might consider me a fanboy because I mostly post about PS3 games and run a PlayStation site... It's true, I love my PS3. But I'm not a blind, raging fanboy. I am pointing out Sony's faults here, and I think Microsoft has a better support system than this, and that's just judging based on most 360 owners' experiences that I've read on the web, and how their 360s might die several times, and they still stick with it.

My own PS3 died late last year, and I was pretty upset, but it all faded away when I got the same model PS3 back. For Steve, the pain may linger, as he's losing a pretty major feature of the PS3 through no fault of his own.

gta_bmx
04-17-2009, 01:47 AM
He can get a used PS2 for $40-$50 or so. Then that'll the save wear and tear that he would have put on his PS3. But I can understand his anger -- customer service is usually pretty sucky.

dolson
04-17-2009, 04:31 AM
He can get a used PS2 for $40-$50 or so. Then that'll the save wear and tear that he would have put on his PS3. But I can understand his anger -- customer service is usually pretty sucky.

He has a PS2 already. But it doesn't upscale games like the PS3 did, which is why he hasn't used his PS2 since he got his PS3.

He doesn't really have a choice anymore, though.

talkingorange
04-21-2009, 05:45 PM
I don't understand what the deal is. Why not just give one of the old models? The upscaling and the extra card reader slots are exactly the reason I bought my PS3 when I did. If they have them in stock, why not send one out? I sense shenanigans!

dolson
04-21-2009, 11:54 PM
I don't understand what the deal is. Why not just give one of the old models? The upscaling and the extra card reader slots are exactly the reason I bought my PS3 when I did. If they have them in stock, why not send one out? I sense shenanigans!

Yeah, he is still pretty angry. But, apparently someone from Sony saw the story, as they contacted me on Saturday and asked for Steve's contact info. The guy is currently out of town, but they should be in contact via the phone tomorrow. He said he wants to fix the problem for him. So.. Mission accomplished, I hope!

subwayfox
04-29-2009, 09:33 PM
Ya when I got my old one serviced I got a backwards compatible one also.

Any people from Canada have this similar problem?

zabusan
05-19-2009, 07:39 AM
Oh man, that is a bummer...
I really hope nothing happens to my PS3 (knocks on every wooden piece of anything in house)

Sorry to hear/read about your friends crappy situation...Then Sony's awesome cooperation afterward!!
Huzzah Sony!!

dolson
05-19-2009, 07:30 PM
Oh man, that is a bummer...
I really hope nothing happens to my PS3 (knocks on every wooden piece of anything in house)

Sorry to hear/read about your friends crappy situation...Then Sony's awesome cooperation afterward!!
Huzzah Sony!!

After 3 weeks of complete unresponsiveness from Sony, they finally resumed contact with him... So he is shipping his PS3 out today... Hopefully within a week or two, he'll be satisfactorily resolved. It's sure taking a long time for this to end.

zabusan
05-19-2009, 08:02 PM
Definitely let us know how it goes, I'm rooting for him!!

dolson
09-06-2009, 05:48 PM
Definitely let us know how it goes, I'm rooting for him!!

I know this is old, but I totally forgot about this thread, and just stumbled upon it again and realized I forgot to tell you how the story ends.

Well, Steve is satisfied. Sony won't let me say exactly how the situation was resolved, but if you think about the whole thing, you can see that there's only one thing that he really wanted, and only one thing would have satisfied him, and therefore, there is only one possible outcome.

I really don't get why I can't come right out and say what went down, but the last thing I want to do is get on their bad side or blacklist or whatever.

So yeah. "Steve is happy."