PS3 Warranty Voided by Surge Protector

[Morfiend]

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=21876

So I woke up yesterday morning and saw that my PS3 was not on. You know that little light letting you know it's getting power? That morning, no light. This happened once before, but I was able to unplug it and plug it back in to get power, and then it worked. I tried that yesterday morning, but nada. Nothing would work... it was completely dead and not getting power.

So I call Sony and let them know that my less-than 4 month old PS3 was now a brick. I tried to tell the guy that the trouble started when I first tried to play Call of Duty 3 a while back - it would just completely shut off the system and the only way to get it back on was to unplug it and replug it back in. (an issue that's been well-documented now in threads such as these.)

The service representative didn't care about any of that. Instead, he starts asking me a bunch of questions to try and void my warranty. Things like, "I want you to check the sticker above the hard drive and tell me if it looks damaged." I'm like, "no, no, no" to everything he's asking. Then he asks me if I had a power surge recently. Again, I tell him no, that I have all my electronics protected with a high quality power surge protector. He then says "okay, great, Sony can fix it right up for you for $150." I asked how long the warranty was, and he said a year... but then he tells me that I voided my warranty by plugging it in to a surge protector. I asked him if he was kidding me, and he says nope, the PS3 is only allowed to be plugged into the wall directly.

Thats pretty fucked up.

[bhodi]

They tried to do the same thing with a non-sony branded hdmi cable. I believe they aren't allowed to do that, and we've already had this convo somewhere.

[NiX]

They tried to do the same thing with a non-sony branded hdmi cable. I believe they aren't allowed to do that, and we've already had this convo somewhere.

Can we have it again? I'd like to know more. INQUIRING MINDS MUST KNOW!

[AngryGumball]

so now we just need to have someone else fry their PS3 without a surge protector and then have that same conversation and when they ask tell the truth and say well there is your problem what kind of idiot dosen't use some kind of protection and you live where, our records show that area has had 47 power outages and you didnt' use a surge protector....right before the PS3 warranty operator hangs up laffing you hear the words idiot.

then match those two people up the one with the surge protector and the one without and have a go at Sony.

[Yegolev]

This is why I bought a replacement plan.

[Megrim]

This is why i didn't buy a ps3.

[Big Gulp]

MS certainly does deserve the shit they've gotten over hardware quality, but at the very least they don't hassle you about fixing your bricked console.  $1,000,000,000 set aside just for 360 repairs?  Thanks MS war chest!

[stray]

Hmm.... Just don't tell them, I guess. 

[schild]

MS certainly does deserve the shit they've gotten over hardware quality, but at the very least they don't hassle you about fixing your bricked console.  $1,000,000,000 set aside just for 360 repairs?  Thanks MS war chest!

They don't hassle you because it's such a huge problem. You could probably staff the PS3 repair center with less than 10 people.

The thing can survive being dipped in toxic waste. Sure, once in a while you get a bad egg. It's built like a fucking rock though.

[Yegolev]

This is why i didn't buy a ps3.

Are you being serious?

[Special J]

This is why I bought a replacement plan.

You shouldn't need to just to get your warranty honoured.

Sony can go fuck themselves if that's how they're going to shit on their customers.

[schild]

Do you know why this story isn't really being picked up or talked about anywhere? Because it's completely isolated and can't be verified.

As for service plans, I buy them so I don't have to wait for some company to dick around with sending me a coffin, me mailing it back, and waiting for them to decide on fixing it and then finally mailing me back a refurb. I walk into a store and get a new one. It's like the system is never gone.

I pay for convenience, sure, but time is money.

[bhodi]

I glanced around looking for the hdmi thing, but I fail at searches.

[Special J]

Ok, granted if its true then it's probably one dickwad.

The extended coverage is just that, a convenience that you've decided is worth it to you.  But there is something wrong if you need it to receive what the most basic warranty coverage should be giving you.

[murdoc]

I glanced around looking for the hdmi thing, but I fail at searches.

I'm not sure about the HDMI thing, but I was told by one of the Futureshop monkeys that I had to buy the special 'Sony HDMI cable' in order to connect a PS3 to my TV via HDMI because the connection on the PS3 wasn't a standard HDMI connection.

I didn't get the PS3 or the HDMI cable... yet.

[Megrim]

This is why i didn't buy a ps3.

Are you being serious?

Did you see any green? =p

Truth be told, i looked at all the newgen consoles and, well, yea, nothing there for me. Stuff like this just adds to the list of reasons why my money is better spent.

[Grand Design]

Stuff like this just adds to the list of reasons why my money is better spent.

Seriously, if this is on your list of reasons not to get a PS3, then you are actively seeking reasons.

Every product will fail for someone.  Almost every company has shitty Customer Service.

This is one story from one person who had a bad experience with a phone jockey whose job it is to get him off the phone without giving up a dime.  He did his job well, and this retard didn't fight it up the chain - as is more than likely prepared for in the script the phone jockey was reading from.

[Yegolev]

The service plan is better than the warranty because I can just go to the store for a replacement, and it lasts for three years, AND it covers normal wear and tear.  Basically I can take it back (to the store!) and get a new one even if it just fills up with dust.  This could very well happen when my consoles are about 2.5 years into the plan period.  Time trumps money.

[Venkman]

Do you know why this story isn't really being picked up or talked about anywhere? Because it's completely isolated and can't be verified.

Here's what I'd do:

Call them back. You'll get a different rep.
Repeat the scenario described.
If the result is different, good.
If not, time to speak to a manager. Ask that manager where it clearly states plugging the PS3 into anything but a wall outlet voids the warranty.

In fact, anyone who's still got their documentation can look it up, if so inclined. I'd wager it doesn't actually say that anywhere. If it in fact doesn't, they've got a problem. It really doesn't matter if they have a Great Benefit style policy to deny all claims or it's just users plugging PS3's into surge protectors. If it isn't clearly stated, it's hard to legally back up, which means a legal opening.

Edit: I forgot this didn't happen to Morphiend directly.

[stray]

http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/10/sony-denies-sur.html

Apparently Sony denies it...


This is probably just the work of either a shitty cs rep, or some dipshit tryin to get people's panties in a bunch more than they already are.

[bhodi]

I glanced around looking for the hdmi thing, but I fail at searches.

I'm not sure about the HDMI thing, but I was told by one of the Futureshop monkeys that I had to buy the special 'Sony HDMI cable' in order to connect a PS3 to my TV via HDMI because the connection on the PS3 wasn't a standard HDMI connection.

I didn't get the PS3 or the HDMI cable... yet.

LIES!

Any HDMI cable works fine. I'm using one myself that I conned out of verizon when they installed my DVR; I connect it with component for the faster channel switch. Make sure to buy one online for 1/3 the price of walking into best buy. Every store I've ever gone into add a crazy markup. I wonder if they've got agreements with other stores to do the same... More info on that if you were interested...

As for the warranty void with 3rd party HDMI thing, here's the clause that clearly states that it voids it, however it's NOT legally binding thanks to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. That same clause is the source of the surge protector thing:

(2) THE PRODUCT IS USED WITH PRODUCTS NOT SOLD OR LICENSED BY SCEA (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NON-LICENSED GAME ENHANCEMENT DEVICES, CONTROLLERS, ADAPTORS AND POWER SUPPLY DEVICES). YOU ASSUME ALL RISKS AND LIABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH USE OF THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS.

[Yegolev]

Be especially sure to only use first-party optical cables, too.

[CharlieMopps]

Dude, they hire these Tech support dudes at minimum wage, most are idiots. They probably get dinged for how many exchanges they have to do. I had to call dish network because my dish box was shot. They wanted to charge me $30 to send a tech out. I told them to go to hell and mail me a new one. He got upset and just started reading a service contract to me over and over again. An hour later I had a supervisor on the phone saying "Yea, we don't need to send a tech, we are next day airing a new one to you today" friggen retards.

Oh, and Sony is still the devil.

[Yegolev]

I used to do hardware support for IBM on the phone and I'd guess they are measured on how many times they close a call without sending a field tech, since that costs quite a bit of money.  I wasn't really very good at that job because tape drives don't ever get better, so I'd send out a replacement.  The people who were good at it would get the customer off the phone and have them not call in again, without replacing any hardware.

By the way, I got an email today that the 80GB PS3 is $499.99 at Toys-R-Us.

[schild]

Yep, now that the 80GB is $499.99, we all sit patiently to see what stores drop the 60GB when they "clear" it out. Then we rush on it. ^_^

[Venkman]

Why? For what it could be someday? Sounds like an MMO beta 

[schild]

Uh, the 60GB one is the one with full hardware backwards compatibility.

Also, if I hadn't bought a PS3 yet, I wouldn't have been able to ignore it after Time Crisis 4, Eye of Judgement, Uncharted, Haze, and Folklore came out.

[Yegolev]

Ratchet & Clank.  It's like you hate freedom or something.

[Azazel]

Rang around today. $1000 for a PS3 with BC. $650-700 for a gutted one.

Fuck Sony. They're not getting my money at all then.



edit - whoops, wrong thread. But then again by this far down they're all the same thread....