Playstation SCEE stance on Warranties

eddhorse · 04-11-2009 6:25pm #1

In response to an out of warranty PS3 with Blu Ray of death query,
======================================================
Hi Ed,

Thank you for your mail.

To answer your question on the EU directive on 2 year warranty, the directive actually says that any manufacturer's warranty is binding. The main focus of the EU directive is on consumer's statutory warranty rights against the retailer i.e,- the consumer's right to have a product which is not defective at the date of purchase, and the right to have a remedy from the retailer. So these rights and remedies are under the contract of sale between the retailer and the consumer and are quite separate from SCEE's manufacturer's warranty. It may seem implied that consumers have the same rights against the retailer and manufacturer, and this is where the confusion arises.

If a product breaks within 6 months from purchase it is presumed to be defective at point of purchase, so the consumer can ask the retailer for a remedy. But if the product defect manifests itself later than 6 months from purchase, the retailer can refuse to give a remedy unless the consumer can actually prove that it was defective at point of purchase.

The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002, which came into force in March 2003 provide consumers with a range of remedies in the case of goods which are sold with existing defects. These remedies include repair or replacement, and/or partial or full refund.
These regulations implemented the requirements of European Directive 1999/44/EC, which set out to provide what EC legislators called a 'baseline' protection for all consumers in Europe. In fact, UK and Irish consumers already enjoy protection at a level well above the baseline.

Important point:
The Directive did not seek to provide a two year minimum guarantee period. It introduced a requirement for a two year limitation period, which is a different thing. During a limitation period consumers can report and seek redress for a fault that was there at the time of delivery. Under the 2002 regulations If goods develop a fault within the first six months and a consumer claims against the retailer, the retailer will have to prove that the fault was not present when the goods were sold.

I hope that this helps to clarify our position regarding our warranty policies and terms. If you wish to proceed with an exchange with us, please follow the procedures attached to the previous email and we would be more than happy to organise this for you.

Kindest Regards,

Playstation Ireland
Customer Service Team
www.scee.com
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Fact !

noodler · 04-11-2009 6:33pm

So the two year lark some have been pushing as fact isn't true?

At least he took the time to write all that.

Helix · 04-11-2009 7:05pm

very informative

Retr0gamer · 04-11-2009 7:14pm

The 2 year warrantee was always with the retailer and not the manufacturer. It the PS3 overheats and you get the yellow light of death could you not argue that the goods were fault at the time of purchase and was prone to overheating though?

A 1 year warrantee is still lousy and goes for both MS and Sony.

This is from Sony Customer support. I'd rather see what the Irish Ombudsman has to say about it. Then it can be taken as 'Fact!'.

Gummy Panda · 04-11-2009 7:21pm

Eu 2 year doesn't apply to UK and Ireland. We have a 6 year limitation.

brennarr · 04-11-2009 7:48pm

My playstation suddenly stopped recognizing Blue rays disc.

Sent off an email as playstation is just under 2 years old & I got the same template of a reply. Seems to be a big problem with the playstations but wont admit it

eddhorse · 04-11-2009 9:16pm

Yep there was some confusion in other threads about warranties and two year eu directives and the like, i searched and read through all the posts.
So this is their definitive stance, i did question them in other emails but unless you are prepared to go through a lot of "ombudsman" routes or "legal" routes then you are stuck with the €160 fee for blu ray of death fix.
Then you get a refurbed console with 3 month warranty.
Id prefer to just buy a new unit TBH.
Game are doing a Preowned deal of 40GB unit, FIFA 10 and bluetooth headset & one controller,including 2 years warranty for €260.
Better deal by a long shot plus you can swap hard drives if necessary.

whiterebel · 04-11-2009 9:29pm

eddhorse wrote: »

Yep there was some confusion in other threads about warranties and two year eu directives and the like, i searched and read through all the posts.
So this is their definitive stance, i did question them in other emails but unless you are prepared to go through a lot of "ombudsman" routes or "legal" routes then you are stuck with the €160 fee for blu ray of death fix.
Then you get a refurbed console with 3 month warranty.
Id prefer to just buy a new unit TBH.
Game are doing a Preowned deal of 40GB unit, FIFA 10 and bluetooth headset & one controller,including 2 years warranty for €260.
Better deal by a long shot plus you can swap hard drives if necessary.

Preowned, and face into the same thing happening again?

What it needs is people to spend the €15 for the small claims court and let a judge decide if its reasonable to break between 12 and 18 months after paying up to €600. Sony have been pretty sly though, replacing the initial batch in a lot of cases with refurbs, even outside warranty, as they did with mine.

Helix · 04-11-2009 9:42pm

eddhorse wrote: »

plus you can swap hard drives if necessary.

no

you cant

hard drives are married to your system

the drive from one wont work in another unless you format it

Wheety · 04-11-2009 9:46pm

Helix wrote: »

no

you cant

hard drives are married to your system

the drive from one wont work in another unless you format it

I think he meant putting a new higher capacity drive into it rather than being stuck with the 40GB one.

Helix · 04-11-2009 9:53pm

Wheety wrote: »

I think he meant putting a new higher capacity drive into it rather than being stuck with the 40GB one.

he was talking about replacing a borked unit by buying a new one though, and then said swap hds

so i assumed he meant an old for new swap

Retr0gamer · 04-11-2009 9:54pm

Actually the ombudsman is not the place to be sending complaints

I think it's more to do with the National Consumers Agency and all it would take is an email to them to find out where you stand with your legal rights. I wouldn't trust anything from Sony as fact. They will do anything they can to stop losing a case where the PS3 is found to be faulty due to the blue ray of death or YLOD because they will end up in more trouble like what happened to Sony when they were brought to court and lost in Australia over the DVD drive failures in the PS2. I still think that these BRoD and YLoD could bring up issues with the goods of mercheantable quality part of consumer law.

Retr0gamer · 04-11-2009 9:58pm

I also see that all repairs should be permanent by law which could impact on people getting refurbed 360's that consistently fail.

eddhorse · 05-11-2009 1:30pm

More info for sending repairs back from Sony:
=========================================================
To Whom It May Concern:

Dear Customer,

In order to have your parcel collected, please call Nightline Customer Service on 01 8835454 to arrange a mutually agreeable pick up day from your home, or work place. It is important that you book the collection of your console under the same name that we have, so that we know it is your console. You will also need to address the parcel being returned as follows:

Sony A/C S501
FAO Tim Fitzgerald, Jenkinson, 36 Airways Industrial Estate, Cloghran (Swords Road), Dublin 17.

NB: Please do not to drop your console into Jenkinson in person.
For Health and Safety reasons, Jenkinson can only accept deliveries from our designated courier and will not look after individual callers.

Could you please also contact us by email or phone to advise us of an address that you would like your replacement delivered to, preferably a business address. Someone will need to be present at this address every day from Monday – Friday to sign for your replacement. Please email or call us to confirm this address at;
Tel: 01 7073840 Email: support@ie.playstation.com

PS3 40G RETURN PROCEDURES - IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

• Please source a similar sized box as original packaging will not be returned and ensure it is securely packaged (EG with bubble wrap)
• Please return the Console only (with Hard Drive inside). Do not return any leads, peripherals or controllers as you will not receive these with your replacement.
• Please enclose a copy of your receipt for in warranty exchanges, as it may not be returned (your receipt is a term and condition of your warranty, without receipt your PS3 is considered out of warranty so please keep the original).
• If the console is over 12 months, has no original receipt, if the console has been physically damaged or the warranty sticker is not intact the console is considered out of warranty and the fee will apply as explained in your manual. This is Sony Computer Entertainment and we are unable to make exceptions for this. I can confirm that SCE does not make profit; the fee covers the cost of parts, labour and shipping.
• Note : If the console is out of warranty please enclose a postal order or bank draft only, as we can no longer accept personal cheques, made payable to Sony Computer Entertainment to the value of €160 (incl VAT) if your console out of warranty. This fee covers the cost of parts, labour, shipping and VAT.

• If there is a disc stuck in the console, please try the following process to release the disc:
Ensure the console is switched off.
While holding the eject button on the front of the PS3, turn the console on using the main power switch at the back of the unit – the disc should then eject from the unit.

The procedure will not work if there is a power problem with the console.
• If you cannot retrieve the trapped disc please sticker the console clearly with full contact details so that we may return it when it is received back from the repair centre in the UK. Please note this can take 7 weeks. Please email the below address with the name of the game and return address also;
• Email: Support@ie.playstation.com
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Damien360 · 05-11-2009 5:59pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Actually the ombudsman is not the place to be sending complaints I think it's more to do with the National Consumers Agency and all it would take is an email to them to find out where you stand with your legal rights..

I have dealt with the national consumer agency on another matter and they are like SIMI for cars. They are just a middle man if you are getting nowhere. About as useful as a fart in a hurricane.

For 15 quid in small claims court it is worth a punt.

bennyob · 06-11-2009 11:26am

I got a 17 month old ps replaced by argos. I argued that when you spend €500 for a piece of kit it should be reasonably durable (sale of goods and supply of services act). The girl did mention the 1 year warranty but as this was up, it was now between me and the shop.

She went to check it out but before she left i said that if she didn't give me a favourable response, i would go to small claims court. 15 mins later, I have a replacement model.

Moral: don't get sucked in by warranties, they are in addition to your legal rights. Your contract is with the shop so it is the shop that should be looking after you.

eddhorse · 06-11-2009 12:22pm

Would you have taken it to the small claims court though??

Depends on who is working in argos on the day id say !

Got an email back from console repair in Bray. Will be €60 to €100.
===================================================
Hi Ed,

Thanks for your email.

The cost of this repair would be €60 to €100 (Excl. p+p) depending on the problem. Our current turnaround is approx 7 to 10 days.

All quotes are subject to inspection.

If you would like to post your console, please click the link below for further information:
http://www.consolerepairs.ie/index.php?main_page=page_2&zenid=9abb1c3d0a66d81822f27d22adf00588

Alternatively, we are based in Bray, Co. Wicklow, if you would like to call into the workshop.

NB: Please note, we have recently moved premises. Our new address is:

Console Repairs Ireland
21 Quinnsboro Road
Bray
Co. Wicklow

If you have any further enquiries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Sheena

Administration

01 276 1111
======================================================

smooch71 · 06-11-2009 1:11pm

So much for the 10 year console.

Everybody slags of Microsoft but it really is getting harder and harder to defend Sony when you read this kind of thing.

Retr0gamer · 06-11-2009 2:02pm

I would take them to the small claims court. I'd say it would be pretty easy to convince a judge that a 500 euro piece of equipment should last longer than 1 year under the the description of goods being of mercheantable quality. You'll have to take it up with the shop though.

Gummy Panda · 06-11-2009 2:14pm

smooch71 wrote: »

So much for the 10 year console.

Everybody slags of Microsoft but it really is getting harder and harder to defend Sony when you read this kind of thing.

IIRC, MS brought in the 3 year warranty due to a case action lawsuit in america. In America its 90 day warranty and not one year so people freaked when the RRODs started

whiterebel · 06-11-2009 2:42pm

Gummy Panda wrote: »

IIRC, MS brought in the 3 year warranty due to a case action lawsuit in america. In America its 90 day warranty and not one year so people freaked when the RRODs started

No:
"Sony Computer Entertainment America ("SCEA") warrants to the original purchaser that the PS3™ hardware shall be free from material defects in material and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the original date of purchase (the "Warranty Period")."

Apple the same - 1 year hardware warranty.

Its a Class Action lawsuit, and for me its the main reason Sony gave people replacement machines outside warranty at the beginning, after 13-18 months, to stop these actions taking place in the States. Microsoft had only just announced 2-3% failure rate on XBox when they were caught out with the true figures, and announced the 3 year warranty.

eddhorse · 06-11-2009 3:12pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I would take them to the small claims court. I'd say it would be pretty easy to convince a judge that a 500 euro piece of equipment should last longer than 1 year under the the description of goods being of mercheantable quality. You'll have to take it up with the shop though.

I would but it was purchased in Zavvi !

Thank god its my cousins PS3 and not my solid 60GB BC model.
I would defo take them to court over that as it cost me around €750

Playstation SCEE stance on Warranties

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