PS3 Failed

[zums]

So sometime around Christmas my PS3 froze up while playing Guitar Hero. After a restart of the system it no longer recognizes any disc that is put into the system (game, blu-ray, dvd.. nothing). The rest of the system still works fine so it is obviously a problem with the Blu-ray drive.

Called in to Sony in early January and they said I needed to fill out an online service request and would send me an email with information. Finally getting around to it today and begin to go through the process, when it is determined that they want $150 to service my machine! The actual purchase date is 11/26/07 as my girlfiend bought it in a post-Thanksgiving sale. Got the system for Christmas and began playing/using. In my eyes, the console failed within one year of beginning use and from what I can find online the disc read failure is becoming more of a prevelant issue.

I just had a 15 minute discussion over the phone with a "manager" in the repair request center and had no luck explaining my position or getting any budge on the price of service.

Anyone had this issue or any luck getting any sort of adjustment on a repair from Sony?

[Shkspr]

I'm presupposing the machine is offered with a one year warranty.

[snark]
So if I bought a PS1 back in 1999 but only took it out of the box and hooked it up last March, your position is that a one year warranty should still be valid. Curious. What if I bought it at CompUSA?
[/snark]

If the purchase date was 11/26/07, a one year warranty is valid through 11/25/08. There's no other way to spin it. It would be nice for Sony to hook you up, but let's be honest here. The ability/desire to provide service above and beyond contractual obligations is pretty much in reverse proportion to the amount of asshattery the service providers tend to get from their clients...and a cursory examination of the Internet reveals a stunning level of asshattery among the video gaming populace as a mob. I think your only hope of avoiding the $150 at this point is a RROD-like failure rate among 12-18 month old PS3 units. Sorry.

[jeff061]

Agree with Shkspr. However am I alone in thinking offering a one year warranty is kind of lame?

[Shkspr]

Lame is a lifetime warranty where lifetime is defined as "the lifetime of the item being warranteed", resulting in the curious notion that the item is only guaranteed not to fail until such a time as it fails. And yes, I have been the recipient of that reaction from manufacturers.

As far as a year goes, it's lamer than a three year and less lame than a 90 day. In most cases, electronics are allegedly supposed to either fail quickly or hardly ever. I think the PS3s are still considered to be within acceptable failure rates for electronics, but nobody in this generation except maybe Nintendo has much to brag about.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by jeff061

Agree with Shkspr. However am I alone in thinking offering a one year warranty is kind of lame?

It's the industry standard. All three systems offer the same warranty. Like it or not, that's the way it is.

[lighthousekeeper]

it's not the 1 year warranty that's lame, it's the high failure rate. colecovision probably had a 1 year warranty too, but did we complain - no - because none of our colecovisions ever broke.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

it's not the 1 year warranty that's lame, it's the high failure rate. colecovision probably had a 1 year warranty too, but did we complain - no - because none of our colecovisions ever broke.

The PS3 and Nintendo failure rates have been very good in this generation. It's hardly fair to compare it to a system that didn't have may parts to break. No one ever wants their console to break, but it happens on rare occasion.

I do think that the next generation will be much more reliable from a hardware standpoint as they all will have extended development time and won't be rushed out to market (all indications are that this generation will have an extended life cycle). All three can learn a lot from the 360's failures from a quality standpoint and just how much that hurt the growth ability of the console. Who knows how well the 360 would have done without the RROD issue coming to light.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

It's the industry standard. All three systems offer the same warranty. Like it or not, that's the way it is.

Well, not quite true, as Microsoft extended the warranty on the early systems when the problems came to light.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The PS3 and Nintendo failure rates have been very good in this generation. .

Don't be so sure. Data is still coming in and there are more reports like this thread all of the time. It's way too early in the console's lifespan to say conclusively that the PS3 failure rates are "very good."

[Buccaneer]

My son's GameCube, which he still plays everyday, had that problem last summer (where it wouldn't recognize any discs). I looked at it and found it was overheating and a good dust cleaning got it working great again.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Well, not quite true, as Microsoft extended the warranty on the early systems when the problems came to light.

You're right. The uproar was so great and the failure rate so high that they had little choice. That doesn't change the fact that they denied it for months and the facts are now fully out on how many corners were cut to create that issue.

In addition, Microsoft is only compounding the problems by shipping out remanufactured Xenon units as replacements for Falcon and Jasper units. That's a scary way to do business if you're truly trying to improve your quality image.

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Don't be so sure. Data is still coming in and there are more reports like this thread all of the time. It's way too early in the console's lifespan to say conclusively that the PS3 failure rates are "very good."

A failure rate of .005 still creates tens or even hundreds of thousands of 'reports like this thread'. There's no evidence of any major failures rates of any kind. If you have reputable media reports to indicate otherwise, feel free to produce them. For that matter, if you could provide information about the quality of all three consoles, that would be great so we could easily compare them. Thanks.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

You're right. The uproar was so great and the failure rate so high that they had little choice. That doesn't change the fact that they denied it for months and the facts are now fully out on how many corners were cut to create that issue.

In addition, Microsoft is only compounding the problems by shipping out remanufactured Xenon units as replacements for Falcon and Jasper units. That's a scary way to do business if you're truly trying to improve your quality image.



A failure rate of .005 still creates tens or even hundreds of thousands of 'reports like this thread'. There's no evidence of any major failures rates of any kind. If you have reputable media reports to indicate otherwise, feel free to produce them. For that matter, if you could provide information about the quality of all three consoles, that would be great so we could easily compare them. Thanks.

As you well know, Sony obfuscates the data. It will take time to come out just like it took time for the MS failure rates to come out.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

As you well know, Sony obfuscates the data. It will take time to come out just like it took time for the MS failure rates to come out.

And, I might add, if there's a substantial failure rate on the PS3 or Wii, they deserve just as much criticism as Microsoft has rightfully taken for their total disregard of customer first. As of now, there's no evidence at all that there are any higher failure rates on the PS3 and Wii.

[Pumpy Tudors]

[Chubby]

shit his PS3 failed? Clearly this proves the PS3 fails at the same rate as the 360s!

[Icy]

Originally Posted by zums

So sometime around Christmas my PS3 froze up while playing Guitar Hero. After a restart of the system it no longer recognizes any disc that is put into the system (game, blu-ray, dvd.. nothing). The rest of the system still works fine so it is obviously a problem with the Blu-ray drive.

Called in to Sony in early January and they said I needed to fill out an online service request and would send me an email with information. Finally getting around to it today and begin to go through the process, when it is determined that they want $150 to service my machine! The actual purchase date is 11/26/07 as my girlfiend bought it in a post-Thanksgiving sale. Got the system for Christmas and began playing/using. In my eyes, the console failed within one year of beginning use and from what I can find online the disc read failure is becoming more of a prevelant issue.

I just had a 15 minute discussion over the phone with a "manager" in the repair request center and had no luck explaining my position or getting any budge on the price of service.

Anyone had this issue or any luck getting any sort of adjustment on a repair from Sony?

The Blu-ray drive lens problem is the more frequent problem (from the infrequent problems) in PS3, specially in early models (late ones have an improved drive). It's said that if you use only blurays it's rare to have it broken, but if you use CD's or old PS2 games, the chances for it to break are higher. I have a launch date Ps3 and have had zero problems in close to 2 years, but i only use original bluray games.

Depending on how skilled you are, you can buy a new lens for cheap, like $30 i think, and replace it yourself.

As the Ps3 is out of warranty anyway, you lose nothing opening it (unless you don't trust yourself about being able to replace it). Search in google or youtube about replacing the Ps3 lens or even the full drive.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Icy

The Blu-ray drive lens problem is the more frequent problem (from the infrequent problems) in PS3, specially in early models (late ones have an improved drive). It's said that if you use only blurays it's rare to have it broken, but if you use CD's or old PS2 games, the chances for it to break are higher. I have a launch date Ps3 and have had zero problems in close to 2 years, but i only use original bluray games.

I've never heard that but then since I've had no problems with my ps3 I haven't actively looked for any problems or solutions.

FWIW I also have a release ps3 and, as I said, have had no problems. Like Icy I've only used it for ps3 games and blue ray movies.