Sony PS3 Customer Service FTW!

by Chad Lakkis on August 29, 2008 at 12:40 pm

A few days ago, a long time friend of mine called to let me know that he had some positive video game related news for me, and I said “ok shoot.”

He told me that his brother had gotten his COD4 disk stuck in his recently purchased PS3, and that the system would not eject it. So he decided to give a ring to Sony’s customer service line. He explained the situation to a supervisor and was told that it would all be taken care of immediately. What Sony did next was pretty amazing.

Two days after his call in to the company, he received a package from FedEx. Upon opening the box he he was greeted with the following items; a brand new PS3 40gb console, two new controllers, a Sony Blu-ray remote control, a new copy of Call of Duty 4, and Formula One Championship Edition.

That’s a pretty nice package considering he never had a Blu-ray remote, an extra controller, or the Formula One racing game. Now that’s customer service.

Afterthought: Would you be willing to work your way up the chain of command in a company to get taken care of or is it just not worth your time and aggravation?

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Tags: Activision, Call-of-Duty-4, customer service, disk eject, game stuck, Infinity-Ward, PS3, SCE

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Comments »

DavidGX
on August 29, 2008 1:25 pm

Sony probably counted that free PS3 as a PS3 sale.

lolololololol…. sorry had to @_@
KillinBots
on August 29, 2008 1:47 pm

“Sony probably counted that free PS3 as a PS3 sale.

lolololololol…. sorry had to @_@”

That must be why they’re outselling a cheaper console in every single geographical region and country.

lolololol….sorry had to :)
greeneggsnsam
on August 29, 2008 2:20 pm

I like Sony. Despite bad press, they consistently deliver excellent products and service (unless outside of warranty: then you’ll be paying bucketloads for repairs).

Also:

“Would you be willing to work your way up the chain of command in a company to get taken care of or is it just not worth your time and aggravation?”

What has this got to do with the article? Was the brother working for Sony?
kjb
on August 29, 2008 2:24 pm

who cares if they counted it as a sale or not!
I know you 360 owners are pissed because you bought a system that was obsolete as soon as it hit the shelves. Thanks to your shitty system, gta4 isn’t as great as it should have been and the developers of bioshock won’t make the game any better because they don’t want to hurt microsoft kids’ feelings

So while microsoft and their dedicated fans keep trying to use sales as their talking points, and keep releasing halo after halo and all the knockoffs that look and play exactly the same, the ps3 games are getting better and better and offer more variety
Past regrets
on August 29, 2008 2:34 pm

I don’t buy this for a second. Complete nonsense. A complete plum gets a disc stuck in his DVD player and Sony send a whole new console plus the game and a new one.

Naive.
Super Furry Lasers
on August 29, 2008 2:44 pm

Past Regrets, you are an idiot. Sony are a company that respect their customers and realise that their satisfaction is the most important component of their business; not technology, even though it is far superior than the rest of the guff on the market.
jerk
on August 29, 2008 2:49 pm

go shove your red ring xbox fanboys lol its not even 30% everyone i know has had their xbox fail at least once and a most have had it fail 3 times so youre noobs anyway bet they count those as sales only reason xbox is doing good this gen is because the systems advertised everywhere and there are a ridiculous amount of xbox giveaways. im not a fan of shooters as you can tell and if i was cod owns halo anyway BAHHH FLAMEFLAME FLAME you had it coming
Black Nose of Dane
on August 29, 2008 2:59 pm

When did this become a 360 bash, Jerk? Super Furry Lasers - it doesn’t matter how good the technology is, if you can’t write decent games for it, it’s rubbish.

The PS3 will win the ‘war’, but that besides the point. Microshaft have made a huge dent in Sony’s sales, and that will hurt Sony. If Sony put too many eggs in the Console market against Microshaft, they will loose, look at Microshafts past; they always win. Too much money, despite their technology being inferior.
Jobo73
on August 29, 2008 3:20 pm

This kind of story does not surprice me. I have had great experiences with sony’s customer service. 5 years after I had bought my PS2 on lauch day it went dead. I called Sony and they had me send it to them so that they can fix it for free. It only cost me shipping charges. I have a friend that also had the same experience.

Listen I love the console wars, why you may ask? Well it keeps all three console companies on their toes. That is great for the customer. I love my PS3, it is the best thing I have bought for my theater system. The Xbox I don’t have but I don’t knock it even with all it’s faults. Because the PS3 has it’s faults to as the Wii also. All I know that it is a great time to be a gamer.
Jim
on August 29, 2008 3:21 pm

nice touch that it was so fast - but the rest is what “customer service” should always be.

the product was broken, they replaced it… what’s the big deal about that they do what the should do in the first place?
Stallone1993
on August 29, 2008 3:44 pm

Could you imagine if 33% of the failed Xbox’s were counted in its sales.
v4v
on August 29, 2008 5:20 pm

@ jim

did u read the whole thing ?? they included an extra controller and a game. i never heard of any customer service that gives free extras….so sony’s customer service is exceptional
DavidGX
on August 29, 2008 5:33 pm

Wow, some pretty harsh responses to my post.. you guys probably would have known I was kidding if you didn’t immediately shove your head up your asses and start flaming.

Seriously though, enjoy your underpowered console and sh*tty ports.

I mean that :P
M4RT1N
on August 29, 2008 6:08 pm

I know Sony customer service rocks!

My console died after a year, since having it from launch day,
It was more than a year so i rang up expacting to have to pay for it to be repaired, however they said ” on this one occasion, as a gesture of good will, we will replace the console free of charge ” the next day they delivered a new 60gb ps3 in exchange for my old one, even when the 6 0gb has been discontinued. I was truely amazed.

:D
Sony rock
madpuppy
on August 29, 2008 8:06 pm

Can anyone tell that DavidGX is a 360 owner??

blah…..:P
shamon
on August 29, 2008 9:56 pm

wow i only got the matrix movie that was stuck in mines and a new 60 gb system with renewed warranty.
SeasonedSalt
on August 29, 2008 10:32 pm

Sony can’t sell them so now they’re just giving them away.
flewid
on August 29, 2008 10:41 pm

so, let me get this straight. his old ps3 just has a disc stuck in it, so they sent him a new unit without asking him to return the old one? it isnt unheard of to score some free stuff due to a hardware problem but to not be asked to ship back the faulty unit makes me wonder? btw, i am a 360 owner and i found this article a little intriguing. notice my non-fanboyism?
uc
on August 30, 2008 1:22 am

BS they would never ship with FedEx they use UPS.
Chad Lakkis
on August 30, 2008 1:44 am

flewid,

Of course he had to ship back the defective unit.

Chad-
F u all
on August 30, 2008 4:09 am

Lies all lies and pure BS…. and to KJB you must be a child or just dumb and finally to the douche who said the ps3 will win the console war lol keep dreaming the Wii is killing the ps3 here in the US and in Japan the wii is the console king this gen.
Joe Mama
on August 30, 2008 4:45 am

HOLY JESUS

xbots are like a disease on the web, they just can’t stay away from anything playstation related. And then the extreme ignorance, look at Killzone 2, UNcharted, MGS:4 and yet they call the Ps3 underpowered when each one of those games stomps a mudhole in ANYTHING the 3fixme has ever put out.

xbots = bad for gaming.
madpuppy
on August 30, 2008 5:06 am

gamecube 1.5 (Wii) with its unsurmountable pile of shovelware and gimmick is a joke. It is a game machine for people who don’t like games. the games look bad even the supposed good ones, the controller is an imprecise nightmare, and idea of spending more money to buy an add-on that improves that is insulting and shouldn’t have been needed in the first place. the big N is milking the casual gamer for all it can get. not that its a problem, they are a for-profit company after all.
flewid
on August 30, 2008 6:30 am

oh okay, because that detail wasnt mentioned in the story.
Gunny Highway
on August 30, 2008 6:58 am

Hey All,

I am the brother of he person this happened to. I can assure you that this all all true. I would not have believed it either if I did not see it myself. Basically here is what happened.

Starting on Monday

- COD4 got stuck in PS3, would not eject no matter what,

- My brother called pretty upset about it. I think the first rep was not very good so he asked that it be escalated.

- The escalated rep express regret to this happening, and assured him that is was still covered under factory warranty.

- He was asked to send back his PS3 and the shipping will be covered free. (He actually sent back the console and his controller, he didn’t know he did not need to send back the controller)

- On that Wednesday (which surprised), he got a package that contained a brand new copy of COD4.

- My brother was pretty happy with that, but was concerned he might not have a PS3 to play it in for a while.

- That Friday (Which shocked me even more) He go another package. It contained a New 40GB PS3 (he Model he had), two controllers, a Blu Ray remote, and the Formula One racing game.

Now as for the FedEx, UPS question that UC brought up. I think it depends on your region. It is common to have different contracts. I get packages from Microsoft, some days it is FedEx others it is DHL, one time it was UPS.

Now, I know that most of this seems to good to be true, but if I did not see this happen, I would be skeptical myself.

Then I got to thinking, has the world came so distrusting to corporations, that we find customer service like this so unbelievable? I have dealt with bad customer service, and good customers service (I still think TiVo is the best :-) ). I think this is just a great story, and that is why I shared it with Chad.

Chad, also called my brother to confirm and get more details, so it is not like he just got everything through a 3rd party, he also got it from the person who this happened to.

I say kudos to Sony Customer Service on this one. It is nice to read a story like this once and a while.

On a side note, before anyone calls me a Sony fanboy, I have both a 360 and a PS3, to me they both have pros and cons. To each their own. Can’t we all just get along and just play some games?
flewid
on August 30, 2008 7:57 am

@ gunny -

i agree. my household has all 3 next gen consoles, and as you said, they all have their pro’s and con’s. i have gone through one 360 already. my brother went through one launch ps3 already. the fact that in each situation, the problem was handled so we were both satisfied should be nothing less than expected. and this was a good tale of good customer service.

and to the fan boys - if you want to to dig up bad information about this console or that, if you look hard enough you will find bad press about them. unfortunately in a capitalist market not everyone is going to be satisfied. so shut up and enjoy your games :D
greeneggsnsam
on August 30, 2008 8:35 am

Thanks for the insight, Gunny.
Mr. G
on August 30, 2008 10:36 am

I think it’s a load of old bull. There’s a way of ejecting discs when they get stuck. Same with the 360, you take the front off and there’s a button somewhere (you have to use a paperclip to press it.
gunnar2906
on August 30, 2008 12:14 pm

Here is the same in Russia.
My friend bought a new PS3 as I recommended him.
I was very upset when he called me and said that his new PS3 was defected - it didn’t switch on after a few minutes of working.
I recommend him to call to Customer Service. They just asked him to go to the shop he bought it and replace it. Plus he got a free disk of just released Ninja Gaiden Sigma and a new controller. It was aprox year ago
kjb
on August 30, 2008 12:59 pm

F u all:

The wii is gay. I think it says “for ages 0-5,50 and up. Yeah, it was something different and fun for the 10 minutes i played it, at which time i said lets go play real table tennis
Gunny Highway
on August 30, 2008 1:05 pm

@ Mr. G

While you may be correct, you have to admit there are some who prefer not to take apart a system (even if it may be easy) and eject a disk. Also, keep in mind, the PS3 is a loading drive rather than the 360 where to pops out for you to insert a disc.

I have a MacBook Pro and it uses a loading DVD drive just like the PS3, no paperclip hole to be found for ejecting disks. I bet he PS3 is similar, and I am not willing to take the front apart to prove it. :-)
Jaso69
on August 30, 2008 1:06 pm

I wish this happened here. I am in Austraila. I lent a friend The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to try out his New PS3. It got stuck in it. He had to send it to sony service. That was back in May. He got his PS3 back a week ago. I am still waiting for them to send back my game. No extras were given.
Sony Glitter
on August 30, 2008 5:21 pm

You PS3 sheep tire me. The PS3 is over priced, over complicated and over hyped.

How can you brag about a console that, so far, has failed to achieve even the smallest proportion of the hype that Sony have thrown at it?

Sony have made a huge mistake. Sony’s arrogance will be their downfall, unless of course Gran Turismo actually ever gets realised before the PS4.
TheWhaler
on August 30, 2008 10:56 pm

That’s awesome that they did tha. I don’t see why people are saying it’s a lie just because they didn’t have the same problem, hell even the guy’s bro came on and gave us feed back.
Sony Glitter: No disrespect but why are you calling people PS3 sheep when 360 has more fanboyism then anyone can count that will come into a ps3 conversation and bash it? But I DO agree that ps3 did over hype itself and I’m a SONY fan, I just think they’re slowly regaining what they lost on opening day.

Peace and Love
-The Whaler
jerk
on September 1, 2008 8:04 am

the truth is that i was mostly joking and i was a little pissed off at that fag david. sure he says hes joking but every ps3 related article he writes some form of mockery which makes me go HEY THATS MY 600$ PURCHASE YOURE DISSING
jerk
on September 1, 2008 8:12 am

lol 3fixme thats mean. But seriously what do people have against ps3? ps1 and 2 both started slow. You can expect greater things from this console down the line. BUT mgs4 made me want to crap myself it was so amazing. Nothing on an system this generation compares to that game and yes ive played basically all the AAA games on each console. jesus i love that game. david you do realize your picture is sephiroth from ff7 a playstation exclusive series up till now? Have you had a change of heart or are you a pc gamer??
Jamie Alabama
on September 17, 2008 11:35 am

Folks i wish i could say the same for Sony. i jsut bought a PS3 2 3 weeks ago. All i got from Sony was alot of flack and they said I can send it in and they will send me back a Factory standard” system. I said No i want a brand new one and they would not even discuss it.

They also lost my PS2 when I sent it in Sony sucks and as soon as I get their “Factory Standard” system I am selling it and going MICROSOFT!
Patrick Steen
on September 17, 2008 2:46 pm

Why would u contact Sony after you just bought your PS3?
Cyclonus
on October 1, 2008 9:32 pm

Least if wasn’t the Red Ring of Death oh wait thats XBOX 360. Thats why I bought a Playstation 3. Playstation til I die.
Cornagandarub
on November 8, 2008 3:18 pm

Sony Glitter, as a true, nice, caring, human being, to you, i say, go the fuck away. Sony is a company that responds to their customers with promptness and quality, so even if PS3’s break down a lot, it’s still not as much as XBOX 360’s failure rate at 0.33 so if your PS3 break’s down, you can expect it to be repaired, my PS3 is currently being fixed because mine was broken, it was sent in a week ago, and i expect to have it before Tuesday morning. And by the way “uc”, Sony uses Puralator.

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