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My PS3 just died.
Wonder_Hippie
__BANNED USERS regular
__BANNED USERS regular
It's two months out of warranty, a 60 gig model. MGS4 is stuck inside it.
What I'm asking is simple. Is there any way I can be a hard-nosed asshole about this with the customer service people and get it repaired for free? Kind of ridiculous that it falls out of warranty just two months after that period, and I've babied the thing. Is this ethical? Is it reasonable to be pissed off right now? It's a $150 fee otherwise, and I just don't feel that's reasonable when they're going to turf a "refurbished" 60 gig unit my way.
What I'm asking is simple. Is there any way I can be a hard-nosed asshole about this with the customer service people and get it repaired for free? Kind of ridiculous that it falls out of warranty just two months after that period, and I've babied the thing. Is this ethical? Is it reasonable to be pissed off right now? It's a $150 fee otherwise, and I just don't feel that's reasonable when they're going to turf a "refurbished" 60 gig unit my way.
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And before people ask about ventilation or dust or anything, trust me in saying that I've taken care of that. It sits on an open shelf all by its lonesome in a well-ventilated room, plenty of space for air flow.
That might not work. When I got my PS3 replaced I had to send in a copy of my reciept with the purchase date to prove it was in warranty so that I could get it replaced for free.
But I think it's reasonable to be miffed about it, yeah. When a piece of electronics takes a crap on you just after the warranty expires it is all kinds of irritating.
But if they won't give you a break, $150 is a lot cheaper than buying a new one and the turnaround time is fast.
Well if you're a customer service agent you're probably not going to care about the person calling in. So, them being an asshole to you, when you're following policy, isn't going to get them to do you any favors.
I was not saying that "not being an asshole about it" might not work.
I reccomend not being an asshole in most situations.
I notice you mention Folding... I've fired up Folding a couple times, in order to secure the warm fuzzies associated with helping researchers. Should I be reluctant to leave my PS3 on for long stretches of time, though? Is overuse of Folding a failed PS3 waiting to happen?
There's no way to know for sure. Who knows, maybe we'll see a spate of "I was folding and now my PS3 is dead" reports over the next several months. Maybe the OP just had a bum unit. If it's at all a concern for you, I'd say it's worth it to limit your PS3 folding to some degree.
It's the Clark Howard way.
I know a guy who has had it running pretty much solid since the program started with no trouble. I know several other guys who have done the same and wound up with bricked consoles. I don't fold, but if I lived somewhere with cheaper electricity, I would.
Quick story: I bought a copy of Microsoft Office 2007 from my university. Got a virus, had to format, had lost my cd and serial number. No problem, I thought, and copied down what was listed as my serial number in the info or about or whatever screen in word before i formatted. I go to install (there was a free trial on my recovery disc), its 5 digits short of what its supposed to be. I call tech support, with my original receipt and a physical copy of my license with all sorts of numbers. They bounce me from department to department, none of whom can help me, and some of them even blatantly lied to me for 2 and a half hours. I emailed Steve Ballmer's address (gotten from consumerist) explaining this, within a week I had 3 copies of Office 2007 show up at my door (it was forwarded to some head of customer service guy and he insisted on having every shipping warehouse ship a copy to make it as fast as possible after this.) I think this may have something to do with me pointing out how frequently I buy microsoft products and tossing in a quick "Something obviously needs to change if you intend to keep your dwindling customer base" at the end.
tl;dr: If customer service doesn't work, email somebody high up, make it obvious that they want to keep you as a customer, point out what their employees have done wrong to you, tell them what you think you deserve. If you send it to the CEO it'll likely get dealt with faster because the person who gets assigned to help you will know you know their company and the hierarchy, and that their boss will find out if they don't do a good job.
I would love to see this thread get hit with more anecdotal evidence on this. I've been trying to look online for opinions on this and haven't found anything solid. Currently I've been folding, but have been wondering if leaving the PS3 chewing on shit for long periods of time is bad for it. The air coming out of it is a bit hotter than I like, but I haven't heard of PS3 problems to anywhere near the degree I've seen from 360s in the news.
Edited for clarification: I probably could have worded this better. I'm not criticizing people here...I really do want to hear more anecdotal evidence, as that is the only possible thing to get unless ps3 failure approaches the levels of RROD we saw out of the 360. I'm just hoping for a general opinion of PS3 folding vs. not.
PSN: TheScrublet
I fixed my out-of-warranty 360 that had sound but no video by wrapping it in a couple of towels and letting it run for 20 minutes, then letting it cool down for another 20. When I started it up, it worked perfectly, and has been fine for the last several weeks.
It seemed really counterintuitive to me, and I don't suggest doing it to your PS3, but I read that it might work for my 360 problem, and I had nothing to lose. It turned out to be a good gamble.
As for folding at home... I stopped leaving my ps3 on overnight for it a while ago, but that was because it had a noticeable effect on my power bill. It makes sense that it would affect the life of the console, though.
You're not out of line to be mad, but its just shitty luck. You don't have any right to a free repair.
Also, if you bought your ps3 on a credit card check with the card company to see if they offer the double warranty thing.
Turnaround time is far from fast. It took them 3 FULL business days to even take a look at my service request form, then another 1.5 before they mailed my coffin, THEN the coffin with THREE day shipping took SIX, and now that it's there, they say 7-15 business days, which is anywhere between 1.5 and 3 weeks. THEN they're going two take another day or to with "handling" and then overnight it to me. Let's hope I get one in good condition, because it sure as hell isn't going to be mine. And if they send me a DOA one, or one that's scratched to shit, I have to send it back and go through all of this shit before they fix their fuck up.
Oh yes my pristine black angel, I'll see you in 6 weeks.
edit: About shipping: I live in Columbus, Ohio, not bumfuck Greenland or anything
I live in bumfuck northern california, where overnight mail is not possible due to how remote it is.
I think turnaround time was less than two weeks for me. I consider that to be pretty quick.
Especially considering that the result was that I got a working PS3 with no scratches or anything.
You have to turn it on. Not only that, but the PS3 has to be on even if you turn it on automatically. You can set it up to run whenever the system is idle, but you have to CHOOSE to do so, and it still won't run if the PS3 is turned off.
PSN: TheScrublet