210°

My experience with Sony’s appalling customer services

How a random crack on the Vita screen turned into a nightmare for the customer.

Kingthrash3603929d ago (Edited 3929d ago )

I had to deal with them when I got the ylod on my ps3. long story short...the customer service representative was being a di*k. I ended up cussing him out abd talking to his boss. boss solved problem.....moral of story...if they treat you bad, cuss them out ask for management problem solved. pretty sure this tactic works with most customer service lines.

iamnsuperman3929d ago

You don't need to "cuss" them. Talking in a controlled and normal manor is enough. All you have to do is say "can I speak/take this up with your manage"

Hellsvacancy3929d ago (Edited 3929d ago )

No, some people when i'm on the phone upset me that much I HAVE to tell them that they're morons and i'm not going to be treated in that way, otherwise they will think they can speak to anyone like that

Aceman183929d ago

Yea everyone will have a different experience when it comes to customer service. When my original 60 gig broke down when the discontinued that model the rep was actually cool enough to send me a brand new 60 gig from their warehouse.

The second they sent me a new one back 4 days after I sent it out to them only negative was that whoever opened up the system didn't send me back my GT5 that was stuck in the system. That turned out to be OK because a week later a Sony rep gave me his copy for free at my brothers Gamestop when he came there to demo KZ3.

xReDeMpTiOnx3928d ago

@kingtrash, totally agree with you some people need to be cussed out because they don't give respect. Some people no matter how nice and respectful you are to them will still treat you like dirt so applaud you for cussing them out.

I do it when I have problems with customer service and it makes them double think before being a smart azz

iamnsuperman3929d ago (Edited 3929d ago )

"However; I was then told that the serial number had come off due to general usage. They then said they could identify the console from the remaining numbers, but due to the lack of the serial number it was now out of warranty"

I have this issue right now but I am not backing down. My sticker came off after 5-6 months use and now my screen has gone funny and unpredictable. I have sent a letter, after I called them about the issue, the other day and if that doesn't do anything I will find other means to annoy them. If it means standing outside their office naked with a billboard so be it. It is unacceptable that an important sticker comes off so easily.

http://community.eu.playsta...

NumOnePS3FanBoy3929d ago

Lucky for you That it is actually an issue with the screen not a crack. I say this if you only have the manufacture warranty that comes in every electronic devices for a year. This is replaceable by them because you had absolutely nothing to do with it and is more than likely an internal issue or defective display, which the manufacture warranty has to cover. If this person had a bad time with sony's customer service but only had the manufacture warranty and no extended accidental damage protection than his fight and anyone else's fight is hopeless because they will not repair your screen. If that gentlemen did buy an accidental damage protection for it then they are totally ripping him off and are being dicks about it.

iamnsuperman3929d ago (Edited 3929d ago )

I know but they still said my warranty is void because of the stickers falling off. I am going to fight it though. I can't afford a replacement nor would I pay for it if I could. I am just going to keep trying with them and if that fails I will just take it higher and contact the Office of Fair Trading....

NumOnePS3FanBoy3929d ago

I've had a similar situation with an asus touchscreen laptop that was a bad batch right from unboxing. I thought they might have been glitches on the screen so I gave asus some feedback. They were pleasant enough to tell me " that is most certainly no bug, but a defective display". The screens responsiveness was pretty bad day after day until I finally called them like a month or two later and told them that I have a bad screen and that that the one year manufacture warranty should cover. And that was it NO hassle NO nothing. They knew I was right and they sent it back to me with a new screen incredibly fast. If I ever have problems like this I hope I experience the same level of no hassle as I did with these guys.

Patashnik3929d ago

Say what you like about Microsoft, when my XBL account was compromised (and I lost A LOT of money) they bent over backwards to make sure I was not only reimbursed, but back up and running as quickly as possible. They even gave me a whole heap of bonuses and then checked up on me a month down the lie to see if everything was okay.

I couldn't fault them at all - it was very impressive.

minimur123929d ago (Edited 3929d ago )

very impressive, I'm not on team Xbox but that sounds awesome :)

I may be a playstation fanboy, but I'm more level headed, for example I'll agree that the triggers are better on Xbox ( apart from the fact they're so thin)
I do agree that both sides has it's advantaes/disadvantages, but to be honest, Sony knocks it out of the park with exclusives, look at this photo:
http://i.imgur.com/zl10SZ0....

anyway, that's awesome to have such awesome customer service :)

KingKelloggTheWH3929d ago

When my brother tried to cancel his X-Live they charged him again and told him to pretty much deal with it.

Both have good and bad

FanboyCrusher3929d ago

That's a lie, they don't, and can't do that. They can't recharge you for something such as a Gold subscription attached to a credit card, and when you want to cancel it they charge you the same amount again. From a business point of view that doesn't even make sense. Somebody paid for a certain amount of time, stopped the auto charging, and screwed themselves out of the days left in their subscription, but they want more money from you? Why? They made their penny. It just doesn't work that way. Microsoft of all things they mess up on entirely, they have phenomenal customer service. Long story short Microsoft has it's shortcomings, but it's customer service is one of the best in the industry, hands down.

oof463929d ago

@KingKellogTheWH:Yup. It's why I don't tie my credit card to my console. I've heard it takes a lot of hoop jumping to fix something like that.

However, when my first machine red ringed, whoever I got on the line was really friendly and professional.

Aceman183929d ago

@fanboy

Actually king is telling the truth my friend at work had his live acct hacked and lost money when he called their customer service they told him they'd fix, but they actually charged him again for the same amount that was charged to him by whoever hacked the acct.

He said it took 6 months to actually get his money back, and after that he cancelled his live acct.

Benchm4rk3928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

@Patashnik

I agree mate. I couldn't fault MS customer service at all. Very helpful and polite on the phone. Have never had to deal with a RROD despite owning a launch console so I guess I was lucky. I did however accidentally stand up and smack my head on the disc tray causing it to not stay closed. My console was out of warranty and it only cost me $118 postage included to fix the drive and they gave me unlimited warranty for 12 months. Sony however was a different story. After about 12 months my console died and would not power up. Could not work out why possibly a power surge. When I contacted them I got rooted around for a while before speaking to a nice person who then went onto explain that it will be a flat fee of $250 and I would have to pay my own postage on top and that I would receive a whopping 3 months warranty when I got the console back. I laughed and hung up the phone. EB games here in Australia at the time were selling pre owned consoles for $299 that came with 12 months warranty so in went down that road. Would never wanna deal with Sony customer service again

KingKelloggTheWH3929d ago (Edited 3929d ago )

Ive had bad experience with all of them Except Nintendo (never called them)

My friend though had pretty good with Sony and MS,Sony r helped get his old data onto his new ps3 and bricked the ps3 that was stolen from him.He's also owned like 10 ps3/360's....

Also,prepare for fabricated and exaggerated stories!...as you can find already.

GameCents3928d ago

I find that most stories pertaining to "my friend" are bogus. . .

DragonKnight3928d ago

Yeah because everyone has nothing but great experiences with all customer services except for Sony's right?

Aceman183928d ago

I actually tell a true story of what happened to my friend with his live acct and I get disagreed to hell and back because ppl refuse to believe bad customer service can happen to any company including their favorite ones smdh.

KingKelloggTheWH3928d ago

What purpose would lieing about that serve?
It happened,he also got a replacement for his Xbox when it died,since that is pro-Ms I bet you'll be happier.

oof463927d ago

@KingKelloggTheWH: The only experience I've had with Nintendo was calling their gametips hotline as a kid.

hiredhelp3929d ago

Think can be hit and miss here in UK customer services can be pain often tryin to get threw to talk to management cant be done.
I have phoned in past Sony couple times one for my old PSP witch was out date cost of a refurb was ridicules the other was replacement YLOD witch i got replaced then sold on to buy Slim.

My dealings with MS at first was ok.. When i had te launch 360 but after needing a replacement on 2-3 even 4th time. The manner changed resulting inthe end they wouldn't give me back my purchases on XBL. This made me wild of course these were launch 360s and replaced with refurbs.
By that time PS3 was launched sold up bought PS3 and resistance fall of man i was good for solid 3years till got a slim.

Customer services Never something enjoyable im always concerned on who im gonna be taken my matter up with somebody nice? Ignorant? Arrogant? Or just wants to hang up on me.

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280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
ChasterMies14d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken14d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga14d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken14d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6414d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long14d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197214d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic14d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 14d ago
DivineHand12514d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91314d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer14d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91313d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit13d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 13d ago
Christopher14d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6913d ago (Edited 13d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit13d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher14d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken14d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197214d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic14d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2314d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218314d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit13d ago (Edited 13d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder14d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts14d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

Show all comments (43)
80°

Sony May Soon Let You Decide How Much NPCs Talk In Games

Sony has patented to add multiple dialogue modes to let players switch between how many conversations with NPCs they want in the game.

blackblades20d ago

Sony is like the only ones outta the 3 that has atuff like like this pop up changing thing in ways.

just_looken20d ago

Sony in the past has always been first at bat with new ideas/tech but in the end never fully use it or just toss it away.

blackblades20d ago

I think they did use some but yeah most usually never happened but at least they thought about it. Sony seeks things like this and other, Nintendo seek different ways of playing going by there different controler designs and console designs.

just_looken20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

some of the other stuff sony want's/owns never used
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://www.eurogamer.net/s...
https://metro.co.uk/2023/03...
https://decrypt.co/114754/s...

monitor/adjust game difficultly as you play
https://www.techradar.com/g...

Sony nfts
https://www.theblock.co/pos...

Pay ai to play the game for you
https://thebusinessofesport...

Oh all the above last 12 months

I just imagine a evil scientist with test subjects when it comes down to sony recent patent reports.

Kaii20d ago

Will we get dialogue options that won't spoil puzzles in a matter of seconds? :p

280°

Judge rules in PlayStation's favour in $500m patent infringement lawsuit

Genuine Enabling Technology was seeking damages, claiming the tech allowing PlayStation consoles and controllers to communicate infringes its rights.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
S2Killinit22d ago

Big victory for Sony. And a long time coming.

DarXyde22d ago (Edited 22d ago )

Crazy to think the savings from this lawsuit allows them to develop one AAA game.

Make it Bloodborne 2, please and thank you.

22d ago
Profchaos22d ago

Sounds like patent trolling they tried the same thing against Nintendo with the same pattern.

Motion and control input traversing over higher and lower frequencies seperate from each other allowing the controller to do both

Pyrofire9522d ago

Patents suck. Most of them are complete garbage.

Knightofelemia22d ago

So to recoup the money Genuine is going to take on Nintendo or Microsoft next. I hate patent lawyers they are some of the worst bottom feeders out there.

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