[Resolved]  Sony Playstation 3 — Crashing and service

I addressed this to the chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment (desperate measures and all that).

Subject: PlayStation 3 problems

I write this letter to you with deep regret. Since the early part of the 1980s, my family has had a deep association with Sony’s various electronic products. I grew up in Dubai always watching the world through a Sony television, and listening to music on a Sony Walkman and later the Discman. Some time later, in 2003, I purchased the PlayStation 2, a gaming console I was extremely happy with. I am an avid gamer, and I enjoyed the variety of games. What I took for granted then was just how stable the system was. Not once in my three years o[censored]sing it did it freeze or crash, or do anything it was not supposed to. Not once. When I heard that the PlayStation 3 was about to launch, I gifted my PS2 to my brother, who lives in a small town in India. Just last month he thanked me yet again for the gift. He has no problems with it. This is unbelievable. Five years without a problem.

The PS3 is another matter. Sir, I am deeply disappointed with the PS3. I feel this disappointment more keenly only because I know how much I waited for your system’s launch. The day it came to Dubai, I purchased one (60GB) and returned to India, where I live. I was easily one of the first people in India to own one. Within eight months, it crashed. No explanation why. I protected it from power surges, kept it in a cool room, kept a fan nearby. But it crashed. Thankfully, it was under warranty. So I took it to the official service center in Mumbai, where I thought the problem would be resolved. But the staff told me that they could only accept machines bought in India. Given that all problematic machines were being replaced, I failed to see why they could not accept my Dubai-purchased machine. But they were unwilling, and I had the machine shipped to Dubai where it was replaced. Within a month I had the replacement machine. Nine months later it crashed again. No explanation. I tried Mumbai once again, but the reply was the same. I called Dubai, but they said it was out of warranty.

Out of sheer frustration I did not attempt to repair it for three months. Every time I saw it I would feel angry and disappointed. Finally, in January, I took it to an electronics workshop that charged me half the price of the PS3 for the motherboard. Half. It was equivalent to the price of a plane ticket to Dubai and back. But it came back in working order last week. Today I slipped in Resistance 2, one of your newest games. As it updated, it got stuck. An error came up (Error no: 8002F1C1). Now my machine does not start.

Now there’s nothing I can do. I don’t want to spend more money on repairing this anymore because I don’t want to worry about when it will crash next. Such a beautiful machine, and there are so many errors. It is at odds with the Sony I know. What is more frustrating is that no authorized service center in India will fix it. Why? The PS3 was not officially launched in India until late 2008. Does that mean I should have not bought the PS3 elsewhere so that I could enjoy it in India? I am deeply, deeply disappointed.

Whatever happened to Sony’s quality controls regarding this product? And where is the customer support? Please tell me what you would do if you were in my position. Please tell me what I should do.

Regards,

Rahul Bhatia
Mumbai.