PS3 owners dealing with broken units have had some problems getting their consoles fixed. The reason? Well, it’s all plain as day for everyone to see in the PS3 Warranty Text:
(2) THE PRODUCT IS USED WITH PRODUCTS NOT SOLD OR LICENSED BY SCEA (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NON-LICENSED GAME ENHANCEMENT DEVICES, CONTROLLERS, ADAPTORS AND POWER SUPPLY DEVICES). YOU ASSUME ALL RISKS AND LIABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH USE OF THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS.
In other words: if you didn’t use a PS3-branded or Sony-licensed HDMI cable when connecting up your PS3, you’ve just voided your warranty. This problem was first found be a user over in the AVS Forums who called Sony with a broken PS3. When he told them that he hooked up his console with generic component cables, they told him that his formerly-under-warranty repair would cost him $150. (Fortunately, Target was nicer to him and accepted it as a 90-day return).
If you’ve connected your PS3 to your TV with something other than a Sony-branded or licensed cable, and you want to get anywhere with Sony customer service, we can only offer one piece of advice: LIE!
Golly, I think it’s been a whole week or two since the last stupid item we discovered about Sony.
Dont you just love protectionism??
The once mighty Sony has really lost its way. It’s sad how the bean counters have taken over this company.
Why didn’t Ridley Scott put a Sony Logo in Blade Runner all those years ago… That might have solved the problem.
Sony – I hate you more than I hate the Christian Right.*
*okay – that’s crazy talk – but I really can’t stand the modern Sony.
Where’s that Hiroshima video from a few weeks ago? Can we do that to Sony?
Its sad they made a Propritary HDMI connection…
THEN didnt warn with LARGE words….THIS AINT HDMI.
Golly, I think it’s been a whole week or two since the last stupid item we discovered about Sony.
Gee.. THAT long?
I’ve hated Sorry since my first ‘Philips casette’ recorder (for the younger, there actually were a couple variations on cassettes when they first were introduced, driving 8 tracks and the rate 4 track cartridges).
J/P=?
Knock, knock, knock.
There.
One more nail in that coffin.
#3 “Sony – I hate you more than I hate the Christian Right.*
*okay – that’s crazy talk – but I really can’t stand the modern Sony. ”
So you hate a group of people because of their religion. The liberal leftists really do have something in common with Hitler.
8,
I can’t speak for the other person, but I loathe the Religious Right because they are neither religious or right. It isn’t what they profess to believe, it is what they actually do. If they truly followed Christ’s teachings that would be a different thing entirely.
#9 – I just got from lunch… Glad to see you covering me while I was out 🙂
I love watching the radical Reich-wingers use sneer ‘n smear tactics at people who reflect traditional American values and majority opinions. It makes them look so foolish, ranting at “left-wing liberals” who turn out to be the huge majority of people who are under the tall part of the bell curve in their beliefs and opinions.
Maybe these radical right-wingers have had their minds plugged into an unapproved cable all this time so their brains are out of warranty.
This is a standard lawyer written CYA included in all game consoles… check out the 360 and Wii.
I remember seeing a response from Sony a month ago saying that this was included for instances when the 3rd party cable was the cause of the defect (e.g. shorted cables, bad QA, etc.). In that case the cable manufacturer should be held responsible for fixing it.
you know, there was a time when I would have been a Sony brand loyalist. I have a 20yo Sony tuner that is still going strong, a PSP (that gathers dust in a drawer), a very nice CRT Wega TV. I bought the very first Sony Diskman, and another one that came with a built-in FM tuner – hot stuff, back in the day.
quality gear, all around. but now … no Sony for me. ever again. the litany of anti-consumer behavior is just too much.
#8. oh, and what’s that internet rule about the first comparison to Hitler or the Nazis crushes the usefulness out of any conversation? whatever it is, I invoke it
#14: You refer to Godwin’s Law.
Congratulations, #8! You’ve forfeited your side of the argument and have shown the world your mental prowess (or lack thereof)! As a side note, have you ever stopped to ponder how much the Christian Right has in common with radical Muslims?
Back on target: It’s rather amusing watching Sony shoot themselves in the foot. Repeatedly.
Why stop at cables? Why don’t they say you have to hook it up to a Sony TV, a Sony amplifier and Sony speakers?
For a long time it’s seemed like Sony has great product development people and boneheaded legal and marketing staff.
Microsoft, obviously, is the exact opposite.
Sony and apple are two peas in a pod – companies becoming less and less relevant and becoming more and more irrational and rash in their decision making.
#18 – Brian
Sure, lad. You oughta be a stock analyst.
That’s why, while other PC manufacturers are suffering, Apple is booming. Market share rising continually, stock price doubled in the last year, #1 by far in personal music players, #1 in online music sales, Macs selling in record numbers, sales going up every month, PC users switching in record numbers, which also keep going up every month, Apple TV ready to instantly dominate the market, the coolest and most eagerly awaited phone ever coming out soon –
Oh, yeah. Irrational. Rash. Irrelevant.
You trolls live a rich fantasy life, y’know that?
Bait, swish and Hook, Lauren.
Well, companies tend to do that. I’m still miffed by the fact that Apple charged close to 50$ for a “special” AV cable that allowed me to connect the iBook to an analog TV. Later I found out that that cable was like an ordinary AV minijack to RCA plug that comes often with videocameras, just that the video, audio L and R were on different pins.
Well I still think that Sony has some great products, (I just bought a Bravia 40″ LCD and I love it).
It is my understanding that the manufacturer can not stop the consumer from using aftermarket parts or accessories. Unless it can be shown that use of the parts caused the damage.
Any lawyers want to weigh in?
OK, as usual, I’m willing to take the rôle of bad guy and defend big, bad Sony.
Fusion – No manufacturer can stop anyone from doing anything they want to. You bought the thing, it’s yours. They have no right to say what’s done with it. That means, if you want to hook it up to a Xmas tree with 8-gauge jumper cables, they’ll step aside and say “go for it.” If it suits you, plug it into 440VDC! It’s your property.
HOWEVER! When you bought it, they included a warranty. It says, basically that you have the right to expect that your gizmo will do what you bought it to do for a reasonable length of time. It also sets forth the length of the warranty, what parts are covered by it, et cetera, et cetera. Among the things it specifies might be that they have no obligation to fix it if you don’t follow the conditions the warranty sets forth.
That’s what this whole thing is about, the conditions Sony put on the PS3 warranty. I’m gonna ‘splain why they did what they done…
HDMI connectors and cables have to be precisely made. There’s many wires, many precise solder connections in there, packed into a tiny space. If they’re not carefully made, those l’il connections will break, resulting in open circuits – not a good thing, and probably likely to prevent the gizmos at either end of the cable from working properly. What’s worse is when the wee wires come into contact with one another, what’s called a short circuit. This can be a disaster. The equipment the cable connects can be, and often is, seriously damaged or even destroyed.
When Sony says they won’t honor a warranty claim on a unit that has been used with cabling of unknown quality, that’s only fair and reasonable. If the cable causes an open, or worse, a short, it might burn out a 5¢ diode, or it may send 1A of 12V to the motherboard, instantly burning out every chip on it. And how is that Sony’s fault? They didn’t make the cable. They told you if you didn’t use one that they know to be reliable, they won’t be responsible.
This wasn’t such a big deal in years past, since the cables were generally simple and reliable. But today, China cranks out a lot of them, and they range in quality from pretty good, down to worse than useless. HDMI cables are complex and that means they’re expensive. So, to save a buck, Joe Sixpack sees, next to the $50 Monster HDMI cable, a NoNamo from China for $14.99. He says to himself, “Lookit them fuckers tryin’ ta rip me off! I wadn’t born yestiday! I’m gettin’ me one o’ them Chineeze jobbies!”
What he doesn’t know is, the $50 cable was made with precision machinery and inspected and tested to ensure it works right and will last. They don’t ship the failures. All those things drive up the price.
The Chinese cable, OTOH, has a failure rate of 2% or 5%. They just ship ’em all, since they cost next to nothing to make, especially since they don’t inspect them or test them. If they don’t work, they’ll gladly exchange it for another, because it’s cheaper to replace defectives than it is to make sure they don’t ship defectives. That’s just the reality of it.
Look at it this way; if you buy a Kia, and the engine siezes up while it’s in warranty, they’ll replace it, as long as it wasn’t, say, run without oil. The engine doesn’t cost them so much, so thay can afford to replace them now and then under warranty. But go buy a $140,000 Porsche. The warranty states that you must, absolutely, run it with MobilOne synthetic oil, nothing else. If you blow the engine, they have the oil analyzed, and if that wasn’t MobilOne in the crankcase, you’re fucked. And that’s their right, because that engine costs more for them to replace than most complete cars cost. They’re not about to give you a new engine for free after you put cheap oil in it and thereby blew it up! You’d insist on the same thing in their shoes.
Sony fucks up a lot, it’s a fact. But you can’t expect them to buy you a new PS3 when the piece-‘o-shit Chinese cable you bought – that they already told you not to use – burns out a machine that otherwise was working fine. It aint their fault, it’s yours. Get right down to it, it’s ultimately the Chinese cable makers’ fault, so you could go after them – and the people who sold it to you – if you like. But few people pursue it that far.
With a HDMI lead @ £99 in a store in Southport, England (thats about $180) . Any clause that forces a sale has got to be for great buisness.
On Ebay it was $18 including shipping.
They have TV programs in the UK promoting good buisness practice for visiting trades men, who are often exposed for ripping off the client with bogus repairs and parts.
Now tell me how are High street companies and Multi Nationals getting away with these types of “RIP OFF”practices.
#20 & 21 – JoaoPT
#20 – Why, thanks… I try.
#21 – Shaking my shake in sad sympathy, I agree. Sometimes shit like that really frosts my frijoles. I wish there was some accountability, that there were some way to find out just who signed off on screw-the-customer decisions like your A/V cable there. There’s too much of that, and it really runs counter to the original 2 Steves’ philosophy. More proof that the superrich, like Steve, forget their roots, and cease giving a flying fuck about anyone who isn’t swimming in moolah, like they and their friends. I know the sandal-wearing, bearded doper who had visions of empowering individuals with the wonderous possibilities of microcomputers, and getting rich and famous along the way, of course – I bet he never forsaw the day when his idealistic vision was gradually, silently replaced by a greedy pack of lawyers and beancounters who lose not a minutes sleep over charging average people $50 for a $3 cable…
Oh, well. Bad as it can be at times, it’s still far better than the alternative, and yes, Bill G., that’s you I’m talking about…
Almost forgot – wanted to come back to the top ‘o the topic here…
Eideard: In light of my response to Fusion there, I wonder if you feel the same way or if you might have had second thoughts…
If you bought a PS3 and connected it with cheap generic cables – and the HDMI cable shorted and fried the MB – do you still feel that Sony, after telling you specifically not to do it, should give you a free repair or placement for damage that they were, as they informed you, absolutely, totally and utterly NOT responsible for, ethically, morally, or legally?
– And I’m talking ONLY about a definitely defective cable, NOT some other unknown, inexplicable failure. –
And do you think that, if you buy a defective cable that does wind up frying the machine, that it’s OK to lie to Sony and deny that the cable you used, in direct, knowing violation of the warranty terms, caused the fry job, in order to save having to pay for your own mistake?
Inquiring minds want to know!
#24, Lauren,
I’m not arguing as much as raising points.
With the Porche, they may NOT insist upon only Mobile Synthetic. They MAY insist upon a specific quality and grade of oil, but not the brand. If, however, there is only one maker of that grade then they might get away with it. But not if BP and Exxon make similar oils. There is a specific law prohibiting auto makers from forcing consumers to buy specific after market products.
With Sony, they apparently did not specify a quality of cables, only that THEIR cables must be used. If they insisted the cables meet specific industry standards, then they have something they can enforce. Otherwise they might stand on dubious ground denying a warranty claim.
Again, I don’t know about non automotive products meeting the same standards as automotive warranties.
Aaah, Fusion, m’lad –
There’s an aspect here I must remind you of; you can always use or abuse the thingie you bought any ol’ way you please – but in order to maintain the rights granted you, the purchaser, under the product’s warranty, it is incumbent upon you to comply with the terms of the warranty as set forth at time of purchase and which you agreed to by making the purchase… whatever those terms, within provable reason, might be.
Porsche (or maybe it was Lamborghini? – I’m not truly 100% sure) can indeed specify the exact product they require you to use. You see, it’s not an aftermarket product – the oil is in the car when you buy it new, so it qualifies as original equipment. And they, being the people who built the car, have every right to assert that a specific product – which is supplied with the car – is necessary to proper maintenance of the car.
I seem to remember some nonsense with insurance companies wanting to substitute Chinese knockoff fenders and such for high-markup GM parts and GM retaliating by refusing to honor warranty claims on cars that had non-GM pieces installed. At least that’s what I seem to recall, it’s been some time ago and I’m too damn tiired to check it out…
Anyway, for the most part, whatever the manufacturer specifies is binding on you, since you voluntarily purchased the thingie and thereby also voluntarily agreed to the warranty terms and conditions… if you don’t find those terms acceptable, you are free to not purchase the thingie, see?
Sorry Lauren, there is a law that prohibits companies from what you suggest. It is called the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. I suggest you check it out. While I knew something like this applied to automotive warranties, I only thought it also applied to other consumer products.
The short story is the manufacturer may only stipulate specific aftermarket parts if they can prove to the Federal Trade Commission that only these parts / products will work properly. Thus Sony is most likely in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The onus is on the manufacturer to prove that the aftermaket product caused the malfunction.
http://tinyurl.com/4ds9a
#30, Available only in the US.
#30. cheaping out on the included cables seems to be SOP for some high-end gear. bought myself a Toshiba HDDVD player and it came with a composite video cable. that’s right, the yellow RCA plug, one step in quality up from coax. not even frikkin’ S-Video! How much more would it have cost to box a component video cable? not much, I imagine.
Well… Although you wouldn’t buy a HDDVD to play on SD TVs, the manufacturer doesn’t really know what’s your setup, so they only box the bare minimum…