Thank you for contacting us regarding our Warranty policy as it pertains to the condition of your PLAYSTATION 3 console.After consultation with legal counsel, SCEA has determined that the photographs of your console as returned to our service center are neither confidential nor private. Consequently, we may lawfully release these photographs to you. Because the photographs are not confidential, we may also release them to media who inquire about your recent internet postings concerning the console.
Regards,
Cindie Smith
Sr. Manager Technical Support, eService & Security
Sony Computer Entertainment America
Consumer Services Department
PREVIOUSLY: Sony CSR: What? No! Dust Doesn’t Void Your PS3 Warranty!
Dust Voids PS3 Warranty
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@crazylady I think it’s pure speculation on your or my part as to if this guy is not keeping up with the household chores… and frankly I think that vaccuming may make the problem worse, it throws particulate matter into the air, of which the PS3 is pulling into itself for cooling, apparently all the time if it’s running Folding@home and whatever apps.
Any dust that’s in the air will stick inside the unit, negative attraction, that’s the way electronics work that use air cooling. If it’s moving a lot of air, if the person is a smoker, etc. it’s going to make the problem a lot worse (especially the smoking). Comes down to this, I hove to and DO open up all my PC’s at some point and do a good cleaning job, that means vaccuming all the bunnies out, taking a toothbrush to the cooling fans and heat sinks, unless Sony allows you to pop the hood on their units there’s no way to get all the dust out and the unit will eventually fail to thermal issues.
I don’t know if that’s a risk to technicians health but I think the unit had to have clearly been mishandled to accumulate that amount of dust in the short time period that PS3′s have been on the market. In addition, any amount of dust could be hazardous to a technicians health by the very nature of what dust is composed of. i would wonder what all that dust is actually composed of before I could answer if it was a health risk. All the same… if they are arguing hazardous to health then Sony is wrong.
I would like a response to everyone’s posting here.
The main questions I have seen asked so far, IMO, would be:
1.) Why is it so dirty?
1a.) Did the customer send it to Sony in this condition?
1b.) If yes, did the customer leave it in an extremely dirty and neglected space? If no, did Sony or the shipping company cause this amount of dust/dirt?
2.) Why the heck would someone keep their PS3 in this kind of condition? Nevermind just a PS3.. no matter the possession, how could one justify such a statement as “a normal amount of dust accumulation” (in the first posting of the PS3 Dust story on The Consumerist)?
3.) In what ways does the dust and/or dirt seen in the above pictures present an active health risk to the technicians? Have they never dealt with a system that is at least as dirty as this? Do they not wear proper clothing whilst repairing expensive electronic components? (ie: Mask, hairnet, gloves, etc.)
4.) If they customer was to pay the $150 “fee”, Sony would then repair the console in question, correct? If so, how does paying a $150 charge change said “risk”?
5.) Does the money somehow make opening the system to determine the cause of the failure “worth their while”? Or is the “hazardous to our technicians” line just a ploy to cover up the flawed warranty?
6.) And furthermore, why would Sony put up such a misleading ploy just to get the customer to pay the $150 charge? Why not explain that the dust was/is the CAUSE OF THE DAMAGE/FAILURE in the first place, and have the customer then pay the charge?
Something seems askew to me.
to be honest, i personally don’t think it looks dirty enough to be a “hazard” for the technician. i’m guessing they took those pictures from the position that would bring out the “neglect” the most. i have an xbox 360 and i also leave it sitting in my home entertainment cabinet, running constantly with downloads and stuff. it is just this dirty, if not more! mine just recently had a hardware failure, so i sent it in under my warranty it was fine. i think it’s pretty stupid to 1) not fix it under the warranty which he paid extra for in case something like this happened, and 2) to state that dust was a hazard to the technicians. thats is a big load of BS and we all know that. i think that the technicians should toughen up a bit and fix his ps3 >_>
The wording of the “yes/no” survey here is unfair. No, the console doesn’t present a health hazard. But Yes, it is too dusty to be repaired under warranty. It’s not just dust inside, or around the intake vents, it’s all over the outside of the case. Look at how much dust has settled on the horizontal surface above the USB ports. This system looks like it was kicked around a baseball diamond. If there’s just a buildup inside due to the configuration of the fans, that’s the manufacturer’s fault. But the consumer is responsible for keeping the system in a reasonably clean environment. Frankly, I dislike any warranty that is voided by the opening of the case. Electronics that need fan ventilation are dust magnets, and the consumer needs to be able to open them up and clean them out to keep them running properly. I bought a custom built PC that has a door on it, so I can do just that.
The people that voted sony should fix it, are idiots, and I hope nobody ever fixes anything of yours without charging you shit-tons of money.
Seriously, who would say no?
Do people even realize what dust and electricity can do?
Well, a nice shortcut and electrical shock can occur easily enough, let alone that this amount of dust could cover an entire Mexican village and suffocate anyone living there.
Seriously, take care of your bloody stuff. How on earth could you accumulate so much dust? Did you use it in a desert or something?
Sony is right on this one and anyone saying they aren’t, go back to yer Xbox.
I would vote for “yes” if I am the technician who’s taken this repair request, I don’t want to breath in the unknown “dust”. I would also vote “yes” if I am a computer geek who takes care of my computer hardwares. I would definitely vote “yes” if I am some sort of hygenist.
Voted YES. Dude don’t send your toys back dirty! Always remember to clean up things before you get them replaced whether its from the store or mail. Didn’t yo Mama teach you any better than that? All you had to do was get a wet wash wrag and wipe it down. I hope your Momma see this proof, shed smack you upside the head, cus if you would’ve cleaned it they wouldn’t of started trouble wit you.
The man’s system should be repaired, $600 when it came out I purchased it also and already it’s overheating, $600 machine should’nt have to be pamered like a baby’s ass, people do have dogs and if you play it alot the mutha going to get dusty, are we supposed to clean it everyday, fu noway, not everyone is a compulsive clean-freak perfectionist, I had the same prob with my pc from bestbuy some geeksquad tried to say dust was hazardous I asked him what we’re made of, wussy’s scared to actually work and get dirty, they should try my trade just for a few hours, sickos
I agree that this is quite a dirty system they’ve gotten for repair. I also agree that the allergens on the system could cause an employee to get sick. But I have never heard that dust has voided the warranty on a PlayStation. If they want to void it based on that, it has to be in writing on that paper that nobody ever reads that says something along the lines of “rules of the warranty”. It’s usually in the box with the item you’re purchasing or available online, during registration OR a call to the manufacturing company can lead you in the right direction. There are just too many variables for me to speculate that this system was either not cleaned by the owner or made dirty by the person working for a company that doesn’t want to fix this unit in warranty.
Also, I think that people should not judge others based on some simple pictures from the internet. The internet has become one of the most unreliable sources for information and you’re going to jump to the conclusion that this owner of the PS3 is a slob? What if that person is a single parent of kids and works more than they sleep? What if…I don’t need to continue this rant. I just wanted to say that I thought it was a harsh thing to say about someone you have not a clue about.
Does the owner live in a FUCKING EGYPTIAN TOMB?!
All i have to say is that as states by many, a 600$ console should not have to be pampered, It sat in an entertainment center like any other component of an entertainment system does, And like so it collected dust.
there is no way that sony has not serviced Sony Receivers that have more than 10x the amount of dust my system was coated in. as they are WELL KNOWN to collect mass amounts of dust just as desktop PC’s Are!
to all the scum of the internet that beleive i kept it in unacceptable conditions, The room it was in was kept quite clean, The entertainment center/system was not cleaned on a regiment as 99%+ of them are not, it (as most peices of furniture and technology do) stood its place and served its purpose. And in under a years time SONYS FIRMWARE UPDATE broke the system, The system didnt spontaniously stop working, it stopped during a system update, so obviously the dust wearing on the board doesnt fit, Seeming as the old system boots to the update screen just fine.
I really cant even beleive the amount of people that had such strong opinions on what happened, and have been thoroughly repulsed by some of the things that people have blatently made up in lou of actual information.
People have said that i was paid to go on fox news by microsoft to bring down the ps3….. nuff said there.. oh internet… i once had respect for you.
Fact is the system WAS NOT abused, nor neglected. And i say that because i know that normal usage of a system is not considered neglect, and unless there is a big yellow sticker somewhere telling me in order to remain under warranty i need to mini-vac my system once a month then i see no way they can tell me my system has too much dust inside of it, or at least my situation even given the pictures you see is not even CLOSE to what i could or would consider neglect or abuse.
611 comments… wow..
Its all said and done now, I loved sony, hated microsoft (gaming wise), And now i just hate both….
I was literally in awe when the technician told me that my system was “too dusty” for repair, AFTER he had already told me the system was received in good condition and was being tested ETC!
I cant stress enough that i treat my electronics with care and respect and the dust on the console (especially under the card reader) is just a result of IT NOT BEING OPENED OR MOVED because i never used the card reader. And i cant say that the DSLR Flash they no doubt used didnt help blend the dust into the backround.
To whoever said that the PS3 doesnt create static elctricity i dont even know what to say to you… you either havent owned or purchased a ps3 or dont remember what static electricity is.
Open a brand new ps3… pull it out of the box. and notice how all the plastic wrap sticks to the casing…..
i simply cannot beleive the way i was treated,
Its almost as if all these trolls that are talking about me living in a pig farm got themselves jobs at sony because the woman i spoke with acted like i wanted to take her first born son.
I still have the old PS3… still boots to a half loaded firmware screen…
Maybe there should be a new Poll What to do with the old system?
A. Charity auction where proceeds go to buying as many 360′s as possible to spread to lucky children
B. Fill the PS3 with sand and send it in for another check-up, pictures all the way
OR C. Scientifically prove that the dust was not the cause of the failure and sue sony for $25,000,000 in damages.
That should not be a problem, my old one was dustier than that and i took it apart and cleaned it out about 3 times in the year that i had it, most people wouldn’t do that.
It just stopped working out of warrenty and sony have sent me a new one next day, lets see how long it takes for this to get as dusty, mind you i do have it on all day use it for Play TV and streaming movies from my NAS so it is constantly sucking, i polish it regularly but literally within an hour its covered in dust its like a dust magnet, nothing else gets so dusty so quickly.
The one above is dirty, probably hasnt been cleaned and has been handled a lot but its not damaged at all i see no cracks of scratches, its the design , amount of fan power used and silly external material, the only place it looks good is in a glass cabinet.
Come on people, even if the guy was a pig, I would think he would have dusted it off before he sent it in. I would have to see proof from the serial number and the warranty before I would even believe it was the same one in question. Mine give up the ghost one week after the warranty went out. Have you ever opened up your computer after a year? I dont care how clean your house is, it looks like mouse fur all over in there. My guess is after all the squable, Sony made up a set of pictures that were not even of the same unit. Their quality speaks for itself in the number of junk units out there, I for one will never buy another item from Sony and will not reccomend them to anybody in the future. They should take care of the people that spend over $500.00 on a piece of junk that dont last much longer than a year.
Ok, Where to start. I have been following this thread/article since it first came about. From listening to the customer, also how he represents him self on the phone. I do believe these pictures are Sony’s doing. There is no possible way that console got like that from sitting on a shelf. I don’t care where you live. Trailer park, shed, log cabin , card board box. You’re ps3 wont look like that.
I believe Sony (after refusing to release photos) figured they could save their own butts by loading tons of dirt/dust onto this guys unit. I mean think about it. Those who have listened to the phone call recording, the reprehensive for Sony even said their was no pictures in the file he brought up. Just a long description of what is wrong with the unit and the technicians final decision.
So do we have to start taking photos and videos of the condition of our playstations before they go right into the shipping box to Sony? I know I am as I just had my personal unit fail on me.