Sounds very much like Sony....

Looks like I'll be needing to move to Finland :-p

Whoever bought that got screwed!

ha ha
ha
ha

Well, he'll never forget how Sony screwed him. And of course it was a special screw, it was his first!

Sony loves to screw people!

Makes that horse armor look like a good deal now doesnt it.

But what was it for? My dumb corporate Websense filters "games" categories. although what it was for is irrelevant to the cost. Do they not have Home Depot in Finland?

40quid for a screw :O, still cheaper than the 85quid i had to pay to get my 360 fixed (got red lights 3 days after warenty ran out)

Guys, it's an Ultra-Cell-Enhancing screw that doubles the number of cells in your super cell processor.

OR

You can enhance your games by screwing said special screw into your brain.

wut was the screw for? was it covered under warranty?

for a customize screw, this isn't that unusual, not not exclusive to sony.

Ohh OK reading the link provided to the other forum, it's not for a PS3 but for a Sony 3-way speaker.

Here's the part showing the model of the speaker:
https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/PartsPlusResults.aspx?stype=parts

Here's the speaker:
http://www.sony.com.au/catalog/product.jsp?id=XS8303

Still too expensive though.

[insert joke about "screwing" here]

@bobvilla:

From the picture, it looks pretty standard, although clicking thru the "buy it direct" link in the post, it looks like Sony tries to sell this one for many different devices.

Lol, i bet there are tons of funny screw puns. If only someone would post one here :p

Wow.

Talk about the screwing you're getting for the screw you got!!

Damn and they don't even give you lubricant...

And no doubt Sony continues to wonder why nobody is buying the PS3 while Nintendo is laughing all the way to the bank with over Wii sales.

All the previous comments have screwed up my chance at making a funny comment....

I think I have some of these screws at home in my "spare parts" container. Maybe I should Ebay them to PS3 owners that need repairs.

STOP THE PRESSES

I found a guy in Hong Kong that'll sell use these for HALF as much!

We covered this with the projector adjusting foot a while back - The cost is justified by the overhead required to process the request and maintain a spares inventory.

Is it overpriced, yes. Do you have to buy it from Sony, no.

Learn to find your own spare parts at Home Depot or www.mcmaster.com - otherwise stop whining...

Wow, all I can say is wow. All the good screwing comments were already posted - it'll teach me to read The Consumerist first thing in the morning!

Makes me hate Sony even more! Even if it was a screw with one of those proprietary heads, I bet you could still buy the dang screwdriver and a box of 144 of those screws at Home Despot, Lowe's or Amazon....

@Skiffer: "Is it overpriced, yes. Do you have to buy it from Sony, no."

Do you have to buy it from Sony to keep your warranty from being voided, yes.

"Learn to find your own spare parts at Home Depot or www.mcmaster.com - otherwise stop whining..."

Have you ever commented about how high gas prices are? If you have, then learn to ride a bicycle or drive an electric car - otherwise stop whining...

Just because a company can make the price of something really high does not mean that they should. Granted they are in business to make money, but there is a different between a profit margin and price gouging. That is what there are anti-price-gouging legislations. Granted, there might be more overhead to make the screw more expensive, but are you honestly telling me that you believe the actual cost of this screw to Sony is anywhere in the vicinity of $80? If the price direct is $40, overhead might be a tiny bit more, but double the price? That is a lie. Considering that this screw is not any better quality or functionality than other screws and is being sold for double what it should be, when screws of a similar ilk are not, means this is gouging. If you don't have a problem with gouging, then that is your choice Mr.Executive-of-non-consumer-friendly-company-posing-as-a-consumer.

(It's a Dutch name)

We have a local company that has a huge inventory of screws and can custom make them. "Screw City?" I dunno. I forget their name. It has got to be easier/cheaper to take another screw into somewhere and to ask for something close to it.

order the screw, measure it, return it, then buy a duplicate at a hardware store for $0.10. dumbass.

I see an arbitrage opportunity for screwing the Finns.

This seems like a good deal. I would think a "special screw" was something like $200/hr

Screw you, Sony.

Sorry, I had to say it.

That guy got nailed with quite a bill.

@strider_mt2k: Perhaps, but Hong Kong is part of China, and if their trends speak any truth, the screw is probably made out of some weird substance that resembles metal but is really some toxic chemical that is solid at room temperature. Oh, and don't bother reading the tag - it'll say it's 100% steel.

This is where a good repair shop comes into play. I immagine that by european law Sony is required to keep these things in stock for a number of years.

If this was to keep the warranty, the screw would have been free. Even in poor warranties cover the parts, not labor.

Maybe there *is* something really special about the screw but, if the repair shop was worth its salt they would have been able to find a suitable replacement and offer it for less. Then leave it up to the consumer to decide to pay the difference.

@eldergias:
"Do you have to buy it from Sony to keep your warranty from being voided, yes. "

You seem to have gone a bit off the rails. If the product was under warranty, why was the consumer being charged ANYTHING for parts.

I'd be far more interested in that answer than a generic anti-corpaorate tirade on profits.

Did he get to, uh, "screw" the ice virgins??

If it's that much for a screw I wonder how much installation cost. I really need to get a new job. If you can make that much selling screws, I'm in the wrong line of work!

@Techguy1138: No warranty is all inclusive. If I dropped one of my stereo speakers (which I have) and tried to get it repaired (which I did) and the repair facility was able to verify that the damage could only be caused by a source not covered by the warranty (which they did: dropping the item) then the repairs are not covered. Screws do not simply break, some extreme action had to be taken to break a screw. Damage due to user error is almost never covered in warranties, but such damage does not void the warranty. However, "fixing" a problem with your item yourself (see every XBox 360 forum) will cause the warranty to be completely voided most of the time.

Hope the answer was as interesting as you expected.

It's Sony's way of saying we're not in the business of parts -- use the aftermarket or buy a new one

@Hossofcourse:
yeah,, in construction thats what we call a "F*** You" price.

It seems that Sony found the overpriced mistake and rectified it by adjusting the price for the SPECIAL SCREW to $38.40. There, now we can still Screw them but receive half the screw-backs.

i think i would start glueing things together....i wonder
how many of these screws our government bought???????

Sony sucks, they actually want people to believe it cost them $80 to stock pile screws for repairs.
If it really is that expenesive then why dont they just keep a schematic and measurements of the screw digitally so they can email it to whoever needs one. That way the person can go to their local hardware store and find the same or equivalent screw for $.25

That is not that much I have seen screws for aerospace, medical, and the film industry be a lot more. Darn proprietary screws.

I'll take six of them so I can attach my $2000 military toilet seat to my crapper.

Wow, I never figured any Consumerist story would feature my native country.

Oh, by the way, the secret to the seemingly high price of that single screw is simply the fact that we can afford to pay that much for screws.

hey, if Jesus was able to ride a dinosaur, why not?

That looks like a simple wood screw. Nothing special about it, unless it's made out of unobtanium. Keep in mind that Finland's standard of living is roughly 3x ours, so that also adds to (but doesn't justify) its outlandish price.

@brkl

Tosi hauska, mut suomalaiset ei tienaa niin paljon mika tienataan muissa eu-maissa, jos ns. "cost of living" otetaan huomioon.

Sorry for my rusty Finnish--I left that horrible country a year ago.

Yeah, the cost of living is through the roof (those damn screws!) It's just a joke -- I have no wild ideas about wages in Finland. I think you're exaggerating, though. There's a whole bunch of poor countries in the EU and certainly the quality of living here is higher than in most places. Taxes may seem high if you come from elsewhere and don't get to enjoy all the advantages, such as free quality education.

I'm sorry you didn't like your stay here. I know several native English speakers who have lived here for years or decades and seem to enjoy it. I have to wonder what made it so intolerable for you.

I swear to GOD I had two screws just like that one holding up my coat hook on the back of my door at my old apartment.