“I just got off the phone With PS3 customer support who kindly informed me that my PS3 is “too dusty” to be replaced under warranty. But won’t provide pictures unless they are subpoenaed.”

I have kept my 60gb PS3 in Its entertainment center since its purchase. It is known within the PS3 community that the thing is a HUGE dust magnet. I took good care of it, I have about 10 Blu-ray discs (did NOT come free with my PS3), 5 games, 5 controllers, 2 42″ Bravia LCD’s 1 50″ Bravia 3lcd Rear projection TV, A Vaio desktop, Vaio laptop, I’ve even got a psp and location free TV. One day I turn it on and put in a disc and it doesn’t show up, then it wont eject, finally I get it to eject and I try a blu-ray, nothing, CDs, nothing.

I call Customer support who originally tell me that they can do anything because I don’t have the original sales receipt, (it was a GIFT!!!), I stayed on the phone for hours explaining to them that I don’t have thee receipt as it was a gift from my parents. Finally I got a rep who said that it was strange that earlier reps hadn’t let me go through with the exchange as if it was a gift it was policy not to require a receipt. He sent me a box, I boxed up my console and sent it in.

5 days later I have no updates on the PS3, I call in to check on it, The first rep I speak to says that it was received without a receipt, and was delayed but he was going to note that it was a gift and get the replacement sent out to me.

6 hours later I get a call from Neil saying that unfortunately they have opened the case and taken pictures of the inside and outside of the case and that it was too dirty to be eligible for replacement. I paused for a good 8 seconds, because my PS3 had not moved from the entertainment center that it sat in more than 8 months I had wiped it off before sending it out, THE WHOLE POINT of the PS3 Is that it is part of your entertainment center! I Told him that was crazy and that it was a known problem that the PS3 collected mass loads of dust. That their product hasn’t even been out for 1 year and he’s telling me I’m out of warranty because there is too much dust in it!? I told him that someone needed to double check because I really took care of my PS3 and there was no way it was so dirty that they wouldn’t replace it. He said he would and he would find out about getting pictures.

The next day I got a call from the same guy, Saying he couldn’t get pictures, and there was no way they could replace the console unless I paid 150$ out-of-warranty replacement fee. I dais I needed to speak to his supervisor and it took him a while but he eventually transferred me to yet another person who just told me from the pictures they saw of the outside of the PS3, the memory ports and the USB ports, that there was dust inside of these ports, and that there was no way they would replace such a dusty console.

I then asked for HER supervisor, who was a very rude woman named Daria Woo Ext # 55682. She basically told me if I wanted the pictures of the PS3 That they were property of SCEA, And that I would have to SUBPOENA the pictures! I told her that this was ridiculous! That in order to take the same pictures that they did I would have to open my case, and void my warranty! I asked her if I could record what she was saying and she immediately snapped a NO, And asked for what purpose, I told her it was so I could educate the entire world on the ethics of the PS3 repair center. She told me my only options were to have the PS3 sent back, pay 150$ for a replacement, or leave it there for 10 days until it gets sent back. I told her to leave it because I was going to write a few emails so that this situation could actually get resolved. She told me any email I wrote or number I called would get me transferred to her department and that she would not help. I asked her exactly what part of the warranty stated that if a unit is too dusty it cannot be replaced.

She told me that it was under “acts of god, customer abuse” section when I had clearly told her that it sat in my entertainment center acting as a blu-ray playing, folding@home computing, media center and that obviously the amount of dust inside the console is caused by a design flaw and not my quite dust-less room.

I don’t get it! Sony is including Folding@home with their consoles, The auto-start feature makes it so its running almost all the time, OF COURSE ITS GOING TO BE FILLED WITH DUST! A few reps said that the reason they couldn’t replace it was because it looked as if it had about 2 years worth of dust in it rather than 8 months….. The console hasn’t even been out a year so obviously that is less than a years worth of dust.

I love the PS3, I’m a Sony fanboy, I have a copy of Heavenly Sword Un-Played because I’m waiting for the replacement to come back, For them to say they wont replace it because it is such a damn dust magnet is absolutely ridiculous. IM NOT paying 150$ for someone to use an air compressor to dust off my PS3 re-test it and send it back. MAYBE Sony should let their customers know that excessive dust voids the warranty, so that people can start selling air filter set’s for it, and air-sealed boxes for the PS3 to sit in.

Warranty-voiding clumps of dust shouldn’t constitute normal wear and tear, and certainly wouldn’t rank high on the list of awe-inspiring acts of God. Tell us wise commenters, what should reader Ive do with his divinely dusty PS3? Pay Sony $150? Maybe smash the dust out? Share your advice in the comments.

(Photo: lunarworks)

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