Sony Computer Entertainment is asking consumers to fork out $315 for a PS3 Blu ray problem much to the angst of Australian users of the $699 gaming console.
Writing in response to a News Ltd story on the new slim PS3, Trish of Melbourne said that when she recently reported a Blu ray problem to SCE Australia she was told that it would cost $315 to fix her PS3 console that was less than 2 years old.
She wrote “When the Xbox 360 developed a common fault outside the warranty period, Microsoft fixed it for free. Having to spend $315 to fix a PS3 console after not even 2 years is equivalent to spending about $10,000 on repairs on an average car – totally ridiculous”.
A subsequent search of gaming web sites has revealed that the PS3 Blu ray problem appears to be widespread.
At technical support site FiXya one PS3 owner wrote last week “I can’t play any games with my PS3, they freeze after 10m or so and then I can’t turn off the system and play other games at all. Is my Blu ray drive faulty?
Another user wrote “My PS3 is not reading a Blu ray disc. It is not turning on with the remote and it freezes while on the loading screen. I have to power down with main switch. Please Help”.
This is not the first time that Sony has had problems with their gaming console hardware. 18 months ago hundreds of consumers wrote to online forums complaining of Blu ray problems.
At the time an unusually high number of reports of intermittent playback freezes during Blu-ray movies and some games were posted to Sony’s PlayStation 3 forum, as well as to the AVS Forum.
The problem at the time appeared after PS3 owners upgraded to a new version of the system’s firmware.
Now consumers are complaining again with Sony Computer Entertainment in Australia refusing to comment to SmartHouse on the issue. They are also refusing to comment on why they are charging consumers in Australia $315 to fix the problem when the entire console is selling in the USA for $329.
In Australia SCE has engaged in constant price gouging with consumers forced to pay $699 for a PS3 console which is half the price in the USA.
