Hello all,
I have just contaced GAME about my 4 yr old 60GB PS3 with the notorious YLOD/RLOD.
This was the email I sent them today,
Dear Sir/Madam,
Following a recent phone conversation with one of your male customer service advisors - which I should add was extremely rude and unhelpful - on Sunday, 14th August 2011 - and a response from SONY, I believe I have the right to claim a free repair/replacement for my Playstation 3, due to it not being of satisfactory quality, under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
I purchased a Playstation 3 console bundle from your York store on/around 20/06/2007, using banking records as an approximation, for the amount of £537.97. I also took out a GAME extended cover, starting on the 19/06/2007, cert. number 6201752457. I do not have the receipt anymore, because after 4 years and 2 months I had no problems up until the 14/08/2011 and I thought I was lucky. Therefore do not ask me for proof of purchase, but check your electronic records for the stated amount and approx date of purchase. Surely it’s not that hard to find out?
The problem is the notorious YLOD (yellow light of death), followed by the RLOD (red light of death) and the console is unable to be switched on and used. Many Playstation 3 users, of the original 60GB version have come across this problem, so it is not unknown. What was [un]amusing was that I was even playing on the console that day in the morning, then tried to play on it in the evening, and that’s when the fault occurred. This is clearly an inherent fault, as it makes no sense that it was working fine one moment then ‘packs’ in the next.
Sony has quoted £134 to replace the Playstation 3 console with a refurbished model, after stating that the problem was a hardware fault.
I wish to claim a replacement from GAME as my contract of sale is with you and it is reasonable to expect goods of this nature and cost to last longer than this (6 years under the Sale of Goods Act). Playstation 3 is most certainly designed to last a lot longer than 4 years, especially when Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai announced an anticipated 10 year lifespan for the console shortly after it was launched. This is one of my statutory rights as described in the Sale of Goods Act.
Please arrange for my Playstation 3 to be repaired or replaced within 14 days from receipt of this letter.
Might I finally add, we, your consumers pay your wages and if it weren’t for us you would be out of employment. So show that you actually want to help a loyal customer and to those others who are in a similar position as I am.
Yours faithfully,
Ian Cheung
And this is the response I got from them,
Hi Ian,
Thank you for your email.
I am sorry to read that you were disappointed with your recent conversation with our company.
I understand that you spoken to a male telephone agent, if you are able to provide a name of the agent you spoke to I will of course forward this complaint onto his manager.
I understand that you purchased a console on the 20th July 2007, as you may be aware, the guarantee period on this console is 12 months from the date of purchase. Within this period, if your console develops a manufacturing fault we would be happy to either refund or exchange this for you (subject to product availability).
Outside of this period your console would be covered under the Sales of Goods Act 1979, dependent upon the nature of the fault, however, when considering the age of your machine we feel that it has performed within expectation and has proved to be durable with over 3 years usage.
The six years you have quoted is the time limit for bringing a court case in England and Wales (5 years from the time of discovery in Scotland). At present a 'reasonable time' is not able to be defined by the Sales of Goods Act, and if you are wanting to contest the amount of time your console has lasted without incurring a fault, this will need to be decided on in a court of law.
Regrettably in this instance consideration the usage and age of the console will not issue a replacement or repair. You may however choose to contact the manufacturers Sony who do offer a chargeable repair service.
I apologise for any disappointment.
Regards,
Charlotte H
The Team at GAME
I need some advice as to the next best course of action, as I don't want a 'like-for-like' refurbished model from SONY at £134, which equally as liable to break with the same problem.
Thank you in advance!
Ian.