A Watchdog segment on the ”thousands upon thousands” of broken PS3s in the UK was aired by the BBC, in which it claimed many are forced to seek repair outside of warranty.
Sony fired back saying this was a ”questionable use of the licence fee”, as Watchdog used ”experts” to freely repair broken PS3s. Four of those ‘fixed’ later stopped working.
It was certainly a bizarre spectacle and the BBC came of worse for the experience, both in journalistic practice and quite possibly legal recourse from Sony at some point.
”SCEUK has run searches of its customer complaints/warranty database to identify the number of reports made to it regarding instances of system shutdown or failure in circumstances where the front panel yellow indicator is illuminated,” wrote Sony’ Ray Maguire.
”The results show that of all PS3s sold in the UK to date, fewer than one half of one per cent of units have been reported as failing in circumstances where the yellow indicator is illuminated. As Watchdog has a very high awareness amongst the UK audience, it isn’t surprising that some people have contacted you with regard to this issue.”
”However we think it is highly unfair to suggest that from an installed base of 2.5 million that the numbers you mention somehow are evidence of a ‘manufacturing defect’.”
Generally the reply was kept cordial but the displeasure of Sony executives was felt clearly.
”If the report is broadcast in what appears to be its current form, SCEUK will scrutinise its accuracy and will take all necessary steps to protect its reputation and that of the PS3,” they warned. The Watchdog segment was later broadcast.
This is a busy time of year for platform holders, as Sony notes, ”Unsupported and potentially misleading allegations of the sort that the BBC appears, from the correspondence to date, to be planning to make concerning the reliability of the PS3 could do significant commercial and reputational harm to Sony and its brands.”
”This is particularly so, given the recent, highly successful launch of the new, slimmer model PS3 and the fact that the last quarter of the year is the busiest sales period for the consumer electronics industry.” The full letter is available over at GamesIndustry.biz.
Have you seen the Watchdog piece on the PlayStation 3?
Source: VG247
