National class action lawsuit launched against Sony
Have you had to pay to get your kids’ “bricked” PlayStation fixed? If so, read on!
Photo by Declan Jewell
The version 3.0 and 3.1 firmware updates seemingly caused problems for a number of PlayStation 3 owners – and now they’re causing problems for Sony too. Some users claimed that their PS3′s Blu-ray player ceased to work after the update had been applied. Sony apparently stated that the problem was unrelated to the updated and hit the users with a $150 repair bill. This led to disgruntled US gamer John Kennedy of Florida filing a class action lawsuit against Sony Computer Entertainment America on October 3rd.
But now Canadians have a chance to get in on the (class) action. According to a press release by Toronto-based law firm Rochon Genova, “A national class action has been commenced on behalf of PS3 gamers whose PS3 consoles were damaged following the installation of Firmware 3.0 and 3.01. The claim seeks compensation as a result of alleged defects to Firmware 3.0, which was made available for download on or about September 1, 2009. The defendants named in the lawsuit are Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. and Sony of Canada Ltd.”
So, if you had to cough up to get yours kids’ bricked PlayStation fixed and would like to attempt to recover the costs from Sony, here’s your chance!
Will this count for the xbox
hypothetically speaking, yes. If this same issue was going on with Microsoft it would happen. But, generally as i’ve seen, if Microsoft messes up, they fix it and don’t try to shift the blame, so I think you would be okay unless this did somehow happen with Microsoft.
This is great! Now we just need to get one of these actions going to recover the time and money that we put into Socom:Confrontaion which was released, and remains, unfinished!
I would say no as Xbox is not a Sony product it was made by Microsoft!! If you’re having issues with your Xbox I would contact Microsoft.
Cheers!!!
Xbox warranty is for 3 yr’s they did this to avoid all the law suits when the 360 stated failing early on. If you 360 is toast after 3 yr’s you are S O L. I have had the three 360′s I own fail twice each and know have had to buy a fourth for my son. It’s a good thing the price came down. The problem with both systems is simply heat.
Who cares about the X-Box…this is a PS3 story!
You should care! This should be about accountability on the part of manufacturers everywhere! No mater who it is, they must remain responsible for their products and the people purchasing them. Having said that, the onous is going to be on the plaintiff in such a tort action to prove beyond a resonable doubt,culpability on the part of the manufacturer. Did they know before deploying the firmware update, it might cause these problems? Did consumers ignore a warning and deploy it anyway? At any rate, they should fix them as a “goodwill gesture”.
Sony should take the blame for a faulty piece of firmware. I’m sure they will settle out of court for this issue, they don’t want to set a precedence or blame for releasing bad firmware.
With the Chrismas buying season fast approaching you would think that Sony would want to easy the consumers concerns regarding their product. Sony should just buck up and fix the problem quickly.
My son just downloaded 3.01 update on Sony PS3 slim now it is inoperable. He cannot get a picture at all. I read where there were issues with this update. It is still under manufacturers warranty and could be shipped back for a new one. Anyone else have this problem? Is there any kind of fix or just send it back? This is frustrating since it is only 2 weeks old and ran perfect before he did this. It is a SATA drive (120 GB 5400 rpm) so maybe replacing this would possibly get the system back in working order? I am for sending it back since it is under warranty. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
PS3 just crapped out today. Nov.30.2009
Figures, I sent my first PS3 in under warranty and they shipped me a refurbished unit that takes a dump a few months after the warranty expires.
I sent in my complaint to FixYa.com
Hopefully they can get a lawsuit going.
Besides the Firmware brick lawsuit, anyone know of any others?
*Note* my PS2 lasted for several years…WTH happened to the quality of SONY?
NVM, the lawsuit on FixYa is not going through
mine got bricked as cant read any discs after the 3.01 firmware update so…count me in the lawsuit against sony. they pay for their screw ups. not us!
Saturday night I put a brand new Bluray DVD into my player and I got a disc error 800 … etc. When ejected the disc and I restarted the unit it asked me to update which I did. Now the system won’t read the Bluray discs, game discs or any DVD. The PlayStation 3 (60GB) probably has less than 100 hours on it as I bought it in a package with a HD TV in 2007 but never use the player or play games much.
Then, I found all the threads online about the various update causing the system to be “bricked.” It doesn’t seem like it should just break this way but even so Sony should fix it since their update is obviously causing these kind of problems.
Last night, I called Sony and after a 10 minute wait the Sony support person who sounded like a 16-year-old told me I have to either pay 150 plus shipping (total $179) or I keep my broken system. As if that’s a choice. So, I asked to talk to a member of management and he told me “they are in a meeting” and “call back in 15 minutes.
This is speculation, only Sony knows the answer, but I’m inferring after reading many threads over hours and hours trying to solve the issue that the problem with my Bluray reader has to do with the updates causing some systems to overclock or whatever the term is for components operating beyond their limits and for lack of a better term “frying.” As an aside, I have a relative that works for a company that actually manufactures lasers and he told me once there is no way to make every laser the same and all will fail eventually. They just have statistics for which ones fail at which times and try to deal with the statistics by tightening quality of manufacturing and catching problems in quality control. The biggest problems. I can infer from what I learned from my relative in an unrelated to this issue discussion about laser manufacture that some systems are able to handle the performance updates from the firmware and other have the Bluray frying as a result. I’m sure the number of machines in which this occurs is a smallish but significant percentage of the total number of machines out there but it would be cheaper for Sony if they would agree to fix those either for free or a much cheaper price than they are charging since obviously this update caused problems.
However, Sony won’t admit that their software overclocked and cooked the system components causing some to fail. But, they should really rethink the way they are treating long term customers such as myself. I’m almost 40, I’m a media professional with a college degree in journalism and I don’t just buy Play Stations but I buy other things – HD video Cameras, desktop and laptop Computers, HD TVs, Audio Components, DVD and VHS players, the list goes on and I’m going to think twice now before buying anymore Sony products. I’m certainly going to tell everyone I know too how much Sony’s customer service SUCKS! Sony may think they can get $150 from me and they might because they’ve got me in the corner with a broken piece of junk thanks to their firmware update. But, I’ll remember this for a long, long time! And the best way to not find myself in this situation again is to no buy their products.
Good for you, I am all for the long term memory solution to these companies who treat the custoner like he is an idiot. We work hard for the dollars that they just expect us to fork over.
I had a similar situation with Rogers in Canada about twenty years ago. the dispute was over a $70 reconnection charge. They told me I would pay it or not have cable. I left the amount on my cable bill for two years but finally was moving and stopped the service. They then deducted the amount from my deposit, which they collected interest on for those years.
I told them again at customer service that I had a long memory and would not use any Rogers service in the future if I had a choice. I have rented a movie, use their cell phones or cable, do not attend Blue Jays games or anything that Ted Rogers own or operates.
That $70 has cost Rogers thousands of dollars over the years. And I do have customer satisfaction and the last word.
Thank you for stating your problem, I will be wary of Sony in the future, your saisfaction is just beginning.
This type of wholesale boycott is EXACTLY what is needed to fix these companies attitudes!I concur wholehearteadly! We need to send a very strong message to these people that we will not tolerate this at all! But,alas,I fear,most consumers are “sheep being led to the slaughter”.Brainwashed individuals that need their “fix”,or addiction.
Well said.
I have the same exact experience and feelings. My machine had less than a 100 hours on it. Ridiculous. And worst was Sony Support’s lack of any concern.
Mine is shot because of the flash. I did what they deisgned this update for. Since it ruined my system, I went a bought another one.
Do they have the market cornered !!!1
Have the 60Gb version. Updated to the current 3.15firmware (as required to play a new game they put out!), then wham! No ps3 games or movies are even recognized. They go in/out ok, and the system seems ok other than… not reading any disks!!! (haven’t tried any PS2 games)
Come on Sony, fess up! (and PAY up to fix us!)
how do we join the lawsuit?
Rochon Genova law firm in Toronto are handling this class action suit.
Something has to happen, you hear more and more how this is affecting the 60 gig model. I called and they wouldn’t even talk to me since I broke the seal, like I told them, I work on computers, I wanted to test the lines coming into the player and by me breaking the seal after this problem had nothing to do with what they did wrong.
1)Ps3 working
2) 3.15 update
3)Ps3 NOT working.
Why should i have to pay to get this fixed when the update made my Ps3 inoperable?
Does this make any sense to you?
I dont care if it is out of warranty or not.
That does not give you the right to make me update to a update that makes my system unplayable.
I will be contacting the BBB and the news media if this is not resolved.I see I am not the only one with this problem as I have read many blogs about this issue.
This is rediculous. I just had the update from Sony, an hour later I turn it back on to watch the end of my movie and nothing works. I googled the update and found all of these blogs. has anyone successfully fixed theirs?
I have recently had this strike down my PS3. I want in just to get the thing fixed. I don’t want to pay to fix something that is less than a year old.
Patent infringment ,destroy them all with update, shut em down fix the ones with new chip that are sent to sony, the rest are dead
CONSOLES NEWS
Future of Sony PS3 threatened by new lawsuit
All PlayStation 3 consoles could be impounded and destroyed
By James Rivington
July 31st 2007 | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]
The Sony PlayStation 3 is in enough trouble, without these kind of legal wranglings
The Sony PlayStation 3 ‘s IBM-built Cell processor infringes a 1991 hardware patent and all existing units should be impounded and destroyed. That’s according to a complaint filed against Sony which alleges that the PS3 Cell processor infringes US patent number 5,056,000.
If the complaint is upheld, Sony could amazingly be forced to destroy all its Cell processors and to redesign the PlayStation 3from the ground up.
The lawsuit was filed by US company Parallel Processing which says its patent, “Synchronized Parallel Processing with Shared Memory” was issued in October of 1991. The patent explains how new processor architecture could break a program “into smaller concurrent processes running in different parallel processors,” and then resynchronize them. This would make processing times much quicker.
“On information and belief, Defendant Sony Corporation of America has infringed and continues to infringe on the ’000 Patent by making, using, importing, offering for sale and/or selling products among other things, covered by one or more claims of the ’000 Patent, including, but not limited to, Sony Playstation 3,” states Parallel Processing in the lawsuit.
PS3 in more hot water
It says that Sony’s infringement of its patent has caused it irreparable harm and monetary damage.
Parallel Processing wants all PlayStation 3 consoles which use the Cell processor (that would be all of them) to be impounded and destroyed. It also wants Sony to say sorry, and to reimburse all the money it claims to have lost.
Of course, it’s extremely unlikely that Sony will be forced to do any of those things, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.
how can i get in on this
the list of ps3 freezing can’t read disk players affected.
I have the now famouss problem myself and reading about it made me realise that there are a lot of people living this hell. I want to make an official list of player having this problem to see the magnitude of it.
come here to read more about it and be added to the list:
http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&thread.id=4284886&view=by_date_ascending&page=1