An Open Letter to BBC Complaints
Did you watch the BBC's consumer affairs flagship report on the Playstation 3?Published 18/09/2009 at 11:00 by colossalblue
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Those of you that saw the BBC One show “Watchdog” yesterday will have seen the report on the PlayStation 3’s “Yellow Light of Death” issues. I watched it twice and was inspired, for the first time in my life, to write a complaint letter to a media outlet. This is that letter, published here but also on it’s way this morning (via proper post, if the postal service isn’t on strike again) to the BBC complaints department in Glasgow. If you were annoyed by the report for any sensible reason then I strongly urge you to do the same. The Television Licence Fee which funds the BBC now costs £147.50 per year which isn’t cheap in these hard times. What follows is the full transcript of my complaint letter and is obviously my personal opinion rather than the official stance of TheSixthAxis.
To Whom It May Concern,
I wish to address the most recent episode of the BBC’s consumer affairs programme Watchdog (original broadcast date of 17 Sept 2009). In the episode there was a report concerning the Sony PlayStation 3 and the recent issues which have been widely reported by consumers concerning the “Yellow Light of Death” (YLoD).
I work as a blogging Editor within the gaming industry for a website which prides itself on accuracy and fairness. We report on the issues affecting gamers in the UK and Europe and have seen numerous reports of the so called YLoD. I believe that the problem is becoming widespread (chiefly, I believe, among launch consoles) and serious enough to warrant further investigation.
The news that Watchdog would be featuring such an investigation was welcome and I looked forward to the broadcast. I even read the published six-page letter that Sony Computer Entertainment UK (SCEUK) sent to the program to register their dissatisfaction at the way Watchdog had been handling the issue. This was, I believed, a big issue and it would be interesting to see how the BBC (a source I have always had the utmost respect for) would deal with it. Finally, I thought, a unifying voice that will be loud enough to demand action, or at least dialogue, from Sony.
So it was with a rapidly growing sense of disappointment that I watched the report. I am not a current affairs editor or producer with the BBC and I’m sure that our collective license fees pay far more experienced people to make these decisions so I am willing to admit that I may be wrong with my next sentiment. It’s just that I think starting a report by stating that the comedian you have hired may be biased as he works for the main competitor of the product might taint your report’s attempt to appear unbiased. Surely it would have been more appropriate to hire a reporter who might have had, at the very least, the appearance of an unbiased viewpoint?
In the interests of expediency I would like to avoid a detailed breakdown of all the errors in your report (although, if required, I will provide those at a later date) and instead discuss the generalities of the way you failed the consumers you proclaim to champion.
Firstly, you didn’t actually address what the problem was. There was no indication of why the problem occurred, no discussion of which models it was being reported for and no information regarding possible preventative measures. These are all things which would be invaluable to the consumers.
Secondly, you failed to mention that your “free” fix wasn’t actually free. Even if those engineers carried out your kerbside repairs without invoicing the BBC (which I sincerely doubt) they do not carry the repairs out for free to the general public. Most of those independent engineers will charge almost as much as Sony for repairs and the Sony repair comes with a short (but nevertheless useful) warranty period. This warranty period would be especially useful since, as you briefly mentioned in the report, the kerbside repairs carried out by Watchdog had a shocking failure rate themselves.
I’m sure your consumer group are glad they didn’t pay for the fleeting repairs and perhaps a little annoyed that the integrity of their system has been compromised by a third party meaning that any future (and once again necessary) repairs carried out by Sony will, most likely, now be un-guaranteed and more expensive.
So, to conclude, you screened a report with very little factual information, partially fronted by a comedian/presenter with a proclaimed (and seemingly jovially celebrated) bias against the product. You spent (I presume but would love to be corrected) licence-payer’s money on badly carried out repairs to assist in your almost comedic take on a problem which I believe deserved more respect. You then skimmed over a six-page letter from SCEUK, summarising their lengthy (and apparently warranted) misgivings about the way you were handling the issue, in a few smirking sentences.
It seems to me that the only responsible and valuable thing to come out of the report was the brief request for more people to come forward if they experience the problem. Perhaps if you had made this request before recording the laughable report you would have had a weight of evidence to confront Sony with instead of a comedy stunt outside their offices. Perhaps if you had hired an extra researcher or two to investigate the issues instead of a presenter with an admitted bias to mock it you would have been able to get someone from Sony on the show to answer the complaints of the consumers.
I feel that you have failed at every turn with this issue and the way our licence fees were used to fund it. I wish to register my immense dissatisfaction with the team involved and the BBC itself for broadcasting such a pathetic attempt at consumer affairs journalism.
As if the poorly conceived, badly executed and embarrassingly vague report wasn’t bad enough you then closed out the report with an awful comedy song. I’m a fan of gaming and a fan of Johnny Cash so my opinion may lose some objectivity here but it pains me to think that public money is paying for that am-dram drivel.
Sincerely,
Peter Chapman
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
djhsecondnature | 18/09/2009 11:02
Team TSA: Media
880 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Perfect.
RadioactiveMouse | 18/09/2009 12:51
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547 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009
That pretty much sums it up.
They caused a lot of fuss over a fault that many have had and then presented their findings with as much credibility as a report made by a teenager on Youtube. This, from an award-winning company who usually produce decent reports which highlight things in a fair and unbiased light?
I was shocked at the omissions and the lack of factual evidence also.
A good letter
ChrisW | 18/09/2009 15:37
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5 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2009
Do you remember the PS2? I think you do… But do you remember DRE (Disk Read Error) that afflicted PS2s built with in the first couple years of that generation?
Do you find it interesting that you cannot find ANYTHING about DRE for the PS2 on Wikipedia?
Better yet, do you remember that Sony was sued and they agreed to settle its “disc read error” lawsuit by paying affected gamers US$25, a free game from a specified list, and (of course) the reduced cost repair or replacement (at SCEA’s discretion) of the damaged system?
Why so much reimbursement for a small percentage of failures? Because it wasn’t a small percentage! And no one remembers this only 7 years ago (back in 2002)!
Sony is doing a wonderful job of making sure that no one knows anything about anything concerning failures of the PS3. And to make their job 1000Xs easier, RROD stole the spot light! So now, anyone who says that they have or had YLOD is automatically labeled as a liar and/or an Xbot.
No one [i.e. PS fans] remembers, because they have been literally reprogrammed, don’t want to remember, or are simply too jaded to remember!
colossalblue | 18/09/2009 15:41
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1381 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
I had the Disc Read Error on my launch day PS2. It was really annoying but it was only one month out of warranty and I took it back to the shop I bought it from and convinced them to take it back and replace.
P.S. isn’t wikipedia editable? Why don’t you update the PS2 page?
cc_star | 18/09/2009 15:44
Team TSA: Writer
7815 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
The DRE lawsuit is very contencious indeed – I’d be almost too afraid to write anything about Sony’s actions without getting legal clearance first.
And your point about people having either short memories/reprogrammed in to fanboyism/just too jaded is vary relevant as was your sentance about the amount of work Sony do in keeping the full facts out of the public eye.
That is the reason I was so looking forward to the Watchdog thing, because finally Sony could have been pulled a bit over hot coals and held to account, but as it turned out the WD team were too busy writing a crappy song, shooting a video and thinking of anagrams before coming up with P.R.A.T. or they just backed down in fear of massive retribution from a company who have proved in the past they will stop at nothing to keep somethings out of the public gaze.
ChrisW | 18/09/2009 16:17
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5 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2009
Thanks for the idea on editing Wikipedia. Created an account and put it in. Aside from plagiarism and paraphrasing (stole my quotes from other sites without references), I think it looks good.
However, I am curious as to why there wasn’t a part on that in the first place… CC_Star, you’re right, probably more than right. But it isn’t libel or slander, just freedom of speech (even in Japan, their constitution gives leeway for it). So, I should be safe…
[Hold on, some shady-looking guys in black suits are knocking on my door...]
X_Yoshy_X | 18/09/2009 16:20
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499 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Agree 110% couldn’t for written a better 1 myself
cc_star | 18/09/2009 11:03
Team TSA: Writer
7815 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Agree 100% – The BBC were so wide of the mark in their poor implementation of everything to do with this, that it was pointless. Like you say the only thing to come of of this is that more people may come forward and if they do hopefully the BBC don’t mess that up as well.
Gastos84 | 18/09/2009 11:03
Team TSA: Writer
3873 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
Read this earlier today and it features everything that the Watchdog prgramme didn’t: Understanding, Interest, research and sincerity.
Awesome letter. But you already know that
m1cky | 18/09/2009 11:07
Member
129 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Well presented.
It will be interesting to see if you receive a reply regarding your concerns, or a generic “Thankyou for your feedback, we’re looking into the issues raised” kind-of rubbish.
mpb1955 | 18/09/2009 11:09
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736 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I fully agree with the points you have raised. I used to like Watchdog but I think it has gone downhill with unresearched claims.
kissablekirst | 18/09/2009 11:10
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208 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
well done Cb – perfect letter. unfortunately i doubt the BBC will bother with it! shame they didn’t hire you for the report!
Amphlett | 18/09/2009 11:12
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1239 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Does this highlight another area where the BBC are ‘dumbing down’? One only has to look at previously serious documentary series’ like Panorama and Horizon to see where the BBC are going.
Zuler | 18/09/2009 11:13
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10496 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
Wow. Just wow. That is an absolutely perfect letter! Oh, what I would do to be able to write like that…
Kevling | 18/09/2009 11:14
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2012 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Superb letter Cb.
Interesting side point: Iain Lee announced he was temporarily leaving Twitter, ooh, 90 minutes before Watchdog aired. Coincidence*?
* OK, he was getting unrelated abuse from a few users, but the timing couldn’t have been better/worse
Chimpanzee | 18/09/2009 11:16
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481 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Excellent. Completely agree with every sentiment.
tantalus_blank | 18/09/2009 11:22
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752 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
sorry someone has to say it…
“effecting gamers”?
Good letter though Cb, it’s amazing how clueless so-called experts often actually are
Amphlett | 18/09/2009 14:25
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1239 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
I must admit to being tempted to comment on ‘effected’. I’m too nice though, and besides which, Angelina would trawl through my posts and pick faults.
AcidCrashX | 18/09/2009 11:22
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597 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
beautiful letter CB. let us know if you get a response
Bilbo_bobbins | 18/09/2009 11:26
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1406 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
Great letter. well done
Anthony72 | 18/09/2009 11:27
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267 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
Top man what a great letter. Just shows how bad this programme has become. Taking cheap shots on unresearhced items and passing them off as fact. Im really annoyed by this as its my money that paid for it. They should be ashamed of themselves.
parsleyboots | 18/09/2009 11:27
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164 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
The pedant in me has to point out that it’s “programme”, not “program”, “affecting gamers”, not “effecting gamers”, and the noun is “licence”, not “license” in the UK. (‘C’ for nouns, ’s’ for verbs, like advice/advise, practice/practise, etc.) But apart from that, I agree with the sentiment entirely.
If that Watchdog report had any teeth during its creation, it was certainly defanged before the show was broadcast. If anything, it proved that there’s no quick fix for the YLOD, and I’m better off paying Sony 128 quid than taking my chances with an independent repair shop.
colossalblue | 18/09/2009 11:30
Team TSA: Editor
1381 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
I think my Spellcheck might be set to “American” I’ll look into it.
teflon | 18/09/2009 12:39
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1989 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
I don’t think Spellcheck would help you. All those words are real words, they’re just the wrong word in that context, which spellcheck can’t help you with.
That’s part of the curse of spellcheck, ever since it first appeared people have started to rely on it more and more, and unless there’s a squiggly red line under a word it probably gets ignored…
LycanGav | 18/09/2009 12:05
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590 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
Not sure I’d agree with your “I’m better off paying Sony 128 quid than taking my chances with an independent repair shop” remark. Sony only offer a three month warranty on repaired consoles, which isn’t much at all. 95 days later and the same problem occurs (Watchdog’s efforts certainly suggested it’s not easily fixed although how much their “repairs” may have led to further problems is something worth investigating too), you’ll have to cough up another £128 to Sony to fix it again. In theory, no matter how large the odds, it could blight you three to four times in a twelve month period.
cc_star | 18/09/2009 12:10
Team TSA: Writer
7815 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Agreed, Look at this comment and my reply. The £128 Sony charge is one of the lowest value/highest risk approaches to take.
Kevling | 18/09/2009 12:18
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2012 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
I think the point he was making was that, as Sony said in their letter, there are different causes for YLOD. Watchdog’s independent repairer applied the same fix to all 11 consoles, and 4 failed again /within a month/.
Bearing that in mind, Sony’s refurb model is a better risk than an indepent repair – if you can’t afford a new replacement, a fix with a 3 month warranty has to be a better risk than a fix without one at all.
cc_star | 18/09/2009 12:26
Team TSA: Writer
7815 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
But if you sell your faulty one for £110(ish) then it will only cost you £120 for a brand new Slim, this is cheaper than the Sony repair and you get a 12 month manufacturers warranty, or even better if you’re so inclined try and trade it in for £125-£150 then the maths work out even more favourably.
parsleyboots | 18/09/2009 13:02
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164 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
I think cc_star’s right, and should my PS3 YLOD on me, I’d be inclined to buy a new PS3 and flog the dead one (I hadn’t even considered that as an option before). However, if you’re considering a repair, I still think going with Sony over an independent repair shop is a better option. I Googled “PlayStation repairs” and checked the following (sponsored) links. These repair services only guarantee their own work, and only for a three month period (with the exception of Console Doctor’s six months). It’ll depend on exactly what’s wrong with your PS3, but after postage you’re still looking at a bill of a hundred quid or so. I’d rather have the peace of mind that Sony’s fresh warranty offers.
Console Doctor
http://www.consoledoctor.co.uk/sony-ps3-repairs
PS Pros
http://esalesinc.co.uk/ps3repair/warranty.htm
Creative IT
http://playstation-repairs.creativeit.tv/ps3-yellow-light-of-death-repair.php
Console Repair UK
http://www.consolerepairsuk.com/tandc.php
CD 24-7
http://www.cd24-7.co.uk/terms-conditions
UndercutteR
http://www.undercutter.co.uk/ps3-repairs
Ryosuke | 18/09/2009 11:29
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I’ve enjoyed reading this website for quite a while now, but never actually registered until now (seeing this made me want to register and say thank you for sending that letter).
As i feel in that letter you managed to speak for everyone who had issues about the way watchdog foolishly handled the whole thing.
So again i salute you sir for such an epic pwning of the BBC!
kevhardy | 18/09/2009 12:39
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164 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
The Watchdog show makes me question how acurate and unbiased there are with their other stories as they are so far off the mark with a subject we all know something about. Is it the same for all the other stuff? Are they loads of disgnruntled builders and plumbers out there who have been smeared in the name of entertainment?
However, this has all added more weight to the internal discussion I’m having at the moment i.e. will I/won’t I trade in my launch 60gb for a Slim?
Bilbo_bobbins | 18/09/2009 12:40
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1406 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
well done for registering, its a great website.
Also welcome too