Along with the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Europeans, I got my PlayStation 4 yesterday. I didn’t brave the generally miserable autumnal weather on Thursday evening, to queue up for a console at midnight, but pre-ordered and spent far too much time on Friday morning loading up the delivery van tracking which Asda and DPD provided.
It turned up around midday and I soon busied myself with getting everything set up just so. Placing the PS4 in the right spot, hooking up the various cables, digging out a FAT32 formatted USB stick so I could do the local firmware update rather than hog precious bandwidth on Sony’s servers. Then it was time to log into PSN, set up my profile and privacy options, before taking to the store to get one or two downloads started. It was all going swimmingly, until I decided to get into my first game, and play a spot of Killzone: Shadow Fall.
In goes the disc, the icon in the top right of the screen starts to spin, the Blu-ray drive emits a curiously gentle clackety-clack, as though a distant train were rattling along uneven tracks, and I wait. Could this be the normal sound of the drive? The disc didn’t appear to be loading, so I decide to eject and try reinserting.
But alas, the drive no longer wanted to accept a disc, like a toddler refusing to eat vegetables with their mouth clamped shut. I was pushing the disc in firmly, but it wouldn’t pass the threshold. Further symptoms emerged, as I tried to find out what was going on. Upon boot the drive would try to eject a phantom disc for several seconds, and moving the console also gave the telltale sound of something loose inside, which rattled around as I changed its orientation. Davs helped me to figure out that this was not normal, and that it was also preventing me from removing the glossy HDD-covering portion of the case.
At least the rest of the machine was working fine, but at that point it was clearly time to phone for help, and I elected to call Sony’s Customer Support hotline as I knew they were holding stock back for these early hardware issues and replacements. This, as opposed to the likely stock-starved Asda, or trying to find an in-store replacement. (I was advised that if you did buy in store and not via online delivery, then that should be your first port of call)
So I picked up the phone and dialed the number which was far too difficult to find – 0844 736 0595, by the way – and, after a few false starts which left me with nothing but beeping and forcing me to hang up and re-dial, found myself listening to worryingly intermittent hold music and the occasional automated reassurance that I’d be speaking to a real person soon.
Though I would have liked a queue time estimate, I eventually got through to Matthew. I briefly outlined my problem, explaining the several hints and clues I’d found as to what might be wrong, which he then took to a technical advisor who authorised a replacement console for me.
After this point, it was just running through a script and collecting the necessary data – finding my details from a previous support enquiry, noting the PS4’s serial number, etcetera, etcetera – and thankfully, as I was phoning before 4PM, this was all being processed for my console to be picked up the next day (today).
Admittedly it wasn’t all perfect, as he misunderstood me a handful of times and the computer system on his end suffered a few hiccups – it forgot the serial number of my PS4, and then pretended that it had always been there. Anecdotally, I know that there have been people who had less joy when on the line to Sony, with random hang-ups, more serious system errors and bizarre quirks to their support process getting in the way.
The important thing was that, for me, it was still quite a light and pleasant process and conversation, and that I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I was going through the regular channels, and I have seen comments and posts in a few places that echo my experience of a quite fast and efficient system.
But the best point was saved until last, as we wrapped up the conversation and I asked quickly when I might get a replacement machine for the one being picked up. “Oh, no! What’s actually going to happen is,” Matthew started quite triumphantly, before explaining that the courier would not merely be retrieving my poorly console, but also be handing me a brand new machine at the exact same time.
Here I am with a replacement PS4 delivered this morning, courtesy once more of the extremely busy DPD, less than 24 hours after I even got my first machine, let alone called the support hotline. Mine was clearly an ideal, almost textbook example of how customer support should go, but even with a smooth process this went beyond my expectations.
However, for those still stuck with issues of their own, and I know there are a fair few of you with missing deliveries or technical issues of your own, I hope you can find some resolution over the next handful of days. I’m one of the comparatively lucky ones.
Michael
Great outcome. And to think, some people were melting down because the PSN was a bit slow…!
Kennykazey
Wow, that’s goddamn exemplary. I’m still waiting for my friggin pre-order, not a pleasant experience when I was promised it at release. Come Monday and I’ll be having a field day with a support centre.
I’ve got the vertical stand, Killzone and Assassins Creed just waiting for the damned box.
bigchrissyc
Very good outcome. Even with the minor hiccups. Glad Sony had reserved enough stock to have a replacement for you, and the next day delivery aswel. Good times.
Voolar
Damn, I got mine in as a Christmas present and only checked to make sure that the hdmi out worked. Is there a widespread problem with the blu-ray drives?
Stefan L
As with the US launch, I don’t believe there’s a single issue. I think the support guy might have said that this one was a fairly new one for him, while other people are seeing the OS not load up etc. etc. so not a systematic error, just a motley assortment of things which people are seeing go wrong.
Of course, if you’re feeling particularly paranoid, you can always unwrap it again, update to 1.51 and put a disc in the drive to see it works. There’s bound to be more firmware updates, so it’s not like you’re taking away the fun of updating when you unwrap it on Christmas Day. ;)
TSBonyman
Glad to hear you got it resolved so quickly. Enjoy!
Kubr1ck
I had the same thing happen to me at the PS3 launch. Sony replaced my console a couple of days later. Looks like they’ve stuck with the same process.
Broonba
Aye, great to see that you got a replacement the next day. Something similar happened to me with one of my PS3’s. Courier brought me a new one and took my faulty one away the day after reporting the fault to Sony.
Lyts1985
Fair play, that’s brilliant customer service. Glad you got it sorted mate.
I had a moment of panic after I’d changed the HDD. It was refusing to install the update with an obscure error message… Turned out I was trying to use the wrong update file (the 300mb as opposed to the 800mb). Whoops! Since then everything beens fine, PSN issues aside :-) I didn’t hesitate in taking Argos up on their 3yr insurance nonetheless!
gazzagb
Glad it all seemed fairly efficient replacing it, but I bet it was a nightmare waiting on hold not knowing exactly what was going to happen!
Funnily enough, there was an article on Eurogamer this morning from one of the writers who received a DOA Xbox One, while the turn around for a replacement console was slower, the choice of a free game does help to ease the pain I’m sure.
Is there any word from Sony on the chance of a free game or PS+ trial to act as recompense?
Stefan L
Yeah, I saw that too, and it was fascinating to see the different approaches… Also one commenter went through the same Sony replacement deal I did with quite an eerily similar timeline!
Nope, no word on any recompense, but given the speed of the turn around I wouldn’t expect anything in my case. If people were having a really bad time of it, I’d hope they go out of their way to make it up.
Ro6afc11
I saw you’d had an excellent outcome tef. A great result and exemplary service.
At the risk of sounding like a stuck record I’m one of those who’s delivery didn’t arrive from Amazon. Was pretty annoyed and pissed off to be honest but to be fair to Amazon their customer service hasn’t been too bad but I was never going to get as quick a resolution as that. They were easy to contact and have got back to me a couple of times since too. The latest update this afternoon was to say they will re-despatch and renew tracking details. I’ve not seen that yet so not sure when it will be delivered still but figure the best I can hope for is despatch Monday for Tuesday delivery. So far I’ve been presented with a £10 gift voucher! In the cold light of day I guess there was always a chance of a delivery going wrong out of the thousands being made yesterday just bloody typical it was mine.