The internet has been buzzing with rumours that tonight the BBC would show the PS3 in a distinctly negative light with regards to hardware problems reported by users in its Watchdog program. Well, that program has just aired, this evening at 8pm BST. During the program the presenters showed that approximately a month ago, when the BBC got wind of the so-called YLOD (Yellow Light Of Death), a van was set up outside Sony’s offices emblazoned with the name PlayStation Repair Action Team, the acronym for which we’d normally associate with ‘other’ channels. The van promised to fix any broken PS3s for free, rather than the £128 Sony charge out of warranty customers, in order to prove the point that Sony are overcharging for the fix.
Prior to the show, Sony UK Managing Director Ray Maquire wrote to the BBC concerning the allegations set forth by the BBC and Watchdog. “From the correspondence to date, I have serious concerns as to the accuracy of these allegations and the likely tone of the Watchdog report,” he wrote. “The information that you have provided suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the technical issues and a mis-characterisation of SCEUK’s Out of Warranty repairs policy.” He does have a point – Watchdog’s research for the piece allegedly amounted to just 155 complaints and a technical report sent to Sony was based on only three YLOD’d consoles, one of which had already been ‘fixed’ by the user.
