Just some days after launch, the PlayStation had already earned a dubious honor: a nickname for its potentially fatal flaw. What some users are calling the Blue Light of Death, mimicking the infamous Red Ring of Death that plagued the launch of the Xbox 360 for years, has forced hundreds of PlayStation 4 owners to send their systems back to Sony and vent their frustrations in online reviews and forums. But just how widespread is the problem?
While it’s impossible to accurately gauge how far the claims of broken systems extend, just before launch Sony shared that their expected failure rate for the console was 0.4%. To place that during perspective, that’s about 1 in 250. With over a million PlayStation 4 systems sold, that involves about 4,000 potentially broken systems. While that’s a small number in comparison to the 996,000 that do work, that’s little consolation in case you are one of many 4,000 affected waiting to mail a $400 paperweight back to Sony.
This may be the 1st console-launch for the reason that wide spread of social media, where users can quickly and simply share their opinions with a global-wide audience able to listen. And studies have shown that folk are more likely to share negative experiences over positive ones. We’ve grown familiar with publicly berating companies that provide a subpar service and crowd-sourcing our troubleshooting needs, asking friends on Twitter or Facebook for advice before seeking to pass through any official channels.
Even still, the PlayStation forums have several constantly growing posts devoted to broken PS4 systems, and the Amazon review thread is split between 5 star and 1 star reviews, with many of the 1 star reviews specifically calling out the flashing blue light.
Exploring Sony’s Customer Service
A thread at the official PlayStation forums walks users through potential fixes for the flashing blue light, but when that does not work, the only advice I’ve read online is to take the PS4 to a Sony store. Official Sony stores can sometimes perform maintenance on-site, and they are generally ready to offer immediate replacements without needing to attend to mail anything to and fro.
While the PS4 I ordered from Amazon have been working just fine, i needed to determine what the client experience could be like if my system didn’t work. So after reading up on all of the troubleshooting i might have done, i attempted accessing the live chat system at the Sony support site. Over the process an hour, i used to be only installed line to speak to a representative thrice. Anytime i used to be queued at either number 16 or 17 and given a 5-minute wait time. After two minutes, i used to be booted from the queue and not using a explanation.
Not an excellent start, so i attempted calling the support system by phone. Although the automatic voice at the other end told me that the wait could exceed one hour, i used to be patched through to a live person in 28 minutes.
I asked concerning the process for returning a console that does not work and has a flashing blue light. First, i used to be told in regards to the possible Sony store return policy i discussed earlier, but when no stores were in my area, the representative would collect my shipping info. I’d have a return box in two days (or i’ll ship it to Sony myself at once via UPS), and after seeking to repair the machine, they’d send me a repaired unit or replacement in 5-7 days.
The representative told me that, outside of the flashing blue light, she’d been ready to fix most issues for users over the telephone. However, she couldn’t verify how widespread the irreparable issues were nor what was making the blue light issue. The representative was incredibly courteous, knowledgeable, and almost made up for the wasted time I spent waiting to talk with someone online.
Ongoing Research
Maybe the GameSpot office and i’ve been exceedingly lucky. The consoles we were sent by Sony for review worked fine, and held as much as the brutal 12-hour gaming sessions they endured for our livestreams. The system I ordered from Amazon was on and online for hours and not using a stutter, and all of my acquaintances that ordered a PS4 had been streaming weekend play sessions and posting images in their games.
But despite the fact that Sony’s estimates are correct and the problems users are facing only affect 0.4%, it’s obvious that a vocal minority is having an effect on public perception of the system. And the client service experience on Sony’s side could possibly be handled better, especially for compensating the gamers who aren’t near a Sony store and who would possibly not have a higher plan of action than mailing their system back and looking forward to a replacement.
For the doubtless thousands of gamers who’ve needed to spend the weekend after launch troubleshooting a system and waiting to speak to customer support, there is a lot of justifiable unhappiness. But at the bright side, it doesn’t seem quite as serious as some reports appear to suggest. GameSpot will continue looking into these issues to work out just how widespread they’re and in the event that they affect greater than Sony’s projected 0.4%.
If you’ve run into any issues, good or bad, we need to listen to about them within the comments below. But when you are looking for technical support, you almost certainly don’t need to invite the commenters. For that, I’d recommend heading to the PlayStation support site.