Dear Reader:
Why Sony Customer Service sucks: A Jezter's Tale. GoNintendo "End of Day Thoughts"
Cort emailed me earlier today about doing the ‘Eod’ post for this morning. I cannot even describe to you how passionate he was about this topic. I could definitely see that he really wanted to share this story with you guys, and it’s my pleasure to give him the space to do so. By the way…Cort, you’re always welcome to this spot!
I leave you with his article as I head off to bed. I’ll see you guys in a few, short hours. Enjoy the post, as well as the morning! - RMC
I love my PS3.
Or rather, I LOVED my PS3. And everyone around me knows this.
Even limited to the past handful of weeks, we’ve seen numerous stories1, 2, 3 about how wonderful Nintendo’s Customer Service can be, even in the most unlikely of scenarios. After today’s living nightmare, I fully understand as a gamer, why my primary loyalty remains Nintendo, and I’m sure that also rings true for many of our visitors, obviously.
To spare you the minutiae, a long story shortened: after performing a recent, mandatory System Update, my PS3 stopped working… completely. A couple of painless calls to their service folk, and they timidly agreed to set me up for a one-time complimentary repair, since my system was technically past its warranty period. Awesome.
Fast forward to today. My freshly healed system returns home. Untouched and broken as ever. Puzzled, my fingers instinctively dial that all-too familiar number to try and unlock some answers. After a lengthy wait on hold, you can imagine my delight to learn that both me and my suffering PS3 have been mistakenly and permanently blacklisted from their Service Center, thanks to some sort of error in their processing. Trying to resolve this mix-up was a futile, uphill battle that ultimately allowed me the privilege of meeting William, one of the most unhelpful, apathetic supervisors I’ve ever had the displeasure of doing business; someone completely uninterested in their products, customers, or his job for that matter, as evidenced by his demeanour with me. Wouldn’t listen to my problem, wouldn’t listen to or answer any questions. No effort to resolve things whatsoever. Contrast that with my initial contact; it’s equal to or better than the 15,000:1 ratio touted on their flagship flat-panel—night and day indeed.
So what I’m left with is an expensive doorstop I originally enjoyed so much that I convinced at least 3 of my friends to buy one, each of them also springing for new plasma TVs. Say what you will of my sales prowess; no magic word, sweet talking, or even begging Sony is going to change the fact that they broke my system and will never, ever fix it, even if i pay them the going rate to do so. Weaksauce.
What does all that whining have to do with GoNintendo? Indirectly, everything… at least for me. In so many ways, it justifies the countless hours I put into this site, and gaming in general. The normal perks of working on a gaming site notwithstanding, it’s a situation like this that makes me realise just how valuable Nintendo is to me, because I feel valuable to them.
Take for example my first DS Lite. Without getting too graphic, as a man of semi-Mediterranean lineage, my skin is never dry. Translate that factoid to my hands, and you can imagine how my controllers are never clean; it’s an impossibility. One day my poor DS Lite started suffering some unbecoming narcolepsy, shutting off unexpectedly some times, and other instances when simply pressing the B button, making my then-current games like NSMB and Tetris virtually unusable. Turns out my greasy paws built up a “contaminating substance” around the button which shorted out the circuitry beneath. Drats.
Incredibly, Nintendo was more than happy to take care of everything, despite it being completely my fault by (unintentionally) physically damaging the system. In less than two weeks, they sent a brand new portable to my doorstep and I was back to stomping that wretch Bowser Jr. and enduring the humiliation of online matches against Japanese Tetris deities. Wunderbar.
What now? I still love my Blu-ray movies and PS3 games, but does an experience like mine warrant abandoning or boycotting a cherished brand? If Nintendo and Sony swapped places, would I dare consider leaving the nest? I’d be very curious to hear your horror/heart-warming stories with either of these companies’ Customer Service and how you reacted. Did you throw in the towel at being snubbed, or donate a kidney to charity amid your bliss?
Can’t wait to hear what you have to share! I’m going to go play Little Big Planet Galaxy or something. —cortjezter