European Law Grants Partial Refund Due to PS3 OtherOS Removal

[ZeWarrior]

According to PlayStationUniversity.com (linked above), a European law grants a partial refund to PS3 consumers due to the recent removal of the OtherOS feature in the PS3 Firmware v3.21 update.

A PS3 owner (60GB) version has managed to gain a partial refund from Amazon (without returning the system) due to the removal of the OtherOS feature.

The EU citizen cited a European law which states a product must be fit for its purpose which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase, and as a result he managed to receive around 80GBP back!

To quote: "The online retailer’s policy was to offer a refund weighing in at approximately 20 per cent of the console’s original value. Amazon responds:

We are writing to confirm that we have processed your refund in the amount of £84.00 for your Order 666-5327564-4432412.
Item Refund: £71.49
Item Tax Refund: £12.51
This refund is for the following item(s):
Item: Sony PlayStation 3 Console (60GB Premium Version)
Quantity: 1
ASIN: B0007SV734
Reason for refund: Account adjustment"

And here is the legal citation under Directive 1999/44/EC, which was accepted into European Parliament on January 1, 2002.

“The goods must:

• comply with the description given by the seller and posses the same qualities and characteristics as other similar goods
• be fit for the purpose which the consumer requires them and which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase.”

Source: http://www.ps3news.com/PlayStation-3/european-law-grants-partial-refund-due-to-ps3-otheros-removal/

Thoughts?
I think Sony is gonna get in trouble if a lot of people start demanding a refund.

 

[noONE]

Well, they owe all the PS3 users (except the ones having the slim) a refund for removing a major feature... I say, let Sony pay! (either in refund money, or by hacker revolt)

 

[Sir-Fritz]

It actually makes sense, what if you bought the system for the otheros feature? Only for sony to remove it.

 

[TrolleyDave]

Legendary! I think a public movement should be started informing people that it's legally possible to claim money back for the removal of the feature. If companies get hit by a landslide of requests they'll soon turn to Sony in anger and demand money back from them. Hitting a corporation like Sony in the pocket is the only way to make them change anything.

 

[Da Mafia]

Well I thought i'd give it a try too, so i've contacted the place I bought mine from.

I wonder what they'll say.

 

[KingVamp]

sounds fair and right to me

unless the feature had problems and was only taken away to fix it and then give it back...

 

[TrolleyDave]

Well I thought i'd give it a try too, so i've contacted the place I bought mine from.

I wonder what they'll say.

It has to be under two years old as well.

 

[Da Mafia]

Well I thought i'd give it a try too, so i've contacted the place I bought mine from.

I wonder what they'll say.

It has to be under two years old as well.

Ah, I could have a problem then, I think mine is just over 2 years old.

I thought I read somewhere tonight that said UK law allows it to be upto 6 years?

 

[TrolleyDave]

You could be right about that, I'm just going by the EU directive as used to get the partial refund. I'll see what I can dig up on the UK laws though, if it extends the time period then it's definitely a better one to throw at them.

 

[Da Mafia]

Yh, i'll have a better look tomorrow (later today) to get myself better prepared for their response (if any).

 

[Minox]

Well I thought i'd give it a try too, so i've contacted the place I bought mine from.

I wonder what they'll say.

It has to be under two years old as well.

I'm pretty sure this law does not have the same time limit as normal warranty.

 

[Da Mafia]

I'm not sure anybody mentioned warranty.

The law states that an item must be fit for use for a reasonable period. That reasonable period can depend on the item and can still vary between country.

Also, i've not recieved a reply yet, I was expecting a quick response denying all responsibility and pointing me in Sony's direction. So unless they just plan on ignoring me, I should get a more informative response.

 

[Minox]

I'm not sure anybody mentioned warranty.

That's what TrolleyDave hinted at when he said 2 years

 

[TrolleyDave]

I'm not sure anybody mentioned warranty.

That's what TrolleyDave hinted at when he said 2 years

The 2 years thing comes from the EU directive itself.

"The directive calls for
· a guarantee of at least 2 years for new goods (or longer if the Member State wishes) where the seller will undertake without extra charge to reimburse the price paid or to replace and/or repair consumer goods if they do not meet the specifications set out in the guarantee statement or relevant advertising.
· a guarantee of at least one year for used goods (except those sold by a private seller)"

It can vary by country obviously.

 

[Issac]

I'd be happy to get a few bucks left, though I'm not sure how? contacting the store where it was bought? wouldn't that mean that the store's got to pay me, and not sony?

 

[GameWinner]

they should have thought about what would happen if they removed it.
I don't use the Other OS since you have to default the system, and
I don't wanna erase my saves.

 

[thegame07]

I have contacted amazon for a refund, I got my ps3 last April! I will post back what they say.

 

[Maikel Steneker]

It actually makes sense, what if you bought the system for the otheros feature? Only for sony to remove it.

I agree with you, but in case you didn't, think about this: you can use PSN under certain conditions. Those include, for example, not using cheats, not making racist LittleBigPlanet levels etc. Another of those conditions is that Sony may remove a feature at any time. If you don't agree with this, you're not allowed to use the network.

I don't agree with what Sony does and it scares me that they can just remove whatever feature they want if you want to keep using PSN, but legally there's probably not a whole lot we can do. I'm sure Sony has thought of this and I'm sure they have some way to get around this law.

 

[Da Mafia]

It actually makes sense, what if you bought the system for the otheros feature? Only for sony to remove it.

I agree with you, but in case you didn't, think about this: you can use PSN under certain conditions. Those include, for example, not using cheats, not making racist LittleBigPlanet levels etc. Another of those conditions is that Sony may remove a feature at any time. If you don't agree with this, you're not allowed to use the network.

I don't agree with what Sony does and it scares me that they can just remove whatever feature they want if you want to keep using PSN, but legally there's probably not a whole lot we can do. I'm sure Sony has thought of this and I'm sure they have some way to get around this law.

Sony's term and conditions are null and void if they are against the law.

The OtherOS was an advertised feature and it can't just be taken away as it's something we paid for.

When/if people can play burned games, will it be OK for Sony to disable use of the BluRay drive and force you to buy your games from the PSN? I think not.

 

[shakirmoledina]

then it just becomes a reason to decrease the price of the system... i dont think sony really looked into it or rather payed to much attention... it will cost them slightly but better safe than sorry