Preowned PS3 bought from GAME

McNiven1990

I recently purchased a preowned 160gb PS3 slim console online from GAME. I got it and the console works fine but I was hoping that I'd be able to replace the HDD that is inside the console as 160gb is a bit small for me but for some reason GAME have placed a warranty sticker over the screw that removes the HDD cover. I understand putting a sticker over a screw for the main casing but I don't get why they have also done it for the HDD especially when Sony themselves say that you are free to replace your HDD without voiding your warranty aslong as you return the console with the original HDD inside. I contacted GAME about this and they are putting the blame on Sony for this and claim that it was them who put the sticker there but I'm finding it hard to believe them and if that was the case then that means GAME are selling preowned consoles that aren't properly checked out and tested, surely there are laws against that? I have continued to question them over it which resulted in them telling me that it's still Sony's problem and I have to contact them and ended by giving me their return address.

The console is covered by GAME's 12 month warranty and I'd imagine the warranty provided by Sony has long expired so how is it Sony's problem? All I want to do is replace the HDD which you are allowed to do with a brand new console, I'm tempted to rip the sticker off and tell them to stick their warranty but knowing my luck the console will probably end up with some fault in the next year. Surely I must have some rights here or there must be atleast something I can say to them to make them see sense? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MisterBaxter

They've done it so that you can't swap out the drive with one that is faulty and then take it back claiming that the item is defective in order to get your money back. If you change the drive out and then have to take it back with a faulty drive they won't honour the 12 month warranty.

I'm not suggesting that this is something you would do but no doubt there are people out there who will try it on.

If it's outside the Sony warranty then Game can stipulate their own conditions around what you can and can't do without invalidating the warranty providing they don't affect your statutory rights and they have chosen to restrict hard drive renewal. The staff in the shop have probably been given some information but not the whole picture so don't really understand what they are telling you when it comes to Sony being involved.

McNiven1990

MisterBaxter wrote: »

They've done it so that you can't swap out the drive with one that is faulty and then take it back claiming that the item is defective in order to get your money back. If you change the drive out and then have to take it back with a faulty drive they won't honour the 12 month warranty.

I'm not suggesting that this is something you would do but no doubt there are people out there who will try it on.

If it's outside the Sony warranty then Game can stipulate their own conditions around what you can and can't do without invalidating the warranty providing they don't affect your statutory rights and they have chosen to restrict hard drive renewal. The staff in the shop have probably been given some information but not the whole picture so don't really understand what they are telling you when it comes to Sony being involved.

I'm not disputing them placing the sticker on the console. I can totally understand that they are just protecting themselves but it's the fact that they have denied that it was them who have done it and they are putting the blame onto Sony even though this has nothing to do with Sony who don't even deal with preowned consoles. If they are so sure that it's Sony who placed the stickers there then GAME obviously haven't been inside the console to check it out despite them placing a quality assurance sticker on the console which is dated to a week before I purchased it.

powerful_Rogue

McNiven1990 wrote: »

I'm not disputing them placing the sticker on the console. I can totally understand that they are just protecting themselves but it's the fact that they have denied that it was them who have done it and they are putting the blame onto Sony even though this has nothing to do with Sony who don't even deal with preowned consoles. If they are so sure that it's Sony who placed the stickers there then GAME obviously haven't been inside the console to check it out despite them placing a quality assurance sticker on the console which is dated to a week before I purchased it.

When I worked at GAME 12 years ago, we never opened up consoles that had been traded in. They used to be plugged in and a DVD/Game played to make sure everything was working. That is the extent of the check and why they offer the 12 month warranty.

As mentioned before, its more then likely to stop you buying it, sticking in a faulty hard drive and they trying to claim a refund.

McNiven1990

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

When I worked at GAME 12 years ago, we never opened up consoles that had been traded in. They used to be plugged in and a DVD/Game played to make sure everything was working. That is the extent of the check and why they offer the 12 month warranty.

As mentioned before, its more then likely to stop you buying it, sticking in a faulty hard drive and they trying to claim a refund.

But how does running a game go anywhere towards assuring the quality of a product? I know GAME can be a bit of dodgy company but even by their standards that is a rather pathetic way of testing goods. I'm probably wrong but I thought there were laws regarding used electrical goods that had to be tested thoroughly?
At this point I'm not really bothered about the hard drive, if I'm going to change it then I'm not going to let the warranty stop me but I just want to know what the laws are with this sort of thing.

powerful_Rogue

McNiven1990 wrote: »

But how does running a game go anywhere towards assuring the quality of a product? I know GAME can be a bit of dodgy company but even by their standards that is a rather pathetic way of testing goods. I'm probably wrong but I thought there were laws regarding used electrical goods that had to be tested thoroughly?
At this point I'm not really bothered about the hard drive, if I'm going to change it then I'm not going to let the warranty stop me but I just want to know what the laws are with this sort of thing.

A "bit dodgy" in what sense?

Why is this a pathetic way of testing goods? If it turns on, plays a game and runs a DVD then its classed as working and accepted for trade in. If it dosent work, then its not accepted.

If you purchase a pre-owned console, it comes with a 12 month warranty to cover you incase it does become faulty later on.

EDIT - Looks like things have changed quite a bit since ive worked there. Heres a video on what GAME do to pre-owned consoles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaPky9U4GRM#t=76

McNiven1990

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

A "bit dodgy" in what sense?

Why is this a pathetic way of testing goods? If it turns on, plays a game and runs a DVD then its classed as working and accepted for trade in. If it dosent work, then its not accepted.

If you purchase a pre-owned console, it comes with a 12 month warranty to cover you incase it does become faulty later on.

How do you believe GAME should be testing consoles?

I've just had problems in the past with GAME although it was a few years ago, they used to be really bad for the preowned games, I can't keep count of how many the PS1 and PS2 games that I had bought 10+ years ago that never worked.

I would have just imagined that if you're going to be selling used electrical goods then you should atleast check the power supply, fans, motherboard, thermal paste etc for any problems or changes that may need to be made to avoid any issue in the future. If they are only testing it by putting a game/DVD into the console then the console is not really being quality assured, they don't know if it's going to overheat or be a fire hazard with just a few minutes of being on.

My biggest issue is still the fact that they want me to contact Sony about something that has nothing to do with them, it just seems as if the people answering the emails don't know the different between preowned and new.

Hintza

They are basically saying to you they don't want you messsing around with the machine and then coming back to them for a warranty claim when you have ballsed it up.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. If I were in your shoes I would ensure I was happy with the functionality and then decide whether to void their warranty. If you are getting a 12 month warranty on a used item you are doing well.

If you are not happy with their terms then buy a new one that suits.

McNiven1990

Hintza wrote: »

They are basically saying to you they don't want you messsing around with the machine and then coming back to them for a warranty claim when you have ballsed it up.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. If I were in your shoes I would ensure I was happy with the functionality and then decide whether to void their warranty. If you are getting a 12 month warranty on a used item you are doing well.

If you are not happy with their terms then buy a new one that suits.

To be honest it wouldn't surprise me if GAME didn't honour the 12 month warranty, the fact that they seem keen on passing any blame over to Sony doesn't leave me with much confidence in them but you would think with an item costing £100+ they could atleast check things like the power supply inside the console and the wiring, checking to see if it starts and runs a disk isn't what I would call quality assurance but maybe I'm just expecting too much?

I've decided just to replace the hard drive on my own, I am confident with hardware and changing a hard drive is a very basic task that is near impossible to mess up.

powerful_Rogue

McNiven1990 wrote: »

To be honest it wouldn't surprise me if GAME didn't honour the 12 month warranty, the fact that they seem keen on passing any blame over to Sony doesn't leave me with much confidence in them but you would think with an item costing £100+ they could atleast check things like the power supply inside the console and the wiring, checking to see if it starts and runs a disk isn't what I would call quality assurance but maybe I'm just expecting too much?

I've decided just to replace the hard drive on my own, I am confident with hardware and changing a hard drive is a very basic task that is near impossible to mess up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaPky9U4GRM#t=76

McNiven1990

Thanks for posting that but if they really do all that to every preowned console before sending it out then why do they need to deny putting the warranty stickers on the console and then try to blame Sony? If they had just said from the start that all consoles are refurbished and they placed the stickers there to protect themselves from scammers then I would have thought fair play to them and would have left it at that knowing that the console was in good condition and I could just upgrade the HDD on my own without having any major concerns.