Pre Owned - PS4 Device Locked

00nnewbe

HI All,

Dec 17th Last year I bought a used PS4 from a reputable second hand store.

I have no receipt anymore - but i do have a bank statement showing I bought the device on that date.

It turns out that this device has been blocked due to a debt owed by the last disreputable owner,

The shop has said that it is outside the 2 month warranty period. and have made a claim that I would have blocked it in the period that I bought it.

This cannot be unblocked by Sony and as such is now just an expensive paperweight

Is there any way i can return this or have i screwed myself by losing the receipt. considering they sold me a device that wasn't fit for purpose.

Thanks for all and any advice.

Bigphil1474

Sounds a bit odd. Surely the device is linked to the account you use, not itself. Have you activated your own account.
To be fair, from the shops point of view, seems a bit strange that you took over 2 months to tell them that the device wasn't working, but on the other hand who is the debt owed to? Can't see anyway that a debt can be linked to the PS4 directly, it would be linked to the account holder for the device which is independent of it. Have you tried accessing your Origin or PSN account via the website on a PC?
There is a way of setting up a PS4 so that the main account user has a password, and it blocks creation of new users, but the device should have been reset before you bought it.
I think I'm trying to say, in more words than are required, that you are probably right, you have an expensive paper weight.

bluenoseam

Which "reputable" second hand retailer is the question? I can rule out Game but it could be an indie or that well known bastion of integrity CEX...

Any retailer would have removed the account properly - I'm sure someone like PenguinJim will correct this, but I'm sure to do that they actually have to deactivate the device on their account. (Something along those lines - last console I formatted was an Xbox 360) Any reputable retailer would also then have run it through a checking service - i.e. CheckMend - to ensure it's not on finance or lost/stolen - or more appropriately bought on finance.

Would however say to you that you haven't bought it from a reputable retailer - otherwise they'd firstly know about it & secondly fix it.

RobTang

I thought they only blocked the account as well, you might want to try a factory reset or change the HDD if you have a spare one lying around.

ineed

I'm wary of ever buying second hand electronics for this reason, I had a look around online and it sounds like the previous owner managed to get your console ID blocked due to the debt you mention, I don't think there's anything you can do if that's the case unfortunately. A link in case you haven't seen it before to Sony's page on suspended consoles; https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/get-help/help-library/my-account/grief-reporting/banned-and-suspended-consoles-and-accounts/

unholyangel

While OP may not have rights against sony, they have contractual and statutory rights with the retailer.

The retailer definitely should not be washing their hands of it - if the goods fail to conform to contract within 6 months from date of purchase, it is assumed that the goods did not conform on that date.

If it has been bricked due to the original owner not paying for it, you'll likely find that they did not have title to sell it to the retailer OP purchased it from - and therefore the retailer did not have the title to sell it to the OP.

From the consumer rights act:

(2)Every contract to supply goods, except a contract for the hire of goods or a contract within subsection (4), is to be treated as including a term that—
(a)the goods are free from any charge or encumbrance not disclosed or known to the consumer before entering into the contract,
(b)the goods will remain free from any such charge or encumbrance until ownership of them is to be transferred, and
(c)the consumer will enjoy quiet possession of the goods except so far as it may be disturbed by the owner or other person entitled to the benefit of any charge or encumbrance so disclosed or known.

ineed

unholyangel wrote: »

While OP may not have rights against sony, they have contractual and statutory rights with the retailer.

The retailer definitely should not be washing their hands of it - if the goods fail to conform to contract within 6 months from date of purchase, it is assumed that the goods did not conform on that date.

If it has been bricked due to the original owner not paying for it, you'll likely find that they did not have title to sell it to the retailer OP purchased it from - and therefore the retailer did not have the title to sell it to the OP.

From the consumer rights act:

I agree and it's really awful that something like this happened, I hope the store can be help accountable.

As the OP no longer has a receipt though I'm not sure if there's any action that can be taken against the retailer unless the bank statement OP has mentions the store by name?

Johnmcl7

The OP's post is really missing a lot of information for people to give any useful advice, particularly what the actual error is they're getting with the console. I can't see how the console could be banned because of an unpaid debt as it's Sony that bans the console and they wouldn't be the ones providing finance unless someone has been doing something dodgy with credit card payments to the store.

It is possible for Sony to ban the console for a variety of reasons and if it's a permanent ban then that can't be reversed. Has the console worked at all and where did the information about the unpaid debt come from?

John

RichL74

Surely all that is needed is pull the hard drive out, plug it back in again and the PS4 will reinitialise itself again wiping everything on the hard drive so you can set it up as a new console?

Credit-Crunched

Agreed, any "history" will be wiped out with a new HDD in place. I do not see how sony has the ability to "lock down" the mother board.

Not a full story here.

ineed

I've never experienced a ban personally on any system but when looking into it I came across a thread from PS community US http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/Consoles-Peripherals/PSN-banned-on-ps4-Helps-to-change-hdd/td-p/45157315
One poster seemed to say changing the HDD wouldn't help as it's the system serial number that is banned. Again though I've never experienced a ban personally so don't know for sure.