Sony Dualsense Controllers out of Warranty Claim

G'day All,

I've reached out to PlayStation Support regarding both my controllers that have severe stick drift making any game unplayable. They've given me the basic line that they are out of warranty and will not be supported. What are my options now?

Below is the reply from Sony:


Thank you for contacting PlayStation Support and for your continued interest. We have now assessed your claim.

As you will know, when you bought your product, we provided you with a PlayStation manufacturer’s warranty. The manufacturer’s warranty is in addition to any other legal rights and remedies you may have under The Australian Competition and Consumer Act.

According to our records you purchased your controllers in December 2020 and they are therefore 1 year and 5 months old and 5 months outside of our manufacturer’s warranty.

Unfortunately, we do not provide an out-of-warranty service for this category of product and therefore will not be able to assist further on this matter.

I understand this is not the answer you were hoping for, but if you have any other questions, please contact PlayStation Support, and one of our team will be happy to help.

Thanks,

The PlayStation Support Team


Any suggestion or help will be much appreciated, cheers.


Update:

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. Both controllers were successfully exchanged. Target was a seamless process while JB required a little more persuasion.
Lessons learnt, Try to deal with retailer if you can and as always be kind and respectful.

Comments

  • +3

    That is correct, you are out of manufacturer's warranty.

    You are not, however, out of ACL's guarantee and that should be your response. It should be covered under ACL.

    https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees…

    https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees…

  • I did mention that over the phone and this was the email response to that claim. So I guess I engage ACCC and take it from there?

    • +4

      ACCC won't physically do anything to help you, they'll record issues and investigate companies if deemed required.

      You need to go back and contact Sony and argue for your consumer rights. It may take a few tries. Also worth checking with the retailer you bought it from.

    • Fair trading is the first place you go to, not the ACCC for this sort of stuff.

      • It can get confusing, I was advised to take the case to my local consumer protection agency.

        • Yeah that's Fair Trading in most states and territory (the name of the agency can change)

          ACCC is more for collecting data and enforcement of the ACL, but not dealing with individual matters.

  • Ok, I'll try with the retailer, I bought the PS5 from JB hifi and the second controller from Target.

  • +1

    Yeah asked EB a while back too and they said they can't replace it if it's more than 12 months old. ACL isn't going to do much for a <$100 item. Get a new one for $70 https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/705997 and I hear the newer models have improved in quality

    • +1

      Unfortunately not for stick drift. It's still the exact same joystick module from the same manufacturer since the PS4's DualShock 4 and same unit in other console controllers too so no change there.

      They did however add thicker springs to reduce adaptive trigger snapping which is a separate issue. You can identify new DualSense controllers by the addition of xxxxxA in the FCC ID serial number on the back.

  • +2

    I see, the good folks at JB hi-fi agreed to replace, Target said come in and they'll contact Sony and take it from there. I feel like the controllers are not of acceptable quality if they are failing this early, the problem initially started back in August last year. I was too busy with other things back then unfortunately.

    • Since JB got reemed ages ago anything out of warranty they pretty much replace or refund these days within certain dates.

    • Did JV even check that there was an issue or just did a straight swap?

      • JB Hi-fi did, they plugged it in to their PC and used a proprietary software which showed the drift on the screen.

  • +3

    So you’re saying at 11 months we should all take our DualSense controllers in for a swap 😉

    • +1

      Wouldn't hurt, gives you some insurance before the impending doom. Teaches Sony a lesson for choosing inferior sensors.

    • or go with cc's extened warranty

  • -3

    Hopefully you have learned a lesson from this.

    Sony is the worst in this console generation and has the worst controller quality.

    To support them is to support crappiness

    • Yes, they're definitely not like before, very disappointing.

  • I have just tried to log a return with Catch for a <1 year old controller with stick drift. The Returns Team Member is adamant that I need to provide an assessment from Sony before they can proceed with any remedies.

    Has anyone had any luck with Catch and have any tips?

    • +1

      All I can say is, it's not your responsibility to pay for such an assessment. All repair costs are incurred by the retailer who sold you the item.

  • What if you were to purchase a new one and box the old one up in the new packaging and take it back?
    Dodgy yes, but apart from the serial number they may not know and just have it sent off to be binned..

Login or Join to leave a comment