Got A Bricked PS4? Sony Offers Expedited Shipping

Sony has been very calm in addressing the issues of the PlayStation 4, rolling out information here and there on potential troubleshooting tips as well as offering to repair units within warranty. The company has taken things a slight step further by encouraging owners of bricked PS4 units to send the broken devices back so that they can be repaired and shipped back in an expedient manner.

PlayStation Lifestyle picked up the news from Game Informer, where Sony sent them an updated response regarding their handling of lightly bricked, semi-bricked, and Chevette-bricked consoles, stating...

“SCEA is exchanging units with new replacements for those who call our support line. The exchanges are immediate with expedited shipping.”

This is great news for anyone who has encountered irrecoverable problems with their PlayStation 4 unit, ranging from the Blue Light of Death, to the Red Light of Doom. In between the aforementioned problems are the HDMI and disc drive reports, as well as the jumbo-jet fan noises.

Some of the problems are minor, some of the issues can be repaired with a firmware update, and some of the issues require just a bit of tinkering. However, when the tinkering, and the firmware and the patience runs thin and then runs out, you'll simply need to concede defeat and ship that bad boy off so Sony can get it repaired for you. It's like turning that red-headed stepchild into a bald shaolin Monk.

There's no singular problem to this issue. However, according to a former Foxconn intern, the reason that the problems are wide and varied is because some of the interns were metaphorically (and sometimes literally) falling down on the job. Some of them reportedly began slacking in work quality after putting in back-to-back 12 hour shifts with only two hour breaks in between. According to the intern, he couldn't tell if he was working on an Xbox 360, a PS1, PS2, PS3 or PS4, and was mostly just glad to finally get out of the plant when the internship ended.

On the upside, Geek Wire is reporting that Amazon is being just as forthcoming with resolving the issues with the PlayStation 4 as Sony is – where reportedly, only 0.4% of the units suffer from some sort of inherent manufacturing fault – writing...

“Since the day of announce, the PS4 has been a big seller on Amazon with more units shipped on release day than any other video game console in our history. More than 99% of Amazon customers are having a great experience with their new console. We are working with Sony to assist the small percentage of customers who have reported issues and our customer service team stands ready to offer an exchange or where possible, help customers get their systems up and running.”

As usual, if you're one of the unlucky customers who ended up with one of the 4,000 PS4 units that just can't perform where it counts, be sure to hit up Sony and talk to their customer support about getting the unit replaced. Just contact 1-800-345-SONY.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.