Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cited a warning to Sony regarding their current warranty policies. They gave the company 30 days to comply. Sony has officially updated their policies to meet the FTC standards.
In particular, Sony had to change their policy that imply customers must purchase a specific service or article. For instance, Sony’s warranty policy initially stated that the consumer would void their warranty if they took their console to a local service for repairs instead of sending it back to Sony. How did Sony know if someone other than them repaired the console? The repair shop would have to remove the “warranty void if removed” sticker from the console in order to fix it. Thus, Sony would declare the warranty officially void.
To comply with the FTC, Sony revised two pieces of its warranty policy. The first is in regards to that warranty sticker and the use of third-party products. Sony used to prohibit using third-party peripherals with the threat of a voided warranty, but now the warranty is only void if the third-party peripheral damages the product. In regards to repairs, local services will only void the warranty if they damage it. The absence of the sticker will no longer auto-void the warranty.
The second change finally puts in writing Sony’s free return shipping for consoles in-warranty. The policy always existed, but Sony never included the language in its warranty. Now the warranty clearly states that consumers will receive free return shipping for all consoles in-warranty, factory-recertified, and repaired. The repairs do not have to come from the manufacturer, unless the repairs damaged the console (which voids the warranty and thus eliminates eligibility for free return shipping).
There you go, PlayStation-consumers. You now have more freedom to use third-party products and repair services without fear of a voided warranty.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
