Dear Sony,
This is a complaint letter, so it is addressed to moderators and anyone who can actually do anything to address the situation. For Community members, please ignore unless you have also been trying to obtain a PS5 lawfully for the last nine months, failing abysmally like me, and would like to add your thoughts.
I do not understand how Sony can have made such a colossal mess of the release of the Playstation 5. It has now been “available” since November 2020 and yet the only two methods of obtaining one are a) to stay up until 3:27am frantically pressing Refresh on a browser and praying some retail outlet might have one, or b) paying some scalper on Ebay for one at an inflated price with no guarantees or any recourse to consumer protection law.
This is appalling and I do not understand how Sony can continue to advertise and promote the PS5, or even show its face in public. Sony couldn’t sell ice-cream in the Sahara Desert with business skills like that. It’s also a crying shame, because Sony has always been a great company that made great products. All the prior Playstations have been fantastic world’s-best games consoles and the PS5 looks the same. It’s impossible to know though since nobody can get one !
I’ve read all the excuses about silicon chip shortages, coronavirus staff absences and worldwide distribution problems. None of them are acceptable since they were all well known prior to the PS5 release and should have been accommodated. There are only two reasons for the issue and they are a) Sony’s distribution strategy has been a catalogue of bungled incompetency, and b) Sony’s distribution strategy has been a catalogue of bungled incompetency. It was worth mentioning twice.
Just to be clear – what I am complaining about here is appalling customer service. Sony could easily have made the PS5 available to order via individual user Playstation accounts; you have our email addresses and bank account details, you monitor our gaming habits and you probably know what we had for breakfast. You can easily tell who is a legitimate gamer, and who is a huckster who never plays videogames but has twenty-seven PS5’s in his airing cupboard. But you don’t care ! You’ve made a sale to him, and that’s a sale ! Ka-ching, money in the bank. Instead you’ve left all the retailers to try and sort out YOUR problems, which is not their responsibility. You – SONY – and you alone, are the providers of the hardware, network accounts and gaming services – start to show some respect for your genuine customers, or they will leave you in droves and you will be out of business before you can say Google Stadia (whatever that is).
I have spent the last nine months checking sales websites and following Twitter accounts in a forlorn effort to obtain a PS5, and I have had enough. I have resisted buying from the Ebay pirates up to now, but I’ve reached my limit. They are currently charging around £100 over the odds, so I have decided I am going to deal with the Devil and buy two from them (one for my son and one for myself). I will then send Sony an invoice for £200 which I expect to be honoured since I am a loyal, long-time Playstation gamer (and hope to continue to be), and the only one responsible for this pathetic mess is Sony.
Thank you for reading, and DO SOMETHING about this sorry state of affairs.
