PS3 crime spree, part IV: the case of the missing console
By Donald Melanson 
posted Nov 29th 2006 10:48AM
posted Nov 29th 2006 10:48AM
Southard then spent the next week obsessively checking the status of his PS3 on Sony's website to no avail, finally giving up and calling Sony to see what the deal was. The first person he spoke to told him that there was simply a problem with the paperwork he sent in and that they'd call him back tomorrow. After waiting another day and not hearing back, Southard called Sony again and apparently got a more concrete answer, with the Sony rep reportedly saying: "all we received was a box with empty papers inside." As if that's not a big enough blow, it appears that all Southard can do now is file a claim with UPS and hope to get reimbursed for the value of the console. Of course, given the current state of things, that won't exactly help get him get another PS3 any time soon. So two conclusions: first, Sony, seriously, hook this guy up, he played by your damn rules. Second, to all those with a bum PS3, remember to put that box in a box!
Won't the guy who stole it get nailed when he tries to get it serviced?
Technically wont Sony have all his serial numbers and all his details on computer now, if the theif tries to return the console to Sony wont it flag up on their computers?
I work at UPS and there is so way someone inside the building could have stolen the PS3. They scan you on your way out and you can't hide something that huge under your shirt, lol. If he shipped the PS3 in just the PS3 box and not inside another box then its possible the drive stole it. Since thats the only time it is outside the building and easy to take out and re-tape if it was just shipped in the PS3 box.
I've had an speced-up xpc, some other equipment and a rather expensive software license go missing with UPS. It was packaged in an extra box but still "somehow went missing whilst in the van". Grrr.
what kind of idiot steals a PS3 that is being SENT BACK to Sony. Why would a working PS3 be sent back to Sony?
1 word, eBay
Sorry, but if Sony sent him the label then it's up to Sony to file the claim with UPS. Also, UPS would have weighed the shipping box and their system would then identify if the Console was in the box when he shipped it which would remove him from being liable. Sorry but Sony should send him another full retail box and it be checked for functionality before shipping it to him. Nintendo wouldn't do this.
ha, what a tard ... gg shipping your PS3 in the original PS3 box. As far as I know, the most he can claim by default, without insurance is $100 ... which is default insurance on any package shipped with UPS (I may be wrong). He can only recover the full amount of his purchase if the "pre-paid shipping label" Sony supplied included insurance (and given their recent track record, it wouldn't be a shock if it didn't). While I feel kinda sorry for the guy ... he should have used a little common sense ... 5 days camping for a PS3 might give you a little clue that someone else might be after your shit if it leaves your fanboy hands. Take Donald's advice kiddies ... box within a box ... box ... within ... a box.
To Me.. I myself wish it worked that way.. I had a 360 stolen, after using if for a few months.. Still I havent gotten that call from MS saying "Hey, we found were you 360 is now.."
Guess this may be a lil different being that the unit was defective.. But if the crook actually had 1/2 a brain, they would just junk the system rather than trying to have Sony fix their HOT system..
The article says Sony sent him a label and a BOX (presumably a brown one, since he already had the retail one it was sold in). The problem was that he then had to list what was in the box on the label. If I were him, I wouldn't have labeled it as a PS3, but as a "nonfunctional video game system".
Did anyone else read the part where it says:
"Southard was told to pack up the console and send it in for repairs using the box and pre-paid UPS shipping label they'd overnight to him, which he did, even somewhat hesitantly identifying what was inside the box on the outside after being asked to do so."
What good does a box in a box do if you have to write "PS3", "THERE IS A PS3 INSIDE THIS BOX", and "SONY: PLAYSTATION 3 SERVICE CENTER" all over the box according to instructions from Sony. I'm sure if he didn't follow all instructions, they wouldn't do anything for him either.
Why would he have to label whats inside?
When my 360 died and I sent it to M$, they said not to put anything that said Microsoft or Xbox on the outside of the box, and it was sent with UPS. So i dont see how they would know whats inside the box, unless it was shipped to a place like Sony Repair Center, which would be dumb.
He was asked to. Admittedly not the smartest request, but yeah. I'm with the guy who says he would've put "nonfunctioning game system" on the box.
Reminds me of the time I bought a Powerbook off the Apple site. It came to me in the original box with a label slapped on the side. It was just screaming,"Look I'm a new laptop steal me." If it's something expensive and they want it shipped back in the original box I'd put that inside another box though. Trust no one.
I just thought of something... If I'm not mistaken, shipping insurance doesn't cover items being sent to be repaired. Presumably since they are already broken. I don't know wether or not that is still policy (I recall reading some fine print years ago) and who the shipping company was (could have been UPS or Airborne, now DHL) but it's worth looking into.
i hate to put the salt on the wound, but whomever at UPS that stole it, probably the driver, does not really have to keep it, but sell it on ebay, even if it is a broken system. Being a crook already I doubt they will have a problem selling a system on eBay even if it was broken.
..or perhaps he mailed them an EMPTY box in hopes of receiving a SECOND, free PS3... sometimes the apparent victim is the culprit.
Hey, I was going to say that...
"the box and pre-paid UPS shipping label they'd overnight to him"
How nice. I'm about to send in my Xbox 360 for the _third_ time and I've had to pay for the shipping myself for every one of them.
IF he knows his serial number and is reported stolen.. Sony can probably track it down once it connects to the internet and tries to check for a new firmware agains their system....
"How nice. I'm about to send in my Xbox 360 for the _third_ time and I've had to pay for the shipping myself for every one of them."
That is odd because when I sent my 360 in for repairs they sent me a box with a prepaid shipping label and they covered all the costs of repair.
Hmmm...I'll be sure to ask them about that. They are supposed to be calling me today (long story), but at this point it honestly may be worth the money to ship it now and not have to sit and wait for the prepaid box to arrive. That's one nice thing that Sony did for this guy - they overnighted the box & prepaid label so no long wait. Did MS do this for you, too, or was it a long wait?
But as you mentioned, I haven't had to pay for a repair yet - only the shipping, but that has been enough to draw my ire.
So your comment "Sony hook this guy up" that has to be a joke. As I am sure it was a Sony exec who stole it, since he couldnt buy it on Lik-Sang.
Why would a driver, who has thousands in easily identifiable merchandise in his truck every day, decide to steal a broken PS3? Something is definitely not kosher about that.
again, 1 word, eBay
This disturbs me, while it is likely that the guy just shipped them a box o papers in hope of getting another PS3, its also possible that the UPS truck driver grabbed it as well.
im hoping its a customer trying to scam sony. mainly because if we cant trust our mail and shipping of products.. well, that sucks!
Just to clear things up, it was a plain brown box, with the only markings on it was a shipping label that from what i can remember only had the address on it and I don't think it even said sony on it. I think really the only way someone would have known what was inside was because the girl at the ups store asked me. Thinking back I should have just lied about what was inside but it kind of caught me off guard. Also the unit would still play games, it just wouldn't play blu-ray dvd's.
Near the beginning of my strange career in the IT field. I worked for a computer company.
As well as doing tech support I also was in charge of the customer service department. One day I started getting calls from customers that were receiving computers that they received empty boxes instead of computers. The monitors were arriving but the computers were not. To make things even stranger the boxes that they were receiving were about 1 foot square. So they were not receiving the boxes that they were supposed to receive either. But the boxes had the company logo on them.
Long story short, and after some guy in the warehouse was fired over what the owners thought was an inside theft (he later got his job back). It was found that the Fed-Ex driver was stealing the computers. He had stockpiled the smaller boxes that we had put shipping information in and decided that this was the week he would make his move.
If the driver would have taken one or two a month we would have never caught it. I'm sure the customers that received empty boxes would have gotten screwed by the owners (until they charged back the purchase that is). But the driver took about 12 computers from one single shipment.
So this story doesn't surprise me at all.
it doesn't help that a lot of UPS drivers leave the bays of their trucks wide open while making a delivery run into a building. I've seen it way too many times. Anyone on the street can get in and have a few minutes to pick out a package that looks promising.
That whole story is crazy. While I see how it could be the customer who could have done it, I have had a few things messed up (in lack of better words) come empty, or just not at all. So I can definetly see both sides of the story. Scary to think about what we trust people to do everyday and giving it very little thought per day. I don't know, sounds like a movie plot......
..........He waited in line for 300 days, baught a 1/2 janky PS3. Sent it in and to no avail... this time was it all a scam, or is the UPS man guilty? I vote Tom Hanks for the part of the customer, and Bruse Willis for the UPS driver!