Over the last four years, Sony has rolled out a whole lot of firmware updates to the PS3. Of course it never costs money to get the update applied to your PS3…or does it?
It looks like total exploitation and manipulation of technologically adept consumers. Yeah, in other words it looks like standard Best Buy.
For $30, customers get the very huge privilege of letting Best Buy install the new firmware for them – a process that takes only a couple button presses and usually no more than 10 minutes.
For that $30, the retailer will apparently also set up new user accounts, parental controls, and other processes that are also completely free.
So, installing new Windows software is one thing – that can actually be confusing. Setting up the Xbox 360 for online play is somewhat difficult. But firmware upgrades for people who have obviously already set up their PS3 to go online? That’s just ridiculous and nothing more than inexcusable customer manipulation.
This issue came to light this week and countless people have expressed outrage over what appears to be yet again a move from a giant retailer to take advantage of un-knowledgeable customers.
Here is Best Buy’s response, in its entirety, as sent to Industrygamers.com:
“Best Buy’s Geek Squad offers services to support virtually all the gear we sell – and gaming consoles are no exception. This service has been available to our customers for nearly two years. While many gamers can handle firmware upgrades easily on their own, those customers who do want help can get it from Geek Squad, and we continue to evaluate this offering to ensure it meets their needs. The service goes beyond a firmware updates, and includes user account setup, parental control setup and other components.”
Photo credit: Escapistmagazine.com
