This is Why Sony May Not Give PSN Users Any Reimbursement

The PlayStation Network has been down for a few days now and it has undoubtedly resulted in a large percentage of the PSN’s userbase restless; most PSN users will be looking for some sort of reimbursement from Sony – especially due to the fact that gamers missed out on playing Mortal Kombat and Portal 2′s multiplayer component. Now, however, it has been discovered that Sony may not indeed give PS3 owners any reimbursement.

[ClydeRadcliffe]

reimbursement for what exactly? it doesn't cost anything

[Valay]

Reimbursement for making PSN go down for 5 days; millions of gamers haven't been able to play some of the best games of the year online yet.

[Aussiegamer]

*looks at sky*, yep pretty sure its not falling in yet, get over it.

[n4gisatroll]

Valey,

What?? You obviously don't understand that a lot of gamers don't gave access to the Internet and don't get to play online. You don't see them getting a refund because they can't play MP.

[zeeshan]

Screw this "REIMBURSEMENT" talk and give us the PSN already! And if Sony can't do shit about this, then the least they could do is give some REAL info and not some crap statement like "We are looking into this and will let you know". I mean after 4 days, you are STILL looking into this? WTF is that?

[radphil]

This is why it's important to read TOS people.

I've already seen someone state this before in the n'th(yes that's n'th because there's just too many to count atm) articles floating around about PSN, but Section 15...otherwise you get comments like Valay's.

@zeeshan Look at the PS Blog, and other articles around the area. The reason behind it was stated. Along with hopeful situation in that it'll be up in the next day.

[cyborg6971]

Oh noes. These statements and others similar, and there are many. Reinforces the fact that there is a reason why you and the others who feel like you could never own your own business.

[RedDead]

Technically...Psn is part of the deal of buying a Ps3 in the first place...It's not a bonus, it's advertised as a part of the P3 and a reason for getting it. Your not paying for it yearly or monthly, you payed for it when you payed for the Ps3...

Just sayin....it's not as easy as saying "it's free" because it's a big part of the deal. Also don't get me wrong, this shi* happens I don't think anyone deserves something from this. If sony like they can give me a free game though..I ain't complaining if they do :)

[Rybakov]

but anon took it offline thats not sony's fault...anon can reimburse us by hanging himself on live tv but thats about it sony won't do anything

its even in both sony's and MS agreement that you agreed to that they can shut everything off for no reason at all with out explanation and no reimbursement....the only reason they would is if its by accident and they wanna win support back if anything that would be to ps+ users only since they pay

[CYBERSNAKE]

I'd just like to thank everyone who reminded me PSN is a free service, suddenly I feel alot better now. /s

[Soldierone]

Article and people have it wrong. Is PSN Free? Yes. Does Sony state they are not liable for it going down? yes.

Now to the point. If Sony wants HAPPY fans and a good image, the easy route would be to give something very simple away for free. On the other hand if they dont care and dont see the bad image hurting them that long, then don't give anything away for free.

Get it? ITs not that people DESERVE something as they are not paying for something. Its the fact Sony wants to retain that positive image they have been creating.

You know these things are put into terms of use just to cover companies asses...yet a majority of them WILL do something if something goes wrong just to maintain a positive public image.

[SiLeNt KNighT]

RedDeadDestroyer

so if i dont use online where do i get the cheaper version of the ps3... the one that doesnt include 'online' in the price tag??

there is no different one because no matter how you swing it; PSN is free. TOS states Sony can revoke your right to use the PSN at any time for any reason, and on top of that they have EVERY right when a security issue is involved. Just consider this a widespread temporary ban =)

[paintsville]

He, he, he. There's that pesky terms of service agreement.

[MAJ0R]

umm I can understand u complaining if XBL went down, but u don't pay to play PSN

it's a free service

[limewax]

Heres whats I dont get, some people are whining for some form of reimbursement, Although it actually is classed as compensation being an unpaid service.

But you know I bought both MK and Portal 2 and yes have been waiting to get in some online MK and have a friend on pc waiting to do some co-op Portal 2, But Im not whining, these were 2 of 3 great games released recently, Cant gamers keep themselves busy for 5 minutes anymore without Team Deathmatch

[HardCover]

@RedDeadDestroyer

You don't get "PSN." You get "access to PSN." If PSN is down, and nobody is getting access, then you're not missing out on anything; ergo nothing is your reimbursement.

Not to mention this article highlights the relevant fine print for you. You can have PSN, but Sony can also take it away at their discretion.

[jneul]

FACEPALM OH BOY WHAT DID YOU USED TO DO IN THE DAYS OF NO ONLINE PLAY......
Some ppl are so retarded, psn is free, and really doesnt get many problems until anony stuck their noses in we should all be grateful sony is upping the security!!
As for psn+ users and dcuo users expect a nice pressie from sony, heck im betting they'll give us all something nice anyways like they did with the free lbp2 demo just before christmas, sony wants to make its customers happy because it understands happy customers == loyalty, thats why i continue to support sony since ps1

[gamingdroid]

Even if you paid for PSN you are still not entitled to anything, because it is a service. Plain and simple!

However, if you want Sony can re-imburse you for a little "FREE GAME TIME" with access to PSN. Just take the number of days your PSN service was offline, double it as a peace offering and add it to your existing available service time. There you go! When your PSN expires, expect 10 more days on Sony!

Funny how everyone is up in a twizzy about game time, but the potential for your credit card number and account access is in the hands of the thief, yet everyone is focused on re-imbursement of the lost game time.

[RedSky]

Terms of Service agreements are designed to pre-emptively limit the risk of liability in the case of a lawsuit. They rarely have anything to do with intentions, they're purely to manage risk. There's nothing here to say they won't somehow reimburse paying PSN Plus or even free users as obviously it's bad PR if they don't.

At least here in Australia, there are certain inviolable rights for goods and services which cannot be waived. If there is an equivalent in the US (there must be), paying PSN Plus customers can potentially sue them if they are not reimbursed commensurately regardless of what their ToS say.

It's like "no refunds" signs in shops. They can claim this all they like, but if the good they're selling is misrepresented or not fit for service, they're obliged to refund you regardless of what rules they wish to establish.

[frostypants]

If Sony DOES give us something, it's a gesture of good will. For people to EXPECT something is ridiculous. Like people have said, read the ToS.

Stuff breaks down online from time to time.

You'll get over it.

That said, they probably will make it up to people somehow. But seriously, if this event actually stressed you out, you need to get out more.

[gamingdroid]

You are absolutely right:

"At least here in Australia, there are certain inviolable rights for goods and services which cannot be waived. If there is an equivalent in the US (there must be), paying PSN Plus customers can potentially sue them if they are not reimbursed commensurately regardless of what their ToS say."

However, as far as I know there is no such law in the US. It is rather common not to re-imburse or even make very small (insignificant) re-imbursement. Almost all web-hosting companies do this and operate on very similar terms as PSN, just that their customers are probably more upset their business webserver is down!

EULA is not above the law and sometimes (if not almost always) contain illegal terms as a scare tactic on the ignorant public.

I'm not a lawyer (not even close), but I see this "service downtime" so commonly and I haven't seen anybody gotten sued yet.

[GodsHand]

I pay for Hulu+, Netflix, and vudu. If I am not logged onto the PSN, I have no access to these services. Can I use a PC to use it sure, but I use these services on the PS3 to watch it on my big screen tv, I don't pay for them to see on a 17" laptop screen.

My main concern is vudu, as I have a few movies waiting to be watched, before they exprire, I belive a little compensation is in order for downtime, on services that require the PSN be operational, and the only game I know of that I like to play on a daily basis is final fight double impact (for the love of the old days), but I can not because the PSN needs to be up so I can log in, and it can verify I own the game.

[n4gisatroll]

First and foremost. Just because you can't watch it on your tv right now, doesn't mean you can't access it elsewhere, like you said. That automatically means you won't get a single penny. It's been less then a week, things like this happens everywhere.

[Yomiro]

I have been watching movies on Netflix and vudu since the whole thing went down.

[Anon1974]

Hook your laptop up to your TV. This isn't rocket science. If your internet went down for a week would you be complaining to your cable company to compensate your for movies you couldn't watch? How the hell could they even verify if you were telling the truth?

XBL also needs to log in to verify downloaded content before you can play. Did they ever offer monetary compensation during a network outage? The closest they ever came was to offer a crappy game free when their service was out sporadically for the better part of a month, and that was a service people paid for.

People need a reality check, and they need to understand their TOS agreements before they start whining about compensation for movies they couldn't watch on their TV because they were too lazy to hook up another device.

[UltimateIdiot911]

For goodness sake, you don't ever have to be on PSN to access those services. I do that all the time even before the PSN went down.

You just have to cancel the sign in a few times and it will let you stream like normal.

[Rybakov]

those arn't govern'd by sony they could care less about them at this point they need to worry about the stuff they do control....and if your too lazy to watch it on your laptop screen why not hook your laptop up to the tv darkride said its not rocket science

[GodsHand]

@ UltimateIdiot911

I did not know that, I only stop trying after it asked me to sign in.

@darkride66

I now know why you have one bubble.

Would I complain to the cable company about not being able to watch movies, because my service went down. Noooooo, but I would complain about the service being down, and get a credit for that time. As for hooking up a laptop to a tv, yeap it's not rocket science, but hmmmm, there is no f-connection on my laptop, and no rca connections I seem to be the only person with a vga out on my laptop go figure. Also I am not demanding a credit with Sony, I only said I belive we should get one.

[PatchowPietro]

Your stupid to solely rely on your PS3 and its free PSN service then.

[BlackTar187]

"Would I complain to the cable company about not being able to watch movies, because my service went down. Noooooo, but I would complain about the service being down, and get a credit for that time."

ROFL bro you pay a monthly fee for your cable you deserve something if that happens like you requested the problem is you do not pay for your PSN account i don't care what you say the PSN account is not paid for.

I also love the fact the only game you play on a regular basis is a game that needs to log in. Although im not outright calling you a liar i think its rather convenient that the only game you play on a regular basis is one that has to be verified. Coincidence?

[sooyoung87]

Well, PSN is free but PSN+ isn't. I don't expect a monetary reimbursement or would even want one as it would be less than a dollar. I just want the days that PSN+ was down added back up to the account. And it is simple to just hook up the labtop to the big screen to watch Netflix or whatever, but not everyone has one. But really, I couldn't care less if they do any reimbursements of any kind. I think it would just be a good marketing if Sony did though, to cover for the minor hiccup in their services.

[AyeGee]

Get on the internet, order a movie, get it mailed to you, and watch it on your TV.

This isn't hard to figure out.

[Lord_Doggington]

op, remarkable that just because it's free it means you can be treated poorly as a gamer.

everyone has every right to be mad because they would like to use their ps3 to play games online for free.

they can't, therefore they have the right to be mad.

If you read the article, they're stating that Sony is not legally obligated to reimburse anyone for their troubles.

HOWEVER, because they don't want to lose any of their user base, I'm certain that they will give a free download or something as a sign of good faith.

[BlackTar187]

who isn't mad? Im mad i want to play my games online... So does that mean that im owed something?

are you guys serious that you fell like people always owe you soemthing for inconvience?

WOW just wow. I understand being angry i want to play socom and DCUO(Which I pay for) but that doesn't mean i think i deserve something in return for anything other then DCUO.(since i actually pay for it)

Im also looking for the ps3 with out the internet connection for cheaper so i can get it as a back up blu ray/game machine. this part = Sarcasm to an earlier post.

Man kid are so entitled now adays.

[Lord_Doggington]

When people paid for their PS3 in 2006, they received a number of promised services, including online play. They are now not receiving the service that they paid for. Therefore, they have every right to feel entitled.

PSN isn't a privilege. It's a product that has been purchased and utilized at the consumer's discretion.

Don't let Sony fanboys convince you that a paid-for service is now a privilege. You paid for it, therefore, it's a requirement.

[Bloodraid]

"PSN isn't a privilege. It's a product that has been purchased and utilized at the consumer's discretion."

It's not a privilege? Can you explain account and console banning, please? Are you claiming that Sony is required to allow everyone to play online even if they're breaking the rules set forth by Sony?

If you had any bubbles left, I wouldn't doubt you'd try to convince me that I'm committing some sort of logical fallacy here. Either way, your argument is invalid, try again.

[Legion]

@Lord_Doggington

Actually when you signed up it stated in your service agreement that SCEA policy allowed for the service to be taken down at any time for what ever reason. No promise of service was evere made.

[jke82]

this is what your talking about ive posted this on three seperate articles but hey why not four

15. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
No warranty is given about the quality, functionality, availability or performance of Sony Online Services, or any content or service offered on or through Sony Online Services. All services and content are provided “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” with all faults. SCEA does not warrant that the service and content will be uninterrupted, error-free or without delays. In addition to the limitations of liability in Sections 1, 2, 11 and 13 of this Agreement, SCEA expressly disclaims any implied warranty of merchantability, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and warranty of non-infringement. SCEA assumes no liability for any inability to purchase, access, download or use any content, data or service

in other words when you signed up for PSN you agreed to this EULA which in all fifty states is a legally binding contract between you and sony.. and it says in not so many words that if the services is down tough shit...besides people its a free service for those of you on psn plus you dont pay for access you pay for extra free/discounted content hence your not really entitled to anything either. besides for the down time added up from a yearly subscription to PSN+ its like 68cents worth of down time what do you really want for that...REALLY

[frelyler]

Thank you. Now will all the whiners please be quite.

[shuuwai]

I doubt they'll listen.

There are more then dozen of these surtitles with the word "reimbursement" in it.

Their are blind by the hate that consumes them, and we all know that N4G is a Zoo for trolls.
Yet most of these hates are xbox users adding addition oil to the fire, and in doing so they are trying to convince the simple minded psn user that they should be "reimbursement"

overall i just want the psn to be back online.

[antz1104]

Lol @ Shuuwai,

Your paranoia aside, this has nothing to do w/ xbox users.Most of the comments I've read over the past five days are ppl bitching they're owed something for PSN being down, and others saying "its free, Sony doesn't owe you squat".

For disliking trolls you seem to be pretty good at it.

[taylork37]

@jke82

Thanks for the wall of text that tells us nothing.

Sony may not owe anyone anything legally, but is it that inconceivable to think that people may want some sort of "apology" in the form of a free downloadable game or something. Sony allegedly couldn't stop a bunch of amateur programmers to hack into their multi million user online service causing it to be taken down and all of a sudden everything should be forgiven?? Come on.

And in the words of all you Sony fanboys...you buy the right to play multiplayer when you buy the game. Does that sound familiar? So I bought the right to play multiplayer and now I can't...? So what now? Should I forget all those statements?

Not to mention all the people (Me included) who bought PS3 versions of Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, and Socom and can't use a feature that they bought with the game....as you all have said so many times before.

They can't even give us a legitimate update on the situation.

I'm a proud PS3 owner, but this is ridiculous.

[jke82]

you still agreed to the EULA when you signed online with PSN the first time

"SCEA does not warrant that the service and content will be uninterrupted, error-free or without delays."

its a free service be happy they provide it with out a fee...just think you could be forced to buy a subscription to play online

[taylork37]

"you still agreed to the EULA when you signed online with PSN the first time

"SCEA does not warrant that the service and content will be uninterrupted, error-free or without delays." "

F*ck the EULA kid.

Did you not read my post?

I know what it says. Are you blind? Can you read?

Again (since you didnt seem to read my post) by you and your PS3 fan-buddies thinking, I paid for the ability for multiplayer when I bought the game. That has been the point of all PS3 fanboys when talking about XBL and paid online service. And I know you know that.

So by your past thinking, it isn't inconceivable that they would offer some sort of gesture to make-up for the online capability that you said we have already bought with the game.

Whether or not Sony legally owes us anything (I know they don't) doesn't mean they are not allowed to extend an apology for messing up...and they clearly did.

"its a free service be happy they provide it with out a fee...just think you could be forced to buy a subscription to play online"

I'm happy its free, but I am also happy paying for XBL, an obviously superior service.

[AyeGee]

@taylork37

A superior service.. that had an outage as well in December of 2008.

[taylork37]

AyeGee

I'm not saying the service is superior because there are no outages...it is just plane superior.

Outages should be expected to happen on every service.

Edit:

Good work on responding to only one of my points and with the PS3 canned fanboy response.

F*cking sheep.

[jke82]

whoopty doo cross game chat yeah thats well worth the 60 bucks a year.. sooo other than that how is it "plain superior" as you put it i dont see any differences between it and psn besides that and a fee.....

[taylork37]

xmb and psn integration is absolutely terrible
10 second trophy sync everytime you get a trophy
non-global invites
no x-game chat

That would be worth my $5.00 a month, even though I actually haven't paid over $40/year once.

And that's besides the point. If you didn't notice I wrote a bunch of other stuff you conveniently ignored.

[AyeGee]

@taylork37

Don't bust a vein, bro.. i could care less about any of the other points you made. Because they're not important.. PSN is down, so what? I don't care.

[Xian]

I would say that the PSN Plus users, the ones that do pay, deserve something, if nothing else having their subscription extended for the time PSN was down. As for the rest of the PSN users, a token gesture of some kind would be nice for the inconvenience but it is not required.

[beavis4play]

lets break it down: ps+ costs $49 a year (even less now that they're currently offering 15 months for the 1 year price). thats around .90 cents a week. so, if it's down 3-4 more days, sony could refund ps+ users 1 dollar. but if it comes back in the next day or so - the refund would drop to .50-60 cents.

of course - extending current subscriptions a handful of days to make up for the time it's been down is ok; but, i just don't see the big deal. and, i'm not sure why sony should be held accountable for the actions taken againast them by hackers. the only reason people are saying sony should pay is because they can't hide like the criminals who did this to psn.

[undercovrr]

Not that I agree with reimbursement, but you realize PS plus members are paying right? At least those people should have their membership extended by the amount of days the PSN was down.

[MRMagoo123]

so they will all be happy when sony credits them 50 cents up to a max of $1 because thats what the downtime equates to?

[sooyoung87]

@MRMangoo123

No, thats not what undercovrr was saying at all. I have PSN+ and I don't want any monetary reimbursement, just the days that I lost due to PSN being down.

[UltimateIdiot911]

The only people who deserve reimbursement are the people who pay for DC Universe.

[Prototype]

And the paid version of Free Realms

[DaTruth]

Jackpot! DC online players are the only ones who might be owed something! PS+ users who pay, don't pay to play online, they paid for deals on the PS network. As far as I can see, they haven't lost the deals, just the ability to get them for a few days.

If you needed that deal so badly, what were you waiting for? You had Tuesday to Thursday!

Wow, I can't believe how entitled people have become! It's like someone is nice enough to buy you a free coffee everyday, but when their sick and not around to buy you it, you want a reimbursement!

[MRMagoo123]

Thats what the world has turned into everyone feels like because they can complain they will complain no matter how little or unimportant the problem may be its like ppl suing shops for making coffee too hot and they burn there leg when they drop it on themselves everyone nowadays seems to be after a fast buck. Ide like to say to all the business owners the customer isnt always right.

[BX81]

Reimbursement should be for those who pay for PS Plus and those who pay to play dc universe online and it should be free for how many days PSN was down. You should only get your time back not free games. Also If anyone needs reimbursement it's the devs. who are loosing out on money.

[vickers500]

I paid 600 dollars for a console with ONLINE CAPABILITIES. So yeah, it did cost something. I also paid 65 bucks for Portal 2, yet because of Sony's inability to fix the problem fast enough, I have only been able to play a PART of my game.

I want reimbursement for that lost game time. A PSN game would be fair, and would do fine.

[antz1104]

Lets recap:

You paid $600 for a system w/ online capabilities. Not the main function of the system mind you, just capable. Theres nothing wrong with the system itself, it works fine.

You paid $65 for Portal 2. (A single player game with multiplayer option. Not totally online and pay to play like DCUO.) It works fine as well, no defects.

The FREE online option is down and you expect reimbursement? That is quite a level of expectation.

[therapist]

you should have bought portal 2 from steam, the people who made it, and played it in true hd, instead of sub-hd, with anti aliasing and running at a sexy 60 frames per second.

and portal 2 would run on your mom's laptop like all valve games, very well coded and light on the Horsepower needed!

Also, it's $44 usd on steam with no tax instead of $65 you paid, $20 cheaper and it looks about 50x on pc!~

[Gawdl3y]

@vickers500
You still own the fully-functional copy of the game (not being able to play online doesn't mean it isn't functional), and there are no defects with the system that you bought. Therefore, you are owed nothing.

@therapist
Normally I'd agree, but the PS3 version comes with a code for the Steam version, as well as Steamworks integration.

I have a PlayStation Plus subscription, and I still don't think I'm owed anything. It's not like I won't be able to get the content that would have come out for PS+ this week after the network is back up.

[BlackTar187]

so vickers what do you think about buying a game like portal then coming home to an xbox that has no gold level service. Should you be okay with paying for your ISP that provides you internet to play games then pay for the game that says you can play online then pay MS for the right to use the other 2 things you already purchased?

I dont mean to be a troll but this place always is accused of ps3 fans but where are all these articles coming from why is there so many anti ps3 posters in all these threads?

[vickers500]

"Not the main function of the system mind you, just capable."

It's part of the price. By your logic, I could argue that the ps3 has "game capabilities". You can't just separate the features because you don't like them, they are included in the price.

"You paid $65 for Portal 2. (A single player game with multiplayer option."

That's your opinion that it's a single player game with a multiplayer OPTION. Both components are equally important to me, and I paid 65 bucks for BOTH components, not one.

"It works fine as well, no defects." No, it doesn't.

"The FREE online option is down and you expect reimbursement? That is quite a level of expectation."

Why do you people think that online is free? Just because Microsoft added a mandatory subscription (for online) to their service, does not mean that the money you spend on the game and console isn't going into keeping up their servers and what not. You pay a premium price ($300 or in my case $600) + a percentage of the game price to pay for online. You're just not being separately charged for it like Microsoft makes you do, but you're still being charged for it, it's included in the $65 and $300 price tag. It doesn't make up that full $65/$300, but it does make up SOME of it.

"Also, it's $44 usd on steam with no tax instead of $65 you paid, $20 cheaper and it looks about 50x on pc!~"

I got it 10 bucks cheaper than retail from Amazon, plus $20 credit plus both ps3 and pc copies of the game. I'm glad I bought it on ps3.

"You still own the fully-functional copy of the game"

No I don't, I can't play the co-op campaign that's included.

"(not being able to play online doesn't mean it isn't functional)"

No, but it means it's only half functional. It sure as sh*t isn't "fully functional" as you say it is. Just because co-op may not be important to you and you think sp is most important, that doesn't make it a fact.

"Therefore, you are owed nothing." Yes I am. I am owed something that would make up for the lost game time, such as a PSN game. It's Sonys fault I cannot access the full features of my game that I paid FULL PRICE for (both for SP and CO-OP).

"so vickers what do you think about buying a game like portal then coming home to an xbox that has no gold level service"

What in the hell does any of this have to do with XBL gold? Gold is a rip off, I'm not going to argue that, but it still doesn't make this sh*tty situation right either just because gold is a sh*ttier situation.

I'm not an anti-ps3 poster either, I'm actually very very pro ps3. One thing I am NOT though, is pro-sony. I am not pro-[anycompany]. I am not loyal to Sony, I do not care about Sony and they don't care about me (or you).

For goodness sakes people, stand up for the consumer, not the damn corporation. Stop being such corporate tools.

[dragon82]

Here is a good example for all you guys:

You live in an area where storms get really bad (like me) and your cities power plant gets taken out one night. You and the rest of your town are left without power for a week while the power plant is being fixed. Are you expecting to be reimbursed by the companies of all the products you cant use because a storm took out the power plant? What about the electric company? Or the town itself?

This same principal applies to this situation. Sony didn't take down the PSN just because they felt like it. It was a result of outside interference, much like a storm. See where I am going with this??

[lee_ten]

vickers, that entire article you just wrote here sounds more like whining than anything else. you need to sit down, take a deep breath and RELAX.

[Rocket Sauce]

If I had my own business and it stalled for 6 (or more) days, I'd be kissing my customers' asses.

They'll look good coming out of this mess if they show their users a nice gesture - a free psn game or whatever.

Nobody reads the terms of service.

[sikbeta]

*Gimme ma free backz* XD

Seriously, I want PSN up and running, I don't feel like I need a compensation of anything, just PSN back and everything is cool...

[MWong]

@ ClydeRadcliffe

Couldn't agree more, I miss a few days of SOCOM 4 or Bad Company 2 .... IT'S FREE!!! I don't want reimbursement I would love to have back the PSN. Hopefully it's back up soon.

[STGuy1040]

While the service itself is free, DCUO is not. People are losing days from their paid subscriptions because of the outage.

While the attack on the network is not Sony's fault, they should reimburse DCUO gamers for the days they're losing. It's only fair. People aren't getting THAT service for free.

[AKS]

Sony will give you online services of the PSN free of charge when it's back uo for your troubles plus reimburse you for any charges for basic PSN services. That should come to roughly a net balance of $0.00 for everyone on PSN. LOL.

[xtremeimport]

people upset and wanting reimbursement are being stupid. yes it sucks that PSN is down, but hey..its a free service so what exactly should Sony be paying you back for? Plus users are a different story...come on, once its back up you'll forget all about it and move on.

[Soplox]

I'm a PSN+ and it cost me so I expect something from SONY. And before this happened I added to my PSN $50 and I hope the money still there or I'll sue SONY

[MWong]

You'll sue SONY for $50, really small claims court for $50? I'm sure your $50 will still be on your account.

I pay for the PSN+ $50 and don't even expect a reimbursement. For what 5-6 days? How much is the membership like $18 (3) or $50 (12). So when I divide my membership up into months it works out to be about $4.16 and that by a 4 weeks it's a little more than a dollar.

[Lykon]

I agree, I don't see the need for reimbursement. If people really have struggled to live without PSN for a few days then a short break will have done them good.

[Thrungus]

Sony will reimburse their users, that's just how business works.

[antboltonboy]

i dont think they will and i dont think they need 2 PSN is FREE

[n4gisatroll]

Ya why would they pay us anything? It's not like they decided to take it down for no reason whatsoever.

[Thrungus]

It doesn't work like that, you've got to remember that PSN users purchase games to play 'online' and then expect the PSN service to work.

If users are only wanting to play online, then Playstation will lose out big time as they will then begin to play on different online services (Xbox Live).

Playstation will have to reimburse their users somehow.

[Joe2911]

Its free because we payed 600 dollars to start with where as xbox was 400 dollars (can't remember exactly, but the difference was online costs). It is a free service, it is a very good free service, but at this time it could really hurt sony having customers remember this experience. I'm not gunna lie, I'm not a fanboy, I don't mind getting up and switching consoles and next generation I may buy a xbox and use their pay service. If sony reimburses me, it may make me forget that this ever happened. I know it won't happen, but its all about keeping the consumer happy.

[dead_eye]

@joe2911 So the PS3's blu ray drive didn't make it cost more than the Xbox360. I didn't know that the psn was included in the price of the PS3.

Sony don't have to offer anything to most psn users. I have plus service and don't feel I need compensation. DCU users should get refunds on the downtime.

I don't think Sony need to offer anything but I do think they will.

[STGuy1040]

Why are people using this as a defense? Some of the services on the network - like DCUO - are NOT free.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

You need to read the Terms of Agreements, #15.

[Thrungus]

but let's get one thing straight, no-one would say no to being 'reimbursed'...

[STGuy1040]

Who disagreed with DCUO being a pay service? lol

[TheWeepingKiller]

Reimbursement or not, just put the thing back online already!

[mushroomwig]

True, at this point reimbursement isn't important, getting the service back up is.

We can cross that bridge when we come to it.

[xAlmostPro]

Ok so you'd rather they put it back up knowing that certain people have access to loopholes and data information and the high risk of millions of users having credit card details stolen..

Yeah that makes sense..

I'm actually selling some common sense would you like to buy some? :)

[GraySnake]

where did you get that!?

[LoneWanderer09]

not expecting anything, but if they do Wohooo!!!

[solar]

i find this whole situation quite laughable. what do you expect having to sign into a propreitary service to access online content other than a service provider? it goes down at times.

[mairondil]

What's the guy mean "it has been discovered that Sony may not indeed give PS3 owners any reimbursement."?

The TOS is not some new thing. Every single person that's ever signed into PSN has agreed to these terms. These specific parts of the TOS probably haven't changed since the PS3 launch days.

[AssassinHD]

I don't see why anyone would be expecting reimbursement. The PSN is free, except of course PS+. Since access to the PSN is not a given right, and no money has been paid toward it (except for PS+), then why should anyone receive reimbursement?

Even with PS+ the appropriate action would be to simply extend the subscription by the number of days that the network was down.

[SixShotCop]

Were your online games free too?

[Gawdl3y]

Nope, but it doesn't matter, because the game itself is still completely functional.
If you were talking about an online-only game that you had to pay monthly for, then yes, reimbursement should be given.

[RustInPeace]

I wouldn't mind something for the outage, but for what exactly? Nothing they have done has ruined my online experience, it has just been halted for the safety & security for me and other PS3 users. If anything, SONY is protected/ enforcing its ToS (even if there is no service at this time). They felt they needed to shut the servers to fix this problem and so they went ahead and did just that.

[Gran Touring]

I'm just curious, for those expecting or demanding some kind of "reimbursement," what do you have in mind?

[mairondil]

Nothing will sufficiently satisfy some of these people that are demanding reimbursement.

[XRider]

Only ones that should get a reimbursement IMO are PSN+ subscribers. I don't even have PSN+ and probably never will. I think Sony will give people something anyway just to shut people up.

[quiddd]

I heard that hackers were getting into the admin accounts and giving the ability to download games or anything on the PSN for free. From what I heard it's been limited to that. What would make the hackers stop there? What I'm saying is what if at one point they can access other peoples account? ANY MAYBE THEIR CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS. Would that be enough reason to take the service down for a few days?

My thoughts, Sony, do your thing.

[fooltheman]

the reimbursement is the improved safety ...

[GraySnake]

and who knows? Maybe they will say " Oi Sorry about this whole thing, but we used the time not only to improve security and structure but we also added cross game chat."

will this happen? one can dream right?

[sprayNpray]

What is the real reason they won't reimburse? Because you're still gonna play once it's back up. You're still going to give them money for games. You still can't do anything about it.

Why won't the reimburse you?

Cause they don't give 2 sh**s about you.

It's all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[theonlylolking]

I want to be reimbursed for XBL Gold because XBL goes down every Christmas.

Things cannot stay online forever and when something gets attacked like a online service, do you not want your info to be secured?

[Figboy]

I'm generally not one to demand reimbursement, but I pay for PS+, as well as DC Universe Online PS3, so I figure, at the least, I could be reimbursed a few bucks for the 5 days I've been unable to use those two services I've paid for.

What really sucked for us this weekend, was that my copy of LittleBig Planet 2 finally came in the mail on Saturday, and me and my wife couldn't play any of the great community levels.

Overall, this outage hasn't affected me terribly, as I'm a 90% single player gamer, but since I'm paying for Plus and DCU, I figure it's fair for me to ask for some reimbursement.

[Capt-FuzzyPants]

The only people who should get reimbursed are the people paying for PS Plus. I would certainly like something but i really dont care. Not playing online for a couple days isnt making anyone go crazy.

[denero1]

if you pay for ps+ and dc online then it does lol

[Raven_Nomad]

We get it, PSN is free. Some of us look at PSN as not having been free though. I paid $600 for mine, so I think of it as being included.

PSN goes down during a busy 3 day Easter weekend, a lot of people were off work or college and wanted to ...oh I don't know ...actually play their new games online.

So year, the pure inconvenience of it should require some sort of good will gesture on Sony's part.

[MRMagoo123]

If thats the way you think shouldnt all the 360 users be demanding money back from ms because they have online games they cant play even tho they bought the game they have internet yet ms still wants them to pay a monthly fee i wouldnt pay it so therefore i should get a portion of the money i paid for each game with an online component back from ms right? Everyone these days feels entitled to something if you have dcuo then sony owe you about 4 dollars if you have psn plus they owe you 60 cents wow is that even worth crying about?

[Raven_Nomad]

I have only ever paid $199 for my 360. Some games I play online, some off. I choose to pay for an upgraded service, much in the way I get free television, but I choose to pay for satellite.

PSN being down doesn't directly effect me, since I can count on one hand how many times I use it, but then again a few years ago I wasn't effected by the XBL issues and I still got compensation for that. If it's true that Sony is totally rebuilding their online servers and everything, your in for a long wait, weeks or even months.

I suspect some of the Sony fans might change their tune by then.

[NatureOfLogic]

why the fck, you stupid ps3 fanboy's keep bringing up x360 and MS, we're talking about PSN and sony, so STFU.

[acemonkey]

They better give u something besides some lame ass sorry, or they are straight up dicks.sorry for the ass and dicks lol

[danielle007]

I dunno. On the one hand, Sony offers the service for free, on the other, I pay $60 for a game, and Sony is the party responsible for me not being able to utilize all $60-worth of game that I paid for.

They have their reasons for it being down, but they should probably at least consider a small reimbursement. A free PSOne game or something. Something cheap just to get everyone to calm down.

[Fallouts]

Omg! Kids, it hasn't even been a week! I always knew sony fanatics are a crazy bunch and quick to run for a pitch fork at the slightest inconvenience. My goodness! Bu bu but I couldn't go online over the weekend.... Gtfoh with that cry baby shit. You know what I was doing while sony is trying to fix psn? Play mortal kombat online, how you ask? On a fvcking 360, its cheap now go get one for times like this. Shit happens ppl...

[Ninjamonkey82]

Oh screw this i own both MK and Portal 2 on PS3 except for not being able to use my steamworks yet to try it on my PC ive been able to enjoy the single player and add to that i live in a house with plenty of people willing to offer up a challenege on MK. None of this is Sonys fault so i for one am not interest in any type of refund in service.

I have love film and PS+ btw and ill just enjoy my service when its back online fuck sake stop your moaning you pack of cryers. Btw mostly i can't see it being PS3 owners whining.

[Neko_Mega]

Who cares if Sony gives us something or not, I mean all that matters is that the PSN is up and running.

[MeNoRasta]

One word,par

[Shinkus]

Serious question, is there actually an official report from Sony as to why the PSN is down? I've heard hackers, the incident in Japan and to prevent credit card theft but those reasons are all over the place.

Anyway, I don't think Sony needs to give reimbursements aside from the p2p games that the people above listed. But I am sure Sony will throw something to everyone just because.

[JoelR]

as per Sony

"External Intrusion into the network"

Sony has disabled the network themselves to affect repairs and upgrades to security

[Shinkus]

Ah, thanks. Didn't know that they had officially said anything pertaining to the shutdown.

[PatchowPietro]

I dont expect reimbursement because the service is free.

[STGuy1040]

I don't expect compensation for PSN, but DCUO gamers and Playstation Plus users should be compensated for their troubles.

[MRMagoo123]

Yes they should be paid for the days that its been down so these users should expect $4.60 in there psn wallets im sure they will all be happy then is it even worth fussing over less than $5 is what this time is worth.

[SaxScrotumz]

I dont expect or demand any form of reimbursement from Sony. That's just plain silly.

[Jonah_Reese]

The best reimbursement Sony can give is bringing back PSN and making sure this never happens to them/us again. It's bad for everybody, whether you want to blame Sony or Anonymous (screw them by the way). So I don't care about reimbursement.

[Kte]

lol honestly I can't say I am not mad since I just got Socom and MK so it does kind of piss me off that I can't enjoy online...yeah reimbursement of a free PSN game that would make my day lol

[PirateThom]

People that should be reimbursed:

DC Universe Online Subscribers
Qriocity Subscribers

PS+ could, maybe, extend to cover the days we've missed, but it's not like the downloaded content has been locked or anything. Still playable.

[montyburns000]

according to the drones on this site they don't owe PSN users anything. I bet if Sony totally axed PSN tomorrow they still would line up to defend their overlords.

[HebrewHummus]

I don't EXPECT a reimbursement, nor do I particularly want one. I just want PSN up and running. HOWEVER, I think Playstation should give a free game or something (obviously nothing cash like some morons want, not gonna get it). I think they should give us a game not because we deserve it, but because so many people are upset about it (as this whole page of comments prove). It is a good idea to give us a free game because we are customers and you want us to be happy. But by no means do I think we deserve a reimbursment

[VideoGameJimmy]

I like how people keep referencing the multiplayer portion of games as a reason to get a FREE game.. If you bought Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, Killzone 3, or SOCOM you still have the multiplayer portion of the game to play it's just not available at the moment but trust me it's still there as an option once PSN is up and running.. Just because PSN is down doesn't mean you can't ever play multiplayer again. Invite some friends over have a local party. Quit crying.

[Bonerboy]

Reimbursement? Oh man I love reading these comments from all the spoiled brats who feel that they "deserve" something. Thats the problem with todays kids, they want it now and fast and if they dont get it, they whine about how they have been wronged and that the 'world' owes them something.

[BlackTar187]

at most i want my days on DCUO. Other then that life sucks lol bring me back psn please :)

i don;t think i can play Halo online anymore 4+ years of alot of halo online will do that to you ;)

[SuperStrokey1123]

guys, they shouldnt reimburse people for psn being down, they should reimburse people for withholding a fundamental part a game that they paid full price for. There is a difference.

I cant believe that people are ok with this in all honesty. I know its not the end of the world but still, it would be nice to have what we actually paid for. The cost of psn is cover in games and in things like PS+ and the system itself. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

[Slapshot82]

I think you will see PS+ subscribers getting something for all of this. Maybe an extra month added to their subscription, or a free game.

[Mikeyy]

I don't care about reimbursement, but they will most likeyly do what LIVE did, give us a Free Arcade/PSN game.

I think where all more concerned about our Credit Cards, and what those Tyrants at ANON will do next.

[cogniveritas]

I wonder if Sony ever considered a tempting PR play. Consider that IF in fact most gamers don't care to receive compensation for missing out on the PSN service (with no annual fee of course), Sony could for that very reason see themselves as doing a favor, or paying it forward by providing a token of goodwill in the interest of future consumer relations. It would have to be for that reason, not because they feel obligated to reimburse for a service that is free when taken at face value.

[Darkspade]

for everyone that keeps saying PSN is Free it's not, you pay $60 for a Game that Claims Online. but you can't play because the service is off line, meany you are not getting full value of your game. I don't expect compensation nor will i ask for it , I'm A PS+ member Ijust paid $150 for Socom bundle. but All this will Still be there once they turn it back on. I would be more Pissed if one part of the world was rolling and My part wasn't

[BrianC6234]

Does that guy think online play for Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat were only for the first week? Noody is missing out on playing those games online. They only miss out on playing them the last few days.

[kid-death]

all I need sony to do is just reimburse me for the 5 days I have been offline on DC universe.I don't pay 20$ mouth for nothing

[UnNaTuRaL1]

All you Sony die hard fans will likely see Sony's true colors. They won't give anything away for free. I was a huge Sony supporter up until this fiasco with them going after anyone messing with custom firmwares or jailbreaking their system. This whole mess will greatly effect my decision on getting the NGP and future Sony products. It's a shame to cause i absolutely love their first party support and free to play online structure but i'll be damned if i support a company that does such things anymore.

[R834]

If the rumours are to be believed, it was because of people using Custom Firmwares to pirate stuff from PSN that the network's down, so it's not surprising Sony went after CFW users because this is exactly the sort of stuff that (some) people do with jailbreaks.

[UnNaTuRaL1]

Its not on people just using custom firmwares. There are alot of users who use it custom firmware cause they want to use what they paid for how they want without psn. Sony started to attack devs such as geohot and graf now look at the storm sony faces. Sony made the first mistake by taking people to court over it. Trying to bully people doesnt work all that did is stick there hand in a beehive. They should of instead focused on patching security holes and go from there thus not pissing off the wrong people. Now if you haven't read someone has hacked psn and obtained psn confidential information. Sony started a battle thats gonna cost them and their customers greatly.

[Nickz1130]

wow I provided this SAME INFO this morning and got flagged for being fake, but here it is up here as a top story.

[realgamer890]

When they put the PSN back up and give us a new FW update that IS our REIMBURSEMENT. Just give me PSN and I will be happy!!

[IHateYouFanboys]

i still find it funny that after all this time, people on here still think that Terms of Service Agreements that you "thoroughly read over and agree to" when you buy pretty much ANYTHING - even though, lets face it, everyone just clicks "agree" as theyre not going to read 50+ pages of rubbish - are actual legal documents.

theyre not. they are NOT legally enforced. if sony said in the ToSA that by agreeing to their terms you agree to give them any and all future money you earn, as well as give them ownership of your first born child as a slave, that doesnt mean that legally thats how things have to go lol.

i dont expect or even want compensation from Sony because of PSN being down - it hasnt affected me at all, and even if it had im not that much of a loser to expect compensation when a service goes down for a week.

[Rettom]

Economy is crashing, massive disasters, massive retaliation, wars, rumors of wars, murders, robberies.

Oh wait... PSN IS DOWN?!?! O TEH NOES! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD! O_o
Dude who cares, everything crappy happening in the world right now is way worse than a simple outage.

[SnukaTheMan]

what can you get back for the reimbursement of free....>???

[ArcturusXIV]

Sony's reimbursement was that I didn't spend any money on PSN games. Joy, oh joy, my wallet feels fatter already!

[PS360PCROCKS]

I don't get how any of you can say "IT'S FREE, THEY OWE YOU NOTHING!!!" Yes it's free, but as an apology Sony should give gamers something. Give us a free DLC or something, nothing crazy, just "hey we know this sucks, we're sorry" how is that asking too much?

[Neurotoxin]

Its a free service, so why would they?! I'd imagine to PSN+ subscribers will get another free game, but even then the subscription doesn't pay for online gaming as that is free.

People need to stop complaining, I'm sure Sony has its customers best interests at heart, and the reasons for the downtime justified.

[Urbz7870]

15. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
No warranty is given about the quality, functionality, availability or performance of Sony Online Services, or any content or service offered on or through Sony Online Services. All services and content are provided “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” with all faults. SCEA does not warrant that the service and content will be uninterrupted, error-free or without delays. In addition to the limitations of liability in Sections 1, 2, 11 and 13 of this Agreement, SCEA expressly disclaims any implied warranty of merchantability, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and warranty of non-infringement. SCEA assumes no liability for any inability to purchase, access, download or use any content, data or service
Just in case you didn’t read it before!

[BLAKHOODe]

I'd mark that ToS stuff down as legal mumbo jumbo to cover their arse in the event they decide NOT to give any kind of reimbursement. I mean, YES, technically, they don't have to do squat. BUT it would be GOOD BUSINESS to give SOMETHING considering the number of pissed off customers they have over this. GOOD business equals REPEAT business.

[Adolph Fitler]

I dont think this could be any more ridiculous. I mean sure it is coming up to a full 7 days of being down.....but who cares???? MS's LIVE service has gone down several times over it's lifespan for a couple of days at a time for simple updates. Sonys FREE service has been attacked by some piss weak ass bunch of no life nerd bitches in a horrible way that has done nothing but hurt the very end consumer that these idiots claim they are fighting for.

Catch the turds that caused the problems, (simply to be assholes), and make them re-imberse consumers. These cockhead hackers claim to be protecting the little guy, yet they are attacking the little guys like myself & others who waste money they don't really have pursuing there passion of videogames.
Hell, play your single player games for a few days & think of how good we have it as gamers, instead of focusing on doom & gloom & what you can get for FREE from a corporation that are not in the wrong on this. And hope some miracle happens & some genius comes up with some kind of security software that makes hackers as redundant on computers, as they are with women & facing the real world.

[scotchmouth]

Compensating consumers for poor customer service is something that's expected because it's rather commonplace in our society.

It's not uncommon for someone to discount or offer something free when something negative happens. It has nothing to do with the TOS. It has to do with keeping people happy.

Sony knows that the outage could easily sway gamers in a different direction. These are people that want things instantly which is why there is such an outrage over this down time.

[R834]

Sony's losing money as we speak with the PSN down - stop demanding reimbursement.

I think it would be great if PS+ and other subscription members get another week or so added to their subscription free of charge, to cover the days they missed.

But the people going around on the PS Blog saying £20 gift cards to PSN members and £50 to PS+ is ridiculous. If there's 70 million accounts that's £140,000,000 not counting PS+ users.

EDIT: Wait, counted wrong, that's £1,400,000,000. One billion, four hundred million - one and a half billion!!

[jasonpugh]

It's this exact sence of entitlement that so many people have that makes me sick. I work at a casino so I hear my fair share of "I deserve something". My favorite one was someone wanting reimbursed because they couldn't play their favorite machine when they came in recently. Oh yeah, well I just went to best buy to pick up an iPad 2 and they didn't have any in stock. Does that mean best buy owes me something? No, it doesn't. Get over it people, shit happens. Go outside, get another hobby, get a girlfriend, or god forbid for some people to get off their lazy ass and get a job. I assure you, most of the things I mentioned take up plenty of your time and you won't even notice when these things happen. Rant complete!

[Taz X14]

You know, a lot of those terms and agreements you so often make note of would never hold the light of day in court. Essentially if things like that were possible, then companies could charge people for whatever service they wanted cancel it as people paid and run with the cash. A lot of times this is called fraud. Cingular, Target, T-mobile, Etc. have all been sued or settled out of court for doing such things. People hardly ever notice or care except the people who are having these things happen to them.

As for the idea that psn is free, they could claim that in court however if you wanted to prove that it isn't covered in the price of the system they would then have to prove that on the outside of boxes that this is in no way associated with the price of the system itself. Same thing would happen to Apple if they up and shut down itunes. Essentially yes it could still be used but not for half of the features promised. They'd then be sued outright with fraudulent activities and false advertising up the wazoo.

Finally with regard to those who have paid for psn, it was clearly stated BEFORE the terms and services that updates would be available to all those who were up to date with their payments at a weekly basis. Therefor they're actually screwing with those who had signed up under those pretenses. Sadly if a group of people really did stand up and try to sue, they'd probably have a good case if it were for prolonged periods of time.

Now I also agree that yes it is free, so compensation should be the last thing we should be asking for, however there are a lot of people who have just purchased quite a few heavily online orientated games and if they wish for those people to continue to provide business at a steady rate and be less wary than they're currently going, it'd probably be for the better if they gave something first party and small away as an act of good faith.

I'm a psn+ subscriber and I'm a tad upset at this, however those who have purchased portal 2 (myself included), DCUO, or even games like free realms should be reimbursed something as they have codes with expiration dates (free copy of portal on steam) and subscriptions which are time based.

[STGuy1040]

It's about losing the days you can't play, not the money.

[kuroukage]

I don't expect anything. Just like they shouldn't expect me to resub to PSN+ or buy much of anything at all from the PSN store anymore. ;) Sorry Sony, but if you're going to run your business poorly I can always spend my money elsewhere. I'm still waiting to see what happens after they bring it back up before I make a final judgement call.