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On May 4, a class action lawsuit was filed over Sony allegedly refusing to pay shipping costs for repairs to products that are under warranty.
Plaintiff Philippe Therrien says he owns a Sony PlayStation Wireless Headset that stopped working while it was still under warranty.
According to the Sony class action lawsuit, Philippe purchased the Sony headset on July 2, 2019 for about $138 from a Best Buy store, which is listed as a “Sony Authorized Dealer” on Sony’s website.
The Bluetooth function of the Sony headset allegedly stopped working normally and on April 29, 2020, Philippe contacted Sony’s customer service on two occasions. The first Sony customer service agent provided him with troubleshooting tips that were unsuccessful.
The second Sony customer service agent reportedly informed Philippe about Sony’s warranty process and how he could send the headset in for repairs, but he must assume the shipping costs.
The Sony warranty class action lawsuit alleges Sony is obligated to assume the shipping costs under Section 49 of Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act because the warranty did not state that consumers must assume the shipping costs.
Section 49 of Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act states: “The merchant or the manufacturer shall assume the real cost of transportation or shipping incurred in respect of the performance of a conventional warranty, unless otherwise stipulated in the writing evidencing the warranty.”
Because the warranty allegedly did not stipulate that the consumer would have to pay shipping or transportation costs, Philippe says that the Consumer Protection Act applies to his situation and therefore requires Sony to assume the shipping cost.
Philippe says he tried to explain that it was against the law for Sony to ask him to pay for shipping for a product repair covered by the warranty, but Sony allegedly insisted that he pay shipping costs if he wanted the headset repaired under the warranty.
On May 1, Philippe paid $32.18 to send the Sony headset back to Sony for repairs.
Philippe subsequently filed the Sony warranty class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and a proposed Class of all persons in Canada who, since May 4, 2017, paid shipping or transportation costs for Sony electronic products when Sony was performing its conventional warranty, and the warranty did not stipulate that the consumer would be responsible for shipping or transportation costs.
The Sony class action lawsuit notes that this is not the first time Sony has been accused of illegally requiring consumers to pay shipping costs to have their Sony products repaired under warranty. In 2015, Sony reportedly settled a similar warranty shipping costs class action lawsuit and issued refunds to a Class of Canadian consumers.
“Sony is therefore well aware of consumer protection legislation in Canada and it appears that Sony has made a business decision that it is less expensive not to comply with the law on this issue and pay a modest amount when caught off-side,” Philippe alleges in the Sony warranty class action lawsuit.
Philippe alleges that, with respect to its own obligations and consumers’ rights, Sony has been “lax, careless, passive and ignorant.” As a result, Class Members have suffered losses by paying shipping costs for products with warranties that did not indicate that they would be on the hook for shipping costs when shipping a product for repairs under warranty.
“Sony’s conduct is intentional and it demonstrates through its behavior (before, during and after the violations) that it is more concerned about its bottom line than about consumers’ rights and its own obligations under public order consumer protection litigation,” the Sony class action lawsuit states.
The Sony class action lawsuit seeks compensatory damages in an amount to be determined and $2 million in punitive damages to discourage Sony from continuing to engage in such undesirable conduct.
Philippe seeks reimbursement of the $32.18 he paid to ship the headset to Sony for repairs, and seeks similar reimbursement for the amounts other Class Members allegedly unlawfully paid for shipping or transport costs.
He has asked the court to authorize the Sony warranty shipping costs class action lawsuit and appoint him as the representative plaintiff on behalf of the proposed Class.
Have you ever bought something from Sony and had to send it back for repairs while it was still under warranty? Were you forced to pay any shipping costs or additional fees? Tell us your story in the comment section below!
Philippe is represented by Joey Zukran of LPC Advocat Inc.
The Sony Warranty Shipping Costs Class Action Lawsuit is Philippe Therrien v. Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC, et al., Case No. 500-06-001064-209, in the Superior Court of Québec in Montreal, Canada.
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4 thoughts onSony Warranty Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Shipping Costs
I have been told I will be required to cover shipping costs ($25-$30) of my DualSense PS5 controller ($90 purchased new) which is still within warranty. Spoke to a supervisor and they were not willing to budge at all, despite knowing they create shipping labels for sending back the console itself. If you are able to put me in touch with a (BC) lawyer willing to further this I would be very interested
Same here told them I will keep buying them and returning them until the stock to store has the fix implemented. Everybody should do this as they get them right back and incur the shipping plus end up with a controller they cannot repackage and sell as new. If they put there corporate brain into gear the realization that the cost they pay for shipping puts them way ahead of the cost of dumping returns on to a third party. Sheeple need to stop paying for Sonys mess up. Returns to Amazon are 100 percent free if purchased from Amazon, they send you a shipping label without any problems and look at that machine pump the cash out. Take note Sony.
My dual shock 4 controller started drifting after 9 months (hardly even used) and I have to pay all shipping fees, sending from Calgary to Ontario. From Sony “Please make sure you pack your peripheral securely to help prevent damage while it is being shipped to our center.
Use a sturdy box that was created for shipping purposes and plenty of packing material. Do not use the unit’s original box, as it was not created for shipping and we will not be able to return it to you.”
This will make shipping costs even more for me.
add me