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Did Amazon receive a faulty batch of PS4 Consoles, or was it poor packaging?

My PS4 is in working condition. Today i'll do tests with the Seagate SSHD in it. As far as packaging goes, I don't think they did it right. The console was right on the bottom of the box. All the air pillows for packaging were thrown on top of it. Those air pillows should have been wrapped around the conole, instead.

Comparatively, the PS4 from Sony.com was in a box slightly bigger than the PS4 box and had not air pillows and is working fin too.
 

Pezking

Member
What the heck? When I tried to change the shipping adress to europe, I got a message that this item wont ship outside US

So how the heck did you get it?

Mine is on the way to Germany right now. You could place international orders for the PS4 right after E3, but they changed that since then. Right now, no PS4 related stuff from Sony themselves is available for international customers, even DS4s and games. Third party games on the other hands can be ordered.
 

The_Lump

Banned
Feel free to try that comparison again when the PS4 is NOT in its stages of infancy. Or compare the number for a few days after 360 and PS3 original launch... Not a reasonable comparison at this point by ANY viewpoint.

That's exactly why it's more troubling and why dragging out the "1 million ps4s" and "0.4%" thing doesn't apply here. You can't compare failure rates from mature systems to one day old systems.

This is an above average doa rate for 1 day in.
 
Next week is gonna be funny if the same thing happens to the Xbone. This kind of thing happens every gen. I'm not surprised.

Well, the fact that it would be happening to both sides may make some people more reasonable and put a limit on overreactions. I can imagine, if the Xbox One were up first and having these kinds of issues, all the not planned for 2013 launch stuff we'd be hearing, and we'd have a few insider sightings with a pretty harsh pile on stating they saw it coming a mile away.
 

scosher

Member
Amazon seems like the easy scapegoat here. Considering there have been reported DOA systems from other retail/vendor sources, as well as with the gaming press, this is likely not just a shipping issue.

My gut tells me that this was a quality control issue at one of the manufacturing factories, which wouldn't be surprising since it was largely outsourced to China with an extremely high quantity quota and time restraints. The fact that a large number of problems have to do with the hdmi port and no video signal gives more credence that this was a faulty part. Those with busted fans or other more isolated problems may be due to poor shipping handling though.
 

mhayze

Member
Welp, speak of the devil. Just got a knock on the door and it turns out my launch bundle arrived early. Packaging seemed not so great (could of used a bit more packing material and/or actually wrap the product). Actual PS4 box looks perfect.

CAM00211_zpsceb3bf37.jpg


CAM00212_zpsdd2eb9ee.jpg

Exactly how mine arrived. Thankfully, it's in one piece (so far).

This is a shocking misstep from Amazon. I order a LOT of things from them (and have since their early days), and this is the first time I've felt like they truly effed up the packaging like this.
 

WarMacheen

Member
^
|
Mine was packed the same way, piss poor.


I'm going to say poor packaging. My PS4 only had packing material on one side. Though for now it works
 

Coxy

Member
Well, if you spent a little bit more time reading the thread (or even looking at the reviews on the site), you'd find that a majority of the 1-star reviews are verified purchases.

I spent time looking at them, many of them are definitely fanboy trolling, I could go through them and pick out gems like

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1HB5Z1IKW3VQN
Wait until Titanfall comes out....OH WAIT THATS RIGHT ITS NOT COMING TO PS4 BECAUSE THEIR SERVERS ARE SECOND RATE TRASH.

XBOX ONE FO LIFE.

but I wouldnt want it to be percieved as me downplaying the problem, just making the point that using amazon reviews as any kind of metric for measuring it is worthless
 
I got mine from Amazon and it seems to be working fine. Granted I've only had time to put a few hours into ACIV and played a few minutes of Resogun.

Sucks for those who got borked consoles though. Crossing my fingers that we all aren't just beta testers.
 

ypo

Member
Yea the packing was crappy from Amazon. Like many said mine only had the bubble plastic thing on the top half with nothing covering the bottom of the PS4 box. Got a little worried after opening the box.
 

The Lamp

Member
Maybe you don't know, but Amazon.com didn't ship just 500 PS4's... ;)
And of course almost everyone who has a problem will post this in the internet and give their bad reviews, while others don't.

Exactly. My Amazon PS4 works perfectly and I'm not leaving any sort of review or feedback. Too busy playing. Lol.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
It's possible Amazon got a lot of units from a bad run but it's not packaging I think.
 

KORNdoggy

Member
I think as long as these instances of defects don't turn into problems concerning reliability, all should be well.

A rare manufacturing defect or damage caused in shipping is a day 1 "fix" (return it, get a new one or a refund) it's a short term problem. Hopefully it never turns into a long term problem with reliability (which sadly we potentially won't know for years) because the last thing anyone wants is another 360 on their hands. Reading some of these recent comments though...my level or concern is waning.
 

Az987

all good things
I wouldn't be surprised if its a mix of shitty packaging and shitty UPS guys.

I knew my system was here when I heard a loud thud on my front porch from the asshole UPS guy tossing it to it. Luckily it works fine though.
 
Amazon seems like the easy scapegoat here. Considering there have been reported DOA systems from other retail/vendor sources, as well as with the gaming press, this is likely not just a shipping issue.

My gut tells me that this was a quality control issue at one of the manufacturing factories, which wouldn't be surprising since it was largely outsourced to China with an extremely high quantity quota and time restraints. The fact that a large number of problems have to do with the hdmi port and no video signal gives more credence that this was a faulty part. Those with busted fans or other more isolated problems may be due to poor shipping handling though.

I REALLY like Amazon, but lately they have been doing really crappy job with packaging. My PS4 is OK, but it was also at the bottom of the box with like one bubble wrap and the camera thrown on top.
 
Just looking at all of the info in front of me, it really looks like these DOA PS4s are the result of a bad batch at the manufacturing level, more than likely due to poor QA at one of the factories.

It doesn't (yet) look like a massive design flaw on the part of Sony, nor does it look like Amazon's packaging methods (however poor) were to blame for all of those broken PS4s.

Just speculating, though.
 

MormaPope

Banned
It's not because of Amazon packaging, I'm sure a lot of people that got Wii-U's from Amazon also had delivery people treating the package like it was a javelin. Same with 360's, PS3's, and Wii's. Could be a bad batch, could be a hardware issue, it's hard to say after the PS4 being out for just one day.
 

labaronx

Member
Welp, speak of the devil. Just got a knock on the door and it turns out my launch bundle arrived early. Packaging seemed not so great (could of used a bit more packing material and/or actually wrap the product). Actual PS4 box looks perfect.

CAM00211_zpsceb3bf37.jpg


CAM00212_zpsdd2eb9ee.jpg

as someone who works shipping and receiving at a hotel and convention center that packaging is totally unacceptable and ups is very careless way more so than the post office.... the ps4 is very light and not to speculate I could see Amazons poor packaging and ups atrocious handling contributing to some broken systems

I remember getting my vita from amazon with no bubble wrap inside and it looked like something heavy was placed on top of it
 

weevles

Member
Amazon usually sends me post-purchase packaging surveys. Anyone with poor packaging should fill those out with all the details. They are pretty good about follow up.
 

The Lamp

Member
Between PS4 and Knack I'm honestly starting to think that Cerny sold Sony a lie, and that he's way out of his depth considering the pedestal they (and we) have put him on. Or they (and we) were stupid and desperate.

There weren't even this many RRoDs on launch day. I have a very bad feeling about this.

The problem with posts like this is people thinking that some complaints on the internet represent real statistics. The other problem with posts like this is people thinking they know why this happen. It could be many reasons, from your typical production error (no process is perfect, errors will happen, the point is to minimize them), to packing error on Amazon's part, etc.
 

knicks

Member
So many aren't verified reviews.

I mean here is a literal 1 star review from Amazon posted yesterday.

By B Twine:

This review is from: PlayStation 4: Launch Edition (Video Game)
"My console came in broken. This sucks and hopefully the Xbox One can do better."

Clearly just fanboyism.
 

Ubiquitar

Neo Member
So many aren't verified reviews.

I mean here is a literal 1 star review from Amazon posted yesterday.

By B Twine:

This review is from: PlayStation 4: Launch Edition (Video Game)
"My console came in broken. This sucks and hopefully the Xbox One can do better."

Clearly just fanboyism.

I saw that. As I scrolled through the reviewers that gave one star, only a handful were verified Amazon buyers.
 

MThanded

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Welp, speak of the devil. Just got a knock on the door and it turns out my launch bundle arrived early. Packaging seemed not so great (could of used a bit more packing material and/or actually wrap the product). Actual PS4 box looks perfect.

CAM00211_zpsceb3bf37.jpg


CAM00212_zpsdd2eb9ee.jpg

Mine came exactly like that. What a damn mess.

Id like amazon to come out and make a statement about this, pretty ridiculous.
 

Speevy

Banned
I just checked mine and it booted to a white light.

Unfortunately I have no TV to test it on, but that's a good sign, right?

Most of these machines are dead on first boot, right?
 

Torraz

Member
Mine came exactly like that. What a damn mess.

Id like amazon to come out and make a statement about this, pretty ridiculous.

Knowing people who work in warehouses, it is probably due to metrics, too high pressure to quickly finish wrapping up orders. A priority on quantity over quality (that amazon would never admit to).
 

Speevy

Banned
Sorry but I don't see it.

I think that the backlash over the Xbone's features has left the PS4 as an easy target.

With that said, I'm sure most of those are legitimate claims.

I would discount any review that said something like "PS4 is broken, buying an Xbox One!"
 

topheryan

Neo Member
My PS4 from Amazon came packaged as most people have reported here (bubble packaging on top, none on bottom). The console and packaging has no physical damage, but the PS4 was never able to boot or boot into safe mode, and has the pulsating blue light problem.

Fortunately I had a second pre-order at Best Buy (I got the Amazon order late in October when they had opened up again for an hour and was worried Amazon might not ship it out on time) and that console works just fine, and Best Buy's pre-order situation was not the disaster some people expected -- they had all online pre-orders marked and set aside. I've never had problems with Amazon before, so I'm interested in whether Amazon does have a higher failure rate, and whether it turns out to be because of the packaging. I'm a little bit skeptical because the PS4 is pretty well packaged inside its own box, but it wouldn't surprise me if the packaging was the cause of the hardware failure.

I'm especially interested in whether it's packaging related because Sony's response of having no stock of consoles set aside despite predicting a normal .04% failure rate, and requiring a month or longer wait to replace the console is pretty frustrating, but if the failure rate is unexpectedly high due to negligence on Amazon's part, I wouldn't personally hold it against Sony.
 

Speevy

Banned
I'm a huge Playstation fan, but I don't see how this packaging could be ultimately responsible for most of these issues.
 
I had two ps4's come from amazon, both work fine, and I've put them through the paces so far, broadcasted, while downloading all the f2p games as well as Killzone, and installing BF4. So, I'm hoping it's just an overblown issue, but I really do feel bad for anyone who has been affected. It's a nice system

Although, one of my ps4 boxes was dented a bit in the corner the actual packaging was fine. I did however pick it up at Will Call, so it had one less chance of being UPS Ace Ventura'd
 

quickwhips

Member
Could be the handling. Never trust a human!

Its more than likely just a bad batch but no one needs to defend faulty hardware. Mine works fine though.
I think that the backlash over the Xbone's features has left the PS4 as an easy target.

With that said, I'm sure most of those are legitimate claims.

I would discount any review that said something like "PS4 is broken, buying an Xbox One!"

that is exactly why people switched from 360 to ps3...
 

Splint

Member
My Amazon box came just like the picture. So far my ps4 is doing good. I got it a bit late, so no psn errors either. Ha, actually my ps4 launch has been smooth and perfect so far. (no jynx)

And I havent reviewed it on Amazon.
 

bbdude

Member
That packaging is fine.

I think it is as well... typically console boxes have some sort of built-in structure support that "levitate" the console inside the actual box. The PS4 is no exception:

meidZAp.png


Sony made sure to Otterbox their PS4s before unleashing them to distributors. Really curious about that dropbox video a few posts back, though...
 

V_Ben

Banned
Oh its not the packagaing.

(You should pay attention to this post)

Something's gone wrong in the first batch of console manufacturing somewhere, and some consoles seem to be affected by it. At least, that's what i'm getting from this.

Edit: If John Doesn't mind, i'll quote his post in the other thread.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=90046637&postcount=345

Originally Posted by Y2Kev :

This is great! We are really establishing a pattern now. I mean, sorry you are the guinea pig. :)

If you get blue light, you have to try to force it into safe mode. If that doesn't work, send it in.

If you get white light, you might be able to fix your console by finagling with the HDMI port.

John Harker:
well that's what ive been saying :)

I'm not making this up, I was literally told by Sony they know it's an issue.

Packaging won't determine if you've got a 'dud' console or not. But, they know it's an issue. Launch issues, everybody has them sadly.
 

Kyoufu

Member
What the heck? When I tried to change the shipping adress to europe, I got a message that this item wont ship outside US

So how the heck did you get it?

Weird. I managed to order one from Amazon.com just fine (I'm in UK).

I hope it's not faulty though...
 
Mine is on the way to Germany right now. You could place international orders for the PS4 right after E3, but they changed that since then. Right now, no PS4 related stuff from Sony themselves is available for international customers, even DS4s and games. Third party games on the other hands can be ordered.

How much did you pay in total?
 

RE_Player

Member
My cousin's Amazon order was in perfect condition and has been playing all day and night with no issues. This is in Canada though so probably different batch.
 

Speevy

Banned
Is there a guide to the various PS4 lights?

I've gathered that a pulsating blue on boot with no picture means you're screwed and white is good.

What about orange?

Are there other colors?
 
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