DS4 thumb sticks might have a problem?

So I have been emailing PlayStation support UK (help@uk.playstation.com) trying to get my DualShock 4 replaced due to this issue (Plus a broken hinge on the R2 trigger, another common problem) and they have responded stating that I need to call their helpline to arrange the exchange (020 3538 2665) I have called three times and never managed to get through to an operator despite being on hold for over an hour in total.

I emailed again asking if it would be possible to arrange a repair/replacement by email, and they said you cant - you have to phone up. They also dont offer a live chat feature like the US support site.

Anybody have any suggestions? I believe I have found the UK service address here:-
http://community.eu.playstation.com...4-thumb-stick-wearing-away/m-p/20429155#M4175
Should I just post it to them with a covering letter, or do you really need an RMA number?

This is my first experience with Sony's customer support, and so far I am not impressed :(
 
Link83 said:
So I have been emailing PlayStation support UK (help@uk.playstation.com) trying to get my DualShock 4 replaced due to this issue, they have responded stating that I need to call their helpline (020 3538 2665) I have callled three times and never managed to get through to an operator despite being on hold for over an hour in total.

I emailed again asking if it would be possible to arrange a repair/replacement by email, and they said you cant - you have to phone up. They also dont offer a live chat feature like the US support site.

Anybody have any suggestions? I believe I have found the UK service address here:-
http://www.avforums.com/threads/thumbstick-wear.1840387/page-3#post-20090514
Should I just post it to them with a covering letter, or do you really need an RMA number?

This is my first experience with Sony's customer support, and so far I am not impressed :(
Click to expand...

I had the same issue, but you just have to keep calling. I was on hold today for 53 minutes. Absolutely disgraceful!
 
Link83 said:
So I have been emailing PlayStation support UK (help@uk.playstation.com) trying to get my DualShock 4 replaced due to this issue (Plus a broken hinge on the R2 trigger, another common problem) and they have responded stating that I need to call their helpline to arrange the exchange (020 3538 2665) I have callled three times and never managed to get through to an operator despite being on hold for over an hour in total.

I emailed again asking if it would be possible to arrange a repair/replacement by email, and they said you cant - you have to phone up. They also dont offer a live chat feature like the US support site.

Anybody have any suggestions? I believe I have found the UK service address here:-
http://www.avforums.com/threads/thumbstick-wear.1840387/page-3#post-20090514
Should I just post it to them with a covering letter, or do you really need an RMA number?

This is my first experience with Sony's customer support, and so far I am not impressed :(
Click to expand...

What time are you calling them at, out of interest?
 
Shogun_of_Truth said:
So they are making me pay for the box + shipping costs, wtf.
Click to expand...
Yep! Not only am I within the standard 1 year warranty, but I also purchased an extended warranty for the system (which the controller came with).

And I still had to pay $13 shipping costs to send the controller to them.

Now my second controller is starting to peel.

Not happy.
 
Goodacre0081 said:
while it's ultimately Sony's responsibility, I'm getting more and more fed up with the gaming press and their inability to do actual investigative journalism and ask some hard questions. the DS4 rubber, share bugs, ID@xbox parity clause, horrible timed exclusivity deals, micro-transactions creeping into every game. all big problems in our eyes but what do I see on the front page of most gaming sites? "we snagged the first look of this hyped up game! stay tuned for the 9/10 score we'll be giving it in four months!"

it seems like an extension of a publishers PR arm. they have the access to these people and have the ability to ask those questions but they rarely come up. the journalists should be working for the gaming public's best interest instead of the manufacturers/publishers
Click to expand...
Most of the"journalists" are too scared to get blacklisted by publishers/devs for those kind of things. Complaints about it have been going on for a while, there was a thread about it not too long ago. But I fear that this won't change anytime soon.
 
Mike Works said:
Yep! Not only am I within the standard 1 year warranty, but I also purchased an extended warranty for the system (which the controller came with).

And I still had to pay $13 shipping costs to send the controller to them.

Now my second controller is starting to peel.

Not happy.
Click to expand...
Its cheaper to just replace the sticks yourself. That's kind of sad.

Sony should cover shipping with this issue considering how common it is.
 
Even with RROD, MS didn't issue a full recall. They just extended the warranty period for Xbox's affected. What's the warranty period of a replaced controller? Is it a brand new 1 year, same warranty as the original, or is it a shortened 30-60-90 warranty?

Anyone thinking they are going to officially acknowledge this outside of the standard defect rates response are probably going to be disappointed. Then again its kind of too early to tell. RROD didn't get officially acknowledged until a couple of years after launch.

That being said, at the very least they should refund you shipping once they inspect the product and find it to be actually defective. That part does suck.
 
Jomjom said:
Anyone have a picture of the new sticks on the replacements sent out by Sony?
Click to expand...

Here's my replacement controller I got from Sony about a month ago:

i-qvF4G2F-L.jpg


Notice the texture of the sticks. The rubber on original DS4s is much more smooth and is tackier to the touch.
 
henhowc said:
Even with RROD, MS didn't issue a full recall. They just extended the warranty period for Xbox's affected. What's the warranty period of a replaced controller? Is it a brand new 1 year, same warranty as the original, or is it a shortened 30-60-90 warranty?

Anyone thinking they are going to officially acknowledge this outside of the standard defect rates response are probably going to be disappointed. Then again its kind of too early to tell. RROD didn't get officially acknowledged until a couple of years after launch.

That being said, at the very least they should refund you shipping once they inspect the product and find it to be actually defective. That part does suck.
Click to expand...

I suggested to many people on reddit that they fix the problem themselves and not pay for shipping but one or two said that the boxes Sony sent out had postage pre-paid on it. it's better than having to pay but if they're just sending back the same inferior rubber then whats the point? your going to be exchanging controllers for months on end until they fix the real problem.
 
Bunta said:
Yeah, those definitely look harder than the original material.
Click to expand...

OMG ok so I don't know why I haven't noticed this before.
I have one DS4 I picked up before the PS4 launch when they were being sold.. and then just a few weeks ago I finally bought a PS4 and the sticks on the dualshock it came with are remarkably different. I kinda like the sticky quality of the old one but I wore clean through it so it was obviously flawed.
 
Jtwo said:
OMG ok so I don't know why I haven't noticed this before.
I have one DS4 I picked up before the PS4 launch when they were being sold.. and then just a few weeks ago I finally bought a PS4 and the sticks on the dualshock it came with are remarkably different. I kinda like the sticky quality of the old one but I wore clean through it so it was obviously flawed.
Click to expand...

Older material was soft and grippy. Newer material is harder and less grippy.
 
Jtwo said:
OMG ok so I don't know why I haven't noticed this before.
I have one DS4 I picked up before the PS4 launch when they were being sold.. and then just a few weeks ago I finally bought a PS4 and the sticks on the dualshock it came with are remarkably different. I kinda like the sticky quality of the old one but I wore clean through it so it was obviously flawed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I definitely prefer the old rubber. You basically got a spider-man like sticky grip to the analogs! Just wished it would have lasted.
 
dmg04 said:
Seeing as though this is a straight up product defect, are they going to cover it under any sort of warranty?
Click to expand...

They're required to by law, at least in the EU.

All I'd need to do would be to bring it in to the store I got it from with my receipt. They're required by law to either replace it or give my money back.

Isn't it like that where you're from?
 
Mike Works said:
Yep! Not only am I within the standard 1 year warranty, but I also purchased an extended warranty for the system (which the controller came with).

And I still had to pay $13 shipping costs to send the controller to them.

Now my second controller is starting to peel.

Not happy.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I feel like I got have just traded my DS4 into game stop, who probably wouldn't even noticed the tear, get $40 credit and then bought a new one. Would have been a lot less hassle/more time effective and not much more cost.
 
So I noticed the sticky R1 a month ago.

Today I fired up Destiny, looked down at my control and there is a friggin split on the left stick. Sigh...
 
It does have a problem. Call sony and get it replaced. I got 2 new ones. But you do have to pay for shipping to sony.
 
nsignific said:
They're required to by law, at least in the EU.

All I'd need to do would be to bring it in to the store I got it from with my receipt. They're required by law to either replace it or give my money back.

Isn't it like that where you're from?
Click to expand...
Only if it's still under the original manufacturer warranty. After that period, they'll just chalk it up to wear and tear and too bad for you.

I put XBO sticks on mine, and they weren't even failing.. best mod I ever did. These should be standard sticks.
 
Jedi2016 said:
Only if it's still under the original manufacturer warranty. After that period, they'll just chalk it up to wear and tear and too bad for you.

I put XBO sticks on mine, and they weren't even failing.. best mod I ever did. These should be standard sticks.
Click to expand...

I'm really interested in going this route myself. Rather than pay $13 to ship to Sony, I think I might as well buy the XBO sticks, especially since I'm seeing so many people staying that the XBO sticks feel better anyway.
 
dmg04 said:
Seeing as though this is a straight up product defect, are they going to cover it under any sort of warranty?
Click to expand...

gonna be hard when the type of issue at a glance would normally fall under "wear and tear". its difficult enough convincing other gaffers. generally speaking "wear and tear"/"superficial" stuff like this actually isn't covered even during warranty periods...
 
What have you guys done to fix the problem? I only have one controller so I'm not really trying to send it in to Sony and not be able to game for about 2 weeks. I tried putting GelTabZ grips on my analog sticks but once I click in the R3/L3 buttons the rubber from the GelTabZ ends up rubbing on the controller creating a slow and ineffective analog stick. Should I move onto Grip-It or Kontrol Freeks?

Just need some advice.
 
Not sure if it only happens in the States, but I haven't been asked once to pay for shipping by Sony. I live in the UK, and my controller is being sent back to me for free by a courier.
 
erawsd said:
I'm really interested in going this route myself. Rather than pay $13 to ship to Sony, I think I might as well buy the XBO sticks, especially since I'm seeing so many people staying that the XBO sticks feel better anyway.
Click to expand...

This is probably the best overall solution at the moment. This is the route I'm going.
 
So, I had the original DS4 for awhile and I took my ps4 up with me on a job for a couple months(In hindsight this wasn't a great idea, I didn't touch it and only played my 3ds and vita). I was in a hotel, right before I leave to go home I notice that my DS4 is gone, room service most of stolen it checked in the front desk they found nothing etc. etc. I'm somewhat annoyed at this, but the thumbsticks on that thing were already split anyway. I buy a new DS4.

Fuck this new slippery material. Can't keep my fingers on these sticks properly. Make the whole thing uncomfortable.

Anybody know if a third party controller with a-symettrical sticks is in the works anywhere?
 
erawsd said:
I'm really interested in going this route myself. Rather than pay $13 to ship to Sony, I think I might as well buy the XBO sticks, especially since I'm seeing so many people staying that the XBO sticks feel better anyway.
Click to expand...



So shipped mine off the other day. Only coast me around $3.50. Used a very small box just big enough for the controller to fit into. So shipping really isn't that bad. Now I just have to wait for my new one to come... I was told about a week and a half.
 
Anyone have trouble with the triggers? Both of my DS4s had one of the posts holding the right trigger in place break. This leads to the trigger getting stuck sometimes, which makes playing any game consistently next to impossible.
 
zaryn said:
Anyone have trouble with the triggers? Both of my DS4s had one of the posts holding the right trigger in place break. This leads to the trigger getting stuck sometimes, which makes playing any game consistently next to impossible.
Click to expand...

How old are the controllers?
 
Fuuuuu.

Just noticed my left thumb stick has a weird rip/slice in it on the bottom left. Its revealed the plastic underneath too. Its only going to get worse now sadly. I really don't want to have to spend $60 on another one.
 
If the new DS4 I get from Sony, isn't improved, I'm considering getting my multi-plats on Xbox One instead.

Worrying about the state of my thumb sticks/using worn grip less thumb sticks is beginning to detract from the game play experience more the X1's crummy low-resolutions.
 
TGO said:
For anyone interested and don't wanna be ordering fake plastic sticks, My X1 sticks have arrived and are genuine, the seller is Dipway and heres the link if ya wanna get some.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xbox-One-...G_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item2a3bca25f5
Click to expand...

Nice.

I think I found a good seller too if you want different colours. I bought from "tiancaiyu2010" on ebay and they turned out great too. Obviously they aren't genuine since I don't think Microsoft even has joysticks of those colours but the top is rubber and they fit quite snugly on the nubs on the DS4 controller. They seem to be even better quality than my proper black ones I bought earlier. I don't need my paper mod with these ones.

1apIUMF.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Shogun_of_Truth said:
If the new DS4 I get from Sony, isn't improved, I'm considering getting my multi-plats on Xbox One instead.

Worrying about the state of my thumb sticks/using worn grip less thumb sticks is beginning to detract from the game play experience more the X1's crummy low-resolutions.
Click to expand...

Yeah this whole mess is keeping me from buying a ps4.
Soo annoying!
 
Santar said:
Yeah this whole mess is keeping me from buying a ps4.
Soo annoying!
Click to expand...

Honestly even if the joysticks didn't wear out like this I'd still recommend the Xbox One joystick mod. Don't let the joystick wear issue keep you away from buying a PS4, just order some Xbox One joysticks.
 
I'm sort of on the fence about both of the current consoles but controllers are a big thing for me. In two of my local GAME stores (In the UK) they have both the PS4 and Xbox One on display. In both stores the rubber has completely gone on the PS4 analogue sticks while the Xbox One controllers (One was even a Day One Edition) are fine. It's possible that the PS4 has had more use but it still makes you think.
 
I ordered a pair of Xbone sticks from website called Deal Xtremes, they are black translucent sticks

sku_316785_1.jpg


i got em for 2 bucks, so im hoping they work out good. i'll let you all know when they arrive if they feel good or what.
 
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