Sony’s PlayStation 5 is just a few months old but some buyers are not satisfied with what they got with their big purchase.
A class action lawsuit claims the company is violating consumer fraud statutes and breaching warranty agreements due to an alleged issue with the PS5 controllers, according to a complaint filed last week.
The DualSense wireless controllers, which are only available with the new Sony console, were the first thing that the company announced for the PS5. The company has introduced a new design and a different theme to the controllers.
Drift Issue
CNN Business reports that the filing comes after the law firm Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith set up a web page soliciting reports of issues with the PS5 controllers.
The lawsuit is over an issue known as drift, where characters and other things seen in the game move without the controller doing anything. “This defect significantly interferes with gameplay and thus compromises the DualSense Controller’s core functionality,” the complaint mentions.
CNN Business reports that the complaint claims that plaintiff Lmarc Turner experienced the issue on the day he purchased the console in early February. The complaint adds that the customer contacted customer service and followed their troubleshooting instructions and nothing really happened.
Purchased Another Controller
“Given that his experience with contacting Sony the first time did not satisfactorily address the drift issue,” Turner decided to purchase another DualSense controller for $69.99 days later, the complaint says. “Had Plaintiff been aware of the Drift Defect prior to purchasing his PS5, he otherwise would not have purchased the PS5, or would have paid substantially less for it.”
The lawsuit also points out that Sony is aware of the issue due to the complaints and reports that have surfaced on social media and gaming blogs. “One user reported the issue 10 days after receiving the PS5 console, stating that they tried every possible fix — power-cycling the console, turning Bluetooth on and off, resetting the controller, and charging it fully overnight — to no avail,” the complaint says. “Notwithstanding its knowledge of the Drift Defect, Sony has failed to disclose this material information to consumers.”
Customer Service
The lawsuit also alleges that customers with this issue are having all kinds of problems on getting a solution. One of the problems is that they are facing long wait times to get to a customer service agent on the page. The lawsuit also mentions that when consumers return the controller for repairs related to the drift issue, they “have to pay for shipping the controller to a Sony repair center … and Sony does not reimburse customers for these shipping costs.”
The PlayStation 5 was released on November 12 in the US and many other markets. The new Sony console has been in stock through many retailers these last few months but many have had a difficult time purchasing one due to the high demand. The console is available in two editions and both bring the same DualSense controller, which is also sold in stores for $69.99.
