Online retailer Amazon has agreed to give a PS3 buyer a partial refund after Sony removed the ability to install other Operating Systems on the console.
NeoGAF forum moderator ‘iapetus’ contacted the retailer to say that his PS3 no longer worked as advertised at the time he bought it, citing European consumer protection laws, reports PlayStation University.
European law Directive 1999/44/EC states that goods must “be fit for the purpose which the consumer requires them and which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase”. European law responsibility is placed on retailers and not product manufacturers, according to the site.
iapetus was subsequently offered a refund amounting to approximately 20 per cent of his initial outplay, despite the fact that his PS3 was out of warranty and Amazon’s 30-day guarantee.
The question now is whether Sony may be forced to reinstate Other OS if multiple complaints are issued to retailers, or if it can successfully argue that it isn’t acting outside of the law because it made changes to the software side of PS3 and not the hardware itself.
The PS3 update that removes Other OS isn’t mandatory, but failing to download it will result in the inability to use a number of the console’s online features and even problems playing software.