Amazon is sending replacement PlayStation 4’s to those who received broken consoles, and it looks like the Seattle online retail giant is using better packaging this time around.
Earlier this week, we noted how several gamers leaving 1-star reviews on Amazon’s PS4 product page wrote about less-than-stellar packaging. Many who complained to Amazon said they were receiving a replacement PS4 without having to return their original consoles first.
One such customer, Cliff C., had his new PS4 show up on Wednesday with one-day shipping. He told us that the box from Amazon was “much less oversized,” and “it was a snug fit,” as you can see from his photo above. His new PS4, which included the full system (not just the console itself), also seems to be working this time around.
Cliff told us that the original box with the faulty PS4 from Amazon was “rather oversized,” had “only one strip of air cushion containing five pillows.” One Redditor posted a picture of similar packaging for his broken console.
We’ve reached out to Amazon and Sony to find out more about this. On Monday, Amazon told us that the company was “working with Sony to assist the small percentage of customers who have reported issues and our customer service team stands ready to offer an exchange or where possible, help customers get their systems up and running.”
Sony, meanwhile, addressed the problems this past Friday when the PS4 hit shelves at midnight, noting that less than 0.4 percent of consoles were broken. Given that one million were sold in the first 24 hours, at least 4,000 customers dealt with PS4 issues — a number that has surely risen since. The company even issued a troubleshooting page on Saturday.
“We are aware that some people have reported issues with their PlayStation 4 systems,” a Sony spokesperson told us. “We are closely monitoring for additional reports, but we think these are isolated incidents and represent a very small percentage of total units shipped to consumers to date.”
Sony told Game Informer that “we understand that some units were reportedly damaged during shipping,” and that Sony had set up an exchange procedure for those with bricked PS4’s.
While it’s obvious that many of those who ordered a PS4 from Amazon are experiencing problems, it is still unclear as to whether it was simply a bad batch of PS4′s, poor packaging on Amazon’s part or something else.
Previously on GeekWire: Amazon shipped more PS4’s on release day than any other video game console in history
