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PlayStation is giving top Stars members ‘priority’ in customer support

SSfox

Member
Sounds like a meh thing, i only play, platinium and buy games i want to. I'm not gonna do stuffs just for the sake of this meh thing.
 
As other posters have stated, they've rarely or never had to use their customer support service, but I guess it'll be sucks to be you when/if that time comes because you aren't on the higher tier.
Need help???, too bad you are on serf tier and will need to wait for all our royal tier customers to be served first.
 

SLB1904

Banned
Do Sony guys really contact support often enough for this to be a reward? I've been an Xbox player for over 20 years now and have contacted support exactly twice. Had a PS1 and PS4 and never contacted support at all yet.

Excuse Me What GIF by Bounce
Is not worth it lol
 

Edgelord79

Gold Member
lf they want to have a tiered paid customer service program fine. Whatever. It’s clear they are trying to draw blood from a stone at this point and it leaves me wondering why.

But the inclusion of trophies as a criteria is quite frankly bizarre. Just come out and say Tier 4 is when someone buys 100 games.
 

DaGwaphics

Member
Is not worth it lol

It just sounds like one of the worst rewards. Why not just give out some kind of points that can be used towards game purchases. Even if Sony set a maximum on the amount of points that could be applied to a single purchase and set a price minimum, at least it would be a discount and encourage more sales. Even something like deals on in-game items in select games or something like that would be better.

So far their rewards program sounds super lame. I was hoping for a good one like MS rewards. I knew they wouldn't be as free with it as MS, but man they are determined not to give you anything of quantifiable value what so ever.
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Do Sony guys really contact support often enough for this to be a reward? I've been an Xbox player for over 20 years now and have contacted support exactly twice. Had a PS1 and PS4 and never contacted support at all yet.

Excuse Me What GIF by Bounce
That's what I find most egregious about this program. Faster customer service is the top tier reward??? Pretty underwhelming reward program in my opinion.
 

JaksGhost

Member
It just sounds like one of the worst rewards. Why not just give out some kind of points that can be used towards game purchases. Even if Sony set a maximum on the amount of points that could be applied to a single purchase and set a price minimum, at least it would be a discount and encourage more sales. Even something like deals on in-game items in select games or something like that would be better.

So far their rewards program sounds super lame. I was hoping for a good one like MS rewards. I knew they wouldn't be as free with it as MS, but man they are determined not to give you anything of quantifiable value what so ever.

Points can be redeemed in a catalog that may include PSN wallet funds, exclusive digital collectibles and select PlayStation Store products. As an additional benefit, PlayStation Plus members enrolled in PlayStation Stars automatically earn points for purchases on PlayStation Store.*
The PlayStation Store products includes a catalog of games that can be redeemed for points if you don't want to fund your wallet.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It just sounds like one of the worst rewards. Why not just give out some kind of points that can be used towards game purchases. Even if Sony set a maximum on the amount of points that could be applied to a single purchase and set a price minimum, at least it would be a discount and encourage more sales. Even something like deals on in-game items in select games or something like that would be better.

So far their rewards program sounds super lame. I was hoping for a good one like MS rewards. I knew they wouldn't be as free with it as MS, but man they are determined not to give you anything of quantifiable value what so ever.
Sony is in money making mode. They arent giving away discounts if possible. Even the PS+ premium tier is simply the old PS+ combined with PS Now at the same price as before. They wont even give gamers $5 off.

They are also trying this rewards program filled with collectibles hoping hats, trinkets, and whatever digital image they can think of caters perfectly with modern gamers who prefer tons of individualized showpieces. Similar to shooters are all about personalization and poses instead of just playing as a generic army dude.
 

nikolino840

Member
As other posters have stated, they've rarely or never had to use their customer support service, but I guess it'll be sucks to be you when/if that time comes because you aren't on the higher tier.
Need help???, too bad you are on serf tier and will need to wait for all our royal tier customers to be served first.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
As other posters have stated, they've rarely or never had to use their customer support service, but I guess it'll be sucks to be you when/if that time comes because you aren't on the higher tier.
Need help???, too bad you are on serf tier and will need to wait for all our royal tier customers to be served first.
Or, now hear me out, your wait time doesn't change as if this program never existed, they just hired and made a specific team for the program to handle those calls. Which is how it's done from all programs that do this. Nothing is taken away, just added.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Here is the wording from PlayStation Japan (translated).

"When you contact PlayStation Customer Support, you can prioritize the order of the chat.

Caution: PlayStation Stars Premier Support does not guarantee latency. None of the support benefits may be available in all circumstances."


Prioritize the order of the chat?
 
I don’t philosophically object to this, but it seems like a stupidly pointless benefit.

I travel a lot so have a special number I can call with a certain airline if I need assistance, it’s super handy (especially with today’s messed up air travel) and a nice reward for loyalty. But why the fuck would I need to call Sony?
 

Skifi28

Member
Can't say I've ever contacted support in the 20 years I have a playstation. I imagine all the very upset people here are calling them on a daily basis, you have my sympathy for what it's worth.
 

MarkMe2525

Gold Member
So a guy i never saw before comes to my store with a stupid screw in his hand, asks where they are in the store, and wants me to go with him to find the fucking thing for him, and in the middle of the store there is a regular customer that wants to buy a professional screwdriver and need my help to choose one... Oh my, who I'm i going to prioritize
False premise. What if the new customer wants to spend a bunch of money and the regular feels entitled because of his long patronage. The regular harasses Mindy who works in plumbing, and then takes up Phil's, who works in lumber, time bitching about the long lines on black Friday. The regular then walks up to the counter with a box of screws and wants a discount for being a loyal customer. The regular leaves in a tiff after being denied discount and screams out that he is never shopping here again. The regular shows back up 2 hours later looking for those screws.

Oh my, who should you prioritize?
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
So a guy i never saw before comes to my store with a stupid screw in his hand, asks where they are in the store, and wants me to go with him to find the fucking thing for him, and in the middle of the store there is a regular customer that wants to buy a professional screwdriver and need my help to choose one... Oh my, who I'm i going to prioritize
In real life, if the screw guy is first and being attended to first, the clerk will help the screw guy best as possible. The customer isn't going to get dropped asap if a regular customer walks in later. Your example is so skewed, there's going to be chance a clerk will tell the customer to have a look in aisle 3 themselves and come back later if they need help whether or not he's the only customer in the store.

If you're thinking it's normal course of business for a store worker helping a customer with a low value request to get dumped asap because a higher value customer walks in, the store worker has issues.

Customer service is typically a first come first serve process. Your example of a guy looking for a screw getting bumped to the back of the line makes no sense because if it's a busy afternoon with lots of better customers, it makes zero sense the guy would keep getting bumped to the back all day.
 
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ANIMAL1975

Member
False premise. What if the new customer wants to spend a bunch of money and the regular feels entitled because of his long patronage. The regular harasses Mindy who works in plumbing, and then takes up Phil's, who works in lumber, time bitching about the long lines on black Friday. The regular then walks up to the counter with a box of screws and wants a discount for being a loyal customer. The regular leaves in a tiff after being denied discount and screams out that he is never shopping here again. The regular shows back up 2 hours later looking for those screws.

Oh my, who should you prioritize?
Lol you guys are derailing the thread bitching about my work policies, i gave a specific and completely theoretical scenario (that you already changed), to best compare to the PlayStation loyalty program and justify why i agree with it _ being a Playstation customer since psOne with psplus since the beginning, PSNow subscriber, and owner of a library of thousands of games digitally and physical.
But to answer your question, of course that we have to take with all kinds of people (regular or not), be smart in dealing with it and get our daily job done the maintenance of our section _ cleaning, restocking, you name it.

In real life, if the screw guy is first and being attended to first, the clerk will help the screw guy best as possible. The customer isn't going to get dropped asap if a regular customer walks in later. Your example is so skewed, there's going to be chance a clerk will tell the customer to have a look in aisle 3 themselves and come back later if they need help whether or not he's the only customer in the store.

If you're thinking it's normal course of business for a store worker helping a customer with a low value request to get dumped asap because a higher value customer walks in, the store worker has issues.

Customer service is typically a first come first serve process. Your example of a guy looking for a screw getting bumped to the back of the line makes no sense because if it's a busy afternoon with lots of better customers, it makes zero sense the guy would keep getting bumped to the back all day.
Dude don't change my words, read all my posts without the fanboy glasses _ never said the screw guy was not being attended, he's taken to the screws section where they are perfectly separated by category, and identified in the box by size and diameter, what more technical information does he need than the guy buying a machine from my example?
If you can't find your screw with all that information, you probably need to take me along with you to put it in place.
 

MarkMe2525

Gold Member
Lol you guys are derailing the thread bitching about my work policies, i gave a specific and completely theoretical scenario (that you already changed), to best compare to the PlayStation loyalty program and justify why i agree with it _ being a Playstation customer since psOne with psplus since the beginning, PSNow subscriber, and owner of a library of thousands of games digitally and physical.
But to answer your question, of course that we have to take with all kinds of people (regular or not), be smart in dealing with it and get our daily job done the maintenance of our section _ cleaning, restocking, you name it.


Dude don't change my words, read all my posts without the fanboy glasses _ never said the screw guy was not being attended, he's taken to the screws section where they are perfectly separated by category, and identified in the box by size and diameter, what more technical information does he need than the guy buying a machine from my example?
If you can't find your screw with all that information, you probably need to take me along with you to put it in place.
I thought you would have appreciated my counter scenario, as being a retail warrior for most of my early adult life, the scenario I laid out rang true for me.
 

BlackTron

Member
I have no confidence in Sony customer support to begin with which is just yet another reason I would never show up to drop this much money on a new console for only a few exclusive games I can wait on.

It's gonna be like PS3 and PS4 gen, hop in after the redesign has been out a while, the price goes down and aging games are cheaper. I'll buy physical and not worry about the status of my account. If my console goes bad I didn't just drop a grand to be at the mercy of Sony.

All of the big 3 do things that I find nauseating but I'm late to Sony every gen and skipped Xbox entirely last time for reasons.

Quite frankly I can see prioritizing customer support based on value of the customer in $$$, even if I would NEVER advertise it and it's lame, at least I can understand it. But basing it on number of platinums? So someone who has spent the exact same amount of money on games, but not as much time completing games or is not as skilled, gets worse support?

What an idiotic idea, makes me not even ever want to sub to anything when I get the system, in fact just buy used exclusive games lol.
 
Bad business. But people really call costumer support? I have every sony/Microsoft console and never needed them once. I had once a small problem with the ps5 and Could easily found on Internet how to fix it.
 

The Alien

Banned
Meh. Woulda been nice if they (and XBox) did this for console launches.

I know Sony did it a month or two after launch, but it seemed like a half-hearted attempt and was late. Reward your players/payers with 1st opportunity to purchase a launch console.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Protip: Sony didn't invent this. If you're in a system for a long time, you will more than likely get better customer service because you're more valuable to the company than someone who spent $5 and wants it back.
Most companies reward loyalty though exactly as you said not these kind of bullshit metrics. What about the guy who has been with Sony since the first PlayStation and finally gets a PS5 and has an issue?
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Most companies reward loyalty though exactly as you said not these kind of bullshit metrics. What about the guy who has been with Sony since the first PlayStation and finally gets a PS5 and has an issue?

Well, we'll go from PS3, because Sony have no record of any individuals buying a PS1. But even if we start in the digital era, just because I've got an 18 year old PSN account doesn't mean I'm a better customer to Sony than a guy who started with PS5 and has already spent $1000 on games.

I don't like it, but from an icky corporate point of view, it's not actually a terrible idea at all.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
This, I don’t understand why this is controversial. Not all customers are equal, you shouldn’t have the same service as someone that spent more money and stayed longer with you.

This is the same as watch companies selling their most desired models only to existing customers.

so if I buy a PS5 and one game and my friend has a PS5 with 5 games and mine breaks and his breaks then he gets his fixed quicker because he has more games lol sounds a shitty practice
 

Filben

Member
Nah, just worked in customer service and know that the thread is about to be filled with people calling a company evil for doing what thousands of others do.

I will never be a "level four star" or whatever it's called.
You're mighty right, but having 1000 other companies doing this doesn't make it better for people waiting in line.

And since this board is about video games and therefore MS/Sony/Nintendo/PC centric, users here obviously care about these companies and not those thousands others.

If you go to TV communities, for instance, you'll see how much shit Sky or Amazon Prime gets there.
 
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