Those of you that saw the BBC One show “Watchdog” yesterday will have seen the report on the PlayStation 3’s “Yellow Light of Death” issues. I watched it twice and was inspired, for the first time in my life, to write a complaint letter to a media outlet. This is that letter, published here but also on it’s way this morning (via proper post, if the postal service isn’t on strike again) to the BBC complaints department in Glasgow. If you were annoyed by the report for any sensible reason then I strongly urge you to do the same. The Television Licence Fee which funds the BBC now costs £147.50 per year which isn’t cheap in these hard times. What follows is the full transcript of my complaint letter and is obviously my personal opinion rather than the official stance of TheSixthAxis.
To Whom It May Concern,
I wish to address the most recent episode of the BBC’s consumer affairs programme Watchdog (original broadcast date of 17 Sept 2009). In the episode there was a report concerning the Sony PlayStation 3 and the recent issues which have been widely reported by consumers concerning the “Yellow Light of Death” (YLoD).
I work as a blogging Editor within the gaming industry for a website which prides itself on accuracy and fairness. We report on the issues affecting gamers in the UK and Europe and have seen numerous reports of the so called YLoD. I believe that the problem is becoming widespread (chiefly, I believe, among launch consoles) and serious enough to warrant further investigation.
The news that Watchdog would be featuring such an investigation was welcome and I looked forward to the broadcast. I even read the published six-page letter that Sony Computer Entertainment UK (SCEUK) sent to the program to register their dissatisfaction at the way Watchdog had been handling the issue. This was, I believed, a big issue and it would be interesting to see how the BBC (a source I have always had the utmost respect for) would deal with it. Finally, I thought, a unifying voice that will be loud enough to demand action, or at least dialogue, from Sony.
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