More People Losing Money

Another report of people buying items in home and not receiving them:

to whole it may concern i just purchase punk chick bundle from you guys and i only receive hair top and spike on my wrist i never receive the skirt or boots if i pay 1.49 for it i suppose to get every thing right please sony fix it i dont want to lose any money on this thank you come in peace oh also something wrong with my neptune suite apartment it wont let me switch funiture at all why can your fix that thank you again sony have a nice day please asap

(Original poster, please learn to use periods and commas too.)

More Stolen Money

According to this post:

i bought some animated t shirts and after i bought i went to try them on but there not there HELP!!!!!

And this person lost some money as well.

I bought the Guybrush pirate bundle and didn't get the blond ponytail that is supposed to go with it, I checked under the avatar hair catagory, under the hats catagory, headphones, outfits... it doesn't appear anywhere.

And this horrid grammar disaster says:

i was tryin to buy the pool table bundle from the coffee table store and it nvr downloaded, but the loss in funds was there. wat the heck home, if yer gonna start robbing me im gonna stop buying! if anyone has an answer to this issue plz help me. as for the trolls with their snarky comments this post is not for you

 

More People Losing Money

More money lost to the "black hole beta" that is home. From the Tech Support Graveyard:

Ok, once, haha, Home's network sucks, screw you. Funny never. Twice? This is obsurd. AND I paid for it this time!

Last night I bought a 50ticket after getting the majority of my items back from the first time I got screwed out of a week's worth of items. BEAT MIDWAY, and still have my golden jacket, but what's this? The SAME items I won back are gone, including ALL Gamecon and Subway prizes, the shirts for each of which are no longer available. Also this time the AlphabeTees that were free are gone. I still have the prizes I won using the tickets, minus the clown wig, and I still haven't gone to see if Darla is still at my Den(assuming these prizes going AWOL again means I lost Midway points again)

So let's sum this up... TWICE now I've lost ALL Gamecon & Subway items & a handful of Midway prizes, and now the AlphabeTees and some MORE Midway prizes are included in the disappearing act this time. I bought tickets to win them back too, and those Gamecon/Subway prizes can't be retrieved a third time because the shirts are no longer available. A MOD better intervene on this, because this is complete nonsense.
TO BE SPECIFIC: ALL prizes between 7/31 and today are gone.

I do not hack, I don't region-hop items, I don't cheat. I win and pay for my prizes and items fair and square, I want them back, and I want some confirmation this will stop happening. An honest paying customer shouldn't have such insane problems.

I used to have that same complaint when I was a Home user. I've yet to see the $600+ I spent on it.

Remember OtherOS? Niether does anyone else. Oh and it sucks to be Europe

Seems I missed this. Looks like Sony's shit management is finally getting sued for that OtherOS shit. Class action status. Also, there's a HUGE topic over in the European forums over the price differences between the United States and Euroland. I thought it sucked using Home in the USA. Imagine having all the failures of Home, plus having to pay more for them. Sucks

Conrad Max Owned... oh and bug report

According to this topic:

This bug was first reported 1st July 2010 and continues to be frequently experienced by users inside the Midway space.

Description: During a "Free Play" session, Midway often deducts a ticket from the player when it shouldn't.

Players who have purchased the Green Ticket report that they often lose a ticket during Free Play. Players whose token counter already reads "0" report seeing the counter become -1 (negative value). The bug appears to originate with a combination of latency effects (10 to 12+ seconds), occasionally truncated play time (lasting less than the 1 minute duration and related to a game queue crash), and the necessary completion of a queued user's play *after* the Free Play minute has officially "ended."

I have seen the bug specifically occur with Frog Flinger, Darla's Darts and Miz Fortune but it appears all the games are susceptible.

Persistence of this error is repeatable, especially with a slow network connection. I estimate paying players who participate in Free Plays over 8 hours will lose about 12-16 tickets out of 50 to this bug. It results in a significant loss of tickets. Please look into this. Thanks.

Pretty clear bug report. In fact, this is one of the most exceptionally clear bug reports I've seen on this dead forum. And of course Conrad_Max stops in with his usual sage-like advice.

When I realised that this was happening, after two or three games, I just wouldn't play the free games while I still had tickets on me. I just wait until I run out of tickets.

Which the reply was... delicious. This is one of the most awesome and honest ownings I have ever been witnessed:

With reference to the previous Reported Error mentioned above:

Conrad_Max 07-02-2010 01:43 AM (link: Re: Midway Carnival Rip off)

[...] I did purchase the tickets and I won many prizes. We don't have to buy the tickets, but it sure speeds things up. The atmosphere in The Midway was very much like a carnival.

After the space was fully loaded, everything seemed to run smoothly. I had no issues with the space other than when a free game was avauilable, I ended up using some of my tickets. A minor problem and one I can easily avoid. The games were fun and even challenging. Just like a videogame. [...]

I find the disingenuous nature of that response, and other comments along the lines of "Just buy a ticket, it's only a dollar and sure speeds thing up," to be highly disturbing. It is disturbing given you yourself noticed the ticket-loss error at the time, but still claimed that it was "not an error" and that there were "no tech issues to hamper my enjoyment of the games in the space."

Hello?? Only the most contorted logic can explain away this bug as a 'feature' that "works as advertised."

Avoiding the free plays while in possession of tickets is an obvious user-based solution, yes. But that does NOT excuse the existence of this error, which is a serious bug given that I have seen it occur in about 25-50% of my free plays. If we are in the space and see a flashing Free Play notification occur for a game right beside us, should we not reasonably expect that the game will actually be free?

Penalizing those who have actually invested in the space by buying tickets is not good business.

The matter is all the more significant given that some users say they have already spent $20+ in Midway but won only about 40 of the available rewards. This happens while playing both paid AND Free Plays.

Completing Midway requires a dedicated investment in both time and money, so an attrition (ticket loss) rate of even 25% of one's purchase is a serious problem for a lesser-skilled player. The Free Plays would have been an excellent way to manage and extend one's budget... *IF* they were actually free.

Strategically, there are certain games with such a difficult learning curve (Ball Squeezer, Rebound) that I had no intention of ever using tickets on them. Rather my intent was to use the Free Plays in order to figure them out-- and to be pleasantly surprised if I did manage to beat a level. The fact that I now have to avoid these games entirely while in the space is not acceptable. The fact that I cannot actually save my tickets to strategically spend them only on certain levels (for example, on levels 1-3, 8-9 of High Roller which require angled power shots) is likewise not a desirable situation.

Ouch. Perhaps Conrad will resist the urge to hover around the tech support graveyard looking for chances to save Home's shitty credibility. I doubt it, but I can dream. Conrad_Max hangs off Home's cock like a third nut.

Midway warning!

If you haven't heard, The Playstation Home Midway is the newest ripoff pooped out of the bowels of Home's development teams. If you haven't heard the news, the Midway is quick to take your money and not give you shit in return. Here's some fun posts:

According to this topic:

I am having problems with midway I have the tickets but every time I go to play a game home glitches and it kicks me off from it and I try again and it says game is unavailable it happens with every game

And this topic:

hi home fixer ppl lol.. i was hopin one of u would read this and fix the earing in the carnaval i have all of them i think n they all only are workin for one ear n the other one is missing..i like them alot i was hoping it was a acident u cud fix it so that we have it for both ears if we won it. thank u very much =)

And this topic:

hey i've purchased 100 tickets from the midway carnival and did not receive any whats going on . the order numbers are 1704254068 and 1700520158

And this topic:

just went and purchased tickets and key and my system stuck on the download part any advise and did i just get ripped off

And this topic:

So, I decided to go play in the Midway ... Had 26 tokens to play with ... I played 4 or 5 games of Spilt Milk, and my token count went down to 4 ...that session cost me 22 tokens somehow

Then, I decide, I need more tokens so I go buy more ... it takes .99 from my wallet, and I get nothing ... I just payed to get 0 tokens, WHAT'S UP WITH THAT? and just like my missing hockey pants that I bought over a year ago (nice joke to play on a Canadian), I assume I'll get no response from the appropriate people ... it's bad enough that I had to change the aspect ratio on the tv just to play these games but now it's taking my money on top of it? Thank-you Sony

and this topic:

this is reseaworrioer i brought 2 99cent tickets an the key from midway and im upset because it's not working . i can't play any games NONE ..this is not the 1st time . i put in alot of $ into home . i just want what i paid 4 ... help please

and this topic:

So I bought some tickets today for The Midway, used them, and decided to buy more, so I did. Well the second set of tickets I purchased didn't register. It registered that I purchased them, but did not give me the actual tickets. So now I didn't get my tickets, ergo I can't use them, and I can't buy more (not that I would if they don't give them to me -.-).

This topic seems to think their ISP is to blame, however this topic brings it back to reality:

I just bought the $.99 ticket pack and downloaded it as normal. When I exited the ticket booth, my counter is still at zero. I have left the space and come back. Same problem. What should I do? I am very low on money and it was a tough call to give another dollar to this carnival when I've already spent so much on it. I don't like how I paid but cannot play.

Bottom line, the Midway is broken, and spending money on it is foolish. Spend that money on one of the games off PSN. You'll get more value for your money

Wardrobe Malfunction

According to this post:

I have recently purchased the classical Paris bundle and found something interesting. Under the storage tab I have two china cabinets. They both have different images, and yet are the exact same piece of furniture. There are similarities between the pieces of furniture, like, the object itself, and what tab they are located under (which is the storage tab). Now for a few differences.

The first difference is that although they are, as objects anyway, exactly the same piece of furniture, the one that is mislabeled as the classical wardrobe has what I assume is the proper texture mapping for the china cabinet. The actual wardrobe itself is in the 'ornaments' section and has the exact same details as the properly mapped, yet mislabeled duplication. There is a texture mistake on the class specifically. The cabinet labeled as a wardrobe has reflective glass while the cabinet, which is labeled as such, does not. And looks rather washed out.

TLDR:
-Information Duplication on Classical Paris Wardrobe located under the storage tab and possible miscatagorization on actual wardrobe object.

-Classical Paris China Cabinet has improper texture maping.

Rainbow Plant

According to This post:

Also, this hanging plant (from the Waterfall Terrace items?) is missing it's texture. It displays the standard fluorescent rainbow "image not found" graphic

But that's not all, the plant doesn't hang. Repeat: the hanging plant advertized as a hanging plant does not hang.

Doesn't hang either.. waste of 99 cents.

Another Ripoff Design

Via Email:

Hey, Home Watch!

I was really happy to see that you posted pictures showing Home's blatant rip off of the entire outfit worn by Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman'. But I wanted to share another blatant rip off with you, from the exact same update!
I've included a picture showing the original and Home's copy. This time, it was the Paris Modern Outfit. It's not quite as direct as the Pretty Woman gown, but it's still pretty freaking close!
The original is a Chanel blazer worn by Anne Hathaway in 'The Devil Wears Prada'. I can't claim credit for first recognizing this - I was told about it by [name removed], but I don't know where [name removed] heard about it for sure. So I wish I could give credit where credit's due, but alas, I have no clue! All I can claim credit for is taking the picture of the outfit on my avatar and comparing it to the original.
So anyway, as you can see, it's pretty dang close to the Chanel blazer. The only differences I notice are the original is double-breasted, while the Home version is single. But that could merely be a matter of how wide the avatars are and that double-breasted jackets don't tend to fit the avatar's body as well. And the shape of the pocket is slightly different. But you know what? It's still the same jacket. Same cut, same color, same trim, same crest, all in the same spots. They even included the same chemise blouse beneath the jacket that Anne Hathaway wore in the movie. The skirt's obviously different, but they even included the thigh-high black boots.
Don't these people realize that it's a crime to make - and SELL - such blatant rip offs? I'm sure Chanel would love to know that Sony's making money off a copy of their design.

What makes this all the more insulting, is that the Home community has been showing far more originality and style than these ridiculous people who have to copy from movies in order to come up with anything halfway decent! Come on, Sony, is that really the best you can do? Hire people who sit around and watch movies to get their ideas? Please, that's pathetic. If it's a tribute, that's one thing, but this is just a freaking knock off!

I also wanted to note, you might want to add to your Pretty Woman post that the red gown in question was designed by the movie's costume designer, Marilyn Vance. I've just done some extensive research on it to make certain, and yup, that design's hers. Also, it's worth noting that neither 'Pretty Woman' nor 'The Devil Wears Prada' are products of Sony Pictures. Although with the case of the Chanel jacket, that wouldn't matter even if it was Sony's film, since movies can feature clothing from other designers, but that doesn't mean the studios own the original designs. Case in point, all the old classic Paramount films starring Audrey Hepburn. Audrey Hepburn had a thing for Givenchy and regularly wore custom-made Givenchy gowns. They may have appeared in Paramounts' films, but the gowns still belong to Givenchy. (Yeah, I'm a fashionista, what can I say?)
So yeah, I'm betting Chanel would just love to know cheap digital knock offs of their couture clothing are being sold by Sony in Home. I might just have to send them a letter...

Thanks!

- HeatherShow

P.s. Feel free to post my name. I'm not afraid of Sony anymore. Do what they will, it'll only make things worse for them if they continue to bully around their customers. Especially this customer. I've had it.

Awesome, thanks for the heads up!

Banned for Voicing Complaints

A user was recently banned for pointing out errors and demanding that they are addressed. This is another PRIME EXAMPLE of how bad the HCM is. They refuse to address or acknowledge when people get ripped off, or lose items they pay for. They COMPLETELY IGNORE the tech support forum where this user posted all their complaints. However, they paid enough attention to ban the user for voicing their desire to be compensated for the money they spent. The threads were not in any way violations of the rules set in place.

THE HOME STAFF BANNED THIS PERSON FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT BEING RIPPED OFF.

Via email:

Hey Home Watch!!

Well, I guess Sony doesn't like my threads, or they see that they are threatening. Today while I was on the PS3 Home General threads, I was doing some posting to a few threads, that I though were interesting. Nothing was rude or uncalled for, was just friendly threads. I did though report 2 posts as flaming. I then thought I'd check the support side to see what was going on, since I haven't done it that much today. I just want to make sure no Manager had responded to any of my threads about the False Advertising.

I noticed that someone had responded to my bear thread, and went to post a response to that, when I got this message...

We're sorry, but you have been banned from using this site.

• 
  
• You have been banned for the following reason:
  
  Violating the rules and policies of the community, with actions such as spamming. Your ban will last for 4 days effective 1-25-2010. Please do not attempt to evade your ban in any manner, as doing so will only serve to increase the length of your ban.
  
  When your ban has expired, please refer to the Official Rules of Conduct and the New User Guide to review the rules and policies of the community. Additionally, please adhere to these rules and policies in the future, as future infractions will result in an extended or indefinite ban period.
• 
  
  You have 5759 minutes remaining on the ban.
• 
  

As you can read, nothing says anything to the fact of why I was banned for 4 days, or who it was that banned me....

So I immediately called Sony, to raise hell, which I did, but the one I needed to talk to was not in. I will be calling them tomorrow, and talking to the person I need to talk to in hopes they will resolve this issue, because this is now the straw that broke the camels back. As it stands right now, I will be contacting a lawyer to file False Advertisement and also product misrepresentation, the only problem to that is, I need more people willing to step up to the plate. This can be an easy class action lawsuit if people just step up and say.. I've had enough. I will give them until tomorrow to fix the issue above and to tell me how they are going to take care of the countless problems I have had with Home Virtual items.

This is just a heads up, letting you know that I won't be submitting any new posts for a while. lol. Also, hopefully a few friends that I have there do come here to view Home Watch, so they will at least know what happened.

But like I said.. enough is enough. If they have a problem with people responding to threads and supplying support issues, then they need to take the forums DOWN!

So.. until then.. Peace..

PS.. know any good lawyers, cuz I'm dead serious!

I encourage anyone who has been ripped off to contact us here at Home-Watch, and we will do the best we can to help make this a nightmare for the Home staff.

From Ripoff to Total Ripoff

So my good friend submitted the following pictures. A few days ago when I posted about the opera dress & gloves being stolen from pretty woman, I had no idea that it came with a wig that's identical to Julia Roberts' hair. As you can see, the entire outfit is made to emulate Julia Roberts 100%.

---

Thanks for the images, although I am confused why he sent us a picture of Julia Roberts on the toilet. To each their own, I guess.

All Sales Are Final, Even If You Didn't Receive Anything

This was sent to to Sony Tech Support via email by one of our readers:

I purchased waterfall terrace furniture bundle #1 the day it released and still haven't received two of the items in the bundle. I have contacted customer service and customer service told me to contact mods in the forums. Neither of these have worked in resolving my problem. I want the complete bundle or I want to be refunded for the incomplete bundle.

Please see the following purchase confirmation.

UP9000-NPUQ00010_00-

WTRFALTERBUNDLE1-UQ01 Waterfall Terrace Set 1 (PlayStation(R)Home Virtual Item) $4.49

So, he paid money for something, and didn't receive it. Seems pretty straight forward. That should be a simple fix. Sony's reply:

Hello [name removed],

We sympathize with your situation you are having with your Playstation Home purchases. We apologize for any inconvenience. Unfortunately, we are unable to grant your request for a refund at this time. As stated in the user agreement for the PlayStation Network, all sales and purchases are final. The following Knowledge Center articles may help resolve your problem:

Article Title: Help with PlayStation Home
Article Link: http://playstation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1360

Article Title: Requesting a refund
Article Link: http://playstation.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/344

Regards,
Catrina G.

THE GREAT SONY HOME TECH SUPPORT BRUSH OFF! This isn't just sad. It's illegal. I'm going to add a link to the side of our blog and give it here as well. It's a pretty well known site called "Rip Off Report." (http://www.ripoffreport.com/) I think it's time Home started getting the recognition it deserves for the job it is doing so poorly.

Fail Evolve Disappointment

According to this post:

I spent 6 bucks on 2 evoling items. The fish in the aquarium don't even move, and the toy that evolved, evolved into a plane that doesn't fly. The description of the toy was that it flies and bounces. It doesn't do ANYTHING. I demand my money back, I have been ripped off.

We agree, those items were a true disappointment, and Home has been doing a lot of faulty advertising. The Wizards Den failed to be what they claimed it would. New Years failed to be what they claimed it would. Christmas failed to be what they claimed it would. Now the evolving toys. Do us a favor readers, leave other examples of broken items and such that haven't been quite up to par.

Pretty Woman

According to this post,

the dress and opera-length gloves are a total Pretty Woman rip-off

Which is a trip, because it is 100% true. They managed to completely copy that dress! Some might be inclined to say "Oh, Home-Watch, you smack-talkers!" But think about it. Exact same colors, exact same v cut cleavage, exact same busseled shoulders, exact same gloves, and exact same type of tied up front. IT'S THE EXACT DRESS FROM PRETTY WOMAN. I'm not hating on Home at all here. I think it's awesome that they managed to copy something correctly. Do us a favor, keep this trend going. I'm 100% sure that [name removed] would buy the Chris Tucker outfit from The Fifth Element: