My PS portal is broken after 6 months.

Video

Right analog stick responds when it goes left to right, but doesn’t when it goes up and down.

Have been playing it A LOT to be fair. Probably about 1000 hours since I got it at launch in mid November.

I bought it from PS direct and it’s under warranty. So it will be repaired or replaced for free

However, I have a couple of issues with the customer service and the way they dealt with this:

I’m responsible for shipping it back to PlayStation at my own cost. I sent it with USPS for 20 dollars to from California to Texas. But that was via ground service and with only $100 insurance (yes I took the risk)

(On a side note: I’ve heard this is not the case in Europe as they have better consumer laws, Playststion has to pay for all of the postage for the warranty repair)

2) They say they will either repair it replace it with a REFURBISHED model! Which seems really unfair to me.

3) it take 15 days for them to send it back to me

So in summary I’m without the portal for three weeks, going to have pay 20 dollars more than the original price, and will be left with a refurbished PS portal, rather than the brand new one I originally paid for.

Overall, very displeased.

I’ll update when I receive it back

in PlaystationPortalby PlatinumKingPSDay 1 Portal Owner

25

76%

1mo

24

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

This is THE most common point of failure with Portal.

OP

7

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Yeah it’s a common issue unfortunately. Also with the psvr 2 controllers

5

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Have you by chance been playing a game with lots of haptics? My theory is intense haptics may knock it loose.

OP

15

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

I actually turned the haptics off as I often play in bed and don’t want to wake the wife up 😂

I have played it loads though to be fair. I’m disappointed because have a vita that I bought at launch and I’ve played 10,000s of hours on it and never had any issues

1

1mo

I had this same failure (no up down, only left right. maybe it was no left right and only up down, can't recall) on my ROG Ally. Definitely seems like these smaller sticks on devices like this are more suseptable to getting messed up. In the case of my ROG, I was going to take it apart and put in Hall sticks but then I changed my mind when I realized how all the hall sticks are questionable and when i put it back together it worked.

OP

2

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Nice! Yeah I was too scared to open it up 😱

Good to know you fixed yours though. I may have to do the same next time as it probably won’t be under warranty if it happens again

9

1mo

I fixed mine by pressing it down and jerking it around with my palm for 10-15 mins (since it was my left stick can't move/walk anyways)and it started working again! I just started seeing 3rd party Portal joystick replacements on ebay if u just want a new one.Here's the best video I've seen of the repair that fixes this mechanical issue. Just read the comments... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCoxekNohG4

OP

5

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

I actually saw this and tried it but didn’t fix it. Thanks for the advice though. Appreciated 🙏

Btw - love your username. I’m a huge metal gear fan 😁

Top-Marketing-4762

2

1mo

Just got mine back for the same issue and it took a week. Soon as they received it they sent it back the next day express mail

OP

2

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

That’s great news 👏 how was the unit they sent back? Is it the same unit or did they send you a new or refurbished one?

Ambitious-Duck7078

3

1mo

Six months, eh? You did pretty good. Mine went out after five days. Of that fudge, I played just a few hours over two days.

Sony will hook you up. It's best to call to start the warranty process.

OP

2

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

I’ve already done that! Bit annoyed I have to pay for the postage to be honest. Also not too impressed that they will replace it with a refurbished model if they can’t repair it. Should probably have bought it from Amazon, they would probably just replace it with new.

Ambitious-Duck7078

2

1mo

Yeah! Paying for the postage was shitty. For a common problem, that's the least they could do is offer free shipping.

OP

2

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Did you receive your same portal back or did they send a different one?

Ambitious-Duck7078

1

1mo

It is as a different unit. They didn't return it back in the full retail box either. Only the gray, padded box the retail units do come with. I can't tell if it's a refurbished unit, or new. It works, at least.

EnvironmentNo2741

2

1mo

This happened to me but left stick. Had to get it replaced

OP

1

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Did you have to pay for the return postage?

EnvironmentNo2741

1

1mo

Nah they did a straight swap with a new one at store

2

1mo

Eactly this happened to me

2

1mo

I’m glad I live in Europe when it comes to this stuff, and on top of that in a European country with even stricter consumer laws.

In my country, within 2 years of the date of purchase, the seller (not the manufacturer, unless they’re the same) would have to cover the shipping fees and the shipping itself if it’s a physical store. They also wouldn’t be allowed to send back a refurbished device, or the same device using refurbished parts. And finally, as the value of the item is fairly low (comparatively), the seller would only be allowed to attempt a repair, if the customer allows it. Otherwise they need to replace it with an identical product right away, and take back the defective unit. Some companies do try to trick you, claiming that they have 3 attempts to repair before a replacement is warranted, but this is wrong, and I’ve won several battles against customer service reps over this (yes, I’m a bit of a male Karen with this stuff). There are of course exceptions, such as items broken through mishandling, but that would have to be proven by the seller.

OP

4

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Yeah EU has much better consumer laws than the US. I’m originally from the UK and now live in California. So I’ve learned this first hand

A good example is in the UK they have a ”distance selling law” where you can return ANYTHING you bought online within two weeks, no questions asked. In California half the time you buy an item online, like clothes for example, it will say “final sale, no returns”. That’s crazy to me!

4

1mo

Same thing (same stick) happened to me after 2 months of owning it. I submitted the warranty repair (yes, I paid to ship it). The warranty repair center for the entire US happens to be a 15 minute drive from my house. As soon as they received it, I got notice that they verified it is broken and a replacement has been shipped. The replacement was brand new in a retail box. In total it took 5 days from the time I shipped to when I received the new unit.

After this experience, I got a Skull & Co case for it to reside in when not in use.

I think most people that have tried the Portal will agree that it is awesome, but has flaws. Whether it be the sticks failing, screen refresh rate, lack of WiFi 6 or higher, or cloud gaming. To me, this is telling that it’s a first generation attempt, and the next one will improve on the flaws that everyone has found.

OP

2

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

That’s awesome you got a bnib unit!! Fingers crossed I get the same. I really don’t want a unit that was used by someone else!

Agree it’s amazing, but has flaws. No Bluetooth is a big (probably intentional) oversight

1

1mo

Warranty repair it is!

OP

1

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

For sure 👍 beats opening the thing up and trying to repair it myself!

1

1mo

Why dont you replace it with hall effect? It will only take you 3 hrs and it will only cost you around $20-$30?

1

1mo

This

1

1mo

Just had mine do the exact same thing. No option to initiate warranty service that I could find on Sony's website. Had to call. The rep on the phone asked me like 5 questions then said it was the most common failure and immediately initiated the return. I had to pay out of pocket (which is BS) to send off but I had a brand new unit within a week.

OP

2

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Yeah I had the same issue. Very annoying and difficult to find out how to initiate warranty return.

And yeah paying the return postage is absolutely mental! Fed Ex with $200 insurance was $50. That’s 1/4 of the price of the unit! I sent it with USPS with $100 insurance for $20. Luckily it just arrived at their service center

2

1mo

After it arrived there I had it in my hands within 3-4 days. It was pretty quick. They sent back a brand new unit in a repackaged non-retail box. New unit still has the weird joystick clicking my original always had but the up/down is working fine..... for now

OP

2

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

That’s awesome that it was that fast! Thanks for the information 👍

What is the clicking you mention? I’m not sure I experienced that with my original unit?

Also are you sure it was brand new? I imagine if it’s repackaged it means that it’s refurbished,no?

2

1mo

The clicking happens with both sticks. When rotated slowly as wide as possible my left stick clicks at ~2 and 4, and right stick at 8 and 10. My previous portal did it too, same spots. It didn't seem to impact anything (although maybe related to why it failed?) But it was annoying. I noticed it all the time. Got to a point where you could physically feel the click.

I guess I'm not 100% sure it was brand new but it sure felt like it. It came in a gray box which looked like what they send refurbished/repaired stuff in. It was definitely not my original since serial number was different. There was not a single scratch anywhere on it, not even around the USB C port. Thr textured material on the shell was in perfect condition, buttons felt new and the screen had the original protector on it that when peeled off revealed an immaculate screen. So could have been a shell swap or something but no screws were damaged or anything. No tool marks anywhere. So who knows?? I hope you get the same!

OP

1

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Interesting. I will try this out with my new unit and see if it happens. I would say you should ask for a repair if your sticks do that? While it’s still under warranty! Unless it’s literally like that with every unit. I’ll let you know if my sticks do the same when I get it back.

1

1mo

I considered that initially but held off due to supply issues, thinking it could be a nightmare to get a replacement. A few posts on reddit described the clicking issues that I've been having perfectly. It seemed like a pretty prevelant issue that wasn't worth trying to fix.

If we ever get good 1st or 3rd party replacement sticks I'll probably swap them in the future. I feel like they are always doomed to fail

OP

1

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Yeah it does seem that way unfortunately 😔

SwitchXVitaPlayer

1

1mo

Is it just me or they went el cheapo with the Analog Sticks of the Portal? Didn’t happen to me yet but both analog sticks feels like they got knocked out of place kinda and I heard It’s pretty common.

1

1mo

This same thing happened to me a couple of months ago. Get on PS website and report that it’s broken. They will ship you a box once you show them proof of purchase. You have to ship it to them at your own expense and they will send you a brand new one.

OP

1

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Which region do you live in? Because for they made me pay for the return shipping!

1

1mo

They make you pay for them to send it back to you??? I paid to send it to them and they paid for the return. I’m in the US

OP

1

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Oh no I meant I had to pay to send it to them! they paid to send it back to me. They didn’t send me a box though.

Apparently in Europe they pay for all the postage.

Good to know you got a brand new unit

1

1mo

I've had mine for less than a month and I'm already worried about the joysticks. Is this covered under warranty?

1

1mo

Damn. Keep us updated with the return model's performance. I just bought one yesterday. 😭

1

1mo

I can confirm, this is broken.

1

1mo

I got mine from CEX because they give a 2 year Warranty and will replace it straight away if anything is wrong with it.

1

1mo

I dont use haptic or other features to conserve battery life. I was playing Fallout 4 last night and it randomly stopped working. Only ever had issues with this generation hardware from Sony. I ordered 2 Hall effect joysticks from Ebay for like £18 last night which I'll fit myself, if they work ill never buy another Sony product again knowing this issue could be fixed for such a small amount of money.

1

1mo

But guess you can exchange it

1

1mo

Mine too but left stick. Didn't make 6 months

OP

1

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

Yeah it’s a common issue unfortunately 😞

-7

1mo

A) what the hell did you do to it? I don't understand how people break these things.

B) most companies will charge you to ship your defective unit/item back. Doing so dissuades people from taking the piss.

C) you're very displeased with a unit that you spent over 1000 hours with?

OP

5

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

This is such a dumb, fanboy comment. Very typical of Reddit unfortunately 😂

A) this is a common issue. Look it up! I’ve had a PS vita for 12 years., used it way more than the portal. And have had 0 issues.

B) maybe this is the case. I’m originally from theUK where we have better consumer law. PS would definitely pay for shipping if this happened in the UK. Also - who is gonna “take the piss” by sending back a perfectly working portal 😂😂😂

C) very displeased with the customer service and how they dealt with the return and the fact that I have to pay postage and that they’re gonna replace it with a refurbished model. Did you actually read the post before commenting??

3

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

This is the most common point of failure for portal. It's like Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death.

-3

1mo

I don't get it either.

Also 1k hours in 6 months....and still you had to have dropped it or you are using all of your strength to use your joysticks.

People don't care of technology, it breaks, they complain and they get support from a bunch of simps on Reddit. Rinse, repeat.

OP

4

Day 1 Portal Owner

1mo

You don’t “get it” but I’m sure there’s a lot of simple, easy to understand things that you don’t “get” 😉

Seriously though it’s a common issue with these units. I didn’t drop it or mistreat it. It was well loved. I’ve had a Vita for 12 years and have had no issues whatsoever.

You just assume the worst of people without having any information 😂 That says a lot about you and is probably why you’re such a grumpy snowflake ❄️

-2

1mo

Lol I got chu! Another dumb irresponsible tech owner complaining when their tech breaks.

Got ya bucko! 🤡🤡🤡

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