Serious business

BBC's long-running consumer rights programme Watchdog took PlayStation to task as part of its latest episode this evening, reporting on two cases in which fraudulent account charges had left customers out of pocket. The first, regarding John Lappin's inability to obtain a refund for a game that he never purchased, can be read about in more detail as part of our story from earlier today.

Alex Archer, a second customer, supported the report, revealing that £114 worth of games had been acquired fraudulently through his account. Sony refused to give him a refund, so he contacted his bank, which re-obtained the cash courtesy of a chargeback. Of course, this left the manufacturer out of pocket, which meant that his account was banned. Watchdog apparently contacted 21 others who had encountered a similar problem.

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And the negative press has, understandably, prompted the platform holder to make a grovelling apology. "The service received by both Mr Archer and Mr Lappin fell below the high standards that we set for ourselves," a spokesperson said. "We would like to apologise to them both, and notify them that we have taken immediate action to reinstate their accounts and refund them."

It also stressed that it will be "reviewing the investigation process that is applied to allegations of unauthorised account use". However, the report concluded that while Sony was willing to admit that it had "lessons to learn", it will continue "suspending the accounts of customers who say that they've been hacked while it investigates claims". You may want to ensure that you change your passwords regularly, then.