Players overseas in Asia are not very happy with the way Sony is rolling out the new PS+ subscription tiers. According to accounts online, original PS+ subscribers who bought their subscription at a discount now have to essentially pay more in order to upgrade. What this means is that the original discount is voided, and players need to make up the difference between the standard price and the discount–before they can upgrade to Essential or Premium.
To give an example, a player in Hong Kong called PlayStation’s customer service to ask why they had to pay extra. The player said during the recorded call (with translation by GameSpot), “Today you guys released a new subscription membership service. I was already a member of the previous PS Plus. Now I want to upgrade my membership to Tier 2. I realized my subscription still has two years on it, and to upgrade, I need to pay 600 HK.”
The customer service rep replied, “Yes, to upgrade you have to upgrade for all two years. You cannot upgrade just one year.”
The player replied, “Yes, I understand. But why does my friend, who is upgrading to the same tier and only has a month less than my subscription length, only need to pay 400 HK?”
“Did you buy the subscription at a discount?” the customer service rep asked. The caller replied affirmatively. “Then that’s why. For that subscription, you need to pay the full standard price, and then only can you upgrade.”
Incredulously, the caller asked, “So what you mean is if I went to KFC and bought a meal at a discount, then today I have to pay back that discount in order to upgrade? Is that what you mean?”
PlayStation’s customer service basically confirmed the caller’s metaphor and said members who bought, for an example the PS+ subscription at a 50% discount, now need to pay back that 50% in order to upgrade.
As you can imagine, players overseas are quite dissatisfied with PlayStation’s policies. If they stacked subscriptions at a discount–let’s say for four years or so–and wanted to upgrade, then they’d have to pay for all four years of subscription in addition to paying back the discount they received.
It remains to be seen if Sony implements the same policy for the new PS+ subscription tiers in the US. We’ve reached out to Sony for comment and will update if they reply.
Source: Gamespot
