PS3 NFL Sunday Ticket is Bullshit

I love the NFL. I love all the hits, the action, the stragety, and the excitement that surrounds my living room every Sunday. It's become something of a tradition in my house, so when I made the decision to get rid of cable in order to cut costs - it was an understandably difficult decision.

Then, my saving grace. Direct TV announces they are going to expand their popular NFL Sunday Ticket service to the entire Playstation 3 network. Not only limited to current Direct TV subscribers, this new venture will allow non-cable (or satellite) customers such as myself the opportunity to enjoy all the exciting, hard hitting action of the NFL right in our living rooms. Such a wondorous day! Of course, I signed up immediately.

On the subscription screen, I was told I would be paying $84.99/month for 4 months. This would total up to $339.96 - so essentially $400. I was also warned that is is a full contract with PSN and Direct TV, and once I agree, I will not be able to cancel the subscription. This is a premium price, but I love me some football, so I signed agreed to the terms.

This is where things start to go downhill. See, I think of myself as a fair guy. I work in the video game industry and a Producer, so I understand how new enterprises can sometimes start off rocky. I was OK with the network problems I experienced Week 1, I know how these things can happen, and to be frank, I actually expected them. When Direct TV announced they were going to refund consumers for that first week, I thought, "Man, this is how a business should be ran. Own up to your mistakes and don't punish the consumers for them."

Fast forward to today - Week 5. I enjoyed the morning games, all smiles as I watched my team carve out a monster victory (Go Vikings!), but was caught off guard when the afternoon games failed to load. I thought it was an issue with my network, sometimes my IP address needs to be renewed, so I restarted the system. When I opened the Sunday Ticket application, I was greeted with a "Subscribe Now" screen. I thought it was strange, so I closed and relaunched the application hoping that the program simply hadn't had time to detect my PSN account info. Booted it up, and again, the same screen.

Confused, I went to my account management and checked my subscription status to NFL Sunday Ticket. It claimed to end on today's date. Further perplexed, I grabbed the phone to call Sony's Customer Service. It was a magical call.

I spoke to a very polite and courteous customer service rep who, apparently, was just as confused by this as I was. She put me on hold no less than 5 times and was finally able to tell me the problem. Sony, in their infinite wisdom, had decided to change the terms of the subscription - without notifying anyone. Instead of paying 4 months at $84.99/month, I would instead pay about $133/month for a 3-month period. It comes out to the same amount in the end. I found this strange, to completely change the payment structure 5-weeks into a contract, but didn't care as long as it came out the same and I could watch my Football.

I was annoyed but willing to deal with this, until I was told the following: "You must re-purchase NFL Sunday Ticket at the current price of $133/month. Once you have done this, we will refund your wallet your initial $84.99 in 7-10 business days. If you do not do this today over the phone, you will lose the option of being reimbursed and will have to pay the full amount of the new contract."

Come again? I lose the option of being reimbursed? So what you're telling me Sony, is that any contract I have with you is completely and utterly bullshit. I agreed to pay a specific amount of money for 4 weeks worth of service. You changed that to 3 weeks, without telling me, and then told me that if I failed to agree to these new terms immediately and shell out more cash, then my previous agreement is now null and void. You tell me this, and actually expect me to smile and hand you my wallet? No, no I think I'll hold on to my hard-earned cash, thank you.

I have a family. I budget out each week and limit my spending to items I have already identified. I can't always afford to spend an extra $100 to $200 on a whim. Even if I could, why would I trust anything Sony is telling me? Changing your payment terms is one thing, but telling me I have to not only re-purchase something I already paid for, then physically call in and request a reimbursement - while simultaneously limiting the amount of time to have to accomplish this to less than 3 hours (they close at 6:30pm PST on Sundays), well, I think that deserves a emphatic FUCK YOU.

So, I no longer have NFL Sunday Ticket. I loved the service, and think it was absolutely worth the price I agreed to pay, but I refuse to be taken advantage of.

This is why, NFL Sunday Ticket on the PS3, is bullshit.