Sony Removes Ability to Redeem Codes Due to Struggling PSN

I've had the same issue with the assassins creed IV: black flag dlc, wasn't sure if it was a fault. I'll just have to keep trying. At least I have a reason for it not working now.

Sony really needs to step their game up on the online scene. It's the one area where it seems they struggle the most. While PS Plus adds a lot of great benefits, it just seems like they always have some kind of tragedy on PSN.

"and therefore the unprecedented number of people attempting to take advantage of its impressive online capabilities,"

You guys are purposely deluding yourselves if you think a million PS4 sales brought the system down, stop trying to play this up like it's a big win for Sony and the PS4. It was the 1 day BF $29.99 PS+ deal that Sony has been advertising all over the place, even their own website, even though you coudlnt get the deal on PSN. Probably 20 million PS3, Vita and PS4 owners bought that code and tried to redeem it yesterday. Sony sucks. We have a 4 day weekend in the US and my kids want to play LBP Karting. I woke up early this morning - well ok 8AM isnt exactly early - and tried again b/c somebody posted online last night that it would be up at midnight Pacific time, so 3AM my time. Sony really needs to put something on the front of the store. How many times am I supposed to enter the dam code until it works?!?! And Dragon's Dogma Arisen goes away on Tues, which is a major reason why I re-subscribed. I'm also buyi ngmy kids Worms Armageddon w/ th ePS+ discount.

And hour or 2 I can understand, but 24 hours later? Screw you Sony, b/c you're screwing us all.

I'm in the US and I guess I just wasted $50 on a PSN card I can't redeem... I don't even have a PS4 and getting effected on PS3.

That explain why, I couldn't redeem the PS+ voucher on my friend PS4.

man, i literally just bought a 1 year subscription for PSN+ on amazon last night (they had it on sale for $30!) and it's just a digital code. haven't tried inputting it yet, and i've still got two weeks left of free PSN+ trial that came with the system, but I REALLY hope the get it back up and running so i didn't waste my money...

@chazaroonie yeah, I spent ages trying to get my code to work! Why did they not send out a notification??? Lazy. Why hype up the online capabilities and then turn half of it off without telling anyone. I also have a code from tesco for the 'castaway's prize' no idea when I'll be able to download that either or from where. I'm sticking to the killzone campaign for the time being anyway. That and DC universe online!

On your PS4 do the following:

1. Settings
2. PSN
3. Account Information
4. Wallet
5. Add Funds
6. Redeem Code

It works. I did it last night to redeem my three years of PS+.

@get2sammyb - I understand they sold a million PS4 in EU yesterday, BUT they sold a million PS4 in the US in one day last week, how did that 1 mil effect the PSN? Answer, it didnt. Do you know why it dind't, b/c it's not the 1 mil PS4 sold in the EU, it's the 20 mil PS+ codes trying to all be redeemed at once.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2013/11/blimey_one_million_ps4s_were_sold_in_just_24_hours

If I'm wrong, and there was a PSN problem last week, then it's your fault I don't know about it b/c you didnt' cover it

Sorry I'm so angry, don't mean to take it out on you guys. Th eU SPS Blog -

http://blog.us.playstation.com/

still has the Bf ad on top of the page, which expired yesterday, and the PSN down info smaller under it. They can't even report their problems correctly.

I just dont' think it's right you are making this like it's the PS4 conquering the world:

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2013/11/european_ps4_launch_prompts_psn_connectivity_problems

when it's just the same old incompetent Sony.

OK. last few posts of mine were a little vile, lets lighten the mood with some holiday cheer, US style:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101236289

@rjejr

F*ck yeah, that CNBC article makes me proud to be an American...

Anyway, sh*t happens when it comes to online services, none of them are perfect but I've been saying for what seems like forever that Sony's PR team sucks a big one. Every single time without fail these idiots stealthily release unpleasant info and why Sony thinks this is an ok practice is beyond me. I can deal with a feature being temporarily pulled if necessary but for f*ck sake tell the consumers. This news should be front page in big letters on every Sony-run website and the PS Store, period.

To the writers at Pushsquare, do any of you know somebody who works for Sony PR and if yes could you please tell me what these people do all day because it's certainly not doing what a competent PR group should.

Y'all make it sound like it's the end of the world. It's temporary. It'll be working soon enough. It's better that Sony take the "redeem code" option offline while they work on fixing the problems rather than leaving the option online and running the risk of having the codes not activate correctly. If you're expecting eveything to work perfectly all the time, I'm thinking you've either got unrealistically high expectations or you're living in Fantasy Land. Yes, it sucks, but there are worse things, like, for exmple, the furnace went out at my house last week and it took 4 days for the part to come in...and I live in Minnesota. But, compared to the folks who don't even have a home, I have it pretty good.

Long story short, yes, it sucks. It's great to have high expectations, but, come on, it ain't the end of the world, and it could always be worse. As for the Sony PR folks, yep, they definitely need to do a better job of getting the word out to their consumers. That's for sure.

Yeah I've been having issues with redeeming codes, I want to wait to download killzone as i have $40 in play station store cards I have to redeem towards it so I guess ill be trying out warframe until they figure this out

Jesus Christ, do people overreact on the Internet.

This actually makes me feel a little better. I got a couple of $20 PSN Cards last night. One of them worked while the other kept kicking back with an "Invalid/Expired Code" message.

So I'll just wait and try again in a day or so. No biggie.

Thank GOD I got my year of PS+ to work last night <3

@jgrangervikings Did you just tell people on the internet to stop overreacting to a minor issue? Just who do you think you are?!

The internet was made for people who like to overinflate small things and now you're trying to get them to act reasonably? You sicken me!

@rjejr: Actually, PSN DID have some issues at the US PS4 launch a couple weeks ago...just not as big or as long as this one. I'm sure this has been cause by a combination of factors...the true problem with putting the European launch on freaking Black Friday.

I grabbed a Plus code on Amazon as soon as it was possible (due to problems on their end that was about 4am EST yesterday), and it took almost another full hour to push the activation through on PSN. It was frustrating, but understandable. I'm just glad I did manage to get it done quickly, because my Plus would have run out in about a week and I'd rather not worry about things. Hope everyone still having problems is able to push through soon.

To all the people complaining about the complainers - get over yourselves. it's what the internet is for, and when people are led to believe they are going to get something that they don't get, it is a normal occurrence that they complain. If it makes you feel better about yourselves you can call it whining if you like.

Sony has been advertising the $29.99 PS+ sale, Sony knew they were releasing the PS4 in the EU on BF, same day as the PS+ sale. There are 365 days in the year, they picked that day to have both events hammer their servers. Sony's US PlayStation blog still has the PS+ sale ad at the top:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/

followed by a smaller notification. The notification is brief but does state:

"We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide an update soon."

That was yesterday. Soon has passed. There have been no further updates on the blog. A few years ago when Sony's security was breached they said their network would be down a few days, but it was down for about 2 months. That doesn't bode well.

I bought my 1 yr PS+ on Amazon yesterday. Tried the code a few times and it didn't work. Researched the matter online. Tried a few times before going to bed. Not to upset about it, things happen. This morning it's still not working, so yes I am upset, and I'm here to vent. Feel free to not read my posts, I promise I won't be offended. I'm hard to miss w/ the bright red circle around the SM3DW puppets on the attractive asian chick's hands.

"Sony's US PlayStation blog still has the PS+ sale ad at the top."

This bothers me the most. They are still advertising it knowing good and well those people won't be able to redeem the code.

As far as I'm aware, redeeming codes should work now. I just redeemed a year's sub to PS+.

My black flag dlc worked but the 19 digit code from tesco? What. No chance. I expect to get a reply from ubisoft in about two months.

@jgrangervikings

If Sony PR would step up its game all the complaining you see would go down quite a bit. Of course there'd still be some complaining and the vast majority effected would still be quite annoyed and I can't blame them, you pay for a product or service you want it to work properly. And this where, as much as I may despise some of its business practices, I give MS points. It's always up front with customers, even when telling you 'yeah we're going to screw you.' It sucks and people have every right to get p*ssed but they can't say that MS isn't honest with them and that's why a lot of times when things go wrong with XBL you don't see as much complaining because somebody from the company tells us right away what is happening.

I finally got my $50 PSN card to work. I hope everyone has the same luck. It sounds like you have a better chance if you go to account management and redeem it there instead of on the PS store.

@Gamer83 Ask that to the complainers that complain Microsoft over the Forza 5 microtransactions controversy.

@rjejr: For what it's worth, I don't blame you at all for complaining. I just wanted to make sure you had the facts while doing so. I agree, there's really no excuse for them not preparing for the slamming they're getting right now. This happens EVERY time a popular online-related product releases, and most of us are getting sick of it. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be much recourse other than general online bitching, which doesn't tend to get results. The situation is only made worse when other people choose to DEFEND the company for being cheap like this...and that's all this is, they didn't want to pour more money into servers they had to have KNOWN they'd need.

Didn't seem to affect me but i couldn't download a patch ?? whats that about

@Stuffgamer1 - I just like to keep the cycle of complaining going. First people complain. Then other people complain about the complainers complaining. I like to complain about the people who are complaining about the other people complaining. I do it to point out the hypocrisy of people complaining on the internet about other people complaining on the internet, but they rarely get it.

Yeah, finally got it to work about 2PM ET and even got LBP Karting to DL at its normal speed (about 1GB per 10 minutes). Spent the next 2 1/2 hours watching Pacific Rim. Time for dinner then back to W101. I will spend all day tomorrow playing LBP Karting though.

Glad you got it to work, @rjejr.

@jgrangervikings - Me too. The not so funny thing is Sony hasn't acknowledged that it's working yet on their website.

Uh Sony will definitely reimburse anyone who calls their customer service dept. with a "bad code" ...they take a while to expire, so just wait, right? Anticipate it more. You'll like it better.