How will Sony repair my PS3?

When I sent my PS3 (Original fat 60 GB with the MC slots and many USB), we were told to deactivate our PSN accounts. We received a refurbished PS3 identical to the one we sent in, and I believe that is Sony's policy.

In most cases, they do not fix it or the console cannot be fixed. Instead, they just send a refurbished unit they've already fixed. This is to minimize how long you have to wait for another console. This is why you shouldn't expect to get the same console back. It definitely isn't going to be like brand new again. No, they do not deactivate the account. They leave that responsibility to you. Sony says that you can deactivate them online. When I tried that for my 40 GB Fatboy, I ended up having to call their support line to do it over the phone. However, I already had bought a new PS3 Slim, so I don't know if that will make a difference. Fatboys do not live forever, especially backward compatible models like yours. No matter how many times its fixed, it will eventually die, and stay dead forever. So, one way or the other, you're going to have to drop another $250-$300 on a brand new console in the future unless you want to deal with repairs every few months that typically happens with refurbished/used units (or switch to Microsoft/Nintendo or live without video games or whatever you choose to do).