If you’ve been having trouble with your Nintendo Joy-Cons lately, we have some good news for you concerning Joy-Con repairs. While it’s true that Nintendo once offered Joy-Con repairs for those with drift issues a while ago, it was an understood rule that Nintendo could only fix your controllers if they were within warranty. Now, as of writing this article, that’s no longer the case. Nintendo now offers free repays to faulty Joy-Cons if you live in Switzerland, Europe, or the UK.
The update came to light when the Nintendo Support page for the UK website had an update, redefining the Joy-Con drift section and what customers can do to amend their controller issues. Other regions, such as North America, France, and Latin America, also have this policy underway. Support for those with faulty Joy-Cons is largely due to the infamous “Joy-Con Drift” that started manifesting in the right (or sometimes left, but not usually) Joy-Cons shortly after the Nintendo Switch’s initial release.
How Do I Know if My Joy-Cons Qualify?
While the promise to fix controllers for free was initially only offered to those with Joy-Cons and an exclusive drift issue, that promise has since been extended. Now it covers not only Joy-Con drift incidents but any incident in general concerning the little controllers. It seems that the controller sticks weren’t as long-lasting as Nintendo had hoped, and how angry fans with busted controller sticks are coming back to bite them. Joy-Con drift isn’t just a problem with the base Switch either. Additionally, the rise of the popularity of the Nintendo Switch Lite has caused a similar ruckus. With the Nintendo Switch Lite being a popular option for children, in comparison to the Switch or OLED models, the need for Joy-Con drift fixes absolutely skyrocketed. Now, the new policy also covers Switch Lite.
Below we’ve got a nice summary of the policy straight from the website itself:
“Until further notice, Nintendo will not charge you in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK and Switzerland for the repair of the responsiveness syndrome irrespective of whether this is caused by a defect or by wear and tear. Nintendo takes great pride in creating high-quality and durable products and is continuously making improvements to them. Therefore and until further notice, Nintendo offers to consumers who purchased the respective product in the EEA, UK and Switzerland that repairs for responsiveness syndrome relating to control sticks will be conducted at no charge by official Nintendo repair centres. This applies even if the syndrome is caused by wear and tear and even if the 24-month manufacturer’s warranty provided by Nintendo has expired. The manufacturer’s warranty does not affect any statutory rights which you may have under consumer protection legislation as the purchaser of goods. The benefits described here are in addition to those rights.”
What do you think of the controller issue? Is offering to fix them enough?
