If you’re one of the many Nintendo Switch users who find themselves facing the dreaded Joy-Con drift issue, then you’ll know how frustrating it was to hear Nintendo’s response to the issue. As I reported yesterday, the only recourse seems to redirect your concerns to Nintendo’s customer support, and if all else fails, to just buy a new pair of Joy-Cons.
If recent news is to be believed, though, it looks like Nintendo is quietly going to solve these people’s concerns – with a pretty big emphasis on ‘quietly.’ As reported by Vice News, who allegedly obtained an internal Nintendo memo that not only instructs the company’s customer service division to provide repairs for Joy-Cons free of charge, but also issue refunds to customers who forked out for previous repairs. It’s a pretty big commitment if the memo is real, as it also notes that you don’t even have to prove that you purchased a Switch or that your warranty is still valid.
While still somewhat unconfirmed, I’m inclined to believe that if ever Nintendo will act on this issue, this would be the most prudent way to go about it. A law firm has already filed a class action lawsuit against the company, and any attempts to cop out and admit that Nintendo made a flaw in their Joy-Con production would just bury them further – the next best thing would be to keep the customers happy by repairing those controllers free of charge, even outside of warranty.
The original article was backed with evidence, too, although you still need to take it with a grain of salt. One of the podcast producers for Vice managed to get a free Joy-Con drift repair for his own Switch, which does point to Nintendo actually giving repairs out to people who will take advantage of the offer.
And if you’re one of the unlucky people who owned a defective Joy-Con, it might be in your best interest to check out if this has any bearing to it. You can go to Nintendo’s customer support here and ask for the free Joy-Con drift repair, then share it with us or on social media in order to reach those who are currently experiencing the same problem.
