The Switch Joy-Con drift drama saga continues. Nintendo's official statement earlier today wasn't the only new update to the situation, as a report from Vice has revealed that an internal memo within Nintendo is calling for all customer support agents to allow for Joy-Cons to be sent in for repair, free of charge. Not only that, but should you need to send in your controller for repair, representatives will no longer require a proof of purchase, nor will they still have to be under warranty. Previously, owners were required to show proof that they purchased the Joy-Cons new, and once they got past the general troubleshooting with a support agent, they were then allowed to send their non-functioning Joy-Cons to Nintendo, along with $40, in order to be repaired. Additionally, if you did happen to already send your Joy-Cons in and paid the $40 requirement, you can request a refund so long as you can prove that you had them repaired in the past. Though Nintendo seems reluctant to actually admit anything on the matter, it does appear that they're taking steps internally, to assist customers that have been affected by Joy-Con drift.

Source

 

[HarveyHouston]

Repairs? FREE?!? Wow! I'm gonna send my Joy-Cons in right no- oh, wait. I don't have a Switch... Oh! I have Wii remotes! ...Hmm, no, it just says Joy-Con repair. Crap. Well, it's a start, anyway. :/

 

[DeoNaught]

That's the real issue. If it's a design flaw on the hardware side, it's of little to no use. Id say they better change the mechanism on new joy-cons, but that would be not practical due to all of the cons on the wild.
So an answer to that question...it's not gonna be easy, don't know myself.

if I recall correctly, it's technically not a design flaw, they decided to use Charcoal(something like it, that brittles really fast), so really all they would need to do is change that and all should be good.

What are all these unknown color bundles and where can I buy them?

iirc they aren't out yet, but they should be out soon I think, should be anywhere you get joycons, i;e amazon

Repairs? FREE?!? Wow! I'm gonna send my Joy-Cons in right no- oh, wait. I don't have a Switch... Oh! I have Wii remotes! ...Hmm, no, it just says Joy-Con repair. Crap. Well, it's a start, anyway. :/

we have over eight wii remotes(starting from launch model), if your wii remote broke, you did something wrong

 

[pikalols18]

And, I called Nintendo support, and they were able to give me the support and a free repair. If you call them, they will offer a repair free of charge. Whoo Hoo!

 

[Captain_N]

Its not gonna fix the issue. Dirt cause the drift by the way the sensors are designed....

 

[warweeny]

So basically nintendo is finally playing by the fucking law?
A factory defect product is repaired for free, this is the fucking law.

 

[Xabring]

if I recall correctly, it's technically not a design flaw, they decided to use Charcoal(something like it, that brittles really fast), so really all they would need to do is change that and all should be good.

I hope is THAT easy, cuz they are using a graphite + metal combo and well.....they both are FAR away from each other on the Mohs hardness scale, (graphite is 0.5, and I don't know the material of the stick part but.....it MUST be adobe 2, WAY over 0.5 in ANY case). Spoiler alert it will SCRATCH the graphite to no end even to the most careful. I am not THAT kind of engineer, but I suspect metal + another metal will dramatically increase the durability dramatically, but...now that I think of it, it would cause even more problems due to the resultant dust conductivity. O dear, I fear it will be not an easy task. Some people also have theories that it might be humidity, affecting the graphite in such a way that it deteriorates and causes the problems.

My point is, it's needed to know what exactly causes the drift first cuz we know the exact affected part, but the exact why not yet.

meanwhile, free fix for everyone to keep em' happy enough until they figure out what is happening!

(I never see the problem myself, but after watching spawnwave's video, I understand what is going on)

Its not gonna fix the issue. Dirt cause the drift by the way the sensors are designed....

Agreed. the sensors must be replaced by something similar but either, a change in materials, or another mechanism that prevents dust interference in the first place.

All I can do in my place is wait, unfortunately.

 

[ChibiMofo]

This is one of the better pre-empts on a class action suit I've seen since Nintendo sent me free silicon sleeves for my Wiimotes back in 2008.*


*They didn't originally come with them and Nintendo only created them after people started destroying $5000 HDTVs with flying Wiimotes.

 

[anhminh]

So what about buyer from country that Nintendo not support? Are we fucked?

 

[Redhorse]

are they going to reimburse all those who bought a pro controller because the joy-cons didn't work right? No? Pft.

EDIT: This is like when they acknowledged their use of poor materials (plastic) on the DS lite hinge and replaced/repaired free and added a 1-year warranty, each time. the hinge broke.

 

[DeoNaught]

So what about buyer from country that Nintendo not support? Are we fucked?

for now I think, you still have to pay for it, I saw a post on reddit that he tried to get his repaired for free, and no dice

I hope is THAT easy, cuz they are using a graphite + metal combo and well.....they both are FAR away from each other on the Mohs hardness scale, (graphite is 0.5, and I don't know the material of the stick part but.....it MUST be adobe 2, WAY over 0.5 in ANY case). Spoiler alert it will SCRATCH the graphite to no end even to the most careful. I am not THAT kind of engineer, but I suspect metal + another metal will dramatically increase the durability dramatically, but...now that I think of it, it would cause even more problems due to the resultant dust conductivity. O dear, I fear it will be not an easy task. Some people also have theories that it might be humidity, affecting the graphite in such a way that it deteriorates and causes the problems.

stamped)
Yeah, it just wears down, iirc it would actually might have to be a redesign, hopefully not a joycon revision

 

[samcambolt270]

for now I think, you still have to pay for it, I saw a post on reddit that he tried to get his repaired for free, and no dice

So, how exactly do they charge you? I submitted a ticket about my drifting joycon and I just got a shipping label within a few hours(with no correspondance aside from an email telling me they sent a lable). I haven't sent it off yet though. They have no way of charging me if i were to send it of aside from I guess just sending me a bill.

 

[ganons]

Apparently US only?

 

[m3anmug]

So what about people like me who bought analog sticks off Amazon and repaired them themselves? I had to buy 4 analog sticks to fix both sets of my joycons. So i guess im screwed now because i opened it myself to fix their problem?

 

[DeoNaught]

So, how exactly do they charge you? I submitted a ticket about my drifting joycon and I just got a shipping label within a few hours(with no correspondance aside from an email telling me they sent a lable). I haven't sent it off yet though. They have no way of charging me if i were to send it of aside from I guess just sending me a bill.

if you aren't in the us you don't have to pay

 

[Deleted User]

Cute and all but how about a redesigned stick that isn't a piece of shit internally. My sticks are way out of warranty and I've already replaced the sticks a few times but the replacements suffer the same design faults.

If a redesign happens then at very least people with modified controllers (custom colours etc) can hopefully buy better repair components.

Just replacing the current ones with the same shit only buys some time, it's not a true fix.

 

[Xabring]

Yeah, it just wears down, iirc it would actually might have to be a redesign, hopefully not a joycon revision

Nah, All they need to change is the stick itself and everything else can stay the same. Kinda like when the left joycons needed a simple conductive foam to not desync at launch (or put a simple copper wire as an antenna, which I did with the help of a cousin).

 

[samcambolt270]

if you aren't in the us you don't have to pay

I am in the us, though.

 

[SonicRings]

Nice, I'm 1 step closer to buying a switch now. All that's left is for the obnoxiously high $400 price tag to come down for the base model, online become free/good (or both), controllers to not cost $100 each and games to not cost $80 each. Smash Ultimate with DLC alone runs for about $120, twice as much as the max I'm used to paying for games.

 

[dsrules]

And, I called Nintendo support, and they were able to give me the support and a free repair. If you call them, they will offer a repair free of charge. Whoo Hoo!

did they asked you to sent in just the joycon that is having drifting issues or both joycons?
nothing in my email saying what to sent in

 

[pikalols18]

did they asked you to sent in just the joycon that is having drifting issues or both joycons?
nothing in my email saying what to sent in

The drifting joycon only.