An internal memo suggests that Nintendo has had a change of heart over fixing faulty Joy-Cons, even if they’re out of warranty.
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Complaints about how Nintendo has been handling faults with the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers seems to have caused a change in policy, at least in the US.
Although there’s been no official annoucement, website Vice has obtained an internal memo which instructs Nintendo staff not to charge for repairs or ask for proof of purchase – and to refund those who have already paid.
‘Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs,’ reads the alleged memo. ‘Additionally it is not necessary to confirm warranty status. If a customer requests a refund for a previously paid Joy-Con repair […] confirm the prior repair and then issue a refund.’
Nintendo has refused to confirm the change in policy but also failed to deny that the contents of the memo are true.
Since one of their staff had a Joy-Con with the problem, Vice tested the new policy and found that Nintendo were indeed willing to fix it for free, no questions asked.
Whether the new policy extends to the UK is currently unknown, although GameCentral has reached out to Nintendo UK for comment. If you want to find out yourself though the UK customer support repair website is here.
However, the change in approach may have been due to the pending class action lawsuit in the US, which is not relevant in Europe.
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