TheSwitchhas been an unmitigated success forNintendoin almost every conceivable way. The one dark cloud that has been hanging over the console for its entire six-year run is Joy-Con drift. The problem has now persisted to the point that Nintendo has committed to fixing Joy-Con that suffer from it for free in the UK and Europe regardless of how long you’ve owned your Switch, even if the console’s warranty has long since expired.
Nintendo Lifespotted the change to the policy onNintendo’s support page(thanks,VGC). “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,” the site now reads.
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While this is by no means an entirely new policy - Nintendo has been offering this service in the US and other countries for a while - it’s the first time it has been rolled out to Switch owners in the UK and Europe. It’s also noted in Nintendo’s update policy that Joy-Con repairs will still be free even if the controllers have suffered from wear and tear and the 24-month warranty that comes with a new Switch has expired.
A link detailinghow and where to send your drifting Joy-Concan be found on the site, but there are a few somewhat obvious caveats to bear in mind before sending them. Nintendo won’t repair your Joy-Con for free if a third-party accessory has caused the problem, if negligence has broken the controllers, or if you have already cracked it open yourselves to try and fix the issue. The policy change comes aftera UK watchdog called for Nintendo to refund everyone with drifting Joy-Con.
Not only has drift been an issue that has plagued Nintendo and Switch owners since 2017, but there are now so many lawsuits attached to the problem that it’s hard to keep track. Even thoughNintendo successfully fought one off in Februaryof this year,BEUC filed a complaint against Nintendoin 2021 claiming the problem was a result of premature obsolescence.
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