Does Nintendo Repair Joycons For Free

If you owned a Nintendo Switch over the last few years, you've probably heard about, or become a victim of, the dreaded "Joy-Con drift" issue that's plagued the console'south gamepads since its launch.

There's nothing worse than trying to return to bed on time in Stardew Valley and fighting with the controller to move in the correct direction or failing to dodge an set on in Hades considering your dash volition merely move upwards. Super Nail Bros. is essentially unplayable with Joy-Con drift, and Mario Kart viii Deluxe is an (even bigger) lesson in frustration.

The Issue

Joy-Con drift is the mutual proper name for a hardware problem that causes the control stick on Nintendo'south Switch controllers to not answer or register the wrong input even when the gamepad buttons are not pressed.

Since buying my own Switch at launch (and my hubby getting his a little afterward), my household has experienced the issue on three carve up sets of Joy-Cons. Each time resulted in the purchase of new controllers or forced me to play the Switch just while docked with a Pro Controller.

"Subsequently pressure from several class-action lawsuits, Nintendo has started to offer free Joy-Con repairs through its customer service portal."

Nintendo has repeatedly denied whatsoever event exists with the Switch's Joy-Cons — or at least won't admit that the migrate trouble is as bad every bit the cyberspace makes it out to be. Still, the problem is widespread enough that Joy-Con dwelling house repair guides have become commonplace and several course-activeness lawsuits take been filed. Pressurized air, rubbing alcohol, bits of paper, and more have all been cited as potential solutions to the issue.

I've tried every trick I could detect that didn't involve opening the hardware upwardly myself. Some of the techniques, such as rubbing alcohol, seemed to solve the issue at first. Notwithstanding, the problem would always return after a few hours to a day, which caused more frustration.

Switch red and blue Joy-Cons

Later pressure from several class-action lawsuits, Nintendo has started to offer costless Joy-Con repairs through its customer service portal. The process is straightforward; fill up out an online form (or phone call a customer service representative), mail service out the equipment, and and then look. Nintendo doesn't offering whatever indication of how long the process will take, however.

With the launch of Monster Hunter Rise and Pokémon Unite, I finally felt motivated plenty to beginning the repair process and then I could finally return to gaming on my couch, upside down and under a coating, just like I used to when I was eight and had to utilise a flashlight with a Game Boy.

Repair Process

Since I endemic more than 4 Joy-Cons with drift, I was required to call Nintendo'southward customer service line (the company explains that this is due to lithium-ion battery aircraft restrictions). If you want to have less than four Joy-Cons repaired, you need to fill out this form.

In social club to process the repair, the agent I spoke to asked the same questions I had previously entered into the form to ship less than five Joy-Cons. I was asked to provide my address, describe the problem, and reply basic troubleshooting questions. I was so requested to provide the series number of my Switch organisation, even though I was not sending the panel itself in for repair.

Switch repairs

After finishing my telephone call with the agent, I checked my inbox to see eight split up emails from Nintendo. Four of these were different repair orders (with their ain repair order numbers), and the others were four separate UPS waybills.

Assuming it would be fine to combine all of them into one box, I packaged up my Joy-Cons equally best I could and dropped them off the next mean solar day. Afterwards, Nintendo sends your inquiries to its repair tracking website.

2 weeks after dropping the Joy-Cons at my local UPS Shop (this is the curse of mailing anything to/from Newfoundland) I received a fresh set of 6 new emails. Of these emails, two of them had new repair numbers from the original set.

"The unabridged repair procedure was straightforward (except for the battery of emails) and didn't crave much more from me other than dropping off a box of electronics at a UPS branch."

Two days after this, I received another set of six emails notifying me that each Joy-Con had completed its repair procedure and was heading dorsum to me from beyond a continent.

A few weeks afterwards, a unmarried cardboard box arrived in my kitchen. The Joy-Cons seemed to have been completely replaced (or at least swapped with refurbished controllers).

It'southward important to annotation that Nintendo never confirmed either the effect I was experiencing or that it found a problem to begin with. The repair summary sent back with the controllers listed every possible effect as blank. I, unfortunately, tin can't speak to what issue was causing the trouble with my Joy-Cons. While at that place was no charge for the repair process, Nintendo alerted me that I would have paid to repair any concrete damage.

Drift-Gratuitous?

The entire repair process was straightforward (except for the bombardment of emails) and didn't crave much more than from me other than dropping off a box of electronics at a UPS branch. Aside from a lengthy aircraft time of nearly six weeks, it was mostly painless. Since getting my new-to-me controllers back, I have been pestering friends and family to start the procedure themselves so that they can finally enjoy their game library again.

It's unclear if Nintendo plans to update the Switch's hardware to avert drift in the future, and hope that the new OLED model fixes the issue seems to exist misplaced. It's besides an issue plaguing some owners of Nintendo Switch Calorie-free consoles. Since the switch Calorie-free does not permit users to swap out its congenital-in joystick and buttons, this is even more frustrating than the standard Switch.

Joy-Con repair

With this in listen, it could exist worth picking up an extra set of Joy-Cons or a Pro controller to have a backup if drift is encountered. This is as well something to consider if y'all're deciding between buying the Lite and the standard Switch.

If you're experiencing Joy-Con drift with your controllers, I highly recommend you begin the repair process. It may take several weeks to run across your Joy-Cons again, but I consider it worth it to avert spending more than money on new controllers that may end upwards with the aforementioned issue anyway.

I've been playing with my Joy-Cons again for several days, and I'm pleased to say I haven't seen any signs of the migrate outcome returning. Nintendo has not mentioned to me any recourse options if the issue returns, and then I'm hopeful I won't need to cross that bridge again.