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Your Joy-Con Repair Success Stories (or lack thereof)

H

Hero_of_the_Day

Member
I really need to send mine in. My original grey does it pretty bad. Then, I bought some neon ones. I was laying in bed the other night with the switch next to me and my arms under the sheet holding the joycons. So, five feet away max, and the sheet being between the joycons and the tablet was too much for it. Such garbage.
 
J

jrcbandit

Member
My joy con doesn't have disconnects, but it was slightly loose / woobly on the Switch. I used some electrical tape and now it feels just as solid as it did on the day I got it, when physically connected to the main Switch body. I put small pieces of electrical tape on the rails of the joycon on top and bottom (where it has arrow pointing down), and I put one small piece on Switch itself. I can post pics when home if anyone is interested.
 
M

Meadow Drone

Member
Meadow Drone said:
I gave them a call back to see if there was any kind of update I could get, and got a very long-winded non-answer, and said they can't simply replace it if the component order takes too long (though the last person I spoke to said that would be the case). They've had it since the 9th now. The guy started asking me what upcoming games I was planning to get, figuring I might be in for some - any - kind of compensation for having no joycon for longer than I've actually had the system but he literally just went on to sell me on buying more joycons and games to "fix" the issue in the meantime. Not pleased.
Click to expand...

I got my joycon back! TODAY. They replaced it entirely. It omly took a month and a half and six calls. Loving this infamous quick turnaround
 
C

Chessr

Member
Send both of mine to Bergsala A/S in Denmark.
They repaired and returned them the day they received them. Was Pretty impressed :)
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Hmm mine has done it a bunch (left) but I am too lazy to deal with it. Is there a way to fix it by laying around complaining but not actually doing anything? Like a software update?
 
CharminUltra

CharminUltra

Member
This is going to sound dumb (I'm sorry!) but is there a foolproof way to check if my launch joycons have issues? Like a quick test that always works if they're malfunctioning? I mostly have them attached to the console, but the few times I've used them unattached I haven't noticed anything. At least not yet.
 
NOLA_Gaffer

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
I have a Triwing screwdriver, but where would I get the foam needed for the fix? Is that something I can buy at a hardware store fairly inexpensively?
 
J

japtor

Member
I had issues with my four joycons, they asked me to send the system in but didn't want to, so I asked if I could send my non system pair to see if that'd work, and they were ok with that. Got them back and it seemed fine (or at least much much improved), then called back and got the other pair sent in when I said the first repair seemed to work, that worked too. Turnaround for the first one was like 2 days, second ran over the weekend and ended up being like 4-5 days, or 2-3 business days.
ridley182 said:
This is going to sound dumb (I'm sorry!) but is there a foolproof way to check if my launch joycons have issues? Like a quick test that always works if they're malfunctioning? I mostly have them attached to the console, but the few times I've used them unattached I haven't noticed anything. At least not yet.
Click to expand...
I think the easiest game to check with is Puyo Puyo Tetris cause you're constantly doing different inputs and the audiovisual response is immediate, so any lag becomes pretty obvious. And there's a free demo if you don't have/want the game (insert Reggie "what's wrong with you" gif here).

Simplest thing to do is to do a multiplayer match and just hold left and right to move the pieces back and forth with each controller at increasing distance from the console. Before I swapped controllers I could start seeing issues regularly by about 6 feet away (I think moreso with left joycons), afterwards they're pretty solid. Not necessarily 100% but close enough that I don't have any worries about playing docked basically, whereas before I stopped playing docked at times because the issue was so problematic at times.
 
M

Mr. Pointy

Member
I sent the left joycon I've had since launch off to Nintendo about a week ago, because it stopped charging. Turns out it had a faulty circuit board and it's being fixed under warranty, I think it's in transit.

I hadn't had the connection issues others had with their left joycons... yet.
 
Gamegeneral

Gamegeneral

Member
I dropped my unit about a month or two ago and the L button hasn't worked since. I tried to fix it myself, but ultimately couldn't (I'm not good enough to resolder a switch like that) so i've been cruising ebay for left joycons that have a different break so I can just take the small component out and swap it.

Disassembly and reassembly was pretty easy, actually, and if i find a junk joycon, swapping the part will be easy.
 
T

The Awesomest

Member
Yeah I got a story for you.

So I was sitting in my house, upstairs, and I call Nintendo Customer Service to set up my left Joy-Con repair. Cool. She needs the serial number on my Switch, so I go downstairs to grab it. In the process, with my Switch in one hand and my phone in the other, I drop my Switch on the hard flood. My right Joy-Con is now broken as well. The Customer Service rep felt so bad that they set up a separate repair for it, but they'll do it for free and it can be included with my left Joy-Con's expedited shipping. Awesome.
 
NOLA_Gaffer

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
Finally got around to calling up Nintendo and get a repair scheduled. Drove out to work to box it up and print the label and of course the box is too big to fit in the slot of any of the UPS drop boxes. Fuck. Guess it's not going out until Monday.
 
NOLA_Gaffer

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
Dropped off the package at the local UPS store a little after 9AM Monday and it's apparently sitting outside my apartment as we speak. Not even a full week, damn.

Here's hoping it's still there in six hours.
 
Kudo

Kudo

Member
Little story with Bergsala of the nords.
I sent mine for service for bad reception and very loose ZR-button (can half-press it before it actually clicks) and they only fixed the bad reception on left Joy-con.
Been emailing since and now they want me to pay if I want to "modify the right joy-con to your liking". From what I've read this happens in no other region than in the nordic countries where Bergsala is responsible for Nintendo hardware.
It sucks as the loose button effects gameplay and feels awful. Also other people online have had their buttons fixed with no problem, which makes this situation extra hard to swallow.
 
N

NIN90

Member
My right Joy-Con came with a faulty ZR button (only works when I squeeze it real hard at a certain angle) right out of the box. I suppose this is something I can't fix on my own?
Anybody know if I have to send the whole console and everything back to Amazon or just the Joy-Con?
 
Xdrive05

Xdrive05

Member
So is there a particular "script" you need to tell them on the phone to ensure they'll fix it? Do you just describe the disconnect as the last input continued in the game even though you were pushing other buttons on the left joycon?
 
D

DroneBrother

Banned
My left neon joycon, the L button stopped working just before the arms beta release, I immediately sent it for repair, it got held on awaiting for parts and I only recieved it back last week.

Saved me on Arms though as I would have bought it but Splatoon 2 seemed more of the best choice.
 
O

Omerta

Member
Does anyone else have a problem with the joy cons "unclicking" from the Switch too easily?

When new, I had to press the little button to remove a joycon but now they come away with the slightest pressure.
 
D

DroneBrother

Banned
Omerta said:
Does anyone else have a problem with the joy cons "unclicking" from the Switch too easily?

When new, I had to press the little button to remove a joycon but now they come away with the slightest pressure.
Click to expand...
Yup, both mine just slide with a slight push now
 
E

Experien

Member
Left joycon has issues so I sent it Monday and I got it back Friday of the same week. Need to try it out but they had paper work saying it is guaranteed to work.
 
T

The12thGripper

Member
Both of my red joy-cons were dropping inputs and had a broken railing so I sent them in 2 weeks ago. I got back the left one in a week and the right one a couple days ago.

The right one was a brand new one so it’ll take a bit to see if the inputs are dropping on it but the railing’s fixed so that’s good. Unfortunately, they sent back the left joy-con without actually fixing the railing so I have to send it back to them again.

I was without my 2nd pair of joycons for a while so I couldn’t play ARMS with my friends and to end up in the same situation again is unacceptable. Luckily, I found a yellow pair the other day so I’ll have 2 pairs when I go to send it in again but that shouldn’t be the solution to my problem.
 
T

The Awesomest

Member
...........


I sent in my Switch for a repair a month ago. I got it back, and since then I've been busy and out of town and didn't really have time to play Zelda. Also I've been playing Splatoon.

So today I try to boot up Zelda and I get a message saying "Please insert the game cart" or whatever and I'm like "lol it's already there, wake up" and I even check the case to make sure. But then my roommate reminds me that I sent it in for repair and maybe they took it out.

So either they forgot to give me back my Zelda cartridge, or they did and I threw it away, not realizing that it would be anywhere other than inside my Switch.

I called them and they gave me a free download code for it, but I assume the save data was attached to that particular cartridge and is now lost forever. Soooo I guess that's that for Breath of the Wild. I enjoyed it while I had it.
 
C

calc84maniac

Member
The Awesomest said:
...........


I sent in my Switch for a repair a month ago. I got it back, and since then I've been busy and out of town and didn't really have time to play Zelda. Also I've been playing Splatoon.

So today I try to boot up Zelda and I get a message saying "Please insert the game cart" or whatever and I'm like "lol it's already there, wake up" and I even check the case to make sure. But then my roommate reminds me that I sent it in for repair and maybe they took it out.

So either they forgot to give me back my Zelda cartridge, or they did and I threw it away, not realizing that it would be anywhere other than inside my Switch.

I called them and they gave me a free download code for it, but I assume the save data was attached to that particular cartridge and is now lost forever. Soooo I guess that's that for Breath of the Wild. I enjoyed it while I had it.
Click to expand...

Save data is stored in the system's internal memory, but I'm not sure whether it transfers over to a digital copy. I feel like it should?
 
C

CarbonFire

Member
I can't tell if my Joycons are defective or not, but I do know they are weak as hell when it comes to signal strength. I've read about all of the problems with the Left Joycon, but most of the time when I sit with one leg crossed over the other and the two joycons (plus grip) in my lap, both Left and Right will have connection issues. This includes button presses not registering and the thumbsticks either not responding or getting "stuck" in a direction. This is 7ft away from the Switch, with only my leg blocking line of sight from the console.

I'm not sure if this is something that is fixable, because I haven't heard of people having issues with the Right Joycon. Has anyone else had this problem? I certainly have never had this issue with any Playstation or Xbox controller in the past. Hopefully the Pro controller does not have this issue?
 
P

patrickthehedgehog

Member
The Awesomest said:
...........


I sent in my Switch for a repair a month ago. I got it back, and since then I've been busy and out of town and didn't really have time to play Zelda. Also I've been playing Splatoon.

So today I try to boot up Zelda and I get a message saying "Please insert the game cart" or whatever and I'm like "lol it's already there, wake up" and I even check the case to make sure. But then my roommate reminds me that I sent it in for repair and maybe they took it out.

So either they forgot to give me back my Zelda cartridge, or they did and I threw it away, not realizing that it would be anywhere other than inside my Switch.

I called them and they gave me a free download code for it, but I assume the save data was attached to that particular cartridge and is now lost forever. Soooo I guess that's that for Breath of the Wild. I enjoyed it while I had it.
Click to expand...

I left my SD card in by mistake and when my repair came back they had it taped on the inside top of the box inside of a little zip baggie. I wonder if they did that for you and you didn't notice it?
 
A

Amalthea

Banned
Seems like my Switch died one week after dropping it on the floor. I was playing Splatoon 2 with the battery dropping really low during a match so I connected it with the charging cable directly in handheld mode. After finishing the game I shut the Switch down but it looked felt like the screens backlight was still on but I shrugged it off as a reflection of light on the glass. Later I noticed it was still on. Pressed the power button to see what haand it shut off, since then it hadn't reacted on anything, not even the usual reebot trick. Oh well, gotta send it in...
 
P

PaulExcellent

Member
Sent my Switch and Joycon (L) in and got the replacements in less than 5 days.
Pretty happy with the experience, tbh.

Joycon had the signal issue and it wouldn't click onto the console.
 
G

giapel

Member
So, question. When the joycons are on the grip, are they... connected togethe? Do they still both transmit to the console?
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
I'm having the disconnect issue where they keep dropping in the middle of play. The Switch is out of the dock and about half a foot from the joycons
 
J

JCX

Member
I noticed while playing ARMS that one of my joycons' shoulder buttons doesn't work. Weird since I barely used it since I bought a neon pair soon after launch, but never noticed that issue when I did use them.
 
T

TheMagician

Member
Got my system at launch and usually play in handheld mode or with a pro controller so not had any issues with the left Joy Con that many others had at launch.

Noticed it this weekend while playing Bomberman with friends with a single left Joy Con.

How fast are the UK service centre with fixing the issue and returning the Joy Con back? I ordered a label last night to send the package but I've still not even received it by email as I requested, so I'm worried already about the quality of service.
 
T

TheMagician

Member
As per above post.

Sent my left joy con last week.

I called today to be told 'they're awaiting parts'.

Any stories from UK on how long they took to return?
 
T

the_milkybar_kid

Member
TheMagician said:
As per above post.

Sent my left joy con last week.

I called today to be told 'they're awaiting parts'.

Any stories from UK on how long they took to return?
Click to expand...

Late to the thread on this one. I got my Switch at launch and sent the left joycon back a week or so after. Got it back within the week. However I've been having all sorts of problems with the Switch in handheld mode where both joycons won't connect or one disconnects the other. Sent both joycons and the console back 2 Fridays ago, Had confirmation that they'd received them, on Wednesday, then they were repairing them on Wednesday then they were sending them out on Thursday. The console however has been awaiting parts ever since.

If you have the misfortune of having to call them- just be prepared. I've never know a set of more unhelpful, so disinterested sounding customer service reps in all my life. They basically know fuck all and will do as little as possible to help you further.

Called on Monday to get an update of whether they were repairing the console or if they were replacing it and whether they could assure me that I wouldn't lose 200 hours of saves. They said he'd get onto the repair team and get back to me in 2-3 days. Today I got a generic email saying

In regards to your repair, I can confirm that we have had an update back from our repair team and we are currently awaiting parts for your repair to be completed.

We do not have an estimated time on when the parts will be due in, we will update accordingly. Apologies for any inconvenience or upset this may have caused.
Click to expand...

Can't call them as their phones have been down all day and hasn't replied to my email. They are a fucking dreadful company to deal with after the point of sale. If they can't deal with a couple of thousand Switches / Joycons- when Microsoft repaired millions of 360's without batting an eyelid 10 years ago- just what the fuck are they doing? The frustrating thing is, I could go onto their website, pick up a new Switch, transfer my saves and just get a refund on the old one. But no- This is Nintendo and they don't do fucking cloud saves.
 
V

valippo

Neo Member
I got my new Switch last week, I knew about the issue, I knew about the fix, didn't expect to find old batches around.

this is what I've done:

- Connected the switch and started playing.

- Noticed bad inputs from the left joy-con, did some test, looks like when I cross my legs and cover the joycon it has problems.

- I took a screwdriver and some foam, started youtube, followed instructions, put everything togethet.

- Did the same test, it's now working!

Total time: 15 minute

Total cost: 0
 
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