Don't know if it applies to Europe or Japan, probably not. It seems like a fairly simple design problem.
Keeping it short, you just have to change a few digits in a Club Nintendo PIN to register one that isn't yours. Way too easy, you don't even need a keygen or anything like that. Three of us in the US/Canada Club Nintendo thread have had their Smash Bros PIN stolen so far, and we're told by customer service that it's also common for Pokemon.
For Nintendo, it probably means that a lot of people are scamming them to get more stuff. For us, it means that we may have to go through customer service to get our rewards. Thankfully they're very good with this, Agent Unknown and I both had it cleared up, but it really shouldn't be happening this often in the first place. The system shouldn't be this easy to exploit.
There aren't many more details, but here are the relevant posts from the Club Nintendo thread:
Keeping it short, you just have to change a few digits in a Club Nintendo PIN to register one that isn't yours. Way too easy, you don't even need a keygen or anything like that. Three of us in the US/Canada Club Nintendo thread have had their Smash Bros PIN stolen so far, and we're told by customer service that it's also common for Pokemon.
For Nintendo, it probably means that a lot of people are scamming them to get more stuff. For us, it means that we may have to go through customer service to get our rewards. Thankfully they're very good with this, Agent Unknown and I both had it cleared up, but it really shouldn't be happening this often in the first place. The system shouldn't be this easy to exploit.
There aren't many more details, but here are the relevant posts from the Club Nintendo thread:
Some asshole used my registration PIN when my copy was in the mail. :|
Contacted Club Nintendo about it, has anyone had any luck with this?
How does that work?
Did they open it up?
Probably not. Last I checked, Club Nintendo codes were ridiculously easy to break. You just change the last letter in a code you already have and boom.
(And by "checked" I mean "heard". This is exactly why I don't cheat myself some extra coins with this exploit.)
I've got the same problem. Smash Bros. for Wii U from BestBuy online store "The PIN you entered has already been registered. Each PIN may only be registered once." wow...how can this happen?
Looks like the problem is quite common.
Nintendo really need to put some kind of buyer protection, around Club Nintendo Codes, into place. This kind of thing is unacceptable for those who've stayed loyal to them. Does this happen in the other Club Nintendo Programs or is this purely a North American thing?
Hello,
Thanks for contacting us. Sorry to hear about your Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo Wii U PIN not working. I checked the PIN and found that it was already registered in another Club Nintendo account. Unlike the serial number, the PIN included with new systems can only be registered in one account.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reply to this email. Be sure to include your original email as well as this response if you do.
Sincerely,
Nintendo of America Inc.
So what now?
Customer support e-mail tells me that my problem can be solved, but I need to call. I'll do so tomorrow and l'll post the results.
I told them that I can provide proof of purchase on request and that the PIN was probably registered by someone who is trying to scam them. Not sure if that helped.
Good grief. Tell them it's your PIN from a game you bought brand new, so either they distributed the same PIN twice or the other person was not the rightful owner of the PIN code, in which case their PIN system is pretty faulty if people can guess the PINs or accidentally enter them via typo.
Edit:
I just tried registering my Smash U copy several times and I keep getting a message that either says "The PIN you entered has already been registered" or "The PIN you entered is invalid," what in earth? How can this come from a new, sealed copy of the game? Anyone else run into this while registering their Smash U copy? Guessing I better call customer service ASAP?
Edit: OK, I see the posts above, I'm not the only one. Has code cracking happened with other major titles? Will customer service probably fix this for me?
It seemed this has happened in the past but it's more active now that Smash U is out. Give customer service proof of purchase once contacted.
I remember someone posting how they were guessing 3DS PINs at one point, but I didn't think the problem was widespread, but I guess it would be tempting for all those 3DS owners to scam a Wii U code to get the soundtrack. Of course, it's also possible Nintendo screwed up and printed double copies of PIN codes by mistake somehow just for this particular game.
Just called Club Nintendo, the customer service person registered it for me. Didn't need to provide proof either, which is surprising. I could see someone exploiting that - although the additional effort might be a deterrent.
She mentioned that they've been getting a ton of calls like this and they know someone is generating the codes. I'm not sure if they know just how easy it is to do this, but that isn't her job.
On their end, they have to check US and Canadian codes separately. The person using my code was in the States, but when I sent in an e-mail (twice), they only checked Canada. They still told me to call anyhow, so I guess that's fine, but you might want to be careful about this. And emphasize your "zeds" if your code has one of those.
Wondering if I should make a thread since it's a large issue. Kind of worried that it might encourage more people to steal codes when they know it can be done.
Agent Unknown, the3ye, good luck.
It happened to me once during the first year of CN. I entered a code and it said it was invalid so I changed one digit and it worked. Looking back I feel bad that I didn't just call Nintendo to take care of it instead of stealing someone else's code.
Called the customer service line and I talked to a very helpful and friendly Nintendo rep who confirmed this has been happening a lot with both Smash U and also Omega Ruby customers trying to redeem their pins.He assured me right away that I'd be able to get my credit for the game and the CD but wanted to try a few things first as he says he's personally been able to fix it a lot of Smash U codes wiithout having to escalate. After trying to reset the status of the code on his end several times it still wasn't showing up in my history so he tried to enter it manually on his end and it wouldn't even let him do that so at that point he put in a ticket to have a supervisor get it taken care of and said I should have the coins, survey and credit for the soundtrack CD all listed in my account within the next 24-48 hours if not sooner, maybe even tonight. Anyways, ace service by that rep, makes me wish they did phone surveys after. Based on my experience I encourage anyone with the PIN issue to call the main Nintendo customer service line right away.
edit: Also like Thammy I wasn't required to offer proof. I asked the rep if he needed me to provide UPC, e-mail a copy of the receipt, ect and he said that wouldn't be necessary and hasn't been required in most cases with this and that my Club Nintendo account info was all he needed.