It looks like all the recent complaints about Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift have had an effect on Nintendo, even if the gaming giant is remaining its usual quiet self on the outside. The company has reportedly altered its customer service policy to offer free repairs on Joy-Cons that are affected by the issue even if they're no longer covered by a warranty. This also applies retroactively to previous repairs, for which owners can have their expenses refunded if they call back in to the support line.
Internal customer service documents obtained by Vice Games indicate that support representatives are still expected to guide users through some troubleshooting steps to address their Joy-Con problems (which is always worth a try, since Switch comes with built-in calibration tools). If that doesn't work, it's a no-questions-asked repair policy.
“Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs,” the internal customer service details say. “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.”
This is probably as close to an admission that we'll get from Nintendo that Joy-Con drift is a widespread issue, but at least it's taking care of people's problems. Granted, you'll still be without your Joy-Con for a few weeks while Nintendo fixes it, but at least you won't need to pay for the repairs or the shipping now.
We can only hope that Nintendo's been aware of these issues for long enough to fix them in upcoming product lines, like the Purple/Orange Joy-Con combo. Or more importantly the Nintendo Switch Lite, since you'd have to send the whole darn thing in if you wanted to get that fixed.
Put your newly repaired Joy-Con through its paces with our list of the best Nintendo Switch games.
