Nintendo has finally recognized the problem!
Il Joy-Con drift has become a problem for many owners of Nintendo Switch, so much to carry the Kyoto house to officially recognize it. In these hours, in fact, through a press release, Nintendo announced that users who encounter the problem, regardless of the status of the console's warranty, will be able to request the repair of the failed Joy-con, free of charge. Nintendo is also willing to reimburse users who have paid to fix the problem in the past, as they can provide evidence of the repair in question via a receipt.
What is the Joy-Con drift problem?
Substantially if your Joy-Con crashes or you notice strange movements, this means that Nintendo Switch registers an input from the stick even if it is absolutely not touched, thus moving the character or the cursor within the game menu. For example, if you are playing Splatoon 2 and Inkling walks alone without you taking those actions on the controller, you are probably experiencing this problem.
The drift problem can occur on the left or right Joy-Con, although the majority of consumers have reported that the left controller is the one that exhibits the problem most frequently. The best way to test and understand if the problem is present is to place your Joy-Con on a completely flat surface. Leave the console on and with any title in action for a while, so you can see how the character on the screen begins to react without touching the controllers. If it starts to move on its own, the drift problem is present and you need to act accordingly to fix it.
If you think you have the drift problem with one of the Joy-Con, just follow these steps !.
Contact Nintendo for repair
Currently, Nintendo is advising that Joy-Con can be repaired for free if desired. To make the request, you need to fill out a form on the company's support page. This is where you can list all the specifics of the problem, providing your address, phone number, and other vital information. Nintendo states that "a confirmation and instructions" when filling out one of these support tickets will be sent to you within 24 hours of your request.
Conversely, if you want to speak directly to a live operator, you can always call the Nintendo support phone number. Once the problem is explained and made sure that it is indeed present, the operator should proceed to send you a prepaid shipping label that will allow you to send the device for repair.
Get a refund for a previous repair
If you've already paid Nintendo to repair Joy-Cons that were now out of warranty, you should be able to get a refund. According to users, Nintendo has been charging around $ 40 over the past few years to repair Joy-Cons and is now willing to return that money due to the widespread nature of the problem.
The best solution to obtain this refund would be to call Nintendo Customer Support directly, as mentioned above, and explain the situation before requesting a refund. Also, make sure you have proof of payment for the repair. A receipt has probably been sent to you in your e-mail box. Find this receipt and then call Nintendo to initiate the refund process.
Do it yourself repair
And for those who are more familiar with electronic devices and the like. It will be necessary to have some tools to proceed with the opening of the Joy-Con, and the drift problem can be solved by replacing the lever in some cases.
The Spawn Wave video, attached above, is very detailed and explains in detail how to repair the Joy-Con. It shows how to open the Joy-Con controller, replace the stick, and then put everything back together. You will need a screwdriver and, of course, a spare lever to proceed with the operation yourself; it doesn't seem to be too difficult and shouldn't take long. Be patient and you should almost certainly resolve the matter.
So that's it!
