Topic: My 3DS Circle Pad is broken.

I've had my original model 3DS since summer 2013. I got it secondhanded but it was barely used. Since then, I've played the hell out of it. It got so bad that after about a year, maybe a little more, the little rubber on the button came off. Thankfully, that wasn't a big deal since there was just a hard button below it, and even the Nintendo staff on the phone said it was OK. up until today, the button is a little loose due to excessive playing (around 550 hours in Smash alone), but it worked fine.

But now I have a problem. Just today I booted up Smash Bros, and I moved my cursor over the character screen, but after letting go of the button the cursor kept moving for a little while This also happened with things like ducking in-game. I recalibrated the button, but that didn't work. From what I saw, the button still functions perfectly going to left or right. But sometimes when moved up and almost everytime when moved down, when I would let go of the button the indicator on screen would show the button going back slowly, as if it was hanging or something. When the button was pushed left or right and I would let go the indicator in the recalibration menu would immediately jump to the middle, but when the button was pushed down (and sometimes up) and then let go the cursor would gradually move back to the center. This makes games like Smash really hard to play, and I want to fix it.
While it's hard to look under the button, it looks like a part of the button beneath the top surface where your thumb goes broke off, though I never noticed a part coming off the system. There may be a loose piece of plastic stuck underneath the button, but I don't want to risk trying to remove it myself.

I am going to call Nintendo Customer Support tommorow. I think I have to get it fixed, but I just wanted to know, did anyone else ever have this problem? Is this repair very expensive? Is there a way to fix it myself? I live in the Netherlands if that matters.

Also, slightly unrelated, but if I have to get a replacement system and I transfer all of my eShop titles, do I lose my save data, or does the save data transfer to the new system too?

The very same thing happened to me, even without the added stress of playing Smash Bros. - always a controller killer! Nintendo Benelux can repair it, I brought it in (I live around the corner) and they replaced the stick in 10 minutes. My 3DS was still within the 2 year EU warranty so i did not have to pay them anything. But you bought a used console over two years ago so they will likely have to charge you. And then you are probably better off buying a new one

@Mk_II: Well if they can fix it within 10 minutes then that at least means it isn't a very difficult repair. My Wii once broke down in the past; it stopped reading the discs. That repair costed about €80. So my guess is that this one will be relatively cheaper. I'll call them tommorow and ask what they can do, but I'm at least glad to hear that the repair isn't a very difficult one. Maybe it will be better to get a new one, but I don't have a lot of money, and if fixing it is cheaper I'll probably go for that. Thank god my birthday was last weekend so I have some extra money for it. Thanks for your answer though, good to hear it isn't anything major

AFAIK they just replace the whole joystick sub-assembly so you basically pay them for opening & closing the console.
Of course, this does require qualified tech staff that have to be fed and watered.

BTW: in my experience, the Nintendo desk techs are very kind and helpful if you just ask them nicely. Good luck!

Just be careful if you buy a new 3DS, you will need both systems in your possession to transfer your eshop purchases save files etc. So don't go trading in your old system to get a new one otherwise you will lose everything.

@Tasuki: I know that. I wasn't planning on trading it in anyway. If that ends up being necessary, I'll just ask it back and buy a new New 3DS and transfer my data. Thanks for the comment though.

@Poketendo: No problem. Too many times I have heard of poplin trading their old system in to say Gamestop to buy a new one and then asking how to get their digital purchases back, especially when they are misinformed by a Gamestop employee that knows nothing.