Topic: Why Nintendo and Best Buy are two of the worst companies to deal with.

Thought i would share an experience I had recently to warn others from having the same problems.

I noticed that out of no where, my Wii U gamepad (with the lcd screen) wouldn't work with Smash U or the new Mario Maker game i just bought. I called Nintendo and it turns out my NFC reader isn't working (the thing you scan amiibos on) despite how careful I have been to not damage my video game equipment . They said the only way to fix it is to pay $100 dollars or buy a new Wii U because Nintendo doesn't sell gamepads.

I said no thanks, ill just play smash bros with a GameCube pad and take Mario Maker back to Best Buy. I get to Best Buy and they tell me that I cant return a game once i open it. I bought the game an hour before i came back to return it. The guy behind the counter said the best he can do is give me $30 dollars for the $60 dollar game.

I wanted to spend my birthday playing mario maker, but all i got was a bunch of "sorry, youre out of luck" comments. I will never buy another nintendo game or buy anything from best buy again. Dont let this happen to you.

TLDR: Nintendo and Best buy have terrible customer support. The Wii U is a really bad console to own because they dont let you buy replacement controllers.

First of all: I am very sorry what happened to you.

However, how can you warn anybody about that?

I stepped in gum on my way to the subway. In a CHEWING GUM! So have I warn everybody about wearing shoes and going to the subway?

I guess by warning them against purchasing from Nintendo and Best Buy.

haha well, I guess I can't really. Posting on the internet can at least bring issues like faulty nfc readers to light. In my opinion, if a person takes care of their Wii U and something doesnt work, nintendo should help you. Warranties run out, but heck, my warranty expired before amiibos even came on the market lol. How could I have known the NFC reader didnt work.

@DiscoGentleman: Um...mother says Comcast is evil lol.

If a pro controller costs $50, what would an estimated price for a Gamepad be? (A Gamepad is a Pro Controller+LCD Screen+NFC Reader+Gyro.)

...you could always sell it on Amazon or Ebay for most of the cost...it sucks, but it's better than $30 Best Buy would give you...and MOST retail stores won't let you return opened electronics, not just Best Buy.

Well, and I wouldn't say it's bad customer support on Nintendo's part, they told you EXACTLY what you had to do without any run around. Sure, not being able buy a different controller sucks...but a gamepad would easily cost $100 to buy one flat out anyway...so really you wouldn't have much different there considered even PS4/XONE controllers go for 50+ dollars without a touch screen.

I think the only thing I was warned of in this topic is that you don't understand capitalism. Sorry, I already knew it's souless money grabbing, but thanks anyway. You won't find any different with Sony, MS (like sub fees? No? Too bad ), Fred Meyer, K-Mart, Wal-Mart (lol on this one) or anything else for that matter. If you aren't already paying for your own internet...God help you when you do.

Uhhh, okay? I think I should point out a few things.

I noticed that out of no where, my Wii U gamepad (with the lcd screen) wouldn't work with Smash U or the new Mario Maker game i just bought. I called Nintendo and it turns out my NFC reader isn't working (the thing you scan amiibos on) despite how careful I have been to not damage my video game equipment . They said the only way to fix it is to pay $100 dollars or buy a new Wii U because Nintendo doesn't sell gamepads.

I am baffled as to why they don't sell separate Gamepads. Then again, there's no telling what the price would be anyway, plus they would probably only be sold online.

I said no thanks, ill just play smash bros with a GameCube pad and take Mario Maker back to Best Buy. I get to Best Buy and they tell me that I cant return a game once i open it. I bought the game an hour before i came back to return it. The guy behind the counter said the best he can do is give me $30 dollars for the $60 dollar game.

You do realize this is true for ALL retailers. You cannot return a game for a refund once it is open, but you can exchange for the same game. You would have to end business with Amazon, Gamestop, Best Buy, Wal-mart, Target, etc.

I wanted to spend my birthday playing mario maker, but all i got was a bunch of "sorry, youre out of luck" comments. I will never buy another nintendo game or buy anything from best buy again. Dont let this happen to you.

Things break, so yes, you are out of luck. Once a product is out of warranty, you have to pay for repairs even if you have no fault. You might as well not get a One or PS4 for that matter, because I know at least Sony also charges for repairs. Also, don't bother with Apple products either.

TLDR: Nintendo and Best buy have terrible customer support. The Wii U is a really bad console to own because they dont let you buy replacement controllers.

Once again, there's no telling what the price would have been. Most controllers are $60, but the Wii U Gamepad is more complicated than a controller, so it might as well have been $100 anyway.

Warranties expire for a reason. Electronics companies would lose A LOT of money if they had to repair all their products for free with no limits on the date.

@DiscoGentleman:
Actually, and I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure no retailer lets you return an opened game. The only exceptions would be Walmart on a store to store basis (depending if the customer service manager is a tightwad or not, and it may only be for an exchange or store credit) and Target will let you return an opened game twice a year (but they don't advertise this policy). GameStop is the absolute worst because they open brand new games before selling them to you so that there's no way to return them, even as brand new (though their policy states 7 days for new games, it does no good if they opened it so you can't take advantage of the policy)

@flapjack009
I'm sorry for your unfortunate circumstance, but it is standard practice across the board to offer a warranty period and then charge for repairs after that time. Nintendo customer service will in fact replace your gamepad with a brand new one if you tell them yours is broken, but you're going to be charged quite a bit. It's cheaper to just pay for repairs.

As for BestBuy, see what I wrote above to DiscoGentleman. That's frustrating, I know, but that's not just BestBuy. That's anywhere. What I advise is A) keep the game, enjoy it, and just unlock Amiibo characters in-game B) list the game on Craigslist or eBay C) pay to get the gamepad repaired and be done with it

Actually Gamestop is ironically generous at the same time. They allow you to return used games for full price within 7 days (subject to manager approval)

@LztheQuack: the guy has a point though. Amiibo came on the market quite recently, so he couldn't try out his NFC reader before. How do we know his NFC reader wasn't faulty to begin with?!

He bought a product with a function but the function became available only once the warranty expired. It's not fair.

Well there's a problem with this logic. How did it work before and how do we know it was faulty all along?

There is no problem with this logic.
We don't know if it worked before the warranty expired. The guy couldn't have known because the items to make it work didn't exist yet. All we know is that Nintendo released amiibo after his warranty expired.

Let's pretend you buy a car but you can't test the air conditioning until the warranty expires. And when you do, you find out it's broken. Is it fair?! Doesn't sound fair to me, honestly.

Neither is life.

Neither is...

I got nothing clever to say, I tried

@Aviator: then please fall under a bus and don't sue the driver because life is unfair.

If he fell under a bus, I'm not sure how he'd be in a position to sue anyways

That sucks that happened. If it's defective, Nintendo should replace it for free.

Right now I'm having an issue with my bank because I never changed my address when I moved from Texas to California almost a year ago, and they mailed a new debit card to the old address and disabled the one I have now, even though it doesn't expire until 2017. I'm in the military so the base I'm at is in a remote area and there aren't any of my bank locations within two hours of the area. I had to change my address on the phone with the bank and then they said you have to wait another seven days to order a new debit card (another security thing). It's incredibly frustrating.

At the same time, the AC doesn't break the whole car. What I don't understand is how does this apply to anything if the gamepad worked fine before the "faulty NFC".

I should also point out that it may not even be a faulty NFC, for he hasn't even sent the Gamepad in for repair. It could be something else.