Topic: Faulty Switch controllers

Truly appalled at the amount of broken switch controllers I now have in my home with 6 faulty controllers from 3 switches which are used every day by my 3 boys . We’re onto replacement controllers on all the consoles due to issues with the actual joysticks. I’ve spent £210 on replacement controllers and have again managed to get yet another faulty set leaving my 5 year old unable to crouch due to the right joycon joystick not being able to be pressed in. After sending four of our controllers back and receiving them all back in the exact same faulty condition I have once again been asked to send them all back. This is exceptionally difficult when you’re shielding a vulnerable 9 year old and unable to leave the house. I’ve only been able to make contact via the chat service and email and honestly after years of dealing with customer service teams, I’ve never felt more let down! With over £1000 worth of Nintendo kit and 3 boys who love all the games I was hoping for some options but I’ve been fobbed off since December last year and about to boycott Nintendo completely. Anyone else got controllers that make you just run in circles or have missing functionality? Anyone else been left in lockdown with unusable consoles? Or anyone else had appalling customer service experience to report? I feel abandoned after spending a fortune on these consoles!

@Dadsboys The joycon sticks are really fragile. If you want sturdier controller you might want to consider the Pro Controller. I heard it is sturdier but it is almost for TV only

I’ve got to agree here. It’s the first Nintendo console that I’ve ever had multiple issues with controllers not working properly. Family and friends have reported problems to. Other than this the Switch has been brilliant. It’s frustrating.

Nintendo clearly has a problem here.

I have 3 sets of joy cons. One of the original ones developed a break in an internal ribbon cable to the SL and SR buttons, which I was able to repair myself for about £1.50. Other than that I've had no significant issues.

For OP I can imagine the frustration, but personally I haven't let my kids know about my Switch yet. The joy cons are fairly obviously a reasonably fragile piece of tech given the size, weight and build of them and kids just can't be trusted to treat them delicately 100% of the time, no matter how much you nurture them to be careful.

While the Switch is marketed as a family device, I haven't seen any adverts I can think of where young kids are playing on them independently, and I just think something as expensive and fragile as the Switch isn't really suitable for 5 year olds. Kids break stuff.

I've got an 8 year old and a 5 year old. They each have a 3DS or 2DS, and have access to our Wii and Wii U controllers. They are of a different build to the Switch and feel more robust. I wouldn't give anyone under 8 access to my Switch unless very closely supervised. To that extent I don't think it's Nintendo's fault that the Switch can't withstand the physical tests a 5 year old might put it through. If they're within warranty then get them repaired, but I would not pay out more money for new controllers for a 5 year old to use.

None of this excuses the poor customer service OP has reported, but without seeing the finer details of each case I'm not going to comment on that.

I've had three joycons where drift has ruined their usability to date. I'm the only person to use the switch and I'm very careful with it and all its accessories. The joycons are a faulty product and Nintendo should fix it unless they want to be accused of planned obsolescence.

Just to clarify my stance on the Nintendo switch, i think it’s fantastic and without question the most appropriate console for my boys due to how adaptable it is. They use it regularly with both the joycon setup and the pro controllers. The issues I have faced have never been anything other than manufacturing/build quality faults with the controllers. Two controllers from new had problems controlling the direction and eventually just started causing you to only run in circles and the third set never allowed the right joycon joystic to click down which causes multiple game play issues across lots of the games.

In response to gcunit I can understand your point of view but completely disagree. My children of 5, 9 & 11 have had both 2DS & 3DS but these do not compare to the switch in terms of game play and my boys like the ability to use there TV’s for certain games. I also take issue with the Switch not being aimed at children under 8, my 5 year old is more than capable of keeping up with my older sons and enjoys all of Nintendo’s PEGI3 rated games.

I personally don’t hide games consoles from my children but do play many of the games with them which is why having multiple controllers so we can play as a family is important to me so we can play together as intended by many of the games manufacturers.

I personally realised most of the faults existed and on all occasions on day one of the switch’s coming out of their box. None of the reported faults have anything to do with the way the consoles have been used and if anything the boys are far less likely to be able to dislodge a joystick or push it down so hard it breaks.

My biggest issues are around the quality of the original build and the fact I sent them all in for repair and they came back with all the same faults and now I have been asked to send them all back again.

Due to shielding one of my boys and being in lockdown for 15 weeks this is exceptionally difficult and frustrating considering these controllers have been verified as genuine controllers with manufacturing faults.

My first Switch when released with BOTW and played ~6 hours a day never experienced Drifts. Even my nephew played with the Switch with WarFrame and BOTW and never experienced drifts. So without some documentation and test this is all more again. I think there is more to the drift then being told. So if one needs to address drifts this needs to be documented for what's happening otherwise there no way to to verify this. Other then sending to Nintendo repair in warranty or out-of-warranty fixes that is the only way to verify the problem. No one drifts is caused the same way or user caused as well.

My joycons drift. It took a while for the issue to develop, but my left one is more or less unusable now.

What I will say though is the pro controller is fantastic if you're playing docked or in tabletop mode. More recently I bought the split pad pro for handheld and that is also excellent and I'd recommend those (just be aware, you cannot use them unattached from the Switch and they have no rumble or gyro).

I have had issues with the sticks a few times but luckily I am able to replace the sticks which are available for really cheap on Amazon or ebay.

So I just fixed (maybe just temporarily) my joycon drift with a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol. If your joycon drifts and you haven't tried it yet, give it a shot and see how you get on. It worked for me (for now).

My left one is starting to drift. I am a pretty light user also. Doubt I play 30 minutes a day. Nintendo needs to use some of that $$$$ they are making from AC to fix the issue....

Drifts can occur where ever when ever but since no one is there to verify how it was used for when it started drifting this is up to the user to contact NIN support for repair/replace options.