A recent poll has seen Nintendo top the list for best customer service, outranking Apple, Sony, Samsung and Microsoft - among others.
The findings were charted by Forrester, an independent market research firm that specialises in the tech sector.
7,500 US participants in the survey were asked: “How well did they meet your need? How easy were they to do business with?” and “How enjoyable were they to do business with?” Nintendo racked up a score of 83, which was 2 marks short of attaining the highest rank of “excellent” - awarded to scores of 85 and over.
Nintendo's competitors were left in the dust, with Sony placing third behind Apple with a score of 76. Sony's image has been badly damaged following a series of hacking incidents which resulted in consumer bank details on the PlayStation Network being badly compromised. Sony's network had 75 million registered users at the time of the hacks in April 2011, and the company has recently been fined £250,000 by the UK Information Commissioner's Office for the security breach.
Microsoft, who placed fifth with a score of 74, have also experienced difficult consumer service-related headlines of late. In 2011, a number of phishing-related frauds and hijacked Xbox Live accounts were reported..
What do you make of Forrester's consumer rankings? Do you think Nintendo is the best company for customer service? Drop us a comment if you think otherwise - or if you agree entirely, for that matter.
[source news.cnet.com]
Comments 81
Nintendo has been really helpful. They recovered the 20 bucks I lost after scratching my eShop card too hard.
Not a suprise
As expected.
When my Majora's Mask vc download wouldn't save, they gave me my wii points! This isn't surprising.
I should be one of those 7500 :3
@ngamer155
that happened to me a few years ago too, right after christmas, they called me back the next day, which was the day after christmas
I don't know I never needed Nintendo customer support= Reliable. I've had good experience with Sony and Apple in customer service.
Hey I got that same lamp on my desk as that radical dude has. HA HA
@ngamer155
Comparably, the sticker tape on my Sackboy voucher for ModNation Racers tore some of the code away while I was scratching it. Sony wanted me to fax them a copy of the torn voucher, my ModNation receipt, and a bunch of my PSN information in order to 'look into it.'
Then I remembered I don't like ModNation Racers and I played Mario Kart instead.
Nintendo has a very helpful customer service and helped me with an issue with my DS Lite when the hinges shattered into pieces.
ive only had to contact them a few times and they always did their very best to help me.
Doesn't surprise me a bit
Too Apple, I say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIrhVo1WA78
I also scratched a WiiShop Points card too strongly and could not read the numbers. Called Nintendo and, although they did make me send them a scanned picture of my scratched card, were very helpful and ended up refunding the value of the card.
Funny that I'm the third person in here to do this. You really don't have to scratch too hard to make the numbers disappear so be careful whenever you do
Lol. No wonder Nintendo doesn't want to do online accounts!
When my Kid Icarus cards got lost in the mail, they resent them via UPS, covering the freight, no questions asked.
On the other hand, Sony banned me from their network permanently for trying to buy games off the PS Store using a virtual prepaid card. And they never even bothered to tell me why I was exactly banned, but I know that was the reason.
So of course I am getting my multiplatform games on Wii U now.
They have always been quite helpful and polite the few times I've had to call with a hardware issue. Never spoke to any Sony or MS reps, so I can't really comment on their service.
Of course Nintendo came out on top. THEIR 'PLEASE HOLD' MUSIC IS SONGS FROM OCARINA OF TIME. How can anyone beat that?
Quite surprising, especially considering that Nintendo is probably the least forward-thinking (not an entirely bad remark) of the companies. I guess Nintendo has some high expectations of themselves and are living to those expectations.
C-Olimar That so? Excuse me I have to make a phone call.
I love Nintendo's customer service! They are always very helpful. Comparitively, Sony's customer service in my experience, is frustrating, tedious, and they are quite rude and abrupt every time. No biggie thoguh. Its not as if I use their products much anyway
@bboy2970: HAHAHA yes!
Yeah, Nintendo easily wins the customer service experience. I got brand new DSi/3DS units with all data intact twice. For free (including S&H). They offer much better then Apple (who fail to check for jailbreaking yet are still highly abrasive) and Sony (RIP first PS2)
Now if only this idea passed on to their online department.
Such rave reviews for the customer service. I may just have to call it sometime.
@gamecubefan Never had to speak to Nintendo about that but numbers almost faded on me one time! The trick is to use change like a penny or dime...
For me, they...
I take better care of my consoles now, but Nintendo's customer service is truly outstanding. Every time I've called them has been pleasant, even the time when I had a lot of Wi-Fi issues and needed help.
now they need to rate their hold music selections!.
Best thing about Nintendo's Customer service.... I've never had to use it. Their products are top notch in that regard. MS and Sony... not so much. I had 3 Xbox 360's crap out on me in little over a year before I gave up on them, and Sony, after much deliberation, replaced my original PS3 when that died. By contrast, my Wii, GameCube, N64, DS, GBA, hell even Gameboy, are all still going strong. I have no worries about the build qualities of my Wii U or 3DSXL.
I think it helps that their call-waiting is the title screen theme from Super Mario 64.
@Emaan It changes quite a bit. I got Underwater theme and some Zelda song before.
Somehow, I never got my download code for Donkey Kong Original Edition, and they resolved it with ease.
Nintendo only rank best because they hardly have an online worth hacking or anything.
Not surprised Sony ranked low, they're atrocious. As well as the PSN hacking incident, they've also pulled stunts like offering Tales Of Monkey Island at a discount Xmas sale price during Xmas 2010 but not actually having the episodes available for download once they were paid for (took them nearly a month to sort out) and the 'Pick and Mix' Minis mess from Xmas 2011...basically letting you download 5 PS Minis for £5, but once you'd downloaded them onto your PS3, you couldn't transfer them onto your PSP or Vita or even download them straight from PSN onto PSP or Vita....don't think they ever sorted that one out properly. And one time a friend of mine had real problems getting his PSN account deactivated from a console he'd sold (and forgotten to deactivate his account from)...the guy he spoke to on the phone basically accused him of trying to game share and almost refused to do it. They deserve to do badly.
With the Official Nintendo Seal, you can truly be sure that quality is what you're buying...
Never in my life have I had a problem with them. The only thing that has happened was my Ds Lite hinge broken and the shoulder buttons on my DSi broke. That is expected as they saw a lot of power time. They bring nothing but joy into my life. Apple products are mediocre in my opinion, they break a lot. Never owned a SOny product. Microsoft has good O.S bad console. My 360 broke after like 2 years. I hate Xbox.
They deserved it
Apple products are way more reliable and durable than Microsoft's. By the way, if you.ever buy any Apple products, pay the extra money for Apple Care.
When my family's Wii started to have issues reading discs they had us send it in and we got it back fixed in less than a week if I remember correctly.
By the way, you're not supposed to scratch gift cards/prepaid cards with your fingernail. Your supposed to gently rub with a coin.
Nintendo definitely deserved this score. I've had to get a bit of help once or twice and both times they were always so nice and helped me with ease.
I had an IPod once, got rid of it because I was tired of dealing with them and there crappy product.
Just another reason why I play Nintendo.
Is that Waveboy in that picture?
Wii repair went pretty well for me although it still has issues. The cool part, though, was that I sent a scratched up disc with it and they gave a replacement disc.
A while ago, when I first got my Wii U, I couldn't get the included sensor bar to work on the system. After figuring out that the sensor bar being used for my original Wii worked with the Wii U, the guy on the phone ended up sending me a free replacement sensor bar.
That's not customer service as it has come to be defined; it's much better.
Once, when I called Apple for a problem I was having with the download manager on iTunes, I was greeted by a machine that could "understand" what I was saying. My question was never answered, and I ended up resorting to Google to resolve my problem. If Apple has as much money as it does, it can afford to invest in decent customer service.
Good for Nintendo.
They're the best. No wonder they make the ninten$ (Nintendo pun )
That picture is actually a Capcom advertisement from the 80's, not for the Nintendo Hotline
They earned it. I have my fair shares of calls and repairs.
Best call was when they spent over an hour to help get my router to work with my 3ds while still being patent and helpful (FYI belkin blows).
Best repairs was when my blue dsi right shoulder button wasn't working and I send it in with a note asking if they can change the color to a white one and they did.
Of course they do
While I've never had to use their customer service, some of the stories you guys are saying are terrific. Nintendoes what the others don't, I see!
Out of the big 3 video game companies the only one that I had the unpleasure of dealing with was Microsoft. I had my Xbox Live account hacked and when I called them up to explain the situation I got a rude guy who was acting like it was my fault that I got hacked. Asking me dumb question like did I ever give out my Xbox Live info to anyone. I explained to him several times that I dont know who hacked my account but instead of helping he just kept asking me stupid questions. Than after I made the report it took them two months to restore my account which is ridiculous.
However from what I have heard from people around here and other places Nintendo is nothing like that which is a good thing.
not surpised...the two times I've ever had to deal with them have been really good experinces...part of the reason I've stuck with thier consoles...other then the gaming experince of course
So many 80's stereotypes in one picture...
@Tasuki, that is definitely @WaveBoy!
I have felt with Nintendo customer service a bunch of times and the people are awesome. Best customer service from any business I have seen.
Not very surprising to me, I've never needed to call customer support for a Nintendo Product but I've never heard a single complaint either. On the other hand I've rarely heard anything but negative experiences from people that had to deal with the others, the few positive stories I've heard just get drowned out.
When I had problems with my 3DS, the rep on the phone was able to help me get to the root of the problem through a series of knowledgable diagnostics. Clearly she had a 3DS based on our conversation. We joked on the phone and we set the system up for repairs. No fuss. All was well and I was a very happy customer.
When my iPhone had weird syncing issues, I clearly explained the problem to the rep on the phone. I freaking had to explain to him what was involved in syncing a phone to a pc!!! I attempted to then explain that all of the album artwork that coincided with albums in my phone were all wrong. He couldn't figure it out. He then asked if my apple care plan was up to date. I told him no, but it shouldn't matter since their software was messed up, my knowledge base wasn't faulty. Then he said that even if their programming is faulty I need an apple care plan to get help from him (even though his help was completely and utterly useless). He could take a payment of 80 bucks to get apple care going and he could pretend to help me more!!! I called him a waste of genetic material and hung up the phone. Yea... I love Nintendo. This was one illustration why. I'm treated like a human being by people who actually care!
Ya Nintendo does really good. My Platinum Mario Cards(Nintendo reward last year) got lost in the mail, and they sent replacements within 4 days of calling them. I told them I switched addresses and they understood. My Wii getting repaired a few years ago was fast, too. After looking at my coin history(I've had about 5000 coins total since it started), they knew I wasn't messing around about missing some cards. Haha.
For people who actually think I've spent $40,000 on Nintendo stuff... I actually bought alot of games used at GS that the code was still good, registered all my family members DSs and games(they didn't care), and I do buy alot, too.
Attaboy Nintendo!
Good job Nintendo. I do spending some of my paychek $$ for them too in their exclusive first party Nintendo VC games. one other thing: my old 2008 Wii 300 points that I didn't use for 3 yrs are still intact when I get online again. Unlike Sony, they send me an email to keep the extra $$ from my PSN account spending for them.
I had to send back my Wii twice, once for a failed HDD and the other for a cooked GPU. They were incredibly helpful and super quick at getting my beloved console back, thumbs up from me.
Nintendo is one of the most customer-friendly companies I know. They have always helped me. Unfortanly, they told me a few times to call them, which my parents wouldn't let me do because it was so expensive . But if the problem was solvable via the mail, then they were always there for me. For questions about the systems to questions about the games to questions about the star catalogue. Thank you Nintendo.
Nintendo has always been there when I needed them. They are kind, courteous, and are quick with repairs and replacements. I have never had a bad experience with Nintendo ever since I got an NES back in the late 80s.
For me, they have:
-Repaird my DS Lite for free (even though it wasn't suppose to be free).
-Repaird our Wii for free (even though it wasn't suppose to be free).
-Transfered all of my 3DS data to a new 3DS when they couldn't repair it (my 3DS coulnd't play DS MP) again for free.
-Helped my alot when the Xenoblade LE posters wasn't in the LE (well, they and Gamestop helped alot)
-Quickly answered alot of my questions through email.
Yeah, Nintendo deserves to win.
I think Nintendo definitely deserves major props for their customer service. I've had my fair share of run ins with them over the years and they're always very helpful. One story that I remember in particular, somehow my DS lite kept scratching my games when I removed them. Nintendo fixed the problem free of charge and replaced all of my damaged cartridges.
I've had two cases with Nintendo Service, the first was when my Wii got damaged and stopped playing disks. They fixed for free out of warranty - so that's cool.
The second time I've had numerous calls and no resolution. They are very friendly on the phone and I appreciate that - but it's been over year and I'm still waiting for the 3DS I won from their promotion. All they keep telling me it's "high priority" and that someone will call me back in a week... and nothing. It's kind of depressing to hear how good they are in every other aspect.
I don't use customer service often enough to compare them, but Nintendo tends to do a good job. But look at those internet service providers! The highest ranked one is a 67!
I have excellent experience with Apple, they've beaten everything I've come across. Microsoft are on my "worst ever" list. I have no experience with Sony or Samsung at all. And for Nintendo, I can only say "okay so far", as I haven't tried customer service from them yet.
Good going Nintendo you get the thumbs up from me.
nintendo should be 30 or 40 points over the others, there service is second to none, sony and microsoft are jokes with service a repair from them is almost the same cost as buying new
Nintendo hooked it up. I went through a painful divorce with my wife and somehow she won the wii and didnt even play video games. I had over 50 virtual console games stored and purchased on there. I bought another wii and they transferred em all to my new system by re syncing my downloads with my new wii. Thats awesome customer service
Game on that radical dude's tv is Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers!
That's an awesome picture.
Yeah their Customer Service is great. When ever I have had a question or a problem they reply or fix it really without any issues.
Sample size could have been a little larger, haha.
They took in my brocken Wii after waiting a month for me to freepost it, said they needed £30 to fix it (a reasonable price), I decided I didn't want it fixed (was getting a Wii U soon) so they mailed it back, ALL FOR FREE!
@Tasuki
thats funny you mentioned that, i was going to say its waveboy too, its a pic he just took yesterday
@rayword45 I got Saria's song! I sang along the whole time.
They've always helped me quickly and very friendly! I love their consumer support, I send my broken stuff in, and get it back in less than a week! Fantastic! I guess it's because their repair center is an hour from my place but I love Nintendo's support. Miles better than Xbox's. Oh my goodness it's HORRIBLE OVER THERE.
My only experiences with Nintendo Customer Service were these: a broken L and R button on my 3DS and a lost-in-the-mail-system Giant AR Card. Both times the company was nice, simple, and helped me through my problem, fixing my 3DS for free AND shipping me another AR card for free. Nice! Apple, on the other hand, helped none when it came to iTunes saying that I had never used this computer before, and was asking questions I couldn't answer. (To be fair, they did give me back a faded 50 dollar iTunes gift card that my mom had lost, so their service is okay.)
Lol: Another bummer for Apple! Apple is out man! Even quicker then expected!
Pfew, luckily Nintendo didn't listen to the analysts! If they would have bowed for Apple they already would have been gone!!
Glad to see Nintendo getting recognized. I haven't had to deal directly with Nintendo's customer service a whole lot (which is a testament to the quality of their products), but when I've had to, the service has always been top notch and they've gone out of their way to help me resolve issues quickly. I also love Nintendo's willingness to bend over backwards to keep customers and investors happy, even if it involves the execs taking pay cuts or spending millions to upgrade everybody's Wiimote straps.
Well done, Nintendo!
I'd love to be able to see how Nintendo treats its customers. Sadly, there's no Nintendo customer service at all where I live, and won't be, either. I so envy "developed countries" for this.
I don't have much experience either, with the exception of my first DS. It had a dead pixel, so I did send it to Nintendo. They did send me a new DS (with no dead pixels luckily), but in my experience there was something strange about the touchscreen! It felt as if it where a bit loose! I did send it again, but they did send it back because they felt there was nothing wrong! In the end I think they are right: I am still using it, and touch heavy games like Zelda: Spirit tracks or Kirby: Mass attack just work fine! Maybe it's just a different kind of touchscreen, or the whole problem was between my ears!
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