Report: Amazon UK Offering Partial Refunds Following Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Complaints

I wonder which Joy Con that have disconnetion issue...
The Neon one or Grey one ?

@Anti-Matter Both.

It makes sense they would offer a partial refund seeing as it is two controllers in one package. Only refund enough to replace the one that breaks.

@Anti-Matter I did have an issue with my left Joy-Con (Neon Blue) - but I appear to have resolved it by moving my Switch dock...something must've been disrupting the signal where I previously had it

"B-bu-but it's not a real issue!" squeals Reggie as he rolls around naked in his big pile of money.

Kudos to Amazon for doing what Nintendon't. I hope Amazon are prepping a big, fat invoice to send Nintendo.

Nintendo probably does a quiet revision of the left joy-con and handles replacements on a case by case basis.

Wouldn't surprise me, as it's how a lot of hardware manufacturers work these days to suppress bad press that comes with a recall.
Unless it's so widespread and serious ( like the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debacle last year ) that they can't shuffle it under the rug and avoid it anymore.

@InternetBowser Probably because it's not as widespread? A handful of people being noisy does not make something "widespread".

Ugh. These are courtesy credits made by Amazon as a form of customer service. Reporting it like this will only cause people to try to take advantage of Amazon.

I hope this is not true. Consumer mentality is already making fast progress to reaching mad-eyed and froth-mouthed critical mass without Amazon apologising and refunding on behalf of Nintendo. Whatever happened to 'don't like it, return it'? It's not the retailer's fault you're dissatisfied.

From another perspective, I made a conscious decision to adopt early, purchasing an untested product, and so accept some responsibility for foolhardiness. I have the experience of owning many tech products on launch day, and exactly zero of them have been perfect. I still have the options of a) returning it or b) live with it, and get it exchanged under warranty. This is not, or should not be, a big deal.

@TheLZdragon What ACTUAL evidence do you have that it isn't widespread? If you have information that we don't, please share

@idtgatt that's a silly way of looking at things, and rather naive. Nintendo and their retailers have an obligation to sell you the product as advertised. None of the responsibility is yours. Nintendo should have carried out proper testing beforehand. If you have been sold a product that doesn't operate as advertised then you are due a refund or compensation. Like I said in a previous comment, I hope Nintendo is refunded Amazon for doing their job for them.

This is a Nintendo problem, they deserve the bad press for it.

I called Nintendo about my joy conn disconnecting. They told me to keep playing Zelda and enjoy my Nintendo switch and then send it in later. I want it fixed now! I pre-ordered, I stood in line, I shelled out the money. Fix it now Nintendo! There is a problem! Nintendo life you need to take an online poll on this.

Yep it's certainly a issue and if you go on other forums everybody is singing the same old joy-con song. I believe my joy-con is broken my oh my yes my joy-con is broken my oh my

Mine works fine. It's used at like a 10-12 ft range at any given time. As long as Nintendo or whatever retailer goes good on any issues, it not a big deal. It's not like 99% of us are having this issue. Mostlely its just signal interference accosiated with a minor design flaw that will be dealt with with revised joycons on next rounds of production. Remember when like 25% of ps2 where dead out of box? Does anyone know someone who has had a x360 and not had red ring of death? Because I know 3 people who had multiple x360s because of this. Heck, even my Wii disc drive died 2x over the some 7 years and 1000s of hours of gaming it had. Nintendo fixed it first time 100% and all I paid was shipping. It wasn't even in warranty.

You still have to send the defective joycon back to get a refund from Amazon.

1.5 million have been sold worldwide. Even if 500 people complain that is still only 0.03% faulty. That isn't a widespread issue. It is an issue but not a widespread one.

Mine is about 5 feet away and will lose connection if not in line of sight of Switch. Shocking QA by Nintendo.

My left joy-con has problems, but I'm not willing to return it while I'm still addicted to Zelda...

I know 6 people with Switches and only one has had an issue with the Joycon, but he had the docked system in an enclosed cabinet. I've messed around a lot with this on my system and can't replicate the problem. I have mine sitting next to my router, and 14 other game system. I turned on most of them and enabled wifi, Bluetooth etc and still didn't experience interference. I want to see how many people are really having this issue and if the internet is blowing t out of proportion. I know it's legit but I feel most people aren't effected.

Also, a poll on this would be great but the result will be scewed in favor of those who have had this issue due to sampling bias.

@TheLZdragon You tell them LZ, go get them! Love how the media turn everything into Armageddon!

The left Joy-Con having slightly worse reception range/area, by intentional design, is just another one of the little niggles I currently have with Switch. And it's one of those things that reaffirms my belief and assertion that Nintendo of 2017 really isn't the same Nintendo it was back in the likes of the 80s and 90s, where this kind of stupid issue and oversight with its hardware was basically unheard of. I don't think it's as big an issue as some people might think, as long as you have your system set up properly—I certainly never experienced when I played the Switch at my bros' house—but it really is the kind of thing that no consumer paying 300+ dollars for a gaming system should have to even remotely worry about in this day and age.

It's a shame stuff like this even exists with Switch because it's one more thing that gives me pause every time I even remotely consider going out at getting one—and there's actually quite a few things like this with the system (things that give me pause), which is annoying as hell, because it has so much potential and is sooo tempting otherwise. Nintendo could have one more sale if it weren't for all those little things that stop people like me making the jump, both now and maybe forever if all these little niggles don't get properly addressed at some point down the line.

I've had zero problems with my JoyCon or dock, the only problem I've had is with the Nintendo stores (lack of) customer service.

Zero issues here

To me it seems Nintendo will replace these if you have a problem. I know most people don't really read the statements, but simply get angry because they claim they have not received widespread complaints. But they did explicitly say they were taking care of any problems people are complaining about.

I don't understand how it can be a design flaw if the vast majority of folk aren't having any issues at all.Not saying the issue isn't there as it clearly is for some but this doesn't point to it being a design flaw or else everyone would have the same problem.

The evidence that this is not a widespread problem is slowly starting to fall apart, and if it wasn't a problem one of the biggest online stores Amazon UK wouldn't be giving out refunds and Nintendo themselves wouldn't be looking into it. Microsoft did the same with the Xbox360 RROD and did nothing about it for a long time, until a lawsuit filed at Sacramento County Superior Court alleges that Microsoft concealed the extent of the RROD problem.

@NESguy94 It also depends where you live.

Since, the joy-con uses Bluetooth, the signal is at 2,4 GHz which is also used by the most commonly used WiFi bandwith.

So if you live in an apartment in a big city, interference will be huge on this bandwith and since the left joy-con has a shoddy antenna it can and will be a problem.

We now live in a little town, so there isn't much interference here on the 2,4 GHz bandwith.
Before we lived in an apartment in the capital and I had nothing but problems with 2,4 GHz WiFi and Bluetooth devices (especially wireless headphones).
I was happy when newer generation iPads, laptops and phones started supporting the 5 GHz bandwith.

So again, with Bluetooth you don't have a choice and if you live in a busy area you are much more at risk of having issues with Bluetooth and 2,4 GHz WiFi interference.

@OorWullie But if the design flaw is that this contoller has a much shorter bluetooth range than is expected then many people would simply not notice, even if they had the flaw.

@OorWullie The issue is there and it is very real. The people that aren't experiencing it simply have their system and setup around their TV and whatever in such a way that they've managed to avoid it. Luckily, that's the vast majority of people. But, the truth here is that it really shouldn't be the kind of thing people actually have to worry about or faff around with in this day and age. People shouldn't be getting issues like this simply because they didn't realise they have to move this thing here and that thing over there and so on, just to make sure the slightly gimped Joy-Con design is going to work flawlessly; they don't have to faff around with such stuff with any of their other consoles and whatever that's set up around their TVs. So, it's not quite a full-on "Class A" bug—to use a game design term—but it's a bug nonetheless.

@NESguy94

I've got my Switch sat next to my Sky Q Mini box which also works as a Wifi Extender. Not had any interference or anything. I don't think it's that which is an issue though.

From what I've seen it's mostly people living in apartment blocks or other places where you'll have a lot of different wifi signals and other stuff trying to compete with each other that can cause interference.

Has anyone actually returned one and got a replacement (that fixed the issue)? That would prove whether it's a design flaw or a manufacturing fault.

@Mogster what actual evidence do you have that it is?

@TheLZdragon It's clearly an issue, it may or may not be "widespread", people may or may not have issues, but the Left joy-con was poorly manufactured with a weak signal. Sure some people will never run into this problem solely based on where and how they play, but the signal should not be so weak that you must play in a such a limited way to play smoothly.

@faint @Mogster I believe the issue is only as widespread as people using their Switch in a particular way. The issue is actually design based if the online tear downs are correct... while the right Joycon has a physical cable aerial, the left has a weaker on-chip aerial design.

Considering that YouTubers like (the excellent) Spawnwave have been able to improve their left Joycon's signal with a bit of wire & a soldering iron, I can't see Nintendo having much of a problem releasing an improved version of the hardware later on. Free to those with the issue I should hope.

If Iwata apologized for a 1-2 hour download time on the Wii U, I'd have thought an apology & a solution for a hardware issue on a £300 console would have been easier.

I have had some issues, and easy to repeat. I was very close to the console, under a meter away, reclining on the sofa, the RIGHT Joy-Con partially obscured by my thigh and hands, and the controller didn't respond at all if it was too low behind me.

Feels bad man, considering I have had next to no issues with any of my other Nintendo products.

I just wonder if I should contact my retailer Amazon France, or my local Nintendo personnel? I'm situated in Finland.

Otherwise the Switch has been amazing for me! The portability and versatility have been great.

Amazon do this on all products.

@BinaryFragger I agree with you 100%, if someone with Iwata's integrity was handling the Switch launch I'm sure this problem would have blown over by now. All consoles have launch issues... it's how they're handled that decides how much damage it does to a brand.

Bless Iwata.

@Moshugan Just want to ask, when you say "too low behind me", was the Joycon behind your back?

Off topic guys.. Last week's Japan hardware sales have just come in and Switch sold 61 thousand units and zelda 44 thousand units... Wii U zelda sold 17 thousand... Switch zelda beat Horizon but both sold out now

I sent in my left joy con to Nintendo (in the Netherlands) last monday. This morning I received a new joy con as a replacement. I advise everyone who is having problemes to just directly contact nintendo customer services (by calling them). To me it seems they want to solve the problems of early adopters ASAP, at least here in the Netherlands.

@Moshugan
You have a contract with whomever you bought it, once they are not a private individual. I'm not to sure on consumer law but a product has to be fit for purpose. Contact Amazon and they'll either offer; a full refund, a replacement or a partial refund 15%

@Mogster Good comments, but haven't you realized by now that there's a lot of ready and willing volunteer/unpaid early adopter beta testers on this site?

@NintySnesMan Yep, with the third week upon us and stock dwindling, those sales figures are going to plummet throughout April, just in time to miss the end of fiscal year report.

@InternetBowser An issue can be written about hundreds of times even if that issue is not widespread, that's the nature of media nowadays. Only about 50 Hoverboards burst into flames out of hundreds of thousands... but it dominated the news for months.

Buuuuuut in this case it almost certainly IS widespread & the sooner Nintendo take action, the more likely it won't cause long term damage to Switch sales.

You are correct though, Nintendo DO legally have to sell a product that works as advertised & is fit for purpose. Nintendo seems to be denying that the connection issue falls into these catagories... really hope they don't keep that up long.

@Paperboy Did you test your new joy con yet? I'm debating whether I should send mine in or not because it only very seldomly drops out for me. Some days it will and other days it works fine. I always play with the system docked and the joy con put into the grip.

@SMW @Paperboy I am also interested if this solved your issue.
I also have a frequently disconnected left joycon.

Interesting, I noticed my Procon showed up as connection dropped yesterday. It was sitting on the floor where I always put it when I'm not using it. Never had a problem with it before. Just like my Joycon disconnects, the light remianed on on the controller, meaning the controller thought it was still connected, but when I got back to the screen it had the "press L+R" screen up.

I'm wondering if the issue isn't joycons at all, but a software issue related to that wifi searching issue on the console that it's just "forgetting" the presence of the controller even if the controller is still connected from its own perspective.

Meanwhile I even tried half-sitting on the left joycon like Time did, and had no issue. Obstructed by both myself and the chair arm between me and the console. Disconnects seem almost random but strained when signal is at its weakest.

This feels more software oriented than anything (coupled by a short-range low power transmitter that I think some people are conflating with the "disconnect problem."

One other thing of note is I discovered that my Sennheiser wireless headphones and my WiFi router (near each other REALLY don't get along. When I'm donwloading on my switch the headphone signal keeps cutting out even though I'm closer to the headphone transmitter (not bluetooth, proprietary latency-free RF) than the wifi. But more importantly things have been taking FOREVER to download on my switch. Half an hour for the 250MB zelda patch. 40 minutes for Shovel Knight: Spectre. Splatoon testfire was at like 2% after 15 minutes. I turned my headphones off and suddenly the download speeds were flying as usual. That explains issues I've had on all my consoles for the past year!

But the point is, Nintendo isn't kidding. The difference between those with issues and those without may indeed have interference issues going on. I wouldn't be surprised if all the "there's left Joycon problems" is a mixture of actual defective Joycon sets, a software issue on the Switch that just drops a still-connected controller that's due for patching, and interference issues, that everybody assumes are all the same issue.

I DO think the Joycons have a weaker signal than your average PS4/XBox, or even the Pro controller, and some people are hitting the limits of the shorter range transmitters. But I think that's an intended design, not an oversight.

Good to see customers taking action and not just accepting flawed design. It's not terribly difficult to fix, either, just have to solder in an antenna and route it away from the nearby metal piece. EternalDragonX found that the Bluetooth antenna is embedded into the circuit board... Coupled with the metal piece next to it, that's a recipe for easy interference. The day one firmware patch likely applied a stronger signal command to the JoyCons, but that could wear them out more quickly.

I guess this is just the result of having a more cramped product. The Wavebird and Wii Remote very rarely ever had such problems... Not even when used behind your back. The response to that is just... Amazingly like Apple's.

"You're holding it the wrong way!"

@PlywoodStick The ability for it to be prone to interference with the design makes pletny of sense, but I also wonder why it never showed up in testing. One could argue the average japanese home doesn't exactly have people sitting very far away from....pretty much anything....but what could possibly have more signal interference than Tokyo?

I do imagine they were expecting the Joycons would be used much closer to the console than many people are using it and didn't test it at farther ranges based on that Japan bubble though.

@mcmilk @SMW
I haven't been able to test the replacement joy con yet. However I do have hope it will fix the issue, as I tried the joy con of friend of mine for a good while without experiencing any issues. On the other hand, I also played for two hours straight with my original joy without issues. Problem is it always returned sooner or later. The fact that Nintendo promised to check it quick and repair/replace it within a few days helped me to decide to send it in.

My left JoyCon keeps loosing the connection and it's only a few feet away from me with no direct line interference. Very annoying. Purchased the unit in Singapore and live in the UK so a little stuck with the issue. Playing mostly off TV with joy cons attached to Switch so not a massive issue at the moment, but would like it resolved of course.

@sparkyfilm Are you using the Joycons in the supplied grip? The issue you're having might be your hands covering the area of the 'con containing the aerial. Using the grip may alleviate the issue a little.

Otherwise it is a case of waiting for Nintendo to recognise the issue officially & fix it.

Wow that's cool of Amazon to do something Nintendo should've addressed better. It's a shame for those experiencing this issue though.

Whether this problem is wide spread or not, it has made headline news on every gaming site. it affects me, and it it affects many other people. Nintendo need to address it soon and let us know what they're doing for those that are affected.

We have played our Neon Nintendo Switch since launch hours and hours of playtime and NEVER had this left joy con lag issue. I guess its because we don't have fish tanks near us?

@faint ...the number of people complaining about it and the various news outlets which have been able to recreate the issue...?

So if I hold the joycon behind my back the connection isn't stable. Just for the left one.
I of course wouldn't play a game this way so not too brothers but is it an issue? I assume all joycon would be impaired if used his way or is mine actually faulty compared to someone else's and it could be worth getting s replacement?

Yesterday I had the annoying problem for the first time during Snipperclips and I have no aquarium by my Switch =P

@TheLZdragon It is widespread. It's now a known design flaw. The right joy con has a dedicated bluetooth antenna. The left does not. A modder added one and not only fixed the issue but increased the joy con range. An actual physical, indisputable design flaw: Zero antenna. So yeah... if every joy con has this flaw, it is widespread. The vast majority of people including families and especially families that bought this for younger children aren't going to talk about it online, don't have a vlog or youtube channel, and don't use forums. Many may just accept it as the nature of the technology (which it is not) because they don't know better. Others will quietly return them to the retailer. Few will reach out to Nintendo themselves when they can just go back to Target or Walmart and bare minimum get a store credit. Others may not have experienced it yet because of how they are playing games on the system/using the controllers (or not if they went right to the pro controller).

@DanteSolablood Thanks for that tip, will try that. Have used them in the grip and on their own and still experienced the drop out issue, didn't even think about covering the aerial but will look at that.

Can confirm, just got myself £30 for complaining about my Joy-Cons.

What a disaster!

How are people still discounting the fact that there's an issue with the joy-con? Oh, your Switch works fine, so there's no way there's anything wrong with the other 2+ million units! Or, "there's only like 500 units with problems, so it's not a big deal!" If it was just 500 units, you would never have heard about it in the first place.

The issue is real, and it's not down to setup, interference, magnetic waves, or whatever Nintendo is trying to explain it away with. It's a big deal, because do you know how annoying it is to want to play docked on your TV but you can't because the stupid controller keeps running you off cliffs?

I don't see GAME offering this for my faulty Joy-Con

@McHaggis That's because GAME are dirt!

@Mart1ndo I abhor the thought of returning the whole product, since that would mean losing my progress in Zelda... x)
But I would like Joy-Con with better signals. This feels like something Nintendo should handle. It wouldn't help if Amazon gave me replacements that are from the same production batch as the originals!

I feel that the issues surrounding the launch of the Switch really aren't getting the publicity they should. Particularly the shambles by Nintendo UK on delivering pre-orders. I was assured mine would arrive on or before release date on multiple occasions and took the day off work for it - it didn't arrive until the following Monday (hadn't been sent next day delivery as promised) and I've been unable to collect it from the post office as I'm now travelling with work. I've asked Nintendo several times for an explanation and have received none - is NintendoLife not following up this story?

How funny! When I contacted Amazon they replied that it was up to Nintendo to fix this issue and there was very little that they could do. Nintendo as of yet haven't replied to me. Luckily I got a pro controller so just use that for BoTw anyway

@TheLZdragon
No one understands "vocal minority". the number of reports can sound huge because I am one person and have seen "like 100 videos!!!1". But then... 1.5 million have been sold. lol
Now if it turns into RROD and is seriously like half the systems, or as the system's life goes on happens to more and more, then Nintendo should (and knowing them will) replace them.

In the meantime, does Amazon make you send the joycons back? then how do you play the console?

All 3 SWITCHES are fine here - plus all extra Joycons are fine too - No scratches on the screen or problems form the dock either. .

@Moshugan
It's up to you whether you return it or not, even after speaking with Amazon. I'd talk to them if I were you. There's a chance to get a 15% partial refund. Your talking 50euro for a phone call. Ring them, get the 15% and then ring Nintendo And see what they say. Although they'll probably say return it to Amazon.

With the 50euro wait and buy one of the re-configured joy cons that are sure to appear very soon if there is an issue.

@Mart1ndo That's a pretty good plan. Thanks for the suggestion!

Why did Nintendo phone it in on the design of lefty? Righty is a precision-engineered masterpiece, but it's twin is a gimped phoned-in piece of crap. I knew these issues would occur after seeing the first teardown images.

I know at least two Switch owners in my entourage who now have experienced connection issues with the pro controller as well. so which is it now, the JoyCon or the system itself that are the root of the problem?

Only offered a return and refund from Amazon France anyone had a better response?.

@impurekind

Hahaha, WTF? The original NES has a horribly designed cartridge loading mechanism. Thinking "this didn't happen in the 80's" is just insanely illogical.

And of course, no company is the same 30 years later. You adapt with the times or go under.

Just got £41.99 refunded to my bank. Just for the record I did not have to sent my joycon back. I can still play Zelda until Nintendo sort this out (albeit not with joycons detached).

Lol, Amazon will lay a claim at Nintendo, no doubt. That way, Nintendo has to address the issue. That's what you get when you don't test your stuff properly.

Got partial refund as gift card from Amazon UK, the customer service is really good. I have emailed Nintendo UK over a week ago and stilll no response at the time of this reply.

The left joycon disconnectivity issue really bothers me, I'm only playing 2 metres from the dock, people saying don't put it on the back of the body, I didn't. however, I want put it on my legs to play becasue holding my arms in the air is tiring me.. it will interfere the connection! putting on the grip doesn't help either.. I'm trying to mimic the pose like producer using separate joycon and lying on the sofa in their presentation back in Jan, I can't play like that at all... false advertisement?

I'm gonna wait until Nintendo has an offical statement (not that trouble shoothing bs) about this defective design and going to order another pair.

For now I'm just playing with my Pro controller, which is super comfortable and have zero issue.

@EVIL-C Not even in the same ball-park: That cartridge loading system on NES systems actually worked perfectly at launch; it just isn't a great solution in terms of holding up the long term (although we're usually talking after a number of years here)—but neither are most CD/DVD disc trays either. The issues with the Switch are there from day one, and some of them are pretty noteworthy. You need to learn to tell the difference between the two things.

@impurekind

And you need to take off your nostalgia glasses. Aside from the low battery life, my switch is fine, and I'm enjoying it. The kickstand is very flimsy, they should have added one on each side. I find the system very comfy, fast and it feels well built. Maybe I'm just easy to please.

And I don't care how well the NES worked at launch. It's 2017, not 1986. My original SNES works flawlessly, as does my N64. Both have never had any major work done on the cart slot. The NES on the other hand, is absolute junk unless you work on it a little bit, which I have. It's a crap design. Period.

@EVIL-C The single issue with the NES was the particular spring loading cartridge slot becoming a bit useless over time—over time—and that was basically about it. Even the whole "blowing on cartridges" thing was actually just a symptom of loose cartridge slots too. And, again, this was not something that people were bringing up as an issue basically as soon as they got the thing home. Now, I know the Switch is basically fine for a lot of people—this was the case when I used it at my Bros. too—but that does not mean the issues are not real nor the complaint not valid. This has zero to do with nostalgia, and everything to do with quality standards and consumer expectations.

@impurekind PS2 had disc read errors. 360's RROD'd by the truckloads, iPhone 7 has no headphone port, HP Laptops are overheating piles of junk, Galaxy Note 7 battery is faulty, the list goes on, including Switch and it's desync issues and flimsy kickstand. NES aside (yay for NES 2), cartridge loading systems will generally be more reliable by their very design, no moving parts.

@EVIL-C Hey, I know all those systems had/have errors too, but my assertion here is about Nintendo's system in the past as compared to Nintendo systems today; I don't really care about any of those other systems in regards to the point I'm making. And, regardless of the reasons (excuses), the older Nintendo consoles were simply built with less issues back in the day (certainly within any "launch window" time-frame)—so, when all is said and done, Nintendo's quality standards have dropped from the end consumer/user point of view as I see it.

I'm also experiencing this issue and that quite often.

Sometimes the button and analog stick inputs don't get through anymore and, in Zelda for example, Link just runs down a cliff and nothing can stop him.

On other occasions the connection is lost entirely, and the window pops up that tells you to connect controllers.

I'm experiencing this issue with the left joycon a lot (yesterday it occurred every 5 minutes, on other days is was not as bad). The connection loss is only temporary. When it happens with the right joycon, it is only a very short (maybe a second long) problem.

@B1ffo How did you get this? Did you go to the 'return items' bit? I want to get a refund so I can get another set of joycons that actually work, but I don't really want to have to send anything back, if possible.