Nintendo UK Is Asking For As Much As £180 To Repair Cracked Switch Consoles

Nintendo loves themselves some good old do-re-mi cold cash

@ReaderRagfish Well 200 of 1000 here polled said as much so if that's not widespread I don't know what is. Mine is one of them but I can live with it since it's no longer under warranty.

@ReaderRagfish Does it matter? If even 12% of units shipped out are defective, that's still unacceptable from a quality control standpoint. Asking people to pay almost half the price of a new console to fix a mistake they're responsible for is ludicrous.

@AlternateButtons I'm seeing it all over YouTube and Twitter as well. I think it happens more with users that play more split handheld and console. I'm about 50/50.

Just loosen the screws a little - that's all it takes to stop the plate cracking.

@AlternateButtons What's your Nintendo Defense Force ID number?

The left joycon drifting is far worse imo. I've got 2 drifting on me and don't feel like using them and that sucks because some games require them.

If it was a major issue Nintendo would have to do something.

Most of us on this website will use their Switch more than the average person so it's no suprise if our consoles are more worn down. And even so it was only a fifth of us!

This seems to be blown out of proportion, a vocal minority on the internet doesn't always lead to a widespread issue in real life...

Looks like it was dropped to me.

I have two Switches and the only issue we've had has been the left joy con stops locking on both consoles and a battery issue on 1 of them. Other than that, nothing else. Not all final products seem to have been cut from the same cloth it would seem.

@nuovian makes sense but what about those with cracks on the fan vent. No screws there to loosen?

Although ours are fine at the minute, I'm planning on setting up a fan system for docked.

1 in 5 is not an acceptable fail rate, it's a design fault. If they're fixing this under warranty in the USA they should do the same in Europe.

@-Juice- I doubt that 12% of Switches are cracking. The problem is probably much less widespread than the Internet is making it seem.

Still, Nintendo UK's pricing for repairs and refusal to fix cracked consoles seems ridiculous. Especially since Nintendo of America will fix consoles that have cracked under warranty.

My Switch had the crack near the power button, got it repaired within warranty along with my left joycon. Had the grid fall off a couple of months ago, it looked just like in the picture heading the article. Just glued it back. Just hope my console live long enough to see cloud saves right now...

Ah the apple "your holding it wrong" excuse

Yep you guys are right hundreds of users decides to Crack the switch in a spot that is hard to drop it on, nothing flawed about that logic.

Just another NLife article, scraping the slow newsday barrel via controversial fake news. Nothing to see here move along.

As mentioned before, I treat my Switch with TLC with care. Not like a mad child who throws it around the room in a tantrum.

@AlternateButtons

There is threads on r/Nintendoswitch from as far back as March last year discussing the cracks on the casing near the power button and vents, with hundreds of comments.

Mines is cracked. On the back near the power button and screw. There is also a slight bulge on the back near the bottom. It's real guys

What?! Why is this costing anything at all? It should be covered by your warranty.
I see a class-action lawsuit coming if Nintendo shouldn't change their stance.

My machine was 9 days out of warranty when I noticed a small crack by the power button.

After a lot of back and forth between retailer and Nintendo I ended up buying a replacement case from Amazon and changing it myself.

I even bought a spare in case it happens again.

Nintendo of Europe know about it, they've decided they'd rather cash in than follow Americas stance. I might have to buy a Switch from there if I decide to get one.

This is absolutley disgusting. Nintendo have not handled the Switch well, price of games, nosave backup at launch, then this! Enough is Enough Nintendo! Stop abusing your fans and treat us likepassionate fans and not in this nasty manner! Stand up to Nintendo and do not allow them to push us around! One like= I stand upto Nintendo!

Honestly ,regardless of the console being in warranty or not, if this is a design flaw of the console Nintendo should be fixing this free of charge. It’s obviously debatable if this is the case though but if the number of cases of this rise I’d like to see a change in policy from Nintendo or that is just wrong.

@ReaderRagfish Yeah this sorta reminds me of when they were acting like every left joycon was defective. Maybe I have been getting lucky, but it does seem like these things get overblown. Still, this doesn't say anything good about Nintendo UK's support.

My launch day switch goes to work everyday, and gets tossed around in my bookbag...not a scratch on it. And I use it daily. Are the users sure this isn't just accidental damage?

@Nunya my Switch console has a chip out of it in the same spot and a crack from the chip to the front where the screen meets the plastic. I haven't done anything for it to have happened so it's not that unbelievable. It also has the cracks along the vents.

My back plate cracked so I replaced it. I thought I had cracked it myself but it seems that this surely was because of the issue others are experiencing.

@Spoony_Tech 1000 people surveyed of over 18m Switch units sold thus far.

If you use that as a representative sample size you get laughed at.

@Damo Yeah but don't they have to prove that first?

BTW there was a similar problem with Samsung, the display glass of their S4 and S5 phones cracked without any accidents happening, apparently because the housing put too much tension on it.
It was reported by tons of users and in the beginning Samsung refused to repair them under warranty as well.
But with the numbers of customers reporting it increasing and and customers being persistant Samsung eventually changed their stance and acknowledged that it was their fault and should be covered by the warranty.

It's just sad to see that Nintendo are equally customer-unfriendly...

Just to be clear, a certain percentage of LAUNCH models such as mine seem to have this problem. I just put a bit of tape on it for now, but I must say it is disappointing being an early adopter once again.

ALSO: I've taken great care of my unit, never fell down and used it about 70% docked. Twitter is full of it, don't attack the consumer who has done nothing wrong, thanks.

@Knuckles-Fajita Yeah but how many people aren't saying anything and if you leave it to strictly launch consoles those that have had their systems long enough for these things to start happening. I would eliminate easily 10 million of those as they haven't even had a year yet.

Ah I love topics like this because I get to see the blind fanboys I'm going to block

@AlternateButtons Surly if this is Nintendo's fault they should repair for free though.

Actually now that I'm really looking at the plastic, yes it has a crack but it's not a chip just a slight crack. Not sure if the other one has that. It is upsetting, I guess I'll call Nintendo and see what the big N has to say. I have to admit though, it looks like the backplate is 4 screws and 1 piece of plastic. I may just try to buy the parts. I'll keep you posted.

Industrial design student here.
The cracking around the power button is likely due to a weakness in the plastic caused by the plastic not filling the injection mould quickly and properly enough. The result is a seemingly properly filled back cover, while a weakness in the material is still present.

The screw at that location is causing tension, particularly when the system heats up and cools down. This results in the chip of plastic on the exact same point breaking off. This triangular shaped chip of plastic is typically shaped and easily recognisable as an injection moulding defect. – in other words a manufacturing defect caused by an faulty mould design.

This should be covered under warranty since it's provably a manufacturing defect. And in fact it's covered under warranty in other EU countries (I live in a different EU country and had the same issue on my Switch be repaired for free). So the charging for this repair seems to be limited to Nintendo UK and not across Nintendo EU.

What I am curious about is how many of these Switches are Switches sold close to launch. If not, it would mean that this defect which has been known for a while now, hasn't yet been fixed.

To the people questioning whether this isn't accidental damage, it's clearly not, especially to the trained eye. This (the chip of plastic off the back cover around the power button specifically) is an obvious weak point in the design of the injection mould.

As for the other cracks of the top strip of plastic (around the vents etc.) I can't say. Likely also to do with heat and the quality or thickness of the plastic.

In any case, systems under warranty deserve a free repair when it comes to the chip off the back cover, out of warranty and other cracking defects are a different case and shouldn't be piled on the same heap.

@DABYX There's a screw in the middle of the top panel next to the vent which could be putting pressure on those vent 'fins'.

@Damo You technically did assume: a) that those 1000 people actually own a Switch (considering it's easy enough to create an account here to vote and manipulate the poll), and b) that people aren't skewing the poll (people with issues pretending they don't have any, and vice versa). There's also the issue of batch numbers - are all of these chipped units from the same batch, similar batches?

@AlternateButtons if it’s through console neglect then yeah it’s incredibly stupid to expect it repaired for nothing. However it’s it’s down to a design flaw then Nintendo absolutely should do it for free.

@Spoony_Tech And how many people, like those you hypothesise aren't talking, are answering the survey and lying?

Sure, this could be a widespread problem. But survey data from comparatively tiny sample size that has no form of verification, is not a wise thing to spread as gospel.

I always put my faith in cold, hard, facts. Until you give me irrefutable metric data, sourced, that this is impacting millions, I am going to turn a sceptical eye, because I like being certain.

Representative data is like "Almost". It only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, where it gives you a rough estimation to base a hypothesis on that must then be studied indepth and answered as conclusively as possible.

They use poor quality plastics that crack, warp and discolour. And then they have the audacity to charge to best part of two hundred quid for the privilege of replacing it with more cheap plastic that will probably crack, warp and discolour. Ridiculous!

I'd rather buy a new one than have it repaired, or just stick with it lol maybe £49 max! It's like the 'warped' switches last year which was balls I think

Mine cost $100 US, which is reasonable to me.

@AlternateButtons 'I feel like this issue is being way overblown'.

Until your Switch cracks!

missed the poll, but mine is cracked in the same areas. I reported this To Nintendo on jun 13th of last year, and they were aware of this issue back then. They offered to repair or replace the system under warranty. To those stating is it user error or carelessness, I know that is not the case with mine, I have babied the system since purchased.

Let's face it, Nintendo used crappy plastics for their recent console. It looks nicer than the consoles before, but it's a lot less sturdy than a Wii U or 3DS or anything Nintendo ever put out on the console market. Even the Virtual Boy is an indestructible tank compared to the Switch. This applies not only to the shell but also extends to the Joy-Cons and some would say even the Pro Controller.

The tech is great, but the materials used are fragile.

After the last article about this I inspected my own Switch (bought on launch) and found the exact same cracks near the vent that the picture in this article shows :/ Didn't notice them before this and doesn't concern me that much, but it seems the back of my Switch is getting a bit loose close to the vent as well so I'll send an E-mail to Bergsala who handles Nintendo products in Norway and see what they say about these issues.

@NintyNate You can find OE backplates online for a tenner!

This is funny since Nintendo's Headquarters in Europe is here in Germany as far as I know.

German laws entitle the manufacturer for repairs for all their products for 2 years after the product was bought. But only the first 6 months work into the customers favor as the manufacturer needs to prove that the damage is the customers fault. After that the customer needs to prove that this damage is the manufactures fault. This kinda stuff is completely independend from the manufacturers warrantee and is guaranteed by law.

But I don't know if UK Users can relay on german laws even if the headquater is in germany.

@SKTTR 100% agree. My grey JoyCon’s look like they’ve been used by Freddy Kruger!

@ReaderRagfish So are you saying as long as it's less than one in five Switch owners who are potentially looking at a 150GBP charge for fixing a problem, that they did not cause, it is fine?
I find that somewhat confusing, because to me the first issue is that there seem to be a number of systems exhibing the problem, the second is that Nintendo seems to feel that this is not covered under their warranty, the third is that they'll apparently ask you to shell out 150GBP to fix and ... well, yes, this sample might be indeed be skewed and might overestimate the problem, but really, that comes in forth and thus dead last as far as noteworthy things go on this.

Appalling behaviour on Nintendo's part. I hope that the increased publicity of the issue will change their stance. Either offer customers a free repair or alter the fixed price plans to be more accommodating to those affected. 20% is too high to be due to user negligence. Especially if all their complaints are similar.

@AlternateButtons not necessarily. May be a batch that got the chemical mix of the plastic wrong or something that happens to some not all. Not everyone had the red ring of death on the Xbox 360 but it was a design flaw that Microsoft were responsible enough to fix. If this is a design flaw then the fix should be free. That’s a big if though but I’m not silly enough to think just because Mine is fine that everyone else is either lying or using theirs as a cricket bat.

The fact that Noa fixes it for under warranty also lends credibility to this being a defect as I've never seen them replace accidental damage for free.

Mine is totally fine but a friend has these issues with his.

However we don't live in the UK but here they asked €190 for fixing the cracks caused by the console being slightly warped.

He uses his switch only in dock so the heat is higher.

@Teddy_meow have you got a link for the replacement cases, buddy?

I hope they say please 😌

I really believed this story at first. Now, when in this article you do not hesitate to use your poll as if it was real information, I realize that may be you just need to increase your summer clics.

Do real journalism, please. If this is true, please investigate further before publishing this kind of articles. I want to know the truth. And if you are right, this certainly is the best way to destroy your credibility.

Thanks.

1000 people replied and 1 in 5 had issue.

Also add that the pics all were same issues in same place pretty much. Yet people still claiming it’s people not looking after their consoles.

Hmmmm

How very Mel Gibson of people....

Let’s deny the facts and ignore it!

1 in 5 is a massive issue - I suspect many blame themselves or the cases they bought clearly this is a manufacturer issue

@NiaBladerunner you joined yesterday and half your comments are nagging and complaining about the writers. Are you sure you're not an alt account?

@The_Pixel_King do you mean this?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C3K3Z8M/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_awdb_t1_uU4rBbZCKHE41

@Damo I saw the results of the poll, but the poll isn’t perfect. As others have said, the people who frequent this site probably play their Switches more than the average person, and people whose Switches cracked are more likely to be motivated to vote, skewing results. It’s also possible that some people who voted actually caused the damage themselves - perhaps they dropped their systems, for example. I’m not saying this isn’t an issue, but I don’t think it’s quite as big as this site’s poll suggests.

This is nonsense. Nintendo, get your act together.

Why are people defending a clear problem with the Switch? You think there’s a grand conspiracy out there to make up fake problems? That started on a huge Nintendo fan site?

There's nothing wrong with my day 1 Switch... with literally hundreds of hours of playtime. But I'm not saying it doesn't happen.

If Nintendo said 'OK, there's a problem here', imagine their losses when everyone that has legitimately dropped their Switches rushes to abuse it.

I have a launch switch - never dropped it. A piece of plastic broke off, exactly the same as dozens of other pictures I've seen.

Seems to be an issue with manufacturing. Not a big one, but definitely not just a coincidence that everyone has a cracked switch in the exact same spots.

@Mr_Pepperami yeah, that’s the fella! 🙂

Man, I remember the DS Lite screen hinge crack. I was very careful, never dropped it and nobody really used it but me. Then one day... snap. Well, my Switch seems to be ok.

As a (small) defence for the current actions of Nintendo UK, there's a possibility this is a mis-evaluation of the defect by the current repair team employees of Nintendo, or possibly even the company that handles repairs for them. Broken plastic housing of a product is quickly seen as caused by user error/negligence. In this case that's provably not the case. They really ought to know about this issue since it's known and covered under warranty in different countries (in and outside the EU).

A small peace of advice: If you're filing a repair ticket, be sure to properly describe what you believe is the actual cause of the defect. Do your research and motivate why you think it should be covered under warranty. This could go a long way in having it covered under warranty. Also, look up what your rights as a consumer in your country are and how you can challenge an evaluation by the repair team if they told you it's not covered..

Remember: if your Switch is out of warranty, you're most likely out of luck.. But if it's still under warranty the broken chip around the power button and probably the other cracks should be covered.

They can't just rub some Sugru in the cracks?

@The_Pixel_King well then! Lol so why in the hell it taking nearly £200 and a few weeks?!

Bean counters at Nintendo UK still think it is worth to just sweep it under the rug at this point.

Later on they will do a "settlement" when people don't even remember where their receipt is or serial number was (after they moved on) and give you only 90 days to fill it out and mail it. You get $50 or some nonsense.

No idea why people want to keep pretending all these companies are not just in it for the cash.

@ReaderRagfish

Also there probably are at least a few troll votes and users who actually did(knowingly or not) physically cause this via poorhandling, an accident etc.

Like this is not a non issue but I do strongly doubt the general populace has a 20% rate.

More disgusted at the repair cost. More than half the cost of the unit for a fairly basic repair? Should be a shipping/handling/processing fee and than you get charged the raw cost of materials for repair + the repairman’s fee.

Dunno what it would cost but it certainly would be a lot less than this nonsense.

So I called Nintendo here from the US and I initially just asked to purchase some back plates. Obviously they don't sell it because they don't want people opening these devices, she asked some questions and said to send it in. I have a trip to go on so not this week but I will be sending it in next week 07/12.

@Knuckles-Fajita 1000 out of 18 million... this sample size is just one 18-thousandth of the units sold. I would say it is definitely too soon to be calling this truly widespread but only time will tell.

@ReaderRagfish I think it might depend on the amount of gaming sessions and/or taking it out on the go. Mine always stayed docked except when I wanna check the eShop quickly and I've not played it so much lately due to other things (Not to mention my lovely XBONE X I got 2 months ago.) and even when I do, I play a max of 2 hours per session and still my launch model's yet to have a single crack. Some gamers might go further and have anything from 5 to maybe 12 hour sessions on a daily basis as well as carrying it on the go with or without a protection case, which probably is a long time for the system to heat up and the odd bumps inside a bag when on the go.

Hopefully whatever new model they do bring out stops this from happening, but really it shouldnt be happening period. Gone seems the days they would put their handhelds under extreme testing before release or Gamecubes that still work after being dropped from buildings especially as witnessing a PS2 of a friend's brother fall completely apart after accidentally dropping it down the house stairs.

Out of interest, what do they charge to fix a Wii U gamepad? Its just the charge port that's a tad bit broken.

This is being made out to be a big deal by Nintendo Life alone, as far as I can tell. Between myself, my son, my two nephews, my cousin and some people in work, we have no problems to report, thankfully, and I'm sorry for anyone who is having trouble, but @NintendoLife are making this in to a big issue, in my opinion, and I don't understand why.

On the positive side, hopefully Nintendo offers some precious PLATINUM POINTS after you review your repair experience online!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

@The_Pixel_King Yeah the fact is that as a manufacturing defect they should be required to replace it for free. When you have a car that is out of warranty and a part is known to be defective due to a widespread manufacturing error they should still replace it for free. Companies need to correct their mistakes, when people buy a new product they shouldn't have to pay to fix mistakes that were made by the manufacturer.

@Angelic_Lapras_King Buddy I think that’s a bit over $100 Canadian. I need mine fixed too.

@Robzilla Yeah, I was hoping for a Nintendo UK quote but if its similar to that, it should be roughly £55-60 in UK pennies which for me would not be so bad.

Any fellow UKians know what Nintendo UK charges?

@CCore28 I know I’m just kidding

@Spoony_Tech Is your drifting joycon a mechanical issue or due to the wireless connection?

I had a mechanical problem after about 12 months and it was due to dust getting under the stick. Can of compressed air sorted it out

Well if you own something and it breaks (which it will at some point in its lifespan) while in your care then of course you had to pay someone to fix it. I too don't just fix people's keyboard and PC for nothing ya know. Things break and it cost money to fix em, the only way you'll get the thing fix for free is if you can fix it yourself.

@BumpkinRich I've compressed air the crap out of one and it's still doing it. I haven't done the other one yet so I'll give it a try. Thanks for the reminder.

By "Under Warranty" they mean a Switch that isn't a year old yet, right? Because I have a US release Switch and the corner has now cracked. Does that mean I have to pay for it?

Nintendo at its best !!! EASY MONEY again and again ! :/

No idea how these cracks are caused. To me it looks like impact damage. Heat tends to melt plastic not crack it. And everybody lies when they try to get a free replacement, so...

All this talk about it "shouldn't be a widespread problem." Doesn't matter how widespread it is, this is obviously a defect. It isn't an anomaly that people are getting cracks and chips in all the exact same spots. Nintendo should fix them for free. The only reason why they won't is cause they're afraid it'll cause an avalanche of sent in Switches. Bad press, and it will back up the people doing the repairs. They will play around like this for a while, while quietly trying to find a way to fix it for future production. And that price is absolutely ridiculous just to put on a new back plate. Nintendo should really look into this and at least bring the cost down considerably if they're going to charge people.

@antdickens Fair dos.

@the_pixel_king

UK link just in case::

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nintendo-Switch-Replacement-Cover-Panel/dp/B079C4J1BH/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531421775&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=replacement+switch+shell&dpPl=1&dpID=51uy19zRV0L&ref=plSrch

While I agree that £150-180 to replace the bloody casing is the worst rip-off I've seen this year (I've seen worse other years), I'm still not convinced this is a problem with Nintendo's units.

Again, got my two lovely launch units, zero scratches/cracks etc. Only signs of wear would be me having used it so much that there are permanent finger marks on my joycons around the buttons xD The Pro controller is magically looking the same as when I bought it though, despite seeing quite a lot of use as well (I'd reckon its about 70/30 joycon - pro controller), and it was all sent to me day one.

I'm just not convinced. Nobody I know has this problem either. Even my friends' friends doesn't have it. I'm part of a private discord with over 500 users as well - 0 people reporting the problem. Sure, small sizes, but I'm also not seeing this anywhere else than on nintendolife.

@ReaderRagfish it happened to mine bud. And I babied it since I got it. I’m fairly certain it’s exactly as wide spread as reported

@Damo These don't just crack and chip. People need to treat these like a smart phone and if that means you need a cover/case, then do it!

@GrailUK I saw a few photos and the damage looked identical to the damage mine had. For the record I never dropped my switch just recently purchased a new back plate. This issue isn’t negligence on the switch owners behalf I can say that much.

I'd believe it is a widespread issue if other websites were covering the story. It's only this one and gamerant. Sucks that Nintendo UK isn't covering this under warranty but that's on that department obviously.

@electrolite77 thank you. Finally a logical individual. I saw this article and then inspected my switch. Unfortunately to find I had damage as well. To be told by people who were more fortunate...so far. That those of us experiencing these issues are responsible is irritating to say the least.

We're seeing a different Nintendo than the Nintendo who repaired every broken DSlite hinge for free, had the fault occurred within their 2-year warranty.

This is the Kimishima-hardline-no-fooling-around-cold-hard-business Nintendo. The Nintendo that orders Camelot to flesh out an already underbudgeted game for re-release, and still gives them too small a budget to do a proper job.

I'm scared.

As I mentioned on a previous thread, there might be some kind of QC issue in a certain batch, but I also have to wonder if some people are just gripping the thing harder or with some unintentional torque. I just know my son and I have both played with our systems nearly daily since launch (his mostly docked and mine mostly handheld), and we haven't had any issues. We have traveled with them, and the kiddo (though generally quite careful with his electronics) has even dropped his a couple of times. Still no cracks or imperfections of any kind. We haven't done anything special to protect them, other than putting on screen protectors. And of course when we take them out and about, we use travel cases. I'm sorry some people are having problems with it and hope they can get them fixed for no charge, especially if still under warranty, if the cracks did occur due to a manufacturing issue and not rough handling.

Kind of similar to the DS hinge thing though. Some people swore up and down it was an issue, but I never had a single hinge break on any DS or 3DS system in my entire extensive collection. Neither did anyone else in my family. Guess we're just lucky (knock on wood!).

For most cases, what @LittleLion mentioned should be the reason., that just makes sense.

But even if it isn't exactly, this kind of fault just screams "manufacturer".

@Pod Keep in mind that we are, at this point, only talking about Nintendo UK and no other part of Nintendo though.

Apparently £180 for repairs of a console which some have a design flaw is perfectly acceptable... no it's not.

I love Nintendo but honestly, will people just let them do this to their customers? I've already bought a Switch, I'm not convinced that a more durable replacement shell, if mine ever cracks, is worth that much.

@Damo first I heard about it was when you reached out on Twitter with your issue, then it became a poll, and the 'cracking under the pressure' and 'falling to bits' headlines, and now this article. Just seems like you guys are pushing it and getting people worked up. Not saying I'm right, or ignoring some people's pain, just my observation. Maybe it'll get picked up and spread and be an even bigger deal, that's what happens with negativity.

Galaxy Note 7

@Damo @antdickens I'm not part of the "this is fake news" crowed, it's clear that a repeated failure across a large sample in the same position is a manufacturing issue. But I should point out that the sample group consisting of people logged into NL with accounts predating the poll, are mostly going to consist of a group of the most consistent, dedicated Nintendo players who have had the systems the longest and logged the most hours into them, and presumably run them for longer periods at higher temperatures with possibly more physical wear from portable use collectively.

While I do agree that this is a real issue, I also think the 20%, or even 15% numbers from this poll are likely very exaggerated from the actual number of sold Switches that currently are displaying the defect, due to the polling base here, thus Nintendo's perception will be quite different about the real world scale of any issues.

@Bizzyb "Mines is cracked. On the back near the power button and screw. There is also a slight bulge on the back near the bottom. It's real guys"

That's interesting, because I"m wondering how many units are just "cracking" out of nowhere, and how many are actually just symptoms of the earlier warping problem or, in your case, I think you have a battery failure/issue going on where the heat and expansion of the failing battery likely stressed the plastic under pressure. (The battery is the serious problem here if you really have a bulging area!)

@Daftbomb Switch cracks cosmetic plastic under stress. Note 7 could down airliners by ringing. It's a little different

wow, that's like $310 CAD, the system new costs $380!!! That's ridiculous!

I don't have any problems with cracking or anything, and I got to admit I'm really happy for it. I'm thinking it would be easier for people to buy a protection plan when they go buy their new Switch's from EBGames/ Gamestop/ whatever game store you go to.

@Kirgo
True, true. I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect.

@kirbygirl
Rough pressure and torque (which is a GREAT word) can absolutely be a contributing factor. I'd guess you're right on the money with that. Though we have to bear in mind that all of Nintendo's previous controllers (and those from the other platform holders) have been deliberately built to withstand a "firm grip". Until I held the Wiimote and nunchuck as two separate parts, I never knew how much force I had used to apply in unnecessary directions. For the longest time it took effort and strain to effectively counter-animate my own wrists so I could hold the two in a relaxed way.

From UK. Sent off my Joycon for repairs after there were issues with connectivity (reported by many people during the launch period). They told me it was an OS problem and therefore not covered by the warranty! Told me I needed to pay £29 to get it fixed!

@honkdonkey
D'ohoho.
When we all later found out that the issue stemmed from the receiver being tucked in too tightly next to the rumble motor without enough length to the antenna.

Gutsy move.

a whole bunch of victim shaming in this room and the one with the poll. I cant speak for everyone but I did not drop or do anything abusive to my system. Yet it cracked. I didn't deserve a broken system. In fact I used to trust Nintendo 100% that I didn't buy the extended warranty. I cant say the same thing with Xbox after experiencing red lights of death. But Nintendo never failed me until this system and then couldn't repair it without losing my Zelda save and now can repair it in Sept, if I buy a online subscription, but now I am out of warranty. That is not quality service.

@Pod Looking at the photographs, it definitely seems to be due to some twisting force or torsion on the case. Whenever I use the system in handheld mode, I always wonder if the connectors holding on the joycon are really strong enough to support the twisty force my hands put on them.

I'm not using a lot of force, by any means, it just that the the human hand is built to rest in one position, and the position needed used to hold the joycon encourages the kind of force that would twist the Switch, bending it towards the user. It sounds like the joycon connectors are strong enough to take this force, but maybe not the plastic case, right where it's thinnest. Just a guess, though.

So are people roughin' their systems up or nah?? I got my Switch in April last year and the most I've banged it is a 1 foot, slide off the chair, drop to the semi-plush carpet, otherwise it's in the dock or the carrying case. It gets dock and portable action with several of the more power demanding games. It get's online play and I promise you it gets hot, lol, but no cracks yet.

I have treated my console perfectly since purchase. I play in both handheld and docked. I can guarantee it has never been dropped. I have the same chip in the corner we and a crack by the screw. I actually believe this is a bigger issue than what is currently being made of it. Nintendo needs to issue a fix.

Guys it's definitely not overblown. I had the same issue myself. A tiny crack near the power button and I actually noticed it because of the article. It's a real issue and nintendo must do something about it. Luckily nintendo of greece fixed my switch for free.

I have 6 Switch in the house (all since March 2017) and none (so far) are showing signs of cracking (or screen scratches due to dock).

I'm UK based and our weather cannot be described as hot.

@DrJiggle
My guess would absolutely be on the plastic being on the thin/cheap side. It has happened before with Nintendo.

Usually I see Nintendo over-compensate, to make sure durability is assured, but with the Switch, there is just SO MANY specific requirements for what it should be able to do within the form factor and target price range that I suppose they gambled on the sturdiness.

Nintendo are in the habit of doing stress tests of their hardware, but it's hard to expose a production test model to a full year of handheld roughhousing in a month's time, and make adequate adjustments, when you just really want to get the thing on shelves on time and on budget.

@Spoony_Tech I'm not at all sure that the poll respondents are a representative sample of Switch owners. It seems to me that the fact that someone has to actively opt in by clicking the article that contains the poll and scroll to the bottom to find it, means that people who actually have a crack in their Switch are much more likely to take the poll. If this is true, then it would mean owners of cracked Switchers are (way) over-represented in the survey. I think there would be a much bigger ongoing scandal if 1/5th of all Switch owners had cracked cases, so the poll results are obviously skewed. The only question is how much.

@razorxkenshin
That was nice of them. Let's hope the situation isn't the same again a year from now.

@Bowser89 I'm in the same boat, mine mostly stays docked, but I do use it in handheld once in awhile, and after seeing this article I too unfortunately noticed this crack by the power button. After first looking at the pictures of others, it seemed crazy to me that some people had the missing chunk there too, but I can see that mine is heading that way as the crack is V shaped and I'm sure it's only a matter of time until mine has a missing piece too. Being that the Switch is portable, I did purchase a warranty so I know I can switch it out for a new one anytime, though since we can't easily transfer game saves, I'll guess I'll be holding on to it as long as I can.

This isn’t a Nintendo UK issue, it’s a issue with their 3rd party repair centre.

In the US repairs are done in house while here they’re outsourced to a company known to try their best to weasel their way out of doing it under warranty.

I’m currently dealing with the idiots with my Left Joy-Con. Had the common disconnection issue when playing docked along with a issue with the Joystick, they claimed it was just a operating system issue & that wasn’t covered under warranty & i would have to pay i think £37 (around that).

After a stern phone call pointing out two things:
1. It’s not a “operating system” issue as the Joy Con firmware is up-to-date & the issues are a Joystick reading inputs while in neutral & the disconnection issue which is due to the lack of conductive foam

2. I provied proof of purchase which since i got it from Nintendo UK’s store grants me 2 years of warranty rather than the standard 12 months

After that they quickly gave in & “fixed” it. Got it back & despite replacing the joystick.., it was more broke than before, reading inputs from more directions this time & getting stuck in the left direction.

Sent it back & no weaseling their way out yet but still waiting to see if they’ve screwed up the JoyCon once again.

Point is, if you’re within warranty, you haven’t dropped it & know it’s due to the heat, just calmly argue your case to a senior & keep pestering them.
Reddit has quite a few posts about UK people having many issues about these useless gits. Some went as far as complaining to CEOs/Higherups etc of NoUK/NoE since there was someone handing out their emails.

Not surprised, since at least in the US their customer support is useless.

Never needed it until the Wii U where my gamepad slowly stopped powering on the console over time. Three repairs under warranty and it always reoccurred in a matter of weeks. The last time I went through the hassle, all I did was end up with a very scratched up system externally in return and the issue returned within after about 5 hours of on and off use (Versus six months when the system was new before it first started). I gave up there and stopped bothering, since obviously it was too complicated of an issue for Nintendo to handle.

And making it even more pitiful, the Syracuse NY service center within an easy drive of me sent documentation back that was all in Spanish that last time for some bizarre unexplained reason, the length of time it took was several weeks past the maximum time range quoted (With no attempt to inform me that it was going to be extra lengthy), and the tracking data wasn't even e-mailed to me until the day after my "repaired' Wii U was delivered back.

Absolutely useless customer service. The women I talked to on the phone each time I had to setup a repair were always fast, pleasant, and seemed to know what they were doing. But the level of competency past those manning the service line was atrocious.

@nuovian Oh! Didn't realise heh. Sorry.

@AlternateButtons Agree 100%. NL is loving the clickbait more and more.

Damn, I gave my kids a right telling off after discovering a crack near the power button on mine! I'm going to have to apologise to them now!

I've had numerous issues with my Switch, such as Joy-Con desync just a few feet from the console. I had a 3DS that scratched its own screen, the NDS had hinge issues and now this. So disappointing.

@GraveLordXD The analog itself is drifting. So even when it's perfectly centered it will just for no reason just go off in another direction. My original one started doing that and is rather bad now about 6 months after launch. Got another say 4 months after and that one is getting almost as bad.

@Sabroni

That's my policy on girlfriends

@AlternateButtons The Switch Subreddit downvoted me into oblivion when I posted about having cracked vent plastic that eventually cracked to the point of falling off. The reason you're not seeing it there is because no one can say anything negative against the Switch because it must be false or slander if it isn't something positive about it. That sub is nothing but a big echo chamber.

@GraveLordXD Well I wouldn't call it new. It's close to a year old now but it start displaying those symptoms about 4 to 5 months ago. You're right about them not being cheap. That's why I usually just use the pro when I can. Handheld gaming can be annoying depending on the game.

@Knuckles-Fajita ''@Spoony_Tech 1000 people surveyed of over 18m Switch units sold thus far.

If you use that as a representative sample size you get laughed at.''

Actually, you don't. I often find that people are quite surprised to learn how small a representative sample size needs to be. In animal research we're bound by quite strict rules, and we have to use the lowest possible amount of laboratory animals that gives us enough data to extrapolate a significant result (if any). Sample sizes are often less than 10 or 20! It's a simple thing you can calculate. For a sample size of 1000 out of 17 million, using a 95% confidence level (the standard accepted level), it's very possible with a margin of error of less than 3%. That's 17-23% in practice. More than plenty for an issue like this.

@Damo
200 is a lot of positive responses, and I think this story is worth covering. However, there’s a big problem with assuming the problem affects 1 in 5 switches based on the survey. Most people who visit this site didn’t answer the poll, and almost all of these people would likely not have a crack in their machine. On the other hand, almost all people who read the article and do have a crack are likely to have voted “yes” (as there is an emotional incentive to do so). This creates a significant selection bias where people who have an issue are much more likely to respond. It’s a widely recognised issue with survey data. The better estimate would be to divide 200 by the number of people who have actually visited this site/read this article. I have no idea what the NL readership is, but suspect it’s in the order of millions. 200/>1000000 = a very small percentage.

My release day Switch has zero problems. No cracks, no scratches "from the dock", no over heating issues...nothing. While I'm sure that some people have legitimately had these problems, a poll is sadly not a good way to measure it. Sadly, too many people are more than happy to trash something that they don't even have.

@Knuckles-Fajita you obviously have no idea how polling and extrapolation work. 1000 is not a terrible sample size, given general willingness to participate and NL's readership size.

@AlternateButtons

"Can I also point out how ridiculous it is this person wants their repair for free? Are they out of their mind?"

And you have no idea about consumer rights in the UK and EU. You acknowledged in another post that it might be due to overtightened screws. This would imply a manufacturing defect, which absolutely should be resolved at the manufacturer's expense.

Several years ago, my 3DS's screen was being scratched when closed due to a defect. Even out of warranty, Nintendo acknowledged the problem and repaired the unit at their expense.

As much as I dislike the ridiculous cost of rear case replacement Nintendo UK are charging, (I get the sense this is a temporary official response until the story becomes widespread and a higher-up gives the OK to comp the repairs, just pay shipping moving forward) I agree with many in this thread and elsewhere that this console cracking issue is nowhere near as widespread as it's reported to be (these articles have been appearing since the console's launch, and before one says "and for good reason," here is why that may not be the case):

12% of 1,000+, or 1-in-5 NintendoLife users with affected units, while seemingly an impressive figure, is not as impressive when considering the total number of units sold. 1-in-5 affected units belonging to NintendoLife users in a poll is much different from 1-in-5 global units affected.

Across the sites with polls reporting damaged units, it would be surprising if the total number exceeds more than 5,000 - to 10,000 units globally (there is likely to be crossover as well, as some of the same users may frequent the same sites). For reference, the Switch has sold 17.9+ million units as of April, 2018. This roughly equates to ~0.03% broken or damaged units, which is well within the analytical margin of plain old user error. It is my opinion that, while there is value in the fact that a vocal few may (rightly) complain about this problem, there is a greater value to be found in the fact that the vast global majority of players do not have this problem. No, I don't work for Nintendo, lol, just work in the tech field and know how the opinions of one loud or exceptional client can outweigh the development priorities for hundreds of other clients.

It's hard to say if it's a fault or user given the nature of the device. Lots of people have cracked switches and lots of people DONT have cracked switches... I've dropped my switch and it hasn't cracked

Absolutely no problems here...I bet it's just a couple of idiots who mishandled their system and are now trying to ride the bandwagon for a free repair.

@JohnQuixote while I agree with you about selection bias, your method would go too far the other way too. NL readership would include people that:

a) don't own a Switch
b) didn't see the poll post
c) didn't have their Switch at hand when they read the post and forgot about it later

Personally, I didn't take part in the poll even though I saw the article. I did not click through to read it even though my Switch has a crack, because I assumed one of my kids had mishandled it (they all denied and the Switch never leaves home without its bag/case). After seeing this article and seeing photos with cracks almost identical to mine, I regret not clicking through to the original poll to discover this earlier.

@antdickens yeah, and if its a manufacturing issue, which it seems to be if it's always in the same place, that may still be a symptom of a different issue (warping, batteries, physical forces in handheld, or all a symptom of those early warped docks that manifested in this )

But while an assumption to a point, any member here that's into posting about Nintendo, bought a switch year 1, and played enough to cause or discover the cracks and visit often enough to see the poll and respond quickly is going to be in the top percentile of usage more likely than not. It may well be that that's just an early warning and will will show up elsewhere later.... The down side is that is Nintendo will not see those for some time, and therefore the metrics won't reveal any pattern until those mass market buyers show similar warranty problems.

Heck ms let rrod go for years and pretended it was nothing until the numbers were huge, and the elite controller is the rrod all over again and they still haven't acknowledged it, but started quietly, unofficially replacing them out of warranty. I bet this won't see mainstream numbers enough for Nintendo to notice for one to two more years when the bulk of more casual players start seeing it.... If they do.

I also wonder if it's only certain batches, assuming it's a defect rather then design issue.

And, yeah, that price is horrendous. Though if it's at the vent, I wonder if they're transplanting the entire pcb into a new chassis?

I threw my Switch across the room in rage when I heard about this price! It's extortionate!

EDIT: I've only just discovered mine has a massive crack in it as well now for some reason.

@Teddy_meow Thanks man!

@McHaggis Id say it is bad compared to the total population.

Unfortunately, there is no verification on this survey. That's what ultimately kills it for me. People lie. It's a natural human response so any number of those results could be anomalous.

@Octane That's all well and good, but you also need to understand that in reality as the population grows rapidly, which in the case of the Switch it is, the data can never truly be representative.

Further to that, did NintendoLife account for all factors? Different global temperatures, usage conditions? All they asked was "Has it cracked from non-accidental damage"?

Now that is an exceptionally broad question. It could be heat, adverse temperatures, an accident from a family member you are unaware of (Been there repeatedly). Sure, you are measuring the result but the reliability of why and how isn't being researched, which leads to this data ultimately meaning nothing more than "It happens, we dont know why. We dont really know how many because we cant verify if everyone told the truth, or if their Switch systems are even cracked".

That, to me, is just pointless data. I work in absolutes, always have, always will. Trained to make surveys as specific as possible and get to most accurate and in-depth data imaginable before drawing a conclusion.

One website, with a small sample size, with no verification process, in a sea of tens of millions, is not a reliable source.

@Damo Graduated psychology student here. I am sorry to say but your poll is not as usefull as you think it is. Your poll is to biased, people that have this problem will specifically search or click more often on this topic and more people that have the problem will vote than people that do not have the problem. The Nintendolife readers are not an accurate representation of all switch users. Readers without an account cannot vote. Non-switch owners can vote, people can create multiple accounts to vote. And the list of problems is much longer. The best way to research this is to randomly ask switch owners (taken from a database which holds all, or at least a representative group of, switch owners) if they have cracks, and even then it would have problems. Note that I am not saying your poll is useless, as from your poll we can clearly gather that there is some problem, however with these kinds of polls we cannot state anything about the frequency. I only respond to you because you seem so highly sure of the level of significance of your data (stating that it has a 3% accuracy and such), which is sadly not the case.

Regardless of how widespread the issue is,
it is rather strange that the warranty doesn't cover this kind of damage.

@Atariboy the wiiu power thing was common and was a radio issue where the low power state of the receiver in the wiiu wasn't getting the signal or interference prevented it from picking it up with low attenuation. Location and line of sight helped more than anything and wifi etc could interfere. There wasnt anything they could actually fix, and it wasn't really a defect.... Just an annoying limitation of design

@wiltonroots i wonder sometimes if people miss your humor

@nintey_cola What? You think if I drop my smartphone and it cracks that's a user error? It's sag that consumers are already defending companies like that. I pay for that freakin design of my phone so I don't want to hide it in an ugly case. Now Smartphones General was of usage is to carry it around, put it in your pocket, use it while walking etc. So there is a high chance to drop it or scratch it in its normal way of using. But it shouldn't crack!

That's really screwed up! If your still under warranty, then they've got to fix it. How sucky.

@JohnQuixote This is exactly how I feel. I totally agree that this is an issue and that Nintendo UK charging so much to repair the cracked Switches is ridiculous. But, at the same time, you can't take a voluntary poll on a fan site as a good representation of how widespread the problem is to the general public.

My original DS hinge cracked, but not until it was several years old.
I got it new in 2006. I recall accodentally dropping it down the stairs once within a couple years and it seemed to survive like the tanks Nintendo was known for, but it was not until long after I had my 3DS that the crack happened (the reason it wasn't more bothering). I want to say 2014-ish.

It's funny how people are hating against this poll. You guys questioning the very nature of every survey which is conducted anonymous. Nintendolife is not writing an scientific essay here, they are reporting their users problems. If it is 1% or 50% or even 0.01% of switch users globally doesn't matter at all! With this articles here, they make Nintendo aware of users having issues. Nintendo can look into the manufacturing process at their Tier-N supplier and identify if the injection molding process or the material composition or even just the quality control at the supplier have issues.
Another important point that is made by this article is the ridiculous fee for repair of this part.
The pure material price of the backplate will be far below 1€ per piece (believe me or not). Even adding all the other fees that might occur and even adding the "repair engineers" cost, it must be far less. An experienced "engineer" will do that work in less then 5 minutes. Why do I write "Engineer"? Because this kind of repair work definitely does not require an engineer. A kid can do it after half say teaching. I bought a replacement from a Chinese shop for 20RMB (I'm in China) which is 2.5€ or 3$ or 2.2£. And it looks perfect. I assume it comes from the same factory from the same tools. I even could choose if I want the Japanese version or US version (different logos). There goes your material price! And it even includes the frame on the front...
I dropped my switch the other day (it slid of the sofa and fell whooping 30cm and landed on the screen). After that I noticed the cracks, also, but blamed myself (and at the same time were quite angry how weak this expensive piece of hardware was). After reading the news here I realized my cracks are in the exact same spot (upper right corner beside the left joy-con and cooler case). Sure, I don't treat my switch like it is made of glass, but should I!? It's a handheld God dammit! It should take some force and impact without causing cracks. I have a first generation Game Boy and the only failure it ever had was the screen protector falling of due to the fact that the glue was fried out after 20 years. And boy did I drop that thing...
It's funny how people claim this poll is not representative and mentioning in the same sentence "me, my brother, my seven kids, their 5 nephews and even our grand grand mother has a switch and none of them has this issue!" Far more representative, boys!
I would like to add the question of "time of purchase" to the poll to see if this is more a issue of day 1 switches or switches used over a long period of time (hence having more heat up-cool down cycles already experienced).

@mazzel Again, I'm not saying that this isn't an issue. But the poll really shouldn't be taken as proof that 1 in 5 Switches have cracks in them as the article seems to imply. And, yes, the prices they are charging for repairs are absurd.

Nintendo prices have been so jacked up across the board the past few years. $16 per amiibo now? $80 for a pair of JoyCon? $90 for an extra Switch dock? Paid online? Wii U ports at full retail price? $50 for Sushi puzzles and $60 for a Kirby game that can be 100% completed in about 6 hours? Dock-less Switch models in Japan and New 3DS systems that don't even come with the necessary AC adapter?

It's small stuff individually, but these expenses really start to add up. For the record, paid online could potentially be a good thing in the long run, but a lot of these other price points I just don't understand. But I guess people are buying it, and, y'know, supply and demand and all that...

Capitalism, woo.

@Damo If the cracking is due to heat and the plastic flexing, then it should be isolated to the back panel. If that's the case it's pretty stinking easy (only a few screws) and cheap ($10) to get a replacement back panel. Switching out that panel literally requires absolutely zero skill.

If the damage is on the grate for the top heat vent or if the battery expands then you're SOL. But most of these photos you're posting are a 10 minutes fix with a $10 purchase from Amazon. As a complimentary article to this video you should post a little 5 minute tutorial on how to switch out the back plate yourself. It would be immensely helpful to the NintendoLife readers that have cracks on their back panels.

@electrolite77 thank God we agree for once.

I hear super glue is fairly cheap.

@Spoony_Tech i caved in and bought a new left joycon for that exact reason 😓
I baby my Switch too much for it to have cracks. I don't even bother with the dock.

@Not_Soos Can't argue with any of that. I know the cost of game making is rising but Nintendo is charging way too much for ports and what should be $40 to $30 games at best.

@Atariboy that's too bad of an experience. i had a great experience with my New 3DS small version. it cracked next to a shoulder button and the shoulder button fell out. They fixed it for $50 super fast and returned as good as new.

You can not prove to Nintendo that you did not drop it. Too bad. Mine is not cracked. NEVER DROPPED IT!

Of course Switches have cracks.

...

How else are they gonna poop?

The crack is very common to plastic. All Nintendo portable system suffered from it, exposure to the sun and weather effects cause it.

BTW, the cost of the Joy-Cons + Dock + Adapter = 60% of the retail price for a new Switch. So the tablet itself cost around 40% of what you paid. Rather than repair, ask Nintendo to replace with a new one.

I am not convinced this is the widespread problem it sounds like. And not just because my unit is (thankfully) undamaged.

1. This is Nintendo, and people immediately latch onto anything they can to attack Nintendo - it never fails.

2. Plastic warps or melts when it gets hot, it doesn't shatter. The idea that parts inside the unit are expanding enough to cause the plastic to crack and shatter like the pictures I have seen is suspect.

As for the price - it's all about labor. They can't automate this kind of thing. A human has to examine the Switch, take it apart, replace the damaged pieces and re-assemble it - by hand. Even being highly skilled, from the time of unboxing the Switch, repairing it, reboxing it, and shipping it back out, that is at least 3-4 hours. Somehow I doubt they have min wage people doing this. Plus the cost of parts and shipping.

You can buy the entire shell online for around $10 and spend 20 minutes replacing it yourself.

At 180 you may aswell get an armour body case to keep it together and buy another new Switch.

@DABYX That’s okay

@ReaderRagfish It's the internet. All the ones that didn't have it, won't spread it. The painful to watch durability testing video's unleashed on the internet during the first few months after release are also soon forgotten (they showed that the system is a bloody TANK).

The few stories of it breaking WILL however spread fast, and when two stories on the internet back each other up, who -when honest- would look for the other part of the story (that isn't as "out there", as not too many will post on the internet "I have this system from day one and it never broke when handling it with reasonable care")?

Of course, if they didn't charge a massive amount of money for a simple repair, even the ones that did break won't get internet fame, as no one will proudly say "I cracked my console", and no one will believe it happened during normal, careful use. Only "haters". Of course, that doesn't mean it CAN'T happen. And understandably, this kind of ridiculous pricing combined with "don't shoot the pianist"/"we're just doing our job"/"we know it's bad but can't do anything about it so we enforce it" kind of standard police-responses from their part, can turn a fan into a hater.

Under consumer laws in the UK, consumers are entitled to a free of charge repair or replacement, discount or refund by the seller, of defective goods or goods which do not conform with the contract of sale. For goods purchased in England or Wales, these rights expire six years from delivery of the goods and for goods purchased in Scotland, these rights expire five years from delivery of the goods.

If a repair or replacement is not possible, would impose a disproportionate burden on the seller, or could not be performed in a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, the consumer may choose either to have the price reduced or to withdraw from the contract by returning the product in exchange for a full refund. A consumer is also entitled to withdraw from the contract by returning the product in exchange for a full refund if the consumer rejects the goods within 30 days or if the product does not conform with the contract after one repair or replacement.. The primary responsibility to provide a remedy is on the seller. If the goods were purchased from a third party reseller of products, the primary responsibility to provide a remedy will lie with the reseller. For goods purchased in England or Wales, these rights expire six years from delivery of the goods. For goods purchased in Scotland, these rights expire five years from delivery of the goods. A claim under UK consumer law may be made subject to the defect being present at the time of purchase.

Any defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract which becomes apparent within 6 months of delivery are presumed to have existed at the time of delivery. After the expiry of this 6 month period, the burden to prove that the defect or non-conformity of goods with the contract existed on delivery generally shifts to the consumer.

(Multiple recorded cases of the same defect is considered proof)

Go get your free replacements!

@THX1138

Nintendo are a bit cheeky when it comes to repairs. My Switch had a fault in the bios that caused the fan to run at full pelt at various times. Then after an OS upgrade it ran full pelt 100% of the time.

Sent it for repairs and was diagnosed just within the warranty. Nintendo still tried to charge me £60 until I pointed out the fault was found in the warranty period. They fixed it in the end without charging and I've got another 12 months warranty.

What annoyed me was that the issue was purely software and completely out of my hands.

@shaneoh No, just standard consumer rights.

Used this against BMW, saved 1000 pounds on out of warranty work so far.

Especially useful on white goods.

@AlternateButtons 'That's not a defect, that's a manufacturing deviation. Some Switch's are warped for instance.'

A dead pixel is a deviation. Warping is (arguably) a deviation. A self-cracking shell is a defect because those cracks can affect the integrity of the device and shorten the overall lifespan.

'If you break it after warranty, that's on you'

Nobody is breaking their Switch, it's breaking itself. You even acknowledged that could be the case in another of your comments. Why are you defending Nintendo so hard on this? Do you not think that companies should be held to high standards when it comes to the products they provide?

'regardless of what your dumb EU laws say.'

Oops, you just undermined your argument by letting on that you're not from Europe and calling laws you don't understand, which are designed to protect consumers, 'dumb'.

I really question this as 1 in 5 is really high since I know at least 40 switch owners, including myself, and only one has this problem and when a group of us tried to investigate it, the one with the crack used hers a lot in docked mode and didn't use a hardcase for travel. Yes, I am sure she didn't damage it through neglect. But I am saying that maybe some of these have more common factors other than "it gets hot so it must be the switch at fault and not my treatment of the console!" And I really really don't judge a poll where people will have googled about the crack and come to here, then polled their crack. Nobody was searching "I don't have a crack in my switch" to bring to a website.

This is why polls like this aren't just idiotic, but they are actually dangerous. The poll is pointless and is as relevant as turd sandwich.

As I said... I know a lot of switch owners. And know pretty much every one at my uni. Kinda funny how NONE of us have had this problem. Considering at least 10 of us should have it according to nintylife.

I shall keep going and asking random switch owners.

As for their response: you people had no problems with Sony doing this: and charging extortionate prices for refurbished consoles back in the PS3 days. And if a game was stuck in the optical drive then you lost that game. Nobody has a problem paying £1000 for a phone that costs less than a tenth of that to make, and then they charge similar prices just to replace a screen on a 5 year old iPhone. Wanna know why they are charging this much? It is because idiots payed all the other companies and now have set a culture where to fix tech is a premium cost. And people only seem to have a problem when Nintendo do it.... Funny that...

And may I also say that to fix a cracked case on an iPhone X from Apple costs... £556.44... ahem.... And the screen costs £286.44...

Sony Xperia Z1 from carphone costs... £59.99... cost of replacing screen is... £81.10.

Samsung phones cost over £200 to replace ONE part that can be done easily.

Just like to remind everyone: this is the world you have made.

@McHaggis You're absolutely right of course, in my zealousness to demonstrate the wildly invalid assumption being taken from the poll I used a bit of hyperbole myself. Can we agree then that the real rate of cracking could lie anywhere between 20% and 200/>1000000, and that due to the poor response rate there is actually no way of knowing whether this is a significant issue or not?

If I had to pay £180 to get it fixed I'd consider buying another and get a fresh pair of joy-cons, docking station and a new Switch with a fresh battery, maybe a bundle deal too. Don't know if you can transfer digital games over easily though.

@Yosheel Nope, though I have been following this site for a while an noticed A LOT of low quality articles designed for traffic. Unexpected, as I found this site through Nintendo UK and expected better.

When you can get a replacement back and the tool to fix it for $30...

I wonder how common this issue is in other countries? Hopefully at some point, there will be an official survey on how widespread this problem is.

However, even if we did get the numbers, we wouldn't know the people who actually got cracked switches from the dock or from some other thing.

@Spoony_Tech I too have this problem. If you calibrate it will fix it for a little, that's my best work-around.

@dkxcalibur I did just that with my newer one (still about a year old) and it seems to be working much better. Still gives problems going left a bit but it's much better now then before. My original however is just garbage now. It barely moves the direction you need it to go to calibrate it and when you go up it just stays there and never comes back down. Thinking of taking that one apart to see if there's a bigger problem causing this.

@Spoony_Tech Good luck with that! Shouldn't have to do this already.

I'm going to solve my problem a different way with a little help from a retailer!

Terrible news.

Bit silly to say maybe, but rationally buying a used or new switch is much smarter in this case:

1. Additional dock for the bedroom
2. Additional power brick
3. Additional joy con pair
4. Additional joy con holder
5. Additional Nintendo HDMI cable
6. Additional box for display

The Switch itself is maybe 100-150 at the end. One could also consider to resell the stated parts and it will still be cheaper than sending it in for replacing just the casing.

What a bunch of bull.

@Atariboy That's too bad. I've had two issues about which I had to contact US Nintendo support in the past (once having to send in our Wii for repair, once a problem with two eShop cards), and both experiences were fantastic. Fast repair on the Wii for a reasonable price, even though it was well out of warranty. The eShop card issue they were able to address in an afternoon with just one phone call and a follow-up email with documentation.

P.S. For US Switch owners, the article above did mention "It's worth noting that this problem doesn't seem to be present in North America, where we're hearing reports that consoles with cracks are being replaced under warranty."

@R4z0rGr1nd3r I think your post was well written and you raise great points. I think the one thing that everyone is missing in regards to the price is the fact that an actual human is making the fix. That person bills out by the hour. It's probably around $75-$100. So it's not that the replacement part is what is raising the price, it's the time. This is true about more then just technology. If you have a HVAC tech come to your house, the part might only be $13 but you're bill will include the tech's time at what he bills out at.

My group has 4 Switches in total, none of ours are cracked. We do have a left joycon with a drift.

@Damo As others have noted is that while 1000 responses seems like a good basis, it doesn't necessarily present an unbiased one. Some issues to consider are those with problems always cry louder than those without, and this is especially true online. Myself and I'm sure many others with no issues glossed over the article and never voted.

Secondly as some others have noted you don't know the cause of the breaks in those 200 cases. Most people will say they take great care of their items but the reality is many treat their property much rougher than others, and some people arguably use things the wrong way. A good example is threads about mobile phone cables breaking and people showing photos that clearly demonstrate that people were yanking the table rather than pulling at the connector, which is cable removal 101. None the less those people will be adamant that the cable is the issue despite the obvious rough treatment. In this case you don't know how many users did or did not treat the switch roughly.

The fact this is a Nintendo heavy crowd also will bias the results for better or worse. You can argue either way, but the user base isn't reflective of the market generally.

It is clear there is an issue, but I would be pretty weary of claiming the issue is a 1/5 type scenario. You'd likely be hearing A LOT more about it if it was a 20% type issue. Thats approaching MS RROD levels.

Nintendo at it again!

@nuovian That voids the warrantee if you need to send it in later for repairs and they notice the screws have been tampered with.

@mazzel lol You're paying for a delicate piece of electronics. Do you not understand that the resistance required to stop the damage would mean they would just make your device as bulky as if it had a case?

@kirbygirl My issues probably are more to do with their 3rd party Syracuse NY repair center. Searching online suggests they're a bit infamous for incompetent repairs.

Still falls on Nintendo's shoulder for contracting with this outfit for official repairs, but it helps explain the significant differences in people's experiences.

Just another reason it sucks to reside in the Empire State. But if I ever have to call again, I think I'll request that it goes somewhere else other than Syracuse the next time.

@nintey_cola I'm not talking about making it indestructible. I'm talking about making it strong enough for the intended purpose. This goes for phones and the switch. That's just my opinion.

The problem with polls in articles reporting hardware issues is how there is only two types of people who view articles like this: people who are regular visitors to the site who saw it in the daily headlines, and people who are experiencing the issue who were looking up an article about it. This naturally sets it up so an unusual amount of people will have the issue if asked in the article.

The best way to see if this is a really common issue is how many people really start reporting this, and how big of a problem it is outside of articles like this.

I've had mine since launch day and still no issues.just sayin

@FlimFlam actually, it doesn´t take it as a proof... But I agree that they could state it a little more clear.
I think when they refer to "that´s 1 out of 5 swithces", they refer to the poll, not to the 18mio switches globally (or whatever the exact number is). I agree there are hundreds of was to improve the poll, but as I mentioned earlier, NL did not publish a scientific paper. It was a quick poll to get a quick response from a lifely commhnity.
But I´m glad we agree on the cost topic

@PeterPanana Since it's only on the back I've just dealt with it for about a year now when I first saw it cracked. I also haven't wanted to chance losing my game saves!

@JohnQuixote yes, we can agree on that. However, regardless of whether it is a 'serious' issue, I think Nintendo should offer free repairs to anyone affected. We're talking about a replacement plastic mould and 15 minutes of an engineer's time, £150-£180 is ridiculous.

@mazzel It sounds like we mostly agree on the issue then.

What I’m curious about is why NOA and NUK have different policies for this and which is the exception to the rule. Does anyone know how Nintendo of Japan has addressed this, if at all?

Praying everyday this never happens to mine. Love my Switch...I'd be devastated

I've had this problem with the switch, and they want to charge that price as well.

I have had the same problems. My switch is cracked along where the fan is sent it to be replaced and now being charged £157.00 as it's not covered by warranty. There saying it's phiyical damaged. Yet it's never been dropped . Absolute joke.

I know this article is really old, but as Nintendo UK doesn’t observe their wrong doings, i think it’s still relevant to ask the question, are there any recommended repairers that can do these jobs in the uk without raping someone’s pocket?? My heat vent had been gradually cracking for like a year until now there’s nothing protecting it anymore!

I’ve looked at trying to do the repair myself but it seems quite involved, including heating the screen to remove from the front shell/cover.