I just wanted to write to you about my dealings with Nintendo Customer Service. I've had a Wii for 2 years now and had my first problem with it about a month ago. When playing a game, specifically Resident Evil 4, green digital artifacts would show on the screen. It was also happening with Guitar Hero World Tour. I wen to the Nintendo website, looked up my serial number, and was informed that it was out of warranty(which I expected) and I would have to pay $75 for it to be fixed. I decided to call the customer service number and see if anything else could be done. I spoke to a very friendly woman who was in California. She looked up my serial number and informed me that it was, in fact, "still under warranty" and promptly took down the problem and e-mailed me a printable Fedex shipping label. I sent off the Wii and anxiously awaited its return. the next week my Wii came back, and on the paper detailing the repairs, it stated that they were not able to duplicate the problem. "Oh great" I thought to myself, but upon further reading I discovered that they had replaced the motherboard because it was the "suspected cause" of the problem, and also sent me 2 brand new copies of Resident Evil 4 and Guitar Hero World Tour, all at no cost. For my 2 year old Wii, I would say this is above and beyond the call of duty and wanted others to know.
Pic:[Mightynine]
]]>Had the exact same thing happen to me. The replacement copy showed up 3 days later. A week after that the first one showed up finally.
Gave the other to a friend as an awesome birthday present.
I was annoyed, though, that I had to buy the system and 2 games to get it since the bundled promo systems sold out in stores in no time.
]]>I just wish Nintendo would get some more high quality games out soon. It definately feels like a dry time for those of us who've had a wii for a while.
]]>I have had 2 experiences with Nintendo Customer Service, both excellent!
1. My original Wii was one of the ones with the bad wireless firmware in it. They shipped me a new one first, and told me to send the old one back in that box. I called it in the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, and got my replacement on Friday!
2. My 10 month old DS lite locking mechanism wasn't holding in games. Again, they sent me out a new model, and told me to ship the defective one back to them.
Hands down the best customer service ever!
]]>I've bought their products exclusively ever since.
]]>My Wii had the buzzing disc problem about a year after I got it, so I called them up and they immediately E-mailed me a shipping label to Fedex it to their repair place in NY. I got it back within a week with a new drive and haven't had a problem since.
Besides that, I love the quality of their products, I have a 20 year old NES that still works, and it started working better when I took it apart and vacuumed out all the dust.
]]>I shouldn't be so hard on the Wii, but I honestly enjoy the homebrew more than anything else on it these days.
]]>Microsoft and Sony could learn something from them
]]>I got my Wii launch day, and a month or so later I starting seeing coloured dots all over screen after it had been on for awhile. I was very impressed with Nintendo's customer service, they sent me a new Wii, in the midst of mass console shortages, and included a box to send the broken one back. Impressive.
]]>I had asked if there was anyway to send it in to get the battery replaced.
I was informed that they did not service GameBoy Color games anymore. However, if I was willing to open it up and mess with the insides myself, they directed me to a site with a tutorial on replacing the batteries on Gameboy color games.
]]>If you're handy with stuff, and don't mind purchasing a tri-wing screwdriver, keep the DVD drive and associated electronics from it after your Wii kicks the bucket. If you search around the internet, you'll see why you're glad you did it. And if you can't do that, then just sell said parts on eBay and enjoy the $$$. If it's launch, your drive is a "D2A" and is somewhat valuable.
]]>Fast forward about half a year: my repaired Wii began exhibiting the same symptom as before and when I called customer service, they wanted another $75 for repairs. The woman seemed friendly at first and explained the probable causes of my problem, and generally seemed sympathetic. So I told her I was unhappy paying a total of half the console's cost in repairs to fix a problem that, for all I know, could crop up again. After asking if there was any warranty extension or guarantee I could get following the repair, she rudely cut in, "do you want it repaired or not?"
My Wii has been collecting dust on my entertainment center ever since. I got a bunch of new games for Christmas, but I keep putting off sending the console back because I'm bothered by paying another $75. My girlfriend is dying to play de Blob and Dokapon, so I'll no doubt be ponying up eventually, but it pains me to read "above and beyond" when I'm experiencing the exact opposite. Probably just my luck, but that doesn't make it suck any less. :(
]]>I had my Wii back in 10 days, and it was all fixed. Now THAT is great customer service!
]]>Ahhh...I love Nintendo. They replaced my son's DS with no questions asked and have been lovely to deal with on multiple occassions.
]]>Last year we bought 2 Nintendo DS systems for our twin boys (age 8). About 3 weeks later, one of my sons was lying on his bed, holding the DS over his head while he played. Being the clumsy sort, he dropped it, and it proceeded to bounce off his forehead, into the wall, then finally behind his bed. The fall resulted in a nice forehead bruise as well as a cracked top screen on the DS that would no longer display images when turned on.
I went to Nintendo's website, and filed a request for repair, fully expecting to fork out at least $50 plus shipping to have the unit fixed. Not only did Nintendo provide me with a printable pre-paid shipping label, they also fixed the DS at no cost! I'd like to note that I explained what happened in my repair request, and asked for a prompt estimate/repair bill so I could pay it and have my son's DS repaired and returned as quickly as possible.
To my surprise, less than 2 weeks later, I received the repaired DS with a letter stating that, although the system had been broken by my son and suffered no manufacturer's defects, it had been fixed free of charge since we had bought the unit less than a month before.
Nintendo ROCKS.
]]>Nintendo has, and always will have fantastic customer service. I remember when I had a project in high school where I had to write to a corporation with a complaint. I wrote to Nintendo because at the the time I was still collecting NES games. Even though there wasn't much they could do about it now, my letter addressed how I was disappointed with my old NES refusing to work. I got a call from Nintendo about two weeks later saying that they had got my letter and decided to send me a 44-pin connector for free to install myself in the machine. I got it a few days later and it worked like a champ. Thanks, Nintendo.
]]>I might have spent too much money on Nintendo stuff.
But it was worth it, I think. :P
]]>@BluePlastic: My Wii is OK, but I'm loving my DS right now.
]]>They are awesome with all their customers, young and old, and they have made my son into a raving fan for life.
]]>This whole post is making me feel warm and fuzzy.
]]>@cynical_bastard: This is nothing new on Nintendo's part.
]]>Now....I have an XBox 360 that is acting up, we shall if Microsoft helps me in the same way.
]]>When I got my DS it had a dead pixel, one call and they emailed an express shipping label to send it in for screen replacement. The lady on the phone said they have a no dead pixel policy. Within a week I had a DS with no dead pixels. My friend got a PSP with 4 dead pixels and it was like pulling teeth for him to get the screen replaced, apparently sony had a 6+ dead pixel policy unless they were all in the middle of the screen.
When I stood in line for 14 hours to get my wii, it was DOA. The thing spit a gear out at me right when I turned it on. Called Nintendo, they overnight crossshipped me a new Wii with a label to ship the old one back. This is why I support this company with cold hard cash. Good games and great service.
I like my Xbox but damn if I didn't have some issues with that thing and Microsoft used to 2 day you a coffin before the 3 year red ring warranties now they just email you a ground label and make you find your own box.
When my xbox died after a year and a half, first it wasn't red ringing it was simply stuttering in all games. Getting the damn support guy to understand I didn't have a red ring problem was a test of my patience. When I got the it back from repair it would not play any games but feeding frenzy, all other games would lock up on load. Again a test in futility to get the guy to understand what the issue was. Overall it took me 3 and half weeks there to get a working xbox back.
]]>Then the errors started happening again. I had the discs "cleaned" at Blockbuster, thinking if it was the discs, then that would fix it. Nope, same issue. I figured it had to be they didn't do a good job on the repair, so I brought it in again. They did more to fix it, replacing the hard drive, and transferring all the saved game information for us. Still no fix.
A third time, I brought it back to them, this time past the 1 yr warranty period, saying that it was still not fixed, and I thought it might be the disc reader. They accepted the repair, did it no charge. They changed that out (and unbeknownst to me my kids had left Mariokart in the drive), and gave us a brand new Mariokart game, without even telling me. I found out when I got home they had included the game. Turns out the disc was the problem - the new disc ran without a hitch.
So my kudos go to Nintendo as well. I'll never buy another brand of console, they've treated us so well.
]]>Your story is a pleasant read, but not surprising.
]]>I must have been the only person to have had negative customer experiences with Nintendo then. My Wii started scratching disks starting with the then-new Metroid Prime disk. It took forever to get it fixed, and my pampered Wii came back scuffed and splattered with coffee and it still makes noise. It also took them a couple of attempts to figure out that they were supposed to take my returned MP disk and REPLACE it insead of send the fucker right back to me after waiting a week.
]]>About ten years ago I worked at Nintendo as a seasonal customer service rep for the holidays, and yeah, they are pretty much of the mantra "Customer First." So none of this surprises me.
My fondest memories are of handling the game play counseling calls. Those were always fun.
]]>Nintendo is a fantastic company. My son's Nintendo DS was starting to glitch out on him after about a year & a half (and several falls & drops). They paid to have us ship them the DS, and within a week they had sent him back a new DS as a replacement, no questions asked. He had put some stickers on his old DS, and they even took the time to peel them off as carefully as they could & included them in the package. They really know how to treat their customers, that was WAY above & beyond what we expected from them.
]]>When Nintendo was having their promotion giveway of the Legend of Zelda Gamecube discs. (The one with OoT, MM, Zelda 1+2 on it), Nintendo sent me one through the mail. 2 weeks went by, and I never received it.
I called them up, and they sent another one out no questions asked. Apparently the other one got held up in the mail, so I ended up with 2.
I was a bit astonished that they were so willing to replace it for me. I'll never forget. <3
]]>So is Nintendo a video game company that has excelent customer service? or a customer service company that happens to make video games?
It appears they are the second one.
]]>I dropped a gba the old big one and cracked the screen three days after owning it. I called nintendo to ask if they could replace the screen and the lady was like oh my did you get it as a gift and I was like umm yeah it was my birthday present. Got a brand new one sent to me and didn't even have to send the old one back.
]]>I couldnt find an article about PS3 overheating that wasnt older than 2007, all of which citing the TGS incident, but they all seem to say the same thing, this being an excerpt from one:
"It has been experienced by many gamers that after prolonged gaming, sometimes 48 hours straight (more or less), playing various games on the PlayStation 3, there was no trouble to report. The fans continued to run quietly, there was warm air coming out of the back, it got hot as all consoles do, but not too hot, and no overheating trouble was noticed. The only problems were bleary eyes, backs and thumbs, and delirium due to a complete lack of sleep and video game overdose.
Finally, if you don't believe the lack of PlayStation 3 overheating problems, check out the gaming forums, you won't hear anything about PS3 on these issues."
Please take your obviously bias comments somewhere else.
]]>I would imagine it's an integrated graphics chip on the motherboard since it's not a very powerful machine.
]]>The green dot thing is a known problem with the older motherboards (I believe it's related to the graphics chipset overheating).
My roommate's had the same problem and they replaced it with pretty much no trouble. Nice that they even gave you two copies of those games, though; that's pretty amazing.
]]>A week later I got it back, repaired, with a letter saying that water damage isn't covered, but they fixed it anyway as a customer courtesy.
]]>They've been like this for years, too: A friend of mine had her GBA SP stolen (back when GBA SP's were current) - when she called them to get her serial number to file a police report, they simply offered her a replacement at no cost.
]]>I'd be a happy company too if a fraction of a percentage is having problems with their Wii, so it can easily be replaced, whereas overheating and overpriced PS3's will be costly to both parties.
]]>However, in terms of making a current-gen console that attracts third-party publishers to make anything requiring more effort than a lazy port, Nintendo now has some catching up to do :)
]]>This is the second story I have read towting Nintendo's awesome customer service (the other being a guy actually taking his to a nintendo headquarters broken and a half hour later leaving with it fixed at no charge). I think all companies, much less gaming, could learn a few lessons from this.
]]>Damn you sony! When my ps3 lens crapped out on me they made me pay $150 to get it repaired :( Still love my ps3 but still lol
]]>Its always good to hear when a company does its customers right. Congrats!
]]>Gee. Great customer service. It still exists.
Amazing!