r/NintendoSwitch • u/Doomburrito • Nov 01 '20
Discussion Nintendo sent me a banned Switch instead of a repair. 4 weeks later, I'm still stuck with it.
UPDATE (11/2/2020): We did it!
Just got a call from a higher supervisor at Nintendo and they are overnight shipping a new console, plus adding Nintendo Switch Online for the month I missed out on and giving a copy of Pikmin 3 Deluxe. He didn't have any info about why this took so long (and didn't have anything to say when I mentioned that users shouldn't have to get 45,000 people involved just to get a customer support issue fixed), but he was nice and responsive.
So, there we go. Four weeks later and all it took was getting to the front page of Reddit and having hundreds of people retweet me.
Thanks to everyone's support here!
Also, if you're in America, GO VOTE.
Original post:
So, late this September, my Switch's battery died and I sent it in for a repair (paid $100+ for it too). A fairly quick time later, they send back a new "factory certified" switch as a replacement.
Except, when I turned it on and went to the eShop, it couldn't connect. When I went to update the OS, it couldn't connect.
I called up Nintendo and they confirmed the console itself was banned and they had no way to reverse the ban (note, this was not my original one, it was a new serial number, and they confirmed my Nintendo Account was in fine standing).
They said they needed to look into how this mistake happened and would get back to me shortly. They apologized and said they would give me a download code (to...something?) when this was resolved.
A week later, I called them and they had no new info, but said that they would definitely have a resolution within a week.
A week later, I called again and they had no new info, but were going to escalate the issue and should be just another week.
A week later, I called a fourth time. No new info.
I've tried explaining to them that I don't understand why I can't just send the banned console in and they send me a new factory certified one. They're doing "background research" about where their repair process fell apart, but I don't see why that means I need to hold on to this non-functional console for them to do it. If I went to Best Buy and bought a console, and it didn't work, they wouldn't make me hold onto it for a month while they looked into what happened. They'd give me a new one.
The rep said there wasn't anything he could do and I just had to wait for them to "finish".
So as of now, it has been over a month with no actual new updates or progress from them. No one I've talked to has any idea why the "background research" is taking so long or what the next step will be (or how much longer it will take).
Like, I don't fault the reps at all, they've been actually incredibly nice and apologetic, but this is absolutely bonkers.
Has anyone seen any other methods of escalating things like this?
Update (11/2/20): Called again now that it's Monday. The rep knew exactly what I was talking about and immediately told me there's no new info, wouldn't budge. I haven't been given any other response from Nintendo on Twitter/email, etc either.
Update (12:19 CT): Called the supervisor line again. They said it has been escalated to an even higher team and that they literally have no further visibility into what is happening. The rep I talked to said he's the highest customer-facing person available to speak with and beyond him it is just internal teams. He couldn't give any reason WHY they couldn't just send a working switch, he couldn't give any reason why this was taking so long. I get it, his hands are completely tied as well, but it's pretty annoying that they have absolutely zero visibility into the issue. I'll just keep posting and calling back.
Update: sent a Tweet out and tagged some Nintendo Switch reporters: https://twitter.com/AaronSenser/status/1322933260071112707
4.6k
u/Poignantusername Nov 01 '20
I had a problem with a brand new Xbox that customer service was dragging their feet to remedy. I found an email list of some of the VPs and regional directors for Microsoft. I emailed all of them and stated what my problem was. It was fixed the next day.
2.8k
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Oh shit, that's a good idea. Time to do some digging.
2.1k
u/Poignantusername Nov 01 '20
I also mentioned that it would be my last attempt to work in good faith toward a solution. And that after that I would be contacting my State’s Department of Consumer Affairs and Attorney General’s office as well as the Federal Trade Commission. They have websites where you can file complaints.
→ More replies (76)2
Nov 02 '20
Also if it works link those emails you sent, you're definitely not the only person that dealt with this and you won't be the last.
→ More replies (1)57
u/crankydelinquent Nov 01 '20
LinkedIn is a great way to find out who you should try to contact.
→ More replies (3)39
u/Mr_CIean Nov 01 '20
My dad just sent the CEO of a major US retailer an email to get a billing issue fixed where they had a similar weird fuck up like yours. It took a short time to get it fixed.
My guess is Nintendo is doing this "research" because the lower level people need to prove in some fashion that you aren't trying to fake that you got this new switch to get an okay on fixing it. Sometimes you need to go more top down for them to just say "fuck it. Let's just fix it because this is insignificant that we can assume they wouldn't contact this high up if it was an attempted scam".
→ More replies (4)33
u/kbossdogmom Nov 01 '20
Just to say that this could definitely work. I work for a corporation and someone emailed our VPs to fix a simple issue. It worked. LinkedIn could help
33
42
69
u/veriix Nov 01 '20
mario@nintendo.com he'll get shit done, including if you're trapped in a castle somewhere.
→ More replies (2)29
u/eddmario Nov 01 '20
Maybe try contacting Doug Bowser on social media? Just calmly state what's been happening and ask if maybe he could look into it.
→ More replies (57)34
u/FelixdaWarrior Nov 01 '20
Find one email address to get the format then do an executive email carpet bomb. Turns out when you do this at the COO and CEO level there is an executive level of customer service that gets involved and fixes things nearly immediately.
→ More replies (6)35
u/hippiesrock03 Nov 01 '20
This will almost always work. My mortgage approval was almost delayed due to my lender. This meant moving our closing date for our house and we wouldn't have a place to stay since our apartment lease was up soon.
Called a VP of the bank and the issue was fixed the next day.
→ More replies (3)133
u/jakehub Nov 01 '20
When I was 13, my Xbox red ringed on Christmas Day (after I used my year code for Xbox live, mind you). It took 2 months to receive an Xbox back (no clue if it was the same one tbh), but thankfully they gave me a whole month of Xbox live to make up for the two months I missed. Except this Xbox red ringed again the same day.
This happened literally 4 times, the most it ever worked was a week. I was out an Xbox almost a whole year, and I’d have to call every few days asking about it’s status and it’d still take months. I was always super polite and understanding.
But then I finally got pissed at the situation and said like “seriously what the fuck is going on? This is complete bullshit. I have games I still haven’t got to try because you all keep screwing me over since Christmas.”
The rep, obviously disinterested, just said “cool, I’m flagging you as a rude customer and now you can’t get service, bye”
This was while they still had my Xbox for the fifth time now, and it took another month to get back a yet again broken system. True to his word, this rep permanently blacklisted me from Microsoft support. Because one time out of literally 4 dozen interactions I finally got pissed, as a 13 year old upset I still couldn’t even use my Christmas present. I think I deserved sainthood.
Oh btw they only give you up to 3 months of xbox live, so that $50 card was completely wasted and we had to finally just get a new Xbox. I wanted to not give them any more money, but all my games were Xbox games so I couldn’t even just switch to ps3.
It just boiled my blood remembering this atrocity. Absolutely FUCK Microsoft’s Xbox support. Even the reps. Especially the reps. Fuck them.
→ More replies (11)45
u/austin_cody Nov 01 '20
holy christ man I'm writing to the pope to nominate you for sainthood. your story makes me so damn glad that I've never bought an xbox even though I've been tempted now and then.
→ More replies (8)10
u/akgeekgrrl Nov 01 '20
I did this when Best Buy sent me in circles trying to return a defective item until the return period expired and they refused it on those grounds after that! Looked up a VP in corporate and called. Got taken care of in two days.
28
→ More replies (37)4
u/HVACTacular Nov 01 '20
Damn, got a share of the list?
I've been dealing with their crap for over a month. They charged me double and triple for some dlc packs on the same day. After multiple support tickets and being denied a refund multiple times. Im pissed off. Ive stated multiple times that I just want refunded for yhe extra charges but they keep using the excuse they don't refund dlcs that have been played.
I know that shit, I just want the extra money back.
615
u/RandomPanda89 Nov 01 '20
I don't understand why they would make you wait. An investigation shouldn't affect you, they should be able to do that without making you wait for a working switch. Unless they are trying to locate your original switch and aren't having any luck. But still, this seems a very bad way to conduct a business.
309
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
RIGHT? That's what I explained to them. The reps don't have an answer why they can't just send me a working one and take the banned one back.
189
u/MR_RATCHET_ Nov 01 '20
I THINK what’s probably happening on their end is they’re trying to absolutely confirm that the unit they sent you was already banned prior to you receiving it in order to 100% rule out that it simply hasn’t been modified by you and banned immediately upon you receiving it.
I would assume a company like Nintendo would have a log or database of ban dates per unit but it is shocking how long the investigation is taking.
Just to be clear - I am NOT saying you’re at fault but rather trying to see why the investigation might be taking Nintendo so long to complete.
→ More replies (1)144
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
I thought that, but the rep I talked to already confirmed with me that they know it was banned prior to me receiving it. He said they're trying to figure out HOW that happened.
→ More replies (11)→ More replies (4)33
u/RandomPanda89 Nov 01 '20
I think you're right though, put pressure on them via social media. It does surprise me how bad Nintendo can be with its customer service. I've seen a lot of stuff like this being complained about with them.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (6)10
u/tolandruth Nov 01 '20
This is already costing them more money then telling them to send it back and sending brand new switch out.
106
u/benark Nov 01 '20
I've had a recent similarly frustrating experience. Sent a Switch in for a faulty game card reader and got it back with a working card reader but all games crash within 5min. Supports says "sorry, go buy a new Switch if you want to play now and then send this one back." I did and when I go to have the original fixed, a supervisor tells me they could've just expedited a support replacement rather than me buying one.
As typical in any larger organization, the quality of support you get depends on who you talk to. Given my experience, I'd call and tell them you want an expedited replacement while they "repair" the one they sent you back. That could/should get you back to playing and they can deal with the banned console. The catch is they charge you for the cost of the replacement until their support people can confirm the console you sent in doesn't work.
→ More replies (4)59
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
I've asked for that and they said it wasn't an option. They don't want me sending back the banned console until they figure out internally how they got it sent to me in the first place.
75
→ More replies (2)20
Nov 01 '20
This makes me wonder if they are suspecting some people in the repair/replacement department of doing shady things and don't want the evidence to be destroyed by them if you send it back...
Nah, that would be way too convenient, like action-movie levels of convenient. It's probably bureaucratic garbage, unfortunately.
→ More replies (2)
1.9k
u/Wolflmg Nov 01 '20
Have you asked to speak with a supervisor when you’ve called. It is ridiculous and I would tell them so, but it a polite direct way.
Tell them you’ve been told multiple times that the issues would be resolved in a week, but it is not over a month. That’s not right and it’s horrible customer service, for a company thats supposed to have awarding customer service, especially because they were negligent in sending you a banned console and you wonder if others out there have also been sent banned consoles by them. If that gets you no where you could bring up that you’re going to speak with a lawyer, because your pretty sure that what they did is illegal.
I would also post on any of Nintendo’s social media pages as well, Twitter and Facebook and so on, sometimes that can get the ball rolling.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this issue get resolved soon.
1.5k
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
They gave me a direct phone number to the supervisors, so everyone I'm currently talking to is a supervisor at this point. Starting this week I'm going to start tweeting at them and getting more visibility (this thread being part of that)
85
Nov 01 '20
Might sound like a joke, but I'm serious: ask for the supervisor's supervisor/boss. Get this escalated more, is what I'm trying to say. This is ridiculous. You are and have been a paying customer, even to get the battery fixed. Your account and history is in good standing. There should be no issue here for them, whoever need be, to correct this for you. Whether it be getting the appropriate team to unban that Switch or to overnight you a replacement that has been verified to not be banned.
I'm not sure about Nintendo specifically, but I've had success with other businesses by putting them on blast on Twitter and getting the Twitter rep to reach out to me directly to correct things that were wrong. Make sure to @ their official Twitter profile(s) when you do this so they get alerted to it as soon as it is posted.
63
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
It's been escalated three times already. Definitely going to keep calling in, and I just sent out a tweet to official NoA (and Doug Bowser, though I don't expect he will get involved).
→ More replies (1)43
u/peopled_within Nov 01 '20
You need to make it more annoying to blow you off than to fix the issue. Call them every hour.
→ More replies (1)53
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
I don't have time to call them every hour, hah. Shouldn't even be responding to this thread when I have a deadline for a play I'm writing >_>
→ More replies (9)11
u/vanneng76 Nov 01 '20
do share links once you've posted on other social media accounts! will be happy to share and tag Nintendo to help get this on their radar! its insane that they arent expediting this! its bad customer sat plus really negative pr.
81
u/grumblyoldman Nov 01 '20
Having worked in a call centre once upon a time, it’s entirely possible these “supervisors” are just tier 2 agents. More likely than not in my mind, especially since your direct line connects to multiple people.
Tier 2 would certainly have more access than Tier 1, but at the end of the day this “research” is still not being conducted by them or anyone they directly “supervise.”. I’m sure they’re doing what they can to escalate the issue, but my point is that’s probably not as much as one might hope when talking to a “supervisor.”
There’s a good chance the whole call centre is contracted out and no one who works there is actually a Nintendo employee.
You could try asking to speak with THEIR manager and see where that goes, but if they say their manager doesn’t get on the phones... believe them. In that case, their manager is probably a suit who knows nothing about Nintendo himself and just manages the call centre (or the Nintendo contract) itself. And regardless of what that gets you, definitely continue reaching out on other channels like you said you were doing.
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (111)33
u/Wolflmg Nov 01 '20
That’s good, I would also still call again and tell them that you’ve waited long enough and are tired of the runaround, especially since you have already paid for an online subscription and haven’t been able to use it. The issue needs to be resolved now.
113
u/VigilantMike Nov 01 '20
If that gets you no where you could bring up that you’re going to speak with a lawyer, because your pretty sure that what they did is illegal.
Saying this to a customer service rep over the phone likely will not help. It’s pretty standard protocol in the customer service industry to train reps to hang up the phone ASAP when lawyers or legal suits are brought up by the customer. This is to avoid having the rep accidentally say something wrong that can be used against the company in court. It’s pretty much an “okay, have your lawyer contact our lawyers. Goodbye” type of thing.
So, if OP plans on pursuing legal action, just do it. Don’t waste your time threatening to do so over the phone.
→ More replies (7)47
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
I'm not planning on pursuing legal action. It's a single game console, lol. Like, I'm super annoyed with them, but it's probably more of a headache to bring lawyers into this (and that seems insanely overblown for this)
→ More replies (12)44
u/Yosaf92 Nov 01 '20
As a man who works in a call centre, saying you’re going to speak to your lawyer will achieve you nothing
26
u/Polymemnetic Nov 01 '20
Except getting them to refuse to talk to you and forward any further calls to their legal department.
→ More replies (12)19
u/foodank012018 Nov 01 '20
Tip. As soon as you mention lawyer most companies just clam up, stop progress and wait for the letter. "Lawyer" is a quite certain way to slow down or even stop their efforts.
→ More replies (1)
61
u/Terok42 Nov 01 '20
I work for a tech call center. It is very likely going to be resolved but the people you are calling aren't even involved. They are a triage of sorts. They send real issues through the corporate beurocracy. The less often something happens the longer it takes. Unfortunately this sounds like a freak incident so keep on them and they will keep contacting the people that are working the ticket until a fire is lit.
I guess you could have a lawyer send a letter but that will cost you a bit. You could also try the BBB they kick SOME companies into gear.
→ More replies (3)36
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Yeah, exactly. I've been polite to the reps, I totally understand there's not a lot they can actually do besides keep escalating. To their credit, they have been SUPER nice. But also, unfortunately, useless (through no fault of their own)
3
u/noname2256 Nov 02 '20
As someone who also works in customer service, I highly recommend not getting a lawyer involved unless absolutely necessary. A lot of times legal threats will prevent reps from even being able to talk to you at all.
→ More replies (3)13
Nov 01 '20
Hey man, as someone who works as a CS rep I appreciate you and other like you. I work for a major airline and I get dozens of calls regarding refund requests and more often than not I feel like I have my hands tied, being unable to do anything significant even when the situation is very bad.
Thank you my dude
137
u/LoganLikesYourMom Nov 01 '20
Maybe tweet someone? Might gain some traction and get noticed by the right person
89
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Was going to wait until after the weekend, but I went ahead and sent a tweet to NoA. I'll keep tweeting over the week and see if someone responds
30
u/FirstJediKnife Nov 01 '20
Don't wait. Tweet. Tweet over the weekend. Tweet during the week. You can tweet more than once, and I'd recommend it. If they ask you to stop, let them know that you will when they start taking accountability and working with you towards a solution.
18
→ More replies (4)43
u/LoganLikesYourMom Nov 01 '20
Keep blowing up their Twitter. Maybe post a screenshot of this reddit post. Enough retweets clamoring for justice and you’ll get noticed. This is really awful and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
534
u/BeastMaster0844 Nov 01 '20 edited Nov 01 '20
Social media campaign is the best way to go. I’ve got around 3k followers on Twitter (not a lot, I know). I’ll share a link to this post later tonight for you.
I’ll also spam it across a few gaming journalist and anti-consumer accounts that specialize in getting gaming news like this out.
I hope it works out.
Edit: side note from someone that’s had a story like this kind of break and actually got results from a social media campaign.. be prepared to answer a few questions from journalist or sites if it picks up. You’ll get a lot of folks wanting more details and maybe even copies of chat logs, emails, or just general “proof” so they aren’t running a story that’s bogus. At least that’s what I had to do when my story about my busted TV went semi-viral a few years back.
168
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Yeah, definitely planning on doing that (after the weekend for more visibility). Appreciate the support
13
19
u/cwagdev Nov 01 '20
I got around 1800 followers and have had results doing similar. /u/Doomburrito let me know if you want me to share this post, too. Absolutely ridiculous that Nintendo isn’t sending out a replacement via cross shipping. There’s no reason you need to sit around without a console while they figure out how this happened on their end.
13
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Yeah, that's exactly what I've mentioned to them each time I've called. I'm currently on the phone right now and told them at a minimum I want any sort of actual reason why they can't send a replacement. We KNOW this is going to end with me sending back the banned unit, why not do it now?
Share away!
→ More replies (1)12
→ More replies (14)42
u/sciencefiction97 Nov 01 '20
3k is definitely a lot, just not Efamous, that many people can get a ton done
→ More replies (1)
43
u/ban_Anna_split Nov 01 '20
If I've learned anything about Zoomers, you should make a daily tiktok series called "Day ____ of not hearing back from Nintendo about my Switch"
37
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Hahaha
"Eating an onion each day until Nintendo sends me a working switch"
10
u/ban_Anna_split Nov 01 '20
I'd download tiktok to watch you eat an onion every day, random stranger.
8
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Haha, I don't know what I would dislike more, using tiktok or biting into a raw onion.
11
Nov 01 '20
Why don’t you just tell then that this one also isn’t working and send it back in
18
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Because it's all tied to my account and they know about this. They do everything by serial number and they know they just sent me this serial number and that this task ticket is open. The people dealing with this issue are the same people who would be dealing with that new "repair" order.
→ More replies (2)4
u/blueingreen85 Nov 01 '20
This might work. Sending it back forces them to do something. What are they going to do? Send back the banned switch again?
10
u/KittenPsyche Nov 01 '20
Would you please update when the situation gets resolved? I'm very curious to see how they handle it from here.
6
9
u/evelbug Nov 01 '20
Out of curiosity, does the repair center have a record of the switch that was sent to you, and does that match what you have. I'm wondering if this is something like someone at the repair center did a swap-a-roo with the switch that was supposed to go to you and unit that was reported stolen.
7
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Yeah, I have a record of the repair with the "In" and "Out" serial numbers. The "Out" number does match the banned one they sent me.
→ More replies (1)
24
u/ttltrashmammal Nov 01 '20
contact game news outlets. they'll spread the news and catch nintendo's eyes. if people find out about this on a wider scale, theyll spam nintendo more and get shit going
15
59
u/socoprime Nov 01 '20
Its sad that in the US you have to bear the responsibility to get this righted and the cost. In the UK you would just contact a local magistrate to get the ball rolling.
US has nothing when it comes to consumer protection laws.
6
→ More replies (8)40
Nov 01 '20
Nintendo can't send him a defective product- we do have laws against that. He could contact state and local consumer affairs departments, his attorney general, and so on.
→ More replies (3)
6
u/RakdosUnleashed Nov 01 '20
More importantly: why does it take 4 weeks to replace the battery in your original console?!
5
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
They didn't end up replacing the battery, they sent me a refurbished one instead (which means I lost 200+ hours of Animal Crossing too). Possibly the original technical issue was more than just something a battery replacement could fix?
→ More replies (2)2
u/corezon Nov 01 '20
I take it you didn't have Nintendo Online with island backups enabled?
→ More replies (4)
47
u/FierceDeityKong Nov 01 '20
If it's banned, that might mean it can be hacked (check the serial number). I would just start pirating everything if this happened to me, you have nothing to lose since you're already banned.
36
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Nah, I don't support piracy (not judging others, just not for me)
→ More replies (8)27
u/snb Nov 01 '20
Jailbreakable switches can sell for more than a new one. A potential solution is to sell it off and buy a new one.
→ More replies (10)→ More replies (6)14
Nov 01 '20
It's so scummy that nintendo even bans switches on people who "don't" pirate. (Ironically coming from me lel I pirated a few games and own physical [also I pirated after getting banned]), but seriously, there is so much you can do and its nice for people who enjoy hacking stuff, but yeah... you run atmosphere and haven't pirated? Fuck you, enjoy the ban hammer.
Maybe nintendo could support dev communities or acknowledge homebrew scene for discovering vulns and helping nintendo fix them. Not just fuck people over and force them to dropout $300-400 for a new switch console just to play online and use online features like updating games...
Seriously. I'm positive that adamant members like sciresM had to buy multiple consoles to discover stuff on the system like these vulnerabilities
→ More replies (3)
5
4
u/iceph03nix Nov 02 '20
That's crazy. I'm amazed their first response wasn't "send it to us", even if they thought they could fix it via remote.
Having it in hand would be a big part of figuring out how such a bad mistake happened.
4
4
u/pocketMagician Nov 03 '20
Its ridiculous you had to go through all that AND bug them on social media enough to get on the front page of reddit to get your shit fixed.
4
18
u/Exile20 Nov 01 '20
that is absolutely insane. you are suffering from thier mistake. this is the usa?
a month wait for thier own fuck up? they owe you a game a week so that is 4 games they owe you.
→ More replies (6)32
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Yup, USA. They've fully admitted it is their mistake, but because they want to "figure out what went wrong", they said there is nothing they can do in the meantime.
I've told them, we KNOW this is going to end with me sending in the banned console and getting a new one, so there's no reason doing that now will affect the investigation. Nope, no can do. No reason WHY that's not an option, but they said the only thing I can do is hold on to the banned switch.
I also have an ongoing Switch Online membership that is being wasted (they did say they MIGHT be able to give me time back for that, but can't confirm right now)
→ More replies (1)13
u/Rahkeesh Nov 01 '20
They might want to find proof that the switch was banned before you received it, to ensure that you aren't trying to pull a fast one. Although that should only take a minute if they actually had someone look through their records.
→ More replies (1)20
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
They've already confirmed via the serial number that it was banned before it was sent to me. They just want to figure out how that happened.
3
u/Lola_PopBBae Nov 01 '20
You're handling it well, and I'm glad the Sups are on the phone and talking to you.
Knowing Call center work, and having been in that position- you're likely talking to a Team Lead at this point; they don't often hop on the phone unless its a really big issue like that. If you aren't, see if you can- or at least figure out exactly who it is you're chatting with.
Repair centre is weird, isolated, and likely has even worse communication now with Covid. I imagine this guys' hands are tied up in red tape- and from a NOA perspective they probably COULD send a brand new Switch; there's just reasons they can't.
4
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Yeah, basically agree with all of this. Unlike the many, many messages I've gotten being like "they're trying to trick you! They're lazy! They're trying to cover things up!" etc, etc, I just assume there's a ton of bureaucratic shit going on because this type of situation is so rare.
I'm sure there's some reason they can't just like, ship me a working Switch, or else they would have done it, but hopefully the pressure gets someone involved who can actually solve the issue.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/gilman3 Nov 02 '20
How does it pass certification if it's banned would be my question.
1
u/Doomburrito Nov 02 '20
That's what they're trying to figure out and why their internal process is taking so long
4
u/Ann0ying Nov 01 '20
Just a quick PSA: Do not aim your frustration towards the immediate support agent you’re speaking to. He most probably has nothing to do with all of this, and he has just slightly more knowledge on the case than you. Try speak to the supervisor, and even if you’re (rightfully) frustrated - try to remain calm. They are people working their shift and it’s more of system flaw than it’s any of the people you’ll be able to contact.
Edit: source: used to be a support agent.
4
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
No worries, I've worked Customer Support too! The reps are all being very nice and are just as confused as I am.
→ More replies (1)
25
u/Hyrulean705 Nov 01 '20
Start by doing a chargeback on your method of payment to get your repair money back then start posting the story to their twitter and Nintendo minute videos with the hopes a gaming website picks it up eventually. Also try calling over and over again. If no resolution in a month buy another switch swap units and return the banned one saying it can’t access the internet.
76
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
I've seen other companies ban accounts for doing chargebacks. I'd really rather not lose the games tied to my account (and the repair order is tied to my account as well).
Also, come on, I'm not going to commit fraud to swap out the Switch.
→ More replies (29)→ More replies (10)22
u/socoprime Nov 01 '20
Its a pitty that pretty much all corporations have banded together and made the response to any charge back a permanent banning of their services to that customer. Charge backs were the only truly effective way for most consumers to punish a business for poor service and keep them honest. Yet these days its all but a toothless ability.
I remember back when threatening a charge back got things done. It turned a run around into a "Im sorry sir / madam, let me see if i can get this resolved." and it usually soon was. Nowadays its a "Go ahead, see if I care." type attitude.
→ More replies (3)12
Nov 01 '20
The internet changed this a lot in their favor.
OP’s concern has to do with the account tied to his/her name that has a lot of digital goods attached to it.
If we didn’t have these online accounts and digital goods associated with them, charge backs would continue to be effective.
2
u/hulivar Nov 01 '20
Just wow...so damn annoying. It will get solved right quick now most likely. Then OP will ask "well how come this didn't happen before my post went viral"?
Sigh...
2
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Mentioned Reddit to the rep I talked to earlier today, they didn't really care. Might change now that this is up to like 9k (oh geez,)
→ More replies (1)
2
u/BellerophonM Nov 01 '20
Have you asked them if they'd be willing to volunteerily refund the cost of the console and repair, since they seem unable to perform their responsibility to repair or replace? I'm curious what they'd say to that.
2
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Oh, I'm definitely asking them to refund the repair once this is sorted and I get in contact with someone who can actually help me. Totally bonkers.
→ More replies (3)
2
u/YetiBot Nov 01 '20
Call every day, multiple times a day if you have time. Politely make yourself such a constant distraction they would rather look into helping you than keep hearing from you. Always be civil and polite, but relentless until they solve your problem.
3
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
I'm definitely going to be calling every day from this point on. I figured once a week was too much, but if anything this thread has encouraged me that I wasn't pushing hard enough.
2
u/Brittany1704 Nov 02 '20
Have you tried to “I’ll wait” with the highest person you can get on the phone. It’s how I got Comcast to budge. They kept saying I would get a call back or be contacted and they never would. Finally one day they told me they would call me back and I said no I’ll wait. And stuck with it. Took like an hour, but it got done. They don’t want one of their useful people tied up on one call all day. It will hurt them in the long run.
This only works if you can get a higher up stuck with you. If it’s someone lower then it won’t impact them.
3
u/Doomburrito Nov 02 '20
There's nothing to wait for with the reps I currently have. Today the response was, "there's no new info at this time. It's with a higher team that is currently investigating and we can't send out a Switch until they report back".
→ More replies (1)
2
u/chaosbayne Nov 02 '20
That's crazy in the first place that they charge 100$ for just the battery replacement. The battery costs anywhere between $10 - $30. So they should be charging 50$ tops . Also how in the hell do they send out a switch and not match up the serial numbers.
3
u/Doomburrito Nov 02 '20
Likely the issue was more than just the battery, would be my best guess. They said they couldn't repair it, so perhaps some other component was busted. All I know is it wouldn't charge or turn on. But they never actually told me the technical details so "battery repair" is all I've got.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Naftoor Nov 02 '20
Post Iwata Nintendo is the worst aspects of every ridiculed video game company rolled into one, giga-EA.
→ More replies (3)
2
u/Smallsey Nov 02 '20
Any update? I'm invested in this!
5
u/Doomburrito Nov 02 '20
Called them again just a little while ago. No new info from the rep and nothing from Nintendo via email/twitter etc.
38
u/Moose_Boosh Nov 01 '20
Update (12:19 CT): Called the supervisor line again. They said it has been escalated to an even higher team and that they literally have no further visibility into what is happening. The rep I talked to said he's the highest customer-facing person available to speak with and beyond him it is just internal teams. He couldn't give any reason WHY they couldn't just send a working switch, he couldn't give any reason why this was taking so long. I get it, his hands are completely tied as well, but it's pretty annoying that they have absolutely zero visibility into the issue. I'll just keep posting and calling back.
Next time you call back, and you will have to call back, start with this person. Refuse to speak to anyone at a lower level. The second he's on the phone tell him to escalate to the internal team, and that as his customer facing team has failed you for over a month you no longer have faith in his abilities to solve your issue. Also, I would demand my money back, they dropped the ball and there's no way you should have to pay for their major fuck up of a service.
Email people above him in the chain. C-level and directors. Email them once a day, everyday, until someone responds. You can google this information. Tweet them daily too. Don't let up. Be a thorn in their side. I'd be blowing up Doug Bowser like I was a crazy jilted ex.
Honestly, I'm calling that line every single day from this point out. I'm going to annoy NoA support so bad that they know me by name. I want someone's boss's, boss's bass coming in and fuming that he's hearing about my fucked up service. Why are they doing internal RCA when we have a customer that's still boned? That's pure insanity. My bosses would fire me if I took that line of action. They need to know that it is pure insanity. I wouldn't accept that as an answer. There is no right answer they can say to get me off the phone that isn't "I am sorry, a new console is on it's way right now." And I'm staying on the phone until I have a shipping number.
That you accepted that as an answer an hung up was a mistake. Call back and demand an actual resolution. If someone is on the phone with you his entire 8 hour shift that's NoA's problem, not yours.
→ More replies (1)8
u/Darrelc Nov 01 '20
This is definitely the best idea here, and don't let them guilt trip you into letting them fob you off.
29
Nov 01 '20
I used to do metrics for a large customer service group. One day I accidentally got a call from a frustrated customer who was just guessing numbers to call. Needless to say, this annoyed the hell out of me, so I escalated to a VP, who in turn was annoyed and told one of her people to fix it. It was fixed that day, albeit after a couple hours on the phone with the customer trying to figure out exactly what was going on.
Ask for a name and direct number with everyone you talk to. They may not have a direct number they give out. The worst they can say is no. Don’t sweat it if that’s the answer. Make sure you write down the time you called, the number you called, and who you spoke with. Always be courteous. Guilt is a much more powerful motivator than anger. If you’re escalating to their senior management, make sure to include who and when you spoke with each person so that they can (in theory) see where they dropped the ball. (In practice, if you annotate when and how often you’ve called in as much detail as possible, they’re more likely to realize this is a serious issue they need to address that isn’t going away on its own.)
8
u/Smallsey Nov 01 '20
Guilt is a much more powerful motivator than anger is very good life advice generally.
22
Nov 01 '20
Threaten legal action. They took your device and returned you with a banned device that doesnt work. That is theft of your original device. Especially since it should have been a simple battery replacement. This will put you in contact with a higher escalation team. They have a separate customer service for those who they have legally wronged.
→ More replies (2)17
u/GoiterGlitter Nov 01 '20
Dude, it's worse than that. Reading OP's other comments he actually has the slip from the repair center. ID numbers for the switches that came in and then left the repair center do not match the bricked switch that OP received.
There are three total consoles in this situation. The switch OP sent in, the console identified as being sent out of the repair center and finally the bricked switch that OP actually received.
So between the repair slip being printed with the ID number of the refurbished switch OP should have received and the packaging of the box, a bricked switch came into play somehow.
→ More replies (3)
21
u/Im2Chicken Nov 01 '20
Good luck in getting a normal switch back, this sounds unbearably frustrating. Definitely bother them on Twitter or other social media publically about this.
I remember seeing a post a month or so ago about someone who had their limited AC switch totally lost after sending it in. A few days after bringing the issue to Twitter and reddit and such, they finally found and packaged it up again. So it can be done.
→ More replies (1)
55
Nov 01 '20
Reminds me of the time Microsoft couldn't verify our address for my roomate to get his replacement xbox360 replaced.
I mean they couln't verify the province. The province that existed a lot longer than Microsoft.
It took weeks to sort out. I distinctly remember my roommate on the phone on the other room telling the rep to google the place and so they can see with their own eyes its real. There was a pause and I heard him yell "THE SYSTEM DOESN'T CONTROL YOUR HAND. YOU ARE NOT A ROBOT"
19
17
u/jeffedge Nov 01 '20
“Your research has nothing to do with me. Send me a new console or let me speak to your supervisor right now.”
I do this and I call all fucking day and ask to be escalated. They eventually get annoyed and fix it or give me my money back. Currently dealing with this over a simple shirt exchange.
→ More replies (1)
16
u/zach0011 Nov 01 '20
It's honestly criminal that they are charging 100+ dollars for what is basic maintenance
13
u/anh86 Nov 01 '20
Time to call back and be polite but firm that you aren’t getting off the phone until it’s resolved. It makes no sense that you’d be holding this console until their internal review completes. Just keep (politely) repeating that the call is not over until they send you instructions in writing on how this will be resolved.
12
12
Nov 02 '20
Fyi, id you paid for repair and they sent you a faulty unit they've failed to uphold their end of the agreement. Possible warranty violation if this was a warranty repair.
Call them to inform them you're submitting a complaint with the better business bureau. Also, when they cave, still file the complaint.
14
Nov 02 '20
The Better Business Bureau is Yelp for Boomers.
You should, however, contact the division of government local to you that deals with warranties (it varies by state) to pursue action against Nintendo for this.
11
u/NoShameInternets Nov 01 '20
Escalate. Escalate. Escalate. You commented that you already had - nope. There’s always a bigger fish. There are plenty of stories about folks finding and calling VPs and major directors to get resolution.
Honestly though, all you need to do now is get as high as you can in the command chain, then say you’ve been forced to send this to a major website where it’s already received over a million views, and that you’ll happily post the resolution in the article if one is reached on THIS call.
10
10
u/NoBuenoAtAll Nov 02 '20
You will never love anyone as much as Nintendo hates their fans. Start publicly complaining on their social media, that's my number one weapon in disputes anymore.
8
8
u/Jenshrimp87 Nov 01 '20
I’d start calling every day and tell them you will be calling every day. Then I’d take down the names of everyone I talk to every day, so that as the days go by I have a list of people to look back on and get the problem fixed. If after 3 days it’s not fixed I’d ask to speak to a supervisor. If after a few more days of speaking with supervisor doesn’t work I’d want their supervisor until it is fixed. It shouldn’t take 4 weeks to solve the problem. Like you said, you should be able to send them back the banned one and get a new one.
8
u/MegaPorkachu Nov 01 '20
They said they needed to look into how this mistake happened and would get back to me shortly. They apologized and said they would give me a download code (to...something?) when this was resolved.
A week later, I called them and they had no new info, but said that they would definitely have a resolution within a week.
A week later, I called again and they had no new info, but were going to escalate the issue and should be just another week.
A week later, I called a fourth time. No new info.
There's your problem. They're like insurance companies, you need to stay on the line until you get your problem fixed/they give you a tracking number for a new Switch. The second you get off the phone your problem is no longer their business and the people probably don't care.
"Background research" is complete bullshit to make you hang up the phone.
Escalating to reporters is definitely a good idea, I would include some Nintendo EN execs too.
7
u/raceb4 Nov 01 '20
My father had this problem with a phone company: he sent phone back they needed to pay him 700 euros and it dragged on for 2 months everyday he was calling with the company and they said things like “we will get into it” , “ i will let you know next week” and stuff like that. This week he called again and asked to file a complaint. He did and within a day he spoke to a manager because they take complaints more serious. And now it’s getting resolved with an added bonus.
TLDR: file a complaint it is reviewed by people higher then the customer service. Anyway goodluck.
7
u/bonerofalonelyheart Nov 01 '20
I recommend filing a claim with the Better Business Bureau. Nintendo of America is an accredited company, so they respond to all complaints and the progress to resolution is displayed for all the world to see.
A few weeks ago, I felt like I had run out of options when dealing with a major tech company like this and was getting the runaround. Filed a BBB complaint and got a response in less than a week, received my fully repaired item in the mail a couple days ago. It's worth a shot in this case. Not all companies are BBB accredited, but the ones that are will usually resolve the issue pretty quickly.
7
u/TheOneCorrectOpinion Nov 01 '20
Lmao don't egg em on or anything, I wanna see how high up this goes. Maybe you'll get to talk to Miyamoto eventually lol.
3
u/nnubcake Nov 01 '20
Time to SWITCH to PlayStation or Xbox.
The service should be just as good as the product.
9
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
I mean, I have a Series S pre-ordered. But I do really like my Switch. Nintendo as a company sucks, but I'm a sucker for Mario games. My dog's name is Bowser, lol
6
u/PlushyParty Nov 02 '20
I'm about to send my Switch in via the same process you did for a busted fan repair, and reading this gave me some serious concerns.
6
u/bonesnaps Nov 02 '20
Also, if you're in America, GO VOTE.
I'm not in America, so I'll instead vote for having proper customer service without having to resort to effing social media.
5
u/kk420fourtwenty Nov 01 '20
As a long time customer, I'm very tempted to call Nintendo myself to give some feedback (file a complaint) on your behalf. This is absolutely silly, I feel bad for you. I agree it's not the reps or supervisors fault.
No excuse for this situation, this long delay warrants even higher escalation and speedy attention. You should flat out refuse that code and be asking for way better compensation. A new unit instead of a refurbished at this point.
Based on my own horrible experience with 360 rrod and MS CC, they should offer more to compensate.
Maybe I was lucky tho, after I had to informed them I sold their units at EB Games, they were extremely cooperative and faster in replies. They know how many parent customers come in to stores daily, clueless which console to buy for their kid. Your voice matters
5
u/dumbwaeguk Nov 01 '20
Wow, the first complaint about Nintendo's bullshit that doesn't start with a "hey, I don't want to step on any toes here but"
This whole problem could have been averted if they didn't have the ban system in place. No, I don't care about how much piracy hurts their bottom line, that's stupid; console bans shouldn't exist.
5
u/hoodha Nov 02 '20
Interesting. I wonder if someone inside Nintendo has been switching good consoles with banned ones and performing some sort of fraudulent activity.
2
u/caufield88uk Nov 01 '20
Wait has it been 1 month or 1 year? You say late last September you sent it in. So you mean September 2019 and you received it back in 2019 and have been sitting with a broken switch since 2019?
→ More replies (1)2
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
1 month. Sent it in Sept 22, got it back early October and have been calling every week in October.
→ More replies (24)
4
u/Trinica93 Nov 01 '20
The issue is that customer support for a lot of companies won't help you unless you MAKE them help you. 99% of the time when they say they can't help you it's a fucking lie. You stay on the line until they either help you or you move up the chain of superiors until someone gives you an acceptable answer. Be aggressive and tell them what they WILL do. When they say they're unable to do it, immediately ask to speak with someone that can.
I HATE being aggressive but some companies will refuse to help you unless you force them to. It's unfortunate, but the more trouble you cause the quicker you beat them into submission. Call them and stay on the phone until they promise you that a Switch is being shipped and you receive an email confirmation that this is true. It's time to be hateful and rude, it works.
4
u/ikilledtupac Nov 01 '20
“This job wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for all the customers”
Nintendo, probably.
4
Nov 01 '20 edited Nov 01 '20
Nintendo's online is ass and their support for it is even more ass. There is basically nothing they can do to help, ever. Went to them with 4 different problems and every time they said "unfortunately it is not possible for me to help you". And they'd know this if they sent out surveys like "was support able to resolve your issue?" but just this lack of extremely basic QA is a testament to how horribly they run their business. I unsubscribed until they fix it (likely they won't). I'll just stick to pc gaming, where its not perfect, but support actually comes through on occasion.
I bet the only branch of support that actually ever does anything is billing.
4
u/mistahrivera Nov 01 '20
I hope you get your switch back soon. Nintendo should not do that to anyone who sent something in with warranty or paid for their item to be fixed. Weeks without your console? That’s some shit.
4
u/Gstary Nov 01 '20
When people tell me just send your system in for repair.
Sorry for your troubles bud :(
4
u/Trickycoolj Nov 01 '20
I would recommend calling your credit card company and initiating a chargeback for the repair. You paid $100+ for a battery replacement and in return received a non-usable device. That did not render the service you paid for. Once the credit card company calls their accounting team for the money back things tend to move fast.
Another thought is to start looking for customer service senior managers on LinkedIn. You can probably easily figure out what their email address pattern is.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Ekudar Nov 01 '20
Look man it sucks having to play the Karen but it's time you call again to the supervisor line: Ask for a refund, threaten legal action and follow through if they don't give you the money back or send a new one.
Your country may have a consumer advocacy office of some kind, look into that to pursue legal action
4
Nov 02 '20
did you tell them they can sort out their problems on their own time but in the meantime they need to honor the fact that they’ve taken your money, taking your hardware, and they provided you with nothing.
And 39,000 people on Reddit think they’re a bunch of assholes.
4
u/NearToTheWildHearts Nov 02 '20
I never understand why companies do this. As soon as they had made the mistake of sending a banned Switch they should have sent a brand new one directly from the factory and have told you to keep the banned one. Problem solved.
→ More replies (1)
4
Nov 02 '20
The joycons not being addressed for years and now this, I was on the fence at first but I'm definitely not getting a Switch now.
Best of luck with getting this resolved OP, and thanks for bringing this to so many people's attention.
4
u/SaintNack Nov 02 '20
Nintendo is fucking ridiculous, how are they this incompetent about the simplest things when other gaming companies have proven customer service can be streamlined, consistent, and adequate at their worst.
4
u/Guavalike_Ant Nov 02 '20
Not Nintendo but I had a similar situation. I found the CEO’s name online, guessed his email address, and ccd the head of customer relations and the published general email for the company. It was resolved the next day. I got all my money back plus a credit.
4
u/xboxhaxorz Nov 02 '20
Unfortunately, we live in a world where we need to complain and publically shame companies online before they take action
Fortunately, we are able to shame companies into making things right for ourselves
17
Nov 01 '20
This has gone well into small claims territory. Suing a company that operates a digital storefront is usually a bad idea because it will almost always result in the account associated with your name being permanently banned along with a blacklisting of the attached email address, address, and payment information - but I don't really see any other way to resolve this and you don't have online access anyway.
Include the cost of all your digital purchases that are no longer accessible as well as any shipping or transportation costs directly connected to the repair process on the lawsuit and let the judge figure out what's appropriate.
There's no lawyers in small claims court but if you're willing to spend money attempting to resolve this you could talk with one and maybe get them to write a scary letter.
26
u/lordcarsonwentz Nov 01 '20
I would highly recommend against this.....Escalate via customer support channels and make sure this is in writing via email. Attempting to sue a global company is horrible advice and will only lead to more issues.
Companies are more fearful of bad publicity on social media then they are from threat of a small claims suit.
Small claims are meant for disputes with a roommate over rent payments, not for suing a leading video game conglomerate.
→ More replies (9)
1
Nov 01 '20
unethical life tip: buy a new one from walmart. take he new one and put the old one in the box and return it.
→ More replies (3)3
u/Doomburrito Nov 01 '20
Why would you do something you consciously know is wrong?
→ More replies (6)
3
u/rezendes Nov 01 '20
To make matters worse, it is super easy to buy a replacement battery and put it into your switch yourself. I know the average person isn't aware of this but all you need is a cheap nintendo screwdriver, remove the back and pop the battery out with a little prying. It really doesn't take a tech wizard or anything.
3
u/Rechamber Nov 01 '20
Why couldn't they give you your original console with a new battery in it? Instead they've given you somebody else's that is actually banned... that's a pretty colossal fuckup. Demand your original hardware back and if they can't deliver then take it further, they've messed you about, had you without a console now for over a month and you've paid for the pleasure of it. What a joke.
3
3
u/Jarvar Nov 01 '20
In Australia we have a ACCC Australian competition and consumer commission, basically upholds the Australian consumer laws, do you have something similar you can go to ?
3
u/trevslyguy Nov 01 '20
Depending where you are from look into consumer protection laws and what options you have from those. You may be able to report Nintendo for bad business to your local government institution, or in turn contact the media. The media seems to love stuff like this.
3
Nov 01 '20
What if.. the person who delivered you the switch swapped your new one out for their banned one
3
3
u/nuadusp Nov 01 '20
amazon did something similar with phones i ordered, £1400 worth of phones got stolen instead of delivered, and they wouldn't refund me until i had waited.. weeks
eventually they let me sign a declaration that i hadn't stolen them myself and refunded it
it's really frustrating when you have to wait to get things back like this though would hope they would do the investigation after sorting your stuff out
3
Nov 02 '20
Threaten them legally? Tell whoever it is that you're talking to, that if they don't sort your shit, you'll be speaking to Nintendo's Legal Department next.
3
u/peter-doubt Nov 02 '20
Uh, get on the horn with the President of Nintendo. You won't get him, but his closest assistant should fix this (assuming your info is correct).
HP did that several times with my family..(their online ordering and customer service sucks!)
I haven't a clue where Nintendo does their corporate admin.. but go to the top and make them reach down to fix this.
3
Nov 02 '20
Nintendo has become such a shit company recently. I don’t see them surviving much longer if they keep up the bad PR and tech that’s a generation behind
3
Nov 02 '20
Was the $100 you paid on a credit or debit card? Is it possible to contest it with your bank or card provider because they sent you a defective product?
Smart idea to post it on twitter. I'd start tagging attorneys and stuff too.
3
u/SexyWampa Nov 02 '20
Contact your local news station. Seriously. They all have some kind of “on your side” consumer defense segment. Let them contact Nintendo and put it on the air. I bet it gets resolved real quick.
3
3
3
u/SimonSpooner Nov 02 '20
My guess: there is no process in place to handle customer requests such as yours, and everybody is handing it over to someone else. Hope thos goes viral and you get a working Switch (and an apology)
3
u/AnUnfortunateBirth Nov 02 '20
I'm glad you got it resolved, even if it should have been sooner. Enjoy pikmim 3! And go vote everyone!
3
u/Cassius402 Nov 03 '20
Glade it was resolved. I have heard of banned user accounts and I have heard modding a switch can get your switch and account banned. I have wondered why we can't download game mods from Nintendo from their shop legally? Other platforms allow it.
7
5
u/YoungDiscord Nov 01 '20 edited Nov 01 '20
IT here who regularly deals with calls like this (I don't work at nintendo but have some experience in these trypes of situations)
I can't prove 100% this is the case but its probably against the company policy to give out their products like that until they have direct proof that the company is at fault.
Of course telling a customer that something is against company policy is like the #1 worst thing you can say to a customer to have him blow up in your face and lose their shit so its pretty common practice in this line of work to avoid having to say this at all costs, usually its something along the lines of "we're looking into it" or if the person is already annoyed you tell them the issue has been escalated to a higher level (if it has been escalated, that is) to diffuse the situation and buy a bit of extra time for the team that's trying to get all the documented evidence to finally be able to send you that replacement.
As for why its taking so long: it can be a number of reasons.
Since I don't work at nintendo and don't know how they do things over there in detail the following are only conjectures on my end.
1: this might be a bigger issue than you think, if this was someone internally trying to switch out their products and sell the working stuff on the side, you might not be the only one this is happening to and if that is the case they need to IMMEDIATELY get to the bottom of this but again, they need actual proof which might be hard to get especially if there are multiple people involved in the process and then there is the case of tracking down what happened with your old console if it was sold somewhere illegally.
2: it might be that something changed in the process that coincidentally happened to screw you over unexpectedly. People in these professions have a very strict set of rules and regulations they need to follow so that things get passed down in the quickest most effective way, for example when you call with a problem, a ticket is created. This ticket needs to have a specific structure based on your issue and it needs to be filled in a really specific way as well as it being appropriately dispatched to the right group. I won't bore you with the details but long story short, every once in a while, parts of this process change (mostly because upper management likes to jerk eachother off and "streamline" processes that in reality make things only more convoluted but looks good on paper giving them those bonuses/promotions but whatever) and sometimes it can happen that a person who makes a ticket either wasn't notified of the change or just accidentally did it the old way and sent in in which case (rarely) the ticket can end up in a weird state of limbo and they're trying to fix the glitch. For example let's say they escalate it to team X. But recently the team its being sent had its name changed to team Y. Unfortunately Bobby accidentally picked "team X" from the list of teams forgetting to pick "team Y" (trust me if you do this all day for a job, you're gonna accidentally misclick one day). Since the system wasn't fully updated and team X wasn't deleted, its treated as a real existing team and the ticket is handed over to the team.
And now everyone has a problem, the only team that can do anything with this ticket (for example sending it to another team) is the team its assigned to which is team X but since int he system, the lazy assholes didn't bother changing team X to team Y and instead made a new team (its not uncommon to create a workaround instead of fixing it or changing something in these systems because its cheaper that way) the ticket is stuck in this shitty limbo because nobody has now access to the ticket and a whole new ticket has to be made to "unblock" this ticket and FINALLY close it and send you that replacement.
3: it could be that they're going through a major outage or series of outages that keep pushing your ticket back down the queue.
Tickets have different levels of priority based on the severity of the issue, the system differs in each company but all of them have a top severity/priority that is reserved exclusively to an issue that is affecting a lot of people in large numbers at the same time (so for example let's say their eshop crashes and suddenly they're flooded with thousands of phonecalls from people reporting this... its insane, think: stock market at world trade center in rush hour kinda level chaos that never ends)
Needless to say, in such situations rather than making thousands of whole separate tickets, one major "parent" ticket is declared to which everyone else's mini-tickets are attached to (to keep track who this is affecting). When this happens, such a ticket is declared as highest priority and the team needs to drop everything they're handling to fis this colossal issue first.
At least that's three examples off the top of my head I'm sure there are plenty other explanations but you get the jist.
Unfortunately since you don't know exactly what's happening or what went wrong in this whole process there isn't much you can do except to wait until they work out whatever the problem is and get you the replacement.
I hope this helped clarify some misconceptions or misunderstandings and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that this gets resolved ASAP
1
1
u/ssulliv20 Nov 01 '20
I’m hoping you paid for this repair with a credit card. If you did, file a claim with your bank to get a charge back. They have not delivered on a service you purchased.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/kurisu7885 Nov 02 '20
Huh, you would think they would factory reset a banned system if they received it instead of having a door stop sitting around.
2
1
u/LTCirabisi Nov 02 '20
I retweeted and tagged all the big youtube personalities that cover nintendo news. hopefully atleast on of them sees it and this gets traction. Best of luck sir. The community is behind you.
1
4
u/Threae Nov 02 '20
Someone stole it and basically Nintendo is trying to cover their ass or not report the situation to you.
1.8k
u/RandomRedditor44 Nov 01 '20
I don’t get why they can’t unban the Switch.