Nintendo forgets they’re a large corporation, goes above and beyond, says Consumerist
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 1:22am by BlakeConsumerist, which Gawker sold to Consumer Reports today, has published the story of John (last name withheld), who had a borked Wii and a genuinely wonderful time getting it fixed by Nintendo Customer Support.
A nice Californian lady helped to ensure John’s warranty was covered, and apparently had Mario technicians go above and beyond in fixing the issue, even sending John fresh copies of Guitar Hero World Tour and Resident Evil 4 — two games he was previously having problems playing — at no cost. Awesome.
How long will the “don’t be evil” side of Nintendo last amid their recent turn of fortune?
December 31st, 2008 at 2:11 am
I’d say as long as Sony is still Evil, the force is really balanced now.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:16 am
The day Nintendo becomes evil is the day there is no good left on this earth.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:53 am
I started at the Big N as a customer support representative, and I can attest, for as long as I was in that position, which was almost a decade ago now, Nintendo has been doing stuff like this. Part of it is about being good to the consumer, part is a calculated business decision. I received authorization to replace broken peripherals and handhelds that were clearly not covered by warranty due to the actions of the consumer because they had a track record of buying Nintendo products and the thought was that rather than alienate a paying customer by refusing an inexpensive repair, do it for them for free and create a more loyal customer.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:54 am
Yeah I can see them keeping this up, general rule of thumb for almost all companies is good customer support. Too bad many game manufacturers aren’t exactly dedicated to this.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:05 am
EA could take a lesson from this…
December 31st, 2008 at 9:24 am
Microsoft could definitely take a lesson from this.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:25 am
Nintendo has always been this way. I seriously don’t see it changing any time soon.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:01 am
This is a top down thing. Iwata sends out page long apologies when things go bad for consumers (E3 was a recent example). I don’t see this fading anytime soon either, much like the Wii and DS.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:18 am
nintendo and amazon are all about the customer. nintendo started it’s video game existence by recalling all NES systems!
microsoft take note and stop sucking!
December 31st, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Sounds really nice. I wish Nintendo could take care of my 360 for me.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
IMO, its only a facade. Smash online is still busted and they simply go back to counting rupees pretending the problem isn’t there.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I have had several issues with my Wii, and after calling NINTENDO, the Customer Service person told me to send it. They gave me a UPS number that I could use to not pay to send the console. It was back a couple of days after, and the Wii was sparkling clean!
I love their costumer service, and I have an idea why! My Japanese friends are all about customer service. When they go to America, they told me that American services were good, but not great! I am from France, and we have NOOOOOOOOOOOO customer service, at all… I mean, they have some stupid numbers where some people with attitude tell you that you can send your things in for a couple of Euros (a lot of them, frankly).
I am so happy to see that Nintendo is actually paying attention to their costumers… Nintendo is rated FIRST in the customer servce scheme, and right after APPLE…
December 31st, 2008 at 5:04 pm
“IMO, its only a facade. Smash online is still busted and they simply go back to counting rupees pretending the problem isn’t there.”
The two things are unrelated. Your opinion of their online infrastructure has little if anything to do with the topic.
I wish I could say I was surprised by this, but I’ve actually had a lot of great service from Nintendo. It’s actually their standard MO.
December 31st, 2008 at 5:35 pm
“The two things are unrelated. Your opinion of their online infrastructure has little if anything to do with the topic.”
Did you even read the article? The last line states:
“How long will the “don’t be evil” side of Nintendo last amid their recent turn of fortune?”
This would include ALL departments, not just Customer Service. So in conclusion, “Piss Off!”
December 31st, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Once again, the supposed “evilness” of an online you have a sour opinion of does not have anything to do with what the article is about, which is not being screwed over by customer service. These are on two separate planes, one being game design, and another customer service.
Seriously, “It’s a facade?” Really? They do great customer service to hide the fact that HAL LABS and that Sakurai guy has an online system that is unpopular? That’s just illogical. Quit trying for cheap points. They make you look cheap in the end.
December 31st, 2008 at 6:27 pm
The “facade” isn’t in just the customer service, its in a lot of things they do. One example is Reggie telling the world to watch out for all the new “hardcore” titles at E3, and then bending over to squat out Animal Crossing and Wii Music. They pretend as if everything they do brings smiles to the faces of granny’s and “hardy hardcores” alike. Wrong.
The essence of my point is this, millions of nerds paid 50 bones day one to play Smash online. Nintendo advertised this fact on the box of the product. We take the product home, and the product does not work online. That said, the product is “defective” and they still have yet to fix it.
So yeah, I guess you could say their “Customer Service” screwed the pooch here as well. We were told the product would do one thing, and the product did not come through. This is a fact, so good luck twisting this one around pal.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:42 pm
[...] The Consumerist via Infendo [...]