Nintendo instructs customer service staff to repair drifting Switch Joy-Cons for free - report

Nintendo has advised its customer service teams to repair faulty Joy-Cons free of charge.

In the wake of a massive storm building up around faulty Joy-Cons for many Nintendo Switch owners - which may result in a class action lawsuit - the company has reportedly already begun addressing the problem.

Nintendo Switch owners have been struggling with analogue stick drift on their Joy-Con controllers pretty much since launch, and the issue never seems to have been fixed. When some asked Nintendo to fix what's clearly a wide-spread manufacturing fault, the company instead told them they'd be charged repair fees.

Vice Games has obtained an internal memo to Nintendo's customer service department instructing staff to repair drifting Joy-Cons for free, even if they're out of warranty.

"Customers will no longer be requested to provide proof of purchase for Joy-Con repairs. Additionally, it is not necessary to confirm warranty status," the memo reads.

What's more, Nintendo is also going to be refunding customers who previously paid for Joy-Con repairs as a result of the same fault.

"If a customer requests a refund for a previously paid Joy-Con repair [...] confirm the prior repair and then issue a refund."