Nintendo Suspends Repair Services in North America

Nintendo's repair services have long been the stuff of legend. The company is notoriously generous when it comes to system repairs, even going so far as to replace a 95-year-old woman's original Game Boy when Nintendo no longer had the parts needed to fix it. As such, fans of the company will be disappointed to learn that won't be the case for the foreseeable future. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, Nintendo has temporarily suspended repair services in the North America region. At this time, the company has not announced similar plans for repair centers in Japan or Europe, though that could certainly change in the coming days.

Those that have already sent their systems to Nintendo for repair could end up waiting for some time. According to Nintendo, systems that were recently sent to the company for repair might be returned as undeliverable. Those that have already been received will be held until repair centers can be re-opened. Fans are also being discouraged from shipping any item in need of repair until after an announcement is made regarding when repair centers have been re-opened. Nintendo products do have a limited time warranty, but the company has assured fans that they will honor warranties that expire during the time the repair centers are closed.

The situation is certainly unfortunate for some Nintendo fans, but it's also entirely understandable with everything going on with the coronavirus pandemic. With companies around the world temporarily closing their doors, or instituting work-from-home policies, it seemed that it would be only a matter of time before this type of service was shut down for the foreseeable future.

It seems entirely within reason that the company's repair centers will re-open with the same level of quality fans have come to expect since the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. People are increasingly turning to video games as a way to pass the time while social distancing, so it certainly seems like a pretty bad time for a Nintendo Switch or 3DS to be out of commission! In the meantime, gamers will just have to be a little more careful with their Nintendo consoles and handhelds.

Have you ever sent a console to a Nintendo repair center? Do you have any stories of great customer service from Nintendo? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!