Joseph writes:

I have a first generation Nintendo Wii and I recently bought the game Boom Blox for it. When I put the game in to start playing it would often lock up at the health warning screen and I would have to restart my Wii by unplugging it since no other method would work.

Here’s what happened when he contacted Nintendo for help.

I first expected it was a problem with the disc since Gamestop sold it to me as New when the case was opened already (another story for another time) but the disc was in perfect condition. I also noticed my other games were acting weird and my Wii channels would give errors that they couldn’t load properly even though they were. This prompted me to go online and see what I could do.

I work in tech support and moderate some support forums so I hate when people don’t look for answers before asking questions or calling for help so I went to the Nintendo forums to see what I could find. Unfortunately there really wasn’t any information about errors with this particular game or any Wii related defects that fit what I was experiencing. I was wary about getting email support but it seemed to be Nintendo’s preferred next step so I sent an email to them with everything I was experiencing.

I was surprised when a day later I got an email stating my problem would probably not be best handled using email correspondence and to call in. I called in and the person on the phone (I wish I could remember her name) was very nice and very helpful. She quickly looked up my account with Nintendo and immediately suggested I should send my Wii in for repair. She said it would probably waste my time troubleshooting the issue further since it wasn’t anything she’d seen and seemed beyond any fixes she could offer. She noted that I was a few months out of warranty but offered free shipping and free repair anyway without me even bringing it up. I immediately received a shipping label and sent the system in the next day.

I was bummed not having anything to play for what I’d expected to be a month long fix and was shocked to receive an email on the day they received the package stating they had received it and repaired it the same day. They also shipped it back out to me that day as well! So all in all it took one week from start to finish to submit a help request and have a fixed Wii returned to me. It has worked great ever since and I no longer have any problems with it. There are so many places where this could have been a bad experience but Nintendo really did a stellar job. They provided fast responses and did more than they needed to make sure I was a happy customer and will continue to purchase their products. Great job!

Nintendo, what the hell? We don’t know what you’re up to with this “good customer service” routine, but pulling shenanigans like this doesn’t keep our tipline stuffed with complaints. Please think about this the next time you offer to repair a broken Wii.

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