Nintendo replaces Wii melted in house fire

by JC Fletcher on Feb 2nd 2009 2:00PM

Nintendo's customer service has a reputation for going above and beyond to satisfy the needs of once-distraught fans. This may be because only the stories of NIntendo awesomeness proliferate online (Not a headline: "Nintendo says it can't do anything for broken DS"), but this stuff makes us so happy that we'd rather not go all cynical. For now.

GoNintendo reader PsyduckWarrior's house caught fire, destroying (among other things, of course) his entire video game collection, including almost every Nintendo system and "more than 250 Nintendo games spanning all their consoles". Later, he sent Nintendo a fairly simple inquiry about transferring his account to a new Wii, including pictures demonstrating the circumstances through which he came to require a new Wii.

Nintendo responded by offering to send him a new Wii, along with a replacement for his Game Boy Advance SP. It may not be a replacement for his whole game collection, but it is a super-classy move from a company that could have just classified PsyduckWarrior's plight as, "Not our problem."

Source

Tags: customer-service, DS, fire, gba, nintendo, Wii

Reader Comments (66)

Should replace his house too... You know, he'll need somewhere to PLAY Nintendo products in right?

You're bitching. Free Wii replacement is always welcome.

What's that flying over your head? Oh, yes I see, they are jokes.

Jokes dont fly silly!

^ lol

Shouldn't his parents be asking their insurance company about replacing their house? Last I remember, that's why you pay insurance...

*facepalm*

Facepalm...sorry, I forgot to take my 'Serious business' hat off from the KZ2 Review.

Another tragic story ending with a good ending (somewhat).

Go Ninty! :)

So are they going to transfer his account to the new Wii? That's the big question.

My Wii died recently (disc drive). I'd like to buy a new Wii, but I have $300 worth of VC and WiiWare downloads tied to that particular console, and NINTENDO! won't transfer your account unless you pay them and send the console in for repairs.

BAD FORM, NINTENDO! You should be willing to transfer accounts to a new console, regardless of how/why it was obtained.

Ouch, I got lucky and mine was still under warranty. Still, it's what $50 for the repair? Had to be less than what your VC collection is worth. But ultimately I agree it should be a free process.

That is one of the big problems about having everything completely tied to the console.

So much could be solved if Nintendo just made a small investment for a basic, barebones account system. Hell, tie it with the Club Nintendo system. Much could be solved with a simple username and password to track your purchases

So wait, they'll only transfer for a fee? That fucking sucks. With this and the lack of storage maybe I shouldnt buy any downloads from Nintendo.

Actually Nintendo transferred all of my Virtual Console games, Wii Ware and remaining Wii Points to a new system for free when my original launch system was stolen. The CSR I spoke with said she was not sure what she could do on her end due to the fact that the EULA states that transfering of this data is not allowed under any circumstances. She took my name, number and e-mail after switching my console serial numbers and said that someone would contact me within 3-4 business days if they could not transfer my account. Low and behold not even three hours later my My Nintendo account was registered on the new system and I could redownload all of my previous purchases.

Anyway moral of the story is that if you don't get what you want always ask for a supervisor, if they refuse, call back. Because if they transferred my account FOR FREE after I claimed my first console was stolen without asking for proof, then there is no reason they should not do the same, or at least similar via Wii Points, for you for a hardware failure.

Sorta makes me want to buy a Gameboy SP, which might be a good investment if I buy a DSi later this year.

But how will you play portable Guitar Hero? :O

That my friend is a question a man must ask himself at one point of his life."how will I play portable Guitar Hero?" and then "why would i play portable guitar hero?"

Fortunately the third question is asked by others - "why are you playing portable Guitar Hero, and how likely are you to sue me if I slap you for it?"

Unless he was renting, his insurance would have paid for the new Wii anyhow. I would have been more distraught about the classic games collection. I wonder if they are including a bunch of Wii points so he could scoop up a few of them back on the virtual console.

Speaking of virtual console, is Punch-Out broken or something, because I just can't quite beat Soda Popinski for the life of me, and surely I wasn't better at games when I was nine and couldn't beat Tyson. Soda was a breeze back then.

Not broken, I can beat him. Personally I have trouble with the second encounter of Bull. Dude owns me 70% of the time!

You'd be surprised!

I, for one, could at one point complete Mega Man 2 on only one life. Now, I can't even jump across little pits.

According to the story they were making lists of all the things destroyed for the insurance companies.
It's not that hard for Nintendo to transfer the VC. They did it for me. But dang blast it I had to redo all my trophies and everything for SSBB.
About the time Punch-Out came out, Punch-Out pros did come out to say there is a lag present usually for HDTVs.

You're not the only one. Used to be able to reach Mr. Sandman before getting my A$$ handed to me, but I could usually eek out a win Mike Tyson, on the other hand..... Now, I can't even beat Soda Popinski even a quarter of the time. He just wails on me.

"About the time Punch-Out came out, Punch-Out pros did come out to say there is a lag present usually for HDTVs."

This is very true and is often a problem with games that require tight timings. The problem is worse for the Wii because running lower resolutions on HDTVs generally result in higher lag times. Most HDTVs have a "game" mode though which helps to reduce the lag by removing some of the image processing done by the TVs. You'll still get some lag due to video scaling, but it shouldn't be as bad.

Over 250 games lost? Thats pretty shitty, I'm happy that Nintendo helped out one of their die hard fans.

I've often thought that if there was a fire, I'd probably throw my game collection out of the window before myself.

I mean, insurance will pay for a new PC and everything but I can't be arsed remembering and tracking all the things from over the years.

I was having the same thought, if only because my on-campus house has the record for being burnt down three times in its history, that i would save my DS collection (on-cartridge saving and whatnot), GameCube memory cards, Wii, and laptop.

My 50 lb computer and my Xbox hard drive are the first on my list.

Wow, that's painful. I'd hate to lose all my stuff in a fire. I've got probably 700 or so legit games in my collection. I haven't counted in a LONG time. Nice to see Nintendo make this move, to be sure. It's good PR, to be sure, and it doesn't cost them much to do it.

my ps3. my stack of ps3 games, my psp and my laptop first. then me and however much money i could fit in my pocket. yeeeaaahhhh...

See, Bob? This is how you get Nintendo to pay attention to your game. You burn your house down with everything in it.

Including Bob

I wonder what the fox news will say."man burnt down his house after playing breath of fire on his wii"

VIDYA GAEMS CAUSE FIRES, THEY MUST BE A PRODUCT OF THE DEVIL!

Here are the steps to repeat what this guy probably did:

1. Brick your Wii in a mod'ing experiment gone horribly wrong.
2. Pour gasoline on Wii.
3. Set fire to it and watch it melt.
4. Claim your house burnt down.
5. Get new Wii from Nintendo.

Yeah, and also burn down your house just for the background.

If you'd actually read, you'd also notice that he didn't ask for a new Wii, instead he asked if he could transfer his account if he bought a new one.

Nintendo's customer service is very impressive. Kudos!

what else needs to be said? good job Nintendo.

Above and beyond, my ass. They won't fix my Balance Board unless I pay them $50.

Did your Balance Board get destroyed when your fucking house burned down? No? Then shut the fuck up.

Sounds like you should have lost some weight before stepping on the balance board and crushing it into oblivion.

Great that they did this..
But they refused to replace my broken Wii-mote and cracked DS hinge.

I can understand the Wii but why the GBA SP?

What about his DLC? If this was MS (and maybe Sony) he could just transfer the license and re-DL.

That charred Wii looks like it has a face.

These stories still blow my mind. I used to work for Xbox customer support and there's no way in hell they'd ever do anything like this. :P

I suspect Nintendo will make some way to transfer your account when they bring out the Wii HD or whatever, because how many people would want to upgrade, and kick up a fuss if they can't transfer their downloads? Linking one console to one Club Nintendo account seems the way to go.

this is why i love nintendo, not so fond of the wii, but i do love nintendo

Nintendo has the best customer support, once my little brother decided to put Megaman ZX into my Wii without telling me, then after sending it in, it got repaired and all it cost was my brother not getting smacked in the back of the head.

pfff just goes to show how bad nintendo hardware has gotten in recent years.... can't even handle a fire. Why back in my day...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhoran/45214051/

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Breaking News

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days

Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 220 comments
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 153 comments
David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 108 comments
Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
Battleship movie adapted into FPS by Double Helix 93 comments

Nintendo replaces Wii melted in house fire

Reader Comments (66)

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:04PM acefondu said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:07PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:09PM acefondu said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:15PM Comet 20 said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:25PM acefondu said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:26PM Ridgecity said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:40PM acefondu said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 4:16PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:04PM Apollo26 said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:11PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:13PM acefondu said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:27PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 4:06PM TwEE said

Posted: Feb 3rd 2009 6:44AM Atomicwaist said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:11PM Mabui said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:20PM Haggard said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:25PM bxgt said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:58PM Haggard said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:11PM Deone said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:15PM acefondu said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:16PM jorojoserojas said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:24PM hvnlysoldr said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:29PM rduran said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:49PM Vidikron said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:12PM Comet 20 said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:21PM Haggard said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:30PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 4:52PM aristokrat said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 6:01PM Sarge said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 9:12PM Sly C said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:17PM oboreruhito said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:20PM StevenM said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:22PM bxgt said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:29PM SitriStahl said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:24PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 21st 2009 1:27PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:28PM ripvanwinkle said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:31PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:40PM Edge of Blade said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:51PM quiggy said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 10:49PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:40PM Snowblind said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 2:42PM Railgun said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:01PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:04PM MowDownJoe said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:05PM Roto13 said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:26PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:15PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:17PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2009 3:49PM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record

Featured Stories

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier brings information warfare to the front

Rhythm Heaven Fever review: Crazy into you

Remedy not done with Alan Wake

The most popular postsin the last 7 days

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days