Former Joy-Con Drift Repair Supervisor Says Work Volume Is “Very Stressful”

Joy-Con drift sucks. Many of us have had it and we’re sure many of us have had to contact Nintendo to send it in for repairs. But did you know that Nintendo itself does not take over the repairs?

Kotaku has explored the process of getting your Joy-Cons fixed when they start getting the dreaded drift. It traced the service back to a company called United Radio with a repair shop in Syracuse, New York. Nintendo is the face of repairs, but United are the actual hands that fix your Joy-Cons.

Kotaku spoke to a former company supervisor, who told the site that the “very stressful” amounts of Joy-Con numbers coming in resulted in high turnover and lots of errors. United Radio had to “set up a whole new workstation just for the Joy-Con repair” because so many were coming in.

Because of this, a lack of expertise and the high turnover rate at United Radio, it had to rely on a number of temps through recruitment and staffing company Aerotek. Most temporary workers are Vietnamese immigrants, as Syracuse is home to many people of Asian descent. Only a handful of employees could speak English, but according to Kotaku’s source, these workers are also the ones who “stayed the longest,” but many other casual workers stayed for just two and a half months of full-time work after three months, despite the promise.

Initially, United Radio only gave out replacement Joy-Cons, but in 2018 staff were forced to repair them rather than swap them out for working units. The workers should fix 90% of all Joy-Cons within four days.

Aerotek also often fired employees for minor issues, and sometimes the employees simply stopped showing up. Coupled with the high number of Joy-Cons coming in, it sounds like a very difficult situation with public and Nintendo pressure.

Nintendo has faced several Joy-Con drift lawsuits over the years, and lately one case hinges on whether two kids can sue the company. Doug Bowser only spoke out on the subject last November, saying, “It’s something we’re constantly tackling.”

You can read Kotaku’s full report below for additional insight into the difficulties of Nintendo’s Joy-Con drift repairs and repair shop.