An update to Nintendo’s Japanese repair and warranty regulations in October warned customers they may no longer be eligible for a product repair or replacement if they are found to have behaved inappropriately to staff. This includes instances where a staff member has been threatened or verbally abused, or where a customer may have been deliberately wasting their time. “We made the decision after concluding our customers would understand because of the reputation we have built of faithfully responding to them,” Nintendo told Kyodo News. The move has been welcomed by the Japanese government’s ministry of health, labour and welfare, which called the stance “effective”. Nintendo fans in Japan have also praised the idea (per Digital+, via DualShockers), while a social psychology professor from Kansai University has also chimed in. “In recent years, posts on social media have made visible the harassment various industries are exposed to, and consumer attitudes are also changing,” professor Hiromni Ikeuchi said. “As a result, Nintendo has successfully kept with the times by making a decision that society was ready to accept.” We’ve contacted Nintendo to see if it might adapt a similar response here in the UK.
