Nintendo make changes to preorder cancellation policy

Recently, Nintendo of America has updated their FAQ section on their support website and are now allowing customers to cancel preorders of Nintendo Switch games. Similar posts have been made on other Nintendo websites such as Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo of Japan. The new policy will let the customers who have preordered a game to return it, provided that they request a refund before the payments are processed which usually occurs about a week before the game’s release date. This is a consumer-friendly move on Nintendo’s part, something that is admittedly becoming rare in the video game industry over the last few years.

It is worth mentioning that Nintendo’s cancelation policy has found itself to be the main topic of discussion quite a few times in the past which has led to Nintendo being in the crosshairs of many consumer advocates. A couple of years consumer legal representatives in Norway and Germany sued the company over the lack of return policies which is according to them, violates the European Union and Norwegian laws. Nintendo was not the only company targeted, a few other big players such as Valve, Sony, and EA were also sued for similar violations of consumer rights, however, most of the accusations were dropped quickly for other companies, and it seems the NCC (Norwegian Consumer Council) took a special interest in Nintendo.

After writing to Nintendo on more than a few occasions, requesting that they change their return policies, and those requests falling on deaf ears, the NCC has chosen to take legal action and file formal complaints. Those complaints were eventually dropped as well, but the complaint was sent to the German Consumer Authority due to the fact that Nintendo of Europe’s business address is stated to be in Germany. This lawsuit was dismissed in a German court in 2020, but a German consumer representative has stated that they will be appealing the court’s decision.