Crazy Wii Remote Tech Support Call

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We’ve all heard some wild tech support stories but, not only is this one true, the "crazy" solution the tech gave the customer actually worked.

Friendly Nintendo Help Desk Lady: "Okay - I want you to take the remote, button side down and smack it into the palm of your hand two or three times." Russ: "You've got to be kidding" Friendly Nintendo Help Desk Lady: "No sir, do it hard enough that I can hear it across the phone line but not hard enough to damage the remote."
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Fixing electronics by smacking them a bit is nothing new, why don't you make yourselves useful and find an article that explains how this actually fixes problems with electronics instead of posting some goofy commentary on the subject matter.
 
Isn't there a gyroscope or an accelerometer in the controller? It's possible that it got stuck in a non-functioning position and giving it a smack worked it loose?
 
Fuzzy Logik said:
Fixing electronics by smacking them a bit is nothing new, why don't you make yourselves useful and find an article that explains how this actually fixes problems with electronics instead of posting some goofy commentary on the subject matter.
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Because if we ever discovered the truth to how this works, the magic of it would be gone. What makes this funny is the fact that a support rep advised this.
 
Had an old 486 computer that wouldn't turn on. You could hit the power button all day but nothing would happen. The only way to turn it on was to kick it.
 
rofl kicking a 486 to turn on i couldnt stop laughing. I had a similiar wii experience first day I got it bud flung it against the wall no damage on the outside and it would work, so I smacked it a few times bingo worked! i love technology.
 
bildad said:
Had an old 486 computer that wouldn't turn on. You could hit the power button all day but nothing would happen. The only way to turn it on was to kick it.
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I had the same problem with an old desktop that I have - Its an old Dell Optiplex, I kicked it and it turned on, but then the next day, I kicked it a bit too hard and I damages a component. Go figure :p
 
bildad said:
Had an old 486 computer that wouldn't turn on. You could hit the power button all day but nothing would happen. The only way to turn it on was to kick it.
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Well there's a PC at school that no one likes to use because it turns *off* when you kick it, or even just bump it, taking your data with it.
 
ServerKing said:
rofl kicking a 486 to turn on i couldnt stop laughing. I had a similiar wii experience first day I got it bud flung it against the wall no damage on the outside and it would work, so I smacked it a few times bingo worked! i love technology.
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We had a computer lab in my HS class and the motto for getting stuff to work if it didn't want to was just "kick it" :p, sadly it worked.
 
when i got my wii a year ago i had the same problem and same response from customer service so it must be standard procedure for them to suggest hitting it to fix it. Worked for me too though and i haven't had any problems with it since then.
 
i had an old dying CRT back in the day...the image would shift up and outside of the tube. only way to fix it was my fist:)
 
Hmm, wonder if that would solve the problem of the IR sensor just not working on one particular Wiimote -- three others work just fine, but when doing stuff like selecting your Mii in Wii Sports, one controller won't show the little pointer at all.
 
I love technology, but not as much as you, you see... But I STILL love technology always and forever.
 
"No sir, do it hard enough that I can hear it across the phone line but not hard enough to damage the remote."
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Hah, damage the remote. That's a good one. The things are practically indestructible.
 
Cool, sounds like an old-school repair trick, much like blowing in the cartridge. It sounds like whatever method of accelerometer it uses just got jammed and had to be nudged loose.
 
lol reminds me of several times i fixed something by banging it around a few times. And to think that they say violence does not solve anything...
 
That really is humorous. We're moving forward with technology, but backwards in how to fix it ;). Like back in my day as a kid, the television always got smacked at least ten times a day to get the picture right, lol.

Of course, I'd never attempt the "old day" method of trying to fix any of my gaming rigs ;) ...though I did "smack around" a laptop once for being a pain in the ass, lol!
 
When I worked for a Call Center we had a fix for a stuck key on the keyboard.
Please turn your keyboard upside down.
Lift it 2-3 inches from the desk and drop it twice.
Worked 99% of the time. The rest got a replacement keyboard.

Usually you heard the customer say,"wow look at all that CRAP that fell out. "
Case closed. :)
 
Robergal said:
When I worked for a Call Center we had a fix for a stuck key on the keyboard.
Please turn your keyboard upside down.
Lift it 2-3 inches from the desk and drop it twice.
Worked 99% of the time. The rest got a replacement keyboard.

Usually you heard the customer say,"wow look at all that CRAP that fell out. "
Case closed. :)
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Reminds me of another keyboard tech story I once heard:

Customer: "Hi, my keyboard stopped working."
Support: "Alright, here's what I want you to do. Stand up and pick up your keyboard."
Customer: "Okay."
Support: "Now, walk backwards ten steps."
Customer: "Alright, I did that."
Support: "Did the keyboard come with you?"
Customer: "Yes."
Support: "Your keyboard isn't plugged in. Please plug it into the back of the computer."
 
greenhorn1 said:
when i got my wii a year ago i had the same problem and same response from customer service so it must be standard procedure for them to suggest hitting it to fix it. Worked for me too though and i haven't had any problems with it since then.
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Right on--it is standard procedure. It's not the first option we used, but it was of many things to try before sending a remote replacement. Also, the production cost of the remote compared to its MSRP (and the production cost of the Wii compared to its MSRP) made it more detrimental to incorrectly diagnose and send a remote replacement than to incorrectly diagnose and send a console replacement. There were a few unique "tricks" to try for the remote to avoid sending an unnecessary replacement and gentle, but firm, smacks of the remote into the palm was just one of them.
 
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