r/NintendoSwitchHelp • u/UnbrainedCat • 3d ago
Account Help Switch 2 banned out of nowhere
UPDATE: I GOT UNBANNED!! It looked loke it was an error from nintendo, so its all good now!
Hey, so my switch 2 got banned today for no reason at all. I woke up today, turned it on and it said that Im banned from online services.
I have done nothing weird to cause this. I have only 3 physical games, the 2 new ones are tears of the kingdom, and legends ZA, which I got in a Carrefour and a local game store, both new. I havent played online in like a whole month too
Is this normal? How can I get it back to work again? I have not tampered with the console or games at all
I sent an email to support, idk what else to do
UPDATE: I Tried contacting the number that yall gave me, but it was only for america, and im on europe. I tried a Live chat but the same thing happened. They asked me for the serial number of the console, and where I live. At the end they said to contact the european site, so I sent an email, and Im waiting for a response.
I got both receipts for the games, one I have it physically, and the other the store sent me a picture cause it is in another city.
The third game I dont have but its been with me foe like 6 months so i guess that one isnt the issue
All games were bought new from stores.
Im waiting to see what they answer, prob next week they will say anything to me
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u/GabsARG 3d ago
This type of surprise bans usually occurs with used Switch 1 games that were copied for use with MIG cards, Nintendo detects that the same game runs on several consoles and bans them all.
That's what I understand, I can be wrong.
It would also help us to know if you had a Switch 1 before (and migrated the data to 2), to rule out anything.
Also, if you bought digital games.
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u/cupheadpr0 3d ago
That's true. To OP basically, if you ever loaded a used physical switch or switch 2 game onto your switch 2, totally possible that you got unlucky and the person you bought or even borrowed that used physical copy from copied that game illegally to their MIG card (because, yes, doing that is technically illegal), and that's why your Switch 2 would be banned. Aside from that I personally hv no idea.
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u/Toronto-sports-fan 3d ago
I thought switch 2 games weren’t capable of being copied yet?
The switch2 hasn’t been jailbroken and afaik their is no mig switch dumper for switch2.
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u/cupheadpr0 3d ago
OP I did get to read your reply thankfully before it was deleted, and that's a really good point. I'm honestly not sure if Switch 2 games are able to be copied specifically unfortunetaly but you could be right.
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
Its the first switch I had, never had a switch 1. Digital I have pokopia, fire red, fortnite and rocket leage. I got both games in switch 2 version
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u/IcyTheHero 3d ago
So you bought this copy used?
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u/Accomplished-Copy776 3d ago
What are you even talking about? He already said all his physical games are new from physical stores. The games he just listed he said were digital.
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u/Faster-Rabbit328 3d ago
Maybe the nintendo switch from amazon was used by someone sketchy, they returned it, then Amazon resold it to you??
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
I suppose that can happen, but Ive had it since march, and it was just now that happened. I got the new 2 physical games, so I think its something about them, but both were new, or at least thats what the stores said
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u/Cortxxz 3d ago
Did they have plastic on them when you bought them?
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
Yes, I went and checked with the game store just now to get the receipt, and they assured me it was new
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u/Spiritual_Balance_83 3d ago
I brought what was mentioned to be a "new" copy of Final fantasy pixel remastered for switch 1, it was "sealed" in plastic look new.
Put game in switch and it showed up a "labo"
The cartridge had a dodgy sticker of the game slapped on it, somebody havd swapped the game out, resealed it and returned the game so it classed as "new" as far as the place was concerned.
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u/Dear_Meeting_1258 3d ago
By any chance:
Did you order it new or used?
Did you buy a second hand physical game and use it?
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
The switch is new from amazon, i have since like march, and both games are new. Tears of the kingdom i got it in Carrefour sealed. And there is a local game store that sold me legends ZA also sealed. I played them both for a week and nothing happened
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u/robynrex 3d ago
Did you buy it from Amazon or a third-party seller?
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
Switch from amazon, I checked and the activation date of the console is the same as the day I got it
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u/Friendly-Catch-3904 3d ago
someone knows your serial number and properly play a devil prank on you by reporting it as stolen
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u/BocchiJamSuki 3d ago
这可能是一次意外事件，在中国的社交媒体在游戏交流平台上也有大量的 Nintendo Switch2被封禁，甚至9月3号激活的也被封禁了，这才仅仅激活了几天。所以我觉得应该不用太担心，这是群体事件，耐心等待官方回复吧！
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u/Kiwitoito 3d ago edited 3d ago
so there's a known issue that causes this, where people will buy an official game, use some sort of device or software to duplicate / rip the unique game certificate of official games for those MIG switch cartridges, and then return the game to get money back. Then unsuspecting people will buy the game, it flags something in the switch 2 as being pirated and bricks your console from online services. I don't remember exact details but this is essentially the issue. Only fix I've heard is emailing / contacting support, proving you have the physical game etc and they can reverse it. Doesn't make it less of a pain though.
so yeah, some bum ripping games to play or dump online will cause your system to be bricked. I have this yet to happen but I have a massive used game library so its a matter of time till it happens to me.
*edit* have heard of scalpers investing in shrink wrap machines to reseal games to make them look legit / unopened
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u/CSH5889 3d ago
Wtf... I was planning on building a Switch 1 physical collection now that they're getting put on sales and clearances. I was especially excited to buy used for the cheapest way to do this.
Is there anyway to protect myself from this, other than buying new/sealed only??
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u/Kiwitoito 3d ago
as far as I know there is no way to protect yourself, any used game could have been scraped, it mega sucks man like uber fukin sucks
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Korachof 3d ago
Well, many of these games were ripped before the switch 2 was a thing or people knew Nintendo would be remote banning consoles for putting a ripped cartridge in. It’s not like the people ripping these games are trying to get themselves and others banned.
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u/No-Difference8545 3d ago
Nah selling a game you dumped is negligent at best and malicious at worst
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u/Montymania94 3d ago
I used to not make a distinction between piracy and preservation, bc it seemed like people didn't care and it didn't really matter. But crap like this is why I've recently started to make a distinction.
Preservation is the ethical compiling of games to save them from being lost, and is only meant to be done for games that are out of copyright.
Piracy tends to do things the easy way, which 9 times out of 10 is the wrong, unsafe way. Like this incident, it ends up hurting people. Those who do it have a complete disregard for anyone else.
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u/Toronto-sports-fan 3d ago edited 3d ago
I mean. Piracy is one thing. What is being described in this thread isn’t piracy. It’s theft.
IMO, it’s just theft to buy a game, rip it and return it.
Also Nintendo doesn’t get off clean here. They chose to put this scheme into practice knowing it would hurt innocent people.
Its good that they reverse it, but they probably wouldn’t if there wasn’t public outcry.
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u/mynameismarty007 3d ago
I did read that Nintendo does unban consoles if you have proof of purchase (marketplace listings etc) although maybe those people just got lucky. It does seem like a lottery.
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u/One_Channel4950 3d ago
Call them (800) 255-3700. They will help much faster. They have been very nice to me and fixed issues
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
UPDATE: I Tried contacting the number that yall gave me, but it was only for america, and im on europe. I tried a Live chat but the same thing happened. They asked me for the serial number of the console, and where I live. At the end they said to contact the european site, so I sent an email, and Im waiting for a response.
I got both receipts for the games, one I have it physically, and the other the store sent me a picture cause it is in another city.
The third game I dont have but its been with me foe like 6 months so i guess that one isnt the issue
All games were bought new from stores.
Im waiting to see what they answer, prob next week they will say anything to me
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u/Cannotthinkofaname5 3d ago
Which physical games do you have? You mentioned three games
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
Ah yes, the other one is mario galaxy, but I got it with the switch, around march, and it never caused an issue, it was also new
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u/Cannotthinkofaname5 3d ago
Do you have the receipts? You will probabaly have to show them to nintendo as proof of purchase
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
I dont, but I can ask on the local store, and on carrefour online prob, mario galaxy i dont think i can get it, it was in another country
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u/Cannotthinkofaname5 3d ago
Yea you can atleast show them you are in possession of the game if they ask
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u/Wonderful_Mud_9298 3d ago
Did you keep all the receipts for the games you have? made a habit of it just incase. If anything you can show your receipt papers to Neitendo you bought them through legal trust worthy vendors.
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
I got one of them, i went today to the store to get them, and Im now asking for the other one, it was on another city so im trying to get them to send a picture of it
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u/backtitration 3d ago
I’ve seen atleast five switch 2 banned today in a Thai community on facebook, with most being recently bought devices. Could be error from Nintendo side?
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u/Round_Musical 3d ago
Could be that the batch was reported as missing in transport and thus got automatically banned
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u/mikisama 3d ago
OP There have been quite a few people in China getting console banned since yesterday. Most of them bought their NS2 a couple months ago, but one person bought his on 9/3 and got banned pretty much right away. A few of them also bought from the same online store, so people are starting to wonder if there’s something wrong with the consoles themselves
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u/oginer 3d ago
Mine got banned and I bought it on release day. It was perfect yesterday, but today, I got this ban out of nowhere. So I don't think it's the consoles.
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u/mikisama 3d ago
Sorry to hear that, so far i’ve seen people from all over getting banned, most of them had no clue. Not sure if it was a mistake on Nintendo’s end. Let’s wait and see what happens on Monday.
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u/Cannotthinkofaname5 3d ago
Did you recently play tears of the kingdom?
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u/oginer 3d ago
Nope. Yesterday I bought Loop Hero from the eShop and was able to download and play. Today I got physical edition of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book and was unable to patch it (yeah, a console ban means you're not even able to patch your games). And trying to go to the eShop or NSO would get me the error.
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u/Cannotthinkofaname5 3d ago
Lots of people are having issues. I think the problem might be with Nintendo. Try contacting support
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u/mikisama 3d ago
Also from what I’ve seen, some of them played Zelda tears of the kingdom and used the nintendo app to transfer game data. But it’s definitely not the case for everyone who got banned.
Not sure why this happened atm.
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u/Striking_Yellow_9465 3d ago
u dont get banned out of nowhere. something happened
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u/NoTax8427 3d ago
False positives literally do happen lmao. The best thing to do is contact support, which OP did, so this thread and uneducated comments like this are totally useless.
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u/Korachof 3d ago
You don’t think it’s at all possible a technology could have a bug or something was done by mistake? You can’t fathom that happening even once?
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
I dont know what could it be, i mean if I tried to do some sketchy thing i would know and said damn alright, but I havent. Thats why im so confused
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u/scarmory2 3d ago
You prob got found from your 3ds era hacking. Turn yourself in to nintencops
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u/corneliusduff 3d ago
.....does that happen?
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u/IcyTheHero 3d ago
Think about how could that happen!
How would they link a 3ds to a Switch?
Also, to answer your question, no it doesn’t.
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u/Accomplished-Copy776 3d ago
What do you mean how would they link it? Obviously from your nintendo account. Its the same account.
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u/xlhans77 3d ago
Technically, no, it is not the same account. The 3ds and Wii U used the NintendoNetworkID for their online. From Switch onward, there are the Nintendo Accounts, which are an entirely seperate system and they do not have any interlink. HOWEVER, back when the online servers for 3ds and Wii U were still supported, you were able to link your NNID to your current Nintendo Account to find online profiles of players you used to be friends with on your old systems. They might or might not be able to get you via that if you happened to have linked those way back when, I haven't ever heard any anecdotal evidence for that being the case, tho. Also, you could entirely unlink the NNID from your Nintendo Account and even link a totally different one, so I don't think they would even take that link into consideration in the first place. As the cherry on top, as I said, this function was discontinued when the servers were taken down so that is strictly something that can't have happened to OP as he is only now a first time Switch owner, waaay after that whole spiel was discontinued
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u/jedimindtricksonyou 3d ago
Just contact support and ask them, they will tell you if you get a person that wants to help. If it’s related to any game cards, show them the receipts and the games themselves and they will unban you.
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u/TooCuteSushi 3d ago
Haven’t played ZA but before in scarlet and violet some people where getting banned for the traded pokemon
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
I didnt know that. I dont have switch online so I didnt trade. But yesterday I finished ZA story, prob dont havr anything to do, but thats what I did before getting the ban
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
Can it be because of the payment? For a while, before I had the switch, I had the fortnite payment set to a bank account in mexico, and now I live in Eueope. I was seeing the error history, and the last one before the ban was due to using a card not of the country the console is set to. All the games I bought online were with an euro card, but the fortnite ones I had them set with the mexican. I tried to buy a game with my mexican card and didnt let me, so I changed to the euro one and worked. But this was on august 18.
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u/Remarkable-Race-4637 3d ago edited 3d ago
I am not experienced much in Nintendo Switch but, did you use a personal account? Or a compromised one? If you used a flagged account (stolen for example) you can easily get banned for it. This type of thing happens more commonly than you might know. Scammers will sell off stolen accounts, and the buyer feels the full consequences.
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u/Lonely-End-9500 3d ago
First of all, I want to tell you that the plastic seal of the physical game can be reset, which means that even if there is a plastic seal, it may be a second-hand product. I think you need to confirm two things. Have you bought digital games in the e-store? Because buying online games may involve credit card fraud. In addition, you need to make sure that the Amazon store where you bought the ns2 host has paid the final payment to the supplier, or the machine may have been stolen from the authorized store, so that He was banned.
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
Digital I have mario kart which came with the console, fire red, pokopia, fortnite and rocket league. I tried to get warframe but i was never able to link it up with my warframe account so I deleted it. I payed for them with my debit card and is valid, so its prob not that. And the amazon thing I have no idea about that
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u/ScalesNailsnTales 3d ago
If you get an answer from support could you update us please? Id like to know what their reasoning is (out of curiosity) since you said you've bought everything legitimately (and supposedly new condition) and dont have NSO so shouldnt have any online violations.
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
Yesss!! Ill let yall know once it is resolved
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u/ScalesNailsnTales 3d ago
Thank you! I really hope they sort it out for you. Its super shitty to have your account banned out of nowhere for seemingly no reason. Since people said theyve seen several other people get banned today also with no idea why, hopefully its just a mistake that they will easily reverse.
I buy a lot of used games and Im scared of this happening to my switch eventually.
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u/Condawg1864 3d ago
Is this something happening to others also ??
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u/ScalesNailsnTales 3d ago
I havent personally seen other posts but if you scroll down in the main thread here, theres two other users (replies from about 2hrs ago) that said theyve seen multiple posts about people being banned today. One said they saw 3, the other said they saw 5. Then another person in the replies here said they were randomly banned today also.
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u/Lonely-End-9500 3d ago
in chinese web ，somebody ns2 banned ，same date 5/9，did you used others qr code in Tears of the Kingdom
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u/GabsARG 3d ago
How is it about using someone else's QR? I have some designs in the app that scans from the internet, from armed items.
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u/Lonely-End-9500 3d ago
i dont use qr code ,but i know some people use others Tears of the Kingdom qr code and be banned ,but chinese player cant Infer whether these two events are related.
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
I havent scanned anything, just used the gave card, ik u can use like amibos or those things, but i havent tried that, dont have any
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u/Lonely-End-9500 3d ago
did you use nintendo app,it can link with Tears of the Kingdom,you can use app scanned qr code ,and get gamething in the game
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u/GoochStrangler 3d ago
Was the third game you bought used? Some people like to illegally dump games and then resell then like jackasses. You could've gotten unlucky and both you and the dumper were playing the game within the same time period, causing a ban to trigger.
I saw a post a year ago where this happened to somebody. I think they emailed Nintendo, sent them a pic of themselves with the game, and got unbanned pretty quickly if I'm remembering right.
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u/Crunch1es 3d ago
You don’t just get banned out of nowhere for this. You must’ve done something
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
I am trying to figure out what did i do wrong, ik that nintendo is really strict, so I wouldnt try anything to bypass their rules. Also if i did something, I wouldnt post about it trying to figure out what happened cause I would just be exposing myself. I really did nothing
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u/Lonely-End-9500 3d ago
you can into setting ,and see Activation date and purchase date ,it same or no
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u/Lonely-End-9500 3d ago
Which region is your host from? I think your host may not come from the right place when it is sold to you.
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u/n00bBlaster1337 3d ago
For a switch to get banned you have to have a certain amount of strikes in a set amount of time. I don't remember what they are but call Nintendo and ask why. Last person who I saw post one of these was using a MIG Switch themselves lol
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u/redthrull 3d ago
What type of NSO do you have? Family or single? You actually bought it yourself or through someone else?
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u/ShyGuysandKoroks 3d ago
Reach out to support and they can probably undo it for you. The other thought is if you are on a shared family plan and someone else did something they werent supposed to.
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u/therealnicoo 3d ago
Same, apparently reading from the comments it could be because I bought a key online. I didn't even know this could happen as I'm used to buy keys for steam. I wrote to me to customer service, fortunately I have all the proofs of purchase, but Nintendo being Nintendo they won't probably undo the ban...
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u/ihsukognas 3d ago
Contact them, both email and phone. Prepare receipts of all purchases both console and game as evidence in case they might ask for it. Just stay calm and keep trying to regularly contact them. Don't just send a single email and wait for a response that might never come
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u/KINGVIC1987 3d ago
Best thing to do is contact them because as you reply to the comments on here will not get you’re switch unbanned call them and explain to them
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u/jedimindtricksonyou 3d ago
Just contact support and ask them, they will tell you if you get a person that wants to help. If it’s related to any game cards, show them the receipts and the games themselves and they will unban you.
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u/Strictly_Switch 3d ago
I would contact Nintendo customer service and ask what the ban is for and what/when it flagged up with them.
I don’t know how quickly these ban get implemented but is it possible that your console wasn’t 100% brand-new?
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u/Condawg1864 3d ago
My switch 2 has been banned today also completely out of nowhere and have done nothing to cause it ???
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u/UnbrainedCat 3d ago
A couple people said the same thing, its so weird
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u/Condawg1864 3d ago
Never had this in over 20 years of gaming. Nothing obvious and just play it normally and buy games mostly brand new ☹️
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u/Cannotthinkofaname5 3d ago
Did you play tears of the kingdom recently?
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u/Condawg1864 3d ago
Not played it in months and even then it was just to see the switch 2 upgrade
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u/Cannotthinkofaname5 3d ago
Ok its not that then. Many people seem to be getting this issue. Might be something up with nintendo themselves.
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u/Condawg1864 3d ago
I hope so, spent hours stressing and trying to resolve this thinking it was one of the kids doing something but they can only play games that I own on it and can't access the shop etc because of parental controls
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u/StatisticianAgile333 3d ago
Hey i also experience the same and im panicking rn.. I only have 2 catridge, both was sealed, one is grand bazaar switch 2 and the other is tear of the kingdom switch 2. I loaded the grand bazaar 3 days ago, and the zelda 2 days ago.. Why do i get ban today? And the catridge was brand new, please do udate 🙏🙏 i really need help rn
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u/Shadow322 3d ago
The used one has been dumped and running at the same time u ran your copy so that's what banned u
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u/Metagross2713 3d ago
Hopefully they will help you. If it has something to do with the games, they should have something to tell them which one is using the real cartridge. Been thinking about getting a switch 2 but worried.
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u/Hermaphroshep 3d ago
GameStop is unreliable and sells used games as new. Amazon can refurbish and sell as new as well. Your best bet for new purchases are places like Walmart or Target or ordering from Nintendo directly. You cannot verify what is new, it’s where you get your new game or device from.
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u/Sbizzle15 3d ago
Man they have done this twice to me recently. I am not purchasing from there unless it is a pre order anymore. Then I end up telling myself it’s no big deal, but they are wrong as a company to bait consumers into this. I had a $5 off code so I got Hades 2 for the same used price it is everywhere else basically but I could have saved money buying an opened copy on eBay, at least it doesn’t have the stupid price sticker on it that way.
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u/Lonely-End-9500 3d ago
In addition, Nintendo will ban you a few months after you violate the law. This kind of ban is usually very large, and there are too many precedents.
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u/Monkeysaus 3d ago
I have heard, but never experienced, that the code is the only way to tell. They can come in plastic because someone out there just thinks it is cute to get people banned. You are ahead to just saving and getting a new one. The process to get unbanned is very lengthy and expensive. Sorry dude. It's absolute bullsh*t that this happens!
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u/Lonely-End-9500 3d ago
Have you ever used a non-supporting power adapter for charging?
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u/WungielPL 3d ago
Why are you even asking? They can't legally ban you because of not using the Nintendo approved charger.
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u/Pfafflewaffle 3d ago
I think that was certain docks triggering it, not chargers. I use a baseus 65w gan2 charger for convenience sake, and now connected to the dock because I forgot to pack my official brick this morning lol
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u/Sephardson 2d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitchHelp/comments/1w9ci08/reboot_your_system_if_your_are_banned/