dbrand stops blaming customers, offers Joy-Con grip replacements

If dbrand is known for anything, it’s premium products and excessive snark. Usually that works in its favor, but when several customers revealed a flaw in the Killswitch case for the Switch 2 on Reddit, its signature style further upset frustrated users.

The issue lies in the connection between the Joy-Con and the Switch 2 console, which relies on magnets rather than the mechanical rail in the Switch 1. There is a small air gap between the two, which prevents the Joy-Con from getting enough leverage to pop free.

With the dbrand Killswitch grips attached to the Joy-Cons, that gap is ever so slightly smaller. In a post on Reddit that’s more than 4,000 words long, the company detailed its reasoning behind the design, and why it’s unlikely that the Joy-Cons will detach in everyday use. Essentially, the company expects all users to support the body of the Switch 2 with their fingers while holding the Joy-Con.

For users frustrated by the flaw in their $60 case, the whole thing stank of Steve Jobs’ notorious 2010 “You’re holding it wrong” response to the iPhone 4’s connectivity problems. dbrand did admit that “we do think there’s an underlying issue for us to fix here” and promised to improve tolerances and quality checks to minimize the chance of detachment, but it also stuck to its edgy corporate persona.

A section titled “VIRAL VIDEOS AND YOU” placed some blame for the outrage on the users who found the issue, saying the videos themselves prompted others to “validate the thesis that detachment can occur” on their own devices. In other words, if you didn’t know about the flaw, it probably wouldn’t bother you, so chill out about it.

Reversing course

After a few days of brutal comments on the initial post, dbrand returned to Reddit with a shorter, more somber update. In it, the company tried “a new communication strategy where we both say fewer words and devote less of them to blaming you.”

The company seems to have listened to its community, committing to retooling its molds to reduce the size of the lip and minimize the possibility of the Joy-Cons popping free. It’s also working on a second solution that will eliminate the problem altogether, but it’s not sure whether it’s viable for mass production. The first run will be finished on July 10, so expect an update around that time.

Regardless, all customers are eligible to receive replacement grips for free, whether from the retooled molds or the second solution. The company will reach out to everyone whose orders have shipped once it determines which solution provides “the best possible version of this product.”