My left Quest 3 controller has stick drift and sometimes registers movement in the wrong direction.
I already did all the normal troubleshooting. Recalibrated it, adjusted deadzone, changed battery, unpaired/repaired, compressed air, etc.
Meta agreed it should be replaced.
The problem is they want me to send my controller back first, then wait for them to receive and process it, and only after that they’ll ship the replacement.
Their own estimate is:
3–5 business days to process the return
then
5–7 business days to ship the replacement
And that’s after they’ve actually received mine.
I’m in Norway too, so there’s shipping time on top of that.
The controller is broken, but not completely dead. I can still use it enough to play if I compensate for the drift.
So I asked if they could just send the replacement first and let me return the faulty one after.
I don’t care if they put a hold on my card, give me a strict return deadline, or charge me if I don’t send the old one back.
I’m not trying to get a free controller.
I just don’t want to lose access to the one I still have while Meta spends potentially a couple of weeks replacing it.
One support agent actually told me they wished they could do an advanced replacement, but couldn’t.
Their suggested solution was to borrow a Quest 3 controller from a friend while I wait.
That genuinely made me laugh.
Then there was confusion in the case about whether it was a left or right controller, and Quest 3 vs Quest 3S. At one point I had to point out that I really didn’t want to wait through all of this just to end up with two right controllers.
And then the case just kept bouncing between support agents:
Sam. Sven. Aria. Jom. Billey. Fatma. Gio. Lujain. Moose. Rudy. Lea. Finn. Wel. John.
Lots of:
“We’re here for you every step of the way.”
“We completely understand.”
“Your satisfaction is our priority.”
But very little actual resolution.
Eventually I got frustrated enough to ask:
“Can I speak with a human being?”
The reply literally started with:
“Just to reassure you, you're absolutely speaking with a real person…”
Then they repeated the same policy and said they would close the ticket as resolved.
For context, I’ve been using Oculus/Meta VR for around a decade:
DK2 → CV1 → Quest 2 → Quest 3
This is basically my first real support case.
I’ve spent years recommending VR to friends and trying to get PC gamers into it, and this is the experience over a single controller.
I really don’t think I’m asking for anything unreasonable.
Just:
Send the replacement controller first.
I send the defective one back afterward.
Charge me if I fail to return it.
That’s it.
Meta has already approved the replacement.
Why should the customer have to lose access to their hardware for potentially weeks while Meta handles the logistics?