Is Fanatec became a SCAM ?
Hello everyone,
One week ago I ordered a "ReadytoRace" pack. The CSL DD with McLaren wheel for Xbox.
The product page indicate a "ships in 4 to 7 days". Once ordered they inform you that there is a delay of "roughly one week" due to warehouse problems.
Now I still didn't receive any news from UPS. I was already amazed to see there is no indication about this delay on products pages...
Now I just take a look on those topics here and I feel so uncomfortable. My money is gone and I have any security or any way to get informations about my package.
Also I just learnt that my McLaren wheel announced ready for Xbox will not have an entire compatibility (some buttons will be useless, no OLED screen).
Communication on the product itself, delivery process, communication in general,... Anything seem on point.
This is my first simracing set-up and people were talking about "being part of Fanatec ecosystem" like something positive... How can it be ? I will be locked with a company I have a lot of doubts about even before trying the product itself !
At this point I also have doubt that Fanatec will still exist in the future and for the products compatibility in the future.
Maybe I'm a bit dramatic because of the topics I just read but without any answer from Fanatec communication department... It's entirely their fault.
Comments
Without building up a construction of excuses:
Fanatec switched their logistics shipping provider, as it seems they are highly overwhelmed. Because they had no issues with their old provider, they pretty sure only have a small department for customer service, which now can't keep up with all the complaints that occur just because of the inability of their new shipping provider.
So far it seem that everyone gets his stuff - but it takes way too long and they don't have sufficient staff to keep up the work.
Is Fanatec a scam or in danger of bankruptcy? I actually don't think so. They made a bad decision switching their service provider and now have to repair that - but most of the problems are - unfortunately - not in their hands. They try to communicate the problems on their homepage (e.g. at least up to 14 days of response time on the contact form), but it still a very unsatisfactory situation for all of us.
Dear Thibaud, we apologize and we understand your disappointment at having to wait such a long time for your delivery. We can confirm that your order from 10 October has come in. Please make sure to check your order status and shipping number on a Laptop, PC or with “Desktop Site” enabled on your phone. Sometimes the shipping number doesn’t show when you’re in mobile mode. You can find updates on the logistical delays that still affect the European market on our website here: bit.ly/3PNYYak . We hope that you’ll soon get an update from our shipping service provider, and we want to thank you for your utmost patience and for sticking with us!
Seeing as an Admin is actually on these forums, how about giving everyone on here a personal update on their orders? How can you have old orders stuck in depot's whilst orders from a week or two a go are being delivered?
Hello James,
Thanks for your answer... But I don't understand. What should I check on my PC or desktop site mode ?
My order is "completely ship" and I have a command number but nothing from UPS.
If I read the Fanatec informations they are saying that the "completely ship" information is not serious and the order is automatically announced this way.
Sooo... Thanks but I have 0 news.
And you didn't answer about the fact there is any information about the fact that an Xbox ready device is not working completely on Xbox.
It's more like an unofficial adaptator you can find on eBay if I understood. I don't have any gaming computer... So I'm buying something that may maybe never worked completely. It's hard to be completely satisfied either.
FWIW, this is the latest on full Xbox compatibility;
Thanks for sharing this.
This is even maybe worse than expected.
Having problem with delivery is one thing. Not communicating about it is another. Announcing fake delivery time on page product is another one. Announcing functionalities which never worked completely is also another... And once again having 0 communication about fixes and keep announcing those functionalities on the product page.
This is already a lot to me... And I never tasted a Fanatec product yet.
I was considering to buy the 8Nm adaptator. At this point I would prefer to buy it elsewhere even at the same price.
All this looks barely legal to me.
"All this looks barely legal to me."
THIS!
Depending on where you live, this whole mess may not be LEGAL. If someone in the USA opened up a class action lawsuit, I'd pay money to get in on it.
Fannytec were never able to ship my DD order, did get a McLaren wheel I can't use, shipped me 3 QR2s while I tried to cancel the order, ignoring my communication and PayPal dispute. Now they are ignoring my request to return the QR2s.
I feel like I dodged a bullet getting out of the Fannytec ecosystem while I still could, I got an entire MOZA setup in less than a week from resellers here in the USA, it's great, and was cheaper in the long run as I did not need to upgrade the QRs.
fanatec is not a reseller, he is a company who makes a products, current delay comes from they logistic partner who is not even was able add correct documents to UK members
Fanatec is doing more than building products. They are selling them.
I have personally no deal with their logistic partner. I have one with Fanatec. They took my money and the promise was to deliver me a fully working product inside an announced delay.
I really don't care who's taking care of logistic. It's not my business.
This is the worst. I would like to cancel my order now but I know it will be complicated. I can't risk to lock 600 € for probably a long period of time. If I could get try money back super quickly I would go for Moza, Logitech, thrusrmast,...
I paid with PayPal. Maybe it could help to get my money back ?
Of cause they can.
When I decided to cancel my large order with my DD in it via the cancel button in the store, the cancellation was accepted in 2 days, and the refund to PayPal was quick. You just have to cancel it before the order is marked "Completely Shipped". Ironically when I sat down to cancel the order, they had just marked my QR2 order "Completely Shipped", even though it did not get a shipping label created and ship for 2 days. And of course no matter how I tried to communicate with them, they still shipped it. I was going to refuse the shipment, but the FedEx driver very helpfully forged my signature (just a straight line!), so I've requested a return, haven't heard back for a week, probably not a priority now, for either of us!
Thanks for your feedback about this. The problem is that now every new order is automatically announced "completely shipped"... But you don't receive anything from UPS before at least a weak... If everything is fine... Maybe some months reading the consumers returns here.
So I can't cancel it. I could maybe with PayPal but it sounds like the start of a long process...
You're going to be waiting for a while either way. The question you need to ask yourself is, do I want to keep my Fanatec gear whenever it finally arrives, and continue to deal with a company that treats its customers like this? And what happens when I need support? Will I be able to contact them then? Or will they be in the middle of another self-manufactured crisis?
Or do you contact PayPal, get your money back, and give your business to a company that is responsive to its customers and is not in complete disarray?
If you're new to Fanatec and have nothing invested in their ecosystem, my advice would be to get out now, and don't look back.
This is terrible, Fanatec is shooting themselves, not in the foot, but in their head…WTH FANATEC!!!
It’s NOT your logistics, it’s your failure to communicate and the desire to take cash from customer’s knowing full well you should not.
Fix your stuff man, I fear you are putting yourself in big trouble despite the millions you spend on sponsoring everything, with some cash from not fulfilled orders.
Januari 2024 and still the same problem...