Fanatec Delivery 2024 - the good, bad & ugly
For context I am a first time buyer direct from Fanatec and UK based.
The Good:
Monday 29th January - Ordered the Ready2Race CSL DD READY2RACE WRC BUNDLE FOR XBOX & PC + QR1 as all showed in stock. I received an email straight away to confirm my order.
Tuesday 30th January - Dispatch notice
Wednesday 31st January - UPS we have your parcel
Friday 2nd February - UPS custom fees are due
Monday 5th - Multiple delivery emails and the item arrived in 4 boxes and everything is perfect.
For this order I felt informed throughout and I personally have had zero issues with this order or delivery so I am a happy customer (ish see the ugly).
Note - four individual boxes do concern me, it's asking for trouble.
The Bad:
Friday 26th January - I originally ordered the Ready2Race CSL DD READY2RACE WRC BUNDLE FOR XBOX & PC + 'free' QR1 lite. However, the QR1 light was out of stock until end of March so I didn't receive any correspondence from Fanatec about my order and apart from the money missing from my account I wouldn't have known I'd even placed an order. Because of this I contacted Fanatec on the 26th January to ask 1, if my order existed and 2, if full orders are not shipped until everything is in stock and to this day I've never heard back - ended up cancelling this order, refund took 48 hours, PayPal don't convert the refund the same as the purchase so this ended up costing me £18.65 but this is a Paypal issue not Fanatec.
The Ugly:
I'm not the first and won't be the last to say this but not supplying any mounting bolts is needlessly frustrating for the customer and typically my old rig bolts don't fit. I think the least Fanatec could do it be explicitly clear on this as you can't use the base unless you've got either the desk clamp (extra accessory) or mounting bolts which Fanatec don't supply nor sell as an accessory, I even struggled to find length of bolts needed and now I can't use the wheel until I've got the bolts.
For reference I have ordered four M6 x 10mm for the DD base (M6 x 8mm is maximum plus 2mm for rig plate) and the pedals need two M6 x 25mm (M6 x 22mm maximum plus 2mm rig plate) for the front mount and then either two M6 x 10mm or M8 x 10mm + bolts for the back mount. The cost for this delivered?...nuts, bolts and washers £4 delivery £3 so literally £7 is stopping me using the wheel today, it's such a small amount I can't understand why Fanatec don't throw a few bolts in the box or sell them. I accept all rigs are different but I think for a vast majority of customers the bolts mentioned will suffice.
Overall my experience has been much better than those I've read online so it feels like Fanatec are back on the up however there is still room for improvement.
Comments
If that's ugly I wonder what you'd say about waiting 3 months for an RMA, count yourself lucky 🥺
i found the bolts I had were too long when I received my Clubsport DD as well, but I just used some hex nuts to pack out the distance to get the correct fit. I just bought a box from the local hardware shop for $5.
So I have good too. I ordered the Clubsport F1 bundle, V3 pedal (standard), podium paddle set, brake performance kit and button covers and stickers. I’m based in USA, NC. Placed order on March 12th, passed to warehouse on 14th, got notification from FedEx they had parcels and delivered on 18th early morning. Everything arrived , no damage, I uploaded software and had it all working by early evening. It is frustrating not getting any fixing bolts, etc but I took a trip to Lowe’s ( US hardware store) and go all the correct bolts, etc from the speciality fitting section for $10. I fitted to an F1 Playseat.
Fanatec get a lot of bad press on here, but I want to give a shout out for them. A great job and really impressed with them and their products. Hopefully they have reached a turning point and it’s good news for everyone going forward
Just to add, my order status showed pass to warehouse all the wat through and still does