Bye bye fanatec - open letter to fanatec
Paul Hartl
Member
For the first few years of my sim racing journey I used a controller and then upgraded to a wheel, a G27, from there to thrustmaster, all the while the end game goal was fanatec. I was in awe of their hardware and they were the market leaders. I finally jumped into fanatec with a DD1 and a couple of wheels when I could afford it.
I loved my fanatec gear and looked after it with pride.
Fanalab is amazing and topped the hardware off nicely.
I had no issues with the hardware or software, all functioned flawlessly.
But you know what, that is not enough nowadays. I purchased the new QR2 last september and the whole ordering process left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
From the change of order status to shipped within 24 hours, when it had not shipped, to the delays in receiving it. From being told it was out of stock even though it was in stock when ordered, and other people who ordered after me receiving theirs before me.
Then their has been the continual train wreck with hundreds, if not thousands of customers having worse issues than I did, and it is still ongoing, 6 months later!
Any company that truly values their current and future customers would not take so long to fix issues and respond to queries and support emails.
I was looking to order the BMW GT3 wheel late last year and then the Bentley one, whenever it was going to release.
Then I thought about it, do I really want to spend thousands more with a company that does not value their customers and has contempt for them? What if I need support, is it acceptable for me to wait months to get issues resolved?
I came to the conclusion that I wanted out of fanatec, I do not trust them and never will again.
To anyone on these forums not in the fanatec ecosystem yet but thinking of it, be wary, do your research and read all the horror stories in these forums.
There are many other high quality ecosystems out there now that are equal or better than fanatec and actually do care and value their customers and are not brushed off by the arrogance of this company.
In my eyes Germany has always been known for its efficiencies of operation and quality processes but fanatec are the complete opposite of this. It is like they are being managed by Manuel out of Fawlty Towers.
Whilst my user experience of the hardware has been good I would not recommend fanatec to anyone, now or ever, even if they do turn things around, they have burned their bridges with me and many others.
I have already sold off all my fanatec gear and bought into another ecosystem and am very happy with it. I would never consider fanatec again.
Bye bye fanatec, I won't miss you.
Over and out.
Comments
<<"To anyone on these forums not in the fanatec ecosystem yet but thinking of it, be wary, do your research and read all the horror stories in these forums.">>
Of course, Fanatec also had problems, but what is important is that they try to solve these problems and that is exactly what they are trying to do right now. I am sure that Fanatec will find its way back to its old strength.
Take a look to forums of Mercedes, BMW, VW, Audi, Range Rover, Jaguar.... you can find same horror stories but million of another users are happy with they cars. Same for Fanatec. Fanatec is the biggest company for simracing with millions of customers worldwide. The another companys would have same issues with a big range of products and more customers. Note, customers that happy with they products dont taking a look here or writing stories about this.
I'am fanatec user since 2012 and I am still happy with they products and support. My first CS DD was broken and the support has replaced this within 30 days and the new base works fine. Support was also unnecessarily overloaded by customers sending 10-30 requests or support tickets every day because they couldn't wait a week. You can read here in the forum yourself how many write that they have sent several requests every day. This causes longer waiting times for everyone. It's important to creating a culture where everyone contributes.
wish you good luck for the future.
hello, I'm like you, I always appreciated fanatec products until I received the DD+ and the day after its installation after a few hours of games and well problem of "coil whine..." a new product and already a problem, see my other post on this subject and a week after opening an rma no news....obviously... I think the problem is that the company has become too big and it is far from its loyal customer base and is now focused on its shareholders...and in the long term you will lose a lot....for my part I will try to resolve my problem with this DD+ and then seriously consider changing the ecosystem as you have done, you are no longer the fanatec leader...
Of course people are sending multiple inquiries because Fanatec is so slow to respond. Don't blame customers for Fanatec's incompetence/greed.
I am one of those users who has sent several tickets, and I don't regret it. My story with Fanatec and this process that I've been going through since November to be able to purchase the CS DD+ and later the DD Extreme still isn't over. I don't understand how in an open incident, after several replies to a ticket, overnight they stop responding. When you've been waiting for a refund of over €2500 for more than a month, it's understandable that you want answers. I understand the problem with the tickets, but how is it possible that a ticket I sent a month ago never received a response and another one I sent two weeks ago did? This is a problem that goes beyond message overload! The most absurd thing is that, after almost 6 months of waiting for a product from Fanatec (without seeing a near end yet), I'm eager for my refund so I can buy the DD Extreme from them. I think Fanatec's problem is foolish users like me who play with them and yet still linger here. They don't even say "sorry"
They should dedicate almost all their efforts to try to remedy this situation. No matter how good your hardware and software are, the most important thing is to take care of the user by providing good support. Especially nowadays with all the competition that Fanatec has in the market. Time will tell!
@Jaime Gonzalez Rodriguez — I'm did similar mistake. After order to DD+ in 04 of november was decline it in february and bought CS DD, but after use it I can say, that driver not release the potential of this base, it just more strong and quikest but feel like CSL DD. Add all problems with brick new bases and long time to update software I think, situation not change in next few years. And I'm afraid that my base will brike in next update and I can't accept it, it nervous me.
For getting full speed of CS DD I need set force to 100%, but it not for me, I must fight with power of base but not drive the car. Last corner in Long beach — this base try to broke my hands :)
Now I sold my CS DD and try to sell CSL DD. Next step — the new ecosystem will arrive in few weeks. :(
This company is crazy changing the shipping date over and over and the day before its due to be sent to me they change it again to april 30th so as of today im canceling my order and just gonna buy one off ebay atleast i will get it that way