Broken Fanatec BMW wheel, Customer Service unable to help, 2-3 week response times
Cristian Vasile
Member
Fanatec
On March 5th, 2024, I contacted Fanatec Customer service regarding my BMW M3 GT2 wheel. I had begun to have an issue where the wheel shows that the right paddle, funky switch and one of my buttons are constantly being pressed down. I submitted a ticket with all the information they request such as: firmware, pictures of the pins, etc.
I received an email on the 17th, almost 2 weeks later with simple troubleshooting steps (I completed almost all of these and communicated that in my first email, showing that this is a copy/paste email).
I obliged and completed every step (took over an hour) to rule out any software issues. No success, my issue still persisted. They also asked for more pictures, which I already provided in my original email, again showing that there is little attention.
I followed up a few times after that email, and finally received a response on April 8th, saying I need to send the wheel into the workshop to be inspected. Also that there is no invoice attached to the wheel. (I mentioned earlier I got this as a gift which is why there is no invoice) there was also, no instructions on how to send the wheel in, cost, etc.
I responded, asking for instructions to send it in, cost, etc. I also asked if I could simply purchase a replacement QR Main cable 8 Pin JST PH Plug, as I believe that would be the issue. i received an email on April 25th, with the repair costs of €35/half hour or $63/hour, and completely ignored my request to purchase the cable on my own.
I responded asking Nathan to answer my emails in its entirety as my request to purchase the cable was ignored and I have to wait another 2-3 weeks to hear back. This is why there is such a long wait time as the CS gives short, non-informative/helpful responses and drag out the time between responses until the customer gives up.
At this moment I am unsure on how to proceed, I would like to fix this wheel that has been a paperweight for almost 2 months, and once fixed, I will be selling all my Fanatec equipment and moving to another company that actually services their customers. I had great experiences with Logitech and Thrust master. I also heard great things about Moza as well, so I will definitely be getting rid of all my Fanatec items as I cannot trust a company that sells such expensive equipment, which is unreliable and doesn’t service their customers.
Just as a note, in this almost two month period, I researched this wheel, tried all the troubleshooting I found online and even took the entire wheel apart, unplugged and replugged all the cables. Also, to test the shifter issue, I replaced the shifter module with another and it still has the same issue, showing it isn’t the shifter that’s the problem and most likely the pins. Which led me to try purchasing a new cable but of course Fanatec doesn’t sell them and the only wait to get a genuine cable is through the Customer service.
Hopefully I will have some assistance in getting this cable, as I’m unsure that’s even the issue, but Fanatec’s CS being the way that they are, I’m hopeful I might find a solution this year.
Ticket# 000021600005291