Spent thousands but somehow not on first wave for CSL DD

Been getting the updates saying make sure you're registered, make sure you have previous order history etc, etc. Today I get an email saying congratulations you're on Wave 2. Pretty frustrated by that as I have been with this company for three different series of hardware, thousands and thousands of dollars. And somehow I don't qualify for wave one even though I've registered and done all the little steps as required. Obviously not the end of the world, I can keep racing with my existing setup. But their mishandling of this announcement and release has been quite the debacle and disappointing.

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Comments

  • edited June 2021

    Same here. I missed out on both wave 1 and 2. When I sent a support ticket from my logged in account, with updated profile info, they responded by email to an old address that was not even connected to my fanatec account anymore (I changed all my emails about 6 months ago). I think they have DB problems.

    They did not reply to my second email, asking about this.

  • That would better explain why I have been receiving newsletters and on my account on the website, the box was unchecked.

  • In my case, I had the newsletter box checked, and had signed up on their various other newsletter pages like the dd landing one.

  • Michael JungMichael Jung Member
    edited June 2021

    The website issues for preorders seem to have taken place for previous releases and the Fanatec CEO was even aware that their website probably wouldn’t be able to handle the uptick in traffic. Why not prepare for this?

    1:45 - he even says that he hopes that the website will survive the launch, meaning he was well aware of the fact that there is a huge possibility that it wouldn’t.

  • They did prepare for it. S happens. It's not even close to going to retail shelves yet.


    PS. May this positivity magically enable my account for preorder :D

  • I understand Sim driving has exploded especially due to covid. My best friend is the head track designer for iRacing. They have nearly tripled their base of players in the last few years. But if you're going to release a new product at least have your website able to handle the traffic even if you don't have the physical items ready to ship. It's not that big a deal to bump up server load or traffic handling software and hardware.


    Luckily my existing kit is doing just fine. However I expected to be in group one and have a perspective buyer for my old set up lined up and now I have to tell that person it's going to be a while longer. Disappointment rolls downhill I guess...

  • And to the person that said they have database problems, I believe that's totally correct. At one point I changed my email years ago and they still can't find some of my orders. According to them I never bought some of the equipment that I used for a couple years and then sold to a friend.

  • Nathan WongNathan Wong Member
    edited June 2021

    I find it funny that you didn't get into the first wave, but when you get an email saying that you'll be in the second wave you still throw a fit because you didn't get into the first wave. Fanatec can't win. I was happy I got the second wave email. If I didn't get it and I didn't get a chance to buy the CSL DD, well, then I don't get it. My life will continue on with the 2008 Porsche 911 Turbo wheel that I've been using for 13 years.

  • wait, what?, wave 2 is already over? I didn't get an email about wave 2 either LOL

    I think fanatec's admin backend has grown with extra features build ontop of extra features over the past few years, to the point where things get glitchy.

    If i had been working a minimum wage job instead of spending the time trying to order the CSL DD, I'd have made enough by now to go for a DD1 instead :)

  • no email for me either and I met the requirement for wave 1

  • Wave 2 has not begun, I got an email this morning that it will begin soon and will get an email when it starts. IF it has started then I'm done with Fanatec as I should have been in 1st wave but was not able to order.

  • I spent nearly 50,000 Euro with Fanatec over the past year and I did not get a Wave 1 email. I think it's because I did not have newsletter ticked. In my opinion that's rather a dubious requirement as its saying we force you to accept our newsletters if you order from us... but this is probably me feeling hard done by, the reality is that I was not signed up to it.

    I got the email today about Wave 2 so hopefully will be in that group and able to order.

    One thing that I think caused a lot of confusion is that sometimes the product showed up on the Fanatec website and could even be added to the cart, but in practice I think this was in error so when I tried to checkout or most times add it to the cart it failed... This was probably because I was not eligible and it should not have shown up on the shop at all for me.

    Fanatec support and information is well below what we would all like for sure... but this is a great product and there is no question that they are trying really hard to do the right thing with this launch. Like so many launches before, it just did not go quite as they wanted it to.

    So, I say, give them a bit of time and space to sort things out and applaud the product and price.

    Simon Maltby

    Sim Racing Machines

  • Dude chill. I didn't throw a fit. I even said it would be fine with my existing kit, just that I was frustrated. Can't believe you wasted your time to reply to my comment with absolutely nothing to add to the conversation. Go find something else to do with your time, seriously.

  • Agreed. Why even bother posting something that asinine? Was it to broadcast your virtue by way of saying you're using a 13 year old setup? Good for you.

  • "Like so many launches before, it just did not go quite as they wanted it to."

    This is the issue right here. They've had previous launches before that experienced very similar issues. This tells me either the steps they took to try to improve the experience and avoid these issues weren't enough or they didn't do anything and all to prepare for this launch and just hoped that it wouldn't happen again.

    You're about to drop an industry changing product, you know your website has buckled with extra traffic in the past even, you even acknowledge the possibility of the website not being able to handle the traffic, but...this?

  • I am in the same boat as Pedro, received all newsletters, but after receiving no Wave 1 invite checked the profile, the box was unticked there.

    Maybe some of us have too old accounts, mine has been there since 2014.

  • dan poppodan poppo Member
    edited June 2021

    i think fanatec missed out on a great opportunity. it would be soo cool if they had a series of online races and the top 3 maybe the top 10 in each race got in the first wave. they could continue it thru the 2nd and 3rd wave. you lose you go home no whining.

  • Nathan WongNathan Wong Member
    edited June 2021

    You're telling me to "chill" when you're the one going off. I was just making a comment on how you started this useless thread because you were frustrated that you weren't part of the 1st wave even though you got an email saying you were part of the 2nd wave already. Tell me, how is your message any different than mine?

  • Wouldn't you think that someone that owns an older system would be more inclined to upgrade to a new DD system than someone that already owns a newer system? Of course you didn't or you wouldn't have written what you did. And by the way, yes, I've been using Fanatec for 13 years. I bet that's a lot longer than you have.

  • Absolutely, but what was the point of you coming on here just to crap in someone's thread? You added absolutely nothing to the conversation when people are on here just venting their frustration. Do you work for Fanatec or something? Do they pay your bills? Why are you so intent on defending a company when they dropped the ball? This is a forum. People come on to forums to talk about things, which includes complaining/venting when things go wrong.

    And yes, you've definitely been using Fanatec's year for way longer than I have - congratulations. In fact, I'm new to sim racing and this will (hopefully) be my first setup. I was told the sim racing community was welcoming and cool, but your comments certainly don't reflect that.

  • Yeah, with the amount of people trying to get an order in, I am surprised that Fanatec's site is still running today. Good luck to you, and I hope you are successful in getting an order in; that is, if you still plan on placing an order.

    Nothing seems to be shipping until late August or early September, so there's still time. I wonder if Fanatec has a certain number of units they can reserve, and that is why these "waves" are so short? In stead of waves, it seems as if they are bleeding a relief valve, or something. LOL

  • edited June 2021

    hello,

    I missed the wave 1 so don't know exactly the commit date for deliveries, now if Fanatec is saying August / September we can easily think they have no stock and the production will start in the coming weeks.

    I don't know Fanatec financial data and maybe I'm wrong but looks like they use customers money for production which is "safe" model for a small company, not an ideal one regarding customer satisfaction.

  • Don't make the whole community on one person. Nathan just expressed his opinion and that's fine, wether you agree with him or not doesn't matter in the end.


    Hopefully you'll have fun with your first Fanatec gear :)

  • I qualified for Wave 1 and never received an email (for Wave 1 or Wave 2) and I am subscribed to the newsletter. HOWEVER, I was just able to place a preorder.

  • Simon MaltbySimon Maltby Member
    edited June 2021

    Thank you for the heads up Damon... I just went back to the shop and was also able to order.

    Either Wave 2 is live but no emails sent out yet or they fixed something.

    EDIT: Just got the WAVE 2 Email

    Simon

  • I was able to place my order this time, whew! Funny, I got the wave 2 email AFTER I ordered, lol.

  • Second wave seems to be live. Any luck this time?

  • I also just got my order in without a problem.

    Now the wait begins :)

  • Yes, 4 month wait, I hope they don't have any production issues...

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