Yet another CSL Load Cell frying the throttle - No response from support
Justin Thorell
Member
Grasping at straws here, since the 2 hour window for me to call Fanatec is at 5am my timezone & i've called about 20 times over several days within that time frame and gotten no response, and i've now been waiting for a week for any response to my support ticket through the website.
After waiting 6 and a half weeks from placing my order for the Gran Turismo DD Pro bundle & Load Cell Kit, i had it all working perfectly until my load cell arrived about 5 days after everything else. Hooked it up according to the instructions, as well as following the youtube video uploaded to Fanatec's youtube, and immediately smelled fried electronics from the throttle. The throttle no longer works at all, whether it's on my PS5 or PC. Again, I triple checked all of the connections since I knew that people have been having this exact issue and it still fried my throttle.
I've tried all troubleshooting tips I could find. Swapped cables around in every possible configuration. Uninstalled and reinstalled drivers. Tried hooking it up without the load cell pedal (which seems to be recognized in the Fanatec Control Panel and works) back to the original configuration that I used for 5 days without issue prior to hooking up the load cell pedal, but no luck. I believe the load cell pedal fried my throttle - whether that's due to a faulty throttle or a faulty load cell pedal, i'm not sure.
I'm disheartened that, after spending approx $1,300CAD, it not only took over 6 weeks to get what I ordered, but since the load cell pedal now broke my throttle i'm waiting yet another week and still don't have any response from support on the matter. I've had to resort back to my Logitech G29 since my Fanatec set is just a paper weight without a throttle.
Here's hoping that this post can get some sort of response.
Comments
Been trying to exchange a set with the same issue since April 1… Today I got an RMA to send my pedals in… after they get around to looking at them.. they will send me another set.. 3 weeks just to get a RMA🤦🏻
I just got my rig built and hooked everything up. Same issue. It's really tough spending $1100 on an item and when it doesn't work, I can't get a response from the manufacturer. I've never had a worse experience with a company, and I'm seeing now that I'm not the only one. I should have done more research into Fanatec before I purchased their product, so that's on me. If I would have done a little google search, I would have seen Fanatec has had QC and customer service issues since well before Covid.
I found out that the "best" way to get a hold of the support at Fanatec is to either call them the moment they open in the morning. Or VERY short after opening. Or use the chat support at the moment or straight after they open. Any later than that, then you will probably not get a hold of them.
Trust me, i've tried. I've woken up at 5am my time (PST) on several days and tried calling them countless times and never end up getting through.
As for the chat support, I must be blind since i've searched everywhere and can't find anything aside from the Chatbot on their main website - is there a link to an actual chat I can give a try? I'm running out of options!
You're trying them at the wrong time. 5am PST is 2pm in Germany. I'd recommend trying around midnight PST, so you can catch them right around 9am their time.
If you look at the site during normal (German) business hours, you'll notice a red square with a headset icon to indicate that live chat is available.
Of course this isn't foolproof and you may have to keep trying several times, but I found this was the best method of initiating contact when I needed to get in touch with support a few months ago.
I was just going based on what their support says, "You can reach us via telephone (0049 871 9221 122) from 2 pm to 4 pm (CET+1) or via our contact forms.". I'll give it another try at midnight or ~1AM and see if I can get through to anyone however, and check for live chat as well. Thanks for the help, fingers crossed!
Called midnight PST and 1am PST and was just told by the automated voice to call between 2-4pm CET as per usual.
Got on live chat and had someone just tell me that "tech support is not taking live chat at the moment" and that "the live chat is for customer support only and this is outside our scope" so I just have to continue to wait for a response on my support ticket.
I haven't seen such incompetent customer service before.
I will agree that the customer support is waaaaaay to slow. But, everytime I have tried the live chat option at the moment they open, or just right after their opening hours, I have gotten an answer.
BUT, it is GOT TO BE AT THE MOMENT THEY OPEN. OR JUST SECONDS/MINUTES AFTER. I can not be any more clear on that :D Hope this helps.
Thanks, but as mentioned I did the live chat and got an answer. The answer was "tech support is outside the scope of our customer service on live chat. Submit a ticket and wait."
This is crazy..I'm having thee same exact issue here. I agree I should have done my research first, I just spent well over $1,200 only to have my pedals arrive not working as well. I've ran every troubleshooting step, uninstalling then reinstalling and still my CSL pedals aren't working. Received my RMA # to send them in only to now find out that once I send these back I have to wait for a technician to have time to look at them..come up with a solution as to why they don't work..only then do I get a working set sent out to me. This is the absolute worst experience I've ever had, I know have a $1,200 paper weight setup that I have no idea when I'll be able to use. I now have to revert back to my Logitech G29 as well and it's absolutely frustrating after spending the kind of money we all have spent with them.