My Experience as a Brand New Fanatec Customer in Need of Customer Support
Hi everyone, just wanted to record my experience as a new Fantec customer. This is also to inform any new or potential customers out there so that they can manage expectations if something goes wrong don’t expect quick service necessarily. Then it’s your choice if you want to take the risk or not. Whatever the reasons, pandemic, supply chain issues etc be prepared for the long ride, if something goes wrong.
As a caveat, please bear in mind that I am based in Germany, so Fanatec is a local company for me and your mileage may vary depending on where in the world you are but consider that I should get comparatively quicker service to those based outside of Germany or Europe.
here is the journey:
- Decided to replace my Logitech gear with Fanatec DD Pro bundle after extensive Research(not an easy decision given the price jump)
- Order placed on 4th April 2022 and bundle received on 7th April
- Noticed constant grainy/ rough feeling in wheel base and wheel, clearly a defect therefore contacted support on 9th April
- received first support response on 21 April (14 days after initial request) and offered to return the base for an exchange. I was also advised that they will start the return procedure.
- today 25th April I am still waiting for a return label and further instructions (I requested this again on 22nd but no reply)
- in Summary more than two weeks and issue is still not resolved
i am sure that Fanatec is striving to get their stuff together during this extremely difficult time but just be aware if things don’t go smoothly, you will have to arm yourself with a lot of patience and understanding and this might not be your original expectation.
Comments
It is very disappointing to hear about all this customer service issues. Very sad actually as I do like their products and their development direction.
I hope Fanatec can do something about it as I will hold off purchasing another product from them until I hear good things.
My CSL DD base is fine and working well but am thinking of upgrading to something with more FFB, like the DD1, but I will wait for awhile more and hopefully they will resolve this issue. Other options are the Simucube Sport or the VRS DirectForce Pro.
I have already upgraded my pedals and went with the VRS over the V3s. I love my McLaren GT3 V2 wheel and would be sad to have to sell that to move away from Fanatec. Wheel options for the other bases are like 4 times more expensive!
I think it is a capacity problem as well as the current time we live in that is adding to their challenges. No way they actually want their customers to suffer.
At least my wheel kind of works and I can feel how amazing it should be. There are others with units that failed out of the box still waiting for support…..this is a worst case scenario of course but customers have to be aware of the „what if“
I will keep the progress of my case up to date here so eventually when I do get support you know the outcome. This will help people to see my timeline and experience so they have as much info as possible.
I empathize with your experience. I'm here in US and am having almost the identical situation. I'm about to post my own thread about it.
Thanks guys.
So just a note on this. I finally took some time to call the support number this moment. And they immediately instituted an RMA and I received an email that I would get shipping labels within 24 hours. I think they are losing track of the email queries somehow because I was told on Thursday last week that I would receive details for RMA but was told today that the RMA was not yet instituted.
They were quite quick to answer which is also surprising but anyway if this is an avenue you haven’t used, I can suggest this option in the hope of immediate support.
fyi number below but pity about the window only being from 2-4pmCET
i will continue to update.
I tried calling them during the short 2 hour CET window and was still told that no one was available. I stayed up during the night just to be able to get hold of someone but still no one was available.
Yes that small 2 hour window does not make it a real hotline I guess. Doesn’t help when you need to speak to someone to find out what is going on with your claim.
Positive note for me I received the shipping labels already and will send the wheel base back tomorrow 26th.
When this is all over I will give a full timeline of my experience. They better not send me an unrepaired wheelbase or defective replacement as i have read others to have had this experience as i will be reporting that in this post. I hope yours gets resolved soon.
Yes I'd thank you to keep us up on your experience. I have the same fear that low stocks are going to force them to send out a refurbished item that might also burn out.
Well i hope not i just got a email saying this (workshop with the shipping instructions. The RMA email should arrive within the next 2 business days. Here is the RMA-Number:) and they are going to just exchange it for this one, it was only had it for 5 days with a defect i want it new and not some refurb.
This is very confusing. The customer and technical support is unfortunately running like a small local shop and not an internationally established brand. I mean I was told yesterday that it takes 2-3 weeks until problems are resolved once your return arrives to them. This whole mess is certainly not what Fanatec envisioned for themselves but here we are.
I waited 3 weeks as well to get an answer, i decided to get to paypal (my paying method) and then we get responds. I sended my wheel back todah, but really doubt to ask the money back instead. Imagine getting a defect wheel back.. i really dont want to go through that parcour again.. lose all the trust in the products and company. Wanted the Gt3 wheel etc etc.. but im not gonna buy, cause what if the wheel getting defect again. What then?
I think for many new customers, this was the first entry to fanatec and there were a lot more products We were interested in after this product now with this whole experience we feel burnt mainly because we feel not supported sufficiently when we have a problem. So now the trust is gone.
I just see the marketing of fanatec and how great their products are etc etc and I feel like I fell for this trap. A great product means nothing without great customer service.
but the worst part is the silence of fanatec, they are not even apologizing, telling us what steps they are taking to actually improve this process, posting a press release or announcement on these forums, by email or offering a refund or voucher for this inconvenience which rests on their shoulders. They are not stepping up and taking responsibility, so what are we supposed to think.
I was told in one post that they were usually able to get back to their customers in 24 to 48hours this was even during the pandemic etc. Now my question is, how many support requests are they dealing with to jump from 48 hours to 3 weeks response time???
So I can see with DHL tracking that my wheel base has arrived at Endor/Fanatec. So this is day 20 since Problem was reported. Let’s see how many days it takes them to exchange.
In the end you will see a total a total number of days it took them to fix the problem, how many days it took them to process the exchange,and the number of days that I was without the wheel. Through this chain you can then see transparently who caused the delay. So far:
Anyone else interested in participating in the fanatec Brand survey here it is. Supposedly everyone registered for newsletter should have received it but seems that I didn’t. Maybe because I have an open support Ticket?
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=E7-KbZFriE-gYLzZrIl50CFpEu3xjKpIraTdUSuTJdZURDcxR0owQVc2R01EWFQ5QUU5R0g0NFFZRy4u
Wow you ordered on april 4th and received it on april 7th!?!?!??!
WHAT???? I ordered on April 1st AND I AM STILL WAITING!!!!
Its crazy, all the trust is gone, after 4 weeks i have all the info to send back the wheel.. 4weeks……… when the wheel arrives at Endor gonna claim my money back via Paypal or whatever and probably switching again to Thrustmaster.. i trust that wheel.. previous one worked like 4-5 years. Id rather drive a belt driven wheel from €700 thats works for years, than a direct drive from €700 that worked a couple weeks.
i dont want that wheel back, imagine the wheel fails again and you have to go again through all this.. i really can’t, feeling a lack of customer support here. How is it possible you need paypal or mastercard to get something done from such a company, unbelieveable.
As I recall on April 1st the items were showing in stock and ready to ship? What did you order?
Yes like said it’s a local company for me as I’m in Germany, if you had to, could you drive to the offices of Endor in 3 or 4 hours? This is the point everyone has to be REALLY careful of….this company doesn’t have representation in any other markets really. They don’t have a warehouse, offices, customer care or repair facilities in other markets So it is a real risk if you order from outside Europe I would say.
Think of it as the further away from Germany you are the higher your risks are. Having said that, the demand is there and they will sell units regardless since who else is offering direct drive to the mass market? This of course will change as the competition who has a more stable network releases their products to the market and people have an alternative to fanatec but they have an amazing chance here to protect their position which they are not using.
This is a real concern if I would have to go through this circus again. That’s a top of mind worry if im being honest and I considered a few times pulling out of this story and going on with my life. I really don’t blame you for your course of action and your decision. Fanatec can still do something here but they don’t, they can reach out to you and personally apologize, let you know transparently what is the problem and offer you directly an option of a refund, replacement, repair, vouchers etc. that is at least a carrot where you might consider to sympathize with their challenge and see that they are making effort to keep you as customer and they care about you. You might still decide not to take a chance but at least you will feel valued as a customer and you will leave with that sentiment.
Weird that they have suspended their hotline service? This is the opposite of what I would have expected, shouldn’t they add people and resources to deal directly with customers to immediately support their concerns? Now you HAVE to wait until they respond to your email. Whatever the reasoning, I really do hope this step improves the situation.
Hi Faizel,
I'm sorry to hear that "another one (of us) bites the dust"...it's really annoying and discomforting to say the least.
I read the forum daily, and it's obvious that there is "a problem", my hope is not being in that place.
My experience with Fanatec has been almos spotless so far: CSL Elite PS4+CSL LC pedals since 2017, no faults. Added shifter with fast-lightning delivery..no issues (PS4+ps4 GTSPORT, PCars 2, AC, ACC).
Got Formula V2.5X (for max compatibility chances) in summer 2021, again delivered super on time, no issues (well, I had to update the base with some minor 'misunderstanding').
Ordered GTDD Pro bundle on 26th november, I was waiting for a standalone unit but at the time was the only option, no problem. In jan 2022 ordered the V3 pedal set + dampers + BPK...again, available and delivered flawlessly, even if I was away for a businness trip.
GTDD Pro arrived 1 month earlier, mid february, surprise! but again I was away. No worries.
I mounted the DD Pro during the weekend, because I have a new TR160 rig that's not complete yet; upgraded firware with no issues, base and GT steering wheel. Played a bit with the manager setup panel.
Connected the V3 pedals, i did not check the firmware but my understanding (source: Maurice Boschen) is that i should keep it with older version (1.30)...I did not verify, today I'll use the usb cable (and disconnect the rj from base) to connect pedal set to pc and verify fw.
Connected and tested shifter at power up through steering wheel display as it was for the Formula wheel once connected to the CSL base: no issues.
Got ferrite cores (just in case, other threads report this issue)...waiting for nylon washers for the SQ shifter (for the TR160 mounting, just in case).
Ah, I almost forgot, I got also a QR1 for the GT wheel (delivered in 3 days), and replace the (sorry but it is that bad for me especially when you have the part alone in your hands) the ***** plastic QR (I censored myself, do not blame Fanatec).
So I did not try, yet, the DD Pro, maybe over next weekend, but I did ALL my homework. ALL, yes also rig grounding.
I do really hope to have no issues, and the fact I got it out of the box after 2 months put me away of any restitution policy...so I AM and I HAVE to be optimistic :)
But one thing is 100 clear: if the DD Pro will fail, for me it's almost done with Fanatec.. I'll keep using the CSL Elite with PS5 and move to a PC as planned since months, and with a PC I have several choices.
Because we all have spent hundreds if not thousands of hard-earned money and so deserve a proper service, a proper assistance, proper solutions. NOW, not in months when they will have more people for customer service.
So i totally simpathyze with you, and all others users having issues, dealing with customer service and stuff.
Can you imagine all this sort of issues when they set up an Esport GT world challenge race day? Well, it's soo nice to see al these rigs, pc, DD's working flawlessly.....isn't it?.
So, to end this looong and almost useless rant, I'm still an happy customer but yet a really concenerd one....if not for me (not yet still, ah ahah 😅) for all of you guys and mostly for all of US as customers.
I'm sure that Fanatec is doing whatever possible, but I also understand that this won't happen in a very short time, and frustration needs to be addressed soon unfortunately.
Well...enough....this message started yesterday, I was sure I sent it but it wasn't....and now I found it here....and again afrer one week it’s still a draft and I don’t understand why 🤷♂️
Ciao!
Alberto, this was a lot of information but an amazing story to help others and fanatec understand that the journey started from such a high point and goes in a downward spiral as a a kind of sceptical customer now
Really, in the end I hope that the customers just get the help they deserve. It’s absolutely the worst to be stranded like that and I hope fanatec can sort this out, get to the level they need to and be as a successful company because that would also determine their ability to support us sufficiently.
anyways let’s see what time will show.
Yes you are goddam right, the least thing they can do is give a voucher or something, new base, or at least the possibility to choose a new wheel or my money back. At the moment, as i read on the forum, customer service is like a zero it seems to me. Never want to have this circus again. And at the moment it looks like they do nothing to keep the customers happy. Thats not a good thing. Rather use a thrustmaster belt driven wheel than the Dd pro. The thrustmaster at least works for a decent time.
I have not had any problems with my CSL DD with McLaren V2 GT3 wheel and CSL pedals. Updated the driver of the base/wheel twice. Pedals only needed 1 update from factory. All good. Only on ACC and on PC only.
But would I recommend Fanatec to others. I do not know as we do not have a full picture of what is happening, in part due to the sudden increase in sales and so naturally, increase in defective products either in manufacturing or user inflicted. Has the company been bought over by someone else?
But in the process of upgrading my pedals, I went with someone else and am really happy with my choice. I am definitely faster but could be due to the CSL being an entry level set of pedals.
I have just received a replacement dd pro wheelbase today and guess what the graininess is worse than my previous wheel…..just horrible. I installed the special Motor firmware 1.0.2.3 they sent me for testing on my previous wheel when I opened the ticket and this seemed to calm the grainy feeling on the new wheel. I will do some more testing tonight but if they had tested this wheel properly or if QC was actually doing QC no way should I receive two brand new Problem units one after the other. I will update as I learn more.
So far things seem to be working fIne since I updated with the special Motor Firmware. I guess I’m 5 or 6 hours into use. There are very slight vibrations you can feel if you really concentrate on the wheel which I expect is normal due to electronic behavior etc and no grainy feel when I move the wheel from left to right anymore so I guess you could say around 1 month for my Problem to be resolved however I was lucky that I had the test firmware if I didn’t have the firmware this base would be a no go. Very coward of the fact that I received this wheel with a different version of the same problem I had before.
I will continue to monitor but for now I just want to move on with my life. I will be very happy if I can have a long time of trouble free DD PRO but this initial experience cannot allow me to recomend fanatec as a brand…..more so if you live outside of Europe.
@Fanatec. There is a lot of data and feedback here in these posts that you can collect and act upon I hope you are using it to improve…..customers want your products, now you just take care of them properly and sort their problems as quickly as possible.
Update, with more testing……I am not satisfied, this buzzing and vibration comes and goes even with the new wheel with the test firmware. Something is unstable in the hardware.I continue to monitor and test. I rolled back different drivers some make the behavior worse some better, but it is unstable. I bought the 180 boost kit to test which doesn’t change the behavior, there is still some kind of instability in the hardware somewhere, why hasn’t fanatec singled this out already? Csl dd was released last year. I am tolerating this behavior for now since customer care is basically offline but I will RMA again in the not too distant future until this issue is lifted. If they fail to resolve my problem after a 3rd replacement I will institute a chargeback and return all hardware due to their non-Performance and failing to deliver properly functioning items on several occasions. For this kind of money things should just work as advertised and as intended out of the box, how can they continue to send people broken replacements? I wonder if this is intentional?
I'm having the EXACT SAME PROBLEM with a PODIUM DD1
Story:
Ordered a GT DD PRO after testing at my friend house, when It arrived, it has this buzzing effect that my friend didn't had.
RMA with fanatec...
I receive a second brand new GT DD PRO, SAME ISSUE AGAIN
I RMA again and I receive the new one, and SAME ISSUE but a little bit worse.
I RMA again and this time for a refund, then I buy a Podium DD1, and EXACTLY the same issue, like 10000% exactly the same, I can't understand.
I emailed them and they told me to send it back, why this ????
Wow! I’m surprised that these issues are still happening.I have been away from the forums for months, I finally sold my dd pro last week. The third unit was actually working fine but I decided not to stay in this relationship any longer. I don’t want to risk this further down the line.
Certain things bother me about the Fanatec products, for starters, they are really not plug and play, in the true sense, too much tinkering with settings and troubleshooting not to mention 3x RMA which took forever to resolve. I don’t think that Fanatec is ready for the mass consumer market unless and until 1. they ship fully working products to start with and 2. their customer service can match the demand of the markets they are operating in.