Update for my fellow Canadians
Well, like the rest of you, I've been waiting 3 weeks + now since I placed my order. Just wanted to give you guys an update, as I finally got tracking numbers!
July 20th - Placed order
July 27th - received email saying "Warehouse Processing, will ship soon". Order updated to "Order has been processed" on my account on Fanatec's site.
?? - bunch of waiting, absolutely no communication from USPS or Fanatec.
Aug 12th - received email from Fanatec, giving me my tracking numbers.
So here's the weird part - I got 8 tracking numbers. There are 8 components to my order, but what was with the "your order will not ship until the whole order is complete" message when placing the order? Now, I may have to pay duty on 8 different packages? Crazy.
Also - looking at the tracking history - my package labels were created August 4th. They were picked up by Courier August 7th. As of August 9th and 10th, all of my packages have reached Vancouver and is "enroute to destination". (I'm in Edmonton).
So, despite not communicating the tracking numbers and being generally pretty slow with everything, my package was actually shipped about a week ago - hope it ends up being the same for you guys, hope I get my stuff soon, and hope i don't get an astronomical duty bill. Cheers!
Comments
The same for me , just got my tracking numbers today even if i ordered on the 24 july, I have 3 tracking numbers and i ordered 4 items, so i d'ont know if i will get everything needed. 1 shipments is in transit in Mississauga,( i live in Montreal) other are still in the the USA.
For what it's worth, I've received one of my items (a wheel rim) and did not have any duty fees to pay, at least not that I know of; I'm not super familiar with how duty fees are collected. The postman just dropped the package and left. There is no CBSA form on the package or anything like that. The package did go through customs, though:
Item has arrived in Canada and will be presented for review (Mississauga, ON)
Item was released by Customs and is now with Canada Post for processing (Mississauga, ON)
Two other packages are past customs and I should receive them soon. I also live in Montreal. I'll try to give you an update when I know more.
I was also wary of duty fees when ordering. I've tried an online estimation tool on the CBSA website (here: https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/dte-acl/est-cal-eng.html) and got an estimate of about 450$ fees for my order (a whole setup with about 8 items, not a bundle), but maybe I picked the wrong product category, etc..
I wonder how the fact that things were sent in multiple packages will affect potential duty fees, if at all.
I just got my podium dd1 today, and paid 250$ for taxes, it was 240$ in taxes and 10$ processing fee.
My package was just released today by Customs and is now with Canada post in Mississauga. I've heard stories of people waiting a long time with their package sitting in Mississauga, do you know if that's usually the customs side or Canada Post side? Just trying to figure out how excited I should feel right now, and temper expectations if it's likely to be another 3 weeks til I receive it! I'm in Toronto for reference.
I got something ordered from Amazon stuck in Mississauga for two weeks about 3-4 months ago when COVID really hit its stride, but since then everything I've ordered that has passed through Missisauga (and Montreal) has been doing so quickly and without getting stuck for any extended amount of time. YMMV.
Thanks for letting me know!
I had 3 packages but only paid $84 duty on the wheel base. Had to pay duty online before delivery or I would have had to pick up at post office. Other two packages were delivered without duty. I ordered all in stock items on May 29th and received final package on July 22nd. Once my items cleared customs they were delivered within 5-7 days. Zero useful communication from Fanatec.
Update on my side of things, apparently when it says "Enroute to destination" past Vancouver in USPS tracking, it just means that the packages have arrived in Vancouver and were passed over to customs. Canadapost has all of my packages as yet to arrive in the country. This is very odd to me, but I'm assuming customs still has all of my stuff. It's been about 1 week since it arrived in Vancouver (and I'm assuming at CBSA) and status has not changed. Wondering if maybe the Vancouver CBSA office is more congested than the Mississauga one.
One thing of note for USPS => Canada shipments is that the USPS tracking numbers are actually compatible with the Canada Post package tracker. It seems like their systems are talking to each other quite a bit.
TL;DR: Enter your USPS tracking number on the Canada Post website and you'll get more details than what USPS provides when the package crosses the border, including more details (I think) on customs processing, such as the time the package enters and exits customs.
What I've found out over the years is that the tracking info pretty much stops updating on the USPS side when a package crosses the border, but the Canada Post tracking info starts updating much more frequently *for the same tracking number* at that time. For packages that I want to follow closely, I often add the same tracking number with both USPS and Canada Post in my package-tracking app (Deliveries for iOS). I recommend that you install a similar app and try that if you want to follow your packages more closely. Most of the time for non-urgent packages though I only add USPS tracking numbers as Canada Post shipments because the info Canada Post provides is the most relevant (for example: when the package becomes "out for delivery").
Here's what mine say ATM:
The approximate tracking updates you can expect on the Canada Post side of things are:
1. International item has left originating country and is en route to Canada
2. Item has arrived in Canada and will be presented for review
3. Item was released by customs and is now with Canada Post for processing
4. Item processed
5. Item in transit
6. Item processed
7. Item out for delivery
Of course the last ones must depend on where you live and how many hops the package has to make to get to you.
I gotta wheelbase delivered in 7 days as it was priority on USPS, now the steering wheel is stuck as “in transit” in LA, called USPS they said they are waiting for an available passenger flight to ship the item in. It’s really frustrating that Fanatec just went with the cheapest option available, for few extra bucks I could’ve gotten both packages at the same time.
The wheelbase was at the Canadian customs for less than 24 hours and then was released to Canada post and got delivered same day. hopefully there will be a flight soon with space for shipments i cant wait. BTW this is a replacement on RMA as my original units where faulty. I bought my Fanatec gear mid June and still can’t enjoy it till now :(
It's so random, I received my steering wheel first and then the pedals and finally wheel base a few weeks later. They were not shipped USPS priority either.
I was waiting for the load cell pedal kit to become "available " to order it next, but after having to wait so long for my first order from Fanatec with zero customer service, I decided last Friday to take a drive out to Simulation1 since they just got a bunch of new stuff in stock. It was nice to buy the old fashion way, in a store with a lot of products on display, with rigs set up in various configurations. Teddy knows all the products inside out and made very helpful recommendations for a completely different purchasing experience. He had everything stacked on the counter where I could see it by the time I was ready to "check out". I paid by direct debit and when the transaction was approved he helped me load up my car. They also provided a bunch of extra nut and bolt "kits" that were not provided by the vendors of the various products I purchased but were required to complete the entire assembly (seat bolts, slider to rig, etc) so i didn't have to realize that the hard way and make special trips for Metric hardware which was nice. Oh I almost forgot, I called the store before I went out there and they answered the call and were very helpful responding to my questions and by the time I got home I had received and email from them with my invoice and some product information and recommendations. So for future purchases if you need any customer service or want to avoid shipping BS consider them as an option, they can ship same day and avoid border delays if they have it in stock.
Here's a small update on my end:
I've received 4 of my 8 items thus far: handbrake, wheel rim, brake performance kit and a wire. I have not had to pay any duties on those items, though they are the less pricey ones by far. Maybe they don't take the time to collect duties for "cheap" items.
My other 4 items (wheel base, universal hub, shifter, pedals) have been in CBSA's hands for about a week, longer than the others to my knowledge. Fingers crossed they'll get released by the end of the week. I'll try to update you on the duties paid once I receive them so you can get an idea of the fees for your own orders.
In other news I finally received an answer from Fanatec support, 19 days after my initial request. They provided the tracking numbers that I asked for (and had already received much quicker through Dominic). I have still not received the official tracking numbers email that's supposed to be sent automatically when the order ships.
Have you guys received any packages that were stuck “in transit” for a long time? And how long roughly?
I think I only saw "in transit" after the package was going from the border to me (when entering my in USPS tracking number in the Canada Post tracking system). I don't think I ever waited more than 2-3 days before another update (sometimes "item processed" followed by another "in transit", depending on where the item comes from).
two of my packages sat in LA for 34 days
Even more reason why Fanatec shouldn't be using USPS. Completely irresponsible by Fanatec and shows a total disregard for the customer. Once they have your money they don't care when you receive your items. They are purposely using a delivery process that can take 1-2 months. Completely unacceptable. I recommend calling your credit card company, disputing the charge for items not received, and then they can investigate Fanatec. The more this happens the greater the chance Fanatec starts taking this seriously.
Final update, probably - I received 6 of my 8 items and the other 2 are set to pick up tomorrow... Canada Post screwed up delivering it, frustrating. First 5 arrived Friday August 21. Almost exactly 1 month from date of order. The last 3 arrived in Edmonton on Monday, but Canada post only delivered 1 and left notes for the other 2.
I've already setup everything and I'm VERY happy with the products (last 2 packages are paddles and button module, so not essential). The quality is amazing and I'm having a blast using it. Other than the subpar customer service I think I had an overall good experience with Fanatec. Also - I purchased the DD1, despite lots of comments about firmware issues. Well, I had no firmware issues at all. It was very easy to setup and flash the new firmware and update drivers. Pedals, handbrake, shifter all plug directly into the Podium, and the Podium has a USB connection to the PC. The only surprise for me was there was no mounting screws provided for the pedals and I did not expect the Podium to be this big and heavy... It's like 40lbs!! My rig is taking a little bit of a beating.
Anyways - hope y'all get your stuff soon. Cheers.
Thanks for the update! Good to hear you're getting the rest of your stuff this week. Sounds like you've got a full fledged setup going on now 😊
Something that might be of interest: all of my packages have now been through customs and I now know how much taxes & duties are charged for each item in Quebec, where there is ~15% sales tax. You could probably use this as a reference to estimate the duties you'll have to pay, based on your order. I don't know if duties could vary for the exact same package ordered by someone else in the same province.
Duties
Xbox One Hub : 67.51$ CAD
Wheel Base v2.5 : 118.72$ CAD
Shifter : 59.39$ CAD
Pedals : 33.72$ CAD
Handbrake : 0$
Brake Performance Kit : 0$
Wheel Rim : 0$
Cable : 0$
Wow they really dinged you on a lot of those items. How exactly was the tax calculated? Did they factor in shipping? Or just a straight USD price * conversion rate *0.12 for example..
For the CSW 2.5, $550 USD * 1.35 conversion rate
Well, 550 * 1.35 (conversion rate) * 0.15 (approximate QC sales tax) = 111$ so it's mostly taxes plus a low duty fee.
I'd expect much worse if items are shipped with UPS or similar! They add their own fees on top, which are pretty much arbitrary (and much higher) as far as I can tell from a few past experiences. It's either pay the exorbitant fees or forget your item.
Overall, duties cost less than I expected, especially because some of my items were not taxed.
Oh and by the way I received everything and it's all installed and ready to go now. Build quality is incredible and it feels great!
That's great! So you feel the Fanatec stuff is worth the hight cost compared to the high end Thrustmaster parts? (the TC-PC base/wheel and T-LCM load cell pedals).
I’ve only tried a Thrustmaster once (I upgraded from a G920 directly to the CSW v2.5) at an F1 street event in Montreal about two years ago. I think it was a TS-PC Racer, probably with the high-end pedals. Honestly, from the 5-10 minutes I got to use it it was pretty great compared to my G920, but the 30000$ D-Box rig it was mounted on might also have played a big part in that impression ;)
What I can say though is that I’m very satisfied with the CSW v2.5 and the other accessories I got. Naturally it’s leagues above the G920 I was using, although I must admit that the G920 was great value for the price; I would not hesitate to recommend it to newcomers! I'd guess that upgrading from an high-end Thrustmaster would make less of a difference, but from what I've read there is still a substantial one.
I had some time yesterday to fine-tune my Fanatec setup a bit (switched to the stiffer pedal springs, shortened throttle throw, FFB settings in game and on the wheel, etc.) and I’ve got it to a point where it feels pretty awesome. When set to high, force feedback is incredibly strong; much more than I expected from a non-DD wheel (and that's with a 33cm wheel rim, so I can only imagine with a smaller formula-style rim). In Assetto Corsa, you really have to wrestle with the wheel (with default settings; I did not fine-tune anything for that game yet, but it shows off the very strong force feedback of the CSW v2.5 pretty well!)
To me Fanatec is the Apple of the sim racing world, and having received my products reinforces this point of view: it’s got a “it just works” quality (mostly plug and play, works with consoles, etc.), it looks great, it feels high end, has high performance, the build quality is great and it has a wide ecosystem of accessory products. It's quite configurable but not too much. It's well thought-out. You do pay a bit of a premium for this, just like Apple products. Following that analogy, Thrustmaster would be the mid-range plastic laptops you see everywhere in stores. OK on the surface, but it's missing some of that "wow" factor.
Fanatec gear is not the most insane gear you can buy (you can build a crazy gaming PC that outperforms a high-end Mac if you want, with water cooling, etc.) but that is much more trouble and one has to be ready to spend much money, time (which is money, in a sense) and energy fiddling. In my mind, the Accuforce / Simucube / OSW and others are like custom PCs you build yourself. You get something better in some respects at the cost of time, complexity and fiddling (some games do not support the most high-end DD wheel bases so you need to find solutions online, play with settings, etc.).
To me there is great value in simplicity and Fanatec is at the sweet spot: close to the high-end but with “consumer” qualities like plug-and-play and wide compatibility.
Great feedback Michael! Definitely makes me excited to try the Fanatec stuff I ordered which seems similar to yours: CSW 2.5 base, CSW pedals v3, except I went with the F1 Esports wheel.
I didn't order the stiffer brake performance kit so I'm hoping the pedals will feel okay without them (at least for now). Does it really make a huge difference?
What made you get the CSW base V2.5 over the CSL base? I originally wanted the CSL base and pedals but since it was sold out when I ordered I decided to just get more better parts. Sounds like it will be worth it! 😊
Thanks again for your reply. It was much more detailed than I expected!
No problem, I'm glad I could help! That's the kind of info I was looking for when I was shopping around so I'm glad I can contribute something back :)
I actually waited for the brake performance kit to be available before ordering (not knowing if I'd need it and to pay as little shipping for it as possible) but after installing everything I decided to just leave it aside for the moment. I simply set the brake pedal resistance to maximum using the red adjustment ring, which gives it a reasonably low amount of travel (~1") and good stiffness. There are a few reasons I did not install it yet:
If I was mostly racing F1 and GT cars, had a stronger rig and wanted maximum realism for that I would probably install the brake performance kit without any hesitation. For my current setup though I'm satisfied without the performance kit. I might revisit this when I upgrade my rig eventually.
Unrelated remark: the load cell brake really does make a huge difference in precision. I heard it was the biggest upgrade in terms of performance and they're right.
As for the CSW v2.5 vs CSL, I usually try to get the best I can afford from the start because I know that I'll be wanting to upgrade afterwards anyway, and it costs me less in the end that way. My investments in pricier, quality gear (audio, computers, etc.) have always paid off in longevity, and I was satisfied with them for longer, so in terms of total cost of ownership it's equivalent to a lesser, cheaper product. It's just costlier up front. Also, the price difference between the CSL and CSW is not that big (relatively speaking). I was not too keen on paying more than 500$ CAD on a plastic wheel base with worse components. Maybe 350$ USD is a great deal for US citizens but in Canada it seems like a lot of money for what it is. It's probably good though. The last reason is that I felt the v2.5 was a better match for the other components (all Clubsport) which is probably best for feel and compatibility.
I guess I'll see how the CSW pedals feel before ordering the performance kit. I was using Fanatec CSR Elite v1 pedals (load cell) for quite a while so if the v3 has an even better feel ill be happy with them.
The Thrustmaster unit I recently bought was an open box TC-PC Racer Ferrari version but it was doa on arrival, no power. Normally they sell for $930 new so when this was listed at $570 I jumped on the chance to try it. Amazon didn't have any other units in stock and Thrustmaster wasn't very helpful at all so I just returned it. Since the power supply didn't look new, had some scuffs etc on it and was also missing the USB cable (I tried 3 of my own) so my guess is someone switched it with their broken one and sent it back to Amazon lol and they never checked it.
I guess I'll stick with the Fanatec gear when I try it out despite the $750 CAD extra cost which based on your feedback sounds like it's worth it. Thanks again!