Fanatec offers one of the worst customer service experience I ever had
This forums filled with topics with issues, people begging for the information about their purchases while Fanatec offers zero to none customer support while successfully grabbing their money. Listen, I do understand logistics problems during the Pandemic but this shouldn’t give a company excuse to not offer support while taking in some cases orders with over $3,000 - $4,000 in value and if they cannot fulfill them properly they should stop selling items and put “out of stock” tag on them.
I’am myself first time customer who ordered things with over $4K value. After not getting responses from Fanatec for an over a week I’m disgust with Fanatecs careless approach to a customer service. I recently started working with Engadget.com and soon we will run article about my experience.
I personally believe that potential new customers should know about what to expect from Fanatec. I was really surprised that company like Fanatec while offering premium price products have Zero customer support!
I wouldn’t be surprised if this topic will be deleted to cover up this stinky business model. I feel really sorry for all the racing fans out here that left alone during hard times.
Stay safe friends and spread the word, this shouldn’t be acceptable. Our questions deserve to be answered when we pay premium for a Fanatec products.
-Alex
Comments
Yes, IMO its very sad to see they kind of have the market cornered and choose to have one of the shadiest practices to customer service. I would not be suprised if you see another company come up and take advantage of all the flaws in CS
I've been a Fanatec customer for a long time and have always been happy with their products and service. I understand that no one could have expected the surge in demand caused by the pandemic, but as Alex said above, if they were overwhelmed by orders, they should have listed the products as out of stock, not pre-order and certainly should not have taken customers' money when there was no expectation of shipping within a reasonable time. Fanatec hit my credit card in May and there has been no progress at all with my order in the 7 weeks or so since that time. Maybe they'll ship my wheel tomorrow. Or maybe they won't ship it for months. Fanatec is unable or unwilling to provide any information to me about when to expect shipment. This is not a proper way to do business, and could have been addressed by simply being honest with their customers about delivery times, and by not taking money from customers' credit cards until the product shipped.
Situations like this will damage a company's reputation for years. A lot of people will simply never consider a purchase from Fanatec ever again because their experience is that Fanatec is not trustworthy. And that is the point I have just about reached. Dominic (who has my sympathies because he is not personally responsible for any of these problems) responded to a message I sent him a couple weeks ago with a request to be patient, which I have been. But in light of shipping dates which seem to be more fantasy than reality, and the fact that some people who ordered after I did have apparently received their products while I have not, has me on the verge of just cancelling my order and replacing my hardware. And as I said at the beginning, that's a real shame. The company has gotten where it is today because of quality products and services. I did not even consider buying from anyone else back in May and it's only their complete mishandling of the current situation which has me looking around for a new wheel.
Hi Alex,
This topic will not be deleted until your order is resolved. However there seems to be something unusual about your account, which is preventing me from providing you with updates. I have sent you a PM.
Regarding your other points, the sales team is answering enquiries as quickly as possible. Every order is being fulfilled as quickly as possible. There have been some software issues, synchronisation issues, and logistics issues that have contributed to the delayed responses, delayed shipments, and inaccurate availability estimates. We sincerely apologise for this and we are making every effort to resolve the situation.
[Fanatec Community Manager]
For what it is worth, I ordered 3 in stock items in the US on Tuesday July 7 2020 -
My order shipped July 8 2020 - from their logistics partner in CA
It arrived on Friday July 10th via Fedex. (I did pay for 2nd day shipping)
A friend of mine has had similar experiences, ordering in stock, paying for 2nd day shipping, things seemed to ship within a day or two.
if you're not aware, they don't ship unless all items in your order are available.
So a good ordering strategy is to place one order for everything that's in stock, then place separate orders for the out of stock items - one order per item. (or if you can, just wait until those items show in stock and order them at that time).
All that I'm waiting for now is the Bundle Discount -$99.89 available July 24.
My invoice shows all my other items available June 26.
Getting close now.
Update. Received an email this morning. My order has been processed and will be shipping soon.
I am happy to update my comments above that I received an email today that my order status has changed to Warehouse Processing. If I complain when things are not going my way, I am equally obligated to let everyone know when the company seems to be addressing the issue. Thanks, Fanatec - I'm looking forward to getting back on the track!
They 100% do not have the market cornered, there are several other options out there with Logitech and Thrustmaster being more entry level, and companies like Simucube, Accuforce being others for direct drive solutions... For what it is worth, most of these companies are in identical situations with their shipments due to the massive uptick in interest in simracing since COVID became a thing.
I placed my order for a DD2 while it was listed in stock on the fanatec website, I literally had it delivered less than 4 days later here in the US without opting for the quicker shipment options.
I hate to say it but, shipping estimates are just that... estimates, they can vary some or a lot... Ultimately it is up to the consumer to roll the dice on a pre-order when you click that button...
Hello,
I preorder a dd1 a v2 wheel and a handbrake on 10.06. On 20.06 i got a mail from fanatec informing me do to curent situation my items may ship on 10.07.
On 09.07 I got a mail saying my order was process and will ship soon. Today ups deliver the order. Sure from 09 to 14.07 I did not get an email from fanatec with the tracking number but i did not need it (I made an ups account and i knew 2 days before deliver they are coming.
My point is when you preorder someting and it say available in aug or september you kinda know what delay to expect. I did not put pressure on them in the curent situation. At my office we have to deal with many impacient people who think if they put presure by email or other means will solve something;)
You can also are in control of your money and you can cancel the order. Good luck tho geting sim gear similar with fanatec from anyware now.
Thank you fanatec!
Ps: The 365 beta driver work for me without a glich on 2 wheels v3 pedals shifter and hand brake.
See what frustrates me about this is that we should not have to do that. They are focused on completing as many orders as possible regardless of purchase date. "Yeah lets just get these quick orders done and have all the other people who have dropped 3-4K wait until end of this year"
What's even more confusing is that Ive had an order with everything in stock, ordered June 6th and still nothing.
Yeah, I paid for the CS Forza bundle on 2 July advertised (AU) as "available 24 July".
This was after reading reassurances in this forum that problems with pre-orders had been addressed by Fanatec. When I placed the order, individually, all items were listed as 'in stock' except for the shifter, listed as available 24 July. When I checked my order page a few days later the availability date was suddenly 21 August! For at least a week, the main advertisement page remained unchanged. Only recently the advertisement changed to say "available 14 August". Today I checked my order details again. Its now showing "available 25 August" Bundle advertisement page remains unchanged at 14 August.
The last formal announcement from Fanatec made in this forum about supply in the time of Covid, aside from the reassurances of the Community Manager, was made on April 23rd. Its been a while. Blatant errors of fact which will continue to effectively mislead new customers remain unresolved on the Fanatec website.
I will patiently await for hopefully, the eventual delivery of what I know will be great product, but in the meantime I can only wholeheartedly agree with the OP..
I ordered a GT Pro bundle on 2/9. Still no update on expected shipping date despite status being completely shipped for over two weeks. Now not replying to emails. The worst customer support I have encountered