Buying Fanatec products is a waste of money and time.
Purchased the clubsport pedals, csl elite ps4 edition wheel and base, shifter, and handbrake on December 30th. It took until January 14th for some of the items to arrive ( still have not received the handbrake yet). Set up everything and did one lap in Iracing , Heard a pop sound and looked down to a 2 inch crack up the back of the wheel from the base. I immediately put in a ticket to get this returned. I finally got a response back today saying that I have to call Germany with only a 2 hour window in order to return? It did say to put in a ticket but I had already done that. By the time all this gets sorted out to actually return it ill most likely be past the two week return period. so it looks like Im stuck with a broken wheel. Also not sure how safe it is to use.
If anyone has a better way to get a product returned or if they know if somebody I can contact not in Germany (I live in Nevada) to get this figured out. So far this buying experience has been up there as one of the worst I have ever had in a company.
Comments
Most probably you sent or opened the wrong support ticket.
they would never tell you call germany for an RMA.
Go i to your account, under your products and open a technical support ticket.
include pics of the broken Wheel hub and ask for a new to be sent out.
I have opened several support tickets and emailed them with only one response saying.
For malfunctions please contact our technical support
via telephone (0049 871 9221 299) Monday till Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (CET + 1) or
via www.fanatec.com --> SUPPORT/FAQ and open a support ticket.
I have done both with no response even tried the German number. If they are able to just send me the wheel with out me having to send anything back to them that would solve everything but at this point I have no way of getting in contact with them as they never responded.
i had a similar problem and opened up a support ticket at the beginning of this month. I was given the option to RMA or send a replacement back piece of the wheel. I chose the replacement, but still have not received it. It seems that I’m dealing with customer support over seas and the average response time since the acknowledgment of my initial support request has been 48 - 72 hours (which is pretty bad for the money we pay for these products). My suggestion would be to order the club sport wheel (I did this) and in the meantime dial the force feedback to 50% (once it’s fixed) because obviously the csl elite wheel was not designed to handle the torque the base puts out.
its been a week now since receiving the items and the wheel breaking with no response from fanetec other then a couple automated emails saying they will get to me. Im at the point were Im realizing its probably not going to get sorted out and I just wasted a large amount of money.
Also, buying the clubsport wheel and base is like another $1,000 so spending an Additional $1,000 after already spending $2000 because their products are not reliable the first day of owning is not going to happen.
Simple solution message them again telling them you have opened a refund with your card provider . You have provided the information how they are delaying the process and you believe this is to take you outside the automatic 14day time period.
inform Fanatec if they do not provide a return label immediatly you will continue the chargeback process.
If you don't receive any response in a week or 2, I would just send it back with or without RMA, then dispute the charge with your credit card and refuse to pay with the reason that it's an unauthorized charge that you did not authorize. Technically, when you paid with your card, you authorize the charge in exchange for a new and working product.