Another dissatisfied customer
Dear Fanatec,
I am quite frustrated and disappointed at the poor level of service I have received from you, especially as a first time buyer of your products. I placed order 1077332 a month ago for a shifter and handbrake. I was assured by a sales rep that my items would be sent out by June 5th. Now, 3 days before it should be sent out, without so much as an email, my order is pushed back to July. There is no excuse for a 2 month wait on an item and even less excuse for a complete lack of communication as to why. I am stating to lose faith in your company and am questioning whether to even continue business with you. For the sake of myself and everyone else having negative experiences, please offer some level of explanation and respite. Thank you in advance.
Comments
would supply chain disruption due to a global pandemic be a reasonable excuse? I agree that an email explaining this would have been common courtesy though
I’m in the exact same boat. The worst part is that warranty begins at date of purchase so we are losing warranty time here without even having our products. I e-mailed over a week ago and haven’t heard anything. Very disappointed
In the website it states it starts from shipping date.
It would if it didn't come with non-existent customer service. Yes supply chains have been disrupted but other companies are doing just fine, not to mention they are maintaining a level of transparency and communication with their customers. Add this on top of them giving items you pay for to other customers to fulfill orders just for you to have to extend your wait time to complete your order, these practices are just not ok. This isn't a pandemic issue, this is a systemic issue within the company.
Its fanatec... dope products and an ordering process that feels like trying to buy something illicit on the dark web. 😆 If drivetribe and every other automotive journalist wasnt so interested in sim racing currently then there would be no issues with backorders... if toilet paper is still an issue then Its fair to say the most desired niche prosumer Hardware Company out there should expect some delays. If you are in a rush to race against the pros before corona lockdown is over then buy them from a 3rd party sim site at a premium and have them this week. I believe i saw the handbrake in stock for $199... i guess its just a matter of how much your Time and patience is worth to you
Again none of what you're saying excuses the lack of communication and transparency. Nor the shady business practices of selling your items twice to fulfill other people's orders. Make all the excuses you want but there is still a level of accountability by the company.
I don't know why people are so lost on this point. I see very few people making an issue of the wait itself. It's the lack of transparency and communication.
It is frustrating and there is certainly room for improvement. In my case, after read many articles, watching YouTube videos, and watching network sim racing coverage, my expectations for quick delivery were low. My expectations were low even after seeing the availability dates.
I made several orders to various suppliers starting on May 11th. On May 11th, I made a Fanatec order of a wheel, wheel base, pedals, and a shifter. Four days later I decided to purchase a different wheel and therefore cancelled my entire order. Since there was a discount for purchasing a bundle, I didn't know how to just swap out a different wheel without loosing the bundle discount. The projected availability dates were May 28th to June 6th. I did send Fanatec an email regarding my order change and I received a response in about 7 days. Two days ago all the items I ordered have an availability date of July 3rd. I only know the change by checking the order status.
I also ordered a cockpit, 3 monitor stand, and 3 monitors from Dell. All items appeared to be in stock when I ordered them. A couple days later, I received an email with revised deliver dates. As a result, I cancelled the 3 monitor stand and 3 monitors and ordered from B&H and Best Buy. The cockpit is still scheduled to be delivered from Dell on June 6th.
The B&H order was interesting since they first listed as out of stock and I therefore selected the option at their site to receive a notice when it was in stock. I received an email from B&H a couple days later the item was in stock so I ordered. The item arrived a few days later. Good transaction.
The Best Buy purchase was also interesting. Someone on a forum gave me a heads up that Best Buy was selling the Dell monitors I was looking at for a very good price. I made the order as a result of the recommendation and the monitors were shipped to my local Best Buy store to avoid shipping. The monitors arrived at the store 3 days before they estimated and I drove to the store for pickup. Currently, Best Buy is only doing curb side pick-up so I didn't even need to get out of my car. The Best Buy person placed them in the back of my SUV and off I went.
There was definitely contrast between the communication with Dell, Best Buy, and B&H compared to Fanatec. I assume Fanatec is a much smaller company and the huge recent sales surge has people at Fanatec working hard. In addition, the safety issues in place these days must compound the issues. I am giving Fanatec some slack considering how these issues must be hitting their relatively small company.
The one issue I do have is getting charged for items before they ship. This seems strange especially for items that require almost 2 mounts to ship. Isn't normal practice to charge when items ship?
I actually received a message from Dom Brennan today letting me know the situation. He has been extremely helpful and I feel much more confident with my purchase now that that there is an open line of communication and a level of transparency. There may be some hope yet! Now to just wait for my items to come in.
Bingo bingo bingo!!! I've sent 2 emails and a message to their Facebook account. All three were over 10 days ago. Guess what? Not a GD word from anyone. It's terrible customer service. I am being patient with the delay on my products. I am not being patient knowing they took my money without problem, the warranty is expiring as I still sit without it, and NO ONE WILL ANSWER AN EMAIL!
Fanatec needs to get thier act together on this customer service stuff it is absolutely abysmal what are they doing have a good product and totally ruin the brand by money grabbing on the customer service because they don't want to pay for salaries for a few customer service employees to do a proper job
And it's not like they don't have enough money they charge a tidy little premium on all thier products compared to what they cost to produce I know they spend quite a lot of advertising
They 100% lose a hell of a lot of customers through their doggy customer services I have a podium DD1 and v3 pedals a few other fanatec rims but I will not go with fanatec again in the future I'm building a second rig in a few months and I'm going with simucube on this rig if fanatec had got thier act together I would not even have looked elsewhere!
Message Dom Brennan directly, he will help you. Just click on his name on one of his responses to one of the various posts and you can contact him and he'll sort things out.
I'll try that. Thank you!
I agree... fanatec needs to pay for customer service employees... and if they are here already replying to most questions... why dont they have an employee tag? On the flip side... once you use the product... you wont feel as salty.
I hope so. Supposedly my stuff is getting sent out on the 12th after getting some answers from Dom. Fingers crossed, I just hope this doesn't take away from the excitement as this is my first Sim rig
The start of warranty period in the European Union is regulated by the BGB, not policies. In BGB is written, it starts when the item is received. The policy then is invalid as the BGB is not a recommendation, but a rule.