Riddle me this....

Simon OlsenSimon Olsen Member
edited August 2020 in General Discussion / News and Announcements

OK. I accept that Fanatec Customer service is a bizarre and surreal experience. Trying to work out whats going on is like looking for meaning in tea leaves or chicken intestines. But it just keeps getting stranger...

Back story - my CSW bundle ordered and paid for on 2 July based on 24 July availability date. Then an incremental roll back of the availability date to 14 August, the 24 August and then 17 September.

All this time the Fanatec website showed entirely different and earlier availability dates, only being adjusted to match my order's availability date very recently. Effectively misleading new customers.

Yesterday the website's availability date for the CSW bundle was revised 3 days forward to the 14 September. My order remained as 17 September.... Whats this?

But now today.... my order shows all key hardware items on my order have been significantly revised:

  • Universal Hub - 19 August (today!)
  • Wheel rim - 19 August (today!)
  • CSW 2.5 wheel base - 20 August (tomorrow)
  • Shifter - 19 August (today!)
  • V3 Pedals - 19 August (today!)
  • V3 Pedals Performance kit - 21 August (2 days)

But...

  • Bundle discount - unchanged at 17 September (bloody weeks! - will my order be held back by this?)

So... should I get all excited? My sim racing passion is currently a dead duck in the water due to my old TMX wheel being quite literally driven into the ground. Almost two months after handing over more money than I have ever paid in my life for recreational anything... am I about to receive the benevolent smile of the pre-order Gods? Or is this just another cruel and unusual punishment where my hopes get brutally smashed once again by the most incomprehensibly Byzantine customer service experience in sim racing?

Or could Fanatec finally be getting on top of things? Wish me luck and I'll do the same for all you other guys (and gals) languishing in pre-order limbo.

Comments

  • Jack FruhJack Fruh Member

    Hey Simon, sorry to hear of your troubles.

    My understanding is that they will not ship your order until everything is in stock at the same time.

    You didn't mention which store you ordered from, but I'm almost inclined to tell you to cancel the whole thing, and then reorder only pieces that are in stock.

    Unfortunately from what I've heard it can take weeks to cancel an order.

    I've had great luck in with the US store, ordering only in stock items, paying for 2nd day shipping, I've always gotten things within a week.

  • Nicolas PachecoNicolas Pacheco Member

    I am in the same boat as you and I find it ridiculous that it is almost impossible to get a reply from customer support when spending so much money on products. All the items in my order say they are in stock, yet they never ship!

  • Jack FruhJack Fruh Member

    Nicolas, my experience has been that in stock items have shipped pretty quickly.

    Did you get the 'your order has been sent to the warehouse for processing' email from Fanatec?

  • Nicolas PachecoNicolas Pacheco Member
    https://forum.fanatec.com/discussion/comment/52048#Comment_52048

    nope, nothing at all from them since I placed my order.

  • Simon OlsenSimon Olsen Member
    edited August 2020

    My stuff was all bought and paid for via the Australian website.

    I have heard many times that they only ship bundles when all components are ready. But now my order shows every solid component as being available in the next day or so, except the bundle discount, which worrying still lists as a separate line item "available" on 17 September.

    My order still only shows as "processing". I'll put champaign on ice if it moves to "Warehouse processing".

    But as for cancelling my order, I believe that the cancel/re-order antics that I have seen suggested here many times are precisely the sort of shenanigans that will certainly overwhelm whatever small functional customers service and administrative capability that Fanatec has. I have waited patiently for seven weeks and only sought answers to to reasonable questions via politely worded emails in this forum - without result. And seven weeks of waiting is another investment in Fanatec that I do not wish to squander on a petulant whim.

    All I'm seeking today is some sort of explanation as to why the availability dates on my order have suddenly been brought so dramatically forward, and whether this is any reason for me to be hopeful, or at least less despondent. A reasonable person could be forgiven for thinking that this is where a Community Manager might chime in with a few helpful words.....

    ...tumbleweeds roll past....

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