I kick myself every day over neglecting to do thorough research on the Carrera wheel and pedals I bought. I regret purchasing them every day and wish I'd stayed with my Driving Force GT, allowing me to put money back towards a G27.
I paid $160 for a product that ceased to operate correctly within two months because of a flawed design. Furthermore, the replacements sent by Fanatec that had been "redesigned" failed within 4 days. The most disgusting part about all of that is how little the pedals were used during those two periods of time.
I owned a perfectly functional $110 Logitech Driving Force GT wheel for well over a year before moving on to this turd. That wheel was used for an average of 5-7 hours a day for about 6 months straight during my time owning a PS3 and Gran Turismo 5. Simply put, I played the crap out of that thing and never had a failure, electrical or mechanical. When I made the move back to the PC, I decided to sell the DFGT and purchase the Carrera wheel - hindsight being 20/20, I realize how bad that decision was. My Dad has had the same crappy black plastic MOMO wheel (you know, the one that was supposed to be of "inferior quality" according to the rants of the gaming community) for nearly 6 and half years. Sure, the thing shows some signs of use, such as scratches on the wheel surface and small pieces broken off the very edges pedals (he's crazy hard on those things). Again, everything is still working as it should though.
I waited nearly three days to get a response from support on this latest pedal issue, and when I did it was nothing more than "if you have a shifter, please try the cable from that device." I promptly plugged in the pedals and gave it a shot, only to get the same problem as I did with the original cable. Knowing that their customer support reps would be there for another hour or so, I quickly replied. It's been over an hour without a repsonse, and support is now closed. I guess I will be waiting another day - maybe two - to hear what lame instructions I will be given next. Perhaps the delay is because they are too busy responding to the hundreds of other support issues I'm sure they're getting daily (their quality control issues extend well beyond that of the standard pedal issue). Or perhaps they just enjoy making paying customers wait. Top this off with a half-a** attempt at customer service like offering a $50 "discount" on the ridiculous price of the Club Sport pedals (which suffer from their fair share of issues as well, based on additional research), and there's no wonder why I get a huge pit in my stomach every time I think of how much I spent on this product.
I attempted to repair the first set of defective pedals using epoxy (JB Weld) after I was given permission from Fanatec ("do whatever you'd like with them, except sell them"). They worked for a few days and have since stopped reading correctly (slipping brake and throttle), meaning I will have no pedals until Fanatec decides send me yet another set of pedals (that will probably fail in 4 days like the last set). So rather than enjoying my racing games, which is what I bought this stupid wheel for in the first place, I have no pedals to use and will be sitting here playing Solitaire and watching YouTube videos on my brand new computer, which sits near my non-functional brand new piece of crap Fanatec wheel.
As I mentioned in another couple posts on GT Planet, hopefully someone "official" from Fanatec will take notice of this post. I do not want another pedal set. I do not want a discounted price on Club Sports. I do not want this wheel any longer. I want a full refund.