Fanatec customer service?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jav
  • 274 comments
  • 36,553 views

How long did Fanatec take to respond to a support issue?

  • I have a Fanatec wheel and it hasn't gone wrong

    Votes: 51 34.7%

  • I won't be buying a Fanatec wheel beacuse of concerns about after sales service

    Votes: 37 25.2%

  • Faulty hardware: resolved in one week

    Votes: 32 21.8%

  • Faulty hardware: resolved in one month

    Votes: 9 6.1%

  • Faulty hardware: resolved in six months

    Votes: 4 2.7%

  • Faulty hardware: took over a year to resolve

    Votes: 1 0.7%

  • Faulty hardware: I'm still waiting after 1 month

    Votes: 6 4.1%

  • Faulty hardware: I'm still waiting after 6 months

    Votes: 1 0.7%

  • Faulty hardware: It's been over a year and I'm beginning to give up hope!

    Votes: 6 4.1%
  • Total voters
    147
bumer
It is starting to annoy me and probably other persons too reading the same text over and over again in every possible thread in several forums.
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I dunno, given the poll and topic, I can't think of a more appropriate place for it.
 
the_greeze
Too bad ol' lefty can't keep in the one thread though...
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I'm not sure why people like you feel the need to continuously perpetuate things over my name. Do you feel good now?
 
Update on mine: Having not played GT5 for quite some time now due to my part time degree I was fortunate enough to pack off my girlfriend to the shops the other day to free up a bit of me time. I dusted the wheel off and switched it on and.....

...another 888 error. This will be my THIRD faulty wheel since Christmas. I wonder how long the next replacement will take!?
 
Wait, what? Do you mean third fault with the same wheel (do not know if this 888 code means you can do some 'magic reset' to make it work again) or the third wheel you received that ended up defective?
:scared:
 
left888
I'm not sure why people like you feel the need to continuously perpetuate things over my name. Do you feel good now?
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Left out of curiosity, how has your wheel performed? Are you happy with the hardware? You obviously have every right to voice your opinion and I won't bash your opinion, I just want to know how your liking the gear?

Mines due to arrive today!!
 
Franjo
Left out of curiosity, how has your wheel performed? Are you happy with the hardware? You obviously have every right to voice your opinion and I won't bash your opinion, I just want to know how your liking the gear?

Mines due to arrive today!!
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Lucky, won't have the money for a GT2 for a long time, and much as I want the XBOX compatibility, I really don't need it as much as the PS3 compatibility. Thats why I'm going for the GT3 RS CSE!
 
Patrocles
Wait, what? Do you mean third fault with the same wheel (do not know if this 888 code means you can do some 'magic reset' to make it work again) or the third wheel you received that ended up defective?
:scared:
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3rd defective wheel I'm afraid. First was 888 error, second wouldn't power up at all, 3rd is another 888 error.

For info, mine is a carrera wheel. God knows why but I'm gunna give them one last opportunity to disappoint me. If the next one doesn't work it's refund time.
 
Franjo
Left out of curiosity, how has your wheel performed? Are you happy with the hardware? You obviously have every right to voice your opinion and I won't bash your opinion, I just want to know how your liking the gear?

Mines due to arrive today!!
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I like the Club sport pedals, they are solid and so far work good. The GT2 wheel on the other hand stopped working after about 3 hours, one of my sons was racing. So I took it off and replaced it with my T500. One day when I am ready to tackle Fanatec's "service" (again) I'll try and get it fixed. :sigh:
 
Been looking at the GT2 wheel (one that works with ps3 and xbox) and have been doing a lot of research, but a lot of the threads complaining about the bad customer service are old and have read a lot of newer ones saying the service has been great etc

Just wondering from people on here what's thier experiences with the GT2 wheels been like?

Really wanting something for the xbox with a gear stick and a clutch, but i am just scared incase i get one, it breaks and i'm left hundreds out of pocket

Any info would be great

Cheers

John!
 
Its the internet mate, you type in anything and you'll find hundreds of complaints and simarily lots of praise. The thing is with fanatec they're small and based in germany it can take a while (months) to get problems resolved, but they usually resolve them. Plus the wheels come with a two year warranty and thanks to these forums problems can be resolved by yourselves as long as your handy with a screwdriver.

edit remember they're bringing out a new xbox wheel soon.
 
My experience has been pretty positive. The timeline:

Preordered a Turbo S Standard Edition. About a day later, I changed my mind and upgraded to a ClubSport Edition preorder. I used the contact form in their web shop and submitted my request and received a response in about 48 hours with instructions on how to pay the difference using PayPal.

When the Turbo S ClubSport Edition arrived (meeting ETA estimates. I know Fanatec has missed ship dates for a lot of people, but mine arrived roughly when expected), my 6-speed shifter had a rattle like there was broken plastic inside. I submitted a support request via the web form again and got a response within 48 hours that they'd ship out a replacement. They did not request the defective one back. Received the replacement in about a week.

I received a RennSport Wheel Stand as a gift, and mistakenly ordered the shifter mount for the RennSport Cockpit by accident. Ordered the correct part, then submitted a request to cancel the wrong order, again using the contact form in the store. Didn't hear back within a day, and was concerned about the order going through, so I bugged them again and got a response later in the day that the incorrect order had been canceled.

I've since ordered other random accessories, ClubSport Pedal Tuning Kit, a Carrera Final Edition. They arrived in working order and on time, so I haven't had to contact customer service since. In all cases when I did, I provided detailed info and always referenced my order numbers. I haven't used their email support and never called, so I can't comment on experiences there.

Hopefully Fanatec has hired more CS staff and implemented a proper CRM so that everyone can have consistently good service. I get the feeling if you have technical issues during the 2 year warranty period they're happy to help you, but often drop the ball and fall behind regarding customer service. I don't think it's malicious. Obviously if you're on the receiving end the motivation doesn't matter; you just want your products fixed in a timely manner.
 
I'm in the UK too and have had no issues with any of their products. I have a GT2, Clubsport Pedals, tuning kit and colour kit; all bought separately. Quick delivery, no malfunctions or quality issues.

Go for it, you won't be disappointed 👍
 
mika haka
Its the internet mate, you type in anything and you'll find hundreds of complaints and simarily lots of praise. The thing is with fanatec they're small and based in germany it can take a while (months) to get problems resolved, but they usually resolve them. Plus the wheels come with a two year warranty and thanks to these forums problems can be resolved by yourselves as long as your handy with a screwdriver.

edit remember they're bringing out a new xbox wheel soon.
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FWIW, Fanatec hired Mr. Darin Gangi from Inside Sim Racing to work on customer service and product development/sales(?). Based from what I've seen of Mr. Gangi he is a straight-up, no nonsense guy and I think he will be a big plus for Fanatec!
:)
 
I think that fanatec makes a great product as long as you are nice they are nice (usually) after spending 500 dollars on basically a controller for a videogame they should appreciate that. I have a GT3RS V2 and I like it alot more than a g25 I have not had a chance to use a g27 yet
 
12thgear
My experience has been pretty positive. The timeline:

Preordered a Turbo S Standard Edition. About a day later, I changed my mind and upgraded to a ClubSport Edition preorder. I used the contact form in their web shop and submitted my request and received a response in about 48 hours with instructions on how to pay the difference using PayPal.

When the Turbo S ClubSport Edition arrived (meeting ETA estimates. I know Fanatec has missed ship dates for a lot of people, but mine arrived roughly when expected)
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I think I know what you mean by meeting ETA estimates, but I think it's funny that you say that. I also preordered a turbo s wheel, and from what I remember, it was 7 or 8 months late from what the ETA was when I ordered it. It wasn't to bad of a wait though, because Fanatec was kind enough to let me be a tester before the wheel was released. They ended up not even charging me for the test wheel, because of a small problem with it. Thanks again Thomas, I loved getting to take part in the testing process.

Their customer service does seem to be getting better though. I had a shifter problem and it was handled in a very timely manner. I think I had a new one without even having to send my old one back within 2 weeks. That was almost a year ago, and from what people are saying they seems to be pretty consistant with getting things taken care of now.
 
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I have a GT3RS and CSPs. Got them in Jan this year. Originally I had put in for the GT2 preorder but got tired of waiting and switched to the GT3RS. The preorder delays were a little frustrating but once I switched my order everything arrived in a timely manner.

But now something has gone wrong with the force feedback in the wheel. It feels all grind-y now and it feels like it is turning in notches. Sometimes it squeals but perfectly smooth/quiet when the FF off.

I am collecting the details in order to be able to return it and I guess I'll see what happens.

To be honest I was never in love with the wheel and second-guessed its value over the DFGT - but whatever. I had convinced myself that I'd just get the T500 but after seeing the new CSW I am all screwed up lol.
 
As you may or may not know, Darin Gangi from ISR works at Fanatec now, and he has set up a thread on their forums where you can reach out to him if you have any trouble with Fanatec's customer service.

This may be of interest...
 
Coxis
As you may or may not know, Darin Gangi from ISR works at Fanatec now, and he has set up a thread on their forums where you can reach out to him if you have any trouble with Fanatec's customer service.

This may be of interest...
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I posted and still awaiting for my post to be approved. It has be two days now and someone else's post has been posted since then - so I know he has seen mine. I am still giving them the benefit of the doubt, but we'll see what happens. Even if he just tells me to submit a regular service claim I'll be happy but no response will not impress me.
 
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Hi guys, i have sold my Fanatec Carrera and now the guy has some problems with it. I want to ask how the warranty works? Is it tied with my name or he can just write my order no. and they will send him new pedals or wheel (or whatever problem he has)?
 
A little concern about this thread tho even if everyone saying it's fine. If you look at faulty vs good hardware, 28 people said there wheel was working, while 28 others had faulty hardware. Still a pretty big margin actually. ok the sample of people is maybe too low but still 50/50 is pretty damn uncool. Not even talking about the consumer services which is horrible at fanatec.
 
RX-7_FD3S
A little concern about this thread tho even if everyone saying it's fine. If you look at faulty vs good hardware, 28 people said there wheel was working, while 28 others had faulty hardware. Still a pretty big margin actually. ok the sample of people is maybe too low but still 50/50 is pretty damn uncool. Not even talking about the consumer services which is horrible at fanatec.
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Thomas wrote in virtualr.net the following
Some of our products had a failure rate of up to 10% in the past but it is now below the 5% you mentioned. It happens that there are unlucky guys which have multiple failures but thank god this is not the majority.

The CSW will eliminate a lot of the weak points of the Porsche wheels so reliability should improve even more.
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RX-7_FD3S
A little concern about this thread tho even if everyone saying it's fine. If you look at faulty vs good hardware, 28 people said there wheel was working, while 28 others had faulty hardware. Still a pretty big margin actually. ok the sample of people is maybe too low but still 50/50 is pretty damn uncool. Not even talking about the consumer services which is horrible at fanatec.
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Some people (like me) have user created problems. Usually the defective products are very low.
 

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