Want to see more interviews like this? Just hit that subscribe button (or click this link) - your direct support means I can go and do interviews like this on your behalf. Thanks!! th-cam.com/users/Kireth
You asked some great questions.Maybe interview some other people in the industry. His answers sounded ok but the entire situation does not really add up.My guess is Fanatec wanted the cashflow that came with the Black Friday deal,they got the cash but they also got a ton of problems that they were not prepared for.
Good on you Kireth for doing this. The production value on the video is amazing as well. You could be working at the BBC. Would be great getting a Q&A Session with other industry leaders.
In order to increase the company's profits, the price of fanatec's QR2 is too high. Consumers need to spend more than $100 to update their own quick release. I bought a QR2 Pro on AliExpress, and its price is only half of fanatec's. The quality is exactly the same.
He tried to blow off the complaints about warranties on partial shipments expiring by starting off with "well we were the first ones who had an ecosystem" lol. Glad to hear they are now "exploring" the revolutionary idea of shipping multiple items from the same warehouse in the same box.
To be fair: most parcels services have wage limits on the parcels, and only smaller (lighter) things can be shipped combined. My CSL DD and stuff (one wheel, pedals, wheel base, quick release) was shipped in 3 parcels 2 years ago, and I waited 9 weeks.
@@alphastratus6623 Grate 9 weeks! that's awesome. Really really good. I placed an order for a custom rig with motedis (huge company with warehouses all over Europe) Some parts needed to be manufactured. Not everything was in stock at the same warehouse, in the same country, so they needed to collect them first. Every part had to be cut, drilled and threaded to my specifications and I received it all at once, not even four weeks later.
Absolutely agree. I was a warehouse manager for an international company - it's not a problem in this day and age to send it in one box, or make sure everything arrives the same day. Absolute joke this Thomas guy
He does not strike me as someone that is actually that sorry for what happened but rather sorry for the time he has to spend dealing with the fallout. All they had to do was to release statements on this right after Black Friday when they realized what had happened.
"I'm sorry for both side" is very much what one would say when they are only sorry for themselves. People who are really sorry for others don't talk about themselves at all.
Yeah, got that feeling too when he glanced at his watch at the 20 min marker. Yeah.. I feel his pain. Still watching the clock waiting for my Black Friday order.
Seems like he's pumped to rip us off, now I have a shifter sitt8ng and collecting dust because they forced me to keep just part of the order because I didn't request my refund within 14 days, the problem they didn't email me back for 7 weeks about my order so I had no idea I needed to send it back. They made millions on others misfortune.
Dude I’m impressed you got to interview him and ask tough questions. You’re awesome for doing this. No one else has done it that I’m aware of. Appreciate this. 👏😎
@@deeb0218 they could hire outside of germany and have multiple customer service locations like in south america and south east asian to always have 24/7 service without paying an arm and a leg
I understand your frustration, but what would you do? Employ 20 more people, take 2 months to train them all fully with the kit, train them another month how to handle phone calls and emails, then employ them on the shop floor for 2 weeks because by now you've sorted the back log, then sack them all because they're not needed any more? That's a whole load of headaches and energy that could be directed more meaningfully in different directions.
@@MuntyScruntFundle no its about honesty. Fanatec told me in multiple emails about delays and issues with shipping and how they were air freiting the dd+ to me to get it to me in december. In january we find out they didnt have the license. Why rush it if they couldnt do anything with it? Why not tell me in decemver they didnt have a license?
I haven’t been upset by fanatec as I only have a standard CSL DD, but this guys decision making is insane. The solution is simple, sell the non pS5 version now and state “pS5 DD+ coming soon”. Let’s be honest, they didn’t want to miss Christmas sales knowing full well they couldn’t deliver.
TBH they DID state "coming soon" for the DD+ but they gave extra info by stating that they EXPECTED to be able to start deliveries from the 19th December. This is where things have screwed up. I placed my order for the DD+, Podium Porsche Wheel & V3 Pedals (€2,000) on 21st November to take advantage of the Black Friday Sale prices (V3 pedals with Tuning kit & Damper kit for just €300 !!!!!!) & I'm still waiting for it BUT as he says in the video, there's nothing HE & Fanatec can do about it because they're waiting on Sony to grant the Tech licence before they can then start shipping & I have had FOUR emails from Fanatec apologising & updating me with the info (though there really isn't any new info) that they're still waiting on Sony but HOPE to get the licence in February. HOWEVER .... having said all of that (& as Thomas says in the video) it would have been better if they'd given themselves a bigger buffer ie expect to deliver on 19th December but say that deliveries would start at the end of January type of thing, but many people would still have placed early pre-orders just to take advantage (like I did) of the Black Friday Sales Prices.
@@stevecleaver8933 I hear what you’re saying but saying “coming soon” means that those who want to wait for the PS5 version can wait until it’s available and the one that is available can be ordered. What they actually did was take orders (with payment in full) for something that wasn’t even licensed, and still isn’t with no definite date as to when that may happen. People moan about Tesla for example constantly delaying the release and delivery of new car models, but Atleast they only take a small and instantly refundable deposit. The claim that their website can’t take a deposit for a wheelbase, only full price is just silly and shows how the company has grown up above the CEO’s skill set.
@@gameofdrones7895 Well, it was a preorder for the DD+, to get it first, and now it's delayed for around two Month. That's a pain if you wan't to race. But a least they should upgrade the shop and logistic system to bill your CC at the day they ship the unit.
@@AWENGERR Ill let you in on a secret hes not the typical german he got money from his rich parents and started a company that bought simracing stuff from a chinese guy thats how it started and the company blew up due to corona and a random mistake that turned into the best thing to happen for the company. he rly rly loves his new rich lifestyle and he doesnt care about anyone and well he obv wants to maintain this lifestyle.
As a loyal fanatec customer for over 3 yrs, with more equipment I care to list ( 3 rigs) it’s clear to us now that the issues start from the top. Thomas is a nice guy, but clearly in over his head how to proceed, even decades later. Now I understand why they marketing/customer service manager is so incompetent, they don’t have sound leadership above them. Too much shady talk by Thomas. Especially as I still have a fam member waiting on a blk Friday order. The new podium base and Bentley wheel were delayed due to current issues. How they handle those releases will show us all of they’ve improved or simply expect months wait isn’t an issue for consumers. Change starts from the top, it too much for Thomas to manage unfortunately.
I’d like to add, thank you very much for this interview. I know fanatec had summoned other content creators for interviews to help fix their image. I love my fanatec gear, just not how they treat us or look down to us the way they speak to the community, as shown in this interview.
sounds like he was good to start the company but as it grew larger and larger, he should have had a new ceo to replace him that knew how to run a large company. he could have stayed as president or something to call the larger shots, but have someone under him to run the company in general.
I agree with this. The growth has been a curse and blessing. Still curious if they will allow another interview with boosted media, or just hope to ride it out. @@KingLuis1985
So I have 3 takeaways from this: - we communicated with everyone about the mistake and delays and gave them to option to cancel. LIES. I would have cancelled months ago if I ever received that email. - would you change anything with regards to the PS wheel? No. Imagine being in this situation and not at least thinking “yeah we really should have been open about this situation. Maybe not taken money for something we were never permitted to sell”. - as expected, Fanatec just doesn’t care. When given the opportunity to speak to his customers that are now buying from elsewhere, the response was effectively “meh, they probably aren’t even watching”. I deeply, deeply regret ever giving this brand my money and now strongly advocate for people buying anything BUT Fanatec. This was true before this interview and it’s now set in stone. Fanatec, you should be ashamed of yourselves. To Fanatec’s competitors, what a rare gift of a situation.
I totally get that you are upset but also, you have no clue how international, licensing and supply chains work. There is so many moving parts in launching a new product or multiple products in an ecosystem and you try to anticipate and add buffers but you cant foresee everything. Also why is no one shitting on Sony for prolonging that process?
when have you ordered you DD+, at black Friday or later? And usually you can cancel any order, not matter if it's shipped or not. Maybe that depends on the country you're based. But for me, I do not work for Fanatec, I understand you're not happy. But what alternatives are around with 15nm an PS5 and PC compatibility? Have you found one?
I was given an option to cancel in an exchange for a 25% voucher or to wait until my product will be back in stock (supposedly end of March). I did cancel, got the voucher and ordered stuff with the 25% discount (different wheel, QR2, apm, etc) which I have all received last week. Yes, it was frustrating at the time, but I can believe they clearly had a technical problem and hope they will take it as a lessons learned for BF 2024.
the thing is they were open but people spinned it into things it were not. take one look on the forumn and tell me its not all twisted and such. he also collaborated on why it did not work with not taking the money untill it could be shipped. they dident have that infrastructure in place on there website . its also not easy to do. i can see when i look at his face he feels very sorry for what happened and i do believe truly they want to improve . thye also had permission to sell i think you are just getting things mixed up in the end
He said that they put CS DD+ up for pre-order early because the CS DD was already up for pre-order, so that people wouldn't pre-order DD instead of DD+ and later complain about not knowing about DD+. But that makes NO SENSE, because they could have just released all the information about DD+ without offering pre-orders until they have the technical approval from Sony. Their actual thoughts were probably just "making more money by the end of the year and making the financial report look better".
This is simply wrong. Pre orders are never part of your actual turnover. And the guys company is 120M a year. That’s 2.3 million a WEEK. I think his balance sheet is fine tbh.
@OnlyFoolsGaming If they could spend some of those millions making their logistic work better they wouldn't have their CEO come in and apologize. They got greedy and forgot to make sure their customers were well cared for.
Here is my Fanatec experience : Ordered Nov 27; pedals, shifter, wheel base, wheel. I received the shifter and pedals the end of December. Got two emails, Dec 29 and 30 saying that fanatec had sent me 2 packages. It is February 4th and the tracking information still only says that a label has been created. I would not recommend that anyone buy fanatec products.
Very similar experience. Ordered wheel, base unit and pedals on 27th November, and they arrived here at home in the UK last Saturday. Previously Fanatec didn't have that much competition but now this market sector is hotting up, and as witnessed in many industries, it is all too easy to lose customers to the new companies, who leapfrog over you, and you never get them back. Fanatec's market share will plummet. There's nothing unique about them anymore so differentiators like customer service become hugely important. Fanatec had better listen and change their processes and attitude fast
You were lucky, I didn't receive any email. One day the order just arrived. No tracking number in my account and if I hadn't picked up the unknown number I wouldn't have even known they were delivering something to me
Same story here.. almost. No contact at all from fanatec regarding my 2 mails questioning whats happening, "availability date on pre-ordered parts changed twice, took my money on October 27, 2023.. Still no product or contact from them. Over $2000 USD spent.. did I mention they already took my money over 2 months ago and I havnt heard from them at all?
These guys are scamming people, they take the orders, even they have no stock. They are scared,shitless that everyone is going to buy other brands. Not very smart, in the Netherlands more and more people are selling their Fanatec stuff just to go to the competition, which is trustworthy and give service in a reasonable time.
I order a CSL DD McLaren Bundle for Black Friday. Was delivered early January. During the time of awaiting my order customer service was nonexistent and so was tracking. Everyone’s gripes about the situation is valid. With all that being said I love my fanatec.
@@RichRacin well all that stuff is much more expennsive. i still can't see a competitor for the csl dd. I can't comment on even higher end stuff. Mozas wheelbase is a expensive a fanatec ready2race bundle.
I hear you brother, we all started somewhere.....myself with Logitech lol. All I can say is once you step up and sit down, your first thoughts/feelings will be "I DIDNT KNOW!!!" 🤯
@@Klorel123 Same here, I took the risk cuz i cant spend more then this on a setup right now. I did receive my order before the due date tho so guess I was lucky, I then ordered a boost kit for it etc and that did take a bit longer. I did receive customers supports answer after a few days tho.
I ordered *GranTurismo-DD Extreme, *CSL pedal bundle with load cell on April 2nd, 2024. Today on April 5th, 2024 the UPS man was at my front door with 3 boxes from Fanatec. All delivery problem fears for nothing Great service from Fanatec!!!
I was almost one of the people anxiously waiting for my order to ship. When I realized the new quick release system was backordered I went with a different company. I do hope Fanatec is able to learn from all of this and turn it around as competition is always good for the customer.
This is the way Fanatec has always been, so those who are not familiar with their business model. The sell through their stock, then instead of having them be out of stock for long, once they have a time-frame to restock they open up for pre-order/back-order. It is pretty ingenious approach as you end up not having stockpiles of product that doesn't move, and ensures you aren't having to pay the inventory cost of holding onto stock for long periods. Don't expect this to change, it has been this way for over 10 years.
At least he did man up, have the interview and explain what had happened. Good to get dates for shipping (by March) Its a bad situation for customers and he should have the decency to apologise to the customers rather than taking this from business only point of view - also people shouldn't find out this way it should be clearly communicated to customers. Half the issue is taking orders without stock, the other half the issue is pisspor communication and management of this crisis. I never had any issues with my orders (Wheel set in June and quick change adapter on Black Friday)
He seemed very hesitant on saying they’re losing profit. Almost as if it’s almost equal. And considering most of these products are being discounted and rerunning the assembly line is far more expensive than continuing with the next gen, I wonder how much profit these competitive companies are still making when their products are full price and in mass production.
He said all the dates on the website are correct now. I ordered CSL DD Ready2Race McLaren Elite Bundle last week, it still says Ships within 4-7 days on their website btw, but when I check my order it says QR1 Lite Wheel-Side is available at Mar 26, 2024. So how is this shipping date correct??
Good work and disposition from your side, to everyone involved. I'm not waiting anything from this company, and I can't understand how so many people still trust on this even after see this interview and the lack of compromise of this man. If they survive is just because the fanatism for brands can achieve unbelievable levels on some humans.
@@matttiaz7576 I would say that Nvidia and Apple have some appeal, as they have proprietary technologies and a pretty smooth running ecosystem (for Apple). But Fanatec... They honestly got nothing more that some newcomer Chinese or Danish companies.
@@michaelharder3055 yes, I actually am 🥹 unlike him, many others and maybe even yourself, I do not have legs. As a result, I don’t even bother thinking about passports. I spend alot of my time racing on gt7, it’s my happy place. When I ordered my dd pro, it arrived within a week, and I’m Sydney. I thought it would be nice to acknowledge a person with a passport and the ability to walk.
Thank you for this interview. The questions asked are very relevant Too bad the answers aren't convincing. It's far too late to apologize. The technical problems mentioned in no way excuse FANATEC's commercial policy. There is a forgotten subject: after-sales service which is also disastrous. After more than €4,500 spent at FANATEC, I have no plans to return there under any circumstances!
@@deltazero3796 They don't need to do it 24/7. They just need to reply within a timely manner of 24 to 48 hours, just like every other company does. Maybe you learn that when you eventually grow up.
@@deltazero3796for real? You really think fanatec ships tons of item on a daily basis? It's not Amazon, man, wake up. Those are very nieche products and in a relatively small demand. I just love to see how you will try to return non-working equipment talking to an AI, considering there is no such option in it's 'mind' lol
Where did he say customer complaints? I heard handling QUESTIONS like “where is my order” which companies have given customer access too for years now. Did you think someone was on the other end of the computer sending a response or working the program for you? God yall wanna complain about everything
Thanks for the interview Kireth and that you were brave to say the truth about Fanatec where other influencers were quitet because they got payed by Fanatec 🤐🤐🤐🤐
you're a bit gullible if you think this is anything more than a collab marketing stunt. Shocking company with shocking business ethics with a shocking outlook
@@ohnomk8625 This is just a PR damage control stunt, im sure all these questions are doctored and this was an entirely planned 'interview'. Hopefully more people can see thru this.
Thank you for this interview, it has helped convince me that I made the right decision by not ordering the Fanatec gear I had in my cart. The interview is full of excuses but the one that bothers me the most is why NO ONE from Fanatec regularly responds with updates to the Blog on Fanatec's own website! Good or bad news any communications would have helped. I really feel bad for all those people who are stuck with no way to contact anyone and no way of getting legit updates on what is going on. This interview is too little too late and Fanatec has burned a lot of customers.
My main issue with the response to the DD+ is that they want us to wait but why did they take our money or take the whole amount. It's easy for him to say be patient and we have to wait. Paying 1k for our items with conflicting information is very frustrated and not getting accurate info is bad business practice if not being deceptive. There should have been large print on the top stating this this item is pending Sony approval so that there was no doubt there was something still pending the release. Also, the story about air shipping those items to the warehouses in December should have mentioned that they are still pending which no mention was made. No accurate info, very deceptive practices, and limited responses from Fanatec increases the frustration. This almost sounds to me like he is full of himself and like take it or leave it. He should be sorry for his customers, if they had enough support or did the right thing people would be less frustrated or mad. They have no one to blame but themselves. Don't make your company to be the victim.
@@bigredracingteam9642 I'm rich, I can frikkin wait for a WHEEEEEL BASE lol. Gah. You Fanatec haters whine more than any other kind of consumer I swear. It's tooooo easy to troll you dorks. You need a loan, pumpkin?
As long as I can remember sim racers have been complaining about waiting for Fanatec gear.There has always been a mismatch between orders customers want to place for delivery and what Fanatec have in stock. If you place an order for anything,pay up front and wait 3 months you are financing their business Maybe they dont want to borrow heavily to finance adequate stock. His answers sounded honest but I cant believe they have come this far with such great products and made such fundamental mistakes that do so much damage.I was thinking about upgrading to a Fanatec DD wheel but will definitely shop arounds after this debacle.
Its hilarious to see people whine and complain about parts for what are essentially video games while multiple major industries have been dealing with and doing business like this for decades. That said I love my fanatec setup and i bought it right in the middle of all the stock and shipping issues…. BUT alot of people are looking at and going the moza route.
As someone who was screwed by Black Friday and has still never had an email, fb message, ig message etc ever answered from early December I appreciate you doing this interview. They did EVENTUALLY send me a code for 25% off, but that wasn’t as good of a deal as I originally had. They truly don’t care, at least that’s what their actions show. They clearly make enough money to hire a full customer support team.
hahaha this guy is exactly how i expected him to be "i'm sorry for both sides, for all the customers but also our customer service " you don't get to keep people's money for months without a single communication. here's an idea, don't keep someone's money for months with not a single reply. give option to refund, then you can stop feeling sorry for customer and customer service. Thanks Fanatec for teaching me what a chargeback is, and what a Paypal claim is.
Exactly. He regrets it happened, but he knows exactly what they did not stating correct stock levels or delivery dates and just wanted to Secure consumers money
Sharing a positive story for balance (we tend to comment only when angry). Order placed 5 days ago. Delivery by FedEx scheduled today, 6 days after placing the order. That includes two non-working days over the weekend.
I think it's positive that the CEO takes time to do this interview, with (no offense at all) a "youtuber" and not a "professional reporter". I mean it's rare to see a CEO of such a big company address the community so directly. At the very least, it shows a desire to be a bit transparent. So kudos on not hiding like many other big video-game related companies usually do. And thanks kireth for your dedication to this subject and flying there to meet with Thomas, I thought the title might have been clickbait, but I was pleased to see how wrong I was
With 76k sim racing specific subscribers I would say this is a better platform than a "professional reporter" would get. The Fanatec CEO is about as tone deaf as it gets, look forward to watching all the other sim companies who put customers first slowly crushing Fanatec into dust.
Interesting indeed. I’m not a business person but this wouldn’t make me a confident customer of Fanatec that’s certain. Thanks Kireth Sounds like they need to hire more folks to help keep up with demand. Sounds like they took more orders than they could handle in order to capitalize on Black Friday sales. In short I don’t completely buy that it was a technical problem 100%. Seems to me as a technical glitch is a scapegoat for “We sold too much to make holiday profit” Cynic at heart here.
Very rarely comment, but wanted to applaud you on this interview. Subscribed. A very fair interview that asked all the questions the other "GearTubers" should have been asking too. As a former journalist and now long-time PR consultant, I can absolutely say this is a lesson in how not to give an interview after your company has screwed up. Total absence of good crisis management doctrine by Fanatec throughout and somehow managed to make it all about them - tells you everything you need to know about the culture of arrogance from this company. I'm not buying anything else from this guy....
Warranty Question. I am happy to see the question was asked but he failed to address it. I have a ticket opened to get it resolved but no response from support. BTW great interview Kireth
Big respect to you for doing this. Its a shame because I want to upgrade my current setup on xbox and Fanatec is by far the best option to go for, but no way can I drop so much money after the stories I've been hearing over the past few months
To be honest i was hesitant too … i placed my order 26 of jan received it on 31 of jan not to mention it was placed on a weekend … i got dd pro qr2 for the base and wheel side and and csl load cell all received in the same package… i believe everything is back in order now … hope u find this useful.
i hope they read this. I've been a Fanatec customer for about 15 years now, purchased multiple products from them. My DD1 had an issue 2 months after the end of my warranty. took 2 wks just to get it shipped to them. They made no effort to repair it ( would've been fine with paying for the repairs). They said it can not be repaired, with no explanation. forced my hand to pay $899 for a refurbished one. Less than a month later they had a sale on new ones for that price. I'll never buy another item from them. Shit customer service.
This is a classic case of what is called Founders Syndrome. "Founder’s syndrome occurs when a founder struggles or refuses to ‘change gear’ and adopt a new mindset, approach or skill set as the organization grows and as its strategic context changes. Rather than making way for a new leader to take the organization to the next level, the founder tries to hang on to power. The founder becomes unable to achieve the outcomes associated with effective leadership. The organization then becomes maladapted - inappropriately or poorly adapted to its environment."
You earned a subscription from me with this video. Appreciate you asking all the right questions, touching on every point, and asking tough follow up questions. Well done.
Thanks for this video. At least we have a youtuber that really cares for our concerns. This comment is coming from a Fanatec Fan boy. I owned 4 bases and 4 wheels. My reply to this video is simply GREED. No way they should put the CsDd without the full license on sale. Also these issues started before the black Friday so why they created a bigger problem and offered crazy discount ?
Thank you for admitting that. I’m new to fanatec from the bf sale and this video really confirms everything I’ve been thinking. This mf doesn’t care cause it was planned
“From a business point of view, I regret that this happened”. 7:40. Inferring that from a customer point of view it’s too bad. No regrets, no recourse.
@@wynarator The question is did the board had the authority to fire him or was he forced to stepped down by the banks? Is quite interesting that the banks got so involved in a private business matter. For them to put such terms then Fanatec must have had some heavy losses on paper that the banks could see. Anyway the guy seemed to be over his head so a change was needed. Let's hope the new guy is not just some number pusher and knows that you have to have happy clients for the numbers to add up nice and well.
This is my first experience with Fanatec, I chose just because of many options of wheels and accessories. I bought the bundle F1 steering wheel 2023, pedals V3, and DD+. I still waiting for DD+ since December/2023, this is terrible, and we just receive automatic message generated by the system, saying that "we still running with the approvals bla bla bla". I hope they can solve this soon for all community.
My nephew ordered a CSL DD, a set of V2 Pedals at the start of January. Both item's were in stock, he got his order a week, a half later in the EU, although he didn't have any tracking information. He is very happy with his CSL DD.
What wheels did you guys get? I know some are not in stock, and if you ended up buying a wheel with the FREE QR1 Wheel-Side, it is not in stock either, so your order won’t ship until everything is in stock.
@@gradyrandolph5350wish I had saw this video before I made my order today! I ordered a wheel with the free hub and you just crushed all my hopes telling me that it won’t ship anytime soon lol I assumed they had enough of those to match the bundles, maybe I can upgrade and get it here a bit faster.
The fact that he says they wouldn’t do anything differently (without being prodded) re: CS DD+ tells you all you need to know about him and his company. Zero accountability. He obviously knew he was going to be interviewed and would be asked about the CS DD+; and for that to be his initial answer shows he really DGAF about customers and doesn’t even think they could have handled the situation better.
FYI , if you look at the fanatec forum, the situation appears to have gotten worse. Some people still haven't had a response to emails from October. Some people get their order before the people who ordered in November. They are not processing orders based on when a consumer places them. A company to avoid. The only way to get them to ship your stuff is to do a CC chargeback and 2-3 months later you may get your stuff because all they care about is money
Ive had so much fun with the fanatec products ive owned since 2018, I hope things get better. Props to Thomas for doing this interview. Good job Kireth!
13:05 is nuts. He has a Sony license to create the DD+ but the product hasn't been approved technically by Sony and YET, he's willing to take everyone's money while he waits. What a guy! It appears that none of the customers matter to him when it's all about the brand deals he's doing and selling products that literally aren't up to Sony's own standards!! Someone, anyone, tell me that isn't the case...
Just stumbled upon your channel by chance but I am incredibly impressed with your professionalism in this interview. Thank you for doing this for the sim racing community, and thank you to Fanatec for allowing you to ask these questions. I still will not be purchasing a Fanatec product anytime soon given the issues raised in this video and the concerns around quality.
I recently ordered a couple of wheels; they arrived within days, no problem there. My gripe is that they've ignored the problem with the Clubsport shifter. Customers need a solution, not a fix with electrical tape. The mis shifts make the product unusable!
👏Well done to you for doing this, and I say fair play to the guy for agreeing to answer everything. He seemed genuine and pretty honest about what’s been going wrong, and how they intend to change moving forward, he has to get respect for that, fingers crossed for them and their customers👌
This guy seems dishonest to me, opposite of genuine, but that’s me. Also I have been experiencing all this crap and NO communications...do they even have a PR department? Is so, fire them all.
@@steveruscitto5883 he certainly does yes. He said all this to make the Fanatec lovers believe that he really is trying to fix it and he copped a loss. There was no loss, what a joke!! They made this junk in China, using substandard materials, tested by people that have no idea how it should work, and this guy doesn't care, he's made a fortune selling junk that doesn't do what they claim.
He is German, he will never listen to anyone including you as a customer. They only think of their self interest, I've worked with a German company before so I know how they operate their business, I don't find this apology genuine, sorry.
@@Daz555Dazyou want them to cancel all the orders just so people have to order the same stuff again maybe to normal prices if they bought it of bf? or send 50% of the money back so that they punish themselves? lol that would be stupid. either cancel your order or shut up and be patient. you have your cards, now play them the way you want to. me myself cancelled my dd+ and bought a used gt dd pro and im now going to wait until the dd+ has been out for a bit and when its ready to ship right away i might get it. you have all the power. either cancel or stick it out. fucks sake
Fair play to the guy and he seems genuine, clearly he hasn't had your money for three months and refuses to answer emails or give a refund. He has sold and took money for products that weren't as a advertised (PS compatable at time of selling) or in stock. Refused to reply to emails, making it impossible to get answers for three months. Now he comes on hear spouting his lies and you say fair play to the guy, maybe get informed before commenting.
Just for balance I bought a GT DD Pro on 7th Jan and it arrived in 2 weeks. I then bought GT3 v2 wheel and it arrived in 1 week. I’m over the moon with the Fanatec kit.
Same here, I made a black friday order for the CS V3 pedals with performance kit and damper and it arrived in 8 days. No one makes a video when things go as expected, then when a few do it everyone jumps on the "click bait" opportunity and I'd wager 95% of the YT videos bashing them haven't even placed and order.
Good job, you bought something that was in stock after it barely was in stock for two years and they had to ramp up production. The GT DD Pro and CSL DD were only available a few times a year after release.
I placed an order on january 29th, so late to the night that technically you could say it was on the 30th. Order was shipped on 31st, even though some items were shown to not be in stock. Definitely a very positive surprise knowing what's been going on lately
Thanks for holding this interview. My order of the PS GT wheel & Pedals was made in mid September 2023 and I still haven't received it, nor comms about it's readyness/dispatch.
Holy crap this explains so much. Such a nonchalant attitude. This guy is on cruise control mode and resting on his success. It just filters down from there and you get a half assed effort from everyone. This is a public company and if I was a major share holder I'd want him stepping down as CEO.
I got so incredibly lucky that I ordered my rig in early November. Of course I had to pay a little more without the discount, but I have been thrilled with my setup so far and don't mind that I had to pay more. I can't imagine how crappy this experience has been for so many people, and I truly hope you all get back to racing and enjoying your gear soon! I still love Fanatec and they have quite a long and positive track record before this so I can't write them off quite yet. However if this don't change soon I will have to consider going with another company for my next setup.
This is really really interesting, the Body language which is shown by their ceo is really concerning tbh. I would love to hear what his employees saying to this interview.
Really appreciate you doing this mate top man. I returned a Gt dd pro in November signed by them. I’ve not heard anything since or had my refund. Down £600 from my return and down £1k waiting for DD+
He regrets it happened, but he knows exactly what they did not stating correct stock levels or delivery dates and just wanted to Secure consumers money
Ordered a podium hub after seeing this interview. Delivery date was March 8. It just changed to April 11. So Thomas was lying when he mentioned that delivery dates on his site were correct. Will cancel the hub and no more Fanatec for me.
6:53 - His rebuttal to this point is almost more telling and aligned with the impression I got from the whole ordeal.. Fanatec wanted to make an impact on the market by selling their products far cheaper, but sold too many at a discounted rate to the point they wouldn't make profit on future sales, meaning they had to stall the production or distribution of heavily discounted products to receive enough funding to make their 'investment' worthwhile. Must have been a nifty business move that backfired on them
great video and kudos for you for not only asking the questions but ensuring they were very specific and targeted to get an answer that was actually useful. CEO didnt have to do this at all so kudos to him as well for agreeing. that said, his answers didnt surprise me. just over 200 employees is pretty small and i suspected the boom in sim racing in conjunction with an abnormal black friday sale and the release of several new products led to them simply being overwhelmed. Tie in any sort of technical and/or logistical failures and its a disaster which many are seeing and feeling. Not making any excuses for fanatec as they certainly could have planned better to mitigate this but what we're seeing is simply the reality of the situation. Hopefully they learn from it.
Thanks you for this video! Your approach is very professional, no judgement. Well done. What strikes me about the interview, is the low emphasis on the customer side, the experience. He is sorry as he states, but if feels like he is mainly sorry that they got into this situation and not for the consequences for individual customers. He is so focussed on the company, the inside view on the situation. Not meaning he is only here for the money as some people would think. Nearly all businesses are, that's how our world is. It's painfull to see that they lack so much in 'customer experience'. The philisophy seems to be that the product brings this experience, but there is so much more possible. Yes, it is hard to run a (growing) business on this size and people underestimate the pain they have internally. But if they want to succeede on the long term, they have to change they customer experience. Communication, customer service, give customers (shipping-aprtially) choices in the process (not only in the ecosystem). Their plan to outsource the (first line of) customer might be an improvement, but it will take a long while untill that is operational (more than a year at least). The approach already seems an underestimation of the project. And there will be disadvantages too. I'm hopeful that things will get better, and they should. Only time will tell. I must admit that every situation has multiple stories. And other choices would not have lead to 'all customers are happy'. Like if they postponed the long awaited Clubsport DD untill the Sony approval for the DD+ was in, that would not been a good thing for all the other customers (not waiting for the DD+). On the other hand, they should have looked into specific situations and f.e. 'overrule' a warranty date for specific orders. But of course, with the current issues, the customer service team cannot handle this. The dates on the website correct? Not really. He mentioned in the interview that certain products will be shipped in March. Those products still mention on the website 'ships within 4-7 days' (it is now Februari 11th). A recent order (from a friend, end of januari) will also be delivered in March. This is clearly untrue! And another example that will loose them credibility. It's just a big mess. Fanatec will feel this in the long term for sure (2024 and 2025), and after that, the 'playfield' of the market has changed with a lot more (big) players that are now coming up and customers moving there. The Fanatec innovations are not so amazing anymore, at the moment. Would Fanatec thill be market leader in 2026? I'm not so sure.
Excellent stuff, Kireth. You gave him a good grilling and you didn't hold back with the questions. I don't think this helped him win back his customers to be honest. The DD+ situation is bizzare! He says the technical tests are all that need to be carried out and approved, like making sure the buttons match the game 🤨 surely that is a 2 minute test at most to click each button and make sure it is doing what it's supposed to! And surely, if you run a 24 hour test of it running continuously on a PlayStation and you have no issues, then that's the technical test done? I can't help but think he is telling us porky pies when it comes to a lot of these vague answers! He thanked you for letting Fanatec voice these answers, but do they not have their own youtube channel 🤔
I use to work at a video game company in the US and we released a game on XBox, PC and PS, so I can validate from my experience that Sony is notorious for creating the biggest red tape to get certification to sell a game compared to XBox and PC. Real example from my time there, we submitted a build of our game weeks before we expected to get the gold release which means those that will be mass produced, and Sony rejected our certification bc of a typo on the paperwork. No big deal right? You think just resubmit the paperwork with it fixed…not so fast bc Sony requires a full recertification each time they reject or fail your application which means they do a full thorough test of the game from start to finish to ensure no major bugs exist and cause the game to crash. How does this differ to a physical product? I can’t speak to but I can only assume if they are that rigorous with software I can’t imagine the amount of testing they do for physical products to ensure it works in every scenario possible. Not an excuse for Fanatec bc I’m still waiting on refund for button caps on BF that still has not materialized. There is a reason customer support agents go through specific training on how to handle things bc you can put anyone behind a keyboard but that doesn’t mean they know how to respond and retain customers.
Yeh, I can believe that, too. I hate all that red tape shite!They could have released the Clubsport DD and announced the DD+ as they have dealt with Sony before and surely they know the process is arduous as hell! I suppose there is no point crying over spilled milk. Im gonna just wait it out and not get a refund as the old Csl DD is still workin grand but I can see how people who are waiting on it to complete their setup are so furious over this delay in getting the DD+ @cbdaytona675
@@cbdaytona675 - Yeah, and that 'red tape' is the reason for XBOX constantly failing due to them releasing trash games on their trash systems due to a lack of quality control and corner cutting antics which leads to customers getting scuffed products. Sony has always been known for their quality assurance.
The same thing happened with fanatec a few years back. Purchased 'in stock' product and wait 8 months for it to arrive because their inventory system was unreliable.
don't have anythng on order now. But have 3 wheels, csl dd, v3 pedal's w/mod,s and a shifter. Never a problem/ shipping or correspondence. growing pains, patience people. to much instance gratification expected these days.
It is nice to ear someone from FANATEC. For me it was TOO LATE, after 2 Month waiting for feedback (my order, shifter, V3 pedals, Qr2, went back to their Wharehouse, and no feedback from fanatek), i lost hope on the company and cancel my orders, and put all my Fanatec equipment to Sell. Now Waiting for my new Simagic Setup.... If they answered one of my multiple emails, or had some feedback from them, i could would wait a litter bit more, but i was afraid because to have Fanatec setup, if i have a problem with my equipment, i have no one to ask for help, because my experience with fanatec, was almost only SILENCE!!! PS: I was thiking to upgrade my 8nm CSL DD to a clubsport DD... Now gone to Simagic Alpha Ultimate!! Good Luck to you FANATEC, but you have lost thetrust of many customers...
I’m done with Fanatec. Have a DD1 Podium and a GT DD Pro. Both major disconnection issues. The F1 Podium goes to pause when I turn the wheel, and on the DD Pro the buttons stop working constantly. They basically never respond to emails or support tickets. Worse is that the DD1 was sent back to Fanatec, it came back looking brand new but it still has the exact same issue, pause when turning the wheel. Will most likely buy Logitech instead
I had fanatec for years and have always found support great. Still running converted fanatec wheels on my non fanatec direct drive and theyve been flawless.
I had a fanatec csl DD in the shopping cart 2 weeks ago, but terrified to pull the trigger. Thanks for speaking and being honest, unfortunately it didn't give me enough confidence to buy yet. I'm rooting for you all
Sadly, they’re still horrible at responding to emails in a timely manner. Why does it takes them over a week at this point in February to respond to a simple email. They’re quick to charge you for something but not for any else.
After watching this video, I took it on faith when Thomas said the ordering timeframes are correct and that they were "absolutely realistic". I ordered a GT DD Pro. It said "Ready to Ship" as a status. According to the timelines indicated on their website, it said it would take up to 48 hours to ship. I ordered 10 days ago and it still says, "Handover to warehouse". I sent in an inquiry and a got a bot generated email quoting timelines. I followed up and no response. Needless to say, as the head of the company, he is lost my trust in Fanatec.
Top work, Kireth. This video and interview is actually what Sim Racing Magazines have to do. Great that you gave Thomas a hard time but with respect and appropriate handling, I think many are not appreciating or are aware what Thomas did here (NOT SAYING THAT THE ERRORS WHICH WERE MADE ARE OK NOW) but as the CEO of a stock corporation, these kind of Interviews can change your stock from good to bad over night.
I've ordered thousands of dollars worth of product from Fanatec. As a whole, I love Fanatec. I was even given the 25% off opportunity, which was supposed to ship on January 11 or 12th. As of February 4, it's affectively listed as shipped but there is no tracking and I'm not sure when it'll show up. It sounds like they're aiming to handle things better in the future. I kind of feel bad for everyone from the racer to the CEO.
Yeah 2 weeks for me, dd, wheel & elite V2 pedals, qr2 wheel & base .. took about 12 days but they mentioned the transitions in house & the 6-7 day delay so no complaints from me
The problem is tsht only the black Friday orders aren't delivered. The reason is they sold too many very cheap orders. So now they just wait until customers cancel so they don't have to deliver the far too cheap units
You can clearly see that it's just business. Every decision discussed was made from marketing perspective. Everything makes perfect sense, but it does lead to situations like this. Hopefully they'll learn from all this and start putting more into customer service and satisfaction, or the decisions that should make more money will end up biting even harder
I used to have a Fanatec rig but sold it due to health issues. 2 years later I am better and wanted to go back to simracing with Fanatec but saw this horrible situation and no explanation from the customer support. I went to the local store and bought Logitech Pro Wheel off the shelf and boy, did I hit the jackpot with it. And in case something happens with it, I deal with the store locally, not shipping and praying my stuff is back some day.
Just on their US website right now and the only wheels availabe for order are the Formula V2/V2.5, the BMW wheel, and one or 2 of their cheapest wheels. Everything else is either sold out or awaiting pre-order dates. How do you expect to get new customers when you have nothing available? And return customers like me who want a new wheel? At this point, I'm really considering just changing ecosystems. And this isn't even a new issue. For years, like 75% of the catalogue was not available for order. This isn't a one time thing, you guys need a new business model. If you can't regularly supply these items, stop listing them. Either focus on a few items you can supply, or make everything available. Or at least most things available.
I have 2 fanatec sim setups for 4 years, i can tell you fana is a pure mess. Guys tried to make me pay for a steering wheel what was under guarantee, didnt completely fix my pedals what were almost 2 months in repair ect, ect... You know something is truely fucked when on monday costumer support tells you all my items are fixed and they are in process of generating me a invoice. 3 & 6 days later i remind them about my invoice. In total it took 8 days to generate a single invoice, how is this even possible?
Want to see more interviews like this? Just hit that subscribe button (or click this link) - your direct support means I can go and do interviews like this on your behalf. Thanks!! th-cam.com/users/Kireth
You asked some great questions.Maybe interview some other people in the industry.
His answers sounded ok but the entire situation does not really add up.My guess is Fanatec wanted the cashflow that came with the Black Friday deal,they got the cash but they also got a ton of problems that they were not prepared for.
Guys this interview was not sponsored by Fanatec! Make sure to share this video!
Good on you Kireth for doing this. The production value on the video is amazing as well. You could be working at the BBC. Would be great getting a Q&A Session with other industry leaders.
In order to increase the company's profits, the price of fanatec's QR2 is too high. Consumers need to spend more than $100 to update their own quick release. I bought a QR2 Pro on AliExpress, and its price is only half of fanatec's. The quality is exactly the same.
i would like to hear interviews rather than watch them
He tried to blow off the complaints about warranties on partial shipments expiring by starting off with "well we were the first ones who had an ecosystem" lol. Glad to hear they are now "exploring" the revolutionary idea of shipping multiple items from the same warehouse in the same box.
To be fair: most parcels services have wage limits on the parcels, and only smaller (lighter) things can be shipped combined.
My CSL DD and stuff (one wheel, pedals, wheel base, quick release) was shipped in 3 parcels 2 years ago, and I waited 9 weeks.
Absolute bullshit, just got all my Asetek gear in one box. The guy is a lying crook that wouldn't know the truth if he fell over it.
To be even more fair: Kireth asked both questions but then said hes mainly interessted in the single package shipment issue.
@@alphastratus6623 Grate 9 weeks! that's awesome. Really really good. I placed an order for a custom rig with motedis (huge company with warehouses all over Europe) Some parts needed to be manufactured. Not everything was in stock at the same warehouse, in the same country, so they needed to collect them first. Every part had to be cut, drilled and threaded to my specifications and I received it all at once, not even four weeks later.
Absolutely agree. I was a warehouse manager for an international company - it's not a problem in this day and age to send it in one box, or make sure everything arrives the same day.
Absolute joke this Thomas guy
He does not strike me as someone that is actually that sorry for what happened but rather sorry for the time he has to spend dealing with the fallout.
All they had to do was to release statements on this right after Black Friday when they realized what had happened.
"I'm sorry for both side" is very much what one would say when they are only sorry for themselves.
People who are really sorry for others don't talk about themselves at all.
@@PierreAlainAdouane I agree 100%.
Exactly!!! The arrogance is strong with this one
Yeah, got that feeling too when he glanced at his watch at the 20 min marker. Yeah.. I feel his pain. Still watching the clock waiting for my Black Friday order.
Seems like he's pumped to rip us off, now I have a shifter sitt8ng and collecting dust because they forced me to keep just part of the order because I didn't request my refund within 14 days, the problem they didn't email me back for 7 weeks about my order so I had no idea I needed to send it back. They made millions on others misfortune.
Dude I’m impressed you got to interview him and ask tough questions. You’re awesome for doing this. No one else has done it that I’m aware of. Appreciate this. 👏😎
Thanks! 🙌🙌
@@KirethHow did you get them to respond to your email requesting an interview? I cannot get any response and I paid them $$$$$.
I wouldn't be surprised if there was a small price. Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that Mr. CEO started and introduced the video🤔🤔
Fanatec told the him to do this interview with kireth as damage control, didn’t work very well lmao
You would think this would wake up Fanatec help them realize they need to actually provide customer service.
Dude says nobody wants to work nights u pay them good they will
Haha....yea. jackermeiers message was basically we are sorry, all our suff broke, order some more stuff lol. Yea ok...
@@deeb0218 they could hire outside of germany and have multiple customer service locations like in south america and south east asian to always have 24/7 service without paying an arm and a leg
I understand your frustration, but what would you do? Employ 20 more people, take 2 months to train them all fully with the kit, train them another month how to handle phone calls and emails, then employ them on the shop floor for 2 weeks because by now you've sorted the back log, then sack them all because they're not needed any more?
That's a whole load of headaches and energy that could be directed more meaningfully in different directions.
@@MuntyScruntFundle no its about honesty. Fanatec told me in multiple emails about delays and issues with shipping and how they were air freiting the dd+ to me to get it to me in december. In january we find out they didnt have the license. Why rush it if they couldnt do anything with it? Why not tell me in decemver they didnt have a license?
I haven’t been upset by fanatec as I only have a standard CSL DD, but this guys decision making is insane. The solution is simple, sell the non pS5 version now and state “pS5 DD+ coming soon”. Let’s be honest, they didn’t want to miss Christmas sales knowing full well they couldn’t deliver.
💯 agree. To not own up to that is an oversight with a bit of arrogance
TBH they DID state "coming soon" for the DD+ but they gave extra info by stating that they EXPECTED to be able to start deliveries from the 19th December. This is where things have screwed up. I placed my order for the DD+, Podium Porsche Wheel & V3 Pedals (€2,000) on 21st November to take advantage of the Black Friday Sale prices (V3 pedals with Tuning kit & Damper kit for just €300 !!!!!!) & I'm still waiting for it BUT as he says in the video, there's nothing HE & Fanatec can do about it because they're waiting on Sony to grant the Tech licence before they can then start shipping & I have had FOUR emails from Fanatec apologising & updating me with the info (though there really isn't any new info) that they're still waiting on Sony but HOPE to get the licence in February.
HOWEVER .... having said all of that (& as Thomas says in the video) it would have been better if they'd given themselves a bigger buffer ie expect to deliver on 19th December but say that deliveries would start at the end of January type of thing, but many people would still have placed early pre-orders just to take advantage (like I did) of the Black Friday Sales Prices.
@@stevecleaver8933 I hear what you’re saying but saying “coming soon” means that those who want to wait for the PS5 version can wait until it’s available and the one that is available can be ordered. What they actually did was take orders (with payment in full) for something that wasn’t even licensed, and still isn’t with no definite date as to when that may happen. People moan about Tesla for example constantly delaying the release and delivery of new car models, but Atleast they only take a small and instantly refundable deposit. The claim that their website can’t take a deposit for a wheelbase, only full price is just silly and shows how the company has grown up above the CEO’s skill set.
@@gameofdrones7895 Well, it was a preorder for the DD+, to get it first, and now it's delayed for around two Month. That's a pain if you wan't to race. But a least they should upgrade the shop and logistic system to bill your CC at the day they ship the unit.
As they should to be fair , thats what the shareholders are wanting to see.
This man has soo much pride in him and no remorse.
I wouldn't call it pride, I'd call it arrogance.
@@sanmiguel4019 He is German right ? Not all but majority of them are full of pride/arrogance
@@AWENGERR I know quite a lot of German people and cannot really say any of them are arrogant at all, but this guy definitely reeks of it!
@@AWENGERR Ill let you in on a secret hes not the typical german he got money from his rich parents and started a company that bought simracing stuff from a chinese guy thats how it started and the company blew up due to corona and a random mistake that turned into the best thing to happen for the company. he rly rly loves his new rich lifestyle and he doesnt care about anyone and well he obv wants to maintain this lifestyle.
@@AWENGERR the absolute peak irony in your statement, lol
As a loyal fanatec customer for over 3 yrs, with more equipment I care to list ( 3 rigs) it’s clear to us now that the issues start from the top. Thomas is a nice guy, but clearly in over his head how to proceed, even decades later.
Now I understand why they marketing/customer service manager is so incompetent, they don’t have sound leadership above them. Too much shady talk by Thomas. Especially as I still have a fam member waiting on a blk Friday order.
The new podium base and Bentley wheel were delayed due to current issues. How they handle those releases will show us all of they’ve improved or simply expect months wait isn’t an issue for consumers.
Change starts from the top, it too much for Thomas to manage unfortunately.
I’d like to add, thank you very much for this interview. I know fanatec had summoned other content creators for interviews to help fix their image.
I love my fanatec gear, just not how they treat us or look down to us the way they speak to the community, as shown in this interview.
Over 8 years for me, everything being sold and have gone to Asetek /simlab. Absolute disgrace of a company.
Having worked there. This is spot on.
sounds like he was good to start the company but as it grew larger and larger, he should have had a new ceo to replace him that knew how to run a large company. he could have stayed as president or something to call the larger shots, but have someone under him to run the company in general.
I agree with this. The growth has been a curse and blessing. Still curious if they will allow another interview with boosted media, or just hope to ride it out. @@KingLuis1985
So I have 3 takeaways from this:
- we communicated with everyone about the mistake and delays and gave them to option to cancel. LIES. I would have cancelled months ago if I ever received that email.
- would you change anything with regards to the PS wheel? No. Imagine being in this situation and not at least thinking “yeah we really should have been open about this situation. Maybe not taken money for something we were never permitted to sell”.
- as expected, Fanatec just doesn’t care. When given the opportunity to speak to his customers that are now buying from elsewhere, the response was effectively “meh, they probably aren’t even watching”.
I deeply, deeply regret ever giving this brand my money and now strongly advocate for people buying anything BUT Fanatec. This was true before this interview and it’s now set in stone.
Fanatec, you should be ashamed of yourselves. To Fanatec’s competitors, what a rare gift of a situation.
I totally get that you are upset but also, you have no clue how international, licensing and supply chains work. There is so many moving parts in launching a new product or multiple products in an ecosystem and you try to anticipate and add buffers but you cant foresee everything. Also why is no one shitting on Sony for prolonging that process?
when have you ordered you DD+, at black Friday or later? And usually you can cancel any order, not matter if it's shipped or not. Maybe that depends on the country you're based. But for me, I do not work for Fanatec, I understand you're not happy. But what alternatives are around with 15nm an PS5 and PC compatibility? Have you found one?
I thought I didn't receive the email but for some reason it went straight to my spam
I was given an option to cancel in an exchange for a 25% voucher or to wait until my product will be back in stock (supposedly end of March). I did cancel, got the voucher and ordered stuff with the 25% discount (different wheel, QR2, apm, etc) which I have all received last week. Yes, it was frustrating at the time, but I can believe they clearly had a technical problem and hope they will take it as a lessons learned for BF 2024.
the thing is they were open but people spinned it into things it were not. take one look on the forumn and tell me its not all twisted and such. he also collaborated on why it did not work with not taking the money untill it could be shipped. they dident have that infrastructure in place on there website . its also not easy to do. i can see when i look at his face he feels very sorry for what happened and i do believe truly they want to improve . thye also had permission to sell i think you are just getting things mixed up in the end
He said that they put CS DD+ up for pre-order early because the CS DD was already up for pre-order, so that people wouldn't pre-order DD instead of DD+ and later complain about not knowing about DD+. But that makes NO SENSE, because they could have just released all the information about DD+ without offering pre-orders until they have the technical approval from Sony. Their actual thoughts were probably just "making more money by the end of the year and making the financial report look better".
Spot on 👍
Agree.
Well actually not really. Preorders are a balance sheet extension. They are recorded as liabilities and do not affect the profit and loss statement.
This is simply wrong. Pre orders are never part of your actual turnover. And the guys company is 120M a year. That’s 2.3 million a WEEK. I think his balance sheet is fine tbh.
@OnlyFoolsGaming If they could spend some of those millions making their logistic work better they wouldn't have their CEO come in and apologize. They got greedy and forgot to make sure their customers were well cared for.
Here is my Fanatec experience :
Ordered Nov 27; pedals, shifter, wheel base, wheel.
I received the shifter and pedals the end of December.
Got two emails, Dec 29 and 30 saying that fanatec had sent me 2 packages.
It is February 4th and the tracking information still only says that a label has been created. I would not recommend that anyone buy fanatec products.
Very similar experience. Ordered wheel, base unit and pedals on 27th November, and they arrived here at home in the UK last Saturday. Previously Fanatec didn't have that much competition but now this market sector is hotting up, and as witnessed in many industries, it is all too easy to lose customers to the new companies, who leapfrog over you, and you never get them back. Fanatec's market share will plummet. There's nothing unique about them anymore so differentiators like customer service become hugely important. Fanatec had better listen and change their processes and attitude fast
You were lucky, I didn't receive any email. One day the order just arrived. No tracking number in my account and if I hadn't picked up the unknown number I wouldn't have even known they were delivering something to me
Same story here.. almost.
No contact at all from fanatec regarding my 2 mails questioning whats happening, "availability date on pre-ordered parts changed twice, took my money on October 27, 2023..
Still no product or contact from them. Over $2000 USD spent.. did I mention they already took my money over 2 months ago and I havnt heard from them at all?
And I didn't even order the plus. Just the 8nm upgrade with the base
These guys are scamming people, they take the orders, even they have no stock. They are scared,shitless that everyone is going to buy other brands. Not very smart, in the Netherlands more and more people are selling their Fanatec stuff just to go to the competition, which is trustworthy and give service in a reasonable time.
I order a CSL DD McLaren Bundle for Black Friday. Was delivered early January.
During the time of awaiting my order customer service was nonexistent and so was tracking. Everyone’s gripes about the situation is valid. With all that being said I love my fanatec.
Try ANYTHING else that's a step up, SIMAGIC, simicube, accuforce, hell EVEN Moza......you'll never look back 😂
@@RichRacin well all that stuff is much more expennsive. i still can't see a competitor for the csl dd. I can't comment on even higher end stuff. Mozas wheelbase is a expensive a fanatec ready2race bundle.
I hear you brother, we all started somewhere.....myself with Logitech lol. All I can say is once you step up and sit down, your first thoughts/feelings will be "I DIDNT KNOW!!!" 🤯
@@Klorel123 Same here, I took the risk cuz i cant spend more then this on a setup right now. I did receive my order before the due date tho so guess I was lucky, I then ordered a boost kit for it etc and that did take a bit longer. I did receive customers supports answer after a few days tho.
Thank you for the absolute powerhouse of showing us what the PR department does for a company.
I ordered *GranTurismo-DD Extreme, *CSL pedal bundle with load cell on April 2nd, 2024.
Today on April 5th, 2024 the UPS man was at my front door with 3 boxes from Fanatec.
All delivery problem fears for nothing
Great service from Fanatec!!!
I was almost one of the people anxiously waiting for my order to ship. When I realized the new quick release system was backordered I went with a different company. I do hope Fanatec is able to learn from all of this and turn it around as competition is always good for the customer.
This is the way Fanatec has always been, so those who are not familiar with their business model. The sell through their stock, then instead of having them be out of stock for long, once they have a time-frame to restock they open up for pre-order/back-order. It is pretty ingenious approach as you end up not having stockpiles of product that doesn't move, and ensures you aren't having to pay the inventory cost of holding onto stock for long periods.
Don't expect this to change, it has been this way for over 10 years.
When the interviewer has a better sense of managing a business than the CEO...
At least he did man up, have the interview and explain what had happened. Good to get dates for shipping (by March) Its a bad situation for customers and he should have the decency to apologise to the customers rather than taking this from business only point of view - also people shouldn't find out this way it should be clearly communicated to customers. Half the issue is taking orders without stock, the other half the issue is pisspor communication and management of this crisis.
I never had any issues with my orders (Wheel set in June and quick change adapter on Black Friday)
Bingo
Yeah I’m sure you have tons of CEO experience to say that. Always easy to judge from a distance.
He seemed very hesitant on saying they’re losing profit. Almost as if it’s almost equal. And considering most of these products are being discounted and rerunning the assembly line is far more expensive than continuing with the next gen, I wonder how much profit these competitive companies are still making when their products are full price and in mass production.
@@1997LT1Camaro I mean anyone can do a bad job. But doing it right? Not everyone.
He said all the dates on the website are correct now.
I ordered CSL DD Ready2Race McLaren Elite Bundle last week, it still says Ships within 4-7 days on their website btw, but when I check my order it says QR1 Lite Wheel-Side is available at Mar 26, 2024.
So how is this shipping date correct??
Yeah it is because they say that they will ship when everything is in warehouse so you will get it maybe at 1s of april
@@Desovec no I won't. my Moza arrived in 8 days from order :)
@@puna48 alrighty, i have to wait because i have it on xbox
im was just abot to hit buy and saw this
not any more he dont care people spent alot of money it was just free money to get his bank look better
Good work and disposition from your side, to everyone involved. I'm not waiting anything from this company, and I can't understand how so many people still trust on this even after see this interview and the lack of compromise of this man. If they survive is just because the fanatism for brands can achieve unbelievable levels on some humans.
Nvidia and Apple know it 😅
@@matttiaz7576 I would say that Nvidia and Apple have some appeal, as they have proprietary technologies and a pretty smooth running ecosystem (for Apple). But Fanatec... They honestly got nothing more that some newcomer Chinese or Danish companies.
The fact that you actually flew to Germany and made this video has made me press the subscribe button 👍 good work
So you are impressed by someone with a passport and the ability to walk?
Or they could just have made the Interview with a local German here
same here!
@@michaelharder3055 yes, I actually am 🥹 unlike him, many others and maybe even yourself, I do not have legs.
As a result, I don’t even bother thinking about passports.
I spend alot of my time racing on gt7, it’s my happy place.
When I ordered my dd pro, it arrived within a week, and I’m Sydney.
I thought it would be nice to acknowledge a person with a passport and the ability to walk.
@@michaelharder3055
I’m actually impressed that you have chosen that line of questioning.
🫤🤨😕😂
Thankyou soo much for this Kireth! As i am one of the people with a rig and full ecosystem waiting on a wheel and the DD+ to ship! Cheers!!!
Thank you for this interview.
The questions asked are very relevant
Too bad the answers aren't convincing.
It's far too late to apologize.
The technical problems mentioned in no way excuse FANATEC's commercial policy.
There is a forgotten subject: after-sales service which is also disastrous.
After more than €4,500 spent at FANATEC, I have no plans to return there under any circumstances!
haha i must have missed the apology. Sounded like excuses and justification to me.
...and that he wants an A.I to deal with customer complains, just shows how how much he cares about his customers.
People can't do everything 24/7, get on with it
@@deltazero3796 They don't need to do it 24/7. They just need to reply within a timely manner of 24 to 48 hours, just like every other company does. Maybe you learn that when you eventually grow up.
@@deltazero3796for real? You really think fanatec ships tons of item on a daily basis? It's not Amazon, man, wake up. Those are very nieche products and in a relatively small demand.
I just love to see how you will try to return non-working equipment talking to an AI, considering there is no such option in it's 'mind' lol
Yep, because that "AI" thing they have no is working so well. Ha-ha!
Where did he say customer complaints? I heard handling QUESTIONS like “where is my order” which companies have given customer access too for years now. Did you think someone was on the other end of the computer sending a response or working the program for you? God yall wanna complain about everything
Im still amazed anyone supports Fanatec these last couple years with their never ending issues.
Thanks for the interview Kireth and that you were brave to say the truth about Fanatec where other influencers were quitet because they got payed by Fanatec 🤐🤐🤐🤐
you're a bit gullible if you think this is anything more than a collab marketing stunt.
Shocking company with shocking business ethics with a shocking outlook
@@ohnomk8625 This is just a PR damage control stunt, im sure all these questions are doctored and this was an entirely planned 'interview'. Hopefully more people can see thru this.
@@ohnomk8625 you are also a bit gullible to think that the comment is from a legit human and not AI
@@ganeshshenoy2615 you are also a bit gullible to reply to the AI that replied to the AI.
Thank you for this interview, it has helped convince me that I made the right decision by not ordering the Fanatec gear I had in my cart. The interview is full of excuses but the one that bothers me the most is why NO ONE from Fanatec regularly responds with updates to the Blog on Fanatec's own website! Good or bad news any communications would have helped. I really feel bad for all those people who are stuck with no way to contact anyone and no way of getting legit updates on what is going on. This interview is too little too late and Fanatec has burned a lot of customers.
Mine was shipped from warehouse literally next day after ordering and arrived 2 days later (Poland). I still paid with paypal just for peace of mind.
You are smart. There are products better than fanatec.
Top interview, Kireth. Not softballing. And good on the ceo for doing this as well.
you are so naive. wake up.
My main issue with the response to the DD+ is that they want us to wait but why did they take our money or take the whole amount. It's easy for him to say be patient and we have to wait. Paying 1k for our items with conflicting information is very frustrated and not getting accurate info is bad business practice if not being deceptive. There should have been large print on the top stating this this item is pending Sony approval so that there was no doubt there was something still pending the release. Also, the story about air shipping those items to the warehouses in December should have mentioned that they are still pending which no mention was made. No accurate info, very deceptive practices, and limited responses from Fanatec increases the frustration. This almost sounds to me like he is full of himself and like take it or leave it. He should be sorry for his customers, if they had enough support or did the right thing people would be less frustrated or mad. They have no one to blame but themselves. Don't make your company to be the victim.
Geez just wait
@@bigredracingteam9642 I'm rich, I can frikkin wait for a WHEEEEEL BASE lol. Gah. You Fanatec haters whine more than any other kind of consumer I swear. It's tooooo easy to troll you dorks. You need a loan, pumpkin?
@@Fluffyninja7 Isn't it time for your 5th period math class kiddo?
Why didn’t he answer the question about the warranty ??
It depends on your country laws
As long as I can remember sim racers have been complaining about waiting for Fanatec gear.There has always been a mismatch between orders customers want to place for delivery and what Fanatec have in stock.
If you place an order for anything,pay up front and wait 3 months you are financing their business Maybe they dont want to borrow heavily to finance adequate stock.
His answers sounded honest but I cant believe they have come this far with such great products and made such fundamental mistakes that do so much damage.I was thinking about upgrading to a Fanatec DD wheel but will definitely shop arounds after this debacle.
Its hilarious to see people whine and complain about parts for what are essentially video games while multiple major industries have been dealing with and doing business like this for decades.
That said I love my fanatec setup and i bought it right in the middle of all the stock and shipping issues…. BUT alot of people are looking at and going the moza route.
dude - wow - good on you for pursuing this one let alone getting it done!
Can we get a followup interview with the now former CEO
yes
As someone who was screwed by Black Friday and has still never had an email, fb message, ig message etc ever answered from early December I appreciate you doing this interview. They did EVENTUALLY send me a code for 25% off, but that wasn’t as good of a deal as I originally had. They truly don’t care, at least that’s what their actions show. They clearly make enough money to hire a full customer support team.
hahaha this guy is exactly how i expected him to be "i'm sorry for both sides, for all the customers but also our customer service " you don't get to keep people's money for months without a single communication. here's an idea, don't keep someone's money for months with not a single reply. give option to refund, then you can stop feeling sorry for customer and customer service. Thanks Fanatec for teaching me what a chargeback is, and what a Paypal claim is.
Exactly. He regrets it happened, but he knows exactly what they did not stating correct stock levels or delivery dates and just wanted to Secure consumers money
Sharing a positive story for balance (we tend to comment only when angry). Order placed 5 days ago. Delivery by FedEx scheduled today, 6 days after placing the order. That includes two non-working days over the weekend.
I think it's positive that the CEO takes time to do this interview, with (no offense at all) a "youtuber" and not a "professional reporter". I mean it's rare to see a CEO of such a big company address the community so directly. At the very least, it shows a desire to be a bit transparent. So kudos on not hiding like many other big video-game related companies usually do. And thanks kireth for your dedication to this subject and flying there to meet with Thomas, I thought the title might have been clickbait, but I was pleased to see how wrong I was
I think you could replace 'professional' with 'legacy'. This youtuber comes across plenty professional to me.
It isn't. Honesty etc doesn't fix actual issues.
It’s called Damage limitation. Avoid further brand and reputations damage.
With 76k sim racing specific subscribers I would say this is a better platform than a "professional reporter" would get. The Fanatec CEO is about as tone deaf as it gets, look forward to watching all the other sim companies who put customers first slowly crushing Fanatec into dust.
I would take a "youtuber" over a "professional reporter" any day of the week.
Thx for this Kireth. Too many red flags 🚩🚩🚩for me... will most likely avoid Fanatec altogether after seeing these issues.
Interesting indeed. I’m not a business person but this wouldn’t make me a confident customer of Fanatec that’s certain. Thanks Kireth
Sounds like they need to hire more folks to help keep up with demand.
Sounds like they took more orders than they could handle in order to capitalize on Black Friday sales.
In short I don’t completely buy that it was a technical problem 100%.
Seems to me as a technical glitch is a scapegoat for “We sold too much to make holiday profit” Cynic at heart here.
Very rarely comment, but wanted to applaud you on this interview. Subscribed. A very fair interview that asked all the questions the other "GearTubers" should have been asking too. As a former journalist and now long-time PR consultant, I can absolutely say this is a lesson in how not to give an interview after your company has screwed up. Total absence of good crisis management doctrine by Fanatec throughout and somehow managed to make it all about them - tells you everything you need to know about the culture of arrogance from this company. I'm not buying anything else from this guy....
Thank you, very much appreciated!
That’s what I call content! Good work!
Warranty Question. I am happy to see the question was asked but he failed to address it. I have a ticket opened to get it resolved but no response from support. BTW great interview Kireth
Big respect to you for doing this. Its a shame because I want to upgrade my current setup on xbox and Fanatec is by far the best option to go for, but no way can I drop so much money after the stories I've been hearing over the past few months
Stories? Just commit to it there products are great
To be honest i was hesitant too … i placed my order 26 of jan received it on 31 of jan not to mention it was placed on a weekend … i got dd pro qr2 for the base and wheel side and and csl load cell all received in the same package… i believe everything is back in order now … hope u find this useful.
Ive been buying multiple items from them for the last year and never had any issues.
i hope they read this. I've been a Fanatec customer for about 15 years now, purchased multiple products from them. My DD1 had an issue 2 months after the end of my warranty. took 2 wks just to get it shipped to them. They made no effort to repair it ( would've been fine with paying for the repairs). They said it can not be repaired, with no explanation. forced my hand to pay $899 for a refurbished one. Less than a month later they had a sale on new ones for that price. I'll never buy another item from them. Shit customer service.
This is a classic case of what is called Founders Syndrome.
"Founder’s syndrome occurs when a founder struggles or refuses to ‘change gear’ and adopt a new mindset, approach or skill set as the organization grows and as its strategic context changes. Rather than making way for a new leader to take the organization to the next level, the founder tries to hang on to power. The founder becomes unable to achieve the outcomes associated with effective leadership. The organization then becomes maladapted - inappropriately or poorly adapted to its environment."
You earned a subscription from me with this video. Appreciate you asking all the right questions, touching on every point, and asking tough follow up questions. Well done.
Thanks for this video. At least we have a youtuber that really cares for our concerns. This comment is coming from a Fanatec Fan boy. I owned 4 bases and 4 wheels. My reply to this video is simply GREED. No way they should put the CsDd without the full license on sale. Also these issues started before the black Friday so why they created a bigger problem and offered crazy discount ?
If Sony were going to take months to certify the wheelbase, they shouldn’t have approved Fanatec to start selling them.
Thank you for admitting that. I’m new to fanatec from the bf sale and this video really confirms everything I’ve been thinking. This mf doesn’t care cause it was planned
“From a business point of view, I regret that this happened”. 7:40. Inferring that from a customer point of view it’s too bad. No regrets, no recourse.
The fanatec CEO was fired today, justice has been served
What? Really? I thought he was the founder and owned the most stocks. Did the board manage to kick him out?
@@SIPEROTH yeah it was banks condition to extend leases to board fire him, you can read it in eandor statement to investors
@@wynarator The question is did the board had the authority to fire him or was he forced to stepped down by the banks?
Is quite interesting that the banks got so involved in a private business matter.
For them to put such terms then Fanatec must have had some heavy losses on paper that the banks could see.
Anyway the guy seemed to be over his head so a change was needed. Let's hope the new guy is not just some number pusher and knows that you have to have happy clients for the numbers to add up nice and well.
A person who can ask the hard questions and not give a sh@t ! I respect you because most people can’t do this !!!!!!!!
I ordered the DD GT Pro 8nm, Mclaren GT3 V2, CSL Elite Pedals V2, and a QR1 Wheel-Side the day after and received it all within 3 weeks....
Are you using your equipment for Sim PC or PS5 ?
@@blastu2fool Ps5 and Xbox ....
Thats sad to hear and so unfortunate for all of us who have been waiting... Thanks for an interview like that...
This is my first experience with Fanatec, I chose just because of many options of wheels and accessories. I bought the bundle F1 steering wheel 2023, pedals V3, and DD+. I still waiting for DD+ since December/2023, this is terrible, and we just receive automatic message generated by the system, saying that "we still running with the approvals bla bla bla". I hope they can solve this soon for all community.
My nephew ordered a CSL DD, a set of V2 Pedals at the start of January. Both item's were in stock, he got his order a week, a half later in the EU, although he didn't have any tracking information. He is very happy with his CSL DD.
Dang, I did the same thing on January 2 still haven’t got my order
What wheels did you guys get? I know some are not in stock, and if you ended up buying a wheel with the FREE QR1 Wheel-Side, it is not in stock either, so your order won’t ship until everything is in stock.
@@gradyrandolph5350 I got the CSL DD and the boost kit.
@@gradyrandolph5350wish I had saw this video before I made my order today! I ordered a wheel with the free hub and you just crushed all my hopes telling me that it won’t ship anytime soon lol I assumed they had enough of those to match the bundles, maybe I can upgrade and get it here a bit faster.
@@gradyrandolph5350 OK, thanks that makes sense. you are right!
The fact that he says they wouldn’t do anything differently (without being prodded) re: CS DD+ tells you all you need to know about him and his company. Zero accountability. He obviously knew he was going to be interviewed and would be asked about the CS DD+; and for that to be his initial answer shows he really DGAF about customers and doesn’t even think they could have handled the situation better.
FYI , if you look at the fanatec forum, the situation appears to have gotten worse. Some people still haven't had a response to emails from October. Some people get their order before the people who ordered in November. They are not processing orders based on when a consumer places them. A company to avoid. The only way to get them to ship your stuff is to do a CC chargeback and 2-3 months later you may get your stuff because all they care about is money
Ive had so much fun with the fanatec products ive owned since 2018, I hope things get better. Props to Thomas for doing this interview. Good job Kireth!
13:05 is nuts. He has a Sony license to create the DD+ but the product hasn't been approved technically by Sony and YET, he's willing to take everyone's money while he waits. What a guy!
It appears that none of the customers matter to him when it's all about the brand deals he's doing and selling products that literally aren't up to Sony's own standards!! Someone, anyone, tell me that isn't the case...
Thank you for doing this interview
Got my Logitech pro in 3 days. Thing works beautifully. Less options for wheels but it’s a company with outstanding history and quality products.
I charged back and kept my wheel because of this. Waited over 5 months for my wheel and was ghosted after initial customer service call.
Just stumbled upon your channel by chance but I am incredibly impressed with your professionalism in this interview. Thank you for doing this for the sim racing community, and thank you to Fanatec for allowing you to ask these questions. I still will not be purchasing a Fanatec product anytime soon given the issues raised in this video and the concerns around quality.
Great work Kireth, thanks for the Interview and the Insight.
I recently ordered a couple of wheels; they arrived within days, no problem there. My gripe is that they've ignored the problem with the Clubsport shifter. Customers need a solution, not a fix with electrical tape. The mis shifts make the product unusable!
👏Well done to you for doing this, and I say fair play to the guy for agreeing to answer everything. He seemed genuine and pretty honest about what’s been going wrong, and how they intend to change moving forward, he has to get respect for that, fingers crossed for them and their customers👌
This guy seems dishonest to me, opposite of genuine, but that’s me. Also I have been experiencing all this crap and NO communications...do they even have a PR department? Is so, fire them all.
@@steveruscitto5883 he certainly does yes. He said all this to make the Fanatec lovers believe that he really is trying to fix it and he copped a loss.
There was no loss, what a joke!! They made this junk in China, using substandard materials, tested by people that have no idea how it should work, and this guy doesn't care, he's made a fortune selling junk that doesn't do what they claim.
He is German, he will never listen to anyone including you as a customer. They only think of their self interest, I've worked with a German company before so I know how they operate their business, I don't find this apology genuine, sorry.
@@Daz555Dazyou want them to cancel all the orders just so people have to order the same stuff again maybe to normal prices if they bought it of bf? or send 50% of the money back so that they punish themselves? lol that would be stupid. either cancel your order or shut up and be patient. you have your cards, now play them the way you want to. me myself cancelled my dd+ and bought a used gt dd pro and im now going to wait until the dd+ has been out for a bit and when its ready to ship right away i might get it. you have all the power. either cancel or stick it out. fucks sake
Fair play to the guy and he seems genuine, clearly he hasn't had your money for three months and refuses to answer emails or give a refund. He has sold and took money for products that weren't as a advertised (PS compatable at time of selling) or in stock. Refused to reply to emails, making it impossible to get answers for three months. Now he comes on hear spouting his lies and you say fair play to the guy, maybe get informed before commenting.
Thanks for taking the time to do this Kireth!
You're welcome 🙌🙌
Just for balance I bought a GT DD Pro on 7th Jan and it arrived in 2 weeks.
I then bought GT3 v2 wheel and it arrived in 1 week.
I’m over the moon with the Fanatec kit.
Same here, I made a black friday order for the CS V3 pedals with performance kit and damper and it arrived in 8 days. No one makes a video when things go as expected, then when a few do it everyone jumps on the "click bait" opportunity and I'd wager 95% of the YT videos bashing them haven't even placed and order.
Good job, you bought something that was in stock after it barely was in stock for two years and they had to ramp up production. The GT DD Pro and CSL DD were only available a few times a year after release.
I placed an order on january 29th, so late to the night that technically you could say it was on the 30th. Order was shipped on 31st, even though some items were shown to not be in stock.
Definitely a very positive surprise knowing what's been going on lately
Thanks for holding this interview. My order of the PS GT wheel & Pedals was made in mid September 2023 and I still haven't received it, nor comms about it's readyness/dispatch.
Holy crap this explains so much. Such a nonchalant attitude.
This guy is on cruise control mode and resting on his success.
It just filters down from there and you get a half assed effort from everyone.
This is a public company and if I was a major share holder I'd want him stepping down as CEO.
Well you're not 🤦🏾♂️
@@Fluffyninja7 I already said that. Good job Skippy.
@@Alberta_Wolf yay, gold star for me :)
I got so incredibly lucky that I ordered my rig in early November. Of course I had to pay a little more without the discount, but I have been thrilled with my setup so far and don't mind that I had to pay more. I can't imagine how crappy this experience has been for so many people, and I truly hope you all get back to racing and enjoying your gear soon! I still love Fanatec and they have quite a long and positive track record before this so I can't write them off quite yet. However if this don't change soon I will have to consider going with another company for my next setup.
Waiting for customer support response since mid December because a missing item in the BF delivery of my order. This is ridiculous.
I'm in the same situation. I would sell all my fanatec gear if I got a person to buy the lot and move to another company that puts the customer first.
Hearing this guy talk I’m actually happy I’ve bought my wheel from thrustmaster
This is really really interesting, the Body language which is shown by their ceo is really concerning tbh. I would love to hear what his employees saying to this interview.
probably nothing otherwise they can lose their job
Really appreciate you doing this mate top man. I returned a Gt dd pro in November signed by them. I’ve not heard anything since or had my refund. Down £600 from my return and down £1k waiting for DD+
I'm in the same boat, 8 years of stuff being sold as we speak.
He regrets it happened, but he knows exactly what they did not stating correct stock levels or delivery dates and just wanted to Secure consumers money
As he said in the video, it makes no sense to do that intentionally, because they make way less money that way.
Ordered a podium hub after seeing this interview. Delivery date was March 8. It just changed to April 11. So Thomas was lying when he mentioned that delivery dates on his site were correct. Will cancel the hub and no more Fanatec for me.
The wonderful Thomas, who used to share client email correspondence on the iRacing forums to try and defend himself all that time ago.
6:53 - His rebuttal to this point is almost more telling and aligned with the impression I got from the whole ordeal.. Fanatec wanted to make an impact on the market by selling their products far cheaper, but sold too many at a discounted rate to the point they wouldn't make profit on future sales, meaning they had to stall the production or distribution of heavily discounted products to receive enough funding to make their 'investment' worthwhile. Must have been a nifty business move that backfired on them
great video and kudos for you for not only asking the questions but ensuring they were very specific and targeted to get an answer that was actually useful. CEO didnt have to do this at all so kudos to him as well for agreeing. that said, his answers didnt surprise me. just over 200 employees is pretty small and i suspected the boom in sim racing in conjunction with an abnormal black friday sale and the release of several new products led to them simply being overwhelmed. Tie in any sort of technical and/or logistical failures and its a disaster which many are seeing and feeling. Not making any excuses for fanatec as they certainly could have planned better to mitigate this but what we're seeing is simply the reality of the situation. Hopefully they learn from it.
Thanks you for this video! Your approach is very professional, no judgement. Well done.
What strikes me about the interview, is the low emphasis on the customer side, the experience. He is sorry as he states, but if feels like he is mainly sorry that they got into this situation and not for the consequences for individual customers. He is so focussed on the company, the inside view on the situation. Not meaning he is only here for the money as some people would think. Nearly all businesses are, that's how our world is. It's painfull to see that they lack so much in 'customer experience'. The philisophy seems to be that the product brings this experience, but there is so much more possible.
Yes, it is hard to run a (growing) business on this size and people underestimate the pain they have internally. But if they want to succeede on the long term, they have to change they customer experience. Communication, customer service, give customers (shipping-aprtially) choices in the process (not only in the ecosystem). Their plan to outsource the (first line of) customer might be an improvement, but it will take a long while untill that is operational (more than a year at least). The approach already seems an underestimation of the project. And there will be disadvantages too. I'm hopeful that things will get better, and they should. Only time will tell.
I must admit that every situation has multiple stories. And other choices would not have lead to 'all customers are happy'. Like if they postponed the long awaited Clubsport DD untill the Sony approval for the DD+ was in, that would not been a good thing for all the other customers (not waiting for the DD+). On the other hand, they should have looked into specific situations and f.e. 'overrule' a warranty date for specific orders. But of course, with the current issues, the customer service team cannot handle this.
The dates on the website correct? Not really. He mentioned in the interview that certain products will be shipped in March. Those products still mention on the website 'ships within 4-7 days' (it is now Februari 11th). A recent order (from a friend, end of januari) will also be delivered in March. This is clearly untrue! And another example that will loose them credibility.
It's just a big mess. Fanatec will feel this in the long term for sure (2024 and 2025), and after that, the 'playfield' of the market has changed with a lot more (big) players that are now coming up and customers moving there. The Fanatec innovations are not so amazing anymore, at the moment. Would Fanatec thill be market leader in 2026? I'm not so sure.
Excellent stuff, Kireth. You gave him a good grilling and you didn't hold back with the questions. I don't think this helped him win back his customers to be honest. The DD+ situation is bizzare! He says the technical tests are all that need to be carried out and approved, like making sure the buttons match the game 🤨 surely that is a 2 minute test at most to click each button and make sure it is doing what it's supposed to! And surely, if you run a 24 hour test of it running continuously on a PlayStation and you have no issues, then that's the technical test done? I can't help but think he is telling us porky pies when it comes to a lot of these vague answers! He thanked you for letting Fanatec voice these answers, but do they not have their own youtube channel 🤔
I use to work at a video game company in the US and we released a game on XBox, PC and PS, so I can validate from my experience that Sony is notorious for creating the biggest red tape to get certification to sell a game compared to XBox and PC. Real example from my time there, we submitted a build of our game weeks before we expected to get the gold release which means those that will be mass produced, and Sony rejected our certification bc of a typo on the paperwork. No big deal right? You think just resubmit the paperwork with it fixed…not so fast bc Sony requires a full recertification each time they reject or fail your application which means they do a full thorough test of the game from start to finish to ensure no major bugs exist and cause the game to crash.
How does this differ to a physical product? I can’t speak to but I can only assume if they are that rigorous with software I can’t imagine the amount of testing they do for physical products to ensure it works in every scenario possible.
Not an excuse for Fanatec bc I’m still waiting on refund for button caps on BF that still has not materialized. There is a reason customer support agents go through specific training on how to handle things bc you can put anyone behind a keyboard but that doesn’t mean they know how to respond and retain customers.
Yeh, I can believe that, too. I hate all that red tape shite!They could have released the Clubsport DD and announced the DD+ as they have dealt with Sony before and surely they know the process is arduous as hell! I suppose there is no point crying over spilled milk. Im gonna just wait it out and not get a refund as the old Csl DD is still workin grand but I can see how people who are waiting on it to complete their setup are so furious over this delay in getting the DD+ @cbdaytona675
@@cbdaytona675 - Yeah, and that 'red tape' is the reason for XBOX constantly failing due to them releasing trash games on their trash systems due to a lack of quality control and corner cutting antics which leads to customers getting scuffed products. Sony has always been known for their quality assurance.
The same thing happened with fanatec a few years back. Purchased 'in stock' product and wait 8 months for it to arrive because their inventory system was unreliable.
I was about to order Gran Turismo DD Pro but after this I think I’ll wait and consider different options.
The Gran Turismo DD Pro isn’t affected. Got mine in 7 days. I live in Texas.
don't have anythng on order now. But have 3 wheels, csl dd, v3 pedal's w/mod,s and a shifter. Never a problem/ shipping or correspondence. growing pains, patience people. to much instance gratification expected these days.
It is nice to ear someone from FANATEC. For me it was TOO LATE, after 2 Month waiting for feedback (my order, shifter, V3 pedals, Qr2, went back to their Wharehouse, and no feedback from fanatek), i lost hope on the company and cancel my orders, and put all my Fanatec equipment to Sell. Now Waiting for my new Simagic Setup.... If they answered one of my multiple emails, or had some feedback from them, i could would wait a litter bit more, but i was afraid because to have Fanatec setup, if i have a problem with my equipment, i have no one to ask for help, because my experience with fanatec, was almost only SILENCE!!! PS: I was thiking to upgrade my 8nm CSL DD to a clubsport DD... Now gone to Simagic Alpha Ultimate!! Good Luck to you FANATEC, but you have lost thetrust of many customers...
You’ll love it. The Simagic Alpha ultimate is an awesome wheel base with all the power you’ll ever need.
@@Jpilgrim30 and i Just upgraded my Maclaren V2 wheel, with magnetic shifters.. But i will not regred change it to the Simagic gt neo!! :)
@@brunomfreitas2 you can keep that wheel too and convert it to USB with the sim racing machines adapter
I’m done with Fanatec. Have a DD1 Podium and a GT DD Pro. Both major disconnection issues. The F1 Podium goes to pause when I turn the wheel, and on the DD Pro the buttons stop working constantly. They basically never respond to emails or support tickets.
Worse is that the DD1 was sent back to Fanatec, it came back looking brand new but it still has the exact same issue, pause when turning the wheel. Will most likely buy Logitech instead
Great job asking real questions
I had fanatec for years and have always found support great. Still running converted fanatec wheels on my non fanatec direct drive and theyve been flawless.
I had a fanatec csl DD in the shopping cart 2 weeks ago, but terrified to pull the trigger. Thanks for speaking and being honest, unfortunately it didn't give me enough confidence to buy yet. I'm rooting for you all
Now do Trak Racer, lack of answering CS questions and shipping times six months plus.
Sadly, they’re still horrible at responding to emails in a timely manner. Why does it takes them over a week at this point in February to respond to a simple email. They’re quick to charge you for something but not for any else.
I've sent over 10 emails since November and have not received one reply or a refund.
After watching this video, I took it on faith when Thomas said the ordering timeframes are correct and that they were "absolutely realistic". I ordered a GT DD Pro. It said "Ready to Ship" as a status. According to the timelines indicated on their website, it said it would take up to 48 hours to ship. I ordered 10 days ago and it still says, "Handover to warehouse". I sent in an inquiry and a got a bot generated email quoting timelines. I followed up and no response. Needless to say, as the head of the company, he is lost my trust in Fanatec.
Top work, Kireth. This video and interview is actually what Sim Racing Magazines have to do.
Great that you gave Thomas a hard time but with respect and appropriate handling, I think many are not appreciating or are aware what Thomas did here (NOT SAYING THAT THE ERRORS WHICH WERE MADE ARE OK NOW) but as the CEO of a stock corporation, these kind of Interviews can change your stock from good to bad over night.
I've ordered thousands of dollars worth of product from Fanatec. As a whole, I love Fanatec. I was even given the 25% off opportunity, which was supposed to ship on January 11 or 12th. As of February 4, it's affectively listed as shipped but there is no tracking and I'm not sure when it'll show up. It sounds like they're aiming to handle things better in the future. I kind of feel bad for everyone from the racer to the CEO.
Really good video, appreciate this effort from you mate.This helps so many people to understand the situation including me. 🙏
i can confirm that after ordering a gt pro bundle at 12 januari everything was in my home in 1 week
Yeah 2 weeks for me, dd, wheel & elite V2 pedals, qr2 wheel & base .. took about 12 days but they mentioned the transitions in house & the 6-7 day delay so no complaints from me
The problem is tsht only the black Friday orders aren't delivered. The reason is they sold too many very cheap orders. So now they just wait until customers cancel so they don't have to deliver the far too cheap units
You can clearly see that it's just business. Every decision discussed was made from marketing perspective.
Everything makes perfect sense, but it does lead to situations like this.
Hopefully they'll learn from all this and start putting more into customer service and satisfaction, or the decisions that should make more money will end up biting even harder
No. Fanatec padded their Q4 stats. Everyone’s knows it. It’s the oldest trick in the book
I used to have a Fanatec rig but sold it due to health issues. 2 years later I am better and wanted to go back to simracing with Fanatec but saw this horrible situation and no explanation from the customer support. I went to the local store and bought Logitech Pro Wheel off the shelf and boy, did I hit the jackpot with it. And in case something happens with it, I deal with the store locally, not shipping and praying my stuff is back some day.
This was very helpful. Thanks to you and Fanatec for the update.
Just on their US website right now and the only wheels availabe for order are the Formula V2/V2.5, the BMW wheel, and one or 2 of their cheapest wheels. Everything else is either sold out or awaiting pre-order dates. How do you expect to get new customers when you have nothing available? And return customers like me who want a new wheel?
At this point, I'm really considering just changing ecosystems. And this isn't even a new issue. For years, like 75% of the catalogue was not available for order. This isn't a one time thing, you guys need a new business model. If you can't regularly supply these items, stop listing them. Either focus on a few items you can supply, or make everything available. Or at least most things available.
Wow. You can see the guy interviewing him knowing this isn’t gonna go well when this drops and trying to lead the fanatec guy to the right path.
😂
I have 2 fanatec sim setups for 4 years, i can tell you fana is a pure mess. Guys tried to make me pay for a steering wheel what was under guarantee, didnt completely fix my pedals what were almost 2 months in repair ect, ect... You know something is truely fucked when on monday costumer support tells you all my items are fixed and they are in process of generating me a invoice. 3 & 6 days later i remind them about my invoice. In total it took 8 days to generate a single invoice, how is this even possible?