Fanatec wheel orders

[speedyK]

I notice that Fanatec are still advertising on here with a bannner for the GT3 RS V2 wheel.

And on their site, on the page about the GT3 RS V2, it says:

This product is available in our shop.

This is the page:

http://www.fanatec.de/html/index.php?id=230&lang=en

Clicking on that text on their page eventually takes you to the order page for your country – and here there is a listing:

Porsche 911 GT3 RS V2 Wheel - Clubsport edition - EU

– and a clickable button with the text:

Buy Now!

If you click on this button, the site quite happily loads this set into your shopping cart...

BUT if, instead of clicking the button, you click on the text:

Porsche 911 GT3 RS V2 Wheel - Clubsport edition - EU

then you get the message

SOLD OUT! Pre-orders will be shipped mid of September 2010

which is a bit frustrating after you've been told a couple of pages back that it "is available in our shop" and there is a "Buy Now!" button you can still press.

Fanatec would convey a more professional attitude if they changed this to avoid frustrating potential customers. It would also be nice to know a little more about what is intended next – as they are still advertising this sold out wheel, can we expect a new batch to be manufactured??? If so when will orders be accepted and when will delivery be?

If they don't keep their webpage up to date and don't tell people what is happening other than "SOLD OUT!", then they must not be surprised if people choose an alternative (readily available) elsewhere.

I know that most people on here are already aware that the GT3 RS wheel is sold out, but other potential customers will not be very impressed!

 

[sonac]

If you'd be following Fanatec's web shop for a longer period of time, you'd notice, that they quite often run out of a certain product and simply put a "sold out, Pre-orders will be shipped XXX". Simple as that...that tells you when the new batch arrives and they will ship it at that time.

However, I agree it would be much more professional if they didn't run out of products at any time.

 

[speedyK]

Ah, so you understand this phrase differently to me:

SOLD OUT! Pre-orders will be shipped mid of September 2010

I take that to mean that people who've already ordered will get delivery from mid-September, but there is currently no point in placing an order as they have sold out – and there is no indication of if new orders can be taken or when delivery of new orders could be expected.

You apparently think it means that anyone ordering now will get delivery now (mid-September) – I don't believe that to be the case!

 

[Ibonibo]

You apparently think it means that anyone ordering now will get delivery now (mid-September) – I don't believe that to be the case!

But that is the case.
Otherwise it would say Orders will ship out mid-september.

I placed my order also when they were out of stock, no problem at all.

And the RS is not limited in numbers as is the turbo wheel, so no reason to worry.
but you can also wait till they have them in stock again

 

[Fanatec...]

I agree that "SOLD OUT" is misleading. We changed it. Thanks for the input.

 

[speedyK]

Thanks for the input.

You're welcome

So it now says,

Currently not available! Pre-orders will be shipped mid of September 2010

So... as I type, "mid-September" is tomorrow! Does that mean that if a new ordered is placed NOW (14th September) it will be shipped on the 15th September – i.e. TOMORROW? In that case, the "Currently not available" is not right either.

Could you please clearly state – here – but, in your own interest, also on the website just exactly what the situation is, as it is still not clear to me (maybe I'm just being particularly stupid, but I think others might share my confusion).

If an order is made NOW for a GT3 RS V2 wheel, when will it be shipped?

Thanks.

 

[Robbks]

I agree that "SOLD OUT" is misleading. We changed it. Thanks for the input.

Excellent customer service.... 👍👍👍

So... as I type, "mid-September" is tomorrow! Does that mean that if a new ordered is placed NOW (14th September) it will be shipped on the 15th September – i.e. TOMORROW? In that case, the "Currently not available" is not right either.

Could you please clearly state – here – but, in your own interest, also on the website just exactly what the situation is, as it is still not clear to me (maybe I'm just being particularly stupid, but I think others might share my confusion).

If an order is made NOW for a GT3 RS V2 wheel, when will it be shipped?

Have you never dealt with any shipping/ transport/ storage company, retailer, manufacturer, supplier, etc before..?

very very rarely can you put a timeframe shorter than a couple of weeks on these things.
it takes time fro them to be shipped (usually on a big container ship) from the manufacturer.
then they need to be unloaded/ processed/ sorted on the wharves,
then they need to be sent to wholesalers/ distributors by air/ truck/ bus/ cv
carrier pigeon,
and finally delivered to stores/ warehouses.
upon receipt at the end location they then need to be checked into stock, labelled, priced and systems updated.

and all of the above is reliant upon humans manually handling things and the current workloads of those people who deal with thousands of different products/ items daily, the weather (affects transport/ shipping), machines and computers actually working correctly.

what else do you want?
Fanatec has responded to your original forum request within 11 hours and changed their webstore descriptions.
There are so many things outside the control of the webstore operators that it would be more misleading of them to advertise a more specific availability and not be able to deliver.

If they were no longer in production, no doubt they would say so on the website
CURRENTLY not available should mean that the wheel will be available, but CURRENTLY, none in stock.
but if you pre-order, you will have one shipped when they do arrive in stock.



/RANT.....

 

[Evilmali]

I have a fanatec GT3 RS CSP version 1 got the first batch I pre ordered it months before the release grate wheel I'm getting the V2 upgrade kit soon. Fanatec is a small company compared to logitec their like the mom&pop store. The best way to get through to them I have seen is this web site www.911wheel.de it's a good place to start looking for updated info on fanatic products.

 

[speedyK]

Have you never dealt with any shipping/ transport/ storage company, retailer, manufacturer, supplier, etc before..?
()
if you pre-order, you will have one shipped when they do arrive in stock.

I think I stated my question quite – and, fairly obviously, it was addressed primarily to Fanatec.

Their site says they will ship in "mid-September". Tomorrow is the middle of September, so I'm quite reasonably asking, "If I order one now, when will it be shipped?" By "shipped", I mean sent from Fanatec to me – i.e. when will it leave them, not when will it reach me.

If the "mid-September" bit is not correct, it should be removed from their webpage and a more accurate, realistic estimate of the date given (saying "mid-September" and actually meaning e.g. mid-November would not win them many friends! If it is correct, then it is superfluous anyway – as it is mid-September – and it should therefore also be removed as being out of date! The current statement else only serves to discredit the company's seriosity.

Robbks, I believe the Antipodes are the exception with regard to Fanatec products. They don't seem to have a distribution network for Europe or North america and apparently send direct from their premises, so the whole wholesalers/distributers stuff is not applicable 👍

 

[bumer]

Their site says they will ship in "mid-September". Tomorrow is the middle of September

Mid-september doesn't mean exactly 15. september. It is an estimate. Thomas wrote in his blog, that the PWGT3RS V2 is back in stock in EU next week. So, they probably ship them out next week too unless they don't get the shipment at the end of the week.

 

[bumer]

Their site says they will ship in "mid-September". Tomorrow is the middle of September

Mid-september doesn't mean exactly 15. september. It is an estimate. Thomas wrote in his blog, that the PWGT3RS V2 is back in stock in EU next week. So, they probably ship them out next week too unless they don't get the shipment at the end of the week.

Edit: Stupid slow internet. Made double post because of it.