A new CEO will hopefully sort out the over extended and confusing product range, dreadful supply issues which are probably cause partly because of this. Their product offering for a while seems is counter to their market position. Nothing wrong with release a couple of showcase products like the BMW wheel great for PR. However their most successful products look not to be the ones competing for the Simucube or Grid Engineering customers. As the market grows and more niche companies enter the market Fanatec needs to focus on their strengths and stop chasing segments of the market they will never win in. I wish them every success they after all gave us 'affordable' DD wheel base and in that is the clue to their success. '
Time to move on. This is a small firm, with a big profile in our gaming world. Don't need a Sim racing guy to run a firm like this, supply chain, finance guy better. Reputation of the firm in tatters after the SC issues, so recovery from that will be tough.
Kireth, whilst you have been privy to more details relating to Fanatec, there is no excuse for the criminally poor customer service, acceptance of customer orders, without delivery which is tantamount to theft, horrendous logistics, Fanatic is a joke and the customer is the punchline. Being passionate has no correlation to treating customers fairly, and operating a business with transparency. Jakemeyer should have been fired years ago.
How come Fanatec is the only business that is yet to recover from supply chain disruptions? Simagic, Simucube, Moza etc all experienced supply chain disruptions, yet they all recovered, except Fanatec. It's corporate negligence on Fanatec's part. Classic case of "We're Fanatec and our beholden customers will just have to deal with our delays". The dismissive arrogance of it all, and as CEO, it all falls on Jakemyer.
Maybe if they had stopped blowing millions on sponsoring F1, WRC, and, ahmm, The "Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe", they might have actually had some money to invest back in and sort out the problems.
Sort out problems like not having essential items in stock you mean? And preventing any sales that they include those items in from being bought? Agreed.
As others have noted below, your ego and a stench of pure narcissism from yourself here is unbelievable. So much waffle about how great you are has nothing to do with the situation, it's so weird. Respect your subscribers more rather than talking down to them like they're children. Hard to believe you've listened to this back and gone "Yep, that sounds reasonable". Confidence is one thing, arrogance (especially when misplaced!) is another.
I thought the same thing and nearly closed the video, definitely a bit cringe lol. Maybe just say “as I touched on a bit in earlier videos, this doesn’t come as a complete shock to me or many of my subscribers, something needed to be done.”
I got into sim racing three years ago when a certain disease that shall not be named took over the world. Fanatic was everywhere and a lot of the influencers were recommending their products. Delivery times were very long with no time for delivery. Big red flags all were over the place. It seems like not much has changed.
A question for the new management: Are they going to become more transparent around product releases and stop alienating existing customers. Example, QR2 releases. Everyone buys it. DD and DD+ is released and it comes with QR2. People preorder DD+, then DD+ with exclusive wheel bundle comes out (DD Extreme) immediately after the DD+ preorders start shipping so you can't change your order.
Not to mention selling QR2 individually with no discounts, when people need them for multiple wheels (else they don't need a quick release at all), and then a couple of weeks later bringing out bundles so you can save a lot of money when you buy more than one. The QR2 is a great product but I felt screwed as an early buyer (on top of them taking my money but not creating my order or responding to emails until I did a PayPal dispute to fix things, and then had to re-order from scratch and go back to the back of the queue). I do hope they can turn the company around, though, as I generally like their products and don't want to replace everything and change ecosystems.
The qr upgrades are so stupid. You pay nothing for the old qr1 if you get a wheel, but you have to pay full price for the qr2. Why? And then the qr1 is not even available for month... This is such an unfriendly behavior from fanatec towards their customers. Same when they sold the 8nm CSL dd for 150 Eur upgrade price even though the power supply for itself was only 150 but they swapped them out.
The mess he left was certainly more than enough reason to fire him because it's his responsibility. I didn't buy the excuses he brought up in this interview and he didn't show enough respect and apology to the angry customers. He also didn't show any vision of change.
Them scaling up is essential. SO MANY PEOPLE do not want to buy stuff from outside their country because of how much it SUCKS getting stuff fixed or replaced. The cost and hassle of replacing a broken item from another country is substantial. If Fanatec existed in Norway when I bought my rig last year, I'd be a Fanatec user now. Instead I got a Thrustmaster T-GT2 because Thrustmaster didn't have a DD wheel for the PS5 yet.. Still don't.. That's a full year of DD wheel sales that Fanatec didn't get to capitalize on during the past 2+ years because people don't want to deal with the potential problems of ordering internationally. I hope it works out for everyone in the end. You can't run a company and constantly be struggling to deliver product to buyers. everything is sold out all the time.. That's OK if it's one dude in his basement making button boxes or whatever, but if you're a 2 decades old company STILL struggling, that's no good. Their problem with manufacturing enough stuff has gone on for a LONG time. If they had their production sorted by the start of the pandemic, they could have made unbelievable amounts of money off of bored middle aged men.
Don't know where to buy simagic in norway, but i came from a T-GT with TLCM and now Simagic Alpha U with P2000 - yes on PS5 via Sigma Cortex Converter. It's emulating a DD Pro now and the FFB is just great. You got more possibilities by remapping the buttons and knobs. Got a little video on my channel about it, because it's kind of unknown.. Today, Simagic is the way to go for me, every few months they have new great products the last two years.. Have fun and ride on, greetings from germany 😁
Great point - I’m in this boat right now. I’m not even considering Fanatec for my ps5 setup because I know their prices are insane and their supply chain issues mean I might not see my $1,000+ investment for months
I built a rig during covid... Lol. I got a CSL PS4 bundle, sold the pedals for the V3's and I got my stuff relatively hassle free. Took about 3 weeks but I did wait for a while for the CSL Elite to be in stock before I was able to purchase it.
I think the comparison with the single dude doesn't fit here, or at least not completely. Before Corona Fanatec had a lot of products in stock, the company just grown way faster than it was healthy - so basically it is like this single dude in the basement.
Im in Norway too, and Fanatec warranty repair went pretty painless with my DD Pro GT wheel right before black Friday 2023. It took 3 weeks getting it back from the day i sent it in. Its not all bad, but if Fanatec should somehow go under i will go to Simagic the day my Fanatec bases(DD Pro and DD+) die and cant be repaired anymore. Thustmaster is just to much plastic for my taste. Still delivering good FFB though as i do have a T300 stored in my basement that was meant to be a spare for my DD Pro.
Think a change was needed not just for the company itself but also for the many bemused customers could see something was actually changing (whether it works or not is another thing) You might think about checking your ego a tad though. None of this info was new or only known to you. Twitter, UA-cam, the Fanatec forums etc are all full of this information about EBITDA, loans, shareholders etc
you spent about 2 of 9 minutes fluffing yourself for having exclusive information and being the most key'd in. Just say what you know and if its more encompassing than everyone elses take - that will be obvious. Its possible im the only one that found this cringe af.
@@Kireth Are you requesting i rephrase my entire critique? Or simply pretending not to understand the criticism as a means of deflection? tldr : exactly what i said
Definitely not the only one, pure cringe the way he strokes himself off in this video. Let alone saying how he knew about this before. He'd have much more credence to such a claim if he had made videos on the situation and thei removal of their CEO BEFOREHAND.
@@Kireth please don't take this the wrong way, because I appreciated your video and am also a long time fan of Fanatec's products. I too would like to see them succeed. I think the issue at hand here is your framing of the information you shared as having been somehow exclusive to you. Your comments come across as if you are the only one who read Fanatec's financials, or the only one who reads the Financial Times. As I listened, I read the context and understood that you meant all of that in the context of a sea of Fanatec hate, but it that was really subtle, and most people are going to overlook it. As a humble viewer of YT and not a content producer with thousands of subs, my feedback would be to simply state the information that you have. Pointing out the refinancing agreement expiration date of March 31st is an insight that speaks on its own. I've not seen or read another source citing this, so it was a genuinely good find. Likewise, you're in a fortunate position to have spent time with Thomas. You can speak to that without all the superfluous framing. Your viewers know who Thomas is. We know the significance of being granted an interview. It is apparent how much of the tone can be the result of the vitriolic environment surrounding Fanatec right now. I'm pretty tired of it as well, but these issues undermine the credibility of your insights, and they create a distraction. I will be back to watch more of your content though. So thank you :)
@@KJB__you know real racing need a lot of parts from all around the world as well, so you basically stuck with the same problem, but with multiple companies instead of one you can make a symbol to channel you hate?
I’ve almost bought Logitech direct drive, so many times, for my ps5 but lack of wheels , sequential gear stick shifter and handbrake, really has put me off. I don’t think Logitech are going to release anymore products. Think about it, 9/10 gamers do not use or even think about using a wheel. With this information plus no accessories, it’s clear to see the Logitech g pro wheel, has sold terribly low amount. With this in mind, there’s no way on earth, Logitech will waste time or money. No1 is buying the wheel, so Logitech won’t update. I personally think Logitech have never planned to release anything more for g pro. They obviously said, “let’s finally give them a direct drive wheel and leave it at that” “If by some miracle, it sells well, we will update a little and if sales are low, we won’t waste any more time or money.” I bet Logitech only made a few thousand wheels, at most. I’ve kinda given up on sim racing, for now. I do not care for pc, nor do I want 1 and I’m not taking my chances with wasting 2K with Fanatec .
I was up in the air between Logitech and Fanatec and went with the new DD pro F1 bundle. No regrets whatsoever! So smooth and well made, just a beautiful product. Only regret is not making the switch sooner (coming from a T248). I’d personally rather wait on updates to software for the new FullForce than hoping for more wheels from Logi. The DD Pro is already great without FF, still excited for it to somehow get even better.
My impressions when watching your original interview with him was that although his answers were somewhat reflective they came across as almost arrogant. It seemed that he had difficulty in acknowledging exactly what the priorities are from a customers perspective and where Fanatec could have alleviated a lot of the frustration - Communication. Customers being kept in the dark, effectively being ghosted by his company after transactions have already taken place are unacceptable. Any reasons or excuses to dance around this particular aspect are insulting to your customers and borderline criminal. I think most customers could appreciate or forgive Fanatec for not fulfilling orders due to whatever technical issues with website and their logistical issues. Again, simple and courteous communication would have avoided a lot of negative feedback on social media. Something had to give and hopefully this first move by the shareholders are the first of many in helping Fanatec getting back to where they should be in the market
They should make Thomas Chief Product Officer. Let him do passionately what he loves, create great products. It's pretty obvious that he failed as CEO. Wasting millions on marketing, while the Logistics and customer service are in a complete meltdown. The bank cares about getting their loan repaid plus intrest. Losing over 10 million in a year, cannot be tolerated. So they rightfully are stepping in. Fanatec will not disappear. The product portfolio is solid and holds value. Should the company fail, there will be new investors for sure.
I am quite surprised how people like him lack the ability to see the financials of their company and act a little more wisely. But i heard he was a rich kid so maybe he never had a good grasp on how to handle money.
I ordered the GT DD Extreme and Clubsport V3 Pedals, got very lucky that Endor shipped my packages all in a timely manner and properly. Had my fingers crossed hearing the amount of problems going on right now.
GT DD Extreme arrived yesterday to replace my GT DD Pro. Arrived in Ireland in under a week from order date. Maybe it's getting better, maybe I was lucky, I just hope it comes good for them as I've loved all my Fanatec products.
Sometimes, companies need a new direction and someone with an impartial view to come in and clean things up. People with a lot of personal investment, both time and money, sometimes forget to see the flaws because they've worked hard to get their "baby" to where it is. Fanatec is still the leader in the industry, has a wide range of products, has console connectivity with both major brands, but does need a large transition in customer service and standardized product range ie 3 bases with 3 torgue levels. Their peripheral range is good, does it need updating? Sure, but it's hard to put money into r&d when you can't get over the hump of mismanagement and a backlog of orders waiting to be fulfilled. Additionally, they need to have a standardized supply chain from mfg to delivery. Hopefully, better things to come. TJ has been pivotal in bringing sim gear to sim enthusiasts. Hopefully he remains in a design and sales role.
@Kireth it really could be. They've just lost focus and need to implement their plans from your previous interview. Thanks for bringing us the news and facts!
I’ve been waiting for my order for weeks now, they have my money and not communicating at all. Is this a scam? May have to speak to my card company and get them to refund
I switched to simagic base and wheel and vrs pedals now. Selling all my scamatec stuff. I'm still waiting for my formula v2.5 x wheel ordered on black Friday
Lost patience and cancelled my order yesterday (28/3/24). Put order in after your last fanatec vid thinking things would change, bad mistake on my part. Just hope i get my money back this millenium. They still don't respond to any requests or provide any feedback.
Same here, ordered the formula V2.5 and only received a purchase confirmation directly after. Didn’t hear a single word about fulfilling the order in three weeks so I cancelled.
The board of directors is a joke. It is also a joke to wait so long to fire an underperforming management team when the stock price has dropped nearly 80% of its value.
I think it's sad that Thomas got fired. Fanatec is his baby. I can understand their problems, a small company becoming an international brand with massive demand for their products. I'd say fanatec were happier when they were smaller. I wish Thomas the best and I hope he remains a major part of fanatecs R&D department.
@@DuncanAtkinson What did you expect the man to do? Break down and cry? His attitude was to fix the problem, he said - it would take time. (That to me was honest, he was keeping it real). I thought he was very transparent and straightforward.
My DD+ F1 bundle came on Thursday 21. It's working brilliantly for now. I pray I don't have to use their RMA, I wasn't aware of how many problems Fanatec had.
I’ve had mine for ~2 weeks now and have 0 issues. I feel the RMAs are blown out of proportion by loud people who are (rightfully so) pissed off. I bet it’s less than 5% of orders. I also heard the RMAs were more from the new GT wheels and not the F1 wheel… the F1 wheel is an update to a great wheel, where the GT wheels are brand new gen 1.
Appreciate it. There was a perfect storm of a lot of problems, some out of his hands, some that are the result of being behind the 8 ball for some years now that finally came back to bite them. Hoping they succeed!
Remember, this dude took your money for months without any deliveries. I don't care what he has done to the sim community, It is not right to use other peoples, he should go to jail for what he has done.
I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with my order they've got over $1,500 of my money and won't even respond I just wish I could figure out what's going on with it
So we’re left with Thrustmaster only as licensed product for Gran Turismo? I am planning to buy a full set of pedals and wheelbase soon and I honestly don’t know what direct drive I should buy now.
What? Fanatec hasn't closed down. At least not just yet. Anyway i have the TRustmaster GT wheel so i race with that although that is not direct drive but belt tech. Probably the best belt tech though because it feel great and in GT even better because of the extra feature.
It will close down soon is what I am saying. Which it will. If there is not credit line left they will go into forclosure and bankruptcy soon. I think that’s my takeaway from the video at least. I am not spending €1500 on equipment with no warranty and no repair option and I want direct drive like Fanatec. Ideally I’d have a DD Pro even but not now anymore.
@@stephane8200 How long does the warranty last anyway? Because as i see it the CEO got replaced so they can get refinanced which means that at worse they have another year or two working which is basically the time frame the new CEO has to turn the ship around and improve the financial stability of the company. So i guess if you buy now you will have at least some time as warranty. But anyway i get your worries. Personally just because something is called DD it doesn't mean that is definitely better. I drove some DD and the GT Thrustmaster wheel isn't necessary worse but if you are so desperate for DD that works on GT7 then i guess you have to buy the Logitech DD wheel(if you find any in stock).
I don’t know how long it lasts but given there have been accounts of failures of quite a few sets I would consider it to be relevant. What I am referring to in the end is options like Moza as an alternative for example. Unsupported but still they might work. I don’t have the option of testing and trying everything so maybe some of the YT simracers can shed some light on this.
@@stephane8200 All Moza products support only PC so no it won't do. To play a PlayStation game the wheel needs a chip that gives it PlayStation compatibility so unfortunately no tricks will make any Moza work with PlayStation. If a wheel set isn't PlayStation compatible then you are out of luck. The only DD choice for Playstation right now is ether Logitech or Fanatec. I was quite surprised that ThrustMaster didn't make their DD offer console compatible to be honest.
never once watching the first video did i think it was a hit piece. it was honest and you allowed him to speak for himself. how he was perceived was up to him.
When I got my V3 pedals I found many screws and nuts loose also on my McLaren V2 rim the shifter assembly was loose and unreliable for shifting (one of the magnets punched all the way through the plastic housing) until I bought an after market shifter kit. I can not say they make reliable products, I had to send my CSL DD in for constant disconnects and all of my rig is built around their products but having to alter my purchases as I am pretty good with electronics and in this case re-engineering things myself I feel I dodged the bullet. That being said had Moza or Sim Magic came out sooner under my budget at the time, I would have went with that company than Fanatec and that's not even including their horrible customer service long delivery times and I'm in California where one of their warehouse's is located.
I ordered a csl elite bundle in November got it in a week, 2 weeks ago I ordered club sport extreme bundle , ordered it on a Sunday was shipped on the Thursday and arrived on the Monday, so my experience with fanatec has been awesome
Exactly. I'm afraid this will end up like Apple firing Steve Jobs. No "Pepsi" CEO can be passionate about products to successfully manage a company like this. This is not a generic company making plastic bottles and straws.
my experience with fanatec: a bunch of rubbish in something called the Fanatec DD Pro + Load Cell Brake Pedal Kit. I ordered it on the 6th of February 24th. It arrived on the 26th, with the invoice date on the 21st, I lost 6 days of warranty... when I turned everything on, I only heard a bang on the steering wheel and on my PlayStation5. result: steering wheel returned and PlayStation5 burned. I returned the steering wheel due to the Paypal complaint, because Fanatec support is non-existent! no one responds. It looks like a giant Chinese store that sells expensive junk. As for my PlayStation, I spent another €550 on a new one. What did Fanatec say when questioned? zero. Don't buy this rubbish!
Sorry but I cannot understand how your PS5 got burned, the only connection you have between the devices is a usb cable. They normally only run on 5volts. Maybe the problem is your input voltage on both devices 120v/240v or a surge and that is why both unit burned at the same time.
This is really great reporting. I did not think your first video was a hit piece at all, especially due to all the videos that were talking about fanatic and their troubles with inventory and customer service. Those two issues are really killers for any business. My rig is one hundred percent fanatec, so I do follow it. I am on the sidelines right now. I'm waiting to see how all of this shakes out before doing any upgrades. And kudos to you as I don't believe I've ever heard anyone in the sim community raised EBITA as a concern 😂
@@Kireth I appreciate that thank you. I'm new to sim racing have the f-gt cockpit and logitech wheel but want to upgrade. Also I haven't a clue about pc so many very confusing again thank you
@keithwhelan7467 I also have the FGT cockpit and logitech wheel but I just upgraded to a moza gs wheel and won't have the financial means to buy the base to use it until June
I never like to see a man lose his job especially if he has kids, mortgage etc But I feel like he could’ve handle the recent problems with Fanatec a lot better. Wish him the best and hopefully, fingers crossed 🤞 it’ll be brighter days for Fanatec. 👍 Great vid mate!
As an interested party, I have been watching the press and the situation has it's been happening. The issues really started at the end of August 2023 and have still not recovered. Whats wrong is not the physical aspects as much as the way they are handled. In a nutshell, customers have not been able to contact Fanatec and get answers. Customers have been and are still in the dark more often than not. Although I have a huge amount of respect for Thomas Jackermeier, in my opinion he is not the right person to lead Fanatec into the current era. Just because you are skilled at design and passionate about Sim Racing, does not make you skilled at running a business of this scale. They need thier systems and processes to be modernised, that is an expertise in its self. As has been said, Thomas is not going away but maybe he can now get some of the Sim Racing Passion back and leave the systems, processes to a more experienced group of people. Just my thoughts.
Btw just to demonstrate what an underdog they are Endor group's assets added up to a total of $ 125 m where as Logitech have a net worth of $14.3 billion
I don't want to sound like a Fanatec apologist but they do 35x more with this money than whatever Logitech isn't investing in expanding their ecosystem. Between the two companies, I'm currently more upset at Logitech.
So... maybe what's needed is an equivalent of Logitech; Asus perhaps, or Razer to take over mgmt functions while retaining Thomas as guiding force in product development. Great products, that are actually accessible? Smells like a winner...
@@bbadstdad4423 keep Asus out of it, as their customer service is even worse than Fanatec based on reports, but I think you have the right idea or track. Logitech really should have expanded their ecosystem and not just abandon it
Picked up GT Extreme with a V2 McLaren and V3 pedals. All came to the US in the time frame promised. I had also placed an order mistakenly which they cancelled promptly. However, an email to customer service still unanswered regarding iRacing voucher. Feel bad for the company personally as I know how much of a pain it is to run good customer support, something I was actually able to get established at my company as some of the best in our industry. Fingers crossed I don't run into issues as it's the best option for PS5 at the moment :(
I don’t remember that I have seen such a successful company and with good reputation that ended up loosing everything by their own incompetence. Usually a company will be in this level because they stop innovating on the contrary fanatec was always producing new products. So why they ended up like this ? His answer in your interview was mainly that there was an overbooked orders. This was never should had escalated to this cause could have been resolved easily. Yes I strongly believe that he had to go cause the company is in serious crisis and need some new energy
If Thomas were SO passionate about sim racing and his customers he wouldn’t have spent decades growing Fanatec’s horrible customer service reputation. How and why you seem to be so completely unaware of this reputation that has existed for as long as I’ve been aware of the company is beyond me. Their “recent troubles” aren’t recent. They’ve been the joke of the sim racing community since I started in iRacing back in 2009 and I was warned against buying their stuff back then. Why? Because if it works it’ll be good, but if there’s anything wrong you’re going to go through customer service hell. And they were right. And this reputation was apparently old at that time. 2009. Already known to be a bad company to deal with. And that song never changed since. So I don’t know how you never heard about this. Thomas being fired as CEO is extremely good news no matter who replaces him. He was not a good CEO. He’s had decades to fix things and had fixed literally nothing. His company is the same today as it was 15 years ago when I first learned of them. Good products if they work, but horrible customer service to deal with if they don’t work. Thomas sucks at his job and literally anyone else will do a better job, so this news is extremely good for the sim racing community. Going forward, I would say there’s a high probability of someone finally turning Fanatec around and turning them into the company we all need in the marketplace, or they finally go under and nobody will have to deal with their horrible customer service department anymore. Win-win.
This is actaully quite common for companies going through such transition. See Steve Jobs for example. Founders are rarely equipped with the knowledge and skill set to take a company to the level Fanatec is trying to reach. Often the founder will bring in a CEO with such a skill set (again, see Steve Jobs bringing in Sculley from Pepsi), and take a different role in the company (chairman, director of something, etc.) more in line with their skill and passions.
@@Kireth Let's hope so because the racing sim space would miss their presence very much, despite current anger over recent missteps. Far better to bring that CEO in before the inevitable collapse that follows trying to operate at scale you're not prepared to handle, but better late than never!
man im so glad you put these videos out there becasue here in a week im looking to get a new system and i was going to buy fanatec but your videos made me go to moza at least with moza they have extras that can be added shifters and hand breaks im going to buy them all fanatec do have those
Ok so I like your channel and the interview with Thomas was great. But let’s be honest, you’ve got access to the same publicly available information as everyone else and you are piecing it together with some conjecture. So you “knowing more than anyone else on the internet” is a bit of a stretch 😂
Quite a few peeps were saving fir thier Dd wheel but had heard first hand of supply and repair issues, and had removed them from their shopping list, perhaps time will heal
That dude may have done A LOT for sim racing but he comes along like a complete a-hole don’t care kinda guy. A leave me alone suckers attitude that might be there because of all the problems the company faces. But it is going on for so long and has been handled so bad or not at all that him putting his ego first over the general picture or whatever moved him to stay on so long and make so many straightforward stupid decisions or didn’t make any at all is the worst. It just show extremely poor management and leadership skills.
You do not mention that TJ stays with the company (e.g. prduct manager). Did you? Oh, and one more thing: it is very common in the "new business" or start-up/e-com companies, that the product-driven founders are not the best managers when those companies get to a certain size. Think that happended here. I have a whole lot Fanatec gear, including the DD2 wheelbase and I hope they will come up with new/modern/reasonably priced new stuff, especially WHEELS!
I'm not a Fanatec user myself but but they are OGs of sim racing so watch what they do with interest I thought he was untouchable as a major shareholder of this basically family business so this came as a big surprise .I guess he just had enough and thought it time to walk off into the sunset .Whoever takes over will have their work cut out for them .The Chinese are getting crazy good and cheaper too of course and have'nt even touched the console market yet
I like that. "I don't want to believe" Belief shouldn't be the reason to not analyze evidence. Facts are facts. As a LONG time Fanatec customer, this is sad but like racing, you have to adapt and move on. I have moved away last week without this knowledge but we shall see how the company moves forward becasue they do have good things that I am currently missing ATM like their QR2 and easy to mount wheels and software. Thank you for having journalistic integrity. Keep it up and the right people will follow and support you. Don't be like the others and yell and put stupid colors everywhere.
For those who want a TL:DR - 6-7 minutes there is some bragging "i know things nobody else does". Then we have 2-3 minutes of what everyone knows - CEO is fired
Just had a look, What is totally ridiculous is that unless you are on QR2 or are prepared to pay the money to upgrade to QR2 you pretty much can't buy any wheel or any RTR bundle. How in gods name is that good business, How in gods name do you have wheels in stock but not the product that allows you to use it, They don't even give you the ability to save the money on the QR and buy without it.
You knew before anyone else? Really? I knew they were in serious trouble back in the day's of the lockdowns when they struggled with QC and filling orders. I was extremely reluctant to purchase my sim racing equipment from Fanatec and put it off for about a year until I was confident that sales had slowed to a point where I could be reasonably confident of receiving my order in a timely fashion and fit for purpose. I know for a fact that I wasn't the only person with those concerns.
when I said the black Friday sale on the QR2 and other things and the sony licensing were financial issues on another channel I was scoffed at. They needed fast cash in the banks, supply shortages on a single component is financial spin for we didnt pay our bills
Maybe if they focused on customer service after they bricked a bunch of DD1s and DD2s with bad drivers and after giving the customers the run around, they wouldn't cover their mistake for anyone who was out of the warranty period and the issue wasn't due to any the customers did other than update with a faulty driver......and they know it.
I wish instead of firing him completely, they would have put a business expert at his side, to take over only the business stuff. I would have liked to keep him as the one overseeing R & D etc. There's no denying that Fanatec products are pretty good, so it's not the products that let the company down, but other things...
Regardless of the CEO we all will never know who else is to blame in regards to the financial decisions and business decisions that were made to come to this point. It took years to grow reputation and a few months to destroy. We don’t know what has happened behind closed doors so maybe at this point some other sim companies will see an opportunity for licenses for console sim racing. Who knows what will happen with Fanatec in future only time will tell. Hopefully they improve customer service and turn around communication skills to customers and rebuild their reputation over time. Hopefully other companies will introduce console sim racing products same as Fanatec have so that people that cannot afford a top end gaming pc to be able to Sim race on console the same as on PC as graphics cards alone are £1000 for amd 24gb or £2000 plus for Nvidia never mind everything else you would need to purchase to complete the pc build and also your sim racing equipment on top of this. I have spent over £2k on my sim setup for console rig, Fanatec wheel base, x2 wheels, bucket seat, bucket seat brackets, seat sliders, 5.1 surround sound, pedals, csl DD Trak Racer side mount and I don’t even have a shifter or a handbrake yet or a rounded wheel for rally. So in hindsight Asetek etc should jump at the opportunity to get a license for console and capitalise on this moment to give more choice to sim racers instead of just Fanatec being the only decent DD system for console so far. Thrustmaster and Logitech just don’t cut it and have always been things I avoided cause they just toy like in my opinion. Hopefully we will see changes in next year or so. Take care Thomas thanks for 25 years.
@@Kireth well as I am a console sim racer and never built a pc could you give advice on what console gamers can do for different budgets for building 1st PC as Fanatec may no longer exist and will open up options for us console gamers on PC sim racing was thinking MAD as Nvidia so overpriced for Graphics Cards at the moment
How about hiring a logistics expert? I have an order, they can't even answer an email. Fanatec would sell more product if consumers could confidently sell their current gear to finance their upgrades knowing it would arrive in a few days.
@@HxR-eSports Still painting the new house. Going from a one 17" unproductivity laptop household to...not sure what I'll be getting. Want a new laptop, but for racing few seem to suffice. Still exploring the perfect price point to try something as a 100% noob. Don't want junk, and don't want needlessly posh gear catching dust.
Spot on mate. Just as you said he's a big plus too the sim race community weither you like it or not but he's probably a bad manager/CEO. Running a big company is tougher then most people think.
Sad I suppose. Great news on 1 hand though. I'm hopeful that, 1) the new mgmt can make some SWIFT changes, 2) Thomas doesn't use his controlling interest to throw a stick in the spokes of improvement, and C) Thomas DOES still have an active role in product development, r/d, and quality control. Fanatec has consistently hit high marks in those areas and I certainly hope that continues.
Shocking!!!!! Feel really sorry for Thomas! But hopefully the company will work smoothly now. On the other hand, he had so much experience and passion that I cannot imagine anyone who could replace him!
Found your interview video looking for what the heck is going on, and now this follow-up. I ordered a wheel on January 17, 2024... A wheel they had in stock! I just got it now and it's the wrong wheel. I sent an email but doubt I'll hear from anyone any time soon. No number to call. No online agent ever available, etc. This is actually the worst company in the world at the moment. If they have all these problems, they should restructure and stop taking orders until it's sorted
Personally I think there done, There reliability has come into question of late which makes the second hand market risky, I mean, Who would buy a second hand DD1 or DD2, There RMA also comes into question at the moment which rules out people taking on new, I want the BMW wheel which I can't buy, Along with 80% of there other wheels cos they don't have the QR1 of any sort, They will throw in the QR1 which they don't have for free, But want me to pay 100 euro for the QR2, What sort of procurement program must you have to order wheels but no QR's, It's because they expected everyone to just go over to QR2 no questions asked. They want 100 euro for a QR when everyone else wants 50, They wanted 150 euro for a 30 euro power supply, There reliability is suspect, There RMA is suspect, There delivery is suspect, There customer support is supect, When something is that suspect you don't touch it with the proverbial.
For the last year I had a feeling that Thomas Jackermeier is more interested in providing gear for real life racing, like BMW M4 wheel and this might be a season for Fanatec problems as he just "let go" SIM racing department and all of this just rolled as snowball
This is extremely disappointing. I just purchased a DD PRO 8nm 03/03 for preorder 03/14 - order was shipped 2 weeks late, but customer support was very VERY helpful, and never left me in the dark. I never felt worried with my order. I personally really appreciate the "small business" feel I get from Fanatec. There may be some upsides in him departing, but I seeing the small business / passion go with him, is disappointing. Part of the reason I chose Fanatec was YOUR interview, and getting to see his own passion, struggles, etc. I did appreciate his authenticity I'll likely change brands in my future wheel / base purchases.
Gutted, So close to ordering one of their products, But with back log issues and now this, how can anyone feel confident in firstly getting the product and secondly the long term support. 😞
There is no information in this video that you cannot find on the internet with a 2 second google search. Save yourself 9 minutes today and don’t bother listening to this guy tell you how he is the only person in the world that can read a financial statement.
Thomas did a great job for the sim racing community especially to those with a budget. But his other visions of sponsoring the race events is rather should be the end of the tier preference rather than enhancing and improving your supplier chain yo different regions as well as same region
Thomas should have found a business savvy person to be CEO so he could stay focused on the hardware and software development side. I think the company just wasn’t ready for huge exponential growth brought on by the pandemic.
I regret going Fanatec once your order arrives and is faulty it’s another ball game altogether. No reply’s to emails, products sent back waiting for a refund like they are holding my money for ransom. I wouldn’t want my staff ignoring our customers so I would say time to go Tommo.
You Say how he come across as bubbly and passionate, How about the times when he come across as deceitful and dismissive, He and UA-cam reviewers new the Extreme was coming, Now go back and listen to the ClubSport DD+ part of your interview, Despicable, Deceitful and scummy when all the time he new what was around the corner, Good riddance.
@@ithorien Yes, And the NDA had nothing to do or relevance with what he said in that interview, He talked about starting pre orders of the DD+ when it was not available cos it was so close to the DD so to give us the customers the option, When all the time they had the DD Extreme all ready to go., When Kireth posted that interview Boosted Media had already recorded there review for the DD Extreme 3 months prior. We know what NDA's are, But review sites had the Extreme in there hands while all of this was going on and were more than happy to wax lyrical about it on day one, Sorry, But I don't think the NDA completely abstains review sites from this.
@@reecereed8131 I admittedly don't know exact timeline, but that's typically why nobody announces a product they're not yet allowed to talk about, CEOs included, which is how I took this.
@@ithorien You could technically say he shouldn't have talked about or took pre orders for a product that didn't technically exist, i:e The DD+. They couldn't sell the DD+ , But that didn't stop them taking pre orders and peoples money for it, And by the time they could start to ship them they announce the Extreme. We now know why they took pre orders and peoples money for a product they couldn't sell and couldn't ship, They needed the money.
Sounds like the pandemic made the company go out of control and it has stayed out of control. A pity that the company was so in hoc to the banks.Thomas J may be the majority shareholder but he has no control of the company.The control is with the banks.
It's easy to criticize in retrospect, but Fanatec obviously made a few key management mistakes. The online shop is a disaster and the logistics department also seems weak. This is all the worse because we have a small sim racing boom at the moment and it would be easy to make money.
Should hear about the canadian customers , they priced out the parts as full price and people are paying up to 900 in duty fees as a final f u you the customers
Hope they make it through all this. I love my Club Sport DD. I do hope they put out a line of wheels with the display in them like others have been doing. I also just like the name, Fanatec!!😂😂😂
Do you think Fanatec would be better with, or without Thomas Jackermeier as CEO?
A new CEO will hopefully sort out the over extended and confusing product range, dreadful supply issues which are probably cause partly because of this. Their product offering for a while seems is counter to their market position. Nothing wrong with release a couple of showcase products like the BMW wheel great for PR. However their most successful products look not to be the ones competing for the Simucube or Grid Engineering customers. As the market grows and more niche companies enter the market Fanatec needs to focus on their strengths and stop chasing segments of the market they will never win in. I wish them every success they after all gave us 'affordable' DD wheel base and in that is the clue to their success. '
Time to move on. This is a small firm, with a big profile in our gaming world. Don't need a Sim racing guy to run a firm like this, supply chain, finance guy better. Reputation of the firm in tatters after the SC issues, so recovery from that will be tough.
From the US perspective, not sure it can be worse.
Kireth, whilst you have been privy to more details relating to Fanatec, there is no excuse for the criminally poor customer service, acceptance of customer orders, without delivery which is tantamount to theft, horrendous logistics, Fanatic is a joke and the customer is the punchline. Being passionate has no correlation to treating customers fairly, and operating a business with transparency. Jakemeyer should have been fired years ago.
How come Fanatec is the only business that is yet to recover from supply chain disruptions? Simagic, Simucube, Moza etc all experienced supply chain disruptions, yet they all recovered, except Fanatec. It's corporate negligence on Fanatec's part. Classic case of "We're Fanatec and our beholden customers will just have to deal with our delays". The dismissive arrogance of it all, and as CEO, it all falls on Jakemyer.
Maybe if they had stopped blowing millions on sponsoring F1, WRC, and, ahmm, The "Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe", they might have actually had some money to invest back in and sort out the problems.
Definitely could have had more than 180 employees..
That and posted random videos on IG that have nothing whatsoever to do with their products instead of answering emails
100%
Sort out problems like not having essential items in stock you mean? And preventing any sales that they include those items in from being bought? Agreed.
As others have noted below, your ego and a stench of pure narcissism from yourself here is unbelievable. So much waffle about how great you are has nothing to do with the situation, it's so weird.
Respect your subscribers more rather than talking down to them like they're children. Hard to believe you've listened to this back and gone "Yep, that sounds reasonable". Confidence is one thing, arrogance (especially when misplaced!) is another.
To start off by saying “I’m not trying to boast, but I knew before anyone else..”
just don’t bring it up!
You’re doing exactly that.
I thought the same thing and nearly closed the video, definitely a bit cringe lol. Maybe just say “as I touched on a bit in earlier videos, this doesn’t come as a complete shock to me or many of my subscribers, something needed to be done.”
Fanatec needs to stop trying to be the Snap-On of the sim racing world and start selling their gear through third parties and not exclusively direct
If they allowed third party companies to sell their stuff I wouldn't be buying a Moza bundle tomorrow. But they don't, so I am.
I got into sim racing three years ago when a certain disease that shall not be named took over the world.
Fanatic was everywhere and a lot of the influencers were recommending their products. Delivery times were very long with no time for delivery. Big red flags all were over the place. It seems like not much has changed.
A question for the new management: Are they going to become more transparent around product releases and stop alienating existing customers. Example, QR2 releases. Everyone buys it. DD and DD+ is released and it comes with QR2. People preorder DD+, then DD+ with exclusive wheel bundle comes out (DD Extreme) immediately after the DD+ preorders start shipping so you can't change your order.
Not to mention selling QR2 individually with no discounts, when people need them for multiple wheels (else they don't need a quick release at all), and then a couple of weeks later bringing out bundles so you can save a lot of money when you buy more than one. The QR2 is a great product but I felt screwed as an early buyer (on top of them taking my money but not creating my order or responding to emails until I did a PayPal dispute to fix things, and then had to re-order from scratch and go back to the back of the queue). I do hope they can turn the company around, though, as I generally like their products and don't want to replace everything and change ecosystems.
The qr upgrades are so stupid. You pay nothing for the old qr1 if you get a wheel, but you have to pay full price for the qr2. Why?
And then the qr1 is not even available for month...
This is such an unfriendly behavior from fanatec towards their customers.
Same when they sold the 8nm CSL dd for 150 Eur upgrade price even though the power supply for itself was only 150 but they swapped them out.
The mess he left was certainly more than enough reason to fire him because it's his responsibility. I didn't buy the excuses he brought up in this interview and he didn't show enough respect and apology to the angry customers. He also didn't show any vision of change.
Thanks for the subscription btw!
Them scaling up is essential. SO MANY PEOPLE do not want to buy stuff from outside their country because of how much it SUCKS getting stuff fixed or replaced. The cost and hassle of replacing a broken item from another country is substantial.
If Fanatec existed in Norway when I bought my rig last year, I'd be a Fanatec user now. Instead I got a Thrustmaster T-GT2 because Thrustmaster didn't have a DD wheel for the PS5 yet.. Still don't.. That's a full year of DD wheel sales that Fanatec didn't get to capitalize on during the past 2+ years because people don't want to deal with the potential problems of ordering internationally.
I hope it works out for everyone in the end. You can't run a company and constantly be struggling to deliver product to buyers. everything is sold out all the time.. That's OK if it's one dude in his basement making button boxes or whatever, but if you're a 2 decades old company STILL struggling, that's no good. Their problem with manufacturing enough stuff has gone on for a LONG time. If they had their production sorted by the start of the pandemic, they could have made unbelievable amounts of money off of bored middle aged men.
Don't know where to buy simagic in norway, but i came from a T-GT with TLCM and now Simagic Alpha U with P2000 - yes on PS5 via Sigma Cortex Converter. It's emulating a DD Pro now and the FFB is just great. You got more possibilities by remapping the buttons and knobs. Got a little video on my channel about it, because it's kind of unknown..
Today, Simagic is the way to go for me, every few months they have new great products the last two years..
Have fun and ride on, greetings from germany 😁
Great point - I’m in this boat right now. I’m not even considering Fanatec for my ps5 setup because I know their prices are insane and their supply chain issues mean I might not see my $1,000+ investment for months
I built a rig during covid... Lol. I got a CSL PS4 bundle, sold the pedals for the V3's and I got my stuff relatively hassle free. Took about 3 weeks but I did wait for a while for the CSL Elite to be in stock before I was able to purchase it.
I think the comparison with the single dude doesn't fit here, or at least not completely. Before Corona Fanatec had a lot of products in stock, the company just grown way faster than it was healthy - so basically it is like this single dude in the basement.
Im in Norway too, and Fanatec warranty repair went pretty painless with my DD Pro GT wheel right before black Friday 2023.
It took 3 weeks getting it back from the day i sent it in.
Its not all bad,
but if Fanatec should somehow go under i will go to Simagic the day my Fanatec bases(DD Pro and DD+) die and cant be repaired anymore.
Thustmaster is just to much plastic for my taste. Still delivering good FFB though as i do have a T300 stored in my basement that was meant to be a spare for my DD Pro.
Think a change was needed not just for the company itself but also for the many bemused customers could see something was actually changing (whether it works or not is another thing)
You might think about checking your ego a tad though. None of this info was new or only known to you. Twitter, UA-cam, the Fanatec forums etc are all full of this information about EBITDA, loans, shareholders etc
A big change for sure!!
you spent about 2 of 9 minutes fluffing yourself for having exclusive information and being the most key'd in.
Just say what you know and if its more encompassing than everyone elses take - that will be obvious.
Its possible im the only one that found this cringe af.
What do you mean?
@@Kireth Are you requesting i rephrase my entire critique? Or simply pretending not to understand the criticism as a means of deflection?
tldr : exactly what i said
Definitely not the only one, pure cringe the way he strokes himself off in this video. Let alone saying how he knew about this before. He'd have much more credence to such a claim if he had made videos on the situation and thei removal of their CEO BEFOREHAND.
@@forestnfren8146 you’re definitely not the only one looking at the comments. I found the whole video utterly unbearable
@@Kireth please don't take this the wrong way, because I appreciated your video and am also a long time fan of Fanatec's products. I too would like to see them succeed.
I think the issue at hand here is your framing of the information you shared as having been somehow exclusive to you. Your comments come across as if you are the only one who read Fanatec's financials, or the only one who reads the Financial Times.
As I listened, I read the context and understood that you meant all of that in the context of a sea of Fanatec hate, but it that was really subtle, and most people are going to overlook it.
As a humble viewer of YT and not a content producer with thousands of subs, my feedback would be to simply state the information that you have. Pointing out the refinancing agreement expiration date of March 31st is an insight that speaks on its own. I've not seen or read another source citing this, so it was a genuinely good find.
Likewise, you're in a fortunate position to have spent time with Thomas. You can speak to that without all the superfluous framing. Your viewers know who Thomas is. We know the significance of being granted an interview.
It is apparent how much of the tone can be the result of the vitriolic environment surrounding Fanatec right now. I'm pretty tired of it as well, but these issues undermine the credibility of your insights, and they create a distraction. I will be back to watch more of your content though. So thank you :)
Wish him and Fanatec all the best. Thomas did a lot for our hobby
No one can dispute this!
Yes indeed he dit destroy the hobby for my so now i know why its beter to go juste real life racing
@@KJB__you know real racing need a lot of parts from all around the world as well, so you basically stuck with the same problem, but with multiple companies instead of one you can make a symbol to channel you hate?
Glad to be sticking with my Logi G pro, will patiently wait for add ons.
Now would be the perfect time...
I’ve almost bought Logitech direct drive, so many times, for my ps5 but lack of wheels , sequential gear stick shifter and handbrake, really has put me off.
I don’t think Logitech are going to release anymore products.
Think about it, 9/10 gamers do not use or even think about using a wheel. With this information plus no accessories, it’s clear to see the Logitech g pro wheel, has sold terribly low amount.
With this in mind, there’s no way on earth, Logitech will waste time or money. No1 is buying the wheel, so Logitech won’t update.
I personally think Logitech have never planned to release anything more for g pro.
They obviously said, “let’s finally give them a direct drive wheel and leave it at that”
“If by some miracle, it sells well, we will update a little and if sales are low, we won’t waste any more time or money.”
I bet Logitech only made a few thousand wheels, at most.
I’ve kinda given up on sim racing, for now.
I do not care for pc, nor do I want 1 and I’m not taking my chances with wasting 2K with Fanatec .
I was up in the air between Logitech and Fanatec and went with the new DD pro F1 bundle. No regrets whatsoever! So smooth and well made, just a beautiful product. Only regret is not making the switch sooner (coming from a T248).
I’d personally rather wait on updates to software for the new FullForce than hoping for more wheels from Logi. The DD Pro is already great without FF, still excited for it to somehow get even better.
My impressions when watching your original interview with him was that although his answers were somewhat reflective they came across as almost arrogant. It seemed that he had difficulty in acknowledging exactly what the priorities are from a customers perspective and where Fanatec could have alleviated a lot of the frustration - Communication. Customers being kept in the dark, effectively being ghosted by his company after transactions have already taken place are unacceptable. Any reasons or excuses to dance around this particular aspect are insulting to your customers and borderline criminal. I think most customers could appreciate or forgive Fanatec for not fulfilling orders due to whatever technical issues with website and their logistical issues. Again, simple and courteous communication would have avoided a lot of negative feedback on social media. Something had to give and hopefully this first move by the shareholders are the first of many in helping Fanatec getting back to where they should be in the market
At least this boy goes in with the fricking research under his belt, it's a lot better than what most do.
They should make Thomas Chief Product Officer. Let him do passionately what he loves, create great products.
It's pretty obvious that he failed as CEO. Wasting millions on marketing, while the Logistics and customer service are in a complete meltdown.
The bank cares about getting their loan repaid plus intrest. Losing over 10 million in a year, cannot be tolerated. So they rightfully are stepping in.
Fanatec will not disappear. The product portfolio is solid and holds value. Should the company fail, there will be new investors for sure.
I am quite surprised how people like him lack the ability to see the financials of their company and act a little more wisely.
But i heard he was a rich kid so maybe he never had a good grasp on how to handle money.
I ordered the GT DD Extreme and Clubsport V3 Pedals, got very lucky that Endor shipped my packages all in a timely manner and properly. Had my fingers crossed hearing the amount of problems going on right now.
Made it!
GT DD Extreme arrived yesterday to replace my GT DD Pro. Arrived in Ireland in under a week from order date. Maybe it's getting better, maybe I was lucky, I just hope it comes good for them as I've loved all my Fanatec products.
Nice!
Sometimes, companies need a new direction and someone with an impartial view to come in and clean things up. People with a lot of personal investment, both time and money, sometimes forget to see the flaws because they've worked hard to get their "baby" to where it is.
Fanatec is still the leader in the industry, has a wide range of products, has console connectivity with both major brands, but does need a large transition in customer service and standardized product range ie 3 bases with 3 torgue levels. Their peripheral range is good, does it need updating? Sure, but it's hard to put money into r&d when you can't get over the hump of mismanagement and a backlog of orders waiting to be fulfilled. Additionally, they need to have a standardized supply chain from mfg to delivery.
Hopefully, better things to come.
TJ has been pivotal in bringing sim gear to sim enthusiasts. Hopefully he remains in a design and sales role.
Maybe a win win for all involved?
@Kireth it really could be. They've just lost focus and need to implement their plans from your previous interview.
Thanks for bringing us the news and facts!
No problem I like giving this angle on sim racing!
I’ve been waiting for my order for weeks now, they have my money and not communicating at all. Is this a scam? May have to speak to my card company and get them to refund
I switched to simagic base and wheel and vrs pedals now. Selling all my scamatec stuff. I'm still waiting for my formula v2.5 x wheel ordered on black Friday
Lost patience and cancelled my order yesterday (28/3/24). Put order in after your last fanatec vid thinking things would change, bad mistake on my part. Just hope i get my money back this millenium. They still don't respond to any requests or provide any feedback.
Same here, ordered the formula V2.5 and only received a purchase confirmation directly after. Didn’t hear a single word about fulfilling the order in three weeks so I cancelled.
Informative video, but you came across a right tool at the start of the video
Bro I appreciate the feedback 😅😅
The board of directors is a joke. It is also a joke to wait so long to fire an underperforming management team when the stock price has dropped nearly 80% of its value.
I think it's sad that Thomas got fired. Fanatec is his baby. I can understand their problems, a small company becoming an international brand with massive demand for their products. I'd say fanatec were happier when they were smaller. I wish Thomas the best and I hope he remains a major part of fanatecs R&D department.
No he messed up big time.. he has no place being a CEO of anything
@@DuncanAtkinson
What the blazes would you know? 😂
@@martin4458 his attitude to customers was appalling
@@DuncanAtkinson
What did you expect the man to do? Break down and cry? His attitude was to fix the problem, he said - it would take time. (That to me was honest, he was keeping it real). I thought he was very transparent and straightforward.
You do realise that he employed and stepped down as the CEO himself, right? lol
My DD+ F1 bundle came on Thursday 21. It's working brilliantly for now. I pray I don't have to use their RMA, I wasn't aware of how many problems Fanatec had.
How long did you wait for the order?
@@josemarimoreno3128 Ordered on Thursday 14th, was "handed over to warehouse" that Saturday, and shipped Monday 18. Arrived three days later.
@@josemarimoreno3128 5 total days from order to delivered on my porch! I’m on the east coast, USA.
I’ve had mine for ~2 weeks now and have 0 issues. I feel the RMAs are blown out of proportion by loud people who are (rightfully so) pissed off. I bet it’s less than 5% of orders. I also heard the RMAs were more from the new GT wheels and not the F1 wheel… the F1 wheel is an update to a great wheel, where the GT wheels are brand new gen 1.
Appreciate it. There was a perfect storm of a lot of problems, some out of his hands, some that are the result of being behind the 8 ball for some years now that finally came back to bite them. Hoping they succeed!
Redemption starts now?
I have an order and I’m wondering if I should cancel it, or wait to see if it will ever be shipped ?
I would recommend watching my previous two videos on Fanatec and then deciding
So my question for Fanatec, or Jack, is why don't you use third party vendors to solve/negate supply chain issues?
Remember, this dude took your money for months without any deliveries. I don't care what he has done to the sim community, It is not right to use other peoples, he should go to jail for what he has done.
I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with my order they've got over $1,500 of my money and won't even respond I just wish I could figure out what's going on with it
Maybe this is why my Fanatec order in the US finally shipped after 40+ days. It's either that or the Paypal case I opened earlier this week.....
soon!
im about to dispute myne as i type. dd+ on 32 days no updates to tracking. fedex never got it.
Great to get the info nice an early before the rumor mill starts turning.
Great work as always 👍
Thanks Peter - I leave the speculation to others and report on the facts!
I got a fanatec pre roll ad on the video LMAO
Brother are you serious 😅
So we’re left with Thrustmaster only as licensed product for Gran Turismo? I am planning to buy a full set of pedals and wheelbase soon and I honestly don’t know what direct drive I should buy now.
What? Fanatec hasn't closed down. At least not just yet.
Anyway i have the TRustmaster GT wheel so i race with that although that is not direct drive but belt tech. Probably the best belt tech though because it feel great and in GT even better because of the extra feature.
It will close down soon is what I am saying. Which it will. If there is not credit line left they will go into forclosure and bankruptcy soon. I think that’s my takeaway from the video at least. I am not spending €1500 on equipment with no warranty and no repair option and I want direct drive like Fanatec. Ideally I’d have a DD Pro even but not now anymore.
@@stephane8200 How long does the warranty last anyway?
Because as i see it the CEO got replaced so they can get refinanced which means that at worse they have another year or two working which is basically the time frame the new CEO has to turn the ship around and improve the financial stability of the company.
So i guess if you buy now you will have at least some time as warranty.
But anyway i get your worries. Personally just because something is called DD it doesn't mean that is definitely better. I drove some DD and the GT Thrustmaster wheel isn't necessary worse but if you are so desperate for DD that works on GT7 then i guess you have to buy the Logitech DD wheel(if you find any in stock).
I don’t know how long it lasts but given there have been accounts of failures of quite a few sets I would consider it to be relevant. What I am referring to in the end is options like Moza as an alternative for example. Unsupported but still they might work. I don’t have the option of testing and trying everything so maybe some of the YT simracers can shed some light on this.
@@stephane8200 All Moza products support only PC so no it won't do.
To play a PlayStation game the wheel needs a chip that gives it PlayStation compatibility so unfortunately no tricks will make any Moza work with PlayStation.
If a wheel set isn't PlayStation compatible then you are out of luck.
The only DD choice for Playstation right now is ether Logitech or Fanatec.
I was quite surprised that ThrustMaster didn't make their DD offer console compatible to be honest.
Fanatec ad while watching this is classic. Nice work UA-cam.
never once watching the first video did i think it was a hit piece. it was honest and you allowed him to speak for himself. how he was perceived was up to him.
When I got my V3 pedals I found many screws and nuts loose also on my McLaren V2 rim the shifter assembly was loose and unreliable for shifting (one of the magnets punched all the way through the plastic housing) until I bought an after market shifter kit. I can not say they make reliable products, I had to send my CSL DD in for constant disconnects and all of my rig is built around their products but having to alter my purchases as I am pretty good with electronics and in this case re-engineering things myself I feel I dodged the bullet. That being said had Moza or Sim Magic came out sooner under my budget at the time, I would have went with that company than Fanatec and that's not even including their horrible customer service long delivery times and I'm in California where one of their warehouse's is located.
BlackRock absorbed the company for sure
blackrocked
I order a csl dd two months ago not getting answers
That's ridiculous. I'd contact your bank and ask them to get you your money back. Provided you paid by card that is?
I ordered a csl elite bundle in November got it in a week, 2 weeks ago I ordered club sport extreme bundle , ordered it on a Sunday was shipped on the Thursday and arrived on the Monday, so my experience with fanatec has been awesome
Exactly. I'm afraid this will end up like Apple firing Steve Jobs. No "Pepsi" CEO can be passionate about products to successfully manage a company like this. This is not a generic company making plastic bottles and straws.
my experience with fanatec: a bunch of rubbish in something called the Fanatec DD Pro + Load Cell Brake Pedal Kit. I ordered it on the 6th of February 24th. It arrived on the 26th, with the invoice date on the 21st, I lost 6 days of warranty... when I turned everything on, I only heard a bang on the steering wheel and on my PlayStation5. result: steering wheel returned and PlayStation5 burned. I returned the steering wheel due to the Paypal complaint, because Fanatec support is non-existent! no one responds. It looks like a giant Chinese store that sells expensive junk. As for my PlayStation, I spent another €550 on a new one. What did Fanatec say when questioned? zero. Don't buy this rubbish!
Sorry but I cannot understand how your PS5 got burned, the only connection you have between the devices is a usb cable. They normally only run on 5volts. Maybe the problem is your input voltage on both devices 120v/240v or a surge and that is why both unit burned at the same time.
@@s13dad82 normally... But was what it happned
This is really great reporting. I did not think your first video was a hit piece at all, especially due to all the videos that were talking about fanatic and their troubles with inventory and customer service. Those two issues are really killers for any business. My rig is one hundred percent fanatec, so I do follow it. I am on the sidelines right now. I'm waiting to see how all of this shakes out before doing any upgrades. And kudos to you as I don't believe I've ever heard anyone in the sim community raised EBITA as a concern 😂
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 🙌
Wow I was about to order the dd bundle for playstation. Any suggestions on what I should get now. Or maybe a PC
I would hold fire and see how this shakes up. PC always a fun idea tho
@@Kireth I appreciate that thank you. I'm new to sim racing have the f-gt cockpit and logitech wheel but want to upgrade. Also I haven't a clue about pc so many very confusing again thank you
@keithwhelan7467 I also have the FGT cockpit and logitech wheel but I just upgraded to a moza gs wheel and won't have the financial means to buy the base to use it until June
@@SIMRIG412 any suggestions on a pc to get dont have a clue what to go for it would be just for sim racing
I'm on a ps4 for now the limitations are endless for equipment are aggravating to say the least. With a pc if you can swing it options are wide open.
I never like to see a man lose his job especially if he has kids, mortgage etc
But I feel like he could’ve handle the recent problems with Fanatec a lot better.
Wish him the best and hopefully, fingers crossed 🤞 it’ll be brighter days for Fanatec. 👍
Great vid mate!
Don't be worried, he/his family owns 50+% of the company, so Ender AG.
Maybe he will be back if there is an interim CEO?
You need to work on how you present, and self awareness
Finally got my DD+ in my very mixed up order 🤦
Did it come with an unexpected CEO offer letter?
As an interested party, I have been watching the press and the situation has it's been happening. The issues really started at the end of August 2023 and have still not recovered. Whats wrong is not the physical aspects as much as the way they are handled. In a nutshell, customers have not been able to contact Fanatec and get answers. Customers have been and are still in the dark more often than not.
Although I have a huge amount of respect for Thomas Jackermeier, in my opinion he is not the right person to lead Fanatec into the current era. Just because you are skilled at design and passionate about Sim Racing, does not make you skilled at running a business of this scale. They need thier systems and processes to be modernised, that is an expertise in its self.
As has been said, Thomas is not going away but maybe he can now get some of the Sim Racing Passion back and leave the systems, processes to a more experienced group of people.
Just my thoughts.
Btw just to demonstrate what an underdog they are Endor group's assets added up to a total of $ 125 m where as Logitech have a net worth of $14.3 billion
Huge difference!
I don't want to sound like a Fanatec apologist but they do 35x more with this money than whatever Logitech isn't investing in expanding their ecosystem. Between the two companies, I'm currently more upset at Logitech.
So... maybe what's needed is an equivalent of Logitech; Asus perhaps, or Razer to take over mgmt functions while retaining Thomas as guiding force in product development. Great products, that are actually accessible? Smells like a winner...
@@bbadstdad4423 keep Asus out of it, as their customer service is even worse than Fanatec based on reports, but I think you have the right idea or track. Logitech really should have expanded their ecosystem and not just abandon it
Is it a good time to buy a fantanec wheel in 3-4 month ?
I'd say check in 3-4 months!
Avoid them at all costs
@@vandrayketv1316why
@@vandrayketv1316 why ?
Picked up GT Extreme with a V2 McLaren and V3 pedals. All came to the US in the time frame promised. I had also placed an order mistakenly which they cancelled promptly. However, an email to customer service still unanswered regarding iRacing voucher.
Feel bad for the company personally as I know how much of a pain it is to run good customer support, something I was actually able to get established at my company as some of the best in our industry.
Fingers crossed I don't run into issues as it's the best option for PS5 at the moment :(
I don’t remember that I have seen such a successful company and with good reputation that ended up loosing everything by their own incompetence. Usually a company will be in this level because they stop innovating on the contrary fanatec was always producing new products. So why they ended up like this ? His answer in your interview was mainly that there was an overbooked orders. This was never should had escalated to this cause could have been resolved easily. Yes I strongly believe that he had to go cause the company is in serious crisis and need some new energy
perhaps a black swan of multiple events
If Thomas were SO passionate about sim racing and his customers he wouldn’t have spent decades growing Fanatec’s horrible customer service reputation. How and why you seem to be so completely unaware of this reputation that has existed for as long as I’ve been aware of the company is beyond me. Their “recent troubles” aren’t recent. They’ve been the joke of the sim racing community since I started in iRacing back in 2009 and I was warned against buying their stuff back then. Why? Because if it works it’ll be good, but if there’s anything wrong you’re going to go through customer service hell. And they were right. And this reputation was apparently old at that time. 2009. Already known to be a bad company to deal with. And that song never changed since. So I don’t know how you never heard about this. Thomas being fired as CEO is extremely good news no matter who replaces him. He was not a good CEO. He’s had decades to fix things and had fixed literally nothing. His company is the same today as it was 15 years ago when I first learned of them. Good products if they work, but horrible customer service to deal with if they don’t work. Thomas sucks at his job and literally anyone else will do a better job, so this news is extremely good for the sim racing community. Going forward, I would say there’s a high probability of someone finally turning Fanatec around and turning them into the company we all need in the marketplace, or they finally go under and nobody will have to deal with their horrible customer service department anymore. Win-win.
This is actaully quite common for companies going through such transition. See Steve Jobs for example. Founders are rarely equipped with the knowledge and skill set to take a company to the level Fanatec is trying to reach. Often the founder will bring in a CEO with such a skill set (again, see Steve Jobs bringing in Sculley from Pepsi), and take a different role in the company (chairman, director of something, etc.) more in line with their skill and passions.
Fanatec to new heights!
@@Kireth Let's hope so because the racing sim space would miss their presence very much, despite current anger over recent missteps. Far better to bring that CEO in before the inevitable collapse that follows trying to operate at scale you're not prepared to handle, but better late than never!
man im so glad you put these videos out there becasue here in a week im looking to get a new system and i was going to buy fanatec but your videos made me go to moza at least with moza they have extras that can be added shifters and hand breaks im going to buy them all fanatec do have those
Bro I just provide honest videos and leave the decisions up to you 🙌
Ok so I like your channel and the interview with Thomas was great. But let’s be honest, you’ve got access to the same publicly available information as everyone else and you are piecing it together with some conjecture. So you “knowing more than anyone else on the internet” is a bit of a stretch 😂
Not true as I have visited Fanatec and had many discussions with them on this - appreciate your feedback tho!
Do fanatec still continue the company?
Yes, but likely the banks have more influence now
Not for long.
Quite a few peeps were saving fir thier Dd wheel but had heard first hand of supply and repair issues, and had removed them from their shopping list, perhaps time will heal
That dude may have done A LOT for sim racing but he comes along like a complete a-hole don’t care kinda guy. A leave me alone suckers attitude that might be there because of all the problems the company faces. But it is going on for so long and has been handled so bad or not at all that him putting his ego first over the general picture or whatever moved him to stay on so long and make so many straightforward stupid decisions or didn’t make any at all is the worst. It just show extremely poor management and leadership skills.
Nice one Kireth. Looking forward to you visiting us.
Should be interesting!
Your a real one Kireth respect
OG!
You do not mention that TJ stays with the company (e.g. prduct manager). Did you? Oh, and one more thing: it is very common in the "new business" or start-up/e-com companies, that the product-driven founders are not the best managers when those companies get to a certain size. Think that happended here. I have a whole lot Fanatec gear, including the DD2 wheelbase and I hope they will come up with new/modern/reasonably priced new stuff, especially WHEELS!
I was very diaappointed when I priced out the QR2 for my ddpro... over $250 CAD with shipping is ridiculous to fix their design flaw
I'm not a Fanatec user myself but but they are OGs of sim racing so watch what they do with interest I thought he was untouchable as a major shareholder of this basically family business so this came as a big surprise .I guess he just had enough and thought it time to walk off into the sunset .Whoever takes over will have their work cut out for them .The Chinese are getting crazy good and cheaper too of course and have'nt even touched the console market yet
I like that. "I don't want to believe" Belief shouldn't be the reason to not analyze evidence. Facts are facts. As a LONG time Fanatec customer, this is sad but like racing, you have to adapt and move on. I have moved away last week without this knowledge but we shall see how the company moves forward becasue they do have good things that I am currently missing ATM like their QR2 and easy to mount wheels and software.
Thank you for having journalistic integrity. Keep it up and the right people will follow and support you. Don't be like the others and yell and put stupid colors everywhere.
For those who want a TL:DR - 6-7 minutes there is some bragging "i know things nobody else does". Then we have 2-3 minutes of what everyone knows - CEO is fired
Just had a look, What is totally ridiculous is that unless you are on QR2 or are prepared to pay the money to upgrade to QR2 you pretty much can't buy any wheel or any RTR bundle.
How in gods name is that good business, How in gods name do you have wheels in stock but not the product that allows you to use it, They don't even give you the ability to save the money on the QR and buy without it.
You knew before anyone else? Really? I knew they were in serious trouble back in the day's of the lockdowns when they struggled with QC and filling orders. I was extremely reluctant to purchase my sim racing equipment from Fanatec and put it off for about a year until I was confident that sales had slowed to a point where I could be reasonably confident of receiving my order in a timely fashion and fit for purpose. I know for a fact that I wasn't the only person with those concerns.
when I said the black Friday sale on the QR2 and other things and the sony licensing were financial issues on another channel I was scoffed at. They needed fast cash in the banks, supply shortages on a single component is financial spin for we didnt pay our bills
Maybe if they focused on customer service after they bricked a bunch of DD1s and DD2s with bad drivers and after giving the customers the run around, they wouldn't cover their mistake for anyone who was out of the warranty period and the issue wasn't due to any the customers did other than update with a faulty driver......and they know it.
mine never bricked DD2
Almost ordered a fanatec. Saw the reviews on their instagram - going with t300 instead 😂
Thomas Jackermeier seems to be the "Steve Jobs" of simracing hardware.
I wish instead of firing him completely, they would have put a business expert at his side, to take over only the business stuff. I would have liked to keep him as the one overseeing R & D etc. There's no denying that Fanatec products are pretty good, so it's not the products that let the company down, but other things...
it looks like TJ will stay in the business!
@@Kireth Yey! 😀
Regardless of the CEO we all will never know who else is to blame in regards to the financial decisions and business decisions that were made to come to this point. It took years to grow reputation and a few months to destroy. We don’t know what has happened behind closed doors so maybe at this point some other sim companies will see an opportunity for licenses for console sim racing. Who knows what will happen with Fanatec in future only time will tell. Hopefully they improve customer service and turn around communication skills to customers and rebuild their reputation over time. Hopefully other companies will introduce console sim racing products same as Fanatec have so that people that cannot afford a top end gaming pc to be able to Sim race on console the same as on PC as graphics cards alone are £1000 for amd 24gb or £2000 plus for Nvidia never mind everything else you would need to purchase to complete the pc build and also your sim racing equipment on top of this. I have spent over £2k on my sim setup for console rig, Fanatec wheel base, x2 wheels, bucket seat, bucket seat brackets, seat sliders, 5.1 surround sound, pedals, csl DD Trak Racer side mount and I don’t even have a shifter or a handbrake yet or a rounded wheel for rally. So in hindsight Asetek etc should jump at the opportunity to get a license for console and capitalise on this moment to give more choice to sim racers instead of just Fanatec being the only decent DD system for console so far. Thrustmaster and Logitech just don’t cut it and have always been things I avoided cause they just toy like in my opinion. Hopefully we will see changes in next year or so. Take care Thomas thanks for 25 years.
"It took years to grow reputation and a few months to destroy" business can be BRUTAL
@@Kireth well as I am a console sim racer and never built a pc could you give advice on what console gamers can do for different budgets for building 1st PC as Fanatec may no longer exist and will open up options for us console gamers on PC sim racing was thinking MAD as Nvidia so overpriced for Graphics Cards at the moment
How about hiring a logistics expert? I have an order, they can't even answer an email. Fanatec would sell more product if consumers could confidently sell their current gear to finance their upgrades knowing it would arrive in a few days.
Their 8 Nm DD McLaren bundle "4-7 days delivery" makes me itch.
Did you itch that itch?
@@HxR-eSports Still painting the new house. Going from a one 17" unproductivity laptop household to...not sure what I'll be getting. Want a new laptop, but for racing few seem to suffice. Still exploring the perfect price point to try something as a 100% noob. Don't want junk, and don't want needlessly posh gear catching dust.
Spot on mate. Just as you said he's a big plus too the sim race community weither you like it or not but he's probably a bad manager/CEO. Running a big company is tougher then most people think.
I couldnt do it!
Sad I suppose. Great news on 1 hand though. I'm hopeful that, 1) the new mgmt can make some SWIFT changes, 2) Thomas doesn't use his controlling interest to throw a stick in the spokes of improvement, and C) Thomas DOES still have an active role in product development, r/d, and quality control. Fanatec has consistently hit high marks in those areas and I certainly hope that continues.
Shocking!!!!! Feel really sorry for Thomas! But hopefully the company will work smoothly now. On the other hand, he had so much experience and passion that I cannot imagine anyone who could replace him!
Found your interview video looking for what the heck is going on, and now this follow-up. I ordered a wheel on January 17, 2024... A wheel they had in stock! I just got it now and it's the wrong wheel. I sent an email but doubt I'll hear from anyone any time soon. No number to call. No online agent ever available, etc. This is actually the worst company in the world at the moment. If they have all these problems, they should restructure and stop taking orders until it's sorted
Personally I think there done, There reliability has come into question of late which makes the second hand market risky, I mean, Who would buy a second hand DD1 or DD2, There RMA also comes into question at the moment which rules out people taking on new, I want the BMW wheel which I can't buy, Along with 80% of there other wheels cos they don't have the QR1 of any sort, They will throw in the QR1 which they don't have for free, But want me to pay 100 euro for the QR2, What sort of procurement program must you have to order wheels but no QR's, It's because they expected everyone to just go over to QR2 no questions asked.
They want 100 euro for a QR when everyone else wants 50, They wanted 150 euro for a 30 euro power supply, There reliability is suspect, There RMA is suspect, There delivery is suspect, There customer support is supect, When something is that suspect you don't touch it with the proverbial.
For the last year I had a feeling that Thomas Jackermeier is more interested in providing gear for real life racing, like BMW M4 wheel and this might be a season for Fanatec problems as he just "let go" SIM racing department and all of this just rolled as snowball
This is extremely disappointing.
I just purchased a DD PRO 8nm 03/03 for preorder 03/14 - order was shipped 2 weeks late, but customer support was very VERY helpful, and never left me in the dark.
I never felt worried with my order. I personally really appreciate the "small business" feel I get from Fanatec.
There may be some upsides in him departing, but I seeing the small business / passion go with him, is disappointing. Part of the reason I chose Fanatec was YOUR interview, and getting to see his own passion, struggles, etc. I did appreciate his authenticity
I'll likely change brands in my future wheel / base purchases.
Did you watch any influencers or reviews before making that purchase?
*as in other than my video. Just trying to get an idea of what this means going forward
Gutted, So close to ordering one of their products, But with back log issues and now this, how can anyone feel confident in firstly getting the product and secondly the long term support. 😞
There is no information in this video that you cannot find on the internet with a 2 second google search. Save yourself 9 minutes today and don’t bother listening to this guy tell you how he is the only person in the world that can read a financial statement.
Thomas did a great job for the sim racing community especially to those with a budget. But his other visions of sponsoring the race events is rather should be the end of the tier preference rather than enhancing and improving your supplier chain yo different regions as well as same region
In addition, if influencers just repeat marketing lines you lose the opportunity for valuable feedback
Thomas should have found a business savvy person to be CEO so he could stay focused on the hardware and software development side. I think the company just wasn’t ready for huge exponential growth brought on by the pandemic.
I regret going Fanatec once your order arrives and is faulty it’s another ball game altogether.
No reply’s to emails, products sent back waiting for a refund like they are holding my money for ransom.
I wouldn’t want my staff ignoring our customers so I would say time to go Tommo.
We wish Thomas the best.
You Say how he come across as bubbly and passionate, How about the times when he come across as deceitful and dismissive, He and UA-cam reviewers new the Extreme was coming, Now go back and listen to the ClubSport DD+ part of your interview, Despicable, Deceitful and scummy when all the time he new what was around the corner, Good riddance.
Are you familiar with what NDAs are?
@@ithorien Yes, And the NDA had nothing to do or relevance with what he said in that interview, He talked about starting pre orders of the DD+ when it was not available cos it was so close to the DD so to give us the customers the option, When all the time they had the DD Extreme all ready to go., When Kireth posted that interview Boosted Media had already recorded there review for the DD Extreme 3 months prior.
We know what NDA's are, But review sites had the Extreme in there hands while all of this was going on and were more than happy to wax lyrical about it on day one, Sorry, But I don't think the NDA completely abstains review sites from this.
@@reecereed8131 I admittedly don't know exact timeline, but that's typically why nobody announces a product they're not yet allowed to talk about, CEOs included, which is how I took this.
@@ithorien You could technically say he shouldn't have talked about or took pre orders for a product that didn't technically exist, i:e The DD+.
They couldn't sell the DD+ , But that didn't stop them taking pre orders and peoples money for it, And by the time they could start to ship them they announce the Extreme.
We now know why they took pre orders and peoples money for a product they couldn't sell and couldn't ship, They needed the money.
@@reecereed8131 I mean neither of us know what his NDA encompasses, you can assume and that's about it
Sounds like the pandemic made the company go out of control and it has stayed out of control.
A pity that the company was so in hoc to the banks.Thomas J may be the majority shareholder but he has no control of the company.The control is with the banks.
There must be a saying for this!
It's easy to criticize in retrospect, but Fanatec obviously made a few key management mistakes. The online shop is a disaster and the logistics department also seems weak. This is all the worse because we have a small sim racing boom at the moment and it would be easy to make money.
Fanatec needs a CEO running the company, not a narcissistic sim racer
It hope it's a good thing for Fanatec
Let's see!
Should hear about the canadian customers , they priced out the parts as full price and people are paying up to 900 in duty fees as a final f u you the customers
Thanks for doing all of this research Kireth! Mega insightful vid. I hope things actually get better at fanatec for everyones sake. 🏎🙏🏾
Did he get fired before your video lol?
Hope they make it through all this. I love my Club Sport DD. I do hope they put out a line of wheels with the display in them like others have been doing. I also just like the name, Fanatec!!😂😂😂
They will. They’re a juggernaut in the business.
Let's see!
I’m so glad that I go through Logitech because the amount of bullshit I’ve been hearing about fanatec is wild