Disgust with Thrustmaster

[tonydean2]

I have been having issues with my Thrustmaster TSPC Racer wheel overheating and subsequently a horrific noise coming from the fan. Through various forums I have found out that this is a common fault caused by TM using an inadequate fan for cooling. I have been trying to get satisfaction from TM for nearly 6 months now. My last correspondence was 4 months ago when I was advised that due to Covid it could take up to 15 days to receive a reply. Well 4 months later I'm still waiting. Has anyone else experienced delays when dealing with TM or am I getting some form of special treatment. I have exclusively used TM for my sim racing needs (until now that is). I've ended up using the last 4 months of waiting to save money from my pension and I've bought a Fanatec CSL Elite. God how I wish I'd done that in the 1st place. Definately the best wheel I've had to date. It's fair to say that I intent to replace all my exisisting TM product with Fanatec as and when I can afford it. I find it unbelievable that a large company such as Thrustmaster can treat it's customers in such a disgusting manner. I would strongly advise anyone thinking of buying TM products, based on my experience, to think long and hard before going down that path. Rant over, thanks for reading this far

 

[Warren Dawes]

Has anyone else experienced delays when dealing with TM or am I getting some form of special treatment.

I had similar treatment from Thrustmaster some time ago, actually with the same wheel (TSPC). Right from new, it wouldn't start up properly, kept switching itself off. After three times sending it back to the local Australian supplier, Thrustmaster refused to replace it. In the end, the local supplier gave me a refund which I used to buy a Fanatec CSW 2.5. I vowed then, never to touch Thrustmaster stuff.

 

[maelstrom]

Whilst I feel for you and the service (or lack of it) you've had from Thrustmaster, as with all things companies and their products get good and bad feedback. As an example, you only have to look at the threads here full of similar criticism of Fanatec. No company is perfect, but I think that the vast majority of customers of Thrustmaster and Fanatec are happy with their choices. In both cases, a very vocal minority can make things look much worse than they actually are - people are far more likely to post complaints than they are to praise. For context, I'm a very happy Thrustmaster customer.

 

[Ami_M3]

I have been having issues with my Thrustmaster TSPC Racer wheel overheating and subsequently a horrific noise coming from the fan. Through various forums I have found out that this is a common fault caused by TM using an inadequate fan for cooling. I have been trying to get satisfaction from TM for nearly 6 months now. My last correspondence was 4 months ago when I was advised that due to Covid it could take up to 15 days to receive a reply. Well 4 months later I'm still waiting. Has anyone else experienced delays when dealing with TM or am I getting some form of special treatment. I have exclusively used TM for my sim racing needs (until now that is). I've ended up using the last 4 months of waiting to save money from my pension and I've bought a Fanatec CSL Elite. God how I wish I'd done that in the 1st place. Definately the best wheel I've had to date. It's fair to say that I intent to replace all my exisisting TM product with Fanatec as and when I can afford it. I find it unbelievable that a large company such as Thrustmaster can treat it's customers in such a disgusting manner. I would strongly advise anyone thinking of buying TM products, based on my experience, to think long and hard before going down that path. Rant over, thanks for reading this far

Do some research about Fanatec first. Plenty of people complain about their customer service.

 

[EIF]

I bought a second hand but essentially brand new TS-PC 488 Edition wheel from here in March last year. It suffered very loud and horrible fan noise from the moment I first plugged it in.

I contacted Thrustmaster who asked for video of the issue, proof of purchase and image of serial number. Soon afterwards they provided a Fedex return slip and I had the wheelbase sent to France, fixed and sent back to me within about 3 weeks. The wheel has been fine since.

You shouldn't wait months for a response from TM, keep sending emails. Communication wasn't stellar with them but they did fix my wheel much quicker than I ever expected. This was just as Covid began locking down Europe too.

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

I totally understand your frustration, however, I have had nothing but good experiences with Thrustmaster tech support. I bought a used (under warranty) T-500 and they helped me troubleshoot the issue even before I purchased it. Once I had it they sent me the part, I replaced that specific board and (knock on wood) my wheel has been working great for well over 5 years now.

It's possible that by now the folks in tech support are different people with different procedures, but I'd try to talk to them about sending anew part or even ask them if you can buy an equivalent fan in the open market.
My T-500 was very easy to work on and my issue required pretty complex surgery. Changing the fan should be easy and I doubt TM is using a bespoke fan. Odds are they sourced it someplace, and if that's the case, there are probably better fans with the same specs.
Incidentally, while my fan is working fine, I was thinking of adding a couple of fans to my T-500 to dissipate even more heat.
Best of luck.

PS: Lots of people are really furious about Fanatec tech support. Much more than thrustmaster (then again, Fanatec sells more units, if I am not mistaken). Just be careful.

 

[AccAkut]

PS: Lots of people are really furious about Fanatec tech support. Much more than thrustmaster (then again, Fanatec sells more units, if I am not mistaken). Just be careful.

I think Thrustmaster is actually the bigger company, selling mostly flight gear next to wheels (or rather the other way around, they started with joysticks). Fanatec/Endor AG does wheels & pedals only.

Could be that the customer service experience varies wildly per country, like iirc reglementation in the EU is tougher for companies than in the US

 

[Terry Rock]

The bottom-line...
All companies should strive to do better.
The OP doesn't care how many people have had good experiences...if his is sub-par.
A smart company would and should do everything possible...(within reason) to hold onto any customer.
If it is a known issue, then TM should fix it without playing games...no pun intended.
That is the basis of longevity in business.
That second to last sentence is not what you should want to read as a business owner.
It can represent hundreds of dollars of potential losses.

 

[TheNatural]

Thrustmaster is a massive company, without question much larger than fanatec, you can buy their stuff in stores across the multiple countries in far more regions than fanatec covers.

We're in a bubble here, most of the people who own t300s or g29s for racing games likely haven't even heard of fanatec.