Sim-Lab not all good as it looks

I want to share my own experience with Sim-Lab since everybody is praising this company for the quality of their products and the committed customer service.

The product.

I came from a US 80/20 supplier, 4play racing, with a solid rig that works perfectly with the simsteering wheel, or AFv2 for the matter, a super adjustable pedal set and the right room for the V3 motion seat from NLR. Since neither company was considering providing a custom front mount, I decided to sell it and finally go for the trendsetter: the P1-X.

When I made the order online (over $1k without monitor stand), I made clear I did not have a standard pedal, but a Tilton set and they answered right away I only needed to drill the four holes myself and everything will go into the right place.

I found out it was far from true and after I started mounting the rig, more issues came along that are not still solved despite the promises they made already months ago. They simply do not follow up, like any other ghost company in nowhere internet land.

1 - If you are tall enough and your seat allows for a low center of gravity like the V3 – using Sim Lab brackets - the pedal plate needs to go below the top of the main frame. Unfortunately, this option is not viable because the screws are not countersunk and get in the way with the side profiles. You can only mount the pedal set on top of the frame. This is to me no sense because they made a bracket for the V3 and they should know it is not ergonomic with any set of pedals if you are taller than 6’2” with a GT style as it should be for this item.

2 – the promise of making four holes was just a lie. I had to build myself a platform to adapt the Tilton to the PX-1 and use the original design in a different way to find enough parts to mount the pedals.

3 – the design of the aluminum floor is just no sense. The edges are rounded and due to the reduced size of the pedal platform they do not fit in the profiles even if you are using the brackets. Pure simple bad design and probably the reason why they do not post pictures of how to install it as some requested already. Completely waste of money there.

4 – they did not supply the standard feet, but I did not care because I had a set myself. Can’t imagine the frustration for someone that did not have those and could not use the rig right after spending half a day of mounting it. But this may happen and is not a deal beaker at all. In fact they provide so much extra hardware I can open a store (read, they did not have a check list for all the parts as they have now).

5 – the brackets for the motion V3 are too narrow to hold it in place and I need to use additional brackets to lock the seat. Sim-lab acknowledged the issue and they promised to send me the new version that overlaps the profile correctly.

6 – much more disappointment is the way the side mount is designed. Only 4 short screws are holding the whole weight of the profiles, the deck mount and the wheel on each side. After had to dismount the rig couple of times and slide it back and forth to find the right seating position, they are not holding into the frame and now there is a half an inch free movement when driving. Asked for a way to replace those screws since are EU specs, but again no answer and cannot find replacement in the States, if any, without knowing the particular thread. This is unacceptable.

7 – I’m 6’3” and for a GT setup the lateral profiles are simply too short. This flaw is confirmed by Will in his review on YT (Boosted Media). He is 1 inch shorter and in my case the front mount barely fits (read sits outside the side profiles).

The Customer Service

Well, after dozen of emails, last communication two weeks ago was "we should have the parts available at any moment", which would imply they will ship whatever I need to finally have my rig as designed and functional. Never heard from them anymore, so I guess it's all on me and I have to spend the extra $ to find options locally, which includes custom metal plates!

You might believe I am just a negative person and I am here out of frustration because I did not get what I paid for after three months and all promises from the company’s owner, whom actually was not willing to help to begin with.

Indeed, I am, but there are other companies I can praise for the quality of their products and even more for their outstanding customer service. From my own experience I can name Next Level Motion, Ricmotech, OpenSimRig and 4Play Racing. They always responded in a timely fashion and help me out going even the extra mile if necessary to make it happen.

In this case, I am not even close to what I paid for.

Real intention is to alert prospects, that is not all as good as it looks, so they can make their own decision based on real users’ feedback.

Happy to provide documentation.
 
A company outgrowing itself is no excuse to not accurately follow a packing slip order correctly. It is the most elementary of tasks for a distributor. I had other friends on this very forum order around the same time as me and they had perfect orders with many many more useful spare parts than I received. So it's not a time thing, it's a hit and miss thing.

I hope that they do improve and cases such as mine and the OP are never heard again.

Like I said im not making excuses but ive seen it many times. Companies just grow faster then they can cope with because they make a good product and unfortunately it ends up hurting them.
 
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I mean the only thing I’m taking umbrage with is people complaining about small companies taking longer to ship right now. It’s not something anyone has control over and yet a subset of complainers blame it on them. Should I start posting threads about how Amazon are **** because I haven’t been getting my Prime deliveries the next day when I pay for it?!

Ultimately we are in the middle of a pandemic which shutdown large portions of the economy so I don’t think complaining your toys aren’t arriving faster is fair or reasonable however frustrating you find it and is quite disrespectful of current events.

And from the correspondence posted they have been trying to help as best they can right now anyway.
 
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For the record, my order was early 2019 and has no bearing on the current state of affairs. My point is that if something is going to take forever to arrive, it better be right the first time. You either get it fast and expect mistakes, or take your time and get it right.

Can't have both.
 
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For the record, my order was early 2019 and has no bearing on the current state of affairs. My point is that if something is going to take forever to arrive, it better be right the first time. You either get it fast and expect mistakes, or take your time and get it right.

Can't have both.
Oh I know your order Anton as it’s the only other time I’ve seen someone with a long term issue. It was actually this one and some others (not Sim-Lab related) I was referring to which are clearly not just about poor service but a whole global pandemic. Unless of course we are being silly and believing it’s a government conspiracy and doesn’t exist at all ;).
 
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Non sim-lab customer "endorsing" your complaint, that suits your case very well.

I simply agreed in general terms with why he was unhappy, it is perfectly valid, and I did not specifically try and rip on Sim-lab. the first thing I said was that I didn't do business with them and spoke very generally. quit being so butt-hurt, people aren't going to always have perfect transactions with your favourite companies. Will it even hurt them? probably not, but the guy has a point with his experience and it is good to post this sort of thing.
 
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I get nailed to the wall for things that are completely out of my control with my business. We do our very best and people still feel entitled to complain about things. I had someone tell my staff that we gave the worst customer service because the one thing we ship in from China was held for quarantine at the docks for weeks on end, unable to be shipped to us. It added to an already long 8 week lead time. It's unfathomable how someone can actually point the finger at the ones at the end of the line, at the mercy of the chain of events coming before it. Yet they still do.

All I was saying is that the things in their control needed to improve when I dealt with them. No matter how quickly they respond and take care of fixing the problem, it gets old fast when they keep sending the wrong things over and over again. At some point customer service needs to be judged on solving the problem, not just being willing to swiftly make new ones.
 
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Like I said im not making excuses but ive seen it many times. Companies just grow faster then they can cope with because they make a good product and unfortunately it ends up hurting them.

If you are growing to the point of not being able to meet demand and expectations, it is time to hire some help. A good company doesn't want to risk getting a bad reputation because of too much work and not enough employees.
 
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  • Deleted member 197115

I simply agreed in general terms with why he was unhappy, it is perfectly valid, and I did not specifically try and rip on Sim-lab. the first thing I said was that I didn't do business with them and spoke very generally. quit being so butt-hurt, people aren't going to always have perfect transactions with your favourite companies. Will it even hurt them? probably not, but the guy has a point with his experience and it is good to post this sort of thing.
I am not "butt-hurt", but speaking in "general terms" reflecting your bad experience with some other vendor on sim-lab (they are all the same anyway) does not help.
I've had bad experience with Fanatec products and service, should I post it here?
 
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If you are growing to the point of not being able to meet demand and expectations, it is time to hire some help. A good company doesn't want to risk getting a bad reputation because of too much work and not enough employees.

That's an easy thing to say when its not your company. Is the growth going to stay to support the new employees ? But I do agree with you its something they need to think about. Not knowing how many of you play with real cars but lead times like we see from sim companies isn't abnormal. Specialty companies often take 3-4 weeks or more. Its not like on tv where I pick up the phone and its here tomorrow. I just waited 8 weeks for a gas tank from a major efi company. And guess what? I had to take my 600 dollar gas tank apart because the gas gauge didn't work. Which was zero fun and took 3 hours because its a efi conversion tank.Then theres the tech lines. Some are great some not so much. Maybe im just used to things not being perfect.lol
 
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Again you are just discussing about the sex of angels. There is no way I will tell them how to conduct their business as long as it's legitimate.

The fact that I added my concerns about quality and design of this particular item is just my own point of view. I'm not here to deprive the pleasure of all the happy campers. Still, if some constructive critique helps them to rethink and implement their products, why not? And guess what, they accepted some now as they did in the past.

But there is only one undebatable point I made and the reason why I waned to inform our community, they agreed on something with a customer, based on particular circumstances, and never fulfilled it. This is a breach of trust.

As far as the COV19 excuse - that's the real BS conspiracy theory: from their own words at the top of the pandemic in the EU, it might have disrupt the delivery of the finished product in some particular areas, but did not have any impact to their supply chain or organization.

And by the way, they reached out today and pieces are getting ready for shipping.

I'm not surprised.
 
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Again you are just discussing about the sex of angels. There is no way I will tell them how to conduct their business as long as it's legitimate.

The fact that I added my concerns about quality and design of this particular item is just my own point of view. I'm not here to deprive the pleasure of all the happy campers. Still, if some constructive critique helps them to rethink and implement their products, why not? And guess what, they accepted some now as they did in the past.

But there is only one undebatable point I made and the reason why I waned to inform our community, they agreed on something with a customer, based on particular circumstances, and never fulfilled it. This is a breach of trust.

As far as the COV19 excuse - that's the real BS conspiracy theory: from their own words at the top of the pandemic in the EU, it might have disrupt the delivery of the finished product in some particular areas, but did not have any impact to their supply chain or organization.

And by the way, they reached out today and pieces are getting ready for shipping.

I'm not surprised.

That's great you are getting your parts.
 
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So you had problem modding standard spec P1X for your not so standard equipment?
Some of your complaints, "short screws", half inch play, really no idea what this is about, did you use the right ones and put everything properly together?
Same for customer service, they could be slow in busy times, but always getting back and make everything possible to make customer happy, at least that was my experience with my back and forth changes to the order and communication with them when I missed one small bracket from the shipment.
It's a difficult time for every business, I am sure they will sort you out, just give them some time.

Do you work for Sim-Lab? You never take anyone's complaints seriously about Sim-Lab. You just blindly defend them.

For the record, my order was early 2019 and has no bearing on the current state of affairs. My point is that if something is going to take forever to arrive, it better be right the first time. You either get it fast and expect mistakes, or take your time and get it right.

Can't have both.

Whoa now, reasonable expectations and logical comments? That doesn't belong here! Didn't you hear Sim-Lab is immune to criticism on RaceDepartment? Learn the rules next time. SimuCube and Sim-Lab = they could ship you rocks in a box and it's your fault.

I agree with you. If a company carries the reputation they do, there's no excuses, ship it right or don't ship it at all and don't sell it.
 
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After reading everything:
I believe you made some mistakes with your assembly and installation, since the dimensions for Sim-Lab P1X are definitely standardized (8020 uses standard sizes like M8 and M6). However, I also think that they definitely weren't completely straight forward with you and probably didn't pay much attention to your configuration information.

My thoughts on Sim-Lab in general -
I think that members of Race Department tend to be blind loyalists to certain brands and completely dismiss what other people do that doesn't fit into their "this is the right way and I'm blocking my eyes and ears to any alternatives" narrative.

For what I can see, Sim-Lab offers the most "standard hardware" compatible off-the-shelf solution for an 8020 rig. If your hardware fits into their standard compatibility list and you're okay with both their turnaround time and shipping costs, it's a solid solution.
But I completely disagree with the widespread, completely false opinion RD members have that Sim-Lab is the only good choice.
Sim-Lab didn't invent 8020 simulation rigs. They also didn't perfect them. They're not the only solutions out there. The entire purpose of 8020 as a simulation platform is both its ability to be completely customized and it's expansion and unlimited adjustment capability. Using a manufactured pedal deck with predetermined mounting locations seems to run counter to what people celebrated as "flexibility" for the material.

People claim Sim-Lab rigs are more "stable", but yet use no facts to back-up this claim. In mechanical engineering we have FEMA or structural mechanics where we can measure the structural integrity of an assembly using simulated forces to determine the flexing/stress points. No one has done this, but they immediately say "oh Sim Lab doesn't flex as much". It's all anecdotal.

IMO, people should make purchase decisions based their hardware, physical dimensions and requirements and if you're very tall or very short or have specialized hardware, you should consider building your own 8020 rig. If anyone tells you it won't be as stable, challenge them to present you non subjective factual evidence of that claim or dismiss it. If your dimensions and hardware fit into the standard Sim-Lab dimensions and you are okay with their shipping, pricing and delivery estimate, and you can actually purchase their rigs, you should consider purchasing their rig.
 
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  • Deleted member 197115

Sounds like someone is trying to pick up an old fight.
You must have confused what this thread is about and why users having no first hands experience with this vendor should probably refrain from commenting, as it adds absolutely nothing to the discussion.
Take care.
 
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After reading everything:
I believe you made some mistakes with your assembly and installation, since the dimensions for Sim-Lab P1X are definitely standardized (8020 uses standard sizes like M8 and M6). However, I also think that they definitely weren't completely straight forward with you and probably didn't pay much attention to your configuration information.

My thoughts on Sim-Lab in general -
I think that members of Race Department tend to be blind loyalists to certain brands and completely dismiss what other people do that doesn't fit into their "this is the right way and I'm blocking my eyes and ears to any alternatives" narrative.

For what I can see, Sim-Lab offers the most "standard hardware" compatible off-the-shelf solution for an 8020 rig. If your hardware fits into their standard compatibility list and you're okay with both their turnaround time and shipping costs, it's a solid solution.
But I completely disagree with the widespread, completely false opinion RD members have that Sim-Lab is the only good choice.
Sim-Lab didn't invent 8020 simulation rigs. They also didn't perfect them. They're not the only solutions out there. The entire purpose of 8020 as a simulation platform is both its ability to be completely customized and it's expansion and unlimited adjustment capability. Using a manufactured pedal deck with predetermined mounting locations seems to run counter to what people celebrated as "flexibility" for the material.

People claim Sim-Lab rigs are more "stable", but yet use no facts to back-up this claim. In mechanical engineering we have FEMA or structural mechanics where we can measure the structural integrity of an assembly using simulated forces to determine the flexing/stress points. No one has done this, but they immediately say "oh Sim Lab doesn't flex as much". It's all anecdotal.

IMO, people should make purchase decisions based their hardware, physical dimensions and requirements and if you're very tall or very short or have specialized hardware, you should consider building your own 8020 rig. If anyone tells you it won't be as stable, challenge them to present you non subjective factual evidence of that claim or dismiss it. If your dimensions and hardware fit into the standard Sim-Lab dimensions and you are okay with their shipping, pricing and delivery estimate, and you can actually purchase their rigs, you should consider purchasing their rig.
What on earth are you talking about?! I don’t think anybody has said a Sim-Lab rig is better than all others, it gets suggested more often simply because in Europe it is the best/cheapest “pre-built” solution and most people on here are from Europe. The custom brackets make everything easier sure and the front mount is universally considered superior flex wise as you would expect from basic mechanics, just look at the older 80/20 videos where people had them bolted on pieces of cross-section and you could see those things flexing/jumping around at high forces.

However that aside the Heusinkveld rig is just as good, narrower and longer but similar design and that was around before Sim-Lab but more expensive they do integrate their own kit a lot better though with the custom mounts they provide. A lot of people just ordered parts direct from Motedis before Sim-Lab were a thing but again working out all the bits you need is extra time spent when you could go elsewhere.

The US have 4Play and JCL which are going to be pretty similar again. I’ve seen one in Australia which I can’t remember the name but their stuff was basically a direct copy of Sim-Lab in terms of the custom plate designs.

There isn’t anything inherently special about any 80/20 rig I’m not sure where you’ve got that idea from. People suggest sim-lab because they have great customer service where they are happy to fix any issue (and whilst it might not be on the timeline some of you expect they do endeavour to fix everything which is more than can be said of some of the other stories you see on here!) and the price isn’t hugely different from getting all the same parts yourself (at least in the UK) and you get custom mounting brackets which give less flex than simple cross bar solutions which need bolstering with more parts to get them as rigid.

Anyway I’m going to leave this be because let’s be real nobody is going to change their opinion in this discussion and the OP is going to continue to think they were ignoring him and the only reason they are sending him anything is because he created this thread justifying its existence. Enjoy your rigs people :thumbsup:.
 
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As far as the COV19 excuse - that's the real BS conspiracy theory: from their own words at the top of the pandemic in the EU, it might have disrupt the delivery of the finished product in some particular areas, but did not have any impact to their supply chain or organization.
From experience I can tell you that it hasn't really affected the supply chain for us, and I imagine it's the same for Sim-Lab. However, I'm currently getting about 15x as many emails per day, working through these simply takes longer. Since we're still working from home as much as possible in the NL, communication sometimes isn't as good as it should be and I can imagine that affected your situation.
Of course, keep in mind that I can't verify how things happened at Sim-lab. I'm just basing this on my own experience, since we're a similarly sized (small) company, in the same country, selling products for the same market. A market that absolutely exploded since early March.
 
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Anyway I’m going to leave this be because let’s be real nobody is going to change their opinion in this discussion and the OP is going to continue to think they were ignoring him and the only reason they are sending him anything is because he created this thread justifying its existence. Enjoy your rigs people :thumbsup:.
That is why online sales platform do not allow discussions in the feed back section.

As a potential customer the only thing that is interesting is the positive and negative feedback of those who have actually bought the product. The more detailed it is the better it is, because we can rate a product or service bad or good for many different reasons.

Then arguing with someone that he should not make negative/positive feedback because one had not the same experience is just pointless.
 
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  • Deleted member 197115

I am pretty sure you can leave comments on user feedback on amazon as well as rate it as helpful or not.
And we are not in the vendor feedback section either, if you do not expect discussion, just don't post here, sim-lab has its own feedback system.
Bad experience is bad experience, but some issues raised by OP just don't seem like honest feedback for people familiar with the rig design, e.g. no countersunk holes on pedal tray, or half an inch flex of uprights.
This is not how it is on standard P1-X I know.
Yes, it could be a defect, improper assembly, or just plain misunderstanding of what OP was trying to say, unfortunately he refused to back up these claims with proper pictures.
 
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