Introducing the VPC MongoosT-50

[dburne]

Same thing happened to VKB, and the Gunfighter is not their first product. I was very concerned also, but their customer service kept me engaged and the product MORE than made up for the disappointment in shipping delays. I'm sure this stick will be worth the wait also.

 

I also had ordered the Gunfighter as well.

And yes while it had delays, the difference is VKB did not open up ordering until they were ready to produce. I guess they got their QC done beforehand.

 

In the case of the Mongoose, I ordered and paid for the full setup on April 15th. When it was initially announced, it was anticipated shipping in May. At the time I placed my order and paid for the setup, it was stated to ship in early June. And then there was those three weeks of total silence which did not help.

And here we are now going into August.

 

I do hope they learn from this for future products, and insure all QC work is done beforehand. I will continue to patiently wait.

Edited July 29, 2017 by dburne

[Cyph3r]

And yet here we are again with more delays after a few days of silence.

 

As of now I think I still want what I ordered, will let you know if I decide otherwise, but you can save the 10% coupon in regards to me as I am sure I won't be needing it after this is over.

I don't see me making any future purchases.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

I also had ordered the Gunfighter as well.

And yes while it had delays, the difference is VKB did not open up ordering until they were ready to produce. I guess they got their QC done beforehand.

 

In the case of the Mongoose, I ordered and paid for the full setup on April 15th. And here we are now going into August. When it was initially announced, it was anticipated shipping in May. At the time I placed my order and paid for the setup, it was stated to ship in early June. And then there was those three weeks of total silence which did not help.

 

I do hope they learn from this for future products, and insure all QC work is done beforehand. I will continue to patiently wait.

 

 

Hi dburne, I'm sorry you feel that way and that we won't be seeing you again with our future products. I want to point out though that while any secondary points of contacts such as forums etc may go quiet temporarily during crunch time, you can always get a status update by talking to me directly, either through email, PM or chatting with us on the Facebook instant messenger as I have done with many other users over this week.

 

As previously mentioned, we've certainly learned a lot from this, being our first complex, metal product with electronics, so for future product releases it will be handled much better.

 

If you're unhappy with the delays you can certainly cancel your order and then order with us again in the future if you so desire. I understand the frustration, but past explaining the situation, offering free gifts and perks, and offering an order cancellation and full refund, there is not much more we can do unfortunately. :(

 

 

Thanks for the update and pictures Cyph3r. Nobody like delays, but I'd rather you focus on the best product possible than cut corners.

 

I can understand your frustration, but I am unsure you have ever worked on designing/implementing a completely new product from scratch. To be brutal, shit happens, a lot, and then, when that is resolved, something else goes wrong because a change at one point often results in cascading changes needed throughout the system/product.

 

I've been on both sides of the fence, and honestly, yes, the delay sucks, communications could have been handled a little better, but Virpil are also clearly working hard to deliver a product that we will be happy with. I'd rather not get a brand new stick, only to find a "v2.0" released a month later.

 

I'd rather wait and have the right product at the end. :thumbup:

 

Z...

 

Same thing happened to VKB, and the Gunfighter is not their first product. I was very concerned also, but their customer service kept me engaged and the product MORE than made up for the disappointment in shipping delays. I'm sure this stick will be worth the wait also.

 

Full metal stick is always the one I'd ever dreamt. Gotta have one to fly the F/A-18C later this year. Thanks a lot for your effort.

 

Thanks for the comments guys, from the whole VPC team. :thumbup:

 

 

Reading all this I`m glad I didn`t confirm my pre-order and decided to wait. Sorry to say.

 

No apologies necessary, we completely understand! We offered a (well, now multiple) discounts to our pre-order customers, but we're completely aware a lot of people are waiting for the full release once it's out of the pre-order status. Hopefully we'll see your order soon! :pilotfly:

[Bogey Jammer]

Reading all this I`m glad I didn`t confirm my pre-order and decided to wait. Sorry to say.

 

I don't understand why you're glad. You will not get your stick as soon as the others and you lost a price reduction for the next products :dunno:

[Barefoot Bandit]

I don't understand why you're glad. You will not get your stick as soon as the others and you lost a price reduction for the next products :dunno:

 

I have to agree here, I'm getting some bonus goodies, and a decent discount on a future product. Sure, this delay of a month or two may seem bad, but jeez, in my industry, if a product is just 2 months late, that's a win.

 

A new software package has just been released in my area of work, and not only is it about 3 years late (yes, years, not months...), it is a mess.

 

I'll take a couple of months late, and a good product any day.

 

Z...

[hansangb]

I don't understand why you're glad. You will not get your stick as soon as the others and you lost a price reduction for the next products :dunno:

 

 

When you put it that way.....d'oh!

[hansangb]

@Cyph3r, I think the lesson learned is that when you don't have complete control over manufacturing, when you have to ship parts around before being assembled, when it's a brand new design, give customers a comfortable lead time to shipping. In your zeal to be responsive, you gave your customers multiple short delays -a week here, a few weeks there, a couple of days here.

 

If everyone takes a big breath, it's *not* that delayed. When compareed to your peers. Thurstmaster took, what, 4 years between Cougar and Warthog? With no other "promised" interchangeable joysticks. VKB went through delays - although they didn't take orders apparently. MFG is taking longer for the fighter rudders, and Komodo delayed my order 8 months.

 

So next time, give yourself enough buffer space. This way, customers are pleasantly surprised when you ship ahead of time as opposed to getting three or four paper-cuts in the form of delays.

 

I haven't purchased your stick yet because I'm waiting for the reviews to start hitting. Trust but verify (with real life user experience) is my motto! (Except for Rift, I jumped on that bandwagon early) And I haven't had any issues with stiction etc. on my Warthog. Best of luck, it sure looks like you have a good thing going.

Edited July 29, 2017 by hansangb

[Baz000]

I was interested in purchasing 2 table top mounts for my thrust master warthog stick and throttle + the stick extension set and the bases, as my own birthday gift... Came to be 351.28 BYN without shipping... With the shipping it goes to 558.88 BYN converting it to my currency the shipping drives up the price so much... (I live in the east coast of USA)

 

I was interested in maybe getting the stick grip too, but I might wait and see what other companies are doing (VKB MCG [lower priced], Thustmaster F-18 grip, etc)

 

The VKB MCG interests me because the trigger and brake paddle are made of metal, not plastic... So it should be more durable.

 

351.28 Belarusian Ruble equals

181.21 US Dollar

 

558.88 Belarusian Ruble equals

288.31 US Dollar

 

$107.10 for shipping to the USA? Really???

[Barefoot Bandit]

...

351.28 Belarusian Ruble equals

181.21 US Dollar

 

558.88 Belarusian Ruble equals

288.31 US Dollar

 

$107.10 for shipping to the USA? Really???

 

 

Shipping is an odd one. I am dealing with shipping as an issue with one of my businesses. We do T-shirt prints to order in SE Asia. We've been experimenting with various options and trial-ing a few things as we try to expand our reach into the US, Europe and Australia, but basically, shipping is as much as three times the cost of the shirts (depending on destination). Int he end, the "solution" was an all in price (as it was still well priced overall, but showing the shipping in the price turned people off the purchase).

 

We are still small and have no real history with any logistics companies. As time goes and, and relationships build, the deals get better. I suspect shipping costs for VPC will improve over time as they develop a relationship with a logistics company Make no mistake, though, shipping can be nasty.

 

Z...

[Winger]

Good news everything worked out finally. I am looking forward to getting my hands on this awesome stick.

You said there would be more info on the throttle and rudders during july if I am not mistaken Cyp3er. Can you already give us some news?

Thinking about getting the throttle and probably the rudders to check them out.

 

Cheers

 

Winger

[Hellcat]

 

$107.10 for shipping to the USA? Really???

 

If this is the case and shipping to the US is $100 I'm out too ...little steep.

[Winger]

dont forget the shipping is EMS express... So the price is actually OK.

[mx22]

I was interested in purchasing 2 table top mounts for my thrust master warthog stick and throttle + the stick extension set and the bases, as my own birthday gift... Came to be 351.28 BYN without shipping... With the shipping it goes to 558.88 BYN converting it to my currency the shipping drives up the price so much... (I live in the east coast of USA)

 

I was interested in maybe getting the stick grip too, but I might wait and see what other companies are doing (VKB MCG [lower priced], Thustmaster F-18 grip, etc)

 

The VKB MCG interests me because the trigger and brake paddle are made of metal, not plastic... So it should be more durable.

 

351.28 Belarusian Ruble equals

181.21 US Dollar

 

558.88 Belarusian Ruble equals

288.31 US Dollar

 

$107.10 for shipping to the USA? Really???

 

Well, granted it's a lot of heavy metal going via EMS. I would message Cyph3r and see if there is anything they can do for you (including non EMS shipping).

[Baz000]

I'm sorry but $107.10 for shipping is far too much, hopefully something could be done to remedy that.

[Cyph3r]

@Cyph3r, I think the lesson learned is that when you don't have complete control over manufacturing, when you have to ship parts around before being assembled, when it's a brand new design, give customers a comfortable lead time to shipping. In your zeal to be responsive, you gave your customers multiple short delays -a week here, a few weeks there, a couple of days here.

 

If everyone takes a big breath, it's *not* that delayed. When compareed to your peers. Thurstmaster took, what, 4 years between Cougar and Warthog? With no other "promised" interchangeable joysticks. VKB went through delays - although they didn't take orders apparently. MFG is taking longer for the fighter rudders, and Komodo delayed my order 8 months.

 

So next time, give yourself enough buffer space. This way, customers are pleasantly surprised when you ship ahead of time as opposed to getting three or four paper-cuts in the form of delays.

 

I haven't purchased your stick yet because I'm waiting for the reviews to start hitting. Trust but verify (with real life user experience) is my motto! (Except for Rift, I jumped on that bandwagon early) And I haven't had any issues with stiction etc. on my Warthog. Best of luck, it sure looks like you have a good thing going.

 

Hi hansangb, yes don't worry, we're going to be handling our future releases much differently to ensure this doesn't happen again. It is still a learning process for us, but with everyone's help we'll get there! :smartass:

 

 

I was interested in purchasing 2 table top mounts for my thrust master warthog stick and throttle + the stick extension set and the bases, as my own birthday gift... Came to be 351.28 BYN without shipping... With the shipping it goes to 558.88 BYN converting it to my currency the shipping drives up the price so much... (I live in the east coast of USA)

 

 

$107.10 for shipping to the USA? Really???

 

I'm sorry but $107.10 for shipping is far too much, hopefully something could be done to remedy that.

 

Hi Baz000, with the VPC Desk Mounts as heavy/large as they are, shipping 2 of them + other things would overall be a very heavy/huge package. We use express EMS which typically gets all the way from Belarus to the USA in 3-5 days so $100 for this sort of service is actually quite good consider the sheer size, weight and distance. We previously offered a non-EMS shipping option which was only 15-25% cheaper but it was much much slower and far less realiable so we removed this option.

 

In the future as we expand our distribution points there may be something you're more happy with :)

 

 

Good news everything worked out finally. I am looking forward to getting my hands on this awesome stick.

You said there would be more info on the throttle and rudders during july if I am not mistaken Cyp3er. Can you already give us some news?

Thinking about getting the throttle and probably the rudders to check them out.

 

Cheers

 

Winger

 

 

Hi Winger, everythings got pushed back a little bit but I hope to update on everything (not just the pre-order shipping) in the near future :)

[Winger]

Hey Cyph3r, thanks for the headsup!

[Baz000]

IDK, I may just have to bite the bullet on the shipping... But I really would like to put the $100 towards the stick grip.

[PabstBleuRibbon]

Anyone get a shipping notification today?

[Cyph3r]

Hi All!

 

Just to let you know, everything has gone as planned this week (phew). I'll have a full update tomorrow, and the first batch of VPC MongoosT-50 Flightstick/Base pre-orders should have active tracking codes as well!

 

We're almost there guys!

[Winger]

Hi All!

 

Just to let you know, everything has gone as planned this week (phew). I'll have a full update tomorrow, and the first batch of VPC MongoosT-50 Flightstick/Base pre-orders should have active tracking codes as well!

 

We're almost there guys!

 

great news. Cant wait.

And thanks for the headsup. I knew it was the right decision to stick with you:)

[dburne]

If anyone in here gets a tracking number be sure and let us know.

[mx22]

If anyone in here gets a tracking number be sure and let us know.

 

And what would that achieve - your joystick/base won't come any sooner because someone got their shipping notice. Stop sitting with a stopwatch waiting for the deadline to post your dissatisfaction; if you don't trust the seller just ask for a refund, it was offered at least a couple of times in the last few days to anyone who don't feel secure about their order.

[Winger]

And what would that achieve - your joystick/base won't come any sooner because someone got their shipping notice. Stop sitting with a stopwatch waiting for the deadline to post your dissatisfaction; if you don't trust the seller just ask for a refund, it was offered at least a couple of times in the last few days to anyone who don't feel secure about their order.

 

I have to agree.

[dburne]

I was just curious when folks started getting them, nothing more.

Obviously I still want the stick.

Edited August 3, 2017 by dburne

[Cyph3r]

3rd August 2017 // Announcement No. 19

►VPC MongoosT-50 Flightstick & Base Pre-orders Shipping Now!

 

After much anticipation, and tireless around-the-clock work from every member of the VPC team, we are pleased to announce that the VPC MongoosT-50 Flightstick and Base pre-orders are shipping as of today!

 

To recap, the delays were caused after some tolerance issues had been discovered by our QA team after the first batch of pre-orders were dispatched a number of weeks ago. While the VPC MongoosT-50 was still a great Flighstick in this state, we ultimately decided to recall these units to ensure that our pre-order customers receive nothing else except the latest and greatest revision of the VPC MongoosT-50.

 

The last couple of weeks our designers and QA team have worked very closely with our partner factories to resolve these issues. The hard word has paid off as we now have in our hands, a version of the VPC MongoosT-50 Base which is even better than originally designed!

 

As mentioned in our previous announcements, we are offering a number of perks to our pre-order customers for the delays. All orders for the VPC MongoosT-50 Flightstick and VPC MongoosT-50 Base placed before July 21st 2017 will be counted as a pre-order. The perks offered will include:

 

• Free VPC Dust Cover
  
• 10% Coupon Code for http://www.virpil.by
  
• Special Pricing on the VPC MongoosT-50 Throttle and VPC Stealth Rudders
  

 

We will be dispatching orders at a rate that will see the huge amount of pre-orders fulfilled within 5-8 working days. Shipping notifications will be emailed at the end of the day which will including an EMS Express shipping number. Please keep an eye on your spam folder just in case!

 

Thank you everyone for your patience, the supportive messages from many of you have been great! We have learnt a lot from everyone’s input on how we can better handle our future product releases.

 

See you all in the skies soon! :pilotfly:

[Pajeka]

Excellent news, many thanks for update!