Winwing customer service - a nightmare

[Ulukaii]

One of my three Winwing MFD screens is defective. It is only 5 months old so it is fully in warranty. The symptom is a "whiteout" effect. I sent a video to Winwing customer support showing the defect. From the video it immediately becomes quite clear that the defect is in the screen itself, not the driver, not the USB cable, even not the internal USB workings (as the LED on the backside confirms positive USB 4 connection).

Long story short:

The Winwing customer support kept stalling me and stalling me over the course of multiple days. E.g., they kept asking to do another video and then another ... and then saying "I need to talk to the tech team" or "I need to talk to the manager"

My expectation would have been that they send out a new screen after having me confirm maybe once that cables etc. are all good. It is really a sad story because I generally like Winwings products and what they are providing to the flight sim community. But it seems to me they are not interested in providing after-sales support of their customers.

Until today, they did not confirm to me that they are going to send out a new screen.
 

I have recorded the customer service conversation and can provide proof to anyone interested.

Edited September 12, 2024 by Ulukaii

[WINWING]

Hello,

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this situation has caused you.

We understand your concerns regarding the defective MFD screen and the support process you encountered. Our goal is to provide prompt and effective solutions to our customers, and it appears we fell short in this instance. We appreciate your feedback and take it seriously as an opportunity to improve our service.

To resolve this matter quickly, we would like to escalate your case to ensure that your warranty is honored and that you receive a replacement screen as soon as possible. Our customer support team will contact you directly to expedite this process.

We value your support of WinWing and the feedback you've provided. Please rest assured that we are committed to addressing this issue promptly and to improving our after-sales support to better serve the flight sim community.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any additional concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Best regards,
WinWing Customer Support Team

[Ulukaii]

Dear @WINWING team:

thanks for your reply. While I am looking forward to have my individual case resolved, I am still a bit concerned that things only moved after I made this public via this forum. Nevertheless, I'll report here how it went.   

Kind regards
Ulu

[BuzzU]

I should have done this. It took 1/1/2 months to get a refund after they received the package back from me.

[Ulukaii]

Reporting back on how things developed. Winwing asked me to open the screen case, destroy the screen and send photos so they can send a replacement device. Upon screen / case disassembly, I discovered that an internal cable connecting the PCB to the screen was not properly locked into the connector. I carefully inserted it into the connector and locked it. And the screen then worked again. I asked Winwing if my warranty would still be preserved and they confirmed this. So all OK in the end of the day. 

[Dangerzone]

7 hours ago, Ulukaii said:

Reporting back on how things developed. Winwing asked me to open the screen case, destroy the screen and send photos so they can send a replacement device. Upon screen / case disassembly, I discovered that an internal cable connecting the PCB to the screen was not properly locked into the connector. I carefully inserted it into the connector and locked it. And the screen then worked again. I asked Winwing if my warranty would still be preserved and they confirmed this. So all OK in the end of the day. 

Thanks for letting us know the outcome of the result. Sounds like a great outcome - much faster than getting a new screen shipped, and you know the wire is connected properly now. 

Also sounds like Winwing may have had a few fraudulent warranty cases go through where people were trying to get replacement screens maybe? (Maybe that was the reason for the request for the multiple video's, plus evidence for you destroying the screen?) Thankfully WW have got a rep here on these forums that seems to take customer service a little more seriously than their own customer service and was able to escalate the issue for you. 

Trying to see things from 'the other perspective' I can only imagine there's times where both parties unsure of whether the other is playing games. Is the company stalling trying to get customers to 'give up' so they have less warranty claims and save $$'s, or are they genuinely trying to help and the extra running around genuinely needed? On the other hand, is the customer a genuine warranty job, or trying to con the company into free products with a fake warranty job. (Not saying you were doing this - just that maybe they've had other instances) 

I try and see it from both sides, but at the end of the day I am a consumer/customer of these products, and I do feel that companies need to find a way forward to honoring genuine warranty claims without undue delays or causing the customer to go around in circles with customer support before reaching a solution. 

That was one concern I had with Pimax when I first purchased the crystal light, and then even moreso after it arrived and had defective lenses. Was I going to get the runaround. The experience though with them was much different to yours with WW. They offered support, and sent out replacement lenses without too much fuss. Hopefully

WW are able to improve their warranty vetting procedure so these situations don't occur in the future. 

 

[Aapje]

@Dangerzone

The issue is not only attempts to get free product, but also that people may sell on their faulty products to scam others or such.

I had a recall for an unsafe bicycle helmet and they also required proof that the helmet was made unusable. In that case there was no risk of scamming them, since they knew for sure that my helmet was faulty (since it was a manufacturing defect impacting all helmets). However, imagine people selling on the faulty helmet and the person buying it getting into an accident and suing the helmet maker.

Destroying the product is the more economical solution when shipping the product or component back costs more than it is worth (which can be $0 when it is broken beyond economical repair).

Edited September 24, 2024 by Aapje

[Dangerzone]

9 hours ago, Aapje said:

@Dangerzone

The issue is not only attempts to get free product, but also that people may sell on their faulty products to scam others or such.

I had a recall for an unsafe bicycle helmet and they also required proof that the helmet was made unusable. In that case there was no risk of scamming them, since they knew for sure that my helmet was faulty (since it was a manufacturing defect impacting all helmets). However, imagine people selling on the faulty helmet and the person buying it getting into an accident and suing the helmet maker.

Destroying the product is the more economical solution when shipping the product or component back costs more than it is worth (which can be $0 when it is broken beyond economical repair).

That makes a lot of sense indeed. Good point. 

[Neodym]

Winwing support is a nightmare for me. My F/A-18 UFC broke the first time I turned it on. At first they offered me $30 in compensation, but I refused. After a lot of back and forth, support told me to destroy my UFC, send them the photos, and Winwing would send me a new one. Then Winwing wanted the white control card. I sent that too. When I ask when the replacement will be shipped, I get the answer "we normally ship in 3 days." I ask again about the status, and I'm told it's already shipped, but Winwing sends me the old tracking number. Truly terrible support. I won't buy anything from them again, and in light of this support, I would advise anyone not to buy from Winwing.

 

So sad!

[ivo]

On 24/04/2025 at 21:15, Neodym said:

L'assistenza Winwing è un incubo per me. Il mio F/A-18 UFC si è rotto la prima volta che l'ho acceso. Inizialmente mi hanno offerto 30 dollari di risarcimento, ma ho rifiutato. Dopo un lungo tira e molla, l'assistenza mi ha detto di distruggere il mio UFC, inviare loro le foto e Winwing me ne avrebbe spedito uno nuovo. Poi Winwing ha voluto la scheda di controllo bianca. Ho inviato anche quella. Quando chiedo quando verrà spedita la sostituzione, ricevo la risposta "normalmente spediamo in 3 giorni". Chiedo di nuovo informazioni sullo stato della spedizione e mi dicono che è già stato spedito, ma Winwing mi invia il vecchio numero di tracciamento. Un'assistenza davvero pessima. Non comprerò più nulla da loro e, alla luce di questo supporto, sconsiglierei a chiunque di acquistare da Winwing.

 

Che tristezza!

then did you receive the new ufc at home?

On 9/12/2024 at 8:45 AM, WINWING said:

Hello,

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this situation has caused you.

We understand your concerns regarding the defective MFD screen and the support process you encountered. Our goal is to provide prompt and effective solutions to our customers, and it appears we fell short in this instance. We appreciate your feedback and take it seriously as an opportunity to improve our service.

To resolve this matter quickly, we would like to escalate your case to ensure that your warranty is honored and that you receive a replacement screen as soon as possible. Our customer support team will contact you directly to expedite this process.

We value your support of WinWing and the feedback you've provided. Please rest assured that we are committed to addressing this issue promptly and to improving our after-sales support to better serve the flight sim community.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any additional concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Best regards,
WinWing Customer Support Team

Check this please