Open letter to Thrustmaster...from your friends outside Western Europe....

[WarriorX]

Dear Thrustmaster,

 

I am writing in this forum as there is no contact information for your U.S. customers available on your website. I hope some of your employees read this forum and can get the message back to Corporate.

 

There seems to be a lot of questions going around regarding the release date for the Warthog outside Western Europe. Frustration and anger are building for some, as much of Western Europe have not only their pre-orders filled, but surplus Warthogs on the shelves. This coupled with the revelation of Warthogs arriving in one country with the box marked with a destination of a completely different country, has me and I think many others wondering why they bothered pre-ordering a Warthog.

 

If you made a decision to divert all units to the Western Europe market that were meant for pre-order fulfillment in the U.S. then you should tell us straight up and be honest and forthcoming as to your reasons. Make your case, we will listen.

 

I think a little communication regarding specifics on shipping dates to the US, Canadian, Australian etc. markets would be the professional thing to do.

 

Silence on your part makes for speculation, and frustration. Providing information even if you think it will disappoint, will be be better than stonewalling your customers.

 

Respectfully,

 

WarriorX

[kylania]

It's quite easy, it's simply not for sale in the U.S.A. according to TM's own website. :) Actually, it's only available in France according to that page. Quite a few in stock it would seem as well...

 

There's a TM employee that posts on SimHQ, but I've restrained from asking him to explain this blunder so far.

[HiJack]

Thats exactly the releaseplans for any Apple product as well only the oppisit way.

[WarriorX]

Thats exactly the releaseplans for any Apple product as well only the oppisit way.

 

Then by all means good man start your own open letter to Apple on their forums and see what they say!

[McDaniel]

open letter to WarriorX.....

 

I got mine yesterday :-)

 

relax and be patience it will come to you and its worth the wait

 

McDan out

[kylania]

relax and be patience it will come to you and its worth the wait

 

That's great that you got it, we're all very happy.

 

The difference is you went to a webpage, saw that if you ordered it you'd get it whatever day, ordered it and got it that day.

 

We however went to a webpage, saw that if we ordered it we'd get it whatever day, ordered it then that day changed, and changed again, and changed again even longer than before, and has changed again, then said "Never"... and we've never been told why you were able to get yours on whatever day. We still have no idea if we'll get them or not. Some people have been told Monday, which is fine, however we've been told specific days so many times now we can't possibly believe any of it.

 

So yes, we're impatient, but some explanation for why half the world has to still wait a month while the other half got it on time would be a really great thing. Thrustmaster has screwed this up enough that they owe us some explanation.

[WarriorX]

Why do I sense an underlying joy from some of you fellow sim enthusiasts that we in the United States are not getting a fair deal on this? Really? is that the attitude?

 

We are such a small group, why would you want to cause dissension?

 

We should stick up for each other and help each other, no matter what Country we are from.

 

Posts like McDaniel's just seem in bad taste.....not cool at all.

[Slammin]

Such whining. It's sad. Please stop cluttering up every thread with the silliness.

[thereminqblank]

I'm torn. On one hand I feel envious of those that the thing to get them most angry in their lives at the moment is having to wait a couple more weeks for a non-essential expensive purchase.

 

On the other hand, that would just be sad.

[Succellus]

I understand the frustration. Then you know the other side of the stick now.

Be haapy couse it could br worse it could never ever reach your country as it is my case.

[HiJack]

Then by all means good man start your own open letter to Apple on their forums and see what they say!

I will never ever touch an Apple product so the situation would newer come to me. But if you guys ordered the stick with your US addresses and did not get a warning on delayed delivery to US; that’s bad! I feel for you :( But should you then write to Thrustmaster or the shop? I think the shop who sold you the product must be contacted first.

[kylania]

I asked BLT:

 

So the ETA for this order switched to 11/4/10 earlier this week and I

wasn't notified. Now it's showing 11/10/10 for the west coast, but

alarmingly "None" for the east coast.

 

Can you explain these delays and explain what "None" means please?

 

They responded:

 

We have no delivery information available for out of stock items, other

than what appears on the site. The current ETAs range from 11/2 - 11/10.

 

ETA's are provided by the manufacturers. They aren't guaranteed arrival

dates and are subject to change at any time. They are the only delivery

information we have for items that are not currently in stock. Once an

item is in stock, you will receive an email, and your order's status will

be updated online.

 

You are doing the best thing possible by keeping your order in place, which

secures your place in line. And, please remember, we don't charge your

credit card, until your order ships.

 

Thank you for your business, and we apologize for any inconvenience on

behalf of the manufacturer.

 

Best Regards,

Stephanie W.

 

Bottom Line Telecommunications

[WarriorX]

I will never ever touch an Apple product so the situation would newer come to me. But if you guys ordered the stick with your US addresses and did not get a warning on delayed delivery to US; that’s bad! I feel for you :( But should you then write to Thrustmaster or the shop? I think the shop who sold you the product must be contacted first.

 

As I said in the first part of my OP, I would have sent the complaint to Thrustmaster directly, but they do not have any contact information for someone from the United States....so I posted here.

 

The shop I ordered from has had no word from Thrustmaster, they have no idea when it will arrive, hence the reason for this post.

 

Remember this post is to Thrustmaster...not to those in Europe who have their Warthog's so if you want to comment please keep it constructive.

 

Try to put the shoe on the other foot, if you were seeing posts all over the forums of guys in the US opening boxes with the words Destination UK, Germany, Sweden, etc...then your pre orders were being ignored with no feedback from Thrustmaster, how would you feel? Frustrated right? Well I am of the mind that if you do not communicate with Thrustmaster, then how can the problem ever get solved?

[HiJack]

Yes I would be furious. Good luck with the complaint WarriorX ;)

[sofie_59]

And why dont just order from Europe then ?

Simware shipping for 42 euro to US

[Wolf Rider]

< headslap > D'Oh

[kylania]

And why dont just order from Europe then ?

Simware shipping for 42 euro to US

 

It would be ~$540 USD or so vs the $407 USD many of us have pre-ordered it at. Probably only get a week earlier if everything goes perfectly from now on. It's an idea though. :)

[WarriorX]

Yes I would be furious. Good luck with the complaint WarriorX ;)

 

Thank you Sir for your support!

[thereminqblank]

"Oo oo miss. What does the E stand for?"

 

"Estimated"

 

"...and the A?"

 

"Arrival"

 

"OOOh. And the T?"

 

"Time"

 

"Aah. What does the E stand for again?"

[Kuky]

Don't worry, you'll get it

[Ripcord]

TM was the same way about availability of the MFD packs -- available in Europe, no word about availability in the US, and pinning it largely on their manufacturers (who are just filling the orders they were given, IMHO). Then I think they finally released a list of stores where they would be carried. Pretty sure I got mine on Amazon, finally, and they showed up right away, but I did have to wait months, like over half a year, before I could even order.

 

Of course, nobody was actually ordering and paying for those MFD packs over here, AFAIK, only to be told later that the shipment is delayed. That's harsh, if that is happening here with these HOTAS, but I don't think that was their intention.

 

You know, the North American market used to be the largest market for a lot of things, such as construction equipment and airplanes. No longer the case. And remember our electrical/power standard here differs a little from most the rest of the world, so they have to consider which version of the widget they want to make first. Probably you'd start with the largest market, no? I think I would. Plus they pay more for stuff in EU than we do here in the US.... not sure why that is, but they just do. So on this level it does make sense they would start over there, if those assumptions are valid. However, the North American market is still HUGE, so they DAMN SURE wouldn't want to bungle it. Gotta be a better way to handle it than 'no word, sorry'.

 

Ripcord

Edited October 31, 2010 by Ripcord

[Callsign.Vega]

I'd be surprised if Europe purchases more Warthogs versus North America. But then again we are talking like ~25 countries versus 2. (Sorry Mexico doesn't count lol). The electrical/power standards issues doesn't fly, as the Warthog is USB. Virtually all computer standards emanate from the US.

 

They also pay "more" for stuff in Europe because of higher taxes. At least the socialism puts some money back into their home country versus the US's money gets sent directly to China and the designing company.

 

Gotta love the new world where one country manufactures everything and the rest of the worlds purpose is to sell and purchase those items.

[LawnDart]

Dear Thrustmaster,

 

I am writing in this forum as there is no contact information for your U.S. customers available on your website. I hope some of your employees read this forum and can get the message back to Corporate.

 

There seems to be a lot of questions going around regarding the release date for the Warthog outside Western Europe. Frustration and anger are building for some, as much of Western Europe have not only their pre-orders filled, but surplus Warthogs on the shelves. This coupled with the revelation of Warthogs arriving in one country with the box marked with a destination of a completely different country, has me and I think many others wondering why they bothered pre-ordering a Warthog.

 

If you made a decision to divert all units to the Western Europe market that were meant for pre-order fulfillment in the U.S. then you should tell us straight up and be honest and forthcoming as to your reasons. Make your case, we will listen.

 

I think a little communication regarding specifics on shipping dates to the US, Canadian, Australian etc. markets would be the professional thing to do.

 

Silence on your part makes for speculation, and frustration. Providing information even if you think it will disappoint, will be be better than stonewalling your customers.

 

Respectfully,

 

WarriorX

 

Rest assured it's coming... very soon! The distribution takes a little longer to the US it would seem, and the retailers need to get them first from the warehouses before shipments go out.

 

Thrustmaster is also owned by the Guillemot Corporation (in France)...

 

I've forwarded your post to the marketing department.

[Steel Jaw]

Such whining. It's sad. Please stop cluttering up every thread with the silliness.

 

Thanks for your input: you may leave now. :mad:

[hassata]

A US retailer (SCSimulations) has already received a tracking number for delivery of units later today (Monday). The Distributor is apparently shipping. Stop already.