Beware of 737 Quadrant

[Guest strance1x]

To all it may concern doing business with Roel Van Den Broek and the 737 throttle unit, I am writing this as a way to inform you as a consumer of potential problems that I have experienced with this vendor for the last year as it relates to the 737 Throttle Unit that is linked below: http://www.simw.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=d...details&pid=823 I purchased this unit in December of 2002 and received it with great enthusiasm. Upon opening it, I was very much impressed with the quality and the look and realism of the unit. Upon plugging in the unit and following the directions, it did not work right away, which was expected. I followed the directions time and time again and found it just was not working. When I opened the access panel on the side, it opened up what has been a real disappointment in making what I believed was a smart $2,000 dollar investment for my cockpit. As I am "technically challenged", this seemed the smart way to go for the realism I was looking for. What I found was that there were loose wires that had not even been connected. I found this hard to believe as certainly this unit would have undergone some sort of quality assurance before leaving, right? My first few emails to Roel "guided" me to connecting the wires to the appropriate terminals. Not feeling entirely excited about what had transpired, I set off again with renewed optimism to set up my system. For 3 straight months I changed BIOS settings back and forth, followed directions that Roel kept passing to me, never once acknowledging my request for a replacement unit as my confidence in this unit was waning. It just did not work. After many, many emails to Roel, I finally had to get SimW involved and try to facilitate a resolution. Not surprisingly, they have also had troubles working with Roel on getting a resolution for me quickly. They finally proposed a solution of sending me a replacement part, the USB controller board that was replacing the old technology I had received, something similar in looks to a Hagstrom KE72. I was assured in December 2003 that this would work and they were sending it to me ASAP. I now today get an email, after not hearing from them for almost two weeks and me prompting them for a delivery date, the following: Kye, I have just spoken with the manufacturer. Here is the status : 1. Either we sent you the interface next week. If you are not familiar with technical parts and repair kits, it may not be the solution. Also, please note that some incompatibility issues may arise as your unit is not USB and the interface to be sent has been done for USB units. or 2. You sent us back at your costs your unit and as soon as received, a completely new one will be supply at our costs. That new one will be USB. No problem should occur as this is the one we are supplying now for months without any trouble for customers. The manufacturer is recommanding option 2. Thank you for your feedback. Fred Goldman - SimWare Simulations, Belgium Full catalog at http://www.simw.com fredg@simw.com Phone : +32 (0)2 331.25.09 Fax : +32 (0)2 331.27.04 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This as you can see was quite disturbing, option #1 that they told me all along would work, and Option #2, me to pay for overseas shipping costs, and a proposal I had requested 6 months earlier. Again, why am I writing this now, I am concerned and need to let others know what you may be in for. Again, the product looks and acts great on the outside, but what matters most is what is going on inside and customer support. This in my opinion fell way short. I have included, starting with the most recent email, the string of complaints, pleas for help, and whatever else I could come up with to try and get this resolved over the last year. January 27, 2004 Kye, I have just spoken with the manufacturer. Here is the status : 1. Either we sent you the interface next week. If you are not familiar with technical parts and repair kits, it may not be the solution. Also, please note that some incompatibility issues may arise as your unit is not USB and the interface to be sent has been done for USB units. or 2. You sent us back at your costs your unit and as soon as received, a completely new one will be supply at our costs. That new one will be USB. No problem should occur as this is the one we are supplying now for months without any trouble for customers. The manufacturer is recommanding option 2. Thank you for your feedback. Fred Goldman - SimWare Simulations, Belgium Full catalog at http://www.simw.com fredg@simw.com Phone : +32 (0)2 331.25.09 Fax : +32 (0)2 331.27.04 -----Message d'origine-----De : Kye Strance [mailto:kstrance@vocus.com] Envoy

[Guest SHORT360]

Kye,You have my sympathy. I cant help but I can understand what it is when one spent so much money for gaining time and then......It's a bad advertising for european company. ( I am french). Best RegardsRoger

[Guest LeoL]

This may be a bit drastic, but if you paid using a credit card call them and ask for a chargeback. As far as I know you can do this even after 1 full year has gone by.Good luck.-Leo

[Guest Dodiano]

Good luck buddy! Hope it all goes well!!

[Guest skywarrior]

Why don't you take them to court? The reason you haven't gotten them to do anything is because you have only threatened them. I would have had my lawyer send each of them a very nice letter explaining how the law works in the USA. Once they know that your lawyer is involved, you would get some action. Also, why didn't you report them to your credit card company earlier? One can expect some problems, but yours are just plain ridiculous. I was thinking about purchasing one of these. But I will give Simavionics a shot.Good Luck,Jim

[Guest High Octane]

Unbelieveable...Keeping bypassing your request when you frequently ask then for refund. Sound ambush here.... Its unbelieveable that they sell quad before they comfirm it working. Since I am certified on A+ I was assuming that I/0 device or yet its circuity from the Throttle itself is not accessble with PC. I can't say if I know it for sure but this sound a common problem based on my experience.In other word, it means that seem like SimW did not confirm if that circuity is compatible with any type of PC. There are categories type of computers that work with specific devices (assuming that includes on you quad) ... Like for example... arm picking Robot computers has no similarity to personal PC. Or yet, I can say... They have not verfy CMOS to determine which type of ports and data byte per second can be send through. Like for example Serial port requies 4 bits and parallel port requires 8 bits (1 bypes) per second or at least or reverse it Uhh.. if I can remember it right (it has been a while). And probablly that Quad has more than 1 bytes per second (from what you said blinking light). I have seen one trobleshooting situation where guy want us to figure out how to reduce data bit for his robot that works with PC instead of manufacture computer. And it did solve!Annapolis, Maryland? I used to live in Bowie right near to Anne Arundel County. But I am in Texas now. If I still live in Bowie I could take Hwy 50 (if I remember it right) go straight all the way to Annapolis and check on your quad, probablly could find why you re having trouble between qaad and PC and probablly could have my assoicate to give me advices solving it at no cost. Anyway, I hope there is something you can do about it. Hope another buyers who has experienced same problem and solved it get to read your situation and may advice you something about your quad.I apologize about your situation, This is a terrble waste of dream for you. Thank you for posting all of this. That sure save our cockpit builder community.-Arthur PratherB767 Simulation