Bought my Bravo 22 months ago (should still have 2 months of warranty left), noticed a problem with it and contacted support.  I originally bought from MyPilotStore like many others when the product was first released and in high demand.  I finally got the following response today after 2 weeks from Honeycomb.

 

Quote

 

Alex W

• 36 minutes ago

Good morning,
 
Apologies for the delay in response. Due to you purchasing it from a third party seller, they will be responsible for replacing it.
 
Regards,
Honeycomb

 

 

 

 

The problem is last week after seeing confusing wording on HC's website I contacted "MPS" because I hadn't heard anything back from HC and got the below response.

 

Quote

Hello Charles,

Thank you for contacting us! I'd be happy to help.

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing an issue with the Honeycomb Bravo Throttle Quadrant (manufacturer part #SB003012); I understand that this has to be frustrating. We do not offer tech support and because you are outside of the 30-day return policy, I would need to direct to you the manufacturer for warranty service. You can reach them at one of the following means of communication (I have also Cc'd their service department on this email for you):

So apparently if you didn't buy direct, you have NO WARRANTY.  This is illegal, I have submitted a BBB complaint about this as well.  I'm never going to recommend HC products again if this is really how they treat customers.

Edited January 20, 20233 yr by flyinion

10 minutes ago, flyinion said:

Bought my Bravo 22 months ago (should still have 2 months of warranty left), noticed a problem with it and contacted support.  I originally bought from MyPilotStore like many others when the product was first released and in high demand.  I finally got the following response today after 2 weeks from Honeycomb.

 

 

 

 

The problem is last week after seeing confusing wording on HC's website I contacted "MPS" because I hadn't heard anything back from HC and got the below response.

 

So apparently if you didn't buy direct, you have NO WARRANTY.  This is illegal, I have submitted a BBB complaint about this as well.  I'm never going to recommend HC products again if this is really how they treat customers.

I'll bet if you lived in Europe it would be a no brainer. In this country you'll be forced to get a lawyer and litigate. That will cost you more than what you paid for the hardware. I'd contact them again and let them know what the third party seller said. If they won't respond favorably, I'd light them up on Facebook and Twitter. Companies hate to be called out on social media. It's their product no matter who you bought it from.

19 minutes ago, mwilk said:

I'll bet if you lived in Europe it would be a no brainer. In this country you'll be forced to get a lawyer and litigate. That will cost you more than what you paid for the hardware. I'd contact them again and let them know what the third party seller said. If they won't respond favorably, I'd light them up on Facebook and Twitter. Companies hate to be called out on social media. It's their product no matter who you bought it from.

Just did that, I can't believe I'm having to deal with this garbage.  Anyone have a suggestion for a different product for throttle only use?

FSXThrottle | Custom High Fidelity Throttle Quadrants for Flight Simulator,

Tony will make you a custom throttle according to your personal needs. I have his 747-style quad4 which I use for every other plane in my hanger. His prices fall in the Honey Comb neighborhood. Might be worth a look.

If not, I used a CH Throttle quad for many years. If you're an "on a budget" kind of guy like so many of us. Not as visually appealing but it did the mission. Very versatile.

Edited January 19, 20233 yr by Patco Lch

36 minutes ago, Patco Lch said:

FSXThrottle | Custom High Fidelity Throttle Quadrants for Flight Simulator,

Tony will make you a custom throttle according to your personal needs. I have his 747-style quad4 which I use for every other plane in my hanger. His prices fall in the Honey Comb neighborhood. Might be worth a look.

If not, I used a CH Throttle quad for many years. If you're an "on a budget" kind of guy like so many of us. Not as visually appealing but it did the mission. Very versatile.

Thanks I'll check it out.  I'm pretty good with anything in the VKB gladiator and honeycomb type price ranges.  $800 yokes and such are probably not going to happen just because I don't sim as my primary gaming etc, it's just a big chunk of it

6 minutes ago, flyinion said:

Thanks I'll check it out.  I'm pretty good with anything in the VKB gladiator and honeycomb type price ranges.  $800 yokes and such are probably not going to happen just because I don't sim as my primary gaming etc, it's just a big chunk of it

Looks like Tony's remaking his web site so you might contact him for a product list. I see he will now use Hall Sensors if you like. I think he hand makes custom throttles as a retirement gig. I have always found him to respond literally in minutes. The case and throttles are hand crafted in wood and he will paint it and add options according to your wants. Mine is the 747 quad and is life size and feels very good in my hand. I have inserts I can place between levers and turn my quad into a twin for the737 or any other twin engine. He also boasts a lifetime guarantee for what that's worth.

Just want to update that I received a new response from the Alex guy at HC.  

 

Quote

My sincere apologies, I was mistaken in my response, I am still new and that is on me. We do handle the returns in replacements. 

So I'm cautiously optimistic now that this will actually get fixed.  Still, it should not have taken two full weeks to get any kind of response.    Makes me wonder if getting the original response this morning was at all related to reaching out to Aerosoft for the Honeycomb Europe support area to see if they knew anything about why the main US location wasn't responding.

A similar experience

https://www.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/10fgsgh/returning_honeycomb_alpha_under_warranty/

 

43 minutes ago, SoJourned said:

A similar experience

https://www.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/10fgsgh/returning_honeycomb_alpha_under_warranty/

 

Yep, sounds like Honeycomb needs to do better training for their support staff, and maybe hire a few more so it doesn't take 2 weeks to get a response.

Well, we'll see how this goes.  Got my shipping label this morning finally, and just dropped it off at Fedex.

So they got my unit on Thursday last week.  Over the weekend I got an email for an "order" for a replacement and it forced me to download an app to track it.  Still no tracking number and no updated to the "order" in that app.  So much for the couple day turnaround they claimed after receiving my unit.  We're also back to no responses to emails again.  Hope it ships soon since now I don't even have a broken unit to try and fix myself.

Ok this is getting ABSOLUTELY STUPID!!  Does anyone have a direct phone number or email for these idiots?  Now I don't have a throttle at all because I had to send the whole thing to them including the handles, cables, mounts, etc. and their supposed 24-48 hours turnaround is looooooong expired.  They're not answering support emails again, and phones ring forever.  The replacement they "ordered" still hasn't gone to "shipped" and Fedex, UPS, etc. all have no new tracking numbers for my address when I check my accounts.  So now I seem to also be out almost $300.  Guess it's time to email the BBB back and have them continue with my complaint.  It shouldn't take over a month to have something like this replaced even if they were going to actually repair it not just send a new unit.  Never EVER buying Honeycomb stuff again after this mess.

So I got a message through Facebook messenger all apologetic that they had a problem with their shipping company and they'd fix it first thing this week.  Well, they've sort of but not really fixed it.  Finally got a Fedex shipping number Tuesday morning with estimated delivery of today.  Guess what, yep, Fedex is still waiting for the package.  We're now 6 weeks in to what should have been really quick since all the "repair" process ended up being was "ship us your entire unit including accessories and we'll ship you a retail unit back".  Shouldn't take 6+ weeks for that much less 2 full weeks to get the initial response to the problem.  

Replacement showed up this afternoon (was scheduled for Monday after Fedex didn't receive it from HC until Thursday afternoon).  After some user error on my part attempting to test functionality in the Windows Game Controllers panels, in sim I verified the new unit works correctly for all switches, levers, and buttons and multiple throttle handle types (GA, Boeing, Airbus).  Considering this issue closed, but yeah never buying from these guys again until/unless they demonstrate some serious lasting improvement in their CS and communication.