My story with Heusinkveld Support

[vannib]

Hi,
just wanted to share my story with Heusinkveld support.
People generally go public only to rant, i feel an obligation to share with the general public the outstanding experience i've had.

Long story short with my Heusinkveld Sprint pedal:

1) In order to make a specific adjustment on the pedal, a specific tool is needed, which is included in the original box. I've lost it.
2) Wrote HS an email asking them to buy a replacement, they replied with a UPS tracking number containing the package. Zero cost for me.
3) The UPS arrives with the tool. Wife throws it in the garbage thinking it's a useless piece of metal.
4) I write back to HS with embarrassment...and yet again, the reply is another UPS tracking number. Zero cost for me.
5) The package arrives...and it contains TWO of those tools. I guess there was some fun intended there ,-)
6) I make my adjustments, all cool, except i make a colossal, stupid mistake while assembling the pedal, and basically end up destroying the logic board of the pedal. It was all entirely my fault, it was an enormous, stupid mistake.
7) I write to HS explaining the situation asking if they think it's fixable and how, specifying that i was ready to buy a new brake pedal in case.
8) The answer is another UPS tracking number with a new logic board, with a detailed explanation on how to make the repair. Zero cost for me.

I had not yet the chance to try make the repair, but it is irrelevant. I have never, ever received this type of support from any company, on anything i have ever bought.

Just wanted to share.

Thanks

 

[GEO147]

That's great customer support. Happy to hear it being an owner of HE pedals myself. Fair play to you for sharing a positive post.

 

[alexSchmurtz]

Watch out when you make the repair: if you call them again, they might come directly at your place to fix your pedal themselves!

Awesome story, thanks for sharing. And good luck putting back your pedal!

 

[RedBull48]

I like many others in the community have had great experiences with HE products and support. This is how you really develop a reputation and customer loyalty. Many companies could learn a thing or two from Heusinkveld.

 

[d69morpwr]

Same for me. Absolutely great company to deal with. I had an issue with my first set of pedals i bought from them and got emails on Saturdays and Sundays from tech support. I never expected that. Them and Tomo at Sim Racing Bay are just great to deal with.

 

[crooksy]

Great post

You should be careful when leaving the house with all your bad luck!

 

[metalnwood]

HE are great. On a side note, this is an opportunity to teach your wife about good support. sit her down, tell her what HE did right and what she did wrong. She can learn from this.

 

[thepharcyde]

Or the fact they have such a huge markup, it's built into the price . Sorry being cynical, but nothing in life is free

 

[metalnwood]

Or the fact they have such a huge markup, it's built into the price . Sorry being cynical, but nothing in life is free

People get to choose what they want to pay. You dont always find you got a good choice when you need support. They seem to excel here.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Or the fact they have such a huge markup, it's built into the price . Sorry being cynical, but nothing in life is free

It would probably be hard to find a product of the same quality in the same price range, one of the reasons they are so massively popular.

 

[d69morpwr]

HE are great. On a side note, this is an opportunity to teach your wife about good support. sit her down, tell her what HE did right and what she did wrong. She can learn from this.

I think id just be happy my pedals worked again and pass on sitting the wife down.

 

[TheNatural]

Or the fact they have such a huge markup, it's built into the price . Sorry being cynical, but nothing in life is free

having good customer service is an accounted for operating cost. HE has done wonders with word-of-mouth marketing, this is one of the reasons why.

also, the pedals are extremely nice, the sprints give you pretty much everything you could want without going in on hydraulic.

i also had a similarly amazing customer service interaction with them.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Or the fact they have such a huge markup, it's built into the price . Sorry being cynical, but nothing in life is free

I´m with you on the "no free lunch"part, but I will not call it a markup.
( For me that word describes an added expense over MSRP just for the greed of the seller)

In the case of Heusinkveld we have an economical sound calculated price for the produkt of a small company with all their overhead:

building, employees, machines, water/electric, taxes, R&D and not to forget rigorous testing.

So what you get is a longterm stable product with great support that doesn´t evolve in the hand of the customer, it´s already developed and it´s functionality proven.

If this advantages are worth the asked money is for you to decide, we read here of o lot o satiesfied customers, so there is a market for this kind of quality.
(and as most of us learn in their later years: buy cheap, buy twice)

MFG Carsten

 

[RCHeliguy]

Of my rig purchases, I consider just a handful of my purchases to be absolutely no-brainers. The HE Sprints are definitely in that small list.

My Heusinkveld Sprint Pedals, SC 2 Pro wheelbase and my SimLab chassis all fit in the category of purchases that I've never regretted or felt like there was ever any question that I'd made the right choice about. All come from companies that I feel are solid, and reputable. Even in that distinguished company HE seems to stand out in terms of support after the sale.

Don't get me wrong. I'm very happy with the rest of my rig, but I think these companies really stand out.

 

[Enzo Fazzi]

they might come directly at your place to fix your pedal themselves!

It wouldn't be the first time

(Although the customer basically lived on my route to and from the office. I can't really justify shipping a package with UPS to the nearest center 65km away, only for it to drive back the next day.)

 

[vannib]

Update, repair went super smooth and pedals is now working again!

 

[GuitarTech]

Hi,
just wanted to share my story with Heusinkveld support.
People generally go public only to rant, i feel an obligation to share with the general public the outstanding experience i've had.

Long story short with my Heusinkveld Sprint pedal:

1) In order to make a specific adjustment on the pedal, a specific tool is needed, which is included in the original box. I've lost it.
2) Wrote HS an email asking them to buy a replacement, they replied with a UPS tracking number containing the package. Zero cost for me.
3) The UPS arrives with the tool. Wife throws it in the garbage thinking it's a useless piece of metal.
4) I write back to HS with embarrassment...and yet again, the reply is another UPS tracking number. Zero cost for me.
5) The package arrives...and it contains TWO of those tools. I guess there was some fun intended there ,-)
6) I make my adjustments, all cool, except i make a colossal, stupid mistake while assembling the pedal, and basically end up destroying the logic board of the pedal. It was all entirely my fault, it was an enormous, stupid mistake.
7) I write to HS explaining the situation asking if they think it's fixable and how, specifying that i was ready to buy a new brake pedal in case.
8) The answer is another UPS tracking number with a new logic board, with a detailed explanation on how to make the repair. Zero cost for me.

I had not yet the chance to try make the repair, but it is irrelevant. I have never, ever received this type of support from any company, on anything i have ever bought.

Just wanted to share.

Thanks

I had a similar experience with my Sprint Pedals: I managed to break the output cable plug on the PCB by being extremely stupid and trying to do the job by fumbling around in half darkness. I also offered to pay for the new PCB, as it was 100% my own stupid fault, and as an answer I also got a UPS tracking number, and no invoice. Their support is awesome, and their pedals too.
They are without a doubt the absolute number one as far as quality and support is concerned.
Happy Christmas Nils, you deserve all your success

 

[aliolemon]

I also requested a new loadcell for the clutch and asked for the price., they just send me a new loadcell with UPS completely free. Thank You Heusinkveld

 

[RCHeliguy]

I need to add myself to this list to give credit where credit is due.

For those of you that have seen all the permutations of my HE Sprint mounts, it may come as no surprise that I put some extra stress on the HE control board. I've had my Sprints for over 2.5 years at this point. I believe they are now 7 months out of warranty.

My Sprint pedals are on a plate that slides back and forth between 2 and 3 pedal operation and I unplug my USB cable whenever I remove my pedal deck to switch my rig over into flight mode. In addition my pedals are inverted. This puts additional stress on the board in 3 ways. 1. When the brake and clutch pedals slides back and forth; 2. From the additional duty cycles plugging and unplugging the USB connector and 3. Additional stress just because it is inverted. There is a metal support soldered to the board that normally is under the board when the pedals are upright. However when inverted the board now hangs from that support.

To be clear I don't think that inverting these pedals should normally be an issue. I'm being particularly rough on my connectors.

I'm fairly certain that through multiple releases over time of the oversized quick release levers holding the plate that I have nicked/hit the USB cable. The metal support eventually came loose from the board leaving the board suspended by the ribbon connector and two RJ connectors for the throttle and clutch. The USB receiver was then no longer clamped between the metal frame and board and the solder holding that in place eventually fatigued and cracked.

Let me mention that my pedals continued to work this entire time despite the board hanging and the USB receiver coming loose from the board.

I sent in a support email asking about potentially using the external box like the Ultimate+'s to eliminate this potential in the future since I was sure I was putting this through additional abuse. Enzo replied and told me that the Sprints were not compatible, but offered to send me a replacement board. At this point I decided to try a field repair. I super glued the metal support back to the board and then resoldered the side of the USB receiver back to the board. I verified that all the pedals continued to work and replied to Enzo what I had done. I did give him my address as he requested, but also said if he still wanted to send the board not to rush it. I replied to him about my repair on Monday the 20th and got a shipping notification that I would receive the board on the 23rd.

So my pedals are out of warranty, I tried to be clear that this was the result of how I was using the pedals and that I had repaired the part and they are still sending a new part to me very quickly.

For almost any other company I would be surprised by this kind of support, but this is Heusinkveld.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I thought my story was done, but there is more of interest to tell.

Errata: First let me mention that I got something backwards. The support is actually under the board when it is inverted. Pushing the the USB cable down while the board is inverted would however make the USB plug a lever arm pivoting on the housing to pull the board away from the support that is screwed to the other side of the housing.

The part arrived with a nice little card. Enzo had already given me a thorough set of installation instructions by email.
So great job

This is the interesting part.

When I examined the replacement board, I can see that they have made an upgrade to the metal support. It now has two pins that extend all the way through the board and are soldered on the other side. That looks much more solid!

So new AND improved!