Just wanted to post a little message. I bought my Warthog a few months ago (#09646). I love it. Love the feel of it, the heft of it, and love the way it works with DCS A-10C.

Two days ago I fired up my computer in the morning and joined a multiplayer DCS A-10C session online and realized after going through the engine start that my stick wasn't working. The throttle as fine. So I exited the session, and checked my USB cable for the stick.

After unplugging and plugging I could see that Windows wasn't recognizing the stick. Hmmm... I uninstalled the drivers, reinstalled, but I knew this wasn't going to work because the USB connection simply wasn't being recognized. Thinking it might be bad USB ports on my desktop, I tried plugging it into my laptop. No dice there either. So I've got a dead stick.

I logged on to the Thrustmaster web-site and see they have no official forum, just a searchable FAQ database in which I could find no remedy to my problem. I used the e-mail function to request support from Thrustmaster 36 hours ago and still no reply. I sent them a second e-mail this afternoon. If I were just casually using my Warthog I could live without customer service for a couple days, but I need mine for my side writing gig.

Thinking that I could maybe get better traction, I tried the Thrustmaster USA phone line, which has listed business hours, but that just goes to a recording that says their telephone customer service is closed and gives the Thrustmaster website where you can email for customer support. Interesting that they list hours of:

Mon - Fri: 09:00-20:00 Eastern Time
Saturday : 08:00-14:00 Eastern Time

When in fact nobody is there to answer, just a recorded message. They may as well change the website to say those numbers will lead you right back to the site like a GOTO loop.

Anyway, I'm writing this to see if anyone else has had some experience with Thrustmaster Customer service, and what the outcome was and how long did it take. I'm hoping that they are just a little backed up and they will respond tomorrow, but if I were a new purchaser that had a problem right out of the box the impression would be somewhat disappointing. In this day and age I think every product should have an official product support forum where at least you could read up on problems, solutions, and find information (both pro and con) about a product.

In researching this topic I did find this forum: http://www.warthogworld.com/hangar/forum.php

I'll dive in and see if there is a solution there..



BeachAV8R

Damn, I could have just returned it to Circuit City within their 30 day period if it had just died a few days earlier!

I have contacted Thrustmaster quite a few times since about July when I first started noticing the "center play". Back in July they responded promptly, within a few hours. I finally got fed up and decided to send it back for repair today. When I re-initiated contact with them this time it took a few days for the first response. Once the support case is opened and a dialogue has started, they respond pretty quickly, within an hour or two.

I sent the base of my joystick today via USPS and it has to go to Montreal in Canada for the repair. Cost $50 to send it. I hope it gets there fast and comes back fast. They said they usually only have the stick for a few days depending on the level of repair required. Just hope I have it back by the holidays. Warthogworld.com is a good forum. Went there to discuss the delamination of the anti-friction buffer ring, noticed I was not alone with the issue.

This is something that scares me, I'm selling my Cougar and was seriously thinking about getting a Warthog and trying it out. But now I don't know if I should try that or just go with what works....CH, what to do? Glad I still have a few days to think about it. In Fuzzysham's case, he shouldn't have to pay to have the stick shipped for them to fix it.

Get the Warthog. It's worth it. If it had been out of warranty I was have been horribly upset but still would have bought a new one immediately. Be nice if there was an option to buy the stick and throttle independently.

My stick died a few months ago as well. Well, not really died, but freaked out. None of the buttons would work but when I pull the trigger, 80% of the buttons would light up. Contacted TM, once I got a support ticket going, I could get 2-3 replies per day. The usual plug-unplug-plug, try a different computer, flash firmware stuff. Once that was over, I was asked to ship my joystick base back, I did, and a week and a half later, I got a new box (base, stick, flat metal base).

I must admit that it was a hassle to do this, but each time I use the Warthog, it is worth every cent I spent on it and that was just a minor hiccup in what I expect to be a very long road of fun.

My TM Cougar MFD died in the way you described though, Beach. Windows wouldn't see it, it wouldn't make the usual plug-unplug sound when you plug in a USB device. Again, contacted TM. They just asked me for my part number, invoice copy, then asked me to provide pictures of the defective MFD with the USB cable cut. Once that was done, they shipped me a new one which arrived 2 days later.

Point is: while their products do fail, they aren't shy of replacing them.

Still satisfied with my TM gear, so no worries!

Yes, I'm hoping that the process will accelerate once I get a reply. I really do love flying with the Warthog, which is why living without it is all the more miserable..

A minor hiccup. Once you get yourself sorted you'll forget all about this.

Just hang in there.

Possibly. I was contacted by TM support yesterday with their "template" actions (boot mode, drivers, flashing). Those quick fixes did not work but at least we are on a path toward resolution.

Fingers crossed.

I started trying to learn an X52 profile for DCS, but to tell you the truth, I just don't have the time to put into relearning something. Plus I don't want to have to re-relearn the Warthog once I get it up and running again. Despite my problem with the Warthog I'm still a big fan of it and hope my stick problem wasn't indicative of any other quality issues.

BeachAV8R

There is center play on the Warthog? I thought that has been fixed due to the new interior and lack of a classic gimbal system?