Following up on my own post from August: in September I did finally buy a set of Turtle Beach VelocityOne rudder pedals to join with my Honeycomb Alpha/Bravo setup on PC/Win10.
Since then I’ve used them to fly my Blackbird 310R, my SWS Kodiak, and a couple of default aircraft (C152 and Icon). I’ve been very happy with them so far, and they’ve been a marked improvement over their predecessors.
My only issue with them has been stability on my floor. I have wood floors, so used the “smooth floor” grips. Those did not work well for me, but I added a small piece of rug (about the size of a doormat) now they’re quite stable even though I did not switch to the other grips.
On a floor without carpet I had that problem with all rudder pedals I owned. I simply put something again the wall and shoved the rudder pedals against it so they can’t move. I also changed the cable to one with an 90° angled plug. That way it cannot move at all
As of last month, Honeycomb’s office in San Diego is boarded up and shuttered. It is possible that they moved to a new location. But it’s also possible that they are operating out of a garage in La Jolla. I had a really bad feeling when they started taking everyone’s money earlier this summer for the June 30th release of the Charlie Pedals. Only for the release date to come and go. It seems like they needed a Capitol infusion and took the money to help float them until the product was actually ready. Now this is obviously all speculation. But given the fact that you can’t get them on the phone. Their emails all get kicked back to you. And their social media pages haven’t posted anything in months. I’d say the cards line up. The tech sector is in a bad way right now. And a small company with ■■■■ poor customer service could easily fall by the wayside. I hope this isn’t the case. But if it is, let’s hope someone who actually has some business acumen buys the company for penny’s on the dollar and runs it the way a business should be run.
I talked about this in another group discussion. But as of last month, Honeycomb’s office in San Diego is boarded up and shuttered. It is possible that they moved to a new location. But it’s also possible that they are operating out of a garage in La Jolla. I had a really bad feeling when they started taking everyone’s money earlier this summer for the June 30th release of the Charlie Pedals. Only for the release date to come and go (their website still shows a June 30th, 2023 release date. Glad to see they are updating it). It seems like they needed a Capitol infusion and took everyone’s money to help float them until the product was actually ready. Now, this is obviously all speculation. But given the fact that you can’t get them on the phone. Their emails all get kicked back to you. And their social media pages haven’t posted anything in months. I’d say the cards line up. The tech sector is in a bad way right now (2024 doesn’t look like it will bring any reprieve). And a small company with serious financial issues could easily fall by the wayside.
They obviously were not running their company well. Maybe they tried growing the business too fast. Or maybe they had too many irons in the fire. For a while there, we were getting a bunch of updates on new products that they had in the works. Maybe they sunk a bunch of money into getting these pedals to market. This seems like the obvious answer. When they had issues that delayed the Charlies, it most likely took away a revenue stream they were banking on. While the supply chain issues hampered the sales of their other product lines. And at the end of the day, they just didn’t have the juice to keep productivity up on a mass scale. Right now it is fairly obvious that they have to sell products to make new products. That’s why everything is sold out. They get in a small batch. Sell it immediately, then turn around and order another small batch. That’s a bad position to be in. Because in business, capital & cash flow are king. Currently they’re telling customers that the Charlie Pedals will start shipping after the first of the year. But that they will most likely be filling pre orders into next summer. Which is insane. Maybe they can turn it around. But having a cash flow problem along with a customer service problem isn’t a position one would envy to be in.
When they announced that the Charlie Pedals would be delayed again this summer. The owner of the company promised that we would have weekly updates about the status of the pedals moving forward. There has not been a single update. To see how pitiful their customer service is. You don’t have to look any further than the Better Business Bureau. They currently have an “F” rating as they are sitting on 17 unanswered claims. Most of them from people trying to get their money back on products they purchased months ago. The rest of them are service issues that resulted in never being contacted or called back. The fact that they have so many unanswered claims currently open is another giant red flag. If you are interested in looking at their claims or would like to make one yourself. I’ve attached the link below.
Now, I hope I am totally wrong and that this isn’t the case. But if it is, let’s hope someone who actually has some business acumen buys the company out and runs it the way a business should be run. If they truly are hanging on by a thread, (which it certainly looks and feels like they are on that path) I feel terrible for all the people that gave them their hard earned money for products they could possibly never see. It all really sucks. Because they actually have some good hardware. But like always, it doesn’t matter how good your product is if you can’t service it or take care of your customers after the sale.
It’s also important to note. If you are considering buying a product from these guys. Do it from one of their authorized venders. That way you’ll be protecting your money in case you need a refund or worse. Do “NOT” make the mistake of buying directly from them. A quick google search will pull up a slew of people fighting to get refunded on the Charlie Pedals as well as other equipment to no avail.
Can someone explain to me how you can have a popular product, that’s constantly on back order and go out of business? Were the prices too low? Is it a San Francisco effect? - extremely expensive place have a business. They complained about the supply chain, but on the other hand I can get working (surprisingly) Chinese AirPod knock-offs for 5$ with shipping. What happened here?
The Alpha Yoke is also out of stock on various European web sites.
Mine had a mechanical defect 2 months ago and the seller told me I had to wait until January for a replacement.
After getting very angry they finally refunded.
All in all I find the quality of Honeycomb could be better.
I also had some issues with the bravo throttle handles wiggling and not lining up correctly.
Because you design a good product does not automatically mean you are a good business person. I had the Alpha and Bravo on back order for over 6 month and finally cancelled. They seem to be well designed but after reading all the reviews online and after seeing what people were saying about them on this forum I am glad I did not purchase them.
Maybe the owners will get their “stuff” together and get back in business.
Yeah, my son-in-law’s an excellent motor mechanic (he currently has a job as a troubleshooter for a major car company, travelling the country fixing things for other garages if they’re stumped). He tried starting his own business, but it turned out he was a better mechanic than a businessman and it failed.
Ask the owners of Fulcrum yoke. There can be all sorts of reasons outside of the success of your product to bring you down. Lead times for parts, continuation of Covid impact, rents going up, you name it.
Simming hardware seems like such a competitive arena. And all of these companies are competing for a limited market of simmers, who have such a wide range of requirements on costs, features, platform support, etc…
Didn’t Turtle Beach announce a couple years ago they were trying to sell the company? And they’ve been a pretty big player for decades.
