Mmm … A competitive arena and a niche one too despite MSFS making it a bit more popular.
Not surprised Turtle Beech were thinking of selling. Hope they’re doing okay though. I’m thinking of getting their V1 Rudder Pedals.
I would be hesitant to draw any conclusion. Why not simply wait a bit and see what happens?
There are been a number of bad omens over this year to lead some to believe that the company is in dire straights.
Delays and customer service issues are the biggest ones.
There have also been some website issues this year that are potentially related to them not paying their service providers.
I have been having issues with thrust reverse and TOGA button not working that seem to be similar to this video, but I have not torn mine apart yet.
I also think one of the Bravo switches might be going bad, but I haven’t ruled out a config issue completely.
The Charlie Pedals have been “coming soon” for going on a year now. I cancled my pre-order and got my money back luckily.
From the start people have complained about very bad customer support when contacted directly. As the OP says,
When you feel bad about a company don’t do business with them. It’s something else if you have a reputable trader responsible for you. In my case I got the yoke via Aerosoft and when I had a problem I got help offered there. I could resolve it myself but the offer was there. People who contacted HC themselves often complained that they haven’t got any answers at all. That’s not building trust when you then try to sell a new product containing 3 axes for 350$..
And it NEEDS to be spoken about. Situational awareness..
I originally bought the Alpha and Bravo from a reputable aeronautical dealer March 2023, They would NOT refund my purchase of a defective Bravo. They insisted I had to deal with Honeycomb.
I sent the requested photos and videos proving the device was defective. At first Honeycomb Support was somewhat responsive, agreeing the unit was faulty and promising a return authorization. Since then, though, I 've been waiting for a return ticket for the defective Bravo. Nine months. Many calls and emails.
For the first few months they occasionally acknowledged emails and/or phone calls to offer excuses. All communication ended around four months ago. Crickets. Nada.
It’s a shame. The Alpha and Bravo are fine devices for the price. But let the buyer beware. Something is very amiss with Honeycomb. I would steer clear.
Let’s be really honest here.
There have been lots of postings here and on other forums for a long time now regarding problems with Honeycomb customer service. This is a bit of a sign post for any company whether the company is healthy or not. After sales service is very important for any major purchase. Either you avoid such a company or you purchase from them and gamble that the product will not fail on you.
I actually took the latter option when I bought the Alpha and Bravo albeit from a reputable 3rd party and not direct from the supplier. They were good products for a good price. I gambled however that they wouldn’t go wrong and with the knowledge that if there were issues then I was pretty much stuffed.
Honestly, I really think this has been pretty evident for a while now for anyone who does a bit of due diligence before making a purchase.
I bought an Alpha XPC before I was aware of this issue surfacing and TBH do feel a bit miffed. Worried what happens when it (inevitably?) fails in some way or part. Oh well!! Could be the excuse I need for a Brunner upgrade hahah.
Yes, I remember you saying you bought it from ‘Box’. I hope it lasts you a long while Baracus 
I don’t know, maybe I’m different from a lot of other simers. I usually ‘read up’ a lot before buying. I guess not everyone is the same 
And they have shown preproduction models that I seriously like; used one for many weeks and it was great. But indeed, there seem to be serious issues with getting enough production done. This could very well be the lack of good HAL sensors in the market right now. Other producers of controllers faced the same issues (and some have changed to less accurate sensors) even though they run production runs that are a fraction of what Honeycomb needs to do.
I have been in this niche market for a ■■■■■■ long time, and it would not be the first time a company ends up with a ton of 99.99% ready products, waiting for that last bit that you can’t get your hands on no matter what you pay. That means you have invested fully and have no income from sales.
I have always been very much against pre-ordering if it means pre-paying for reasons like that. I gladly pay when it can be shipped and would be willing to make that promise to a distributor. If a product is in such demand before release, the distributor is sure he can sell all products he can get his hands on anyway. If the rudder would just come on the market when they are available and not be pre-sold by distributors, there would be far less of a problem.
Again, why not simply wait? If you buy current stock from a company like Aerosoft you get good service and guarantees.
Mathijs Kok
PMDG
Last contact was 3 month ago. I query them once a week.
That’s the same experience I’ve had.
To be fair though, how long should people be expected to wait? I think these things have been delayed time and time again. I’m not sure to be honest exactly when they were expected but I am pretty sure that it is a long while ago now.
This coupled with reports of a lack of communication and concerns of company health (whether valid or not, I don’t know) must be quite worrying not only for people who have already paid for a pre order but also for potential customers.
I myself may have looked at buying the Charlie rudders but availability and other concerns have now pushed me to look at other similarly priced products.
Three months is a long time especially when you contact them on a weekly basis.
I hope your persistence pays off, really I do
The wait has been 6 months. 3 months since they said the problems were all ironed out and that they would start sending shipping labels again.
I hope you guys paid on a credit card - at least that way you can claim from the issuer if there’s no response from Honeycomb.
I thought something was up with them when the Alpha yoke launched and almost all British orders were just cancelled without any warning. Their customer service sucks, and while the quality may be better than Turtlebeach or Thrustmaster, quality means nothing when you can’t even get your hands on the product - at least TB and TM reply to their customers! I’ve said for ages that I wouldn’t touch Honeycomb products (as someone else has said, bad customer service generally points to failings elsewhere within the company), and it seems I’ve been proved correct.
Good luck to those with faulty products or pre-orders with them.
I think he meant wait til we know whether they’re still in business or not and have more information, rather than speculating. I don’t believe he meant wait til you get your money back or order fulfilled.
Be careful with waiting if you already have money down. Some refunds/claims have time limits. I recently got caught by this with pretty much the same situation with Fulcrum Controls. My desire for the actual product was what drove me to wait too long. If you can it’s best to cancel and just re-order and your time limit starts fresh. I will never do a pre-order money down first arrangement again. There is a small light at the end of the tunnel for Fulcrum but that may not end up being the case with other manufacturers.
Shame because the Charlie pedals had promise and from what I did see of them were by far going to be HC’s best product.
I don’t want to too far OT here, but this is another reason why it’s good to be a British subject. Here, if you buy faulty goods, your beef is with whoever you bought it from, not the manufacturer. They have to come up with a solution under criminal law. Yes, the manufacturer gives you a guarantee, but that’s just a written promise, and it’s not illegal here to break a promise.
Although buying things at the factory gate is definitely A Thing here, we tend to shy away from it and buy from a retailer.
I’m happy to be corrected, but I don’t think companies in America are under the same constraints. And even if they were, if they’re truly struggling, they can’t help you.
Criminal law? Are you sure? It’s a few years ago since I studied law but back then I think it would have been civil law I seem to remember
Didn’t know about the manufacturers’ guarantee being just a promise which was not backed up by law either. I always thought a manufacturer’s guarantee was something like a contract between the buyer and manufacturer and subject to contract law. As said though I am far from being an expert on this (and never have been 
) so thank you for the info. All knowledge is good.
Oh, yes. There have been several updates and tweaks, but the one that would apply here is the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the latest iteration. The basic premise is that when you go to a shop, or online seller, you basically say, “You agree to deliver goods to me, and I agree to give you money”.
Assuming you both agree, which is what normally happens, a contract is immediately created between you and the seller. That’s an important point; no contract exists between you and the manufacturer.
The Act puts the responsibility on the seller if there’s a problem. This is the simplest explanation I’ve found: