Phoenix Sim Cable Fault

[synergyn9]

I bought Phoenix when it first came out and have used it extensively ever since. Last week I was happily having a fly around when my young son began crying, so I unplugged my transmitter and went to settle him back down in his cot.

Upon my return I plugged the Tx back in and nothing, tx was not detected at all. Shut down Phoenix, started it up again, still nothing. Tried reinstalling, rolling back vista etc.. still nothing.

So I contacted Phoenix Support by email and they were helpful and sent me a small application to test the lead. It did not work on my desktop or a laptop.

I then borrowed a club mates lead and that worked perfectly fine, so I had confirmed the lead was definitely at fault.

Phoenix told me to send the lead back to them by recorded post (£5), then once they had confirmed receipt of the lead, I could then order a replacement cable for £14.95 plus postage. This I have now done.

However I am peeved because presumably a component has expired or blown within their licensing system and I have now effectively had to pay twice for their chosen form of licensing. I realise this method is far more secure for them but should I be penalised for their choice of system.

In an ideal world I would of thought it far more reasonable for me to send the lead back to them, where it should be tested and checked for abuse and if the lead just appears to of failed, be supplied with a new one free of charge.

Do you think this is unreasonable on my part? I am £22.50 out of pocket

[jboweruk]

I got the same response mate...

[jamiem]

but your cable is what a couple of years old? most stuff has a 1 year warranty, and as you said its had a lot of use so i dont think its unreasonable.

[synergyn9]

but your cable is what a couple of years old? most stuff has a 1 year warranty, and as you said its had a lot of use so i dont think its unreasonable.

can understand that view point, but I would still say it has had no more than say 150 hrs use, which I would not class as at the end of its designed life, or at least I would hope not

[ExtremeXS]

Eek,
I guess they've changed there lead replacement policy, as they used to just ship out a free replacement once the damaged cable was returned.

[synergyn9]

Eek,
I guess they've changed there lead replacement policy, as they used to just ship out a free replacement once the damaged cable was returned.

That was what I had been led to believe as well, hence my surprise!

[jamiem]

i guess it shouldnt wear out, and £22 is a bit steep, on second thoughts i do think they are taking the pee a little, especially if there is no visible damage, just component degradation/failure.

[unwind-protect]

The Sale of Goods Act is your friend. Unless the company you purchased it from claim you misused it, it sounds like an inherent fault to me, and should be replaced at no cost to you.

[Sesame]

Ifind this interesting as ive just tried to use my pheonix cable and found that I cannot get it to recognise the TX, obviously the computer recognises the cable because of the messages, does this mean Im looking at a possible bill for £22 as well?

Hmmm wont be very happy if that is the case.

[handthrottle]

Do not understand that!! I had same trouble...rang them...returned the lead to them, they tested it.....they sent me a new one. FREE!!

[synergyn9]

i guess it shouldnt wear out, and £22 is a bit steep, on second thoughts i do think they are taking the pee a little, especially if there is no visible damage, just component degradation/failure.

No there was no visible damage, cable had not been abused in any way.

I guess times are hard and they have had a change of policy. It seems the wrong thing to do to me.

Guess I should point out that the charge is actually £15 but then you have postage on top plus your costs of sending the original cable to them in a tracked manner. For me it came to around £22.50

[synergyn9]

Do not understand that!! I had same trouble...rang them...returned the lead to them, they tested it.....they sent me a new one. FREE!!

When was this?

[synergyn9]

Ifind this interesting as ive just tried to use my pheonix cable and found that I cannot get it to recognise the TX, obviously the computer recognises the cable because of the messages, does this mean Im looking at a possible bill for £22 as well?

Hmmm wont be very happy if that is the case.

I'm afraid so if they are applying a consistent policy

[Sesame]

Just to finish off my story.

I Sent Pheonix an email thursday they gave me some software to use to test the cable I checed it and of course it still didnt work, so I sent off the cable(sure I had to pay postage) but they have sent me a free replacment which was at home yesterday waiting for me when I got in from work, Ive just checked it all out and it looks like i'm back up and running on Pheonix.

I have to say the service they just gave me was excellent.

[phockzie]

The interface is probably a custom programmed microprocessor that converts the signal from the back of your tranny into a signal that can be sent over a USB bus.

I don't know fully as I don't have Phoenix but it may be written to look for the USB interface on startup and die if it's not plugged into the pc, so i can see what you mean by the licensing issue.

This is a difficult one because the software is written to be controlled via the interface, and is therefore useless without it.

In my opinion, the interface should be treated like any other electronic device and covered by a 1 year warranty, and if it is within the warranty and should be replaced at the manufacturers cost, excluding cost of shipping the defective part back to them. Out of warranty, to be honest, i think £22 is not an unfair price to pay for a replacement interface.