Bad quality Controll

[Bit]

Dear VKB your quality control is either bad or you are cutting corners. I have been using Gladiator NXT EVO for about a moth now and here are the issues I have with it. The aluminum pushpins for "hat" switches are badly finished with milling machine marks not polished out thus making the ugly grinding noise when pressed against tact switches. Some of the switches are mushy when pressed and lost the tact feel to them. F1 and F3 buttons on the base sticking so bad that they have to be pushed several times to unbind. Plastic mold was not trimmed to spec. Dust cover for the gimbal is making grinning noise at times. Scraping against the top of base housing. The pcb was renewed, but the firmware was not so my stick was shipped with reversed axis out of the box. "The firmware issue was fixed". I have submitted ticket and replacement parts have been sent out. Seriously.... get it together. Would I buy another one? Highly unlikely. My Original Gladiator (plastic model)still works without any issues. Worn for sure, but it had no such issues with it.

[fallout9]

If you got the parts to fix this long list of issues (such a long list though...) then we seriously got it together, right? Seriously now, we're human - there are mistakes, happens for all tiny and huge manufacturers. I can only assure you that exactly the same kind of buttons get into all similar joysticks out there and this is one of the very few complaints we've ever heard about it. The aluminum posts? Even if they're not perfectly polished that shouldn't interfere with the way the hat switches work - the posts is simply pushing a switch and release it - it doesn't travel nor slide, so not sure how a part not being mirror shiny could interfere in such a bad way.
About the axes being reverted - that's really silly, sorry. All flight and space sims provide an inversion option in their axes menu for exactly this reason - some joysticks are reversed and others not. Same joystick could work fine in one game and would need axis reverse for other. Again, all games offer an inversion feature. We do too, in our native software - if interested I could explain more.
I'm sure the reason you won't buy another joystick from us is that you know that this specific joystick is extremely reliable and won't need replacement too soon Otherwise, not too sure, but there should be plenty of great choices even at a better price on the market.

[Bit]

Perfect response from an arrogant mod. I expect nothing less from you. Customer is a dump ass and I'm mod the intellectual. Badly machined metal parts with deep groves grinned on a plastic that's not so hard to understand. Metal is harder then plastic. Post are pushing on the slight angel so naturally there will be some friction as a result you get griding noise plain and simple. Badly sticking buttons like on my base should not be sold this way PERIOD. As far as firmware. LOL that a a good one. I told you before I don't give a **** about YOUR feelings. The stick should work proper out of the box end of story. If any of my employees behave like you do I would >>> them on the spot.
As far as VKB defiantly will avoid in the future and will not recommend to anyone. Number one rule in any business is to listen to your customers feedback. You keep it up. I bet you are one smooth dude in live.

[fallout9]

No sir, arrogant would be to pick on your grammar skills. I'm just trying to explain some things and I'm holding back from responding at a similar level as yours. You are absolutely not right about hat switches, but it's not my scope here to dig deeper into that.
We're very much listening to customer feedback, but we prefer constructive and civilized feedback, if you don't mind. It's one of the most important rules here too, buffering tantrums is not.

[Bit]

English is not my native so it's cool you can pick on my grammar. I wont melt from it. Yes I'm correct about HAT switches. The stem is not pushing flat or parallel on the switch but on the arc motion similar to clock needles. This does create friction between stem switch and the aluminum pushrod as it is evident from nasty and very loud scraping noise and grinned marks on the switch plunger, I wound say that this has been the loudest most annoying Hat I have ever seen on any sticks to date. Even ***ty Thrustmeter has smother click then this. The F buttons fit to tight in the housing as a result any slight imperfect center press will lock them and prevent them from popping back up. BTW FYI I know something about mechanics and machining just incase you wanna know.

[fallout9]

Neither mine, so I'm glad we're finally sharing something and hopefully something good will come out of it. About the hat switches - make a test, pull out the cap from either A3 or A4 hat switches. Now move the central post so it would actuate the switches inside - see how short are both the switch travel and the post to switch travel are? That's why I'm saying that I don't think a poorly polished post would create such issues, because its motion is extremely restricted. On the other side, these hat switches are not supposed to be noisy; to me they sound rather muffled, but this depends from person to person.
Buttons getting stuck - if they're not damaged I'm sure that with a bit of 'exercise' they'll start acting properly.
Nevertheless, I am sure the people from the technical department will try to fix all your issues through the ticket you've submitted.

[Bit]

Forgot to add..

It was your tech support that acknowledged the issue with rough machined stems. And recommend to polish them, naturally I asked for a replacement.
Here is the quote from them not me.
"Please take out the stem of hat switch and polish it. You can apply a bit grease (only a thin layer is enough) on it. Please use the grease that does not corrode plastic and nylon."

I used very thin layer PTFE. Guess what.. the noise is gone. Anyway the parts will get here soon, so I should be good to go. The base I can fix, just needs a bit of filing so the switch buttons can move easer.
You have a good day I'm gonna go now and have cold beer.

[fallout9]

It seems like it's slowly getting better. Enjoy your cold beer, I'll do the same. Cheers!

[DeadWalking]

Nothing like a bit of hyperbole to get a point across.

[skarekrow]

Beers on me fallout9 !!!l

[Bit]

Hey
Just wanna let you know I got the parts and it fixed the issues. It would be nice if you could implement a small cut out notch for the trigger springs, just to keep em in line. I got them in, but with my arthritic hands was a bit of a fight, I won at the end You can lock this thread if you wish since all of the issues have been resolved.
Have a good day!

[fallout9]

That's good news! Thanks for update and enjoy.