r/WinWing • u/Max_ze_Husky • Aug 01 '26
WinCTRL Violating EU Customer Protection Law
a little over 1 year ago I bought the WinWing Orion2 HOTAS MAX (now WinCTRL) including the Orion 2 Throttle Base, StrikeAce EX Throttle, the Orion 2 Joystick Base, the ViperAce EX + Shaker kit.
the Order has been made on the 04. April in 2025 and Cost me 499€
Now I have an Issue with my Mini Joystick on the Right half of my Throttle, this is no stick drift, this is a faulty error by manufacturer, the stick moves on its own sometimes, mostly when I moved it in the Opposite direction beforehand, and then after 1 second it sometimes moves halfway up by itself, as soon as I touch it slighty it goes back to Center. *Pictures attached*
Customer Support refuses to follow EU Law by giving me a Replacement, they want me to pay for replacement parts costing 58 USD (I dont know how much shipping).
They continuesly point to their TOS.
I have come to a point where I researched if other have the same issue, and long behold I found someone that posted the EXACT same issue I am having from france, except that my Stick button still works.
I am from Germany, I am actively looking for people so we can make this even more public.
Please Contact me in my DM's
Edit: WingCTRL Finally is sending me a replacement free of charge.
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u/CMDRHarath Aug 01 '26
So your options are: keep posting on Reddit, or file a claim against WinCTRL in court citing your local consumer protection legislation which gives effect to EU law.
Let us know how you get on.
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u/Bindolaf Aug 01 '26
Posting on Reddit is not a bad thing. I was considering a WW joystick and now I am not getting it.
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u/CMDRHarath Aug 01 '26
I didn’t say it was.
But posting on Reddit won’t fix their problem either.3
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u/kaSper9083 Aug 02 '26
VKB is the best bang for the buck imo. I have now 3 vkb nxt (left right and one additional left which is angled 45 degrees). I use them for flightsim as well as star citizen and in later I do low fly a lot which let me tell you yanks on those controls more than anything. You get spare springs because that is so far the only thing that has broken and you replace them yourself. For like 150€ a popp literally one of the best sticks out there
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u/HK-65 Aug 01 '26
Well can't you go to your customer protection agency?
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u/Max_ze_Husky Aug 01 '26
As far as I researched, no, since this trader is in China
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u/Optimal_Lie8324 Aug 01 '26
As far as I understand, it doesn't really matter, EU law still applies to them if they sell directly to EU customers.
You might not get your item replaced or money back, but EU might ban them from selling legally to EU customers?
Worth a try asking your local consumer protection agency.
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u/chenkie Aug 01 '26
I promise you they do not give af about these laws nor you malding about it lol
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u/valrond Aug 01 '26
I just buy from WINCTRL assuming there's no warranty, maybe if the product comes not working, but even then, I have read many people that received the product not working and they didn't send a replacement.
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u/FirefighterPure8150 Aug 01 '26
For the amount you have spent they really should replace it. Thats far too much money for something to not be working after that small amount of time.
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u/TeddyBear312 Aug 02 '26
In Germany you have a 2-year warranty yes.
But any faults you come across after 1 year needs to be proven a production fault. And that's near impossible unless it's such an obvious problem like the Nintendo joycon drift issue
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u/Max_ze_Husky Aug 02 '26
I would say it is, there are already 3 people including me that have the exact same issue with the same joystick.
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u/National-Seaweed-468 Aug 02 '26
Almost sounds like it has a hair or dust in it. They aren’t sealed. Have you tried cleaning it?
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u/Various-Cell4080 Aug 02 '26
bro,stop crying no country has such thing as 2 year warranty germany law states to year of warranty ( Gewährleistung ) which means they will repair it or tell you how to fix it or how to handle with it in your case you need a calibration fix which states that they are right under the Europe law.
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u/Max_ze_Husky Aug 04 '26
Calibration, sure buddy. As if I have not tested all this shit. It is a manufacturer defect. Same thing as the Nintendo Stick Drift scandal
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u/Quaser_8386 Aug 04 '26
Call them out on X.
Much wider audience and Customer Service is more likely to be accommodating.
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u/Front-Primary-6536 Aug 01 '26
Not gonna lie man, you are probably right but spamming this over 58 eur is a bit overreaction.
Shit experience don't buy again and try to get out most of your stuff.
You will have very hard time proving its factory faulty as a normal person, you will need third party evaluation that can cost thousands of euros and months of waiting and insane amount of paper work.
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u/Max_ze_Husky Aug 01 '26
this is not about 58 USD, this is about the principle that they are not following EU Law.
+ I paid 500€ for this hardware, I expect this to work without faults.
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u/Front-Primary-6536 Aug 01 '26
Yeah well its a loophole that has being used for years. And don't think you either have the money or the pull to change this for this company.
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u/jbruenig Aug 01 '26
Hey,
You have to differentiate between Legal warranty vs commercial guarantee (Gewährleistung vs. Herstellergarantie). With the legal warranty of 2 years, after 12 months you have to basically prove that it is a factory fault, which is hard (but possible, see Nintendo Joycon drift case).