Paddy.

Nice to be getting back into TMP after quite a while away from it all.

They'll just have to wait!

I've been on a little absence of late, getting to see my girlfriend for the first time in months since coronavirus struck. It's been a great little break from gaming to see her and it's been such a tremendous relief.

That said, it is nice to have been in the server again tonight, and it's been wonderful getting welcomed to the TMP staff team by a wonderful bunch of people. Thank you to all who have given their best wishes.

A big thanks to everybody who has congratulated me tonight. I'd love to send thanks to you all but the forum is now frowning heavily at me, so rest assured that I appreciate your messages and love.

You always get stopped at at least one light.

Big congrats to you in your promotion.

A massive congratulations to you on your promotion. Well deserved bump up from somebody who continuously has a positive impact on the community.

I bumped into a truck-fest of sorts at the Dealership in Pheonix, AZ

Congratulations on your new role Emma!

A happy congratulations to you on your return to being a Game Moderator. See you out on the road I'm sure.

I should be absolutely clear that this has not been a comfortable topic for me to tackle publicly for a number of reasons, including my hesitancy when flagging a company as avoid at all cost, and certainly not least of all because there is a degree of embarrassment that comes from the simple fact that I should have known better and I should have looked into it more. While that may be true, and while it may well be the case that I am preaching to the converted in many cases, I feel obliged to make this status highlighting the importance of checking and double checking what you're getting yourself into when looking to invest in products — especially products which are niche in nature, such as SKRS Shifters.

Preamble

In order to understand what happened, it's important to first understand what I was looking for in the first place. Simply put, I wanted a shifter knob that was similar to the styling of an Eaton Fuller 18 Speed shifter (much like the one you can see in the banner above). I had seen the same kind of setup from Squirrel in this video and got myself very much set on that kind of product. Of course, that product was no longer available as CSIO was already well documented as unreliable or unresponsive, I instead followed the link within the youtube video. I placed an order, then found myself being a little confused by the lack of payment options, but rather the "promise to pay" situation. It didn't feel right, so I asked ALMAR about it on facebook, who promptly cancelled my order and asked me not to try to purchase from them again. If you are ALMAR, I didn't mean any offence.

So! Frustrated and somewhat flustered and red-faced, I stumbled across Tech Affliction, which seemed to be legitimate enough, with a formal payment method, a facebook with videos, and a number of other platforms that it had posted on. It's maybe because of this trustworthy aesthetic, coupled with my previous disappointment that made me simply order a Mega Shifter (complete with the 18-speed medallion) and give them my money. At the same time, I bought my Logitech G920 and Shifter and sat like an excited little child waiting for a new toy.

The steering wheel and shifter arrived, and I enjoyed it a lot at first. First couple of days just getting used to playing ATS/ETS2 without an Xbox Controller was surreal. Horray! Something different. Everything was great.

Turning Point

I think it was more through looking forward to the product arriving that got me digging a little further than genuine concern about the product arriving, but it was this excited curiosity that led me to realize that something was significantly wrong. From the simple act of clicking the Community tab on the Tech Affliction facebook page, I found some scathing reviews, from people asking where their products were, to people outright telling the company that they were escalating their claim to paypal, as it had been 4 months with no level of correspondence. Further searches led me to finding similar negative reviews on Steam and various other things. Suffice to say, I was no longer excited. I was a rather suffocating combination of worried and furious.

The Remedy Process

It became apparent that I should take action at this point, and so I did. I sent Tech Affliction an email, alerting them to my concerns. I also made a point of offering them a working week in which to respond to my email. As an extended courtesy, I also sent this message to their facebook, their reddit and their discord. I even tried to add them on steam so I could send the message there. My friend request was never accepted, nor was my messages acknowledged (nor read, where platforms allow me to be privy to that information). The order still remains "In a Build Queue" to this day, with no ETA being available whatsoever.

And so, the issue has been escalated to paypal, with a number of screenshots outlining the issues. Now it's a waiting game to see what the outcome is, though from some research, I've found that a number of other victims have been successful in disputing their purchase against the company.

Here are some key pictures from the ongoing paypal dispute. Note that ones with personal details (such as when I sent facebook messages, or ones that have my full address on them (take me to diner first )) have been removed:

Conclusion

I don't make posts like this lightly, as it's not what I would consider to be a particularly comfortable topic, nor is it entertaining in any way. Furthermore, I consider it to be an egregious and rank discourtesy to "out" a company as being unreliable without it being absolutely necessary. I do not like getting into defamation of anyone or anything, I don't like having heated political debates, I don't like being in controversial scenarios. It just isn't how I get my kicks.

However, it would be a moral offence not to alert other like-minded people of a potential consumer trap that they may stumble into, especially when a fair amount of the TMP community consists of young players, some of which will be using their parent or guardians credit card or paypal to make what is a hefty investment.

To that end, I have to be absolutely clear:

Do not make any purchase from Tech Affliction, as the purchase will not be processed and you will have to fight tooth and nail to get your money back.

More broadly speaking, research what you're buying when it's a niche product. Look at the overall reputation of the company and look at recent reviews. You will be much more likely to get what you're paying for.

I now have a Scania 12+2 shifter that I bought from DrivGear via Ebay. It functions exactly the same as the one advertised by Tech Affliction, and I couldn't be happier with it. Even then, if you're reading this weeks, months, or years after the post date, check how they are doing now. Things can change. As a consumer, you should take nothing for granted.

Stay safe, and keep on trucking.

- Paddy.

Well, a couple of runs back and forth from Genoa, including a mad dash from Milan to the East Gate, I've completed the goal.

I'm not sure I am madly in love with the paintjob, but it's reminiscent of an achievement, so I'll take it.

Pictures from today's Prime and Courtz convoy on Sim 2.

Hey Elvis. Happy birthday.

Hope you have a great day (or evening now).