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Hey Everyone,
Welcome to another action packed episode of "Customs Roulette" where we make something exciting, you give us your hard earned money, and the Customs Officers of various countries try to foil our plans for on-time fulfillment.
This week, we've got some exciting news. As I write this, the finished O2s are being loaded on a plane bound for JFK. Once they land, it's an easy 60 minute truck ride to our NJ fulfillment center. If all goes according to plan, these should start shipping out by this time next week (Oct 5-7).
That said, this wouldn't be "Customs Roulette" if everything always wen't according to plan. As always, there is a possibility that the US Customs decides to pull our package aside and scrutinize it. This can happen for any number of reasons, but fear not, we're already prepared with every conceivable piece of documentation the US Customs office can request.
Shipping manifests, freshly minted FCC Certification (interestingly enough, the O2 was never certified by the FCC, we took care of that), itemized BOM list of every component, a map detailing the location of Jimmy Hoffa's grave, we've got it all ready to fax/scan/fly over at a moment's notice.
Thanks for your patience, support, on-going discussion, entertaining complaints (the un-entertaining ones.... words hurt guys... I am not made of stone), and everything else.
It's been a long journey but I'm glad we'll reach the finish line together (unless you canceled, no finish line for you).
I'll be around tonight and tomorrow answering questions but if you have anything pressing, feel free to email me as always: will@massdrop.com
Massdrop_Adam
14
Sep 30, 2015
WillThanks so much for the update Will. I completely realize that a lot can go wrong with something like this, and it's great so finally see it ship!
theimmc
872
Sep 30, 2015
Will@Will, are all the O2s for this drop completed, or are they staggering the manufacturing and delivery?
theimmcAll of them are completed, no staggered manufacturing and delivery.
arithon
273
Sep 30, 2015
WillAwesome! Thanks for the update!
theimmc
872
Sep 30, 2015
WillGreat news indeed, thank you!
insomnyteq
15
Sep 30, 2015
theimmchow is this great news? another week for shipping to start? then 4-5 days Likely to get it as im sure mass drop gonna send these out metered post since shipping was free.
i don't see the good. it would be good news if we all got an email with tracking #s that would be good news. more waiting is not good news.
insomnyteq
15
Sep 30, 2015
Willwill you seem legit, but wtf man, why weren't these built while the drop started? i ordered mine like in early July and drop ended like July 28th. these should have been in your "Fulfillment " wherehouse the day after the drop ended... Ive seen businesses go under because of Blunders like this.
I wanna like massdrop you guys like shit that is My kind of schiit. But this was an Epic fail in my eyes, and the saltiness is very mortens, and not iodized.
theimmc
872
Sep 30, 2015
insomnyteqAt least manufacturing is completed, and it is being shipped to the U.S. I'm in another drop where manufacturing is not complete, delivery is being broken into 2 stages, it is 3 months late at this point, and we still don't have a firm date other than "sometime in October for the first batch".
tl;dr : it's all relative :)
insomnyteq
15
Sep 30, 2015
theimmcexcept none of that was in the Drop initially. it had a ship date of August originally, then spet 15th then sept 30th and now maybe october 5th. Its just poor business. Is this company a bunch of children or what? if you offer a product you should have all your ducks in a row. Now it seems to me that massdrop who has had our money since July28th, used our money to fund the Initial build and probably ran into some costing issues, once they placed the orders, so they had to scramble to find parts so they wouldn't loose money, which is why they wont allow Cancellations. ( i saw someone say they canceled, but i have tried 3 times with no such luck.)
whatever they got me this time, never again....
theimmc
872
Oct 1, 2015
insomnyteqFair enough. We should all vote with our wallets. I don't know what happened and I'm not going to defend Massdrop here. I'm just glad the end of this drop is in sight.
Regarding the cancellations, I'm rather surprised. I know that it is standard procedure to offer that when a drop is delayed, and they have always honored that.
userfriendly
27
Oct 1, 2015
insomnyteqI think this is one of the complaints making Will wish he was made of stone.
Seriously though I think people really need to reign in their expectations for these custom builds. I do believe Massdrop could have attached more front facing disclaimers to their dates because these things can be quite unpredictable.
jstabb
37
Oct 1, 2015
insomnyteqWhat you're complaining about is exactly how "group buys" work. Money is always collected from the buyers before an order is placed with the supplier. You realize that's what massdrop is right? They simply organize and run group buys. We get some savings, they get some money off the top, but it's never going to be as quick or as convenient as purchasing from a supplier directly.
There are always potential delays that are outside the control of the group buy organizer. It's just the nature of the beast. Can Massdrop improve on their estimating? Probably. Can they improve on communicating delays? Sure. But I haven't seen any reason to believe they try to deceive their customers, or any reason to feel like I was fooled by this drop.
Granted, this particular item is unique in that Massdrop is working directly with a manufacturer. But I don't see any reason to expect them to fundamentally change their purchase model for a single item because of that.
Have the good graces to extend some grace.
wfseg
1
Oct 1, 2015
WillThanks for the update!
insomnyteqHey insomnyteq,
Been following your posts and the responses. I can see where you're coming from, I can also see where the folks responding to you are coming from as well.
From day 1, our biggest challenge has been explaining complicated situations to our members, especially new members, or members experiencing a drop like this (one that involves new manufacturing) for the first time. It's something we're working to change and should have a solution for soon (these types of drops, where we're essentially manufacturing something for the community, do really well). The solution will manifest in a new way of organizing drops, so it's more clear when someone is joining a drop for products that have yet to be manufactured at scale.
Ultimately it comes down to an asymmetry of information. The experience you had with this drop was different than what you expected, as such, you're upset. Not unreasonable. Meanwhile, lots of people had different expectations regarding possible delivery time. Their experience matched their expectations and they're not upset. Also not unreasonable.
Either way, your points about us communicating more of the details are valid, and they're being worked on. Thanks for calling me legit, I like to believe I am indeed legit.
Someone from our support team is reaching out to you regarding your cancelation request, it shouldn't have been denied, that was a mistake on our end.
Lemme know if you have any other questions I can answer
insomnyteq
15
Oct 1, 2015
jstabbI would agree if it were not something they themselves are part of manufacturing. Not having a solid ship date and offering a product you directly are responsible for is a giant no-no. It's will only serve to ruin future endeavours, there is no loalty built up to fall back on during these times, only stubborn atypical buyers such asyself that are a customer to instant gratification. If they would have stated initially that there was a possibility of a major delay I would have bought it, and I'm sure alot of thers wouldn't have either .
It's pointless to.speculate I.suppose and I feel like I was in wrong causing them of dishonesty, which stemmed from the inability to cancel my order when I.first learned of the shipping delay. ( funny enough after I started posting this thread I got an email saying I could cancel, which is very annoying), regardless I'm in the wrong, they've done nothing that speaks of impropriety .
insomnyteq
15
Oct 1, 2015
WillThanks for the reply. I'm a peculiar man, but i respect the fact you the time to.reply. so in my humblenopinion u are legit. ... likely I will see that im over reacting in time, ( after I receive this amp possibly ) I'm not going to cancel now I'm investing in seeing it through and frankly $75 isn't going to buy me anything better, or any faster, and honestly now I have to see what this thing is all about.......
See my post previous for a sort of apology I didn't have any right to imply massdrop was decitful in anyway. Keyboard warrior enged and whatnot.
anakin
105
Oct 2, 2015
WillIn your defense Will, I be willing to bet that you did not anticipate such a high demand either. Perhaps if the drop was limited to 150 units, for example, for a first time run-through, it may have gone over with less hostility.
ihcTactics
12
Oct 2, 2015
WillThis was the key thing I was pointing out as well: the communication side of thing is what was most detrimental I believe. Not letting us know the status of the parts was what I considered to be the lack of professionalism. I was well aware that we were getting something assembled for us, but when delays happen, updates are a common means to dissipate concerns.
Yes, there will always be people who complain about things they should have read or are just people who feel entitled, and as the saying goes, "You can't please everyone", but hopefully with communication updates, more people would be satisfied.
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