Monthly status please

[David C Black]

I have several orders pending and it's literally been years in the making. I'm sure there are others like me that are anxious because we've seen not a single item shipped.

[Teunis Vaandering]

I agree, please send us an update. Also if the update is something like: “We do have nothing to say because the supply chain is difficult, technical details are not working put as expected, other xyz reasons”.

For me this will be the 2nd year anniversary, and i think i do have made a mistake. 

- No gigglebits (ok, understandable proprietary difficulties)

- Long update intervals. (I have learned to manage expectations by under promising and over performing)

- Pi-Smasher, no klu what it’s function will be (the announcement of a “crippled” version with the option to upgrade does not prommesses any good)

- No partial shipment to overseas (my topic still here in the forem)

For me this order is worthless if the piSmasher does not have the promised 2 ethernet phy’s. I hope the HDMI receiver and transmitter are still part of the deal, but the planned piSmasher should have at least a HDMI transmitter, the HDMI receiver would be less of a deal breaker for me but still nice to have. 

My question for now is: if my requirements for the piSmasher are not fulfilled or the upgrade is too expensive to fulfill my requirements, can i cancel my order completely and get a complete refund?

Sorry that I am so krtkl, I hope the outcome will be positive, it just me and others have waited for so long. and start to get disappointed in several different ways.

[Cousins]

Teunis, David, et al,

Agreed, we're overdue for an update. We'll get one sent out next week. We're still awaiting responses from Crowd Supply on a handful of logistical questions that have been outstanding for several weeks/months; we'll give them a nudge.

I'm a bit surprised there are still multi-year-old orders that have yet to be at least partially filled. As we've mentioned in past updates, the fulfillment process is virtually 100% opaque to us. We've provided CS with guidance/suggestions/requests re: the order of fulfillment, but ultimately the only thing we have control over is how many units we deliver to their warehouse. For international orders, I believe we've provided several opportunities for backers to receive split shipments if the additional freight costs are covered...and I can't think of a single person who has emailed us (ord...@krtkl.com) requesting part/all of their order be expedited that we've had to turn down.

We've admittedly wavered on the exact piSmasher specs, pricing, etc. over the years, but the final decision is: nobody will be receiving a 'dumbed down' version of the piSmasher – we will be building one version. I only ask that you remain patient a little longer as the final update, details, etc. will be released once we have production hardware in hand to avoid any further 'disappointment.' But to answer your question: anyone who is not satisfied with the final piSmasher outcome will be entitled to a refund for the amount pledged for that product or an 'exchange' for a product/s of equivalent value to the amount pledged. 

We will not be delivering any subpar or incomplete products. That's just not who we are. And while I can't say that every decision we've made since the start of the campaign has been flawless – or that everyone agrees with our approach – I can say that we have sincerely committed to making the most responsible decisions with the information available to us at the time in an effort to deliver on our promises and give the snickerdoodle platform the greatest chance at long-term success. 

-Ryan

[Freeman Pascal]

I have three orders that I have been waiting for for years, over $600 worth. Apparently I must have asked the good Lord for patience and he decided to teach me through experience. After two years, the projects I had my boards slated for have quite a bit of dust on them.

-Freeman

[Cousins]

Hey Freeman,

I believe I've offered on multiple occasions to partially fulfill your order/s (given you are such a steadfast snickerdoodle supporter, and perhaps the biggest/most vocal snickerdoodle fan who has yet to receive any hardware :), but you've consistently declined – which is totally fine and at your discretion. As mentioned in my previous post, 1) Crowd Supply's order of fulfillment is entirely out of our direct control, however 2) we are more than happy to accommodate partial shipment/expedite requests out of our own stock wherever possible.

Of course, a lot of people have informed us they have "no use" for snickerdoodle without a piSmasher. Unfortunately, in that case, the wait continues. But believe me when I say we are more eager to get these things shipping than anyone...

-Ryan

[Freeman Pascal]

Then I was too dense to recognize the offer. The last time we exchanged email, I thought you were putting in the word to Crowdsource have my order shipped. This was in the first half of December. I was looking forward to possibly playing with my boards during my holiday break.

If the offer still stands, yes I would be happy with the partial delivery -- especially if all I would be waiting for is the piSmasher since I will have the breakybreaky boards. Hell, I'd cover the shipping for the piSmasher when it becomes available.

-Freeman

[Cousins]

Ah yes, right you are: I requested CS ship your order in early December. Apparently that request was ignored. I feel like we had another exchange on Twitter at some point as well?

Anyway, I'll get you something this week. 

[age...@gmail.com]

I too have been waiting for over two years for my order. Crowdsupply now lists all expected shipping dates as in the past but items have yet to ship.

I'm not sure  why you are having so many issues with Crowdsupply - all other projects I've supported via them have managed to ship without any issues.

[Cousins]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Crowd Supply was somehow responsible for the project delays. I was merely pointing out that the fulfillment process isn't something we directly control. 

We've obviously had to push out some products' ship dates on multiple occasions, however we've been actively working on shipping out everything we can as items become available – which has inevitably lead to some confusion. 

It's not an excuse, but please keep in mind there are still only three of us working on this stuff full time.

[age...@gmail.com]

Well, where you really fail is in the expectation management department. When you stay silent for a month after all these delays, it feels just like most other scams on the crowdfunding sites.

Here is a suggestion - start a blog page and write something every day. I don't care if you write 10 words about how you spilled coffee on the kitchen floor in the office. Just show some sign of life.

Right now I (and probably a lot of other backers too) are getting frustrated because we hear nothing from you. I'm sure you are working hard at solving whatever problems you are working on right now, but when you stay silent, we forget that.

[Cousins]

Yes, we could admittedly do a better job of keeping people updated and thank you for the suggestion.

[Cousins]

An update has been delivered to Crowd Supply. We've requested it be posted tomorrow morning but the exact dissemination time/date will be determined by their current workload/backlog.

[age...@gmail.com]

And here we go again, another month of silence...

[Cousins]

We are working with Crowd Supply on another update right now. Will either be posted this week or next. 

[c...@visual-av.com]

Why can't y'all just put status information, like how Pi Smasher is coming, in the forum? We're a little over a month from Pi Smasher shipping, according to Crowd Supply. It would be good to hear how the testing is going.

[weath...@krtkl.com]

Hi,

I think the issue is that we've pulled down the ability to pre-order any more piSmashers until the current orders are fulfilled and they are a stocking item.

This was done to manage expectations for delivery since the final product has been delayed significantly and a long time coming.

Otherwise the issue (which has occurred a lot already) is people will see the public information and send out multiple inquiries trying to order it.

For now I think the status updates need to stay on CrowdSupply where the backers are but that will change shortly.

-Jamil