@staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @kyle @blendergeek still, 2-3 year time between purchase and delivery (assuming it will happen eventually) is pretty ridiculous. (I can only hope they upgraded the hardware specs meanwhile.) You should not build a company like this. If you want a gift, ask for a gift, do not pretend to sell a product.
@arjen @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek When you select a CPU that the automotive industry also has chosen for its infotainment systems, and there is a chip supply chain crunch, you run into a lot of delays. CPU supply is what is constraining our ability to ship out all the L5 orders. As we get more CPUs we manufacture more L5s and ship them. We just finished a new batch, and are starting to contact customers and ship them out.
@kyle @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek Kyle, while understanding this is a complex environment to operate in, the company should have refunded customers and maybe a right to jump the queue for reordering when things look better.
What putism did is say nothing, don't act, and see if they can sit it out without compensating their customers.
So, I cannot recommend anyone to place an order with them. As said before.
@arjen @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek Many people tell us they'd do things differently, but I suspect, like all the companies who attempted this before us, the main thing they'd do differently is quit when things got difficult. Every single aspect of what we are doing is incredibly hard with immense challenges and disappointments at every step. I'm very grateful for all the supporters who stuck with us when things got difficult.
@arjen @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek That's really odd, we have been sending email updates throughout, including sharing our gratitude most recently last month I believe. Perhaps we have bad contact information for you?
@kyle @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek Just saying sorry is not a very customer--friendly solution for a problem you might face. A customer-oriented company would ask me whether I prefer a refund or want to wait. And give a realistic estimate of that wait. I received neither.
@arjen [Removing the group thread as not to spam everyone]. When we can make accurate estimates we certainly share them, and I wish I could give every order an accurate shipping estimate (when I can, I will). We are incredibly sensitive to providing inaccurate estimates based on information that could change, and then disappointing customers further when our estimate turns out to be wrong.
@kyle [that's okay]. The disappointment is not in a wrong estimate, it is in multiple years' wait. I understand that things may be difficult, but you should understand that it is not normal to first take a customer's money and then not deliver for three (!!) years, in a market where products get outdated quickly. (The mail I get is "Purism Investment Opportunity". Well, did that already!) Choosing Purism has been a disappointment so far. Hoping that to change.
@arjen The reason it feels abnormal is because outside of crowdfunding, companies develop products in secret so you can't see the delays and then announce when they are complete. With crowdfunding you get to see all the ugly details and delays, and how long it really takes to do things from scratch. And that's without a pandemic!
We recently announced we are moving away from crowdfunded projects, to develop things privately and announce when they are done, so we can avoid this kind of risk.
@kyle 21 Feb 2019 Purism wrote "We are so close
to being finished - and we are ecstatic!"
It's great that you plan to move away from crowdfunded projects, but I wonder what investor would be happy with a 3 year delay.
Anyways. Enough said. I hope there is a product at some point in the near future.
@arjen Public statements like that demonstrate that it's not just our customers who have been surprised and disappointed by unexpected delays--we have too. It's one reason we've been reluctant to give people estimates until we have their particular phone in our warehouse ready to ship. All we can do is keep our head down and continue to work hard to get everyone their hardware, with ever-improving software.
@kyle @staticvoidmaine @agx @kop316 @blendergeek maybe my real complaint is that I have never been asked to stuck with you. Purism has just **assumed** that they could take my money at day 1, keep it for years, and not give anything in return, apparently thinking that I should feel grateful for having been able to give them money. The responses I get in this thread are not helping; they are not customer-oriented but producer-oriented. I wonder how long a company can survive that way.