I'm done being patient; time to complain.
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I'll be honest, I've been extremely patient thus far, despite the months of 'updates', which do nothing but kick the can down the road.
The final straw was when a bunch of friends were looking to order some new rings...and I managed to dissuade them from doing so, in the fear that they'd be throwing their money away like I did.
I completely understand manufacturing challenges, which is why I was so understanding for months and months...what I'm not Ok with is the lack of direct communication for the small group of backers who is left in the lurch. If there really is just a small number of people waiting (primarily 'Collection' and ABs), then why is so hard to email us with a simple 'here's the exact reason for your delay, and here's how we're going to make it better'.
Honestly, seeing the 'poll' on what to do with the rings again was another slap in the face...you should be already sending those out to backers who are still waiting. That's just simple customer service! 'We're sorry that we initially told you that we would get your order in by Oct '13,and it's EIGHT MONTHS LATE. Here's a consolidation prize, for your waiting!'
Sorry for the complaining, but I've backed numerous KS projects, and the few where there were lengthy delays (it happens, it's understandable), they have ALL sent personal emails to me, if not something extra in the end. That's what separates respectable businessmen from scammers.
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Complaints noted, and @McLear-Ltd-/-NFC-Ring-Staffers do see all such feedback.
Do try not to take some things personally, this isn't a fly by night project. John has worked hard to create a presence and a community online which should assure those still waiting that they do still matter and will not be left hanging. While the focus of the kickstarter project was on the creation of a polished end product from john's prototypes, it's not the end of the journey by any means.
So understanding that this version of the ring is the very first step in a long journey is important and should be reassuring that John does not wish to leave anyone behind. The community is important, as McLear co is important - neither one will function well without the other.
All this means is that no one is actively trying to irritate you and make you angry because that hurts everyone and makes no sense whatsoever. For example, your being upset has hurt the community by removing potential members from it, which in turn hurts McLear co by removing potential sales, which in turn hurts the community... And so on and so on ad infinitum.To address your wish for more communication, there should be an email going out to the remaining backers soon, once the latest round of packing and dispatching has been done.
Things may appear to be slow in the communication aspect of the project, and I think that there's a lack of understanding concerning how small the company really is, and how greatly it affects things to pull a staff member off other duties to write updates and emails. They really do all that they can, working long hours to kick this journey off properly.
The Qa failed rings are not of saleable quality. Period.
I would go so far as to venture that sending Qa failed rings to backers would have been viewed as an insult of magnificent proportions. So John made the completely correct decision to not use these rings to fulfil kickstarter pledges and cause brand damage and community strife. They are not personally insulting you by doing other things with these rings, they are building and expanding the community and support that you will be able to rely on when you do get your ring and want to explore uses other than phone unlocking.
But your feedback has been reasonable, I'm pointing attention at it and thank you for the comments - they are appreciated, that's what community is all about after all. -
Add me to Karenna's sentiments. Here is what I ordered almost a year ago and was promised delivery on 8 months ago:
Normal Size Ring with Titanium Normal Color Metal. Your inlay choices are Black and Silver and the Ring Size is US Size: 5.5.
Normal Size Ring with Titanium Normal Color Metal. Your inlay choices are Black and Silver and the Ring Size is US Size: 8.I will gladly wait months longer to receive these if I were sent an email stating exactly why my order was delayed and an exact date of delivery. "Soon" does not cut it. "Soon" only works at the beginning of the campaign when people are still excited about the product and haven't undergone 8 months of false promises and over generalized "updates". This means I would be happy to cause delay by taking resources away from production in order to inform the customer individually as to status of their exact order with details. This is how professional businesses interact with, satisfy and more importantly, keep their customers. If this weren't the only somewhat reputable product in town, I would have taken my business elsewhere a long time ago.
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@Lokki said:
To address your wish for more communication, there should be an email going out to the remaining backers soon, once the latest round of packing and dispatching has been done.
Soon. With a qualifying statement. The complaint has been passed on and the wheels are in motion, you can't speed it up unless you're helping out with Qa, packing and dispatch.
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@Lokki There's that "soon" again. Soon means absolutely nothing from you guys. You were saying soon months ago.
When will I receive the following order?
Normal Size Ring with Titanium Normal Color Metal. Your inlay choices are Black and Silver and the Ring Size is US Size: 5.5.
Normal Size Ring with Titanium Normal Color Metal. Your inlay choices are Black and Silver and the Ring Size is US Size: 8.Will it be in June?
Will it be in July?
How about August?
Or do we want to make it a full year from our originally promised day and make it October?Why was my order delayed? As far as I can tell, the rings that I ordered did not fall into any of the categories that have been mentioned in any of the updates.
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Yeah the wait is hard. I'm still waiting for my two kickstarter rings, its like you kinda just get over it. I received one from the pre-orders, it was too big, (my fault obviously) I'm waiting on my kick starter rings to arrive which are smaller, before organizing a return, as I really want to get the size right.
I'm sure it will all work out in the next month or two, but yeah the waiting does suck.
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@leftyfb at a guess, and it's a guess even if a reasonable one, I'd say your order being a multiple ring order had one which either failed QA or was one of the rings which the factory left til last while they were batching sizes and styles instead of following the order sheet.
I can't give you anything better than 'soon' because I am not an employee, I do not see order info and the one who do are using the order info to fulfil orders.
Please note that I did repeat 'soon' on purpose, to point out the qualifier in the statement. There will be an update soon, it is unlikely to be personalised because of the sheer amount of time involved in that but it will be relevant and will most likely be good news.
No one has been forgotten, no one will be forgotten and everyone who pledged or preordered for a ring will get a ring. It would defy logic to fail at that when the aim of the game is to make rings and nfc as common as did players once were. -
@jasok2 if you're unsure of your sizing you should take that ring to a jewellers and get them to size your fingers and the ring. That way you'll know what you're aiming for, and if the jewellers method of sizing is in any way 'off' you'll have a good indication of that by comparing what you know the preorders ring to be sized at with what they measure it as.
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@Lokki said:
@jasok2 if you're unsure of your sizing you should take that ring to a jewellers and get them to size your fingers and the ring. That way you'll know what you're aiming for, and if the jewellers method of sizing is in any way 'off' you'll have a good indication of that by comparing what you know the preorders ring to be sized at with what they measure it as.
Lokki, thanks for the advice, Yeah I did go to a Jeweler prior to my ordering 2 size 10 rings on kickstarter. I decided to go a size 11 for the pre-order ring to use on a different, larger finger. Turned out that was too large. In-case the jeweler was way off I'm just going to wait till the kick starters arrive. If i have to return all 3 I can do it with one lot of shipping. If the kickstarter ones fit well, then I will probably just need to swap the 11 pre order ring for a 10.5
Cheers
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Yeah, methods of measuring can differ a lot between jewellers I'm told, that's why I'd suggest using the ring you have as a reference point.
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So Its been 16 days since the last update, I realize it takes time to do full video updates, maybe we could get a post of where they are up to with the Kickstarter rings that is just updated here every week or so ???
like just a single line saying "ok guys were at 88% now"
something little like this would make the waiting that little bit more bearable for people still waiting on their Kickstarter rings. and it really wouldn't take much of anyone's time.
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I gotta join in on this, I ordered 2 x Titanium rings with Carbon Fibre. Im aware this isnt happening and both myself and my mate who the other ring is for were very happy to have the transparent insert instead. Now having said that its been months since that change was instigated and as yet, no emails, no rings and tbh its beginning to go past the levels of "were having issues please bear with us"
I hate to moan publicly like this but If I had bought anything else and it took this long id have cancelled and went somewhere else by now, but I really do like the product and want to get it!
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Long video update which you guys will find most relevant!
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It's about time! Oh, I'm not talking about the above video which completely fails to mention anything about NORMAL ring orders which I keep asking about and never get an answer on.
I'm talking about the email I just got while watching the video:
Hello Patient Backer
We are just letting you know that you have not been forgotten and we are still working all hours to get your order fulfilled.
We fully believe that we will be able to have your order complete within the next four weeks (hopefully sooner).
Once again we apologise for this delay, we know it isn't acceptable and we are extremely grateful for your support and understanding.
The NFC Ring Team
So I should have my rings by the end of July. Why was that so hard? Hell, 6 months ago it would have been great to get an email that said "due to ....... you should receive your rings in 6 months". Then 3 months later another email that says "We are still on track to get your rings out in 3 months from now". Or even 2 months ago saying "Sorry, due to ...... we will not be able to fulfill your order in 2 months. It will take another 4 weeks on top of that..."
The above emails would have made this entire issue 100x better than it was.
Please learn from these mistakes and spend the time to inform ALL of your customers, not just a select few (alpha, stealth bomber, collections) on a more periodic basis.
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Part of the problem @leftyfb is that we pester the factory almost every single day, trying to get a straight answer from them about a) what they are shipping and b) when they are shipping it.
We learnt early on that relying on the answers they gave us to inform backers as to when they could expect their rings, would end with us looking even more foolish and we'd lose more of your confidence. Invariably they would give us a date and then miss this date and then when the rings did finally arrive, they wouldn't be what we were expecting and with a high QA failure rate.
So we'd have to contact you again after getting your hopes up first, to let you down once again. Not exactly an ideal situation.
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@leftyfb I can see both sides of this one, yeah it sucks that we haven't been told, but every twist and turn since they have given the word go to the factory have been the lies that the factory have given. I refer to an update just before new year where @McLear-Ltd-/-NFC-Ring-Staffers said that a QA fail was due to the upcoming holiday; yet the factory did nothing to improve the situation. In my opinion, they made a bad choice in the factory but a new start up will do that. They have learnt and they have chosen a new factory (or two if they what they say is true). Due to the way factories work and the outlay required to do things starting a production line isn't as simple as it seems. Yes the communications could have been better but they have done well for all they are juggling. I recognise the fact the normal ring with none obscure inlays and the 8 being a normal but it may be the 5.5 that is holding it up, but I can't say.
I'm sure if John listed his day to you there wouldn't be much time for him. It's rare that a company less than a year old has taken on at least two more people of such a high station.
@Karenna I don't think its fair that you put people off because of teething problems, but it is your call at the end of the day. I've been testing the app (reporting bugs) and I still haven't received my ring.
A person completing a task can either be doing the task, pretending to do the task or not doing the task. As rings are landing on door mats I say they are doing the task, just slowly
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This e-mail:
"Hello Patient Backer
We are just letting you know that you have not been forgotten and we are still working all hours to get your order fulfilled. We fully believe that we will be able to have your order complete within the next four weeks (hopefully sooner).
Once again we apologise for this delay, we know it isn't acceptable and we are extremely grateful for your support and understanding."Does NOT solve communication issues it ONLY ADDS to them:
- Identify the problem the individual backer has (plating)(size)(Style)(custom)(bad tag etc)
- Include a copy what the customer has ordered,
- confirm that each issue may have it's own deadline ( Stealth bomber rings entering production) etc. include and estimate where possible.
- Include your concern with their feelings
The e-mail does not specify what the problem is/was, does not confirm to the customer that their individual ring is important, does not answer any questions. It does express that NFC ring team is sorry which I understand and appreciate but that doesn't actually help em in any way shape or form.
Observations:
- is information better than nothing? Hell yes, for that you have my thanks!
- Is personalized info better than generic info...damned right!
3)The Video (johnnyma22) does not match what was in the e-mail, which makes me either a) distrust the e-mail or b) distrust the video. I am writing the e-mail off as an attempt that did not work.
I had ordered two black plated rings Which Lokki advised would become titanium replacements...if that is the case then I have neither the Alpha issue, nor the PVD issue, nor any other explanation for why my two classic rings have not been sent.
I like the company,I think the owner is a trustworthy individual, I even pre-ordered Yet ANOTHER RING ( titanium), but we need to work on the communication skills in e-mail, I offer my insight only to help. If it hurts someones feelings for rejecting their effort that is not the intent.
Best Wishes
~Zackis
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Hi @Zackis , fair points. I was hoping for a little more, myself. But still, it's contact and it was done to remind everyone especially those who aren't using the various points of contact that they haven't been forgotten. I think it will have acheived that much at least.
I'm a little confused about where the video/update/email were conflicting, could you elaborate on that for me? We might be able to clear it up a little.
Just a couple of points to note -
the sudden dropping of pvd will have a corresponding drop in the availability of the titanium replacements. You're possibly just in a bad place on 'the list' which left you waiting for the replacement to come.
John certainly is trustworthy (how could you not trust that accent), the others are too - just overworked! -
Hi Zackis,
We appreciate the feedback for sure. We pride ourselves on trying to be as open as possible with everything we do, as we believe sharing this whole process will help many people in the future through their own product creation processes, but also help backers gain a better insight into some of the challenges faced when trying to create a new product. Even with the delays that we have incurred, we hope that the insights we've tried to provide have at least helped to bring you along on the journey with us.
With that said, I agree that the email that was sent was too generic. We should have taken the time out to try and figure out a system where we could personalise emails to all the individual backers explaining their specific situation. We were under the gun a little and had to get something out to let people know 'we've not forgotten about you' - and this was the quickest way we could do this without spending a significant amount of time trying to correlate data and import into our mail system (mailchimp).
As has been mentioned a numbered of times, we are a very small team trying to make the best of a bad situation. We are of the mindset 'no backer is left behind' and we WILL look after all you awesome backers who have had the patience and to support us throughout this whole process.
If we ever get time to breath, we'll certainly try and give you guys a better understanding of your exact individual situations - but when this time actually comes, we'll probably have already fulfilled all the outstanding orders.
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@Lokki HIya ! What I meant in item 2 is that e-mail said I'll have my ring in 4 weeks. However the video was a bit more doubtful as to if and when more rings would be coming in before the 10th or 11th of July and that the new factory(s) is(are) really probably a month or so away (late july or early August was mentioned) from issuing a prototype. There seems to be a disconnect in timing between what John was saying vs what the e-mail said.
@Chris your statement is fair, your explanation is accurate, what more could I ask for? Communications sometimes mean telling the same guy(s)//ladies in different way that he/she has not been forgotten. I do not feel forgotten any more.
