I'm done being patient; time to complain.
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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.
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@Zackis, ah ok - not really! Disregard the extra factories, it's reassurance that things are moving on and NFC Ring will move on from this single factory in the extremely near future, it doesn't alter that the last of the kickstarter pledges should be completed in the time frame suggested. Before you say 'but it's been said before, Lokki, and they were wrong' I'd like to point out that it's down to the last few now and there really shouldn't be any major issues crop up.
Fingers crossed. ;-) -
I have to say, it was nice to get the email, its good to know I haven't been forgotten.
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Has all the e-mails to backers that haven't received rings been sent out? Or in other words, should I wait further before I contact Support about not receiving the email even though I receive all other emails from NFC Ring and KickStarter?
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Bunker
On Friday I too read that the e-mail had been sent, the previous day, to all outstanding Kickstarter pledges but I had'nt received the e-mail so I e-mail'd support and low and behold I received the said e-mail 4 hours later followed by an acknowlegement of my support request.
I suggest you wait until Monday morning and if nothing then e-mail support.
The e-mails may be stacking on a server somewhere this has happend to me when I had to send several thousand e-mails (legally) in one go.
I know how it feels that you may have missed something. -
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Thanks for both of your advice.
I've had unclear shipping notice(s) earlier so I'd like to know that we are in sync with what has been sent and received by me. So unless I get an email next week I'll just doublecheck with Support.
