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On the pre-production status


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17 minutes ago, vlycop said:

Hey rude ....

Plus it's not the first product that i order, how get delay a lot with bad communication, and after a couple of units shipped cancel everything. (A tablet anyone ?)

It's highly frustrating to know it migh end sideways, to see fxtec at the limits of honesty.... So yea we arent fan... Are you ?

Yeah sorry not sorry that I find humor in all the impatience and elaborate conspiracy theories posted after Erik just updated us this morning that everything was still on schedule.  To me it's just a phone. If I feel like it's too long to wait, I could cancel instead of complaining but at the end of the day, it's probably been 10 years since I've seen a decent slider unless I count my Priv which I kinda don't so even if I'm not in the first batch, I'm cool with that.  There has been nothing in this process so far that says scam or anything like that in my opinion.  

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I just had to create an account to chime in as a voice of reason here, because there is some seriously toxic entitlement going on in this thread. I, as I'm sure pretty much everyone else who actu

Thanks for pointing out before the mass panic :). Corrected to January as it was meant.

Some pages ago during December I requested a refund for preorder, and decided to wait till FxTec could actually deliver. Everything has been processed in a friendly and timely manner :-). What I can a

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16 minutes ago, Siani_8 said:

Yeah sorry not sorry that I find humor in all the impatience and elaborate conspiracy theories posted after Erik just updated us this morning that everything was still on schedule.  To me it's just a phone. If I feel like it's too long to wait, I could cancel instead of complaining but at the end of the day, it's probably been 10 years since I've seen a decent slider unless I count my Priv which I kinda don't so even if I'm not in the first batch, I'm cool with that.  There has been nothing in this process so far that says scam or anything like that in my opinion.  

100% agreed.

FxTec produces the phone I always wanted since my old HTC Desire Z died. I am thankfull for that and I will wait patiently until it arrives.
Why all the hate in here? It seems to me like some of the users in here act like kindergarteners who do not get their new toy fast enough....

If you are unhappy with the situation, you can always cancel your preorder,
or just calm down and be patient. We will get the phone soon 😊

Edited by Shilor
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I also think it's funny to watch these keyboard warriors freak out.

Hardware is Hard. It is very hard. Communication is also hard despite its simplicity. Too much communication increases risk. Apparently with the update 9 hours ago, it got a bunch of folks to freak out and assume every worst possibility. I'm not saying that those possibilities are wrong either given the "challenges" with trade but the reaction is amusing.

Stuck at "China Export" is the only part I'm concerned with given... trade tensions, etc. but on the bright side, at least its coming! Remember when the keyboard mod couldn't be built because of the lack of "parts" available and terrible Moto support and software/hardware approval? This is free of that. The device exists, they're making it and they just need to jump through the hurdles of delivery logistics. Logistics that challenged Tesla. Logistics that enable Amazon to be king. But that should actually tell us how hard it is.

So relax, this is the endgame. 😀

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1 hour ago, david said:

I will add my voice to those who were not at all pleased with this update.  If it should be read like Hook did, then it should be re-written.  To me, it sounds like more excuses and broken promises.  They were supposed to be shipping from the final locations on the 29th.  That means shipped to customers.   And that means they should have been in those final shipping locations by now. 

.....

I'm eager to get the phone and I'm guessing it will be a good phone, for the most part.  I'm not at all happy about how they have handled the communication around delays.

I have to agree with this sentiment.  I take the most important phase as this giveaway, "The first batch is being held at the Chinese export customs at the minute." That means that the phones are *never* going to reach Fxtec warehouse in time to ship tomorrow.  End of story. Period.

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36 minutes ago, Tim6263 said:

I have to agree with this sentiment.  I take the most important phase as this giveaway, "The first batch is being held at the Chinese export customs at the minute." That means that the phones are *never* going to reach Fxtec warehouse in time to ship tomorrow.  End of story. Period.

Well I'm gonna make a bold statement and assume that the phones weren't built at Chinese customs, hence they had to be shipped there to begin with in order for them to be currently held there.  So as promised, they are currently being shipped.  If Erik didn't update us on this out of their hands minor delay, people would be complaining that there is no communication.  Looks to me like they are doing everything they can to get these orders out and keeping us in the loop...period

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3 hours ago, npatel1050 said:

Yeah but still what does that mean? I got the email to pay at 6:30am and paid before 11am on 7/31. God knows how many people paid in the first 5 hours

My GUESS is that it litereally means in the order they received payments. And hence the ones first to order got the pay-mail earlier thus also has a higher chance of being among the first that paid. Adjust that with the promise that the (small) number with Indiegogo coupons were promised priority from the very beginning.

And Erik wrote that the number of qwertZ numbers were so small that they were expected to be all included in the first batch too. Shortly after he wrote they expected to leave the fulfilment warehouses starting Oct 29.

 

EDIT: Note hat this is my optimistic interpretation of what he wrote, I could be wrong, and he did not guarantee anything:

Quote

As far as I am aware, all batches will be mixed with QWERTY and QWERTZ, although QWERTZ accounts for a relatively small percentage of the full number of pre-orders – so the factory will likely complete those earlier than all of the QWERTY devices.

 

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15 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

And Erik wrote that the number of qwertZ numbers were so small that they were expected to be all included in the first batch too. Shortly after he wrote they expected to leave the fulfilment warehouses starting Oct 29.

Wow if that's the case, I can throw a big party tomorrow 😄

OrderNr ~34000 Qwertz Keyboard.

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1 hour ago, Siani_8 said:

Well I'm gonna make a bold statement and assume that the phones weren't built at Chinese customs, hence they had to be shipped there to begin with in order for them to be currently held there.  So as promised, they are currently being shipped.  If Erik didn't update us on this out of their hands minor delay, people would be complaining that there is no communication.  Looks to me like they are doing everything they can to get these orders out and keeping us in the loop...period

Some people haven't been following this as long, so they might not be aware.  The shipping on the 29th was clarified to be shipping from fulfillment centers to end customers.  It was not to be shipping from the place they are being manufactured to the fulfillment centers.  They were supposed to be shipped to the fulfillment centers a week or so ago.  That's why people are upset.

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9 minutes ago, david said:

Some people haven't been following this as long, so they might not be aware.  The shipping on the 29th was clarified to be shipping from fulfillment centers to end customers.  It was not to be shipping from the place they are being manufactured to the fulfillment centers.  They were supposed to be shipped to the fulfillment centers a week or so ago.  That's why people are upset.


I think it is just one overnight-flight from china (if customs are no problem)  and the phones will arrive  in the fulfillment centers  today. 🙂

Edited by Shilor
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2 hours ago, elvissteinjr said:

I think it's a bit pretentious to mock people asking about where the product they paid for months ago is.
I can hold out and there are no sliding alternatives, but sugarcoating the situation doesn't help either. It's been promised to be just around the corner many times now.

I agree 100%. And also keep in mind that we have no idea how big the batch is, so it's still not certain when we get our product we paid for

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If only:

"I think it is just one overnight-flight from china (if customs are no problem)  and the phones will arrive  in the fulfillment centers  today. 🙂
Edited 12 minutes ago by Shilor"

1. The phones are stuck in customs, they are not free to fly.

2. Once they do leave China, they will be held by UK (Hong Kong, or wherever else) customs

3. for how long we don't know - this is an unknown product, to a new destination, with no prior shipping history.

I speak from experience.

I am *not* trying to be negative; only realistic.  Openness & honesty from F(x) would clear all this up.  But despite every plea from this community, all we get is missed dates & vague information at best.  I completely understand the frustration & mis-trust that is being voiced here 😕

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41 minutes ago, Shilor said:


I think it is just one overnight-flight from china (if customs are no problem)  and the phones will arrive  in the fulfillment centers  today. 🙂

That's not the point. The point is that they said they would be shipping from the fulfillment centers on the 29th and have said they are still on track for that plan, until today, when we got the weird message about how that may only apply to Asian shipments.  If this was the first time that ever happened, it would be one thing.  But there is a history here of giving dates, saying things are on track, and then right before the due date, moving the date and being rather slippery about it.  I'm sure there are politicians out there who would admire some of the spin that has been going on.

As for how much that will really delay things, it depends on when they will ship to the fulfillment centers that service some of us in the forums (EU and USA).  It depends on export customs in China.  It depends on import customs in the destination countries.  It depends on how long it takes to get from import customers to the fulfillment centers.  It depends on how long it takes the fulfillment centers to process the phones.  Then we finally get to shipping to end customers.

Edited by david
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4 hours ago, windraver said:

... this is the endgame. 😀

I thought this too. They (and to some extent, we) did it! People are now actively shipping to us the phone we've been looking forward to for years!

Sure there was some suspense (which some obviously find unnecessary/uncomfortable), but at this point, maybe that should be feedback for and during the next product release cycle(?), rather than now, when we've just received the message that we're all actually winning!

In the meantime, this calls for some kind of celebration and some champagne. I suppose some people celebrate by being critical. "Good for them", I guess? Though probably better to relax and cut the makers some slack. They've done well on a long and hard job.

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I wonder how many of you folks have ever worked in the electronics manufacturing industry, and truly understand what it takes to bring a product from concept to first deliveries. My background was in infrastructure telecom, so things like aesthetics weren't as large an issue as consumer-level equipment, but that didn't really make life much easier for us.

Y'all need to take a nice relaxing walk outside...

1. This is a startup company, presumably building a brand new piece of hardware from the ground-up, and without the benefit of established supply chains, parts vendors, manufacturing facilities, etc.

2. The last 5-row physical keyboard on a cellphone was, what, 10 years ago? In technology land, that's generations old. It would be like NASA deciding to build a new batch of Saturn V rockets and Apollo modules. Yes, we have the specs and designs, but no one around retained the institutional knowledge necessary to build it, so it's essentially like starting from scratch.

3. Prototype iterations take time! I guarantee that after 3 months of having the phone, you'll have forgotten about the delays if it meets your expectations. If it's a dog, you'll curse them until the day you die. It's worth the extra time for another pre-production tweak to make sure it meets design standards. Could they have handled communication better? Yes, of course, but that would either take more people, increasing payroll, and increasing the cost to consumers for the phone, or take up more time from an existing employee, delaying production. Sit back, relax, smoke 'em if you got 'em, and chill. Assuming the phone is a success, they will grow as a company, develop a pro2, and add a dedicated PR person to handle press requests and customer interaction.

When I was running production, even a bog-standard production run of a product that we made thousands of before could go pear-shaped. Counterfeit components, PCB manufacturing flaws, untested revisions by engineering, improper part substitutions by vendors, shoddy workmanship, customs holds, a container ship sinking... I've seen it all. First-runs, however, were always a reason for lots of lost sleep, stress-eating, and overtime doing hand-rework. We could just put a bodge-wire on a board and cut a trace, or do some fancy component piggybacking, but since these are small-pitch SMD devices that will be thrown around a lot, there isn't that option... it has to be just right when production ramps up.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you wanted instant gratification, you should have waited until the product was shipping to buy it. Pre-orders are, by definition, a bit of a gamble, and if you didn't understand that, It's on you. 

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I think it's just a matter of time until some tech journalist gets interested in it... that would be sooo bad for that PR they care about so much. Another thing, didn't we get a newsletter in some mit-late August that we should pay now and be in the first batch? And why is the size of the first batch such a mystery?

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Well I agree with most of you.

They did say they will start shipping on 29th from the fulfilment centre. Another 2-3 day delay would not be to bad, but the communication would again have been horrible.

But guys come on. We do not know how the post of erik was exactly meant. Most of the time he has not the whole information anyway (poor guy). We should wait for the official update (which I assume will have to come today). Then we can start panic if it is needed. But at the moment it is useless speculations.

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In all honesty, I said before that a mid-November in-hand time looked more likely than early. That got downplayed a lot, but it would seem that I'm closer to it than what a lot of other people are hoping. Face it: assuming mid-November and getting it earlier is a lot better than assuming early and getting it mid- to late November...

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