Post Here When Your Refund Clears

[socket]

@bank dragging their feet.... I wonder how much they are making from holding onto the pandora team's cash?

Well, provided they can invest the theoretical credit, even at a modest 5% per annum rate, for £1,000,000 you could expect to make £136.99 a day from it. They've had most of it for over a month now so they should have earnt at least £4,500 from it.

I really don't know if you can actually invest things like credit though.


I really don't see why not... It's only credit to the person paying. If I pay you for something with a credit card, you can spend that cash the credit company gave to you as you wish!

 

[blarney]

If I was told that the status of my refund meant that I would not get a Pandora until it cleared, despite everyone else where the refund didnt apply getting one, then I'd complain. But I would probably complain at the bank involved rather than the Pandora guys.

Of course if we were told we wouldn't get a refund OR a Pandora and that we had to lump it, then there would be more than complaining.

Those people with so called concerns, what is the nature of your concern? That you wont get a refund? That you will lose your Pandora? That you will simply be screwed over? I think there should be a bit more specification of whether you are worried about a refund but confident in the team, or concerned you are involved in some shady business deal and stand to lose all your money.

Also, my refund still hasn't come through yet. I do wonder whether if there is anything we could do to speed things along but I am assuming not. It is exceptionally poor form of the bank to be allowing this kind of situation to be happening really.

My concerns are this: every single peice of information I have had about the ordering process has been wrong. If this was any other company there would be class action suit against them by now, but NO thats not cool - they can muck us around as much as they want and we're all happy just to take it.

I will not be reordering.


Beginning to come to the same conclusion. Originally, I replied that I'd be happy to reorder but the longer this goes on the less I feel obliged to continue. Its two weeks now since I was emailed about a refund. Where is it?

Blarney

 

[MaxSteiner]

Ok... pardon my ignorance, but if this delay is all on the banks shoulders, would it not make sense for those affected to send a letter or Email to the bank in question to release their funds before they take their case to the financial Ombudsman?

The way this is all being painted, the banks holding this cash back out of spite.
Im not doubting such things happen, but they're generally a little more covert about it.
If things are as clear cut as all the news makes it seem there is a very real chance that they could be held accountable for professional misconduct, and I trust the Dev team will be pursuing this once they have a new financial home.

 

[TaG]

I will not be reordering.
Beginning to come to the same conclusion. Originally, I replied that I'd be happy to reorder but the longer this goes on the less I feel obliged to continue. Its two weeks now since I was emailed about a refund. Where is it?The process is that openpandora manually request the refund. The bank then has to issue the refund, I believe this too is manual and individual. The bank are being awkward and not getting on with the task. This leaves openpandora in a tricky situation - they have to thread a fine line between asking nicely to persuade the bank to co-operate or getting a bit more 'aggressive' with the bank. Wait a couple more days...

Also, having waited this long for the device of your dreams, if the refund appears in your bank say Monday, surely then re-ordering is not a big deal? You've got your cash back, as promised. The device has twice as much RAM and NAND. There's still nothing to compete with it really. In one sense I don't want my cash back - I want my Pandora. Each to their own, but I WILL be re-ordering as soon as the refund arrives and the link to re-order appears.

 

[chiark]

QUOTE
The process is that openpandora manually request the refund. The bank then has to issue the refund, I believe this too is manual and individual. The bank are being awkward and not getting on with the task


You state that like you know it as fact.

A few facts:
Protx was the UK shop's card internet processor. Protx (coincidentally based in Newcastle) requires that the web seller has a merchant account with one of LloydsTSB, BOS, Barclaycard, HSBC, Natwest (streamline), BOI, A&L, AmEx, Diners Club or JCB.

Protx have a help page explaining their automated refund process. There's a few things that can make it tricky, but there are lots of handy tools to help with the refund.

Banks are bound by service level agreements, whether you're dealing with commercial or retail banking. They don't just be awkward when it comes to people's money.

Enough with the bank bashing... But I agree with you TaG, I don't want a refund, I want a Pandora please as and when it's ready.

 

[monaco87]

My concerns are this: every single peice of information I have had about the ordering process has been wrong. If this was any other company there would be class action suit against them by now, but NO thats not cool - they can muck us around as much as they want and we're all happy just to take it.

I will not be reordering.

I'm going the same way myself, I was 60:40 in favour of re-ordering but I'm now 40:60, i.e. I will probably not re-order. Despite all those on here saying give them time, it's the bank's fault etc, this is still a purchase involving a few hundred pounds, and I haven't been messed around like this before by someone holding £200+ of MY money. You can only cut people so much slack before you say sod it, just do what you say youre going to do and don't string us along. If the bank is the delay then say so, don't leave it up to others on this forum to guess what the problem is. 2+ weeks for a credit card refund is atrocious no matter who is causing the problem.

Unless I get the refund by Monday then that's another Pandora freed up for someone else, and good luck to them.

 

[Eniko]

I guess I'm pretty mellow in that I recently bought a bed for ten times as much as the Pandora and I'm not sure if that will be delivered between christmas and newyear or some time in january.

Puts things into perspective nicely.

 

[monaco87]

I guess I'm pretty mellow in that I recently bought a bed for ten times as much as the Pandora and I'm not sure if that will be delivered between christmas and newyear or some time in january.

Puts things into perspective nicely.

Yes but the bed company isn't switching banks, asking you to re-order and two weeks later you know nothing more than when you started. And I'll bet the bed exists and that you may have seen it and even tried it out.

 

[dannyowelch]

I guess I'm pretty mellow in that I recently bought a bed for ten times as much as the Pandora and I'm not sure if that will be delivered between christmas and newyear or some time in january.

Puts things into perspective nicely.

Yes but the bed company isn't switching banks, asking you to re-order and two weeks later you know nothing more than when you started. And I'll bet the bed exists and that you may have seen it and even tried it out.

I think it's important to remember that at the point everyone pre-ordered, we all knew full well that the device wasn't finished. No one twisted any arms here. The safer bet would have been to wait for the second batch. Everyone ordering a device from the second batch will have seen a fully finished device, plenty of videos, applications running, etc.

Risk vs reward... ordering from the first batch, you risk these sorts of delays and issues... the reward is obvious - being one of the first in the world to own a Pandora!

 

[mazza558]

By all accounts, it's the bank's fault for not actually refunding people in a reasonable time. What should have been sorted in a week has taken a lot longer.

 

[j.pickens]

So let me get this straight.
The whingers who are upset about the lack of refund wouldn't have gotten the Pandora they pre-ordered by now even if nothing had happened.
Yet, they still want to not re-order, even though the Pandora wouldn't have shipped yet in any case.
And it may not even be necessary to re-order if the bank relents and lets the account operate as the devs had hoped.
I don't get it.
What's the problem here?
You're not out any more cash, and the Pandora hasn't shipped yet, just as it wouldn't have shipped by now even under the most optimistic delivery dates mentioned prior to taking preorders.
Geez...

 

[MaxSteiner]

I'm not sure what you can't understand there really.
If someone is on the fence about something, then little things like this can make them decide one way or the other, not their fault, just means they're exercising their personal freedom to make a choice on how they spend their money.

I can see how you might not agree with their action, but Im not sure how that means you're superior to them :blink:

 

[monaco87]

So let me get this straight.
The whingers who are upset about the lack of refund wouldn't have gotten the Pandora they pre-ordered by now even if nothing had happened.
Yet, they still want to not re-order, even though the Pandora wouldn't have shipped yet in any case.
And it may not even be necessary to re-order if the bank relents and lets the account operate as the devs had hoped.
I don't get it.
What's the problem here?
You're not out any more cash, and the Pandora hasn't shipped yet, just as it wouldn't have shipped by now even under the most optimistic delivery dates mentioned prior to taking preorders.
Geez...

Not sure but you possibly have problems understanding my post. Nowhere in my original post did I complain about delivery dates. My gripe is with 2+ weeks no refund and no explanation as to why. Like you and everyone else I'm out £200+ and in limbo, if you want to hang on that's your perogative but quit whinning about the choices others may make.

And as for "whingers", substitute "customers" "investors" "patient enthusiasts" - whichever is easiest for you to understand.

 

[j.pickens]

Like you and everyone else I'm out £200+ and in limbo, if you want to hang on that's your perogative

So, if things are patched up with the bank, will you still want a refund, or a Pandora?

 

[belthos]

I guess I'm pretty mellow in that I recently bought a bed for ten times as much as the Pandora and I'm not sure if that will be delivered between christmas and newyear or some time in january.

Puts things into perspective nicely.

I hear you and agree

I'm typing this on a laptop that cost around $5500 which I preordered last year and it was delayed etc and finally arrived two months later than when they finally billed me in full.

If that didn't cause me to burst with anxiety I suppose $330 + some accessories prepaid isn't going to either.

Belthos

Sager 9262 with lots of extra's for the curious.
3 hd's raid.
2 nvidia 8800gtx video cards
core 2 duo quad processor.
And a power brick that weighs more than my eeepc by a wide margin

 

[piercer]

Like you and everyone else I'm out £200+ and in limbo, if you want to hang on that's your perogative

So, if things are patched up with the bank, will you still want a refund, or a Pandora?



Ermm, nobody wants a refund, we just got them anyway. Well I say 'got them', but what I mean is that we received emails that we were going to get them by the end of last week, but didn't.

Its all incredibly mishandled.

 

[chiark]

By all accounts, it's the bank's fault for not actually refunding people in a reasonable time. What should have been sorted in a week has taken a lot longer.

Banks can't do this unilaterally. We don't know what's going on, but it is not correct to point the finger at the banks alone.

 

[gibberish]

exactly, were only hearing once side of the story... the bank probably has a very good reason for taking so long but either we're deliberately not being told it (to keep us on the side of the devs) or the devs dont actually know why.

 

[Pleng]

I've started to write this post several times before and ended up canceling it half-way due to 'thinking better of it'. Let's see if I manage it this time...

The developers stated that they needed the pre-order money so that they could afford the parts to make the units. The money has gone to them but most of it is stuck somewhere between the devs, the banks, and us.

I received an email on 6th November saying that my refund had been processed and would be received in a quater of a working day. It was pretty reasonable to guess that they meant 1-4 working days, not 1/4 working days, but even so it's been 10 working days and still to date I haven't received a refund, neither have there been any validated reports of anybody else receiving theirs.

Now I'm sorry but I simply don't believe that the bank were told to refund me on 6th November but just haven't bothered to do so. If that is honestly the case then Craig, or somebody in charge, should be giving the MD of that bank absolute hell and demanding a resolution within 48 hours. After this they should be contacting theese guys!

The devs have also not finished processing the original 'nigeria scam' style refund emails, and have given no indication of how far down the list they are (has anybody outside the UK even confirmed that they've had a mail?)

In the mean time the devs say everything else is proceeding as normal. How can this be if they have no capital? Where are they getting the money to pay for the parts if a big chunk of the pre-order money is floating around somewhere between the banks?

Finally, presuming this mess does finally get cleared up, are the team going to have enough money to cover the cost of the people who don't re-order. If they were running to such a tight budget in the first place then there could be a problem, could there not? The first rule of Customer Service is the 10-1 rule. For every customer that makes complains, there is another ten who simply walk away without saying anything. How many people, many of whom probably don't even read the forums, will have simply read the email and though 'right, I'm not dealing with those people again'? For, as I have stated before, the wording on that email sounds like it comes from Dodgey Joe's Gem Scams Inc...

As it stands I still haven't decided weather I should re-pre-order, if I ever receive my refund. If I decide to re-pre then I'll gladly take a bite out of my own anus if the finished model appears at my house this year.

 

[gaterooze]

Pleng, not sure where you're pulling these suppositions from, but it has been repeatedly said that the production is all paid for regardless of what happens with the bank issue. Just chill.