Re-order Emails Going Out Now

[TaG]

Just so you all know, the emails are starting to go out for the re-orders now - sadly I know because I have one. I am UK based. The email is very clear in explaining what is happening. It explains what needs to be done and the changes to memory.

edit: I've put the email with the full account detail on as it is on the Spanish forum for some time.

The latest position (30th December) is:
You can re-order by bank transfer immediately - re-ordering with the amount you were refunded.
You cannot re-order at present by credit or debit card as the link has not been made avaialble, nor are there any instructions or details as yet. There have been posts suggesting that that the link will be up 'soon', but nothing as of yet.
There seems to be major problems getting Amex transactions refunded. If you are due a refund and have not received it you are strongly advised to raise a dispute with Amex immediately. This comes with the backing of the OpenPandora staff, so do not feel 'bad' about doing it. No one is yet sure if there is a deadline - but it could be 90 days - which is about now, so act quickly. These two posts may be of interest.
This maybe too late now (4th Jan 2009), but Chip as posted this update.

Reorders are happening now, slowly. We're sending out details and a reorder URL to customers one at a time, starting with US customers. Some have already been sent, and the rest are on the way. We're doing it slowly to avoid any potential problems with the CC processor and to avoid overwhelming the sales ladies. Do not worry, everybody will have the opportunity to reorder in time to get their Pandora.

We are meeting with the bank this week to fix the Amex situation. They cannot simply sit on the money forever, and we're not accepting any more of their stall tactics. If the bank simply refuses to rectify the situation, there is a backup plan. Anybody who paid for a Pandora will get one, no matter what the bank does. One way or another, this situation will be remedied this week.

I will update here if there are any changes to this information.

QUOTE
Hi,

As you may have heard via the forums or from various news websites the Pandora has been
upgraded to have 256MB of RAM and 512MB of NAND so that it will function as a UMPC and
run things such as Ubuntu with ease.

This means Firefox, Open Office, Media players, full multitasking, much more advanced 3D,
more advanced ports of PC games and better performance overall.

In order for you to accept this upgrade we will need to refund your order and ask you to
reorder, this is due to our credit card processor being difficult with us about this.

Don't worry, the process is painless and smooth so you won't lose your place in the queue.

It may seem strange to do this at such a late hour but we really think 256MB of RAM and
512MB of NAND will make the Pandora much more powerful and future proof - it will be
a real micro laptop with this spec.

Yes - it may cause a delay, but we think a few months from now you will think it was
well worth it when you see what can be done with the extra memory. We plan to start
shipping the first orders in December with the 256MB upgrade.

There is no extra charge for this upgrade - we are paying for it. If you want to
help us out in paying for the upgrade the best way is to place your order via a bank
transfer, with debit and credit card orders the bank takes a fee from us.

If you don't want to re-order please let us know so we can allow other people to
make an order in your place.

Once your refund is complete and back in your account you can either make an online
bank transfer to:

OpenPandora Ltd.
Sort Code: 20 23 81
Acc. No. 83525767

bic/swift is BARCGB22

IBAN IS GB33BARC20238183525767

Bank address is:
Barclays Bank
9 STATION ROAD
ASHINGTON
NORTHUMBERLAND
NE63 9XB
UK

It is also possible to transfer your order to GP2X shop in Germany if it is easier for you.

Or you can re-order via credit or debit card. Please let us know what you would like to do.

If you have any questions you can reply to this email or phone us on +44 191 0191 243 2253.

Thanks,

Craig & The Pandora team.
There is a slightly more recent version of this email here. There are very small differences so I won't post it here purely for readability, but the key item is:QUOTE
Please use your original order number as the reference number eg GVVDX00000000.



Apparently you need to quote openpandora's address for the bank transfer:QUOTE
Our address is:
Open Pandora LTD
26 Meadow Road
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE15 7LP
UK




This is the latest email from ED (25/11/2008):

QUOTE
Hi,

we thank you for your order of the Pandora Console and confirm it with
this eMail.

As you received this mail, it also means we already received your
payment (if this is not true: Please send us a short message).
We'd like to thank you all for your support. Without you, this project
wouldn't have been possible.

Unfortunately, the worldwide financial crisis lead to delays from our
suppliers - this means: we can't ship the Pandora at the end of
November.
It's likely it will be January / February, though December IS still
possible (I wouldn't bet on it, though).
Development is still going on, if you'd like to have more, up-to-date
news, please visit the OpenPandora Website (http://www.openpandora.org).

If you've got any questions or want to change your order, simply drop
me a mail.

Greetings,

EvilDragon aka Michael Mrozek
OpenPandora GmbH


Latest cc position from craigix:

We hope to have the credit card system set up via Barclays very soon. There will be a credit card fee as a %.

It would have been online this weekend but my dell laptop chose to die.

Hello everyone,

As you may have noticed we have not started the reordering yet for Credit Card orders. This is because of a frustrating new problem caused by this 'world wide banking crisis' crap.

We can't get permission to accept such a large amount of money via credit cards - and believe me we have been trying hard. So because some drunken city traders pissed away all the banks money we get told we can't run a business as we have been running it for the last 5 years. Ie we can no longer accept all orders via credit cards.

So we find ourselves in a strange situation, a product which is a success in hard times but we are not allowed to sell it to everyone who wants to buy it. At least not in the usual internet way.

As you know we have been asking people, where possible, to pay via a bank transfer, and a lot of you have (We owe about 1000 of you a drink), but for some of you this means paying a fee to your bank.

What we need to find is a solution to this, it looks like we may have to take about 40% of the orders via other means, we are allowed to take the rest via credit cards. And it's the same message from ALL the UK banks.

In the future, when we will probably sell 40% to resellers that isn't a problem, but right now... it is.

As you can probably imagine I have a headache over this. I hope we can work together for a neat solution.

There are various companies online who will do an international bank transfer for a much smaller fee than most banks. We should probably start to figure out the best route ahead.

We are willing to discount the bank fee from the Pandora price, as we are charged a fee for accepting credit cards anyway.

Opinions, solutions, ideas? I know it's a bastard, let's just try to work though it, some kind of reward for people going the extra mile to pay via a transfer is possible.

And I must thank mali for pm'ing amendments required when I am not online.

 

[peelie]

Just so you all know, the emails are going out for the re-orders now - sadly I know because I have one. I am UK based. The email is very clear in explaining what is happening. It explains what needs to be done and the changes to memory. I'm not going to re-print it here in case anybody else gets a slightly different version.

hi did you use debit or credit card?

 

[TaG]

Just so you all know, the emails are going out for the re-orders now - sadly I know because I have one. I am UK based. The email is very clear in explaining what is happening. It explains what needs to be done and the changes to memory. I'm not going to re-print it here in case anybody else gets a slightly different version.

hi did you use debit or credit card?
I used a credit card. Chip (I think) has suggested that any card with Visa or Mastercard on will be trested the same way.

 

[peelie]

Just so you all know, the emails are going out for the re-orders now - sadly I know because I have one. I am UK based. The email is very clear in explaining what is happening. It explains what needs to be done and the changes to memory. I'm not going to re-print it here in case anybody else gets a slightly different version.

hi did you use debit or credit card?
I used a credit card. Chip (I think) has suggested that any card with Visa or Mastercard on will be trested the same way.

yeah i read that but debit and credit cards are treated differently i believe? i hope so since i paid with debit lol

 

[Chip]

yeah i read that but debit and credit cards are treated differently i believe? i hope so since i paid with debit lol
Unless you entered your pin number at some point (you didn't), the transaction went through as a credit card. You are in the same boat as everybody else.

 

[ignatz]

damn... i had half a hope my use of maestro might protect me.

 

[monkeyo2]

Yay, I got the email too! (U.K. Visa orderer)

I notice they're encouraging us to re-order via bank transfer rather than credit card, as they don't have to pay bank fees that way, but much as I'm all for supporting the team, I am a little hesitant to lose the payment protection credit cards give.

The email was a reply to the message I sent them changing the delivery address, which I thought was a nice personal touch!

 

[neogramps]

I used a debit card (Maestro), and I just got the re-order email from Craig

Off to the bank to confirm my refund is in before I re-order.

They ask you to try and use a bank transfer rather than credit/debit - I understand that this is due to the %age which is charged for debit/credit transactions, but am I right in thinking there is less (i.e. no) consumer protection if I pay by bank transfer?

 

[TaG]

They ask you to try and use a bank transfer rather than credit/debit - I understand that this is due to the %age which is charged for debit/credit transactions, but am I right in thinking there is less (i.e. no) consumer protection if I pay by bank transfer?

Correct - no protection. The protection you get through a credit card is because each transaction is treated as a credit agreement/loan. Also many cards offer additional protection.

 

[tds48]

They ask you to try and use a bank transfer rather than credit/debit - I understand that this is due to the %age which is charged for debit/credit transactions, but am I right in thinking there is less (i.e. no) consumer protection if I pay by bank transfer?

Correct - no protection. The protection you get through a credit card is because each transaction is treated as a credit agreement/loan. Also many cards offer additional protection.

Guys, if you are asked to pay again, and you feel uncomfortable paying by bank transfer, just pay by credit card but add £11 (more or less). That way craig and the team get the full amount and you get protection. Am I a genius or what! [That's what Ill do if asked to pay again]

 

[Bosbeetle]

well my card is usually slow so I probably have to reorder hmmm

 

[sebt3]

They ask you to try and use a bank transfer rather than credit/debit - I understand that this is due to the %age which is charged for debit/credit transactions, but am I right in thinking there is less (i.e. no) consumer protection if I pay by bank transfer?

Correct - no protection. The protection you get through a credit card is because each transaction is treated as a credit agreement/loan. Also many cards offer additional protection.


Hum, still no refound on my side. May be I will not have to reorder...
time will tell.

 

[benjiro]

Hum, still no refound on my side. May be I will not have to reorder...
time will tell.

Same here. No mails so far. Payed with my Visa, money was removed like normal, so, it looks to be in the clear... We will see...

 

[gruso]

They might take a while to get them all out. Don't count your penguins yet.

 

[Rockthesmurf]

I paid on a mastercard and have neither received an email or had any money refunded yet, of course this might just be because the email hasnt' been sent/hasn't arrived yet, and everyone knows banks take ages to do anything! :rolleyes:

Steve

 

[TaG]

Hum, still no refound on my side. May be I will not have to reorder...
time will tell.

Same here. No mails so far. Payed with my Visa, money was removed like normal, so, it looks to be in the clear... We will see...
You would not expect to have them in Europe straight away:

The orders are being refunded geographically - UK, then continental Europe, then North America.

 

[undefined]

Thanks for the heads up. Guess I'll watch to see how long it takes to geographically propagate. Anything regarding generic wording in the subject line of the message? If Chip should stumble through this thread (Chip is everywhere, how does he do it?), thanks for your updates as well.

 

[TaG]

Anything regarding generic wording in the subject line of the message?

Pandora Order Information *action required* ordernumber

 

[Chip]

Please remember that these refunds are being done one at a time, by hand. Even if you are in the UK you may not get yours until tomorrow or the next day or even later. Nobody is totally in the clear until Craig says "all done".

 

[javaJake]

I'm in the US, so obviously I haven't gotten anything yet.

There is a definite note of suspense in the air.