Re-order Emails Going Out Now

[BenTolputt]

I'm Aussie and I've yet to receive an email on it. I've been checking and so far, nada.

I ordered via debit card and as yet no refund either.

 

[fettouhi]

Let me get this straight. Regarding the reordering, is it only costumers who have ordered directly from gbax.com that will be affected? I ordered my pandora from (live in Denmark)

http://openpandora.org/retro.html

and I paid with my visa.

Regards

André

 

[emumanx]

Has no one ever heard the saying "Good things come to he who waits!" ... Iam one of the old school Devs from back on GP32 and GP2X. I have never ever had cause to doubt ANYONE from GBAx (and i have had lots of dealings with them before)
I do understand that when something so cool is almost in your hand every second waitting feels like forever, but ya got to hold out just a bit longer In the end your gonna be like a kid on Xmas morning ripping of the paper to get to the ???? toy ya just knew was coming.

Do like I do. Go out and get some new game or something to keep your mind of it all for a bit lol.

 

[TaG]

Let me get this straight. Regarding the reordering, is it only costumers who have ordered directly from gbax.com that will be affected? I ordered my pandora from (live in Denmark)

http://openpandora.org/retro.html

and I paid with my visa.

My order was through http://openpandora.org/retro.html and I need to re-order.

To the various people wondering about randomness etc: It is possible that they cannot declare a reason - that happens in business. They have given the forum the information, Chip has communicated with Craig and started the 'official' post and anybody affected will be told by email, ie personally, privately, confidentially, professionally.

When it's done it has been said that they will tell everybody it's done.

If this were most other companies you would not find out until you got an email and even that would not likely give as much detail, or give away a massive spec increase.

We've said it before, but relax, wait and see if you get an email.

 

[Chip]

Let me get this straight. Regarding the reordering, is it only costumers who have ordered directly from gbax.com that will be affected? I ordered my pandora from (live in Denmark)
http://openpandora.org/retro.html
No. By GBAX I meant "Craig's store". There were a couple different URLs provided for different regions, but everything except Germany and Turkey (and maybe Spain? I don't remember if they had their own shop or not) went through Craig's bank and is potentially affected.

Also, changing the definition of credit card for the sake of this issue doesn't help either.
Do you mean debit cards counted as credit cards? It's because at the receiving end it all looks like credit cards. Debit cards are just a dirty hack on top of the existing credit card system. B)Exactly. The reason that you can use debit cards, gift cards, etc. as credit cards is because banks treat them as if they were credit cards. There is no differentiation on the merchant side between different types of cards. As far as Craig or his bank can tell, they are all credit cards.

And to all the folks posting "I haven't gotten anything yet!", please keep in mind that it's only been one day. Each refund has to be done individually, and as I said in the original post, the whole lot is expected to take about a week.

 

[cools]

And to all the folks posting "I haven't gotten anything yet!", please keep in mind that it's only been one day. Each refund has to be done individually, and as I said in the original post, the whole lot is expected to take about a week.

Would you happen to know if these are being done in any particular order? I ordered within moments of the pre-order going live, and haven't received an email, whereas a friend of mine who ordered about an hour later has had one.

 

[Chip]

Would you happen to know if these are being done in any particular order? I ordered within moments of the pre-order going live, and haven't received an email, whereas a friend of mine who ordered about an hour later has had one.
Other than geographically, as listed in my original post, I do not believe there is any pattern.

 

[cools]

Ok, thanks

Going to struggle getting internet access next week. I'm hoping I got the order in before the bank decided to get arsey, or that if I'm going to get the email it does come through before the weekend!

 

[vputz]

I got zee email this morning.

You know what? Doesn't bother me even a little. Okay, a little in that I have to plug numbers in somewhere. But 1) I appreciate the open communication, 2) doesn't surprise me that a bank is getting wonky (after all, we paid for something, but they are delivering something different), and 3) I think with the bank details out there there's not much danger that these guys are going to take the money and run--it's not like it's not obvious who they are.

I'm re-ordering, and I'll do it with the bank transfer (once the refund's back in the account). No worries here. Plus we get a device with twice the memory. Total win.

 

[BeefJerky]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone yet had confirmation of the refund going through?

 

[CronoTriggerfan]

CTfan,

Look, I can see you are really upset. We got a RAM upgrade free of charge. That should be enough. Why bother saying Paypal was FUBAR when you were a propellant supporting Paypal?

Demanding MORE from Pandora Co. is silly. If you honestly feel that Pandora Co. isn't doing enough for you, ask for a refund.

Otherwise it just seems like you are complaining for the fun of it.

...says the typical drive-by newbie that hardly participates in the community at all. The RAM and NAND upgrades are great, don't get me wrong, but I'm not demanding more from Craig and Co., just what they promised. Shipment by late November, pictures of a final pre-production prototype (that was supposed to be weeks ago) and a GUI, which they have now shown us. Again, the current situation isn't exactly bad, but the old saying, "Don't make promises you can't keep" is applicable here.

 

[ashdjones]

Again, the current situation isn't exactly bad, but the old saying, "Don't make promises you can't keep" is applicable here.

+1 for sheer common sense.

 

[gibberish]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone yet had confirmation of the refund going through?

not me. got the email yesterday morning but nothing yet. i assume it takes a few days.

 

[chiark]

There is no differentiation on the merchant side between different types of cards. As far as Craig or his bank can tell, they are all credit cards.

Apart from the fact that the BIN identifies it as a debit card, and that debit cards attract a fixed fee rather than a percentage of the transaction...

If you don't like speculation, skip the rest of this.

I've been thinking about this, and am now slightly concerned about the funding of Pandora. Here's my supposition, making the assumption that pre-ordering was to fund the manufacturing process because it couldn't be funded in other ways:

- Money has come in from the preorders paid on credit/debit cards
- Parts have been ordered on the basis money is in
- Bank is saying that they will not release money from cards because of high risk of chargebacks
- manufacturers needs paying or demand payment up front due to unknown credit rating of Pandora/...
- specs change. Now risk of chargeback is large as people may receive goods "signficantly different" from as advertised and therefore will drop immediately on the merchant's head. Bank could end up carrying can - see below.
- Bank will not release funds
- refunds are being sent from the "held" pool of money because bank will not release funds.
- manufacturer still needs paying...

I can't blame the bank for being awkward whatsoever.

Worst case scenario is that Pandora can't deliver the product it promised, people claim the money back off their credit card issuer, credit card issuer claims money back from merchant acquirer (Craig's bank). Bank tries to get money back off Craig, to find that it's all gone paying manufacturer.

Bank is left exposed to the tune of £800,000 (4000x200) only secured on incomplete pandoras or parts from manufacturers. This assumes no funds are available from the devs or other businesses they are involved in, which might be utterly wrong!

In the current scenario of the world's state of financial institutions, do you think they're going to take a punt on a relatively unknown player, or do you think they're going to dig their heels in a bit?

FWIW, I don't have a mail yet and despite trusting the devs I wouldn't send a bank transfer. Once the refund is in, I'll happily pay again... With credit card.

 

[VRAndy]

Shipment by late November, pictures of a final pre-production prototype (that was supposed to be weeks ago) and a GUI, which they have now shown us. Again, the current situation isn't exactly bad, but the old saying, "Don't make promises you can't keep" is applicable here.

Ok, so they're a little bit behind? What're you going to do? Whine about it?

Behind, on-time, ahead of schedule, your options stay the same. You can :
-- Stay the Course and wait.
-- Give up hope and demand a refund.
-- Whine like a child and stop your foot. (Making empty threats is optional.)

Those first two options both make logical sense to me. I don't understand why so many people who are presumably adults, (or at least teens!) are choosing the third option. It's painfully obvious that it won't accomplish anything.

 

[socket]

...says the typical drive-by newbie that hardly participates in the community at all.

Dude, enough with the trolling.

 

[ngchol]

There is no differentiation on the merchant side between different types of cards. As far as Craig or his bank can tell, they are all credit cards.

Apart from the fact that the BIN identifies it as a debit card, and that debit cards attract a fixed fee rather than a percentage of the transaction...

If you don't like speculation, skip the rest of this.

I've been thinking about this, and am now slightly concerned about the funding of Pandora. Here's my supposition, making the assumption that pre-ordering was to fund the manufacturing process because it couldn't be funded in other ways:

- Money has come in from the preorders paid on credit/debit cards
- Parts have been ordered on the basis money is in
- Bank is saying that they will not release money from cards because of high risk of chargebacks
- manufacturers needs paying or demand payment up front due to unknown credit rating of Pandora/...
- specs change. Now risk of chargeback is large as people may receive goods "signficantly different" from as advertised and therefore will drop immediately on the merchant's head. Bank could end up carrying can - see below.
- Bank will not release funds
- refunds are being sent from the "held" pool of money because bank will not release funds.
- manufacturer still needs paying...

I can't blame the bank for being awkward whatsoever.

Worst case scenario is that Pandora can't deliver the product it promised, people claim the money back off their credit card issuer, credit card issuer claims money back from merchant acquirer (Craig's bank). Bank tries to get money back off Craig, to find that it's all gone paying manufacturer.

Bank is left exposed to the tune of £800,000 (4000x200) only secured on incomplete pandoras or parts from manufacturers. This assumes no funds are available from the devs or other businesses they are involved in, which might be utterly wrong!

In the current scenario of the world's state of financial institutions, do you think they're going to take a punt on a relatively unknown player, or do you think they're going to dig their heels in a bit?

FWIW, I don't have a mail yet and despite trusting the devs I wouldn't send a bank transfer. Once the refund is in, I'll happily pay again... With credit card.


Great post. Now, if Chip/Craig can be open about the situation I'll happily reorder with a credit card. If another variant of "Everything's fine" is produced, I'll keep my money.

 

[chiark]

Great post. Now, if Chip/Craig can be open about the situation I'll happily reorder with a credit card. If another variant of "Everything's fine" is produced, I'll keep my money.

Thanks, but do bear in mind it is pure speculation and is undoubtedly wrong! For what it's worth, I believe you're perfectly safe ordering again with a credit card once the original refund has hit, as ultimately you've got the protection of various consumer credit laws on your side. I wouldn't pay with a debit card or a bank transfer, but that's not a reflection on Pandora in particular: I refuse to use those mechanisms for *anything* on-line due to the utter lack of protection!

 

[Chip]

Apart from the fact that the BIN identifies it as a debit card, and that debit cards attract a fixed fee rather than a percentage of the transaction...
This is only true for merchants who are set up to accept debit cards. Some are, most aren't. If you didn't enter your debit pin number then it is a credit card transaction.

As for the speculation, you're reading way more into the situation than is really there. There is absolutely no risk that the first batch will not be made and delivered. Well, no financial risk, anyway. If a meteor turns the factory and all the parts into a smoking crator then we're probably screwed. Nothing less than that sort of disaster could totally prevent production. This bank thing is a hassle, but nothing more than that.

 

[chiark]

Thanks Chip, and thanks for not taking the speculation in the wrong way. I was just trying to think why a bank might get awkward about the credit card payments and that seemed a plausible scenario. Naturally, there's many more including the real reason, whatever that is!

Glad it's just hassle.

I'll stop the speculation now and apologise if I caused anyone alarm