8 ms·

WakeMate (YC S09) Shipping Delayed

58 points by dwynings 17y ago

Frazzydee 17y ago
A couple questions: 1) The phones listed are iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Windows mobile, Palm & non-smart phone. Which category does symbian fall under? I have already been informed by email that there will be a s60 app. 2) Premium analytics?? I was under the impression that the entire analysis would be made available as a service that came with the device. The site, as far as I can tell, does not mention that some of the analysis is only available on a subscription basis in addition to the initial purchase price.
- lanstein 17y ago
  In order to compensate for this delay, we will be giving everyone who pre-ordered one month of Premium Analytics Features FREE for EACH month their delivery is delayed. EACH month? That doesn't bode well...
  - plinkplonk 17y ago
    "EACH month? That doesn't bode well..." Yes but otoh "We've tentatively planned for the first batch of WakeMates to be shipped as early as next month, but we'll keep you updated every step of the way. The next message we'll be sending out will include when you are getting your WakeMate and a link to finalize your purchase."
  - mschy 17y ago
    It's ridiculously lame. They've turned their fuckup into an attempt to up-sell people to a monthly service, and all without ever really apologizing. One month per month? That's a really bad joke. It's as though they're trying to make sure their early adopters are unhappy, and don't recommend them, or generate positive publicity.
- colonelxc 17y ago
  Agreed, there is no mention of additional fees or subscription services on the site. I will be really disappointed if that is the case (maybe it some extra analytics that they haven't yet revealed to the world that they would charge for?).
- samstokes 17y ago
  Not including an option for Symbian is going to screw up their figures, at least for non-US respondents. Symbian phone users are either going to pick "non-smartphone", which is misleading, or more likely skip the survey, which means a hefty response bias. I've sent them an email to this effect; you might want to as well. Edit: I checked again and the form now has a Symbian option.
cmos 17y ago
This is well written. And the free membership into the premier club is a great low cost way of rewarding people. Making hardware is freakin difficult, and the margins are always thinner than you want in the beginning.
jmtame 17y ago
looking forward to it! thanks for the update guys
seldo 17y ago
I realized when I got this email this evening that I have pre-ordered both the WakeMate and the FitBit. When I get both I shall have to run side-by-side feature comparisons, seeing as I've blown the money already anyway...
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
asnyder 17y ago
I wonder why I didn't get this e-mail. I pre-ordered one some time ago.
- speigei 17y ago
  same here, even checked spam...
- durana 17y ago
  I pre-ordered the product and I did not receive this e-mail either. I forget the exact options relating to e-mail that I selected during the Google Checkout process, but I either chose not to disclose my e-mail address to the seller or I did not opt in for e-mails from the seller. I'm guessing you did the same and that's why we didn't receive the e-mail. If one of the WakeMate guys read this, it would be good to post this on the blog or main website so people who did not get the e-mail can still get the information directly from WakeMate and fill out the questionnaire.
  - unn 17y ago
    Yeah I agree, I didn't get this email and I was frantically checking their blog, which looks dead, and their website, which hasn't changed to reflect anything said in the email.
- hackoder 17y ago
  Same here. What's with the 'fill out the form to stay on our list' bit? Did I not already pay you money to stay on your pre-order list?
lonestar 17y ago
Perhaps they should have announced the monthly fees before the delay. I'm more than a little disappointed to find out that I'm not getting it on time, and that I might unexpectedly have to pay a monthly fee once it does ship.
- asb 17y ago
  They've answered this concern on Twitter: "all the planned features are still free! we've developed some new awesome premium features that we're planning on charging for." http://twitter.com/wakemate/status/8102380070 http://twitter.com/wakemate/status/8102380070
  - BRadmin 17y ago
    In the email they mention delays due to new innovations -- so basically, I won't be getting my product on time because they were developing a premium service I didn't know about and will now have to pay for to benefit. Doesn't seem right...
    - spydertennis 17y ago
      I'm sorry if it seemed that way. The new features are in software and the delays are mostly hardware related. I would be pissed too if it was delayed because we were trying to squeeze more money out of you. That's not the case.
      - BRadmin 17y ago
        Appreciate the clarification. I think the non-conciliatory tone and some of the content from your email is a little off-putting to a lot of folks. Whereas most people were expecting to receive an actual product within a week or two, we're now told we'll have to wait indefinitely; words like "tentatively" "first batch" and "as early as" convey this. If we're waiting because the hardware got better, give us some specifics instead of keeping it vague. I was under the impression the WakeMate was already awesome -- if it's delayed, tell me what you've been working on and improving to show me why I should still be excited about this, why you guys did me a favor by delaying. The delay email is also functioning as an introduction to PREMIUM features (at a cost) that nobody was aware of, which feels out of place in the context of the message's initial intent. I'm sure you guys are working hard and round the clock, but unfortunately we don't get to see and experience that, live and breath the company with you guys. All we're aware of is the image you convey in the few paragraphs you send to us. As a company that people have invested in, that has taken money from soon-to-be customers, you need to be ultra-cognizant of how you present to us.
maxklein 17y ago
I want my money back, and I'm going to request it till they do. I feel cheated - fitbit is shipping, and what the hell is this bullshit about premium analytics?! When I pre-ordered there was no indication that there was going to be a monthly fee - and now they are delayed and can't even say when it will appear. And they are talking of MONTHS of delay? I was really impressed when I first saw the company, but my mood has swung the other way entirely. I do not think they ever had a product to begin with. I want my $5 back and my fitbit will only cost $94 and not $99. YCS09? That's more than 10 months ago. If they can't ship till now, then they will be slow and not add any features to match the competition. Sorry, but if you are in a business with good competitors and you have already collected your customers money, you just don't do this.
- sync 17y ago
  Fitbit had a shipping delay of about a year. Check their blog: http://blog.fitbit.com/ http://blog.fitbit.com/ Granted, their preorder was free.
  - nico 17y ago
    And, like so many others, they don't ship outside the US. You can read about it on their FAQ: http://www.fitbit.com/faq#shippingoutsideus http://www.fitbit.com/faq#shippingoutsideus
- csmeder 17y ago
  Give the guys a little slack, you might be jumping to conclusions. And we of all people knew the risks with buying a hardware product from a startup. As far as fitbit being and alternative, it doesn't do wake mates main function: wake you up at the right time. That said if you want your money back I hope they give it to you hassle free. They missed their dead line and there is no reason they shouldn't try their best to satisfy customers who want their deposit back. Let us know if goes well.
- wheels 17y ago
  For the record, YCS09 began 8 months ago and ended 5 months ago.
csmeder 17y ago
Their web site still says "Limited quantity, reserve today! Pay $5 now and the rest when it ships. (Expected ship date 1/25/10)"
jpcx01 17y ago
Was excited about WakeMate, so much so that I ended up just buying a Zeo. Been using it as an alarm clock for about a month now, and gotta say, its incredible. It basically wakes you up every morning when it detects you are already in light sleep. Been a big morning changer for me since I started using it. If WakeMate can provide anything close to Zeo for what they're charging (much much less), I think they'll do well.
kilian 17y ago
Wakemate is really handling this situation poorly. Yes, delays due to hardware are a good reason. But introducing pay-for features as compensation for those delays is not. It seems that this is a classic case of engineers doing bizdev. Those two have virtually no overlap. For example, "I'm really sorry you feel this way" is the equivalent of "quit whining" and you should never say that to anyone unless you actually mean "quit whining". Bizdev is hard. I got bitten by it hard when I started my company. Nowadays, each mail me and colleagues send get meticulously checked by the others, and any bullshitting gets taken out. I think they would do good to do something similar. Let me know how it works ;-)
- bhousel 17y ago
  Good point, this is one of the things that always bothers me too. Real apologies don't start with "I'm sorry that you.." Real apologies start with "I'm sorry that I.."
FreeRadical 17y ago
I thought the benefit of wakemate versus other similar gadgets was the price. When premium features are included, does it really win on price?
sounddust 17y ago
I think they should give the premium features to those of us who pre-ordered, for free, permanently. It wouldn't cost them anything extra to do so (maybe a few dollars/year in server costs for the entire pre-order userbase). Sure, they will lose potential subscriber costs for some pre-order customers, but if they can't sell enough WakeMates to make the pre-order crowd an insignificant blip, then they are not going to be able to succeed anyway. Furthermore, the pre-order crowd is the group you really, really want to be happy. They are going to be the first to give their impressions to the world, and those tweets/reviews/blog posts are going to be at the top of Google's search results for near-infinity. I feel like a pre-order was a commitment to Wakemate, and they are not honoring their side in expecting us to pay more to fully utilize the product. They can say that the premium model has features in addition to what was initially planned, but I think that anyone who planned to buy the product expected the free service to improve and add features over time anyway, so it seems that effort is instead being redirected to the premium version.
- gizmo 17y ago
  Exactly, I expected the web version to improve over time, and I expected (and was fully willing) to pay for a better and improved wakemate down the road (better battery life, smaller, etc). Having to pay for both hardware upgrades and for monthly analytics... that seems a bit much. Also the WakeMate marketing message is disingenuous: "Limited quantity, reserve today" it says on the front page, which indicates that the WakeMate device actually exist. From the email they sent this morning it's clear that they accepted "thousands" of pre-orders and that the device was still in the concept phase (otherwise they could never make all those changes to the design/internals). How a company acts in the first few months is generally a pretty good indicator of how the company is going to turn out. Maybe I should get out while I can.
ig1 17y ago
Sending customers to a blog which hasn't been updated for two months for more information probably isn't the best idea either...
evilrob666fm 17y ago
Just been chatting with the WakeMate guys via the new instant message feature on their website - they've pledged to give these "premium" features to all preorder customers for free for life to make up for their crappy email today. http://www.twitpic.com/zfv9q http://www.twitpic.com/zfv9q
- jm2t 17y ago
  Yeah, talked with them and told me the same. Shipping will be starting like at th end of february, BUT free LIFETIME premium! Even if premium was 5$/month, you could save over 700$ in 5 years, not to tell in a lifetime.
mototog 17y ago
I never even received a status delay email from WakeMate. I had to learn about it on TechCrunch. As a matter of fact, in checking my email archive, I've had NO communication from WakeMate. The only thing I have is my Paypal receipt for my deposit. And I see that now they have switched to Google Checkout for payment processing. As an early adopter, have I slipped through a crack?
dnsworks 17y ago
This makes me wonder, has there ever been a successful YC company like WakeMate, ie that was more than just a web application? Maybe it's just a problem of WM having teamed up with an ill-suited process?

58 points by dwynings 17y ago

A couple questions: 1) The phones listed are iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Windows mobile, Palm & non-smart phone. Which category does symbian fall under? I have already been informed by email that there will be a s60 app. 2) Premium analytics?? I was under the impression that the entire analysis would be made available as a service that came with the device. The site, as far as I can tell, does not mention that some of the analysis is only available on a subscription basis in addition to the initial purchase price.

lanstein 17y ago
In order to compensate for this delay, we will be giving everyone who pre-ordered one month of Premium Analytics Features FREE for EACH month their delivery is delayed. EACH month? That doesn't bode well...
- plinkplonk 17y ago
  "EACH month? That doesn't bode well..." Yes but otoh "We've tentatively planned for the first batch of WakeMates to be shipped as early as next month, but we'll keep you updated every step of the way. The next message we'll be sending out will include when you are getting your WakeMate and a link to finalize your purchase."
- mschy 17y ago
  It's ridiculously lame. They've turned their fuckup into an attempt to up-sell people to a monthly service, and all without ever really apologizing. One month per month? That's a really bad joke. It's as though they're trying to make sure their early adopters are unhappy, and don't recommend them, or generate positive publicity.
colonelxc 17y ago
Agreed, there is no mention of additional fees or subscription services on the site. I will be really disappointed if that is the case (maybe it some extra analytics that they haven't yet revealed to the world that they would charge for?).
samstokes 17y ago
Not including an option for Symbian is going to screw up their figures, at least for non-US respondents. Symbian phone users are either going to pick "non-smartphone", which is misleading, or more likely skip the survey, which means a hefty response bias. I've sent them an email to this effect; you might want to as well. Edit: I checked again and the form now has a Symbian option.

cmos 17y ago

This is well written. And the free membership into the premier club is a great low cost way of rewarding people. Making hardware is freakin difficult, and the margins are always thinner than you want in the beginning.

jmtame 17y ago

looking forward to it! thanks for the update guys

seldo 17y ago

I realized when I got this email this evening that I have pre-ordered both the WakeMate and the FitBit. When I get both I shall have to run side-by-side feature comparisons, seeing as I've blown the money already anyway...

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

asnyder 17y ago

I wonder why I didn't get this e-mail. I pre-ordered one some time ago.

speigei 17y ago
same here, even checked spam...
durana 17y ago
I pre-ordered the product and I did not receive this e-mail either. I forget the exact options relating to e-mail that I selected during the Google Checkout process, but I either chose not to disclose my e-mail address to the seller or I did not opt in for e-mails from the seller. I'm guessing you did the same and that's why we didn't receive the e-mail. If one of the WakeMate guys read this, it would be good to post this on the blog or main website so people who did not get the e-mail can still get the information directly from WakeMate and fill out the questionnaire.
- unn 17y ago
  Yeah I agree, I didn't get this email and I was frantically checking their blog, which looks dead, and their website, which hasn't changed to reflect anything said in the email.
hackoder 17y ago
Same here. What's with the 'fill out the form to stay on our list' bit? Did I not already pay you money to stay on your pre-order list?

lonestar 17y ago

Perhaps they should have announced the monthly fees before the delay. I'm more than a little disappointed to find out that I'm not getting it on time, and that I might unexpectedly have to pay a monthly fee once it does ship.

asb 17y ago
They've answered this concern on Twitter: "all the planned features are still free! we've developed some new awesome premium features that we're planning on charging for." http://twitter.com/wakemate/status/8102380070 http://twitter.com/wakemate/status/8102380070
- BRadmin 17y ago
  In the email they mention delays due to new innovations -- so basically, I won't be getting my product on time because they were developing a premium service I didn't know about and will now have to pay for to benefit. Doesn't seem right...
  - spydertennis 17y ago
    I'm sorry if it seemed that way. The new features are in software and the delays are mostly hardware related. I would be pissed too if it was delayed because we were trying to squeeze more money out of you. That's not the case.
    - BRadmin 17y ago
      Appreciate the clarification. I think the non-conciliatory tone and some of the content from your email is a little off-putting to a lot of folks. Whereas most people were expecting to receive an actual product within a week or two, we're now told we'll have to wait indefinitely; words like "tentatively" "first batch" and "as early as" convey this. If we're waiting because the hardware got better, give us some specifics instead of keeping it vague. I was under the impression the WakeMate was already awesome -- if it's delayed, tell me what you've been working on and improving to show me why I should still be excited about this, why you guys did me a favor by delaying. The delay email is also functioning as an introduction to PREMIUM features (at a cost) that nobody was aware of, which feels out of place in the context of the message's initial intent. I'm sure you guys are working hard and round the clock, but unfortunately we don't get to see and experience that, live and breath the company with you guys. All we're aware of is the image you convey in the few paragraphs you send to us. As a company that people have invested in, that has taken money from soon-to-be customers, you need to be ultra-cognizant of how you present to us.

maxklein 17y ago

I want my money back, and I'm going to request it till they do. I feel cheated - fitbit is shipping, and what the hell is this bullshit about premium analytics?! When I pre-ordered there was no indication that there was going to be a monthly fee - and now they are delayed and can't even say when it will appear. And they are talking of MONTHS of delay? I was really impressed when I first saw the company, but my mood has swung the other way entirely. I do not think they ever had a product to begin with. I want my $5 back and my fitbit will only cost $94 and not $99. YCS09? That's more than 10 months ago. If they can't ship till now, then they will be slow and not add any features to match the competition. Sorry, but if you are in a business with good competitors and you have already collected your customers money, you just don't do this.

sync 17y ago
Fitbit had a shipping delay of about a year. Check their blog: http://blog.fitbit.com/ http://blog.fitbit.com/ Granted, their preorder was free.
- nico 17y ago
  And, like so many others, they don't ship outside the US. You can read about it on their FAQ: http://www.fitbit.com/faq#shippingoutsideus http://www.fitbit.com/faq#shippingoutsideus
csmeder 17y ago
Give the guys a little slack, you might be jumping to conclusions. And we of all people knew the risks with buying a hardware product from a startup. As far as fitbit being and alternative, it doesn't do wake mates main function: wake you up at the right time. That said if you want your money back I hope they give it to you hassle free. They missed their dead line and there is no reason they shouldn't try their best to satisfy customers who want their deposit back. Let us know if goes well.
wheels 17y ago
For the record, YCS09 began 8 months ago and ended 5 months ago.

csmeder 17y ago

Their web site still says "Limited quantity, reserve today! Pay $5 now and the rest when it ships. (Expected ship date 1/25/10)"

jpcx01 17y ago

Was excited about WakeMate, so much so that I ended up just buying a Zeo. Been using it as an alarm clock for about a month now, and gotta say, its incredible. It basically wakes you up every morning when it detects you are already in light sleep. Been a big morning changer for me since I started using it. If WakeMate can provide anything close to Zeo for what they're charging (much much less), I think they'll do well.

kilian 17y ago

Wakemate is really handling this situation poorly. Yes, delays due to hardware are a good reason. But introducing pay-for features as compensation for those delays is not. It seems that this is a classic case of engineers doing bizdev. Those two have virtually no overlap. For example, "I'm really sorry you feel this way" is the equivalent of "quit whining" and you should never say that to anyone unless you actually mean "quit whining". Bizdev is hard. I got bitten by it hard when I started my company. Nowadays, each mail me and colleagues send get meticulously checked by the others, and any bullshitting gets taken out. I think they would do good to do something similar. Let me know how it works ;-)

bhousel 17y ago
Good point, this is one of the things that always bothers me too. Real apologies don't start with "I'm sorry that you.." Real apologies start with "I'm sorry that I.."

FreeRadical 17y ago

I thought the benefit of wakemate versus other similar gadgets was the price. When premium features are included, does it really win on price?

sounddust 17y ago

I think they should give the premium features to those of us who pre-ordered, for free, permanently. It wouldn't cost them anything extra to do so (maybe a few dollars/year in server costs for the entire pre-order userbase). Sure, they will lose potential subscriber costs for some pre-order customers, but if they can't sell enough WakeMates to make the pre-order crowd an insignificant blip, then they are not going to be able to succeed anyway. Furthermore, the pre-order crowd is the group you really, really want to be happy. They are going to be the first to give their impressions to the world, and those tweets/reviews/blog posts are going to be at the top of Google's search results for near-infinity. I feel like a pre-order was a commitment to Wakemate, and they are not honoring their side in expecting us to pay more to fully utilize the product. They can say that the premium model has features in addition to what was initially planned, but I think that anyone who planned to buy the product expected the free service to improve and add features over time anyway, so it seems that effort is instead being redirected to the premium version.

gizmo 17y ago
Exactly, I expected the web version to improve over time, and I expected (and was fully willing) to pay for a better and improved wakemate down the road (better battery life, smaller, etc). Having to pay for both hardware upgrades and for monthly analytics... that seems a bit much. Also the WakeMate marketing message is disingenuous: "Limited quantity, reserve today" it says on the front page, which indicates that the WakeMate device actually exist. From the email they sent this morning it's clear that they accepted "thousands" of pre-orders and that the device was still in the concept phase (otherwise they could never make all those changes to the design/internals). How a company acts in the first few months is generally a pretty good indicator of how the company is going to turn out. Maybe I should get out while I can.

ig1 17y ago

Sending customers to a blog which hasn't been updated for two months for more information probably isn't the best idea either...

evilrob666fm 17y ago

Just been chatting with the WakeMate guys via the new instant message feature on their website - they've pledged to give these "premium" features to all preorder customers for free for life to make up for their crappy email today. http://www.twitpic.com/zfv9q http://www.twitpic.com/zfv9q

jm2t 17y ago
Yeah, talked with them and told me the same. Shipping will be starting like at th end of february, BUT free LIFETIME premium! Even if premium was 5$/month, you could save over 700$ in 5 years, not to tell in a lifetime.

mototog 17y ago

I never even received a status delay email from WakeMate. I had to learn about it on TechCrunch. As a matter of fact, in checking my email archive, I've had NO communication from WakeMate. The only thing I have is my Paypal receipt for my deposit. And I see that now they have switched to Google Checkout for payment processing. As an early adopter, have I slipped through a crack?

dnsworks 17y ago

This makes me wonder, has there ever been a successful YC company like WakeMate, ie that was more than just a web application? Maybe it's just a problem of WM having teamed up with an ill-suited process?