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So I do this whole kickstarter thing and now my console is – well, I don’t even know where. DHL’s tracking is useless, as usual. Then there’s trouble with custo

by moeffju 13y ago

So I do this whole kickstarter thing and now my console is – well, I don’t even know where. DHL’s tracking is useless, as usual. Then there’s trouble with customs, apparently, that OUYA didn’t seem to have though about. But hey, at least I get a nice apologetic e-mail offering me zilch for compensation. So basically I am no better off than the people who waited and bought it off Amazon, except they got their consoles! This is hugely frustrating. (And not very constructive, I know, please excuse the rant.)

nilsimsa 13y ago
I've funded 3 kickstarter projects (not OUYA however) and none of them have even delivered yet. One of them was due last Sept and another in Nov. The third one was due this month but got delayed for another two more. These being hw/sw engineering projects from scratch I can somewhat understand the delays but I'm getting a little impatient.
- moeffju 13y ago
  Absolutely. And I would still be waiting patiently except for the fact that this thing is actually being sold in retail now. I don't mind waiting. But I'm annoyed at being "worse off" as a backer.
  - brazzy 13y ago
    You and the grandparent apparently still haven't fully grasped what being a backer means: it means you gave those people a gift of $XX to spend on the project, because you think it is cool and hope that they manage to finish it. You should fully expect to be worse off than the people buying the finished product.
    - moeffju 13y ago
      No, see, there’s a trade here. I back a project, and they promise me a reward. In this case, it was pretty specific: “You will get your console before the market does.”
- benatkin 13y ago
  I was careful to make sure I chose projects where there would be nothing to deliver except bits.
- Glyptodon 13y ago
  I've backed over 30 projects, most of which successfully funded. Out of all those projects only one of them has been a really problematic, and a couple more a little more nebulous than I care for. Several have taken quite a bit longer than expected, but did come through in the end. Many are not complete, but the creators make regular updates and seem on track. However, I mostly back playing card projects, which are very straightforward, and generally come through. I think a key to having a successful backer experience on Kickstarter is managing your expectations and avoiding projects that are too big for their creators. That said I have pretty mixed opinions about the whole Ouya experience so far.
- tluyben2 13y ago
  I funded over 15 projects and got everything except the Ouya. I understand that funding is not pre-ordering and i'm a sucker for tinker hardware. I'm most happy so far with the Oculus Rift dev kit. Even though it's not very practical yet, I definitely find it one of the most fun gadgets I ever bought. Playing around with Unity and really 'see' the world you made. As for the Ouya; I found the communication with them quite horrible so far. You cannot really tell me that 'they are soooo busy' that they cannot just answer mails a lot faster. I mean; they didn't sell that many yet.
  - tekromancr 13y ago
    Ohh, I'm so jealous! I had to cancel my pre-order.
    - tluyben2 13y ago
      (Assuming you mean the Rift) If you can manage to find one you should; it's great stuff if you like that kind of cutting edge gadgets. I'm replaying HL2 with it and I just find myself standing still often and looking around. I also often almost lose my balance (I play standing mostly) because things move under or above me; it's just that good.
      - tekromancr 13y ago
        I really think I would have the most fun just building things in unity. What I really want to do is build tools that let you build worlds from the inside.
incision 13y ago
I received my OUYA just under 2 weeks ago. My backer number was somewhere a bit under 4K. I had the same experience with DHL. If it's any sort of consolation, the current experience is pretty uneven and title selection is sparse - you're not missing a whole lot. EDIT: In case anyone is curious, I had my delivery 14 days from the #myouyaiscoming email.
- Glyptodon 13y ago
  When I found out they were shipping DHL I just assumed it would take 3 weeks from when it got my shipping notice and it did. Any time I've ever had something shipped via DHL it's taken a tremendous amount of time to ship, their tracking codes often fail to work, and things often just plain fail. My worst experience was when one time I ordered a Lego set from the main Lego site as a gift and it shipped via DHL. It was nearly a week before I got a tracking number. Then it turned out it was shipping (supposedly) from someplace random like Cyprus or Moldova and was still sitting there. Eventually it moved to New York over the course of a couple weeks where it showed no signs of moving. Needless to say I contacted Lego and they just canceled and refunded my order with a brief apology, no questions asked. I had assumed they'd try to figure out what was up and get my order to me somehow, but nope. Oh? Some random DHL shipping thing? It's just a loss and let's move on. And this from Lego, a large, well-respected international brand. I think Ouya has a problem - their updates and such are too much marketing speak and fake community, not enough authenticity and real engagement. But I'm also willing to believe that any time DHL is in use, it's basically a given that there will be problems.
- ido 13y ago
  I had my ouya shipped to Israel and iirc it only took about 5 days to get here.
Brashman 13y ago
This is of course tongue-in-cheek, but wasn't the point of doing the Kickstarter to support the project, not necessarily to pre-order a console? Sorry, I just find it strange when people expect that they "deserve" certain things for backing a Kickstarter project or that the rewards are "promises" that being broken. (However, I do understand the frustration that it may have been faster/better to not be a backer if your goal was to get a console.)
- joenathan 13y ago
  People aren't backing Kickstarter projects for charity, backers expect to be appreciated and most importantly the expect what they've been promised.
- incision 13y ago
  >This is of course tongue-in-cheek, but wasn't the point of doing the Kickstarter to support the project, not necessarily to pre-order a console? It's hard to blame them [0]. >Sorry, I just find it strange when people expect that they "deserve" certain things for backing a Kickstarter project or that the rewards are "promises" that being broken. In my experience, Kickstarter backers have been remarkably understanding of delays and other project issues - when there's timely, sincere communication about the problems. Sure, there's no hard contract between backers and creators, but an expectation of good faith isn't "strange", it's perfectly understandable. 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5708427 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5708427
- smackfu 13y ago
  When the reward value is tied very closely to the amount that is backed, Kickstarter is defacto acting as a store with preorders, despite their protestations.
  - tankbot 13y ago
    That's true, but without the backers (or some kind of funding) the project wouldn't come to fruition at all. It may feel like preordering, but it's not and that's important to remember.
herbig 13y ago
I have the exact same problem. I was in contact with Ouya support but haven't gotten a response from them in two weeks now. They told me it arrived, but it didn't, and the DHL tracking number never worked so I'm not sure how they determined that.
Pxtl 13y ago
I think such a large product launch, these kind of growing pains would be inevitable and so a certain amount of understanding needs to be expected... but still, for folks like you, Ouya should be trying to make things right. Some kind of "sorry, our bad, here let us give you X on the house" freebie would be appropriate. A special shiny limited "sorry it was late" console or an extra gamepad or something.

by moeffju 13y ago

nilsimsa 13y ago

I've funded 3 kickstarter projects (not OUYA however) and none of them have even delivered yet. One of them was due last Sept and another in Nov. The third one was due this month but got delayed for another two more. These being hw/sw engineering projects from scratch I can somewhat understand the delays but I'm getting a little impatient.

moeffju 13y ago
Absolutely. And I would still be waiting patiently except for the fact that this thing is actually being sold in retail now. I don't mind waiting. But I'm annoyed at being "worse off" as a backer.
- brazzy 13y ago
  You and the grandparent apparently still haven't fully grasped what being a backer means: it means you gave those people a gift of $XX to spend on the project, because you think it is cool and hope that they manage to finish it. You should fully expect to be worse off than the people buying the finished product.
  - moeffju 13y ago
    No, see, there’s a trade here. I back a project, and they promise me a reward. In this case, it was pretty specific: “You will get your console before the market does.”
benatkin 13y ago
I was careful to make sure I chose projects where there would be nothing to deliver except bits.
Glyptodon 13y ago
I've backed over 30 projects, most of which successfully funded. Out of all those projects only one of them has been a really problematic, and a couple more a little more nebulous than I care for. Several have taken quite a bit longer than expected, but did come through in the end. Many are not complete, but the creators make regular updates and seem on track. However, I mostly back playing card projects, which are very straightforward, and generally come through. I think a key to having a successful backer experience on Kickstarter is managing your expectations and avoiding projects that are too big for their creators. That said I have pretty mixed opinions about the whole Ouya experience so far.
tluyben2 13y ago
I funded over 15 projects and got everything except the Ouya. I understand that funding is not pre-ordering and i'm a sucker for tinker hardware. I'm most happy so far with the Oculus Rift dev kit. Even though it's not very practical yet, I definitely find it one of the most fun gadgets I ever bought. Playing around with Unity and really 'see' the world you made. As for the Ouya; I found the communication with them quite horrible so far. You cannot really tell me that 'they are soooo busy' that they cannot just answer mails a lot faster. I mean; they didn't sell that many yet.
- tekromancr 13y ago
  Ohh, I'm so jealous! I had to cancel my pre-order.
  - tluyben2 13y ago
    (Assuming you mean the Rift) If you can manage to find one you should; it's great stuff if you like that kind of cutting edge gadgets. I'm replaying HL2 with it and I just find myself standing still often and looking around. I also often almost lose my balance (I play standing mostly) because things move under or above me; it's just that good.
    - tekromancr 13y ago
      I really think I would have the most fun just building things in unity. What I really want to do is build tools that let you build worlds from the inside.

incision 13y ago

I received my OUYA just under 2 weeks ago. My backer number was somewhere a bit under 4K. I had the same experience with DHL. If it's any sort of consolation, the current experience is pretty uneven and title selection is sparse - you're not missing a whole lot. EDIT: In case anyone is curious, I had my delivery 14 days from the #myouyaiscoming email.

Glyptodon 13y ago
When I found out they were shipping DHL I just assumed it would take 3 weeks from when it got my shipping notice and it did. Any time I've ever had something shipped via DHL it's taken a tremendous amount of time to ship, their tracking codes often fail to work, and things often just plain fail. My worst experience was when one time I ordered a Lego set from the main Lego site as a gift and it shipped via DHL. It was nearly a week before I got a tracking number. Then it turned out it was shipping (supposedly) from someplace random like Cyprus or Moldova and was still sitting there. Eventually it moved to New York over the course of a couple weeks where it showed no signs of moving. Needless to say I contacted Lego and they just canceled and refunded my order with a brief apology, no questions asked. I had assumed they'd try to figure out what was up and get my order to me somehow, but nope. Oh? Some random DHL shipping thing? It's just a loss and let's move on. And this from Lego, a large, well-respected international brand. I think Ouya has a problem - their updates and such are too much marketing speak and fake community, not enough authenticity and real engagement. But I'm also willing to believe that any time DHL is in use, it's basically a given that there will be problems.
ido 13y ago
I had my ouya shipped to Israel and iirc it only took about 5 days to get here.

Brashman 13y ago

This is of course tongue-in-cheek, but wasn't the point of doing the Kickstarter to support the project, not necessarily to pre-order a console? Sorry, I just find it strange when people expect that they "deserve" certain things for backing a Kickstarter project or that the rewards are "promises" that being broken. (However, I do understand the frustration that it may have been faster/better to not be a backer if your goal was to get a console.)

joenathan 13y ago
People aren't backing Kickstarter projects for charity, backers expect to be appreciated and most importantly the expect what they've been promised.
incision 13y ago
>This is of course tongue-in-cheek, but wasn't the point of doing the Kickstarter to support the project, not necessarily to pre-order a console? It's hard to blame them [0]. >Sorry, I just find it strange when people expect that they "deserve" certain things for backing a Kickstarter project or that the rewards are "promises" that being broken. In my experience, Kickstarter backers have been remarkably understanding of delays and other project issues - when there's timely, sincere communication about the problems. Sure, there's no hard contract between backers and creators, but an expectation of good faith isn't "strange", it's perfectly understandable. 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5708427 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5708427
smackfu 13y ago
When the reward value is tied very closely to the amount that is backed, Kickstarter is defacto acting as a store with preorders, despite their protestations.
- tankbot 13y ago
  That's true, but without the backers (or some kind of funding) the project wouldn't come to fruition at all. It may feel like preordering, but it's not and that's important to remember.

herbig 13y ago

I have the exact same problem. I was in contact with Ouya support but haven't gotten a response from them in two weeks now. They told me it arrived, but it didn't, and the DHL tracking number never worked so I'm not sure how they determined that.

Pxtl 13y ago

I think such a large product launch, these kind of growing pains would be inevitable and so a certain amount of understanding needs to be expected... but still, for folks like you, Ouya should be trying to make things right. Some kind of "sorry, our bad, here let us give you X on the house" freebie would be appropriate. A special shiny limited "sorry it was late" console or an extra gamepad or something.