Bitcoin Forum

Chips remaining: 55

I've placed an order (#100066934) for 100 BFL Chips, and will be reselling them to those who want to purchase less than BFL's minimum order amount of 100.

Orders will be processed as they are received, in a first come first served queue. If more than 100 orders are placed here, I will purchase another batch of 100. The chips are scheduled to arrive no later than 100 days from the purchase date, which is September 24th.

The chips will hash at a minimum 4gh/s each. Please understand that you are not purchasing a ready-to-mine product here. The processors being sold will need to be incorporated into a host board before being used. If BFL does not deliver I shall not be held at fault.

---

The pricing structure is as follows:

1-4 Chips	5-9 Chips	10+ Chips
$80 each Order here: https://bitpay.com/img/button7.png (https://bitpay.com/cart/add?itemId=wwKyZdHZb3AXLlWYjZZGAXNMoCSB4dCuiBD7t_a1bv8=)	$75 each Order here: https://bitpay.com/img/button7.png (https://bitpay.com/cart/add?itemId=uiuVSNVNuOsDTfvqXrX9LZzfreYJXNmMvJvFVGd5WKc=)	$65 each Order here: https://bitpay.com/img/button7.png (https://bitpay.com/cart/add?itemId=dN7pGN2yd1AU2vwmFJ7l4iMLsMzRu6CZBUR-QEsoqqk=)

Shipping will be a flat $14.99 for the continental USA denominated in BTC to be billed at the time of shipping. International will be a case-by-case basis. Please factor in these costs when making your purchase.

Cheers,
Garrett

---

Thread rules: No advertising BFL chip/credit sales.

[Reserved for shipping updates]

any assembly service will be searched/provided?

Yes, BFL has provided firmware for interfacing with the chips and some additional documentation.

I expect that by the time these chips are shipping I will have a board design in place and ready to go.

And here's a quote from BFL:

Update with regard to assembly:

I am talking to a private developer who will be working with me on Avalon boards and they are completely willing to do the same for these BFL chips.

Things are looking good!

--Garrett

Would it be possible (physically and software wise) to upgrade a BFL 5 GH/s miner to a 25 GH/s?

I mean the board has space for the chips but only 2 (or was it one?) is soldered onto them.
In my humble opinion yes, but I not a soldering expert for SMD devices/chips.

   one4many

I've concluded that it is not possible to populate the entire board, because of power issues. Thie Jalapeno case that they are shipping now was supposed to be the 25gh/s Little Single case, but the same power issues came about with their Jalapeno. I believe that it could be possible to add one or two chips to the board currently, but certainly not to populate all the sockets.

Best,
Garrett

Thx for the insight Garrett.
Does anybody (here) already own a (little) single and would be so kind post some pictures of the board.

All the best!

    one4many

Interested but I would like more info.

1. shipping to EU, Slovenia(estimaste).
2. do you take BTL cupones(I have 12).
3. any idea how many chips will be per PCB?
4. is 65$ biased on you having a lot of cupones or did you get discaunt? Can I use my own?
5. since price is in $ not in BTC do you take Paypal?
6. do we need to pay full price now or only 50%

Sure, I'll answer your questions in the order you asked them:

1) Will be ~$50
2) No, sorry. I have already ordered the chips
3) Probably 16, but a fully populated PCB would not be required for it to function
4) See 2
5) No, BTC only.
6) Yes, full payment in advance is required. People trust me. I've never used an escrow and am not going to start now.

Best,
Garrett

Once the board layout is figured out would it be possible for me to etch my own board and source the parts and bake/solder it myself? I have etched boards b4 and have read/watched alot of videos about baking boards for surface mount components. Basically what I'm asking for is the board diagram and component list. lol

 Chip structure and density makes it almost impossible to mount them without professional equipment. That said there are lots of exceptionally well equipped and well funded DIY operators and reflow facilities that can and will do this when the time comes.

Just purchased 10 chips.  ;)

Hey Garr, it has been a month since the scheduled arrival date, any news on the chips?

I got a tracking # from BFL a few weeks ago but have not received anything yet. I will call them tomorrow and post back here when I have info.

--Garrett

I purchased the remaining 87 chips from this offer.

What does the tracking information show when you check the number?

Also, why did you wait 3 weeks and still haven't called to check on them, and why have not responded to my emails and PMs asking about them?

Due to their diminished value because of the delay, I would like to request a refund rather than taking delivery.

I would also like to request a refund on the chips.

Hi,

I have called BFL, and BFL assures me that the chips shipped on Friday. This is very shady of them because they told me the chips shipped about two weeks ago. I will call them tomorrow morning and request that they be refunded. I agree that this has taken them a ridiculous amount of time and I don't want to take delivery on the chips that I bought for myself either.

I will post back here tomorrow.

--Garrett

Any update on a refund?  :-X

No offense meant, but I feel like you should just refund me now and settle-up with BFL on your own.  I entered into the purchase agreement with you, not with BFL.

I feel like you've dropped the ball in not managing the order or responding to my emails or PMs in a timely manner (usually not responding at all.)

I'm looking to receive the 27 BTC I paid for 55 chips directly to your 1garr255 address, plus the $2080 I paid for the first 32 chips via the bitpay button in the OP.

Thanks in advance.

Hey,

Today, after much persistence with BFL, they have still refused to give a refund and sent me the chips regardless. I have them in my posession as of this evening and will be sending them to their proper recipients on Monday. I apologize for this mishaps, but it is nothing I could have prevented. The chips will be out of my hands Monday and this will be over.

I am never going to order from BFL again, unless they can ship the same day I pay. That is a lesson most of us have learned the hard way with BFL.

Well that's just great.  :sarcmark: (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/24/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-infamous-sarcmark.html)  BFL fucks us over again.

I still have to ask why you didn't follow up with BFL more aggressively when the delivery first became late.  I don't feel like I received the level of customer service I ought to have with this purchase.

For contrast, I purchased another lot of these chips from another forum user who had an 18-June order, and they were delivered to me on 11-Oct.  Only about 8 days late after accounting for reshipment from him to me.  He called BFL right away when they passed the 100 day mark.

Garr, I appreciate you running this group buy, but these chips are worth a lot less than we have paid for.

I think that you should keep pestering them for a 50% refund, or for an extra set of 100 chips.

from what I can tell, these chips are worth less than half of what we paid because of a late delivery, that is inexcusable on their part.

Also, can you respond to my PM regarding the Avalon chip refund? I hate getting burned on both sides...

Please don't let BFL get away with this behavior without harassing them.

Thanks again Garr

PM me the tracking information please.

Thanks.

Pretty please?

It's Friday now and the mail has been delivered, and I still have no chips.

Garr255, please talk to me.  I think you at least owe me, your paying customer, a response.

Did you ship the chips?  If so, please send me the tracking number.

Garr just doesn't care about us. He made his BTC and that's what matters to him. ::)

I have now left negative feedback and opened a Scam Accusation thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=330481.0

Hi all,

I have been out of the country and the chips have been sent and the tracking numbers have been emailed to the email address you used to place the orders! Please check those emails ASAP.

No such email was received by the email address that received the bitpay receipt.

Again, as I said in the Scam Accusation thread, I no longer want the chips seeing how they are now massively late due to your having dropped the ball on managing the order.  I only want a full refund.

That is ludicrous, because I shipped the chips three days after receiving them from BFL, which was last Friday. BFL is the one you should be consulting not me. This is a classic don't shoot the messenger scenario and I will be happy to work with you to seek compensation from BFL, because my personal chips were delivered the same day as participants of this group-buy.

What's ludicrous is the way you've mishandled this.  I should consult with BFL?  I can't as I am not the purchasing customer.  You are.  It was your job to manage the order process with them.

Why did you not call them every day as soon as delivery was past due and shipment was not made?  You say you had a tracking number from them.  Should you not have checked its status and pursued the matter with them every day until shipment was made?  I think you should have.

This admission is particularly telling:


You let the matter slide for "a few weeks"?  That is not the kind of service I think I should have received.  I paid a big premium to buy the chips from you over what I would have paid ordering directly from BFL.  What did that premium buy me?

P.S. Not that I will accept the chips now, but you still have not given me a tracking number for the shipment you claim was made, nor have I received any chips.  I believe the same is true of Lloydimiller4.

P.P.S.  Please understand that my indignation is not out of any spite for you personally.  It is only from my belief that I am in the right regarding this matter.

I have a proposal for you to consider:

That we agree to allow a neutral third party to judge and decide the outcome of this situation.  I propose John K, assuming he will agree to perform the service.

I also propose that we offer him 3% of the amount at stake as a fee for performing the service, to be paid in advance equally between the two of us (1.5% each).

Think it over and let me know.

Well, I finally received the tracking information last night. I guess this is after you saw the scam accusation and wanted to cover your ass...

You are acting as far more than a mere 'messenger' when you run a group buy...
I still want proof of BFL's tracking information to you, both your private purchase and the purchase with this group buy. Just be transparent with us, Bogart and I don't truly know what happened, only you do. We only know that we have been screwed about 65% of the value we sent you. You should be the one compensating us as you work out whatever problems you had with BFL on your own time. And I know you are profiting off this group buy which is just salt in the wound.

I still think you were too busy with other parts of your life, which isn't really an excuse when dealing with other people's money.

Also, why won't you refund me my Avalon chip purchase from you? I've sent everything you needed to refund me multiple times...

I still didn't receive any.  When does yours indicate shipment was made?

Never-mind, it turns out only a shipping label was made last night.


Who did Garr ship the chips to?

Bogart, in response to your asking why I didn't deal with BFL more aggressively, is because I learned that Inaba has a terrible attitude or possibly an ego problem that makes him feel the need to threaten to cancel the orders I have placed with him, regardless whether I paid with personal funds or others' funds. That is my reason for the hesitance in pestering BFL regarding the order.

This entire ordeal hasn't gone as smoothly as any of us would have liked, especially with BFL being so late on delivery and then a number of my first batch of reshipment being sent back for insufficient postage, which is entirely my fault for not properly compensating for weight of the packages. Bogart and Lloydmiler4 are the two participants that were effected by this and I will offer you each the equivalent BTC of 2 weeks of output for the hashrate you purchased from me, this overcompensated for the downtime cause by my delay. I apologize for not resolving this issue sooner, I have been out of the country and unable to see that this was done properly so I hope you can forgive me for this.

Best,
Garrett

Everyone knows that Josh/Inaba is a giant dick.  You'll receive no argument there.  However, to think that he could or would cancel an order just because a customer inquired about it seems like a stretch.  My other chip seller called about his order, and his call resulted in almost-timely shipment.

In retrospect, cancellation of the order would have been the best outcome for all of us.  </captain_hindsight>

IMO, when the order became past-due and you were faced with the decision of whether to call them on it or not, you should have informed us stakeholders and allowed us to weigh-in with our opinions instead of making the decision on your own and keeping us in the dark, assuring us that they would ship soon.

I'm also not sure whether I even believe your story.  Before I consider any kind of settlement I need to see some proof that what you say is true.

I think the best proof that you can offer is to give the tracking numbers of the shipments involved.  That includes all tracking numbers given to you by BFL -- those that resulted in a shipment and those that did not.  Also the tracking number for my shipment of chips that was returned to you for insufficient postage.

I also want a screenshot of the BFL order page showing the chip order, the shipment date if shown, and any notes, tracking information, or other details shown.

No offense meant by the above.  It's just that your reluctance to provide me with the tracking number for my own shipment despite my numerous requests has aroused my suspicion.

I also need to see the tracking info that Bogart is requesting.

I do want some sort of compensation, but I would much rather just a direct refund of bitcoin.

According to Mr Teal:

Seems like Garr could have had this issue taken care of well over a month ago. Garr, did you bother to check on the progress of other group-buyers? It looks like you would not even of had to deal with Inaba in any of this.

I just now received a shipment containing the chips.  Checking the tracking number shown on the label indicates that the shipment was accepted by USPS on 12-November.

Not that this settles the matter.  I still want the information requested above to verify the story given.  Then I can think about how to settle things.

Having arrived home I weighed the shipment.  It comes to 4.02 oz.  I don't see how an overweight/insufficient postage situation could have occurred.  The USPS Priority shipping rates seems to go in 8 oz increments.  USPS Priority being the shipping method I requested.

No... never. Learn the lesson and pass it on. DO NOT BUY FROM BFL.

So Garr255, do you have anything to say for yourself?  It's been a while since you posted.

I'm still waiting to receive the requested information.

I spoke with Lloyd Miller today, and explained to him the situation with BFL. I have emailed and called BFL asking for the shipping label number so I can prove that they shipped when they did. Lloyd told me that the producer of the PCBs he wants to use will only do a production run if he gets 300+ chips together, and not many people bought these chips so he is having trouble arranging it.

I am going to keep pushing BFL to send more chips as compensation for the late delivery.

Please re-read the information I am requesting.

^ I want that tracking number.

^ The tracking number from that shipment.  It should be printed on the shipping label that was affixed to the box of chips you received.

^ And that one.

^ And also that screenshot.

Why is it that you cannot produce these 4 items?

I would really like to see all of the shipping information too.

I talked with Mr Teal and he said he would need about 1000 BFL chips to run a third batch of Chilis.

Garr has 100 chips
This group buy is another 100 chips

Unless Garr can get BFL to send us another 200 chips to compensate for the delayed shipping then I don't think we can get anything done with our chips. We will still need to post on the Chili thread to try and round up the other 60% of chips

Anyone have any other suggestions?

I called BFL asking for both tracking numbers from these shipments this morning, I expect they'll get back to me Monday with them.

I never got a tracking number for this shipment, they just showed up without notice and I did not record it from the box. (Do you usually record tracking numbers of received items? I don't, and I apologize if that's something you expected.)

9407 4036 9930 0005 5877 80

I cannot get to the "order details" page, BFL's site just redirects me to the list of orders when I try to click on the link for the details for any one of them. BFL will be able to confirm this because it is their website after all.

Please keep in mind, I have done my job as per it's description and have resent you the chips in a timely manner after I received them. BFL is aware that you are the recipient of the order and you can do your best to get a refund from them. I actually lost money when selling you those chips, for ~$45 each was it at the current exchange rate at the time?

I will be here to help you figure this situation out, but do not feel that I am obliged to aid you in seeking compensation from BFL's late delivery, so please stop treating the situation as if that is so.

You said you received that tracking number well over a month ago.  How is it that you no longer have it?

I can go into my email right now and find the tracking numbers for my shipments from BFL.  They sent me a "Your order has been shipped!" email each time with the tracking number in it.



I would have kept the box myself, knowing how things were in dispute like this.



That just shows that a label was generated.  The service type, date, and features do match what I would expect.

I still don't understand how an overweight/underpayment situation could have happened given that Priority Mail costs appear to go up in 8 oz increments, and the shipment was 4.02 oz, with the label being electronically generated and paid.



Indeed, the BFL website is also broken for me in this way at the moment.



I don't feel like you did your job well.  You let the situation sit for "a few weeks" and did nothing to fix it, you say because you were afraid of Josh.  You also did not inform us participants of this until after the fact.

As for selling the chips at a loss, I can go to http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/ and look up the exchange rate at the time of the BTC-denominated purchase of 55 chips, which was on 04-September-2013 20:58.  The mtgox price looks to be around $135, and the btc-e price about $118.  Having paid 27 BTC for 55 chips, that would be $66.27 or $57.92 per chip.

I don't think we're going to be able to agree on a settlement on our own.  I propose again that we ask John K. if he will judge the matter for us for a fee, and agree to abide by his decision if he agrees to perform the service.

Well, I'm gonna stop arguing the matter.  Right or wrong it's not worth the ugly feeling I get from it.  I've accepted that I'm stuck with the chips.

I've started a thread to try to find a use for them:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=336300.0

Garr also did not pay the other half of the chips till mid September, which BTC had moved up a bit.

I only want justified compensation. I do think Garr dropped the ball on the group buy, though that doesn't "entitle" us to compensation, but if Garr keeps a profit, or hedges his personal losses on customer money when he did not pursue getting the late chips delivered. The usefulness of these chips is uncertain at best, a total loss at the worst.

Unfortunately Garr is the only one in this group buy that has the shipment facts.

If Garr is willing to post all of the facts concerning the Group Buy, I would be appreciative.


If all I can get is some hashrate compensation, then I guess that is better than nothing.

eBay BFL 8 chip buyitnow (http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-pcs-BFL-Chips-IN-HAND-Not-credits-BTC-ASIC-Avalon-fpga-/190925234685)
$35.88 per chip, you would need to get all 8 + $8 shipping.

Or, eBay BFL 1 chip buyitnow (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BFL-Chips-IN-HAND-Not-credits-BTC-ASIC-Avalon-fpga-/200975456389)
$37 per chip, + $5 shipping.

From what I've seen on the forum - chips are probably binned - 15 or 16 engines per chip.

EDIT: corrected hyperlinks 2 times!

FYI: