* mumbles something about wise choices. Stares at Paypal account waiting for credit and grumbles *

https://econsumer.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Your reference # is 45932276.

 I messed up. Fine. Waiting on my refund of $4,698 USD

I need to take exception with this. If I have x Dollars invested in BFL pre-orders, what rational reason would I have for contemplating Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt for BFL essentially being six months behind schedule, with no accurate information for delivery, going on almost a year now.

Do I admit to being a total angry asshole for being strung along ? Yes. Has anything I said been a lie, slanderous, or false ? I certainly hope not; if it is I will apologize and issue a retraction.

 ... still waiting ...

 It will certainly be enough once I receive my refund. This entire experience has left me shell-shocked.

Everything is relative.

 No. Provided details @ 4:12 PM CST

Yes.

 If there is anything I have said that is false, libelous, or in no-way rooted-in-fact, please point them out to me.

 Waiting on the refund, fwiw.

 Respectfully, I learned of Butterfly Labs on these forums. When their COO says these forums are not important to their business, how are the early, loyal customers supposed to feel ?

https://www.consumer.ago.mo.gov/

 Thank you for this recommendation. I'll drop them a line and see how things go.

Edit:

Confirmation Number:   914077
Confirmation Time:   2013-05-16 15:58:20

 What if you got on the plane nice and calm and rational, and instead of the flight taking 6 months, you are still on the plane, 11 months in the air, with no idea when you are going to land ?

I need to humbly disagree with you on this point. A punitive refund is mind-boggling.

Furthermore, what do you mean by "suddenly having faith" ? If I didn't have faith, I would have asked for a refund to begin with.

 Let me stop you right there. If I did not have faith they would not ship, I would have asked for a refund on my orders long ago instead of placing TWO ADDITIONAL orders for product this year.

 Furthermore, am I not justified to bitch-and-moan about waiting 11 months and having to endure one broken promise after another about this entire development process ?!

 So their answer is "This customer is upset because we can't provide accurate information. Lets fire them because they are manifesting their frustration at our inability to ship the product they have asked and paid for"

 I'm just hoping this all gets resolved as a "misunderstanding" and my orders are reinstated posthaste. I really don't want to escalate this and take the next steps to protect my investment.

TL;DR: Josh "Inaba" Zerlan, COO of Butterfly Labs, taunts Bitcointalk forum members. I call him out on his behavior in an incendiary fashion. He tells Jody to cancel my orders (#s 2030, 2158 & 100033486). Check posting history (links @ end of thread). Is this the kind of company you want to be doing business with in America ?

---

EDIT: Jun.2.2013: Another lie

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/pre-sales-questions/3026-forced-refunds.html#post37336

"BFL_Josh BFL is not doing forced refunds on anyone. Whoever you purchased through is lying to you."

---

 I've never felt this abused as a customer before. Filed a complaint with the Missouri AG Customer Complaints dept and the FTC Complaints Dept. Provided a Paypal address to office@bfl to get refunded for $4,698 (edit: refund processed)

Sorry for getting all fired up like that, forum-denizens. I hit a frustration limit I've never experienced before when purchasing products, and way overreacted.

Lessons learned, if I'm going to be critical of a company I plan to do business with, I should probably choose a moniker that they can't trace back to their customer database.

If you are a former, or current customer of Butterfly Labs, and are disgruntled and fed up with how they have conducted themselves over the last year, I would urge you to contact the following agencies and filing formal complaints.

The more light we shed on Butterfly Labs' business practices, the more chance we have to effect positive change and hold them to anything resembling responsible accountability to their customers.

• https://www.consumer.ago.mo.gov/ - Missouri Attorney General Customer Complaints Deptartment
• https://econsumer.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ - Federal Trade Commission Customer Complaint form

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=110805.0 - "Butterfly Labs CEO 25 Million USD Mail Fraud — A Concise Summary of Evidence" is a good thread highlighting historical issues with Butterfly Labs' officers that should document concerns and facts.

I would urge you to not openly complain on these forums if there is any way Butterfly Labs can trace it back to your orders with them. They have demonstrated a will to punitively cancel and refund orders.

Finally, I would be lying if I didn't have a slight concern of someone affiliated with BFL showing up on my doorstep and confronting me for creating this thread, seeing as how they know where I live, given their checkered history. But lets just hope that's my paranoia kicking in.

---

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=181098.msg1897893#msg1897893

Inaba @ April 20, 2013, 05:06:30 PM: "BFL has given up on Bitcointalk, so don't expect any official communication from BFL here."

vs

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=206304.msg2228269#msg2228269

Inaba @ May.21.2013 @  05:49:33 PM : "4 @ 5.75"

Spending ~$2,881.90 to advertise on a forum that they have "given up on" is the textbook definition of cognitive dissonance.

---

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=119338.0

An unpaid bet of 1,000 BTC still remains over BFL missing their power consumption by at least a factor of 5, with no movement being made to honor the charity donation. The unpaid bet has resulted in calls for Inaba to be branded with a Scammer tag.

---

Similar experience - "I was just banned from BFL forums" - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=214250.0

---

Quick Link Inaba posting history : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=8198;sa=showPosts
Quick Link Xian posting history: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=58223;sa=showPosts

"Effectively, it can try all possible solutions at the same time and then select the best."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22554494

~35-40 units so far.