Yes, these are real. A pic after initial build is below. My thoughts on the order/delivery/build process: 1) Don't order the 4 GPU racks. I have limited space and cheap motherboards with only four slots ATM, but I figured there should be enough space based on the pictures to add 2 more cards down the road. Maybe, but it will be awfully tight with the PSU spacing. I'm thinking doubtful at this point. I should have kicked in the extra few dollars each to get 6 GPU racks. It is also very difficult to fit 2 PSU on a single rack due to the close proximity of the motherboard. I'm assuming this is not the case on a 6+. I'm seriously kicking myself about this. Stupid, stupid choice. 2) Check your motherboard sizes. The 3 ASRock boards I have all claim to be ATX. They are not standard ATX size (even though they are listed as such on newegg). I had to cut sheets of lexan and mount them to the racks, then mount the motherboards to the lexan. Not happy about having to do that, although it does look fine. 3) I paid for EMS. Ordered 12/30, customs 1/17, bag out 2/5, received 2/13. I knew it wasn't going to be quick, but at this point I'm just glad I didn't go with surface mail like I was planning on. I had no idea shipping was that slow via surface. The only inter-continental orders I've made have been from China, which as the knick-knack supplier to the world has products shipping constantly. 4) Waiting on more USB powered risers, but 30cm cables will only work for two or three cards per rack. I just ordered some 80cm units. I'll be buying 40cm cables to replace the 30cm cables I have, as they seem tight. 5) Take your time knocking these together. The instructions are good, but I made a few mistakes in my rush and it's annoying to find out after you start trying to mount hardware. Not hard to dismantle and correct, just frustrating. 6) I wish they had feet. The bottom of the legs are just open tubing. Would have been nice to have caps to put there.  I still have to add the final 2 GPU, mount the 10" monitor and WiFi AP, velcro tie down cabling and KVM, and mount the power buttons. Yes it's pretty ugly ATM, but once I get everything on it finished, it should look great. Overall I'm pretty happy with my purchase. If I had to do it over again, the only thing I would change was the decision to buy the 4 GPU model instead of the 6. Yeah - it's the same reason we don't support dual motherboards on the 8 GPU setup, it's just too tight, and you're going to struggle reaching components. We may at some stage introduce an "upgrade" kit for those that need to increase their GPUs, as it's just the horizontal bars and no connectors. Will see how it goes. Thos Asrock motherboards are weirdly sized, I have no clue how they get away with claiming it's ATX. It's like the bastard step-child of ATX and mATX;) If there is enough demand we may introduce an option for the non-ATX Asrock boards, will have to see how it goes. Feet! We have end-caps, but they're rounded, and I personally don't like them as feet for that reason. I can send you a pack of 4 and you can try them out, maybe they work for you and we'll include them as an option in future. |
|
|
|
Wobbz,
Thanks for giving your input. I also have been communicating privately with him and he has informed me that he is also trying to get more information on this.
Although I did start laughing when I saw on CNN about a freight ship loosing over 500 shipping containers lol... had to start chuckling and say out loud there goes my openrigs rack. I know that isn't the case but had to throw some humor in lol.
Anyways it is pretty sad because I am now looking at other companies that are producing racks like this to have one made that I might actually receive. It just seems very strange how long this is taking.. I completely understand and know that Surface Mail can literally take forever but we are honestly almost to that point of forever where even for surface mail this is becoming quite a long wait.
If I hear anything I will let you know. I am going to look around and see if there is a list of ships that left cape town dock headed for ultimately the USA around the time of our shipments in January.
EDIT:
Fluffy could you please explain to me why it is that Wobbz order which was after mine - Order 743 shipped 3-4 days before mine? That seems to be quite screwed up? Neither of us has received our order but why would a newer order go out before a older order?
Josh
I would actually lol if it was in one of those containers:) By the way - I posted earlier about the SA -> Newark -> San Francisco trip, not sure if the post office would use the same trip but it's possible that it's going via somewhere. It's also possible that the package has been lost, in which case we will definitely claim and replace/refund. To answer your second question - we hand them to customs in order, but after the black hole that is customs we don't have any control over it. We often get stuff from them completely out of order, and EMS parcels are checked by a different team (at the JIMC) than everything else, so that introduces even more randomness. |
|
|
|
I think you are doing this shipping all wrong. You need to be doing bulk air cargo, not expedited shipping via courier services. Air cargo is a whole lot cheaper. E.g 100 units shipped to the US = USD30/unit, 50 units shipped to the UK = USD60. You need to retain someone in logistics for you to get this shipping issue right. It is not difficult at all. Collect up your orders for each country even if it takes 1 month then dispatch them bulk air cargo. 1 month wait via air for 30 dollars I am sure everyone can live with vs 4 to 6 months via sea. You can whittle it down even further, hire a bakkie haul the shit to CPT your self and dispatch it from the airport, instead of paying for a klonkie through the freight co you are using to pick it up in Plett and haul it down there. Ton of options to get the right prices. Delve into Virgin Atlantic cargo, British air ways cargo, any main carriers air cargo services. Here some calculators for you http://www.intercargo.com/http://worldfreightrates.com/en/You are paying this premium to simply hand it all off to some company claiming to be in the freight business because it is convenient that they pick it up at your facilities. With a bit of effort you can do everything yourselves and save a fortune and make it workable for your customers. Good luck ! That's pretty much how we're doing the distribution going forward - bearing in mind that there's still a premium to pay for warehousing and logistics on the other end, but it's definitely going to be smoother ride for customers:) Edit: misread - we're going to be going pre- not post- into parts of the world, so it makes things even faster and easier |
|
|
|
Why do you keep deleting my posts? All I want is a product that is delivered.
I'm not sure I understand - it's not possible for you to receive your order, you were refunded a week ago (PayPal transaction ID 5KB022085C160441S) and the order was subsequently cancelled. |
|
|
|
Ahh ok thank you for that, wasn't looking at the CLOSED thread or feathercoin forum.
Well, this thread is only 5 days old, so the previous thread would have to be a point of reference for something like that. |
|
|
|
Fluffy, USPS does not know where my order is. How about a response to that PM I sent last  Last known status: 10 JANUARY Thanks. Sorry, must've missed it in the flurry of PMs - will reply now! |
|
|
|
Please let me know directly once you've spoken to USPS, either via email (listed at the beginning of this topic) or via PM, and we can take it from there:)
I already called USPS and they can't see anything. So let me ask you this... WHERE IS MY ORDER? MD Ok well we are on the bottom end of the surface mail transit times we've grown to expect to the US, so I was just hoping we got lucky. To answer your question directly, you can see on the tracking information it has left South Africa and is en-route to you, so at this stage it is in-between here and you. Sometimes those sea voyages are not as direct as they could be. For example, we shipped several pallets to a farm in California. The vessel went from here to Newark, and from there it got put on a different vessel to San Francisco (instead of overland, no idea why). There's a vessel every week to Newark, but from Newark to San Francisco there's only a vessel they can use every 14 days. The estimates given were 25 days to Newark, 15 days from Newark to San Francisco, but you've got this possible wait in the middle. Final trip time was 8 weeks including customs and final delivery. By comparison, EMS to California is around a week to final delivery. Our options are limited, short of sending a helicopter out to see to intercept the boat:-P We can file a claim with our insurance, but they will wait until USPS confirms that it hasn't hit the country and we're past all reasonable transit times (definitely past the 6-10 weeks we've put as the expected timeline on the site). |
|
|
|
I'm in Australia, so I know all about the seasons Do you use DHL/FEDEX for expedited so get around the government delays with the cheaper surface mail option? We offer Aramex (similar international footprint to DHL and FedEx) as well as EMS, both of which are still subject to customs checks, but of a completely different nature. Aramex parcels are just open-box checks that take a day at the most before Aramex fetch the parcel and off it goes. EMS parcels are separated out by customs and generally processed first because the flimsy waybills tend to get damaged if they lie around too long. Surface mail parcels get further separated depending on the destination, and they won't even begin processing it till the post office confirms availability of a vessel bound for that destination, so it can sit there for weeks before being processed and given to the post office. Currently our recommendation is EMS - transit times to Oz are like a week: http://auspost.com.au/track/track.html?id=EE028407806ZA - that would've been delivered in less time if the person had been available on the Wednesday;) EMS is also significantly cheaper than Aramex for orders under 50 units. |
|
|
|
Is this a scam?
Or are people not used to the delays with post from the 3rd world to the 1st world (to put it blunty)? And have unrealistic expectations (e.g. us/china delivery times?)?
Definitely not a scam, we've had north of 1600 orders (nearly 3000 individual units) since launch at the end of November. Many customers vent but never follow up publicly to say they've received their order, and we can't force people to do so. Still, we have had plenty of positive feedback (scattered amongst the trolling in the previous thread) as well as elsewhere (eg. https://forum.feathercoin.com/index.php?/topic/6014-openrigs-review-lulz/). And yes, I don't think people are used to having to deal with a government department that takes weeks to do something simple, which only exacerbates a situation where people have unwittingly or begrudgingly chosen a slow shipping method and haven't read our delivery and returns policy. Over and above that, we have summer in the southern hemisphere in December, so our summer holidays are over December, so we had a holiday period where our fabrication slowed down drastically, and not everyone saw the holiday notice on the checkout page as they checked out. Finally, we have also made mistakes - tickets have slipped through the cracks, we had the incorrect shipping method description showing for an indeterminate amount of time early December, all of which can add up to a very frustrating experience for some customers. We are working on bringing our timelines down, on pre-approval for outbound parcels, and on a smoother logistics chain, which should hopefully lead to a better experience for customers in future. I also think the negative feedback has a positive upside - customers that read this thread before ordering are more aware of the timelines, which is good news in light of the probability that they won't read our delivery and returns policy (despite having to tick a box during checkout to indicate they have read it and agree to it). |
|
|
|
Same boat as everyone else. Waiting about 2 months for 2 orders since mid December.
Please do phone USPS and query it - I know it's only been 4 weeks of transit, but it's possible it's in country and just not tracking:) |
|
|
|
I placed my order on December 5, 2013. You guys didn’t get around to shipping it until 1/08/2014 (a month!!) Been more than a month that it is in “Bag Out” status and I have NO idea where it is. I opened several “tickets” and posted on BTC Talk and got nothing. https://openrigs.com/index.php?route=account/order/info&order_id=885http://sms.postoffice.co.za/tracking/parcel.aspx?id=CN028932072ZA “bag out” https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction.action?tRef=fullpage&tLc=1&tLabels=CN028932072ZA “Waiting for Origin Post” http://globaltracktrace.ptc.post/gtt.web/ - “On Route” but nothing since 1/14 Edit: I sincerely wish I was fully aware and made to click like "20" times that placing an order on 12/5/2013 using the cheapest shipping method would result in a delivery by sometime in April of 2014 (I'm guessing). I would much prefer that this was NOT an option and be FORCED to use something that has full tracking from South Africa to United States. I order from China almost all the time various parts and accessories and I almost always get stuff within two weeks. This includes even heavy weight items (20 pounds in once case). They never use the slow boat options due to all the complaints. If there is one take away from all the "trolling" and "flamebait" that openrigs should have is that their website should be updated to force consumers to only use options that are reasonable. Don't just take the money and then go "oops" three months later!! I'll try speak to each of the points you've raised, if I may: December 5th to Jan 8th is 20 working days. That is well within the timelines that are in our delivery and returns policy, miraculous even considering that customs were overloaded when they processed your order. They have less load now (supposedly) and have unprocessed parcels for us that they've had for weeks;) The duplicate tickets were closed without responding, but the main ticket you submitted was responded to as far as I can see? Please let me know if you did not receive that response. We have considered removing the surface mail option, but there are genuine use-cases where customers want shipping *that* cheap and don't mind the wait. It's always hard to strike a balance between providing the options for convenience, and enforcing a route that would cause them the least frustration. I can guarantee that if we remove the surface mail parcel we'll have customers complaining about how they don't mind waiting and isn't there a cheaper option:) The vast majority of surface mail customers choose the option realising full well what it means (because it has the transit timelines displayed during the checkout and on the delivery and returns policy that they have to read and agree to complete checkout), and they receive their parcel within those transit times. And, too, there is the distinct possibility that a parcel goes missing - that happens even with couriers like UPS who leave parcels at the door and consider that delivered. I do think that there are more vessels going from China to the US (and it's significantly closer to get from China to the west coast), so I would expect shipments from there to arrive faster. We are also seeing a number of deliveries to the US that aren't tracking on USPS' website, you may want to phone your local branch and see if they can track it any further for you. Sometimes parcels get a local tracking number, so scanning on the international one doesn't work. That having been said, we're still within the expected transit time period for surface mail, so it is possible it hasn't arrived. Please let me know directly once you've spoken to USPS, either via email (listed at the beginning of this topic) or via PM, and we can take it from there:) |
|
|
|
I ordered 12/23/2013 and I still have no product. I have a tracking number but it looks like its stuck somewhere in Africa? I was Order ID: #1126
Date Added: 23/12/2013
Surface mail transit times are 4 weeks minimum - if you track it on http://globaltracktrace.ptc.post/gtt.web/ you'll see when it was put on a boat leaving the country (the "Departure from outward office of exchange" bit). So only 4-5 months from order date..? I was expecting a small wait..but not a BFL type of wait. Oh well..live and learn..you would think with all of the delays in production you would have at least shipped a little faster. I completely understand that the wait is lengthy. However, it is important to understand that you ordered during our holiday period, hence the big holiday notice during checkout and the holiday notice that is (still) at the top of the delivery and returns policy page. The delays you experienced are not typical, and are isolated to the backlog that accumulates whilst we are short-staffed during our holiday period. |
|
|
|
@KWH on prev. thread - read it yourself , thankyouverymuch. Got my order delivered to workplace today. Will post a review and pictures in the coming days. Oh and thanks for the postcard It's a pleasure, looking forward to the pics:) |
|
|
|
I ordered 12/23/2013 and I still have no product. I have a tracking number but it looks like its stuck somewhere in Africa? I was Order ID: #1126
Date Added: 23/12/2013
Surface mail transit times are 4 weeks minimum - if you track it on http://globaltracktrace.ptc.post/gtt.web/ you'll see when it was put on a boat leaving the country (the "Departure from outward office of exchange" bit). |
|
|
|
There domestic tracking service was borked last night - I kept getting getting connection refused errors. Now I can connect, but it's giving me an "Error No. 4" when I try track parcels. The level of incompetence with our post office never ceases to amaze me:) Give it a few hours and it should be working again! |
|
|
|
since when does giving an accurate opinion on the status of my order constitute as trolling?  edit: ah yes, when I make the move to start listing competitors that can deliver within a more expected time-frame. Not necessarily the best move for everyone, but definitely an advantage for others who live in my region. Thanks for not deleting the old thread and for linking it here, I appreciate that. Don't worry - you weren't the troll. As I mentioned - I understand frustrated users, we have also been frustrated by slow customs processes and postal strikes and the affect they've had on customers. I'm happy to engage with customers or even potential customers and see where and how we can improve, but the troll throws around wild accusations that I frankly don't have time to respond to. Having a self-moderated thread where I can just delete it and move on is a lot easier:) |
|
|
|
Heya - nope, according to the tracking data it was put on a boat today. The post office hold it for days or even weeks until a vessel bound for the destination port is secured (if you chose Surface Mail as the shipping option) - hence the ~6-10 week transit time estimate for surface mail. |
|
|
|
So my order is still hanging since black friday. Order #747 which said it left on 1/10/2014. USPS has no additional information on the package and it seems like the boat was lost in the bermuda triangle. I have been trying to be patient, but at this point it has been almost 3 months. When do you consider the packages lost?
We can lodge the claim with our insurance, with whom we have specific logistics cover. Here's the process as I understand it: they will enquire with USPS, and if USPS say it's en-route (it's unlikely for an entire boat to go missing;) they just follow up every two weeks until it hits like 10 weeks (?? I'm guessing, I don't know the exact timeline, but since SAPO claims it can take up-to-3-months I'm guessing they won't capitulate early) and then they let us replace/refund. |
|
|
|
This is why you use a real international carrier like UPS. No, I dont loose my international packages between countries, its just not scanned while in transit. I have shipped things much larger and heavy than your cases bout about what you charged for normal shipping... and I get it there in 3-5 business days tops.
Ok so I jumped the gun and got a quote online from UPS to deliver to your address. Using their cheapest service, for a single unit it would cost R4 896.05 ($452.16) and for 4 units it would cost R5 907.83 ($545.59). I tried different pickup dates, it doesn't affect their online quote service. Incidentally, EMS for the same shipment is $130.50 for the former and $416.53 for the latter, and Aramex is $284.17 for the former and for $568.35 for the latter. |
|
|
|
|
Show Posts
