Still waiting on my order.
Put in a batch 2 order on the 29th of sept
I got pillaged by them on this.
I had 2 batch ones and they went from 4850 to 4400. So I delayed the batch 2 order.
I spent 2 days fixing the error. Posted a detailed fix on site that helped dozens of miners with the issue.
I asked them to give me back my coupon on the batch 2 as the order was not paid. I wanted to switch to batch three.
They said no they won't issue a new coupon.
But that I could buy the batch 2.
I did. They have not shipped the batch 2 and have shipped dozens of batch 3's out.
To make things worse coins shifted. So I could have had a batch 3 cheaper then I paid the batch 2.
So I lost over .9btc on the price shift and they have yet to ship.
All because I spent the time to fix my gear and post a how to.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1196671.0For the rest of us. I don't mind the price shift it happens. I do mind they refused to issue a replacement coupon that would have allow me to switch to batch three.
Now to be fair they did give me a review s-5 last year. So I guess its a push.
I am disappointed with the lack of respect shown to me in this case.
Phil I applaud you for making a post referencing this continued display of more of the same lack of respect by bitmain.
This is yet another huge example of how bitmain handles business. maybe now that you and so many others have spoken out more of the few people who completely ignore these facts when discussing bitmain as a manufacturer will include items such as this.
The main problem is communication from where it matters. Bitmain China is deadly silent. You can reach support in the US and have a fantastic experience, except, they cannot do anything to help unless you are willing to pay for it even when under warranty unless China tells them it is OK first. You will not receive a communication regarding your order for weeks. Maybe I have been lucky all my life in not being involved with a company who didn't do whatever it took to make things happen. There are always issues to be addressed, you cannot get a shipment of this, you have a person who made a huge mistake and it cost you thousands and an immense amount of rework time, but things happen. Maybe it is that I have truly had past luck, (I wish I'd been mining then) because I've worked with people where we work all night if that is what it takes, we spend obscene amounts of money to go the extra mile for customer satisfaction, and you cannot always make everyone happy, but there is a huge difference between someone complaining about a questionable issue versus a lack of communication for weeks when people have sent thousands of dollars, a lack of an explanation of why their was such a varying hashrate with the product which was shipped, and then without a peep go on vacation. To truly add insult to injury the continuing lack of proper communication, when people do hear something it is the compensation (which is not close to appropriate compensation in my opinion), and the same specific patterns have continued with people receiving batch 3s prior to Batch 2, some people are still receiving batch 1s as of a few days ago, and we make it to where we are today with this still, very upsetting lack of communication and what I consider to be a lack of respect as a customer.
Does anyone think that bitmain can't afford to have a customer service department who addresses these very real customer service related issues?
We aren't talking technical problems right now, we are talking ship dates, valid warranty part requests, serious billing or financial issues, and again, these items are first and foremost ignored with some offering the reason that they are too busy, and overloaded after the holiday. We have people who haven't even purchased an S7 commenting regularly and stating negative opinions about these things.
I feel for you Phillip and I have had these same experiences along with many others. This is not specifically an issue with any one of those things, this is a lack of communication and a lack of caring about your customer. These two things do not have to be together, even a business where people hit the door within a few seconds of quitting time have a way to communicate the why, how long, we are working on this, etc but the lack of being concerned about the customer experience or brand loyalty from a business perspective is unusual because very few can pull it off and be successful over a long period. I would say in the number of businesses who were / are successful with this here in the US are monopolies such as utilities and internet providers.
Most of us who have been exposed to monopolies do have a few examples of why they do not last. AT&T comes to mind and they are trying to become one again since being broken up. At least they will have to continue working for it. They also answer the phone and love it if you communicate via email. I am not comparing AT&T to bitmain as they are beyond comparison in too many areas and would be apples to oranges. I am comparing Bitmain to a company who was found to be a monopoly.
I have no doubt Bitmain have customer service personnel who are extremely good, who can take care of issues, and in general have people on staff who do the best they can. This is a problem at the very top, the decision makers, and where they are using the resources. They need to assign people who will professionally engage each issue, a team to establish a proper online / forum presence, people who have the ability to maintain an appropriate business attitude, and these people must express positive ethics and morals relative to customer expectations. It does not resemble a company with the direction required to put their best and brightest, the right people, in front of the end users. I don't mean they need to have engineers out here making forum posts, but a professional set of accounts who have the ability and support to address the legitimate problems. You cannot put someone who has no clue about what they are doing in the public eye because you can pay them next to nothing.
I hope you see your shipment soon, and I think you may see it quicker than the average Joe out here, but I do not fault you for that. You have a great reputation and presence here on the forum and they should recognize such and get on the ball. I must say that in itself is unusual for a business who cares about customer loyalty. You would never let someone with a great reputation known by hundreds of other customers and potential new customers to go without word on money he spent. You would damn sure make sure the guy who can have such an impact is kept happy in the world I live in.
Good Luck Sir
The S5+ also came with only being able to email info@bitmain for warranty issues.
Edit:
I wanted to add that Yoshi has proven resourceful and helpful for many people many times. He either has the authority, or can speak with the right people to make the appropriate decisions and communicate with the end user. He is not perfect and he and I have previously been at odds, but overall I believe he has saved a great deal of business for bitmain and would be the reason people returned to bitmain in a competitive mining ecosystem. He seems much more in touch with what is right regarding a business relationship.
