My Avalon ASIC Gen1 batch #2 pledge

[Raize]

I'm one of the Icarus trade-ins. I am also supposed to be getting two regular order units in the second batch. I live in the Midwest, so I'd be a good "longer than average" guesstimate on the time it takes to do an Icarus trade-in and regular Avalon order. I pledge that I will update the forums with every communication I receive and action I take, from notification to the sending of two of my Icarus devices in, to their acknowledgement of the receipt, to their email confirming the Avalon has been sent and/or the tracking number of the device, to my receiving the unit and initial burn-in testing on a pool (Not sure which one yet, I might even split them). I'll also track the time between each step of the process as best as I can.

I think if a handful of us do this, it'll help out with the transparency and give folks an idea of what to expect from their orders. I was kind of hoping the guys in Batch #1 would do this, but at the very least I think I can do it in #2.

1) Time of initial regular order : February 18, 2013 08:25 AM CST
2) Time of Walletbit confirmation: February 18, 2013 03:24 PM CST (There were several messages after this, but this was the first)
3) Time of BitSyncom regular order confirmation: None (I'm not sure when/if they will be doing this, anyway?)

4) Time of notification to send in Icarus device(s): April 15th, 2013 3:40 PM CST
5) Time that Icarus device(s) are shipped: April 16th, 2013 10:45 AM CST (Price: $220. They guaranteed delivery by Friday, April 19th)
6) Time of verification that the Icarus was received: April 19th, 2013 3:06PM CST
7) Time of Avalon trade-in order (or confirmation thereof): Will never happen
8) Time of Avalon trade-in order shipped per BitSynCom: Will never happen
9) Time of Avalon trade-in order received tracking #: Will never happen
10) Time of Avalon trade-in order arrival: Will never happen

11) Time of Avalon regular order shipped per BitSynCom: June 29th, 2013 8:32 AM CST
12) Time of Avalon regular order received tracking #: June 29th, 2013 8:32 AM CST
13) Time of Avalon regular order arrival: July 3rd, 2013 11:30 AM CST

Part of this is for my own record, but I figure if I do it publicly, it'll help people make a more educated decision on what to expect from an Avalon order.

EDIT - 9/11/2013:
Well, it was a fun ride, but I've given up on BitSyncom providing the Avalon replacements or providing a credit for the Icarus shipped back to him, or making up for the lost Bitcoin revenue from the last ~5 months of mining revenue. I will never do business with Yifu again.

I have given both ngzhang and xiangfu positive ratings for transactions scaling several hundred in BTC, but I have left a negative non-BTC rating for BitSynCom for failure to provide a refund for my Icarus.

In the interest of full disclosure:
Total lost in estimations for shipping costs and refunds was ~18 BTC based on the prices at the time of estimated shipment of the devices (~$100 per BTC). Lost mining revenue on the Icarus I estimate to have been around 13 BTC over the last 5 months.

It should be a warning to those of you contemplating future business with Yifu & Company that at least one "old miner" has lost ~31 BTC in dealings with them.

A word of advice to future mining companies. If you make a customer service portal... USE IT.

[Herp-a-derp]

This will be interesting... thread watched.

[Dalkore]

Here is what to expect.


Your order, shipped in the given time-frame and an update if they is a delay.  Looks like units are hitting the U.S.  That makes me happy.  Everyone wants to know everything about everything and they get upset then they are not in the drivers seat.   Units are shipping and they are working hard to ship them by their deadlines. 

[Elokane]

Here is what to expect.


Your order, shipped in the given time-frame and an update if they is a delay.  Looks like units are hitting the U.S.  That makes me happy.  Everyone wants to know everything about everything and they get upset then they are not in the drivers seat.   Units are shipping and they are working hard to ship them by their deadlines. 

Where did you see units hitting the US?

[darkip]

Where did you see units hitting the US?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137534.msg1597666#msg1597666

[Raize]

I expect and hope we'll see some of the Batch #1 guys posting soon, I just wanted to promise to provide updates as I find out more. Especially since Batch #2 is the first batch for trade-ins. We definitely have quite a bit to look forward to.

[creativex]

<subscribed>

Thanks for doing this.

[franky1]

going by avalons email update

Starting from next Monday(4th march), units will be en route to their country of destination and tracking numbers will follow maybe 2~3 days after (it is at this point onward which you can expect an email from us with the tracking information), we expect this process to continue to the 10th of March until all the units have been shipped out, if all is well people will get their units in-hand in the middle of March.

A week before batch #2 is ready to ship, we will make an announcement to those who wish to trade-in their last generation units to sent in their units, once we receive the units a custom order will be made for you to pay the difference depending on what you have trade-in, remember 1 trade-in discount/coupon is allowed per 1 Avalon unit. For clarification the shipping priority is as such:
Developers - e.g. bitcoin core dev and other bitcoin contributor we feel deserve this treatment.
Trade-Ins/Old Customers - your unit will ship soon as we receive the FPGA and you've paid the difference.
Regular Batch #2 Customers - Unfortunately you are not special.
 

i thought all 300 units of batch one were out and dealt with already in february for them to then release batch 2 order page..
my query if the batch 2 units are meant to be on route to the country on the 4th of march with tracking numbers given out by the 7th of march. why have the icurus people not received an email asking them to send their unit back.

what im guessing is 4th of march they are sending out developer units only. which means these developers should have received tracking numbers by now to receive their units for mid march.
then guys like the OP should receive an email asking them to send the icurus back to them. to then get the ASIC in a fortnights time presumably.
leaving the regular customers waiting 3 weeks more for their unit tracking number?

hmmm, im bookmarking this page.. just to know when the trade in guys get some updates

[dykast]

going by avalons email update

Starting from next Monday(4th march), units will be en route to their country of destination and tracking numbers will follow maybe 2~3 days after (it is at this point onward which you can expect an email from us with the tracking information), we expect this process to continue to the 10th of March until all the units have been shipped out, if all is well people will get their units in-hand in the middle of March.

A week before batch #2 is ready to ship, we will make an announcement to those who wish to trade-in their last generation units to sent in their units, once we receive the units a custom order will be made for you to pay the difference depending on what you have trade-in, remember 1 trade-in discount/coupon is allowed per 1 Avalon unit. For clarification the shipping priority is as such:
Developers - e.g. bitcoin core dev and other bitcoin contributor we feel deserve this treatment.
Trade-Ins/Old Customers - your unit will ship soon as we receive the FPGA and you've paid the difference.
Regular Batch #2 Customers - Unfortunately you are not special.
 

i thought all 300 units of batch one were out and dealt with already in february for them to then release batch 2 order page..
my query if the batch 2 units are meant to be on route to the country on the 4th of march with tracking numbers given out by the 7th of march. why have the icurus people not received an email asking them to send their unit back.

what im guessing is 4th of march they are sending out developer units only. which means these developers should have received tracking numbers by now to receive their units for mid march.
then guys like the OP should receive an email asking them to send the icurus back to them. to then get the ASIC in a fortnights time presumably.
leaving the regular customers waiting 3 weeks more for their unit tracking number?

hmmm, im bookmarking this page.. just to know when the trade in guys get some updates

Batch #1 are the orders that went out.  They have not sent any batch #2 orders out at all.

[Raize]

then guys like the OP should receive an email asking them to send the icurus back to them. to then get the ASIC in a fortnights time presumably.

I'm primarily doing this for my own benefit, but I did realize that there has not been clear communication to current Icarus holders on how to do our pre-orders. I didn't even know for sure if I needed to order in Batch #2, because the second time it went up, there was no pre-order page. So instead I've at least got the two orders I've presently made, with only a WalletBit confirmation. I am hoping that I will get a notice to ship my Icarus back in shortly (perhaps a few weeks). Once I get that, I will do my shipment. I am also hoping I get a response saying they've received my Icarus and will now be sending the order.

Again, while I'm primarily doing this for my own benefit, I have realized that this will help allay concerns of those who have ordered in Batch #2 without a trade-in. They will at least have an idea of when to expect their order, and given that I live in the Midwest, I believe it is possible that, even with the priority queuing, I will probably be receiving my units around the same time as people on the West Coast that did not do a pre-order will be receiving theirs. Additionally, I have another two Icarus units that I intend to delay upgrading till Batch #3 to possibly do the same thing.

So, all-in-all, I think recording this could benefit all of us doing orders.

[neotrix]

going by avalons email update

Starting from next Monday(4th march), units will be en route to their country of destination and tracking numbers will follow maybe 2~3 days after (it is at this point onward which you can expect an email from us with the tracking information), we expect this process to continue to the 10th of March until all the units have been shipped out, if all is well people will get their units in-hand in the middle of March.

A week before batch #2 is ready to ship, we will make an announcement to those who wish to trade-in their last generation units to sent in their units, once we receive the units a custom order will be made for you to pay the difference depending on what you have trade-in, remember 1 trade-in discount/coupon is allowed per 1 Avalon unit. For clarification the shipping priority is as such:
Developers - e.g. bitcoin core dev and other bitcoin contributor we feel deserve this treatment.
Trade-Ins/Old Customers - your unit will ship soon as we receive the FPGA and you've paid the difference.
Regular Batch #2 Customers - Unfortunately you are not special.
 

i thought all 300 units of batch one were out and dealt with already in february for them to then release batch 2 order page..
my query if the batch 2 units are meant to be on route to the country on the 4th of march with tracking numbers given out by the 7th of march. why have the icurus people not received an email asking them to send their unit back.

what im guessing is 4th of march they are sending out developer units only. which means these developers should have received tracking numbers by now to receive their units for mid march.
then guys like the OP should receive an email asking them to send the icurus back to them. to then get the ASIC in a fortnights time presumably.
leaving the regular customers waiting 3 weeks more for their unit tracking number?

hmmm, im bookmarking this page.. just to know when the trade in guys get some updates

Still waiting any infos for my order done in some of firsts people in batch 2. I get confirmation by support from yifu but never got a confirmation email promised...At least of I receive someday my 2 units thats ok....

Anyway the delay we got when ordering first units in the batch 2 are already done...delayed and with just one notice...

Regular Batch #2 Customers - Unfortunately you are not special.

lol...Not special yes we know, but does there is any better statement for delay which are added for us without real infos? Customers of batch 2?

[Raize]

Original post updated. The batch #2 email was received. I'm taking off work tomorrow morning to ship the units, expect an update tomorrow morning.

[Raize]

I meant the Icarus devices, not the Avalons. I'm shipping them back to China. That's the only change, I'll update this thread when that is done. Again, I'm just posting this stuff here so that people can get an idea of the time frame for orders.

[marra]

I got an email this morning from Avalon regarding trade ins. It contains a snail mail address in Beijing for sending the fpgas.

[Raize]

Original post updated. Icarus devices shipped back to China, expected delivery was Friday, April 19th. Cost was over $200.

[Bitsaurus]

Original post updated. Icarus devices shipped back to China, expected delivery was Friday, April 19th. Cost was over $200.

Ouch, $200 to ship expedited.  What the trade in value?

[darkip]

Ouch, $200 to ship expedited.  What the trade in value?

Remember you also get priority shipping over regular customers (but after developers). So $200 is negligible.

[Raize]

Original post updated. Delivery has been confirmed. Package was signed for.

[iammagicmike]

Original post updated. Delivery has been confirmed. Package was signed for.

Still nothing!?!?  Dude, I hope you get good news tomorrow.  What order numbers did you have?  I'm waiting on a batch 2.2 (#11xx) so I'm certainly won't see mine before you see one of yours.

[Raize]

Nope, no update.