[CLOSED] - Stumptown Miners - Avalon PCB Assembly - West Coast USA

[Bogart]

Maybe the group buy leaders should do a conference call and try to work this out somehow with the DIY builders / fabricators. If we can get enough chips to cover the builds asap and refund everyone else then all would be good. But of course Yifu needs to be in that discussion and work with everyone to help that happen.

There is virtually no chance that little prick would get involved.  

I think that he might *IF* approached in a reasonable and respectful manner.  He did respond to Zefir's PM about the matter:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=177827.msg3035535#msg3035535

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[ryepdx]

Hi all,

I just got an update from Colin. It looks like he hasn't gotten ahold of BkkCoins yet, but he's going to be going over the test board some more with his scope this evening. So far everything looks good, which further confirms his hypothesis that there's a problem with the software somewhere. He also confirmed that he would be willing to refund the cost of assembly for anyone who wants it. Assembly cost comes out to $40 per miner.

For those of you considering getting a refund and taking direct receipt of your chips, please be aware that we still haven't received most of them. Zefir's batch 1 is the only batch we have at the moment.

Thanks for bearing with us. It's just as frustrating to me as I'm sure it is to you guys.

[Bicknellski]

+1 Class Act.

At times like these one wonders if BKKCoins or ryepdx, Burnin or Zefir were part of Avalon would we be waiting for chips?

[Bogart]

So I sent 64 chips in to Stumptown, and I think 1 16-chip test board has been made from them so far.

If you want, feel free to put the rest onto boards and send them out to any devs who can help with the problem.

[ryepdx]

+1 class act. ;-)

Thanks, Bogart. I'll let Colin know.

[evilscoop]

rye can you please remove my link from the first thread..

I closed evilminers yesterday and issued refunds on assembly to those concerned..

[ryepdx]

rye can you please remove my link from the first thread..

I closed evilminers yesterday and issued refunds on assembly to those concerned..

Done. Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. :-/

[redphlegm]

What's our potential course of action if our particular group buy majority implements a refund? Is there a way for us to still get chips rather than being pushed to the back of the line? I'd like to see if it's possible to get the miners regardless. The issue that everyone is forgetting about is that it's not profitable at current exchange rates. If you think adoption will increase, so will value. And therefore, what's mined will probably be worth more than current cost. Then again, the argument is that it would be more of a return if you took the refund and just held the BTC.

[ryepdx]

Unfortunately there isn't really a course of action if your group buy implements a refund. You can try buying out someone from another group buy that *isn't* opting for a refund, but that's about it. Original terms would still apply, of course, with your place in line being determined by when your chips are received. I don't think assembly is going to be the bottleneck here, though.

In deciding whether to get a refund, keep in mind that the amount you can get back as a refund is your new ROI target. If you get back half the total cost as a refund when you would have recouped 75% by staying in, you would've been better off staying in.

Best of luck to everyone. Here's hoping the gears in the Avalon machine get moving again soon.

[Vycid]

Unfortunately there isn't really a course of action if your group buy implements a refund. You can try buying out someone from another group buy that *isn't* opting for a refund, but that's about it. Original terms would still apply, of course, with your place in line being determined by when your chips are received. I don't think assembly is going to be the bottleneck here, though.

In deciding whether to get a refund, keep in mind that the amount you can get back as a refund is your new ROI target. If you get back half the total cost as a refund when you would have recouped 75% by staying in, you would've been better off staying in.

Best of luck to everyone. Here's hoping the gears in the Avalon machine get moving again soon.

Well, the 75% ROI vs 50% return argument ignores a few factors, like labor and general emotional distress. I unfortunately have already decided it is best to cut my losses, as an additional 25% just isn't worth it at this point.

Best of luck to those still committed.

Ryepdx - I think I speak for everyone here when I say that your hard work and professionalism has not gone unnoticed. I hope there will be more business opportunities in the future, hopefully under less adverse circumstances.

[ryepdx]

Ryepdx - I think I speak for everyone here when I say that your hard work and professionalism has not gone unnoticed. I hope there will be more business opportunities in the future, hopefully under less adverse circumstances.

Thanks for the kind words.

As a heads up, I've just terminated the EC2 instance I was running stumptownminers.com on. I figured there wasn't any sense in keeping it up since the ordering is over now. I've updated the OP with the terms of sale that were formerly on that page.

[kosmokramer]

Hi all,

I just got an update from Colin. It looks like he hasn't gotten ahold of BkkCoins yet, but he's going to be going over the test board some more with his scope this evening. So far everything looks good, which further confirms his hypothesis that there's a problem with the software somewhere. He also confirmed that he would be willing to refund the cost of assembly for anyone who wants it. Assembly cost comes out to $40 per miner.

Hi ryepdx!

I have many chips on order in steamboat's batch 4 and I've requested a refund. As such, I'd also like to request a refund for the un-needed assembly labor ($40-45/device?). How do we go about placing a request for that refund?

In addition to the assembly labor refund, I want to confirm that I will still be entitled to receive a shipment of the non-refundable hardware that was purchased for my assembly? That's nearly 2/3 of the cost and I'd like to recover that as much as possible of that investment, too.

As far as I understand, Colin is willing to refund all of the labor, and in addition, there is a hardware investment that is non-refundable. Correct?

As others have stated, your ethics are commendable - I appreciate you doing what you can here to make customers happy during this difficult situation. As someone else said, I too look forward to the opportunity to do business with yourself again. You've certainly proven yourself trustworthy to me!

[ryepdx]

If you would like a refund of your USD returned as bitcoin, I can do an immediate transfer to the Bitcoin address associated with your order, assuming that address is still valid. I'll be using Coinbase's exchange rate.

If you would prefer a USD refund, please PM Colin (username TheDroid).

Yes, we can ship you the non-refundable hardware that was purchased for your assembly.

Thanks for the additional endorsement. I will definitely be launching additional business ventures in the future (probably outside the mining space), so keep an eye out for my posts. :-)

[kosmokramer]

If you would like a refund of your USD returned as bitcoin, I can do an immediate transfer to the Bitcoin address associated with your order, assuming that address is still valid. I'll be using Coinbase's exchange rate.
...
Yes, we can ship you the non-refundable hardware that was purchased for your assembly.

Yes, my address is still good so please do refund the labor (in BTC) to that address at your convenience. In addition, I look forward to receiving the non-refundable hardware when it's available.
If anyone is reading this and wants all of the components for qty 16 K16's (sans chips, obvs), please contact me.

I can't imagine a better outcome for this, ryepdx. Thank you so much for coming up with such an agreeable refund policy, considering the situation.

[DPoS]

Is there still a demand for the k16's on your end ryepdx?   Think we can sell them on consignment?

I have 2 and the post above has 16 so if there is demand I guess you would have a lot that could be resold.

if no demand, well.....

[Bicknellski]

If you would like a refund of your USD returned as bitcoin, I can do an immediate transfer to the Bitcoin address associated with your order, assuming that address is still valid. I'll be using Coinbase's exchange rate.

If you would prefer a USD refund, please PM Colin (username TheDroid).

Yes, we can ship you the non-refundable hardware that was purchased for your assembly.

Thanks for the additional endorsement. I will definitely be launching additional business ventures in the future (probably outside the mining space), so keep an eye out for my posts. :-)

+1 Kudos for handling these refunds the right way... too bad not everyone does the right thing.

Any plans for DIY with BitFury or another chip?

[bitrocket]

UPDATE FROM AVALON 9/9/13

"Avalon Generation Two Chips 55nm
..Those who have invested in time and money on Avalon Generation One based devices and clones can rejoice in the fact we had the foresight to make Avalon Generation Two chips completely backward compatible in every way with 110nm generation one chips, which can be expect to go on sale Late October 2013 for immediate shipping..

Developers and Hobbyists should keep an close eye on our github account as we will be releasing the 55nm chip specification and reference design soon."

This is excellent news - it will still be possible to have these boards produced. Thank you to everyone working on this, there is still hope to get these boards hashing with a positive ROI

[DPoS]

UPDATE FROM AVALON 9/9/13

"Avalon Generation Two Chips 55nm
..Those who have invested in time and money on Avalon Generation One based devices and clones can rejoice in the fact we had the foresight to make Avalon Generation Two chips completely backward compatible in every way with 110nm generation one chips, which can be expect to go on sale Late October 2013 for immediate shipping..

Developers and Hobbyists should keep an close eye on our github account as we will be releasing the 55nm chip specification and reference design soon."

This is excellent news - it will still be possible to have these boards produced. Thank you to everyone working on this, there is still hope to get these boards hashing with a positive ROI

who cares about these clowns anymore.   their 15mins of fame has gone up in smoke

[Vycid]

UPDATE FROM AVALON 9/9/13

"Avalon Generation Two Chips 55nm
..Those who have invested in time and money on Avalon Generation One based devices and clones can rejoice in the fact we had the foresight to make Avalon Generation Two chips completely backward compatible in every way with 110nm generation one chips, which can be expect to go on sale Late October 2013 for immediate shipping..

Developers and Hobbyists should keep an close eye on our github account as we will be releasing the 55nm chip specification and reference design soon."

This is excellent news - it will still be possible to have these boards produced. Thank you to everyone working on this, there is still hope to get these boards hashing with a positive ROI

Yifu is a fucking genius.

He got everybody stuck on his hardware platform even though he didn't have the chips ready. Now the money has all been spent and it effectively costs next to nothing to get the new chips mounted, because of all the parts and designs already floating around.

He happily gives refunds on the chips he never even meant to sell, and walks away with guaranteed second-gen sales to squeeze value out of the otherwise useless chips/boards, allowing him do a cheap high-volume second generation batch.

I admit it, I got outplayed here. Well done Yifu, you felonious son of a bitch.

[bitrocket]

who cares about these clowns anymore.   their 15mins of fame has gone up in smoke

True but at least we don't have to lose 60% of our investment in hardware (boards and parts). It may take a little longer but the production run can continue