Alpha Technology Litecoin (Scrypt) ASIC Miner Order Batch 1 Now!

[coinits]

This is what I received upon cancellation request:

"Hello there,

I am very sorry but as per our cancellation policy which is legally binding it has been longer than 5 months since you placed your order therefore you are no longer eligible for a refund. We must say we have been very clear and open with our terms of order, it was released as a news update, it is easily available on our website and you are requested to view it on the product page before you order. I can assure you that our legal matters are dealt with by a leading law firm in the UK. I can assure you that the terms of order are completely legal in the UK. Our terms were typed up by solicitors who specialize in this area of law. They have advised us that all our customers will be legally classed as businesses for many reasons and one reason being that the hardware we are selling can only be used for either mining cryptocurrencies or for resale unless the customer can prove anything other in court which is of course not possible as our devices have no other use.

Best Regards,

Alpha Technology Team"

That reads very much like a 'Bust us if you can, sucker' invitation.

If email is legit then this is now a scam.

[1715436904]

1715436904

[1715436904]

1715436904

[retro72]

Wouldn't you want to follow these folks home to see where the money is going?

VesperWillow, I'm not sure you understand fully what people are dealing with here if you are encouraging people to 'follow these folks home' in an area just a few blocks from Moss Side.

See those steel shutters in the picture of the Alpha-T office ? There is a reason why they are there.

See that video camera on the building next door ? Ditto.

Seriously.

Well I concur that it isn't the most savory and an unprepared individual wouldn't want to follow them home. It's not something which would stop me though, having happily done similar in the past. At the least, they should be scoping this place out and talking to legal advice.

It's unfortunate. Unless these folks are going to mind-blow everyone with complete order fulfillment--despite having not received the majority of the balance.

You don't have to follow them home. I posted these months ago:

https://mega.co.nz/#!8sEUUIZQ!CBWadQgalEKYPRx6qQHaGXGhcMFmoFaOqaGK6dysC1g

Read the second to last PDF and you'll find a residential address they used when they started Cheshire Technology LTD (later changed to Alpha Technology). Their first failed attempt at running a business. I'm guessing that's their parents house. You'll also notice from those documents that the "CEO" is only 23 years old, so I'm pretty sure you'll probably find he's running the company in that house from the comfort of his bedroom.

Yes folks. This company is being run by a 23 year old kid, with only one, fairly short lived failed business under his belt, cooked up in a bedroom at his parents house, financed by pre-order money, out of an abandoned former kebab shop in Moss side. What could possibly go wrong???

[Bobsurplus]

Ill be chalking this one up to a loss. At least I lost the minimal amount possible though.

Fucking FIAZ!!'

I wonder if maybe our money went to fund terrorism or something like that, I get that feeling from these sorry jokes!

[malandante]

What do you think?

Is that the same "leading law firm"  that wrote their extremely amateurish original terms and conditions? The same "leading law firm that has re-written them 3 times? The same "leading law firm" that failed to mention anywhere on the website that this is a B2B purchase?
This is some kind of joke. You could drive a bus through the holes in that argument. I really can't believe the nerve of these guys.

Alpha customers are pretty screwed whatever happens as the people running this company seem to have no regard for the law or their customers. It seems you'll have to drag them through the courts to get anything out of them.

I've made several posts regarding the illegality of their refund policy and how to fight it. I suggest you give them a read, then contact Citizens Advice and start a small claims action..

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=314402.msg7371136#msg7371136

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=314402.msg7368036#msg7368036

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=314402.msg7290648#msg7290648

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=314402.msg7293210#msg7293210

Which are good service address companies? I've checked some but are only for companies or directors. Will something like this work?

http://www.my-uk-mail.co.uk/

[AnaSardinha]

This is what I think I know. I'll be reading up to see if or any holes surface in my theories.

-First, English consumer laws give you the right to request a refund up until 7 days of receiving your item (no breach of contract required). Only way out is for Alpha to not have the money A.K.A filling for bankruptcy, which in England it's even more trouble if you're already "labelled" a business, is not that easy or even worth it (unless they plan to grab the money and move to another country). I honestly think they are relying on people to believe their statements and not take any action. And that's how they'll dodge refunding. 

-Second, they state nowhere that it's a B2B (by which you would lose the consumer's protection), they don't have it like other businesses in their T&C something in the lines of "by giving us your money you acknowledge this is a B2B transaction" or "we only do B2B", nor they asked us any type of business ID or Tax number from our part. They have nothing in place to safeguard their claim of B2B and even Fiaz's declarations support the fact that they are aware and producing equipment with the knowledge that we are NOT businesses.
Example:
https://forum.alpha-t.net/index.php?topic=687.msg4410#msg4410
In the Latest Update thread, someone asks: "Can I just put the device on my computer desk instead of mounting on rack? How hot would it go while working, especially in summer? "
Fiaz replies: "Can't give you a figure but rest assured this will be fine as we expect most customers to do this."

They are producing miners for businesses to put them on racks in centres, or for individuals to have them at home on top of their desks? They expect most customers to set the miners on their computer desks.
It's not solid proof but just an example, and these little statements pile up and count as show of intent, contradiction and ultimately "deceit" in declaring B2B. Still I honestly believe that in both cases, bankruptcy or B2B claims, it's their burden to prove. Unfortunately I think they'll only budge when confronted by a small claims court individually, case by case, and dodge everything else.

Edit: It could be naivety from my part but I don't think they set off as any type of scam (so much so that I pre-ordered), I believe they may be in over their heads and at this point "scrambling to find a way out".

[wilson1973]

This is what I think I know. I'll be reading up to see if or any holes surface in my theories.

-First, English consumer laws give you the right to request a refund up until 7 days of receiving your item (no breach of contract required). Only way out is for Alpha to not have the money A.K.A filling for bankruptcy, which in England it's even more trouble if you're already "labelled" a business, is not that easy or even worth it (unless they plan to grab the money and move to another country). I honestly think they are relying on people to believe their statements and not take any action. And that's how they'll dodge refunding. 

Sorry I disagree. Bankruptcy is the easiest exit strategy for this outfit, there is no "trouble" as you say for them doing this. They have no assets so there is nothing to divide up and hand out to their creditors. They may have difficulty getting credit and won't be able to be a company director, but many use family members to front new start-ups.

I've seen it done.

[wilson1973]

This is what I think I know. I'll be reading up to see if or any holes surface in my theories.

Edit: It could be naivety from my part but I don't think they set off as any type of scam (so much so that I pre-ordered), I believe they may be in over their heads and at this point "scrambling to find a way out".

Agree, I don't think it was ever their intention to scam people. I think this was a genuine venture, poorly executed. Fortunately I got a refund, I just hope that it ends well for all concerned.

[Searing]

This is what I think I know. I'll be reading up to see if or any holes surface in my theories.

-First, English consumer laws give you the right to request a refund up until 7 days of receiving your item (no breach of contract required). Only way out is for Alpha to not have the money A.K.A filling for bankruptcy, which in England it's even more trouble if you're already "labelled" a business, is not that easy or even worth it (unless they plan to grab the money and move to another country). I honestly think they are relying on people to believe their statements and not take any action. And that's how they'll dodge refunding. 

Sorry I disagree. Bankruptcy is the easiest exit strategy for this outfit, there is no "trouble" as you say for them doing this. They have no assets so there is nothing to divide up and hand out to their creditors. They may have difficulty getting credit and won't be able to be a company director, but many use family members to front new start-ups.

I've seen it done.

very likely very likely indeed...and personal salary..assets..etc (maybe an occasional 'miner' if they do get that far) is protected the corp takes the fall..

Searing

[stompix]

Wouldn't you want to follow these folks home to see where the money is going?

VesperWillow, I'm not sure you understand fully what people are dealing with here if you are encouraging people to 'follow these folks home' in an area just a few blocks from Moss Side.

See those steel shutters in the picture of the Alpha-T office ? There is a reason why they are there.

See that video camera on the building next door ? Ditto.

Seriously.

Don't worry the forum is full of keyboard warriors.
If it was different a few guys from BFL would have already been run down by cars or hanged or god knows what.

I saw so many threats but they still appear in public at conferences and nobody dears to throw a glass of water at them.

[vesperwillow]

Wouldn't you want to follow these folks home to see where the money is going?

VesperWillow, I'm not sure you understand fully what people are dealing with here if you are encouraging people to 'follow these folks home' in an area just a few blocks from Moss Side.

See those steel shutters in the picture of the Alpha-T office ? There is a reason why they are there.

See that video camera on the building next door ? Ditto.

Seriously.

Don't worry the forum is full of keyboard warriors.
If it was different a few guys from BFL would have already been run down by cars or hanged or god knows what.

I saw so many threats but they still appear in public at conferences and nobody dears to throw a glass of water at them.

Like I said before, I've operated in far worse. But the safety suggestions are good for most people.

I think what a lot of it boils down to is many people used coins to prepay, and probably feel the deposit loss isn't worth following up. People just shrug it off and keep mining, and that's how many of these scams and failed startups get away with virtual highway robbery.


I think if we saw more cold-cash deals going on, especially from locals, you'd hear about more actual store-front interactions/followups in cases like these.

[vesperwillow]

Is it just me, or did Alpha just lock down almost all of their forums (except a general page) to members only? I can't reach threads I was able to browse prior, without logging in.

[Cablez]

I think what a lot of it boils down to is many people used coins to prepay, and probably feel the deposit loss isn't worth following up. People just shrug it off and keep mining, and that's how many of these scams and failed startups get away with virtual highway robbery.

Exactly.  This will lead to them shutting down and moving on.

[Phorna]

Fiaz (July 02, 2014): "Shipping is not expected to start on the 15th"

So we know the "optimistic" scenario won't fire.

[Nullu]

I think what a lot of it boils down to is many people used coins to prepay, and probably feel the deposit loss isn't worth following up. People just shrug it off and keep mining, and that's how many of these scams and failed startups get away with virtual highway robbery.

Exactly.  This will lead to them shutting down and moving on.

Which is exactly what I expect to happen now. I think this is why they're not bothering to defend themselves any more here. The writing is on the wall. They want to ensure as little fuss as possible when they drop the bomb.

[vesperwillow]

Fiaz (July 02, 2014): "Shipping is not expected to start on the 15th"

So we know the "optimistic" scenario won't fire.

Well. Can't say I didn't see this coming.

[barruka]

from: https://forum.alpha-t.net/index.php?topic=708.25

weminecoins on July 01, 2014, 05:15:02 PM
   Fiaz will you be making an update some time today?

Fiaz on July 01, 2014, 05:49:20 PM
   Not today no but we will be releasing one soon and I believe with images to show.

------------------

This is fckng crazy !!!!

At this moment... images on alpha-t website are 1 rack-unit renders... when they told us vipers will be 5 rack-units

It is so hard to show an updated render?

[vesperwillow]

from: https://forum.alpha-t.net/index.php?topic=708.25

weminecoins on July 01, 2014, 05:15:02 PM
   Fiaz will you be making an update some time today?

Fiaz on July 01, 2014, 05:49:20 PM
   Not today no but we will be releasing one soon and I believe with images to show.

------------------

This is fckng crazy !!!!

At this moment... images on alpha-t website are 1 rack-unit renders... when they told us vipers will be 5 rack-units

It is so hard to show an updated render?

When I looked earlier this week, they had put a 5U render on the site. But you know what gets me, their power design requires an external PSU. So in addition to the unit of the machine, now you have to deal with rack displacement for PSU's nearby the systems.

At least it's not like they've changed 4/5ths of the design they originally sold people, after taking money from people.

Oh wait.

[s1gs3gv]

A sub-forum at alpha-t:

Ask Us Anything!
Note this board is not for customer service; such queries should be emailed to us and will be promptly deleted.

Such promptness ! Many openness. Very fishy.

[Its About Sharing]

As mentioned before, a bigger problem is the LTC price. http://www.coindesk.com/litecoin-price-decouples-bitcoin-slump-continues/

A snippet:

The biggest problem is the sheer lack of money in litecoin and that other popular alternative cryptocurrency dogecoin.

The combined market cap of the two most popular scrypt altcoins is about $250m, yet KnCMiner was hoping to sell 2,500 Titan miners at $10,000 apiece – and that’s just the first batch of such miners, from a single company.

In other words, if it shipped today, a single batch of KnC’s scrypt miners would cost $25m – roughly 10% of the combined market cap of litecoin and dogecoin.

A glance at those figures reveals that this level of investment in scrypt mining hardware will be hard to justify and maintain in the long run.

Additionally, the added hashing power these miners will bring is likely to further impact prices of scrypt-based altcoins in the near future.

[brian_23452]

As mentioned before, a bigger problem is the LTC price. http://www.coindesk.com/litecoin-price-decouples-bitcoin-slump-continues/

A snippet:

The biggest problem is the sheer lack of money in litecoin and that other popular alternative cryptocurrency dogecoin.

The combined market cap of the two most popular scrypt altcoins is about $250m, yet KnCMiner was hoping to sell 2,500 Titan miners at $10,000 apiece – and that’s just the first batch of such miners, from a single company.

In other words, if it shipped today, a single batch of KnC’s scrypt miners would cost $25m – roughly 10% of the combined market cap of litecoin and dogecoin.

A glance at those figures reveals that this level of investment in scrypt mining hardware will be hard to justify and maintain in the long run.

Additionally, the added hashing power these miners will bring is likely to further impact prices of scrypt-based altcoins in the near future.

I dunno, I think the biggest issue with this company is still the fact that they took your money and didn't deliver a product (and looks like they never will).  Why do you defend this company so much?  Seriously you have defended their every move all the way down, and now, when it is obvious to even the most hard core shills that no product is ever going to get delivered, your attitude seems to be, well it doesn't matter, the product wasn't going to be profitable anyway.  As if that somehow excused their behavior.
With that said, you are correct about their return, or lack thereof.  As near as my estimations can tell, you could have the 250Mh/s device delivered TODAY and it will never pay for itself.