[Guide] Dogie's Comprehensive Manufacturer Trustworthiness Guide [1st Feb 2016]

[magzy]

Still no refund from VMC despite this being promised on multiple occasions in the last 4 months.
VMC CS email isn't working. (email server down)
No responses to any of the multiple messages I sent asking about refunds from their website. ( about 40 in total)
No Responses from messages on his Activemining and VMC threads asking about the refunds.
No Responses from multiple PM's I have sent asking nicely where the refunds are.

This needs to be highlighted as an issue re refunds.

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[Bicknellski]

Anyone else got feedback on this thread?

Keep things updated so Dogie can revise ratings.

[magzy]

Here is the dialogue with VMC I have had that illustrates that they have stolen my money.

There are PM'S and forum posts in addition to this

(read from bottom up)

[dogie]

As I've said 15x, if what you're saying is true then sue them. But its probably not, so you won't.

[magzy]

Not suing too much hassle. Ken says refund next week. For the 15th time.

For what it's worth ken isn't denying he owes me money and three thread above shows the time frame I have had dealings with them until they stop and ignore me.

  

@magzy What I am saying is that we lost BTC on MtGox that we needed to convert to USD to give you a refund.  The first mistake you made was you ask for a refund before your wire transfer cleared, this is where the problem begun.  Since you was asking for a refund and your payment had not been accepted, then your refund was not accepted, then your payment was not marked as accepted for a month after that.

I will be happy to refund your money as soon as we start refunds, which should be next week when my customer service rep comes back to work.  We intend to refund 100% of our customers that want a refund, we have already started shipping to our Pre-Order customers that wanted our Prospector card and we offered them a 20% discount and we applied their Pre-Order funds to their new order.  You seem to be the only customer have a problem like this, so I think it was due to asking for a refund on the day you placed the order and not waiting until your wire transfer cleared the bank.

 In just informing you of the facts do you can make your own decision on the trustworthiness of VMC.
How long were bfl customers led down the garden path for?

[VinceSamios]

Dogie,

Bargraphics has confirmed receipt https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=462370.msg6069576#msg6069576
Another guy has also confirmed receipt (I forget his name) and posted the stats address: http://eligius.st/~wizkid057/newstats/userstats.php/16n9rn1agFhpepzP5WLJumfgKQEt4qRMYQ

Regarding Magzy - this account is massively trolling... very much lacks integrity and although I'm not sure if there is truth in the story, definitely doesn't present a reasonable view.


VMC to C+?

VMC is also ramping up it's own mining farm: http://eligius.st/~wizkid057/newstats/userstats.php/1DJpsvnM7xTnQbWEhLYyCyfxQyxwupEzCa

[Bargraphics]

Dogie, do you plan on ordering one of the "Prospector" units from VMC for an independent review?

They are simply boards created by using the same reference design for a REV 2 that HashFast gives out to anyone that orders chips from them.
I believe Ken also confirmed that they are using the same Fab that HashFast used to make their boards.

Depending on which side of the fence you are (Pro or Negative VMC) you would say these are just resold boards or believe what Ken is saying.

I believe they are buying parts but the stickers on the boards were a little strange. Might just be what the fab is used to doing though. Up to you to decide if that is relevant.

You do have great guides so if you do purchase one we can compare notes. There's a strange bug when having both fo the units plugged in that crashes CGMiner and keeps saying "Main Board 12V Bad". Just have to reset them and try again until it works. Also noticed that CGMiner crashes with these quite a bit. I'm working with Luke to test out BFGMiner on them as well. I'm using a windows computer and from what I heard linux is much more stable for these boards.

[tzortz]

Dogie, maybe include lketc.com also?

[jimmothy]

I believe they are buying parts but the stickers on the boards were a little strange

Please do elaborate.

As for the vmc refund issues, the thing that bothers me is that out of a supposed $300,000 in refunds given there have been a total of zero confirmed cases of refunds.

[dogie]

VMC is also ramping up it's own mining farm: http://eligius.st/~wizkid057/newstats/userstats.php/1DJpsvnM7xTnQbWEhLYyCyfxQyxwupEzCa

Nothing wrong with that, you often need 5-10 machines to properly test firmware with several variations, clock speeds and pools.

Dogie, do you plan on ordering one of the "Prospector" units from VMC for an independent review?

They are simply boards created by using the same reference design for a REV 2 that HashFast gives out to anyone that orders chips from them.
I believe Ken also confirmed that they are using the same Fab that HashFast used to make their boards.

Depending on which side of the fence you are (Pro or Negative VMC) you would say these are just resold boards or believe what Ken is saying.

I believe they are buying parts but the stickers on the boards were a little strange. Might just be what the fab is used to doing though. Up to you to decide if that is relevant.

You do have great guides so if you do purchase one we can compare notes. There's a strange bug when having both fo the units plugged in that crashes CGMiner and keeps saying "Main Board 12V Bad". Just have to reset them and try again until it works. Also noticed that CGMiner crashes with these quite a bit. I'm working with Luke to test out BFGMiner on them as well. I'm using a windows computer and from what I heard linux is much more stable for these boards.

At this moment I don't, because they're 'known' and you've covered most of the setup help required. There shouldn't be any surprises with them, and the software issues will be resolved once the devs get hardware. You'll start to see a lot more cross licensing in 2014 as it becomes more common practice.

VMC is still yet to prove their own silicon though.

Ps, try a Linux virtual PC then

[dogie]

Dogie, maybe include lketc.com also?

They don't target their business towards the NA/EU almost at all. Consequently, the consumers don't target them. They'll be added if this changes.

[tzortz]

Dogie, maybe include lketc.com also?

They don't target their business towards the NA/EU almost at all. Consequently, the consumers don't target them. They'll be added if this changes.

I would not agree, they work almost the same like bitmain.
Apart from their site failures (ok it is everything in chinese and is always down) anyone can pay with BTC and buy directly from them.

Shipping the same like bitmain, with DHL and in 48 hours.

I bought a few of their dragons, and they are serious with good support, unlikely bitmain where noone answers you back.

I would include it as a promising company.

Just my 2 cents.

[magzy]

Dogie, maybe include lketc.com also?

They don't target their business towards the NA/EU almost at all. Consequently, the consumers don't target them. They'll be added if this changes.

I would not agree, they work almost the same like bitmain.
Apart from their site failures (ok it is everything in chinese and is always down) anyone can pay with BTC and buy directly from them.

Shipping the same like bitmain, with DHL and in 48 hours.

I bought a few of their dragons, and they are serious with good support, unlikely bitmain where noone answers you back.

I would include it as a promising company.

Just my 2 cents.

well the numbers stack up(just) https://tradeblock.com/mining/a/e8dba56cfa

But that website is terrible to navigate in Chinese.

[glendall]

Excellent and much-needed guide for the noobeez out there, thanks.

On a related note, I still can't believe how many people ordered Monarchs and expected them to be on time, it is really baffling to me.

I also think Avalon should be rated lower as I got screwed with my batch 3 order, and there was evidence of way too much pre-mining done with the units before they were shipped, but I suppose that's just my one personal experience of many.

[Bicknellski]

http://www.woodlaw.com/cases/butterfly-labs-and-bf-labs-inc-bitcoin-miners <--- Add this Link next BFL information and add a new column for those seeking legal remedy information.

[dogie]

Excellent and much-needed guide for the noobeez out there, thanks.

On a related note, I still can't believe how many people ordered Monarchs and expected them to be on time, it is really baffling to me.

I also think Avalon should be rated lower as I got screwed with my batch 3 order, and there was evidence of way too much pre-mining done with the units before they were shipped, but I suppose that's just my one personal experience of many.

We all lost from B3, but they did give us an opportunity to refund so that's our fault.

[opieum2]

http://www.woodlaw.com/cases/butterfly-labs-and-bf-labs-inc-bitcoin-miners <--- Add this Link next BFL information and add a new column for those seeking legal remedy information.

Add AMT to this list as well

http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-mining-hardware-maker-amt-facing-court-delays/

They appear to be shipping to some customers now but some customers (namely myself and some others on the forum) are still getting no communication and are being ignored. No news on how well the systems work yet though as not enough in customers hands to get a good idea of quality.

[dogie]

http://www.woodlaw.com/cases/butterfly-labs-and-bf-labs-inc-bitcoin-miners <--- Add this Link next BFL information and add a new column for those seeking legal remedy information.

Add AMT to this list as well

http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-mining-hardware-maker-amt-facing-court-delays/

They appear to be shipping to some customers now but some customers (namely myself and some others on the forum) are still getting no communication and are being ignored. No news on how well the systems work yet though as not enough in customers hands to get a good idea of quality.

I'm not sure thats quite fair for AMT.

[VinceSamios]

All,

I've order a prospector - I'm yet to initiate the bank transfer but will do possibly today or tomorrow.

I will make sure to tell you all about how the process goes, how quickly the prospector arrives in the UK, setup, etc - I'm also going to do a video on the setup, and a review generally, so stay tuned.

But the first step, ordering the card, worked fine. I've seen complaints that the shopping card doesn't work but it definitely seemed to work absolutely fine for me.

Stay tuned.

[magzy]

All,

I've order a prospector - I'm yet to initiate the bank transfer but will do possibly today or tomorrow.

I will make sure to tell you all about how the process goes, how quickly the prospector arrives in the UK, setup, etc - I'm also going to do a video on the setup, and a review generally, so stay tuned.

But the first step, ordering the card, worked fine. I've seen complaints that the shopping card doesn't work but it definitely seemed to work absolutely fine for me.

Stay tuned.

Well you would say that given you are an investor.
Can anyone else verify these cards apart from shills of VMC?