SCAM: Black Arrow LTD

[notbatman]

Update: 27th of May 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

4. Refunds refused.

5. After 3 weeks of sitting on useless chips Minion customers finally receive the pinout and can start their PCB designs.

I'm guessing Black Arrow resolved the SPI issue (properly terminated the transmission lines?) and have some units hashing in their data centre. Holding back the pinout was a bit shady don't you think?

Oh BTW Alex, page 4 of the data sheet still says the Minion has 64 cores.

[notbatman]

Update: 28th of May 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

4. Refunds refused.

5. Customers told to wait for the next weekly update.

[notbatman]

Update: 29th of May 2014

Please Wait...

[goozman96]

Since Blackarrow doesn't like this link to be posted on their thread, I'll post it here:
http://www.kiwi.nz/blackarrow/

[notbatman]

Update: 30th of May 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

4. Refunds refused.

5. "the weekly update" stated that one makeshift prototype X-1 has been shipped to a lucky customer.

[Xelpherpolis]

Only guessing but it could be like Butterfly Labs, they actually have the units, they mine with them until they do not profit anymore, then of course release the units to you, when they are worthless. Only a guess, but it was obvious BL was doing it.

[notbatman]

Bitcoin just hit $617 on Bitstamp. If the X-3 had been shipped on February 24th every X-3 (2TH/s) would have mined BTC16.5 and they could be exchanged for $10180.50 USD right now.

[notbatman]

Update: 31th of May 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

4. Refunds refused.

5. US reseller bails; is this ship going down?

[notbatman]

Update: 1st of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. Shipping of X-1 units is stated to begin tomorrow. No shipping date provided for the X-3.

4. Refunds refused.

[notbatman]

Update: 2nd of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. Shipping of X-1 units is stated to begin today. No shipping date provided for the X-3.

4. Refunds refused.

[notbatman]

Update: 3rd of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

In their last update Black Arrow stated that shipping of the X-1 would start yesterday. Not a single X-1 customer has reported receiving a tracking number.

4. Refunds refused.

5. LIARS.

[notbatman]

Update: 4th of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

4. Refunds refused.

5. Some customers have been waiting over 8 months now for their orders to ship.

[notbatman]

Update: 5th of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

4. Refunds refused.

5. Customer Joe Dirt complains about a pain in the ass stating "my wallet hurts".

[notbatman]

Update: 6th of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped (Black Arrow claims that x-1 units are shipping, no confirmation from customers yet).

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided for X-3 units.

4. Refunds refused.

5. The weekly update claims that X-1 units are shipping but, customers X-3 boards still have unterminated SPI lines and that they'll be keeping the massive stack of hash boards warm until hell freezes over.

[notbatman]

Update: 7th of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped (Black Arrow claims that X-1 units are shipping, no confirmation from customers yet).

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided for X-3 units.

4. Refunds refused.

5. Proposed solution for X-3 customers is to create a unit with 3 cases, 15 raspberry pies and 2 power supply units. The unit will operate with 66.6% functionality and the customer is required to pay additional shipping costs.

Scam, conspiracy, incompetence or gross negligence? I'm starting to suspect a good mix of all four.

[notbatman]

Update: 8th of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

4. Refunds refused.

5. Not a single X-1 customer can confirm shipment of a miner.

Seems like Black Arrow's claim that it's shipping X-1 units is yet another lie.

[CryptoGuy]

I was a "believer" until last week when it became apparent that they're lying to us straight up.

It started out with the X1 being "ready to go", they were just waiting on the cases and LCD to get in stock. Then the next week they got some aluminium cases and it was "just waiting on the LCD's". This this last week they all of a sudden have an issue with the controller board for the X1 and they'll have to ship them with Raspberry Pi's. No wireless function, you have to open the case to plug in the ethernet cable, no LCD and to top it off the aluminium case they're offering doesn't have a cutout to even fit the LCD if they had them to begin with.

Yes, hot thick smoke being blown by BA. Right now there is supposedly a single X1 enroute to David their PR guy. There's an unconfirmed mass shipment supposedly headed to Minersource now but with no confirmation from bobsag that he's received the tracking info, or any kind of acknowledgement for that matter.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and they're still trying to dangle the "surprise" carrot in front of us. Now that's not going to be revealed until they're shipping "full spec" miners, ie in several months when they finally work out all the bugs and have the proper parts in stock. Additionally, the compensation units for batches 1 & 2 won't be discussed nor shipped until these full spec miners are done.

[notbatman]

Update: 9th of June 2014

1. Batch 1 hasn't shipped.

2. Batch 2 hasn't shipped.

3. No shipping date provided.

4. Refunds refused.

5. Black Arrow claims product completion for the X1. No word on the X3 or mass production.

[CustomChickenDelivery]

I ALMOST purchased Minion hosting, which at the time looked like a great deal.

I did as much due diligence as I could, but the truth was that the situation, as presented by Black Arrow,

was a gold rush bandwagon affair, with early adopters being rewarded. BobSag backed them up as reputable,

kinda like how Bitcoinorama backed up KNC, except bob had a good rep for selling BTC hardware.

As a 1st batch KNC customer, this setup felt good and familiar, felt like a winner. It was TOO slick.

The HURRY! attitude is what made me distrust it in the end, and the lack of fiat payment options.

With a CC I have protection in that the original tx can be reversed,

with BTC, once its sent, the original tx is irreversible.

So I played poker instead with the spondoolie.


I hope everyone who requests a refund gets it. Good luck all.

[zimmah]

Black Arrow is a scam company that's currently defrauding it's customers for millions of dollars and thousands of BTC.

Proof?

Just look at their website, they're selling batch 2 X-3 units with a stated shipping date of 15 May 2014. It's currently the 17th and not a single batch 1 order has shipped.

They sold pre-orders for 24 Feb 2014 dispatch until 29 Jan 2014. It takes 2+ months after tape-out to have the ASICs forged and packaged. Undeniable proof that they lied to get customers money.

This is fraud over $5000, an indictable offence.

First, it does not say it ships on 15 May 2014. It says it ships around 15 May 2014, which isn't an exact date.
Second, there are delays for all companies. Would you call all of them scam? No. Only Butterfly Labs and Hashfast, since they don't even have the equipment in production.

The initial plan was to ship late February, and up until January they claimed to be "ahead of schedule" and "definitely delivering in time"

Then it became early may

Then it became "in a few weeks"

Now it's unknown.

They are possibly not scammers but they are incompetent and they lie about delivery date and in the mining industry delivery dates are crucial.