I am pasting my update from the other thread. I have boiled down the responses from the first 214 posts in the other thread to major topics. It’s my hope that @Dan will respond. My original post is below this:
Topics and responses, reduced to major points for brevity: (This will seem harsh, but it’s not sunshine and roses right now). I am a customer since August 2015 with $4270 paid for a Pro with Filter.
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@Dan has admitted he failed us, is sorry and feels terrible. I am sure he does, but he has repeatedly ignored requests for accountability from many of the 268 posts now in this thread. What is accountability potentially look like?
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Accountability is rebuilding trust with the community through open lines of communication and managing our expectations better.
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Changing the way @Glowforge communicates with the community, by doing more than once a month updates. @Dan likes to say the team is too busy to give updates, but the reality is he has $32,270,000 in capital, not including the money we paid for our Glowforges. He can afford to hire a full time person to focus on this role and it would not be a significant drain on the team.
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@Dan continues to refuse to provide a detailed roadmap with targets and milestones to reach the launch date. Communicate if you have a setback and how that changes the launch date.
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@Dan and @Glowforge have knowingly misrepresented and withheld information to the customers concerning the status of the launch and the Glowforge.
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@Dan has consistently used responses to forum posts that dismiss or mislead the customers.
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@Dan has acknowledged he has failed to properly manage the Glowforge team and its development process. With over $32M in funding on top of the pre-order money @dan should have had access to any expert he needed, especially considering his partners. @dan will only say that the team is working 100% on making the next date and implies we should trust him, because he means it this time. For many, including myself this answer isn’t good enough and @dan needs to share specific plans for how he intends to fix the problem with Glowforge and deliver the product.
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@Dan uses the full refund in a passive aggressive or dismissive way to deflect legitimate concerns from the customers.
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Overseas customers have paid over $8,000 in some reports due to international shipping, but if refunded would not receive a complete refund due to changes in the currency values.
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@Dan has offered a bonuses to people who have ordered as an apology. Most overseas customers can’t use the bonus because of shipping and customs costs.
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The actual cost to Glowforge for proof grade materials for this is minimal and is a loss leader to get people to try the proof grade materials and continue to buy them. (Speculation)
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The free items from the catalog are owned by Glowforge (except the Catan tiles) and represent a zero cost to Glowforge. (Speculation)
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The instructables bonus is not usable by international customers and could represent a income stream for Glowforge if they have an affiliate relationship and will see revenue for new users who sign up for Instructables. (Speculation)
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@Dan responded to complaints that customers had lost the interest on the money the paid. @Dan claims that they have made $22 per person in interest. This seems like a small number, until you look at the numbers if @glowforge made 10% (2016 median bond rate) they have made a profit of $2,922,331.76 on the first 30 day purchases. (Speculation)
At the end of the day what it comes down to is @Dan abused the trust of the customers. It’s easy to say you are sorry and be contrite. Dan needs to prove through immediate action how he will rebuild the communities trust.
Is ridiculous and @dan can do a hell of a lot more than to rebuild the faith and trust the community has given @Dan and @Glowforge by trusting them with $45,000,000 in sales as of the last public report.
I really hope that @Dan will respond to this updated thread.
—Original Post—
Everyone here should read @dan 's responses in the other thread Schedule update (December '16) - #103 by scottmillersb
Dan,
I really can’t help but feel a sense of betrayal by this latest announcement. I backed Glowforge within a couple days of the public announcement when the site said shipping starting December 2015. It’s pretty obvious in hindsight there was zero chance you were making that goal. Not the most ethical way of selling a product, but shipping delays are expected to some extent when crowdfunding new companies.
You have made up for that by being very accessible and open with the community and your cancellation policy made me keep my order. I became an evangelist for Glowforge on my personal and professional social media where I have over 121k followers. I argued for you and your company and I convinced people to buy Glowforges and many others to visit.
When you delayed the second time I was concerned, when you delayed the 3rd time I was disappointed. But you said my Glowforge would get here for Christmas and I gave you and the project another break and waited. The depth of your concern for the quality of the device was reassuring. Glowforge was going to be a serious tool that was high quality. But after 17 months, it just doesn’t cut it.
I am not going to threaten to cancel or anything dramatic because I don’t know what I am going to do yet. But my faith and confidence in you and the Glowforge company is gone… completely.
At this point my question is why should I trust you and your company? You have blatantly deceived us about the shipping date originally and perhaps in subsequent updates?
Harsh question, but one I think we deserve an answer to at this point.