Introducing the VPC MongoosT-50

[hughlb]

I've been watching this unfold - VPC are supposedly sponsoring/exhibiting at the Oz Flight Sim Expo later this year in my country, their grip just got reviewed by Ars Technica, but more importantly they have products in the market, and an established supply chain to produce those products. Not to mention various videos, and threads on flight and space sim boards, a website etc, support forum. History of good dialogue.

 

My point is that if this were a scam, why now? What would they walk away with?

 

Why bother with getting the grips or mounts to market, why bother with the web presence and sponsorship of events - you could argue that it's to get people preordering the base, but the base is only half the investment, the other half is the grip - and that's being produced. Also, they are not going to make much, if any profit, from the base preorders anyway - not when you consider development and material costs, general business admin costs. At this stage it would be easier and more profitable to follow through on the production, right?

 

Let's consider they have run into production problems with the base - big enough to warrant a redesign - that's unlikely, but if it were the case, we'd be talking components - boards, materials, sensors. Perhaps even layout, or gimbal shape. But rectifying a problem with a component or changing suppliers wouldn't warrant just taking the preorder money and cutting their losses. There's just not that much money changing hands at this stage.

 

All that being said, here's the thing - There is no quicker way to lose trust, than to take people's money, not deliver a product, then break contact. That's the part of this I don't understand - why destabilize your customer base? Obviously people here are less concerned about a product delay, and more simply concerned about losing their cash. And it's really easy to stop people being concerned about that... by telling them not to be concerned about that. That's step one. Then you explain why they shouldn't be concerned about that.

 

Honestly, I can't see this being a scam, but I also can't see why they would not simply make contact... well, anything really. Just contact. An update. We are used to delays.

 

I feel like we need to keep bumping this thread to the top of the list. Can our forum moderators do anything with a situation like this?

Edited June 17, 2017 by hughlb

[Sydy]

Hi guys,

 

For those who considered buying this, the event of "going off the grid" is hair raising...

 

It's bad for the business not to have a good customer support nor a good PR...

 

All the best,

 

Sydy

[fritzchris]

They have a Phone number on their Homepage: +375 29 6669616

[dburne]

Hi guys,

 

For those who considered buying this, the event of "going off the grid" is hair raising...

 

It's bad for the business not to have a good customer support nor a good PR...

 

All the best,

 

Sydy

 

At this point, I would strongly urge anyone to not place a new order with them. They had great communication up until 5/31, since then they have gone totally silent not bothering to respond to their concerned customers. Not even on their official forums. And that does not look good at all, or sound very good for us that have pre-paid for these things. I am getting a bad feeling about this.

[Barefoot Bandit]

I really do hope they sort things out, I'm hitting the panic button yet, but I am glad my card comes with good protection policies.

 

I'm not going to make any wild guesses as to what is up, but I do sincerely hope they get themselves sorted quick smart, and someone gives us an update. I'd be happy to keep my order going if it is a production issue/delay, and it's admitted (I'm sure many others would too, though there would also be those that bail out in such a situation), but good communication is the best policy for keeping customers on side.

 

I have been amazed at how forgiving clients can be in my own line of work, if I just call them up and let them know what's going on. I've made the (very rare) "I'm hung over and can't go do your job today" call, and whilst not happy, they have been forgiving, and long term has earned me their trust.

 

Z...

[hughlb]

I am trying to contact them through Facebook/Email. But I don't speak their language - so if Cyph3r is absent for some reason, I may not get a response.

 

If Cyph3r is their only English speaking contact, is it possible the other members of the company are not aware that we are concerned, because we are posting on English forums?

[Sydy]

At this point, I would strongly urge anyone to not place a new order with them. They had great communication up until 5/31, since then they have gone totally silent not bothering to respond to their concerned customers. Not even on their official forums. And that does not look good at all, or sound very good for us that have pre-paid for these things. I am getting a bad feeling about this.

 

Indeed! True to the bone, Sir!

[Pirimeister]

They don't seem to be responding even in their Russian language forums, judging from this question regarding the status of an order:

 

https://virpil.com/en/forum/payments-and-delivery-ru

 

 

it's becoming really, really hard to find silver-linings in this situation, I can tell you that...

 

 

I am trying to contact them through Facebook/Email. But I don't speak their language - so if Cyph3r is absent for some reason, I may not get a response.

 

If Cyph3r is their only English speaking contact, is it possible the other members of the company are not aware that we are concerned, because we are posting on English forums?

[dburne]

Again, looking at the timeline:

 

May 31st they release an update that there will be a delay, with a promised update to come in 2-3 days with new shipping dates. An email was sent at that time stating the same to their current customers.

 

June 4th they post an ARS Technical review of their grip. This was the last official post on the Virpil website.

 

June 8th was last day Cyph3r was logged into the official Virpil Forums.

It appears June 2nd was last day Cyph3r posted on the Virpil Forums.

 

June 14th was last day Cyph3r was logged into the DCS or 1CGS forums ( though not posting).

June 14th was also the day we started posting our concerns about not hearing anything from them. He has not logged into these forums since...

 

Interesting that he has not logged onto the official Virpil forums since the 8th.

 

I will give them a little more time before I try contacting my credit card company to see if I have any recourse through them. Let's hope that somewhere we get some information in this upcoming week from someone at Virpil.

[hughlb]

Looking at that optimistically, dburne, one might reach the conclusion that cyph3r had a circumstance arise that keeps him from the forums for a few days - in the meantime, .... hits the fan. He sorts out whatever he was doing, returns to the forum, picks his jaw up off the floor and hurriedly types a response. We will see.

[dburne]

He could have addressed our concerns on the 14th as well.

[StandingCow]

Oh man, I hope this gets sorted out for those of you that ordered. :/

 

I almost with with Virpil too... ended up with VKB in the end.

[Yaga]

Oh man, I hope this gets sorted out for those of you that ordered. :/

 

I almost with with Virpil too... ended up with VKB in the end.

 

Given that we still haven't heard anything, this was the right move.

 

I am feeling very scammed.

[hughlb]

PayPal and Visa offer pathways for getting your money back - all is not lost. But it would be mighty disappointing if VirPil just disappeared all of a sudden, especially with such promising products in the pipeline.

[Tane]

Hi guys i was trying to contact you on steam but no body was accepting my invention

the good news i called them and talked with virpil on the phone and form what they told me the cause of the problem was the factory

the belarus army had a huge order that they had to supply and they froze the production that what cause the delay about cypher they told that he flew to belarus for a company meeting

and they are preparing for the moscow show to show the new pedals and the hotas

about the shipping they told me that they are going to ship it in the end of this month

and the first guys who were ordering there sticks + base or base they will ship on the next week

[cichlidfan]

what cause the delay about cypher they told that he flew to belarus for a company meeting

 

I guess they don't have the internet in Belarus and it must have been a long meeting or a very slow flight. :huh:

[Pirimeister]

Well, I guess that's the info we've got to work with, for now.

But I must pour some sand on that vaseline, because my order - a desk mount, a set of extensions and a TMW mounting plate base - are all listed as In Stock and yet the order is still in "Confirmed by shopper" status. The payment was confirmed on the 9th, and nothing happend since then...

 

So your information is welcomed, but they still have a lot of explaining to do...

 

 

 

Hi guys i was trying to contact you on steam but no body was accepting my invention

the good news i called them and talked with virpil on the phone and form what they told me the cause of the problem was the factory

the belarus army had a huge order that they had to supply and they froze the production that what cause the delay about cypher they told that he flew to belarus for a company meeting

and they are preparing for the moscow show to show the new pedals and the hotas

about the shipping they told me that they are going to ship it in the end of this month

and the first guys who were ordering there sticks + base or base they will ship on the next week

[Tane]

Again i am in the same boat as you are guys

i even made this user only to inform you

i hope that we will get our info as fast as possible tomorrow ill call them again and ask what`s going on.

[Tane]

Again i am in the same boat as you are guys

i even made this user only to inform you

i hope that we will get our info as fast as possible tomorrow ill call them again and ask what`s going on.

[cichlidfan]

Again i am in the same boat as you are guys

i even made this user only to inform you

i hope that we will get our info as fast as possible tomorrow ill call them again and ask what`s going on.

 

I am sure I speak for everyone by saying that your effort is much appreciated.

[Pirimeister]

Don't have any doubts about it, we really apreciate your effort, Tane. And thank you for re-engaging with Virpil again.

We're just shooting the message, not the messenger. :smilewink:

 

 

Again i am in the same boat as you are guys

i even made this user only to inform you

i hope that we will get our info as fast as possible tomorrow ill call them again and ask what`s going on.

[dburne]

Hi guys i was trying to contact you on steam but no body was accepting my invention

the good news i called them and talked with virpil on the phone and form what they told me the cause of the problem was the factory

the belarus army had a huge order that they had to supply and they froze the production that what cause the delay about cypher they told that he flew to belarus for a company meeting

and they are preparing for the moscow show to show the new pedals and the hotas

about the shipping they told me that they are going to ship it in the end of this month

and the first guys who were ordering there sticks + base or base they will ship on the next week

 

Yet again, while Cyph3r went silent on the Virpil forums after the 8th, he was actively logging into these forums up through the 14th. Does not take long to make a simple post to alleviate concerns...

And not only did he go silent on the Virpil forums, he did not even log onto them since the 8th. Very strange considering he was still logging onto forums outside of the official Virpil forum through the 14th.

 

Thanks for your efforts , hoping that is the case. However I still have some large concerns myself.

Edited June 18, 2017 by dburne

[hughlb]

the good news i called them and talked with virpil on the phone

 

Can't thank you enough for doing this, Tane. We needed a dialogue channel and you found one. Obviously there are ongoing concerns, notably not letting this sort of communication breakdown happen in future. But this eases the concern over our investment. We await a direct response from VirPil. Thanks again, pal!

[Winger]

Again i am in the same boat as you are guys

i even made this user only to inform you

i hope that we will get our info as fast as possible tomorrow ill call them again and ask what`s going on.

 

Hey Tane! THANKS A LOT for your effort and for making this user to inform us. I am a little less worried now. WIll be not worried at all when i get some info from Virpil themselves or Chypher for that matter.

 

Thou you should consider trying DCS and stopping by more often. Is a nicesim and forum thou.

If you like WWII you also should try http://www.il2sturmovik.com.

 

Cheers

 

David

[Tane]

Hi guys again,i managed to speak with them today ,and they told me

that Cyph3r will be tomorrow, or today to answer the questions

about the shipping,it will start between 4-10 july.