Introducing the VPC MongoosT-50

[dburne]

I am a little surprised we have not had any updates in several days...

 

Edit: Considering in their announcement of May 31st, they stated they would have an update for us in 2-3 days.

 

Initially it was planned for all pre-orders before 5th May to be shipped at the end of May, and all pre-orders after 5th May will begin shipping 10th June.

However, the production of the mechanics have taken longer than initially planned. We were presented the choice to maintain our initial timing, or provide superior quality. We ultimately chose the latter.

We will confirm the new pre-order shipping dates in 2-3 days.

Edited June 13, 2017 by dburne

[hansangb]

Nope.

 

The project was supposed to be in the shipment phase.

 

We find out at the deadline that it's actually in the production phase, with significant issues. This is unexpected. Because the company is not forthcoming with why, I'm concerned.

 

I do not mind waiting. However, concrete assurances (shipping dates, specific delays, expected delay time frames) are easy to provide.

 

What do you have pre-ordered?

 

Edit: Do you not want more information? We should encourage them to tell us as much as possible.

 

 

I didn't pre-order because I *knew* there would be kinks to work out. All new products have this problem. Some small, some large. And if I were to compare these guys to other vendors, they seem to be the most communicative. Well, except maybe Milan of MFG (via email to his buyers)

 

All I'm saying is cut them some slack. Small company orders get delayed by manufacturers, shipping takes longer, fixing cosmetic issues turn into delays down river. I know a thing or two about product delays. But it all takes time. You wouldn't think so, but it does. Because the message passes through so many hands, it takes time to reach the end user.

[Yaga]

I didn't pre-order because I *knew* there would be kinks to work out. All new products have this problem. Some small, some large. And if I were to compare these guys to other vendors, they seem to be the most communicative. Well, except maybe Milan of MFG (via email to his buyers)

 

All I'm saying is cut them some slack. Small company orders get delayed by manufacturers, shipping takes longer, fixing cosmetic issues turn into delays down river. I know a thing or two about product delays. But it all takes time. You wouldn't think so, but it does. Because the message passes through so many hands, it takes time to reach the end user.

 

Are you worried I'm going to hurt their feelings?

 

I don't get your angle. There are two possible outcomes and neither should bother you in the slightest.

 

1. nothing happens

2. they expedite release of additional info to quell customer concerns

 

Actually, one of those outcomes benefits you if you're interested in the product.

 

Also, I'd imagine it's easy to say "cut them some slack" if you've got no skin in the game.

 

We went from having concrete shipping dates to being in the nether of development. They owe us an explanation.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Yaga

[LeCuvier]

#Cyph3r: I thought you were making an announcement about production/delivery status "in a few days". Have I missed something?

They say "talking is silver - silence is gold"; but that's not true in this situation. People including myself have paid up-front based on promised delivery dates.

You owe us a clear and open statement. The truth. Even if it is not pretty.

[Winger]

Some update would be nice. Its time.

[dburne]

Very uncharacteristic of Cyph3r to remain quiet in this thread...

Edited June 14, 2017 by dburne

[Nash]

Hi Cyph3r,

Please check my pm urgently...

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

[Lenux]

Does this joystick has Z axes option ?

[dburne]

They seem to have gone strangely silent on the Virpil forums as well...

[Lenux]

what do you mean, dburne?

[Barefoot Bandit]

Remember, it's possible there is some illness or family emergency that prevents Cypher from being able to update, having said that, I certainly hope everything is ok in terms of family and health.

 

Z...

[dburne]

what do you mean, dburne?

 

No questions being answered of late by Cyph3r on their English forums, very uncharacteristic.

It would seem he has been on these forums as recently as 2 days ago, but has not been on the Virpil forums in several days, since like the 8th.

Edited June 16, 2017 by dburne

[Nash]

So my parcel was stuck at Mumbai customs since the 9th of May and due to some stupid laws was in danger of getting confiscated ... After an hour of explanations and negotiations, the customs officer demanded an invoice in pdf format giving the break-up of freight charges to release my parcel ... Showing him online invoice was just not right for him...

 

I pinged Cyph3r a couple days ago and he usually responds quickly but then suddenly for the past 2-3 days he has disappeared ... May be he is busy or unwell...Since he had disappeared I decided to email the Virpil sales team to send an invoice in pdf format as was demanded by the customs officer to release my parcel ...

 

I have pinged Cyph3r and emailed the sales team multiple times in the past 2-3 days impressing upon them the urgency of getting that pdf invoice but I got absolutely no reply since...I even posted here for him to check my PMs without success ...

 

I finally had to bribe the officials to the tune of more than 64% the worth of my parcel to get my parcel released...:cry:

 

This might have been avoided if I could have got that invoice in pdf format on time...:cry_2:

 

And yes I am angry and hurt at both the customs officials and the Virpil team in equal measure...:mad:

 

I wouldn't count this as good customer service and I register my protest here through this post ...

[dburne]

This is not looking good, not at all.

 

I am getting quite concerned now, I ordered the stick and base, extension set, and center mount bracket - and paid for all on April 15th. I have posted over on the Virpil English forums, and no one is responding there either. No communication there in the last two weeks.

 

This is not good - someone form Virpil needs to let us paid customers know what is going on - quickly!

[Winger]

is it thinkable that they just having vacation or something?

I am also getting a little concerned.

LH Grip, Base, exensions anddeskmount. All on order and payed for in full....

[Pajeka]

Base and BE grip ordered. Mailed VPC_Solway (BoX - Russian forum) yesterday, requesting urgent update - nothing heard...

[*Rage*]

Its possible that Cypher is the only person tasked with the English side of sales/support and for some reason he's away?

 

Cooler heads must prevail.

[Pelmo]

As you can see, the last online visit goes back to ..

 

[dburne]

Its possible that Cypher is the only person tasked with the English side of sales/support and for some reason he's away?

 

Cooler heads must prevail.

 

He was logged into these forums and another flight sim forum two days ago!!

 

Another guy posted on another forum he tried contacting Virpil through the Russian forum and has received no response from there either.

Edited June 16, 2017 by dburne

[Nash]

Its possible that Cypher is the only person tasked with the English side of sales/support and for some reason he's away?

 

Cooler heads must prevail.

I am not saying that anybody needs to press the panic button yet...

As I mentioned in the earlier post that Cyph3r might be away or not well...

All I am saying is that the customer service expected of them was poor in my case where I either had to bribe the customs officers to release my Parcel or let them confiscate it...

I wouldn't be in that imbroglio if I had a simple pdf invoice sent to me by either Cyph3r or the Virpil team, both of whom I tried to contact multiple times ...

I would have saved a lot of money that way by just paying for the customs duty without bribing any one...

They have just released the parcel yesterday and I am still waiting for the delivery to my place... I was told that there is another fee I have to pay to India Post at the time of the delivery...

This is just adding up to my bad experience as in closing I will end up paying a little less than 70% the value of the products in bribes and fees ...

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

[Pelmo]

I do not know you, but if by the end of next week, there will be no updates on the status of things, i will cancel my order and immediately i will request back the amount paid by VISA.

Fortunately, when purchasing with credit card we are secured against the scams..

I find the behavior of this company unacceptable to its customers.

All these days without giving any answer .. Unacceptable!:mad:

[dburne]

I do not know you, but if by the end of next week, there will be no updates on the status of things, i will cancel my order and immediately i will request back the amount paid by VISA.

Fortunately, when purchasing with credit card we are secured against the scams..

I find the behavior of this company unacceptable to its customers.

All these days without giving any answer .. Unacceptable!:mad:

 

Agreed, I was giving the benefit of the doubt and figured they were trying to get things worked out for whatever snag caused the delay, but now after several days of folk inquiring on several forums including their own with them not responding at all, is unacceptable.

 

Cyph3r being on at least two forums that I know of as recently as the 14th and not responding to concerns has raised a big red flag for me. And now he is not logging into the forums at all. And he has not been on the English Virpil forums in 9 days.

Edited June 17, 2017 by dburne

[cichlidfan]

Sure glad I cancelled my base order weeks ago. Money is already back on my card.

[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