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NCASE M1: a crowdfunded Mini-ITX case (updates in first post)
- Thread starter wahaha360
- Start date
wahaha360
Gawd
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hey thanks wahaha, a real nice move.
now that the bounty is set, i'd bet the $40 that the cases arrive exactly Jan 31
This is going to annoy me as much as you guys until every package is delivered.
Generally, I hold myself to < 5% error on fist attempts. If Netherlands and Germany arrives after Jan 2014, that will definitely ruin my stats
#26 is going to New Jersey first. They'll get it on the east cost long before we get them on the west.
Machupo
Gravity Tester
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drklu
2[H]4U
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Yeah for sure, now that the new MSI AC gaming mobo is out I'm pretty much ready to go. Someone should confirm a AD II fits !
vipz
Gawd
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Can anyone with a better understanding on shipping explain why something going from Asia to the US west coast needs to stop by NJ?
Yeah, seems crazy. Worked for Columbus though.
Because not everything on that boat is going to the west coast. There's more than just your container on that ship.
Yes.
That is really the perfect response. You are a true stand-up guy. I hope karma catches this early and the boat arrives on time and the customs just wave all the packages through
yimingwuzere
Gawd
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Got an email with this:
Not sure what's up with the shipping. There's barely any information on the Taiwanese tracking site other than a 'Dispatch from originating country's exchange office' dated Nov 5, dispatch number 51.
Not sure what's up with the shipping. There's barely any information on the Taiwanese tracking site other than a 'Dispatch from originating country's exchange office' dated Nov 5, dispatch number 51.
balance101
Limp Gawd
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Toronto ontario.... Delivery by canada post
Mine still says processed in Montreal D:, please hurry and ship out!
balance101
Limp Gawd
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You should get yours by the end of the week. I was surprised how fast it clear custom at Vancouver. Did not get any duty or custom charge. Merry xmas guys
I'm very excited to see lots of builds with the m1 a bit jellious because mines not here yet, but I am avidly watching what every body is putting in there new tiny box.
It's amazing that it will be nearly as powerfull as my full tower at a 1/4 the size.
It's amazing that it will be nearly as powerfull as my full tower at a 1/4 the size.
Which country are you in?
Try plugging in the tracking number into your country's postal service's website. Or use http://www.track-trace.com/post
A very good response indeed! That said, if the case arrives in the country before that, but arrives to my house after that date, I won't accept the refund, since Wahaha360 can't do anything about the slow customs here -- no-one can. I'm not going to hold the NCase team responsible for our slow customs, since that was completely beyond their control.That is really the perfect response. You are a true stand-up guy. I hope karma catches this early and the boat arrives on time and the customs just wave all the packages through
adamantium
Limp Gawd
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No deliveries of #26 today isn't so good. Sure hope that changes tomorrow. Every day counts. Two more days and we totally miss mid December deliveries and start end of December deliveries. Only five more delivery days, counting this Saturday, before we miss the 25th. The possibility of a Dec 24th delivery is questionable in my opinion. I may have to reschedule my Dec 25th to make sure they arrive before then.
harsaphes
Supreme [H]ardness
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Really there is no need for a refund. We're going to take money FROM these guys?
Hats off to both of you for your hard work and genuine attitude.
To be honest, I don't feel like I'd take any refund even if you miss the Jan date. NCase M1 grew on this forum and we are all very invested in it. This project is truly a crowd sourced project, and not an established company's attempt at gauging market interest. You have done everything you could to deliver the project on time and you did except for a bit logistic nightmare.Many crowdfunded projects couldn't deliver what you delivered.
adamantium
Limp Gawd
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You know that is a really great question that really hasn't been answered. It is puzzling given that each of the packages were individually addressed to their final destinations. Transit through the Panama canal costs container ships around $350,000 per ship, and the extra three weeks of travel time cost approximately an additional $1,000,000 in fuel and labor, not to mention the unavailability of the ship for making more money.
Given that the shipping company surely didn't save time or money sending the ship twice as far, here is my theory. The cost of land travel from the NJ/NY port to w360's house where the spares are to be held, is essentially nothing. If they had been delivered to the port of Long Beach, one of the world's busiest seaports and a major gateway for trade with Asia (I had to mention that), the 100 spares would have had to travel from California to New York, and that might have cost more than essentially nothing.
The problem with this theory is that, even if each of the 100 spares cost $50 more to ship via land once they reached Long Beach, the cost would have been averaged over the remaining 900 orders since everyone benefits from the spares. This would have increased the shipping costs for all of us by $5.56, and reduced the ship time for two thirds of us by three weeks. However because the ship was only traveling half as far to Long Beach for two thirds of us, the cost of shipping would surely have been reduced more than $6 per package. Probably enough to cover the increase for all of us. Remember shipping to New York costs $1.35M more per ship. Once on land, the shipping costs for the packages would be the same whether it was west to east or east to west.
If anyone has a better theory, or if w360 wants to share the reasoning and real details, I would love to understand as well.
1911Shootist
[H]ard|Gawd
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+1. I never recall seeing a promised delivery date when I contributed to the prototype or when I purchased the case. I like money as much as most guys, but a refund is not deserved or warranted in this case. Please keep my money, you guys earned it.
Robertmarcus
Gawd
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i concur. Please do not give me a refund.
wahaha360
Gawd
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I really appreciate the support. However, the refund policy is the right and fair thing to do.
It's kind of like that saying "treat people the way you want to be treated" - in this case, contribution $ should be treated the way I expect my contribution $ to be handled.
It's my mistake, and in some ways, it makes me feel a little better to have this refund policy because it's all I can do in this situation.
Personally, I think the choices we make for this campaign will be a reference point for future PC crowdfunding projects. Hopefully, others' crowdfunding projects will show the same courtesy.
AFD
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Yup, tomorrow is probably the last day for #26 for delivery before Christmas on the east coast (3 full business days ground) and before New Year for the west coast (7 days ground).
By this, I assume you'll be commandeering a USCG cutter to intercept boat #26 and delivering our M1s down the chimney on Christmas day? Sounds festive!
+1. I have no room for say in the matter, but if Necere & W360 made anything on this venture, I guarantee it wasn't enough for the effort they've put in. Definitely a noble gesture on their part, but I really hope everyone gets their M1s on time instead.
To add to what w360 said, bear in mind the refund offer is aimed primarily at those people in Germany and the Netherlands who stand to have their cases delayed by as long as another two months. This is only about 40-50 people, and won't apply to most of you.
Part of undertaking a project like this is planning for contingencies and budgeting accordingly. Offering a refund on shipping/priority to those people for whom shipping will likely take much longer than anticipated is appropriate, and within the limits of our contingency budget to do.
Part of undertaking a project like this is planning for contingencies and budgeting accordingly. Offering a refund on shipping/priority to those people for whom shipping will likely take much longer than anticipated is appropriate, and within the limits of our contingency budget to do.
yimingwuzere
Gawd
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adamantium
Limp Gawd
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First of all who is Dan? It sounds to me like someone named Dan in customs for Malaysia has your M1. Someone else received their delivery to Malaysia two days ago, so they are probably showing up there now. I would call and try to find out what is going with it. The tracking site isn't being updated in a timely manner for many.
Either that, or you have a room mate named Dan that intercepted your delivery and is holding it hostage.
Or Dan is w360... that's a possibility...First of all who is Dan? It sounds to me like someone named Dan in customs for Malaysia has your M1. Someone else received their delivery to Malaysia two days ago, so they are probably showing up there now. I would call and try to find out what is going with it. The tracking site isn't being updated in a timely manner for many.
Either that, or you have a room mate named Dan that intercepted your delivery and is holding it hostage.
adamantium
Limp Gawd
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By this, I assume you'll be commandeering a USCG cutter to intercept boat #26 and delivering our M1s down the chimney on Christmas day? Sounds festive!
Dang it! I did it again. Well now that you know, I can say I plan to use the sleigh -- faster and more cargo room.
adamantium
Limp Gawd
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adamantium
Limp Gawd
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Phuncz
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I really hope so they would, but that would mean they'd actually realize people want their packages, because it's almost the holidays.... and the customs just wave all the packages through
I'm in hell because of waiting on the customs to clear my package (video camera), they shouldn't do stuff like this on the end of December:
- don't notify you for two weeks it's missing documents
- then ask you for an invoice
- then ask you for proof of payment
- then investigate it
Come on, this is ridiculous. I've had less difficulty importing multiple realistic assault rifle replicas (airsoft) than this small video camera.
It's like they hate people in general that order outside of the border and they need to out their frustrations by being a huge pain in the ass.
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AFD
2[H]4U
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I thought about doing a wrap myself, but all the perforations really deterred me from thinking about it much further.
Most vinyl wrap how-to's seem to emphasize slicing, stretching & trimming rather than neat cuts. If I had the patience to do so, I'd probably wrap a panel, then use a needle to puncture from the inside out (place wrapped panel exterior against cardboard, to avoid any lifting), then use X-Acto blade to carefully cut maybe 2 or 3 slices per hole (from the outside in, using the needle holes for reference), then use a larger needle or punch to push the cut excess through the hole (while smoothing it against the interior of each hole), then trim off any excess from the inside of the panel (or fold it back against the interior side).
Or, you could just cut out the holes completely and hope you don't scratch the shit out of your new M1. Dunno, I've never wrapped anything yet, but have watched hundreds of how-to vids.. so I'm sort of an expert. Lol, j/k
I'd really like to see this done, but it seriously sounds like a huge pain in the ass. Lots of luck, though!
Phuncz
2[H]4U
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Personally I think the case is much to well-crafted to hide beneath a film of vinyl. Brushed, anodized aluminum is much too pretty !
harsaphes
Supreme [H]ardness
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I believe in everything you're saying but I want the chance to opt out of my refund. The choices I make will be a reference point for the future of my life.
Your first assumption is that Taiwan post would pre-sort the US-bound packages by state or even divide them by east/west. That is not necessarily true. This isn't the job for Taiwan post, it's the job for the postage distribution partner company in the States. So postal workers read only the "USA" part of the address and so they put all such packages into a large container marked "USA". When it's full, they send it to their partner in the States. That partner will decide the port it arrives.
Next step is that partner gets all the tracking numbers (with final destinations) and make a complex calculation for the actual cost of delivering all those packages. Based on this, they can decide to send a particular container to NJ or SF. I assure you that the extra cost of the ship going through the Panama canal is taken into account, but since a cargo ship can hold 5,000-10,000 such containers then the extra cost per container is only $135-270 (presuming your $1,350,000 figure is correct). Per package the difference might be only a few cents going east coast or west coast, nothing even close to the $6 you suggested.
As you suspected, the cost of land transport within the States is then a much larger factor. I can't begin to speculate on what it costs USPS to move a package from NJ to California, but I'm guessing it is still a very small amount, due to economies of scale. The bulk of costs for shipping any package within one country is the guy with the delivery truck at the end.
So this leads to the question: why doesn't USPS arrange to pre-sort the packages by state before they are put on a ship? For them to do this, they would have to open distribution centres in some countries they have dealings with. It might be something that they could make a profit on eventually, but the overhead of extra workers in many foreign countries and the complexity of dealing with foreign postal laws and employment regulations might be the barrier to this.
I thanked W360 already, but thank you as well Necere for your understanding.
It's great that people are willing to say they don't want a refund, but if my case doesn't arrive until mid-March as expected I'm not going to feel ashamed to accept a refund on the shipping (and anyway it will help pay the import taxes!). The offer has certainly restored my goodwill feeling about this amazing project.
also, bear in mind that cargo shipping differentiates between feeders and mainliners.
mainliners are doing the intercontinental transit to central hubs and from there, a feeder ship, which only travels intracontinental routes may take the package from e.g. LA to NY if thats the cheaper way to do it.
mainliners are doing the intercontinental transit to central hubs and from there, a feeder ship, which only travels intracontinental routes may take the package from e.g. LA to NY if thats the cheaper way to do it.