More delays
about 7 years ago
– Thu, Feb 16, 2017 at 11:41:37 PM
I hate being the bearing of bad news once again, but...
When I had originally informed my manufacturer about the color production issue, they were cooperative at first about running the colors they had missed. Now, they are pushing back on providing me with the colors they shorted me on, and are telling me that I need to pay for a full production run and they will give me those colors they did not run along with it, but it's not worth their time to get the production process going for the partial amount. I just don't have the funds to pay for a full production run right now. I just have not had good success with picking my suppliers this time around.
The silver lining is that I am in the final stages of getting investors in the company and and that should be able to fund this production run in the next month.
I am working through the backers who have indicated they don't care about the color choice, but it's a manual process and really slows down the shipping. I've gotten out rrewards to over 250 backers so far.
I'll keep you all posted on the progress with being able to fund another production run. I guess the next option will have to be to send out my choice of colors to the backers who are left.
-Chris
Can't catch a break...
over 7 years ago
– Sat, Jan 21, 2017 at 12:04:50 AM
TLDR version: The first 100 or so reward packages have shipped out,and all reports are good from that, but I am out of two of the most popular colors, so shipping on the rest will be delayed a few more weeks.
The rest of the story: So, things seemed to finally be shaping up - I had received an initial rush shipment of 200 of each color in the Double Deckers and 200 of the storage box/connector combo and got over 100 backer orders shipped out with no issues. I got the rest of the shipment by freight on pallets and everything seemed to be on course for shipping out the rest. But, as I began unpacking the pallets, I found that I had not received any Black or Red Double Deckers (two of the most popular colors) - instead I got extra Whites and Greens (two of the least popular colors). I had only checked the shipment in terms of a box count, but had not opened any of them up upon receipt to confirm the contents - I probably should have been more skeptical at this point and checked the entire shipment. I've been in contact with the manufacturer and will be getting the colors that didn't ship (and do get to keep the extras, at least) but it's going to be another 2 weeks to make the run and ship them to me. Another set back and I wholeheartedly apologize. I have considered doing partial shipments of what I have on hand, but it's just not cost-feasible for me at the time. If you haven't gotten a shipment confirmation and have black or red in your order and don't care about getting a green or white instead, let me know. Otherwise, I'll get them out to you as soon as possible.
How did they turn out? I am fairly satisfied with the final product, but there are some issues that I'm not totally happy with.
- Double Deckers themselves - one of the features on the part was not quite to tolerance, so they are a bit harder to open than I wanted. If you were with me on the original single decker Kickstarter, they are not THAT hard to open, but it's not quite at the level I wanted. There are also some blemishes on the face that don't effect the use, but are also annoying, considering that they weren't on my final samples. For both issues, the manufacturer is seeing what they can do to fix them
- Storage boxes - the fit is a little looser than I wanted. it's still secure - you can pick up a connected Card Caddy + Box and it stays on, but with some knocking on the side, you can dislodge it. Again, we're seeing what we can do to tighten it up.
- Connectors - actually, I have no issues with these - they came out just like I wanted and am happy with them.
So, that's the news for now. I am going through the rest of the orders to see if there are any more I can fill without those two colors and will ship them out if so.
Overall, the reviews have been good from those who have gotten them. I do have to admit that I attended a Con last weekend and sold some of the stock there - that was before I knew that I didn't have my full inventory, so I didn't think I would be depriving any backers of theirs by selling them to others. Sorry about that, but no more will be sold on the open market until all the backers' orders ship out.
Thanks for coming along on this often bumpy and longer-than-predicted ride. I hope everyone will be happy with their rewards when they get them
-Chris
Rewards are in hand!
over 7 years ago
– Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 10:56:00 PM
Just got the first shipment of Double Deckers, Connectors and Boxes! Shipment will start next week.
Very excited to get them out to you all!
Production complete and shipment on its way to me
over 7 years ago
– Wed, Jan 04, 2017 at 10:30:40 PM
Hi all
Production of the Card Caddy Double Deckers, Connectors and Storage Boxes is complete and they are being shipped to me for processing. I will start shipping them out to you all when they come in.
Happy New Year!
-Chris
First samples in hand!
over 7 years ago
– Tue, Dec 06, 2016 at 06:44:13 PM
HI all-
Just got the first shots off the molds in hand. There are still some tweaks (they need to polish the tooling some more and the fit for the poker chips needs to be tightened up) but they are looking great! Should be another week for these fixes and we'll be ready for the full production run!
Thanks all for your patience and support - we are moving forward and things are going well!
-Chris
