Quote from: Korbman on January 31, 2013, 06:34:51 PM

Naw, Avalon took the most criticism after they "shipped" on the 20th and then disappeared while we started asking questions haha.

The critique started way before they "shipped" - they received a lot more attention because they took the stance of avoiding self-promotion and wanted a customer to comment.
I don't think they handled the launch particularly well-

Quote from: Korbman on January 31, 2013, 06:34:51 PM

Quote from: laSeek on January 31, 2013, 06:24:48 PM

Look at bASIC's refunds - it took time because orders aren't clean or simple - it's a nest of vipers where somebody orders one, then another, paying part with one thing (btc), another part with something else (like a cc). Allowing "deposits" adds complexity - somebody wants to pay 10%, somebody else wants to pay 20%..
When it comes to fulfilment - you then need to chase up & reconcile who's done what.

It's actually quite a bit easier than I think you imagine, assuming that they are organized and keep thorough records. Credit cards are the easiest to refund can be done at the click of a button, while Bitcoins only take time because they have to be manually refunded. It's only when you don't know "who gave what, and who gets what" that shit hits the fan.

It can be - but often it's not. So far bASIC & BFL (I've not seen any posts about people asking for Avalon refunds) - both established companies have stumbled over the refunding - so in the btc hw world - proper record-keeping appears to take 2nd place. It's understandable - they're smaller ops and investment in customer management systems take time & energy.
I've built these systems and they can be a nightmare when it comes to adjustments to orders.

From a business perspective - I don't blame Avalon for wanting to keep things simple at the moment.

Quote from: Korbman on January 31, 2013, 06:34:51 PM

Quote from: laSeek on January 31, 2013, 06:24:48 PM

In business - every customer feels they're special, that their case is unique. From the other side of the fence - a business that has to deal with 600 "unique" customers ends up wasting time.

As a customer should be. A happy customer comes back for more...an unhappy one tells their friends and none return. Wink

heh - yes & no. There's an argument (not that I agree with it) when it comes to startups that customers should love or hate you.
The idea is that its better to have people polarised than to have them feeling "meh" - that way you have right kind of attention - negative attention becomes an indicator that you need to change.
I'm more conservative - you can't please all of the people all of the time - it's better to stick to some principle that matters, hope you have the right kind of attitude to your clientbase - and do your best by being upfront.