Why is there no reserve list?

Folks,

There are a lot of posts asking to be put onto a reserve list. There is no such list I’m afraid.

The reason is simple: the overhead for us right now would be very high. Imagine, let’s say, there were 100 individuals on a hypothetical list. Then we’d have to individually contact and chase up each one of those people and request payment, track receipts and collate the information. As you can imagine, that would be quite a job in itself. Some may suggest that that figure of 100 is rather on the low side.

An alternative would be to take payment up front. I am personally not keen on that, as it means that we would be holding potentially significant sums of other people’s money and be duty bound to those individuals. When we had a situation like the manufacturer failing to deliver a few weeks ago, what would we do then? Should we refund (another administration overhead)? Contact each individual (yet more overhead)?

I freely accept that we didn’t really anticipate the level of demand, and while I know the current process isn’t perfect (remember it works both ways, Paypal still oversold what I had in the last batch), a publicised sale date remains to us the most fair way of distributing these units.

In the meantime I really thank you all for your patience and support while we ramp up production, and let’s hope this next batch arriving in the next few days is up to scratch so we can order some more.

Howard

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10 Responses to Why is there no reserve list?

  1. Franco Cazzaniga says:

    Hello
    This evening I tried to buy the Funcube Dongle Pro
    After I clicked on buy now, appeared to me the page of payment information.
    I entered my card details but when i confirmed i received the answer “sold out”
    Why ??
    Franco Cazzaniga I6QFZ

  2. Henry Ketter says:

    Hallo dr Om,

    I want today order Funcube Dongle.
    But I can not bye it. When I want order, I get follow information
    “We’re sorry, the following item(s) isn’t available at this time:”

    What can I do to order a dongle.

    73 Henry DH5RUM

    • admin says:

      Hi Henry

      I am very sorry that you were unable to purchase an FCD. At the moment, as soon as I release a batch they are purchased within a minute. We will have some more in the next two weeks or so, keep an eye on the site where we’ll publish the next availability.

      Howard

  3. Kevin VE7ZD says:

    Please count me in as a next-run want-to-be purchaser! I’ll check back daily for availability. The radio looks fantastic!

    Do you plan to make a pre-release announcement? A few days notice would be nice. This will allow me to monitor the website more closely so as not to miss out on the next batch.

    73,
    Kevin

  4. Carl KB2WWA says:

    When will the next batch of the Pro be available. I tried ordering through PayPal today (3/10/2011), but said it was sold out.

  5. alanrishworth says:

    is there any hope of full production in the future?
    This method of selling makes it impossible for me to have any chance of success.

    • admin says:

      Hello Alan

      I am trying to increase production further, although this is my first time in manufacturing so I have had to learn a lot. I am already doing 100 per week, and have been trying to increase that to 150/week for the last couple of months but there always seems to be a problem somewhere in the assembly process that prevents better throughpit. I am looking at how I can resolve this, but please understand, learning manufacturing from scratch is a very steep learning curve (for me, anyway).

      Thank you for you patience, though, it is appreciated.

      Howard

  6. John says:

    Hi Howard,

    I sent a msg on the other FAQ section as i was thinking i list the plot…. still think i have.

    Did the pay-pal order and all card / address details went in ok then when i pressed the pay now all went through then it came back saying its out of stock so i am not sure whats happened. Called the back and said a transaction has been made of £1 for some reason by pay-pal, could you check to see if you have the order please..

    Thanks, John

    • admin says:

      Hello John:

      If the inventory runs out part way through conducting your transaction then I am afraid Paypal won’t allow you to commit your transaction as others have managed to complete before you I am afraid. The £1 I am guessing is a Paypal test transaction, it’s not something I have sanctioned.

      I realise it’s frustrating, and I apologise for that. Finally it appears that we have been able to increase production, so I hope that this backlog will become a thing of the past.

      Howard