Light Harmonic Geek Pulse

[roadtonowhere08]

Holy contradiction, Batman:  Remember, this special deal is for Geek Force members only. Go toLHLabs.com to get the details, then go back to the campaign to get the deal. If' you're not a Geek Force member, it's easy and free to sign up at LHLabs.com.

 

Taken from an email I just got.  Who knows, whatever, and DGAF.

[jwzhan]

wow... that's a major screw up... I also thought that one only needs to sign up for the forum...

I wonder how they are going to deal with this... Indiegogo won't do any refund, and they have already taken the 9%+paypal's 3% out of the contribution. If LHL decide to refund all those who they don't think qualify... that will be quite a bit of work on confirmation and fees they will have to absorb. I guess at this point, it all depends on which method will result in less loss...

[n_maher]

I think if you refund through Paypal the fees are also refunded by I could be misremembering that.

[jwzhan]

Isn't the fund transfered to the companies through indiegogo? I thought the companies on indiegogo can't directly refund, unless the campaign falls through and indiegogo will process the refunds. In all other circumstances, the companies have to contact the contributors and refund privately...

[naamanf]

I have a feeling they are just going to give them to all who ordered. Contacted Larry Ho and said I was directed to the sale by a friend who was already a backer. Said I would most likely get my unit, just have to work it out with the team after the break. Guessing since the mistake was theirs they will honor the sale. Or they could tell us to suck it. 

[blessingx]

I suspect you're right. They're also pushing for their final stretch goal in every correspondence, so refunding and moving the total back would cause secondary problems. Also in case the hidden sale wasn't made public already... http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/11/30/geek-pulse-destroys-second-stretch-goal-closing-on-400k/ And just a reminder we're talking seven months wait... if they hit their target date.

Edited November 30, 2013 by blessingx

[jwzhan]

They went over 400K... and half of the funding in the past 10 days came from the black friday deal...

This is Larry Ho in the geek out video on the kickstarter page... certainly a peculiar fellow...

[Torpedo]

Certainly, he didn't notice the HD800 are reversed

[Nebby]

Certainly, he didn't notice the HD800 are reversed

Haven't you heard? An audiophile-quality USB cable will fix that

[blessingx]

He noticed before the Geek Pulse promotional stuff went out. 

[blessingx]

From lhlabs.com.

Over the extended holiday weekend, there was some confusion regarding who had earned the “Geek Force Only” special perk. As promised by Larry, here is the clarification.

The Black Friday event was created so backers who had already backed the campaign could get a second (or more) unit at a lower price. This is what we meant when we said, “...we want you to be able to get another Geek Pulse, Geek Pulse X, and/or Geek Blue at an even lower price than we've offered before.” As we said in the original announcement, the profit on these units is very thin. We limited the quantity available for this reason. Through the weekend, we increased the quantity available from time to time as Larry and I weighed the benefit of having more units in the hands of our supporters versus the cost of offering such a deal.

It appears that there are a few people who were not already backers who took advantage of this deal. It’s pretty easy for us to identify who those folks are, but for now we’d like the opportunity to speak to those of you that fall into this group in order to make it right for everybody. We’ve set up a special email address for this— [email protected] (please pardon the tongue-in-cheek email address). If you are one of those people who had not backed our Indiegogo campaign before you claimed your Geek Force Only perk, please email us with your PayPal email address and your phone number so we can talk and make this situation right one at a time, up to giving you a full refund.

Again, to be clear, email us at [email protected] if you are either (a) a first-time backer of our campaign and you chose a Geek Force Only perk, or ( you backed us before on Kickstarter but chose a Geek Force Only perk on your first contribution to our Indiegogo campaign. Don’t worry, we can work it out, even if that means giving you a full refund.

Lastly, there has been some concern about the perceived high cost of international shipping. We checked with our fulfillment house about this subject and they responded that they will be shipping all units individually with the exception of LightSpeed Jr. cables and Reseller Packs. So we’re sorry to say the $40 shipping/item charge stands.

All the best,

Gavin

[jp11801]

Ric, thanks for the heads up, I had jumped on this deal and would not have realized for months that they had no intent on fulfilling the deal they offered. I emailed tham and will be interested in what they have to say. 

[naamanf]

Ric, thanks for the heads up, I had jumped on this deal and would not have realized for months that they had no intent on fulfilling the deal they offered. I emailed tham and will be interested in what they have to say.

X2

[Nebby]

What's particularly baffling is they used the same "You must be a geek force member" statement in multiple posts, without a single instance where they mentioned that you must already be a backer. I thought that would be something they should've made clear at least in one of those statements.

[jwzhan]

Ric, thanks for the heads up, I had jumped on this deal and would not have realized for months that they had no intent on fulfilling the deal they offered. I emailed tham and will be interested in what they have to say. 

x3

 

If this falls through I guess I might go for the emotiva dac, although I do like the smaller profile of pulse  :/

$299 is a little too much to pay for an unfinished and changing product. It will probably be better if LHL would stop trying to satisfy everyone's opinion and just put out a narrowly focused but well executed product. I really don't care about ethernet, or face plate, or LED screen or any of the other non-sense that will take away the funds from the circuitry.

It's great for them to clarify after two of the three perks have been sold out...

[blessingx]

 

It's great for them to clarify after two of the three perks have been sold out...

 

Yeah, that timing sucks. Overall I've been happy with nearly every one of their decisions, but I don't know why they don't admit Gavin and Larry gave conflicting information throughout the weekend repeatedly. I made my comments over at LHlabs.com encouraging them to honor. I feel your pain as I had an order in on the Resonessence Mirus, before they cancelled all orders with a RMAF discount. Left a bad taste in my mouth and ended up over to LH instead. Doubt they will, but if you can get them to shift the orders over to my account to satisfy the 'first' order they can. Just let me know if I can be of any help. Maybe they'll offer some great discount to those that contact them. It's not like they're expecting to lose money on these orders and did keep increasing the number of units. 

Edited December 3, 2013 by blessingx

[jwzhan]

Yeah, that timing sucks. Overall I've been happy with nearly every one of their decisions, but I don't know why they don't admit Gavin and Larry gave conflicting information throughout the weekend repeatedly. I made my comments over at LHlabs.com encouraging them to honor. I feel your pain as I had an order in on the Resonessence Mirus, before they cancelled all orders with a RMAF discount. Left a bad taste in my mouth and ended up over to LH instead. Doubt they will, but if you can get them to shift the orders over to my account to satisfy the 'first' order they can. Just let me know if I can be of any help. Maybe they'll offer some great discount to those that contact them. It's not like they're expecting to lose money on these orders and did keep increasing the number of units. 

 

Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it. I just sent them an email asking what is going to happen. I guess all that's left is waiting..

It's kind of the norm now for companies to cancel discounted orders when they realize they are not maximizing their profit...

[Dusty Chalk]

I wouldn't be surprised if they offered all of you to pay the difference.  Diplomatically, of course.  Backer price plus black Friday price divided by 2, or more.  Possibly original backer price.

[naamanf]

I wouldn't be surprised if they offered all of you to pay the difference.  Diplomatically, of course.  Backer price plus black Friday price divided by 2, or more.  Possibly original backer price.

Ding ding ding. Early bird price.

[naamanf]

Thanks for your patience.

Please let us know how much you pledge for the Black Friday Deal. And assuming you pledge for $189 for the Geek Pulse.

Here are the options: If you are Kickstarter Geek Out backers, you will only need to add $10 to $1 THANK YOU

If you are not the Kickstarter or Indiegogo backers before. No problem, you could just join the normal early bird deal, add $59 to $1 THANK YOU PERK.

If you still wish to get back FULL amount the money, just give us your Paypal account.

Thanks a lot,

Supporting Team

To be exact. Still keeping it confusing.

[jwzhan]

That's the e-mail I received as well.

After a few exchanges, they agreed to let me just contribute $10 to get the pulse after I mentioned blessingx's ID. Thank you. You are a true blesser (if that's a word.)

[jp11801]

They want $49 from me for the X model, I read the offer again and still can't figure out how what they wrote doesn't equal I get the X for the $299 I already paid. Not sure if I'm going to send the cash or get a refund as this leaves a bitter taste.

$349 is half the somewhat ambiguous $699 msrp but it's not what I thought I signed up for.

Edited December 3, 2013 by jp11801

[blessingx]

I certainly understand the bad taste, and they should have just honored the order, but on pure numbers $348 falls between the first model I got ten minutes after the campaign started ($249 Pulse which was long sold out + $140 Pulse X upgrade = $389) and the Black Friday Pulse X Sale ($299). And those ordering now would be higher ($299 Pulse + $140 X upgrade = $439 or Pulse X outright $489). Then there's the MSRP, which at least with the Geek Out ended up being the real post-campaign (but pre-release) price. Or toss my name around and try to get lower. I seem to have clout.* 

 

Who knows how this thing is going to sound, but I'm not sure there's really much competition at this price point right now.

 

 

 

* Unlikely 

[roadtonowhere08]

Things got interesting, but I cannot say I am surprised.  The communication was shit, and the directions were silly.

 

Here is what I sent to their e-mail address (which also leaves a bad impression, as it insinuates a little more than they are letting on):

 

 

Hello,

 

I was not an original backer for the Pulse, but when I joined the mailing list, I got the offer in my e-mail.  I placed an order right away, thinking this was a great deal for people who were members, as I had read "This offer is for Geek Force members only. Please don't let this get out!"

 

Of course after I placed the order I read in rather mundane writing "As a Geek Force member, we want you to be able to get another Geek Pulse, Geek Pulse X, and/or Geek Blue at an even lower price than we've offered before..."

 

It was an easily overlooked part of the offer, thus you had people who did not satisfy your terms (such as myself).  This would have not happened if those in charge of the offer wording were more clear in the terms and conditions, such as "This offer is only extended toward people who are already backers" 

 

I am not sure what you have in mind to rectify the situation, but here are the options that would satisfy me:

 

1. You honor the price due to communication errors

2. I have noticed that some people are offered to pay $10 more as a good faith measure and call it even

3. Issue me a full refund at ______@____ via PayPal

 

I look forward to your response.  Have a good day.

 

Sincerely,

 

Blah

 

We'll see what happens.

Edited December 6, 2013 by roadtonowhere08

[roadtonowhere08]

Well wonder of wonders, even though I wrote what's above to the company, I still got back the same canned bullshit that you guys did:

 

Thanks for your patience.

 

Please let us know how much you pledge for the Black Friday Deal. And assuming you pledge for $189 for the Geek Pulse. 

 

Here are the options: If you are Kickstarter Geek Out backers, you will only need to add $10 to $1 THANK YOU 

If you are not the Kickstarter or Indiegogo backers before. No problem, you could just join the normal early bird deal, add $59 to $1 THANK YOU PERK.

 

If you still wish to get back FULL amount the money, just give us your Paypal account.

 

Thanks a lot,

 

Supporting Team

 

 

To which I replied:

 

I pledged $189 during the sale.

Due to you not really reading my last e-mail (others received the same reply from you verbatim), I would like a full refund.
 

My PayPal address (previously mentioned in the e-mail I sent you that you did not read) is:  _____@_____
 

Sorry it had to come to this.  I was looking forward to your product.
 

Sincerely,

 

Blah

 

 

Seriously, if they cannot even read what I wrote, they can go fuck themselves.  I'm out.

 

Edited December 6, 2013 by roadtonowhere08