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I think we all agree this info should be in the main page. Sadly, the site has not been updated to show more appropiate delivery timeframes. I try to bump this thread every now and then, but I don’t want to spam it every day with “bump” posts because I also want to respect the space and let people ask delivery related questions in order to answer them to the best of my abilities given my knowledge and the info I dig from the forums).
I do wish the moderators could pin this topic tho.
That said, the refund policy from ClockWorkPi seems to be very good. If you don’t feel like waiting (noone will blame you) ask Alex a full refund.
Side note: I’m just a customer like you.
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Needed to make a new account cause yeah I got mad I’m sorry but think my anger is justified to some degree here how is my 61 yr old father supposed to know this, I should t have came in so heavy handed but in sorry it really doesn’t take that much effort putting this on the website clear as day. And yeah I should have put more research in but come on, how big a deal is it just to say put this on the website. Then I’m reading posts saying people have not got their order in 1.5 years like what is going on. And I understand it’s a small team that’s no the point and not why I am angry.
You won’t receive a reply from Clockwork here, as they don’t generally read or respond to forum posts. It’s only community members here, who have purchased the devices.
You can contact Clockwork by emailing alex@clockworkpi.com or help@clockworkpi.com. While shipping times have always been a major issue, Alex is quick to respond and will also refund orders if that’s what the customer wants. His responses regarding when an order might ship tend to be nebulous though. And based on personal experience and many posts on the forums, Alex offers excellent customer service (and quick shipment) in terms of replacement parts if something arrives broken. (That doesn’t happen often, but it does occasionally happen.)
While the website makes it look like a flashy storefront with products ready for delivery, Clockwork has essentially been operating the same since their kickstarter for the GameShell years ago. They seem to only have a few employees, do small production run batches, and have to wait for the factories to produce them because they are small and don’t have the clout of a large company. The positive side is their devices are quite cheap (in terms of price, not quality) fior what you get, they are nicely designed, the unboxing experience is better than most products, and they make unique hardware unlike anything else available. The downside is many of us have waited 6 months or longer to receive the device we ordered. During the pandemic, some shipments took longer than a year.
If you ordered a uConsole, then hopefully you didn’t order the CM4 module with it. If you did, then that will have added a lot of extra time to the shipment. Many customers have asked Alex to remove the CM4 and then received their device more quickly.
And I think most of us agree, that it’s unfortunate none of that information is on the website, but there have been countless posts, discussions, and lamentation about it on the forums here. The shipping pain is a weird sort of rite of passage we’ve all had to go through. Some push through and others decide it’s not for them. While it’s impossible for anyone (including Clockwork, apparently) to guess exactly how long it will take to ship an order, the devices do exist and eventually ship. And they are quite cool.
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Yeah was just letting out the steam lmao, this is ridiculous sorry for coming on here raging though haha. Just angry and the lack of basic communication, just don’t understand how someone this intelligent makes this cool af gear but can’t put on a warning on the website like it’s just shady almost scam like behaviour. If I can get a refund I am doing that I’m not support a start up that can’t rely basic information especially since this was bought as a gift as well.obce again I do apologise for language used but this takes the cake for horrible shipping documentation im genuinely so baffled by this
Yeah he orders it with everything mate but that was at my request didn’t think much of it really just assumed based of the professional website and reviews and people glazing it on YouTube that it this was a trust worthy company
I’m also annoyed at people defending his lack of communication too like you say people have been telling him to remove the cm4 from the web page he should have done this yesterday
Wish I could be as calm as you my friend but I don’t think people should be calm here they should be angry maybe he might change something if they were angry. I hope at some point this community takes some sort of stand against his lack on communication cause it’s not right at all and the only logical explanation I have for it is that he hasn’t changed it because people won’t order it if he does, i guess ill see what he says when i speak to but i don’t like this at all. and i cant comprehend how a great mind that can make all of this cant rely basic information, i would find it comical if i wasn’t so livid, i would have understood if it was just mentioned once while ordering.
thank for your advice though mate i appreciate it
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Personally, I tend to think of Clockwork similar to how I think of Aliexpress. (Or at least how I used to think of them, with the tariff nonsense things are changing drastically, but that’s a whole other topic.) Anyhow, it’s about tradeoffs and risks.
Aliexpress can be a way to get very cheap stuff, about as close to factory cost prices as possible. The same thing on Amazon might have a 50% markup. But very few things on Aliexpress seem to have accurate information. So simply believing anything you read there is a recipe for disappointment. If you know exactly what you want though, and can match enough details to be fairly certain that’s what a seller is offering, then it can be a great way to get something you want for cheap. There are unfortunately scam sellers there though, but Aliexpress offers refunds and seems to make good on any that never arrives. It all comes down to how much time I’m willing to spend in the hopes of getting a cheap deal.
The tradeoffs and risks for Clockwork products are different. Shipping time is a huge risk. Device quality is a minimal risk and is backed by all the enthusiastic supporters who are still willing to order new device offerings in spite of the shipping nonsense.
Most Clockwork devices are also available on Aliexpress and sold by scalpers for huge markups. I personally would never support such behavior, and don’t encourage anyone else to do it either, since the devices scalpers purchase in large quantities almost certainly delay the shipment of real, individual customers. But some people on the forums have admitted to going on Aliexpress and buying a uConsole at double the price, just to be able to receive it quickly. The risk there is not insignificant. While Aliexpress will probably refund the cost if it was a fake/scam seller, since it’s not a purchase direct from Clockwork you won’t have a valid invoice and won’t have support from Clockwork if any issue arises. Rumors on the forum indicate Alex sometimes offers support to people who bought from scalpers, but there’s no guarantee and it’s a real risk.
So there are no easy options if you want a Clockwork device. The one exception might be to find an individual selling a used device on eBay, or on these forums. It happens. People get bored of the device, or they realize it was an impulse buy they haven’t been using after their excitement from receiving it waned. I actually got my uConsole that way – a used device sold by a forum member here. And that way of getting one may also allow for support from Clockwork, since the seller may provide their invoice number which could be verified by Alex if any supoort is needed.
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The biggest problem is that ClocworkPi is not aware of the production side and cannot control it.