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.
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.
Your old account hasn’t been deleted or blocked, you didn’t needed to create a new one. Please make sure you only have one, if you need help on that message me, but I’ll ask you to please be mindful of other and your language.
(Discourse have unleashed an “anti ai bot” which seems to be a bit shit honestly flagging non AI post as AI and automatically silence user, which happen on your old account and this one)
As a buyer, I would like the delivery status to be announced as frequently as possible, but perhaps ChrockPi is short-staffed and unable to grasp the production situation?
I might be wrong about this, but from what I gather, there was a bottleneck with CM4 orders specifically because of limited availability of Raspberry Pi compute modules. Then further to this, the uConsole is produced in small batches as it is a relatively small project, so production numbers are indeed limited. It’s caused this weird, multi-tier situation where people are getting orders in drastically different time frames, from 1 month to 1 year.
There was also a rumour going around that ClockworkPi has temporarily limited shipments so they can evaluate the tariff situation in the US. If it’s true, to what extent that affects international customers, I don’t know.
I’m okay with the slow process for a niche product like this, but I agree that it would be better if the shipment updates were more transparent.
I am troubled by being influenced by political negotiations. For the time being, we have secured the cm4 module here, so I would also like to consider the introduction of the cm5 module, which is being implemented on a trial basis, in the future.
It’s pointless to say, but if the order number includes not just uConsole but also PicoCalc, it would be comforting to know if it can handle the minimum required number of orders solely for uConsole, without any cores.
They should probably just get rid of the core selection altogether and sell the uConsole by itself. I know that the uConsole is meant to be an all-in-one kit, but most of us are buying CM4 or CM5 boards anyway. Most of the people buying these things are planning to open them up and tinker with them.
I do not understand the basis for the shipment being 90 business days after ordering, and I question whether production management is being properly handled. Many customers from last year’s orders have still not received their shipments, and I hope that ClockworkPi reflects on their overly optimistic forecasts and properly manages production.
the 4g module and cores should have been separate items in the store, only the color selection should have been in the uconsole listing.
That would have made order timelines a lot more predictable and fair.
Having 26 different versions makes it impossible to predict which batch will fill first and take the next production slot.
It looks like your order is not produced until an entire batch of that exact variant has been ordered, so if your variant isn’t that popular you spend a lot of time waiting for the batch to fill before you even get put in the production queue
Orders slowing down is probably also what’s causing the wait times to increase again.
That’s due to the poor outlook on the ClockworkPi side. In addition to the pandemic, procurement of parts isn’t going as smoothly as expected. The company is also not changing its policy and is taking advantage of customer patience. Isn’t it about time that the feudal lord business model stopped working?
If you were adequately monitoring forums and social media, you would likely realize that customers are frustrated and impatient, wouldn’t you? Furthermore, responding to customers individually takes time and probably doesn’t provide much comfort.
I don’t think Clockwork ever reads the posts here. So posting suggestions or concerns here won’t ever reach them anyway. The only way I know to contact them is via email, at help@clockworkpi.com or alex@clockworkpi.com. If you email Alex, he processes refunds quickly, and also offers good support if the device you receive has any issues.
But otherwise, I think Clockwork will continue to do what they do. I guess it’s working out for them since they seem to have a constant stream of orders coming in, and can’t ship them out in a timely manner anyway. People have mentioned cancelling their orders on the forums in the past, but I’m guessing the people who continue to wait and eventually receive their order far outnumber those who cancel. Otherwise, I’d expect Clockwork would change their production methods.
With DevTerm and GameShell out of stock, and with a focus on production for uConsole (CM4 model only) and PicoCalc, can we expect to have some progress in production and delivery?
Question：”As of now, how many units of uConsole are still unshipped or planned for production?”
Answer：”I am not authorized to share such information.”
This. (points to the thread)
In muy humble opinion, cores shouldbe removed alltogether and 4g module sold as a separate item.
Also, as much as I like the black uConsole, there should be only one color. I’ve known of manufacturers that won’t send to production unless they have enough items in queue.
Maybe If you (“you” == they, the clockworkpi team) only offer one item in your shop, you take the risk of getting too many orders, but at least you will fulfill the minimums for prodction easily… and your providers might even give you a better timeframe çause you’re not sending 100 for production but 1000.
It’s pure speculation on my part, of course.
I do stand by my opinion that they should just offer the uConsole as a coreless, colorless computer and let you buy the core somewhere else.
And simply update their site and replace “90 days” for “4 to 8 months”
My thread (this one) keeps getting buried so consumers are most likely unable to know beforehand the real delivery times… so they come to complain to the forums when it’s already too late and they’re angry. Can’t blame them.
Even the most loyal customers agree they should be more clear with this information.