Mine arrived exactly at the 90 day mark (calendar, not business), so I wouldn’t expect a Steam Deck-like “ramp up until demand meets supply”, but compared to folks still awaiting Kickstarter orders being fulfilled, it’s better in that aspect.
(Not for everyone, of course, otherwise there’d be no comments here about waiting for over a year and still not getting theirs sent while others have.)
Below are Alex Duan’s replies to me over the last month. I placed my order last October and exchanged just a few emails with him until June. Over the last five weeks, the reply went from ‘shall be done in June’ to shipping in August, and from ‘we are working on your order at this moment’ to ‘we are packing your order’ and back to ‘we are working on your order.’ I might never have noticed it if he hadn’t (accidentally?) sent me the same exact answer twice in a row.
Read on to see how Alex and Clockwork have developed vague evasion to the level of poetry and even performance art.
EDIT: Alex has explained that he never said my order was packed. It seems “we are now packing your order” or even “we are working on your order at this moment” means something more like they are working on or packing orders that make up in the batch that may contain your order.
On Jun 14, 2024, at 2:46 AM, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote
Hi,
Your order will be in the next batch.
On Jun 15, 2024, at 03:03, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote:
Shall be done in June.
On Jun 28, 2024, at 08:08, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote:
Actually we will be working on your order in just a few days.
On Jul 7, 2024, at 10:08, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote:
Hi,
Sorry for the waiting.
We are working on your order at this moment. Won’t take much longer.
On Jul 12, 2024, at 14:52, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote:
Hi,
Sorry for the waiting.
We are working on your order at this moment. Won’t take much longer.
On Jul 12, 2024, at 14:57, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote:
To be more detailed, we are now packing your order.
On Jul 16, 2024, at 01:28, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote:
Hi,
Sorry for the waiting.
We are working on your order at this moment. Won’t take much longer.
On Jul 17, 2024, at 02:21, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote:
We need time to finish the production process, that is all.
For now we are packing your order, but it’s a whole batch, they can only be shipped as one batch, so we have to wait for all of them to be packed.But won’t take much longer.
On Jul 20, 2024, at 03:17, Alex alex@clockworkpi.com wrote:
Actually we are working on your order at this moment, shall be shipped in a couple of weeks.
ok, some good news.
i (finally) got the shipping notification today, and though shipping to my current country might take awhile, i can at least figure out all the details of how to get the package in my hands myself.
@ArtieFortyEight : i had a very similar experience with alex, but they were able to figure out what’s going on with my package and actually work through the details. waiting is a pain, but patience is a virtue – i also ordered in october of last year, changed my address more than three times and am only now receiving the notification.
i don’t think it’s lies, as alex seems to be disconnected from the actual production and shipping process and is basically transmitting the order status as it comes to them.
after 1.5 months (last reply was, there are 2 batches before my order) I got and answer… next batch will include my device… I’m hyped, but I know it will be another 1.5 months at least…
I think that all in all, the problem here is that it seems that large volumes were purchased by someone that is selling them on aliexpress or other chinese websites; and that is basically what took them off the market for us common people that just want one.
Could this be avoided? Not at all… They are selling a product, so if a big spender come in, they give that spender a preferred lane for shipping fast probably.
There is also the margin you make as company in selling something and take the money now while you give the product after a quarter basically; as you can invest the money and profit.
All companies do that, but they have a stock so that item you buy was ordered 3 months ago or more, but since they have stock, you get it the same week. Clockworkpi clearly do not have that firepower being a 10 people operation company, so that’s why the whole thing feels slow.
I still favor this to the FOMO email with the product available for few hours and then disappear for months; although you still find the product from scalpers anyway, so it is just a matter of points of view after all, if you pay for something that you will see in the year, or if you have to chase a magical email that give you the chance to get one.
They could be more upfront maybe but they don’t have to; it is not a necessary item in the end so I think it is fine to order and wait; just don’t pay the scalpers no matter what. I know you want this thing so bad but don’t pay scalpers or YOU become part of the problem at that point, as you fuel this system and support this behavior which hurts all of us.
The only constant here seems to be that you send email and your device is “in the next 3-5 batches”; then eventually it will arrive. Maybe they should change the info page and say “devices are shipped everry 6-12 months; your device will be in the next 3-5 batches” so we all save time when ordering?
Bro…
And 12 of July he said:
Hi,
Sorry for the waiting.
There will be about 1 more batch to go before yours.
We are working on a batch at this moment. Since the supply condition is getting better, we expect the production to be constant.
We are trying to maintain a 3~5-batch-a-month schedule.
It is likely that your order will be shipped before the end of July, but if it doesn’t, I can arrange a refund as promised.
At this point idk if they are laughing at me lol.
If you guys know any good scalpers out there please send me the links, as I’m getting a refund
I ordered a black no 4G no core in February and it took exactly 100 business days to arrive.
Some people who ordered after me got theirs too so I don’t understand what’s up with this.
It seemed like they did a few batches of black to get orders out the door.
I am in the USA if that somehow makes any difference.
I ordered my black CM4 WITH 4G in February and was told today that there are 3 batches ahead of me. So With or Without 4G module must make a big difference.
Here’s my observation on how shipments are fulfilled (Delays, wherever mentioned, are potentially cumulative):
As it appears, Clockwork prioritizes orders delivered within China; while they’re likely to consolidate deliveries for a specific geographic area. I’m still of the opinion that Clockwork fulfills orders on a whim. So yeah, think of the shipment process like a protracted lottery.
Also,…
…You’re on your own.
First of all,
I love to read about people participating in this drama. And if I had seen the thread would appear in a such website that tells you it is your treasure to keep as long as you’ve made a payment; And the product is finally here; It is yours, I would stop at my fingertip, not buying this.
But as soon as you send money, I would get a receipt but no way you can see your order status. There for we all gather here, staring at each other in mystery why we haven’t got a product already. If we’ve seen this blindly ealier in its forum and realize how long you will going to wait after purchasing it blindly is a truly interest killer. Personally at the point my interest has diminished and won’t be fooled again. If I actually get the product, at least they will gain my trust for the next future business.
If they can’t then, why try great idea with huge potential and just throw it away. Such a waste of talent. I say this is because there is no way I can check what is going on with the order, at this point of waiting duration I cannot tell if they are legitimate or not.
So please may I ask you guys to add the order status panel for the website so we can all check our status.
Still waiting from Feburary 10th, that’s more than what it is described in the website.
Oh boy… Yeah, it just doesn’t make sense.
(I’m Spanish, might express myself in a weird way lol)
I mean, every time they say that 3 or 5 more batches, since day 0…
Now he told me that before the end of July it might get shipped. I’ve been waiting since 01-01-2024…
Every single time he says that it’s going to be delivered soon I expect emails for the tracking number. And never happens. Lot’s of people here getting theirs buying it ultra late, and I was waiting like a fool. When I can get a refund and just buy it from AliExpress and get it as fast as 2 weeks…
I understand is a niche product, but, some day, in the Future, this will destroy the Business…
I ordered uConsole Kit RPI-CM4 Lite black with cm4 lite
Yeah I got sick of being told it’s “3 batches away” month after month. Cancelled my order, if I can’t find a non-vapourware version of something similar, I might see about ordering one from AliExpress.
Well, that’s good news 
In oct. 23 I ordered
I guess I can consider myself lucky if I get it by the end of the year.
There is obviously a market for these handhelds. Looking forward to the day that there are viable alternatives so I don’t have to buy from this company. In the meantime I will continue to wait. But never again.
if color, 4g module are not a must for you and you can get a cm4 lite yourself(with or without a premium), you might consider changing your order to Silver Non-core WiFi only version.
I am from Latvia and to be honest I might be the only person ordering it from this country. Took 2 months before I get my shipping notice and received it 3 days after the shipping notice.
I’ve also seen Black Non-core WiFi only orders being shipped within 2 months.
I guess color doesn’t play that major of a part, the rbp cm4 cores do.
So if you change your order, might be able to get it next months or so.
But that being said, waiting is part of the fun too… Bottom line is, this is gonna be at your door someday.
I was told by Alex that they can’t change the contents of the order… Maybe that policy has changed?
I was told almost 3 weeks ago that they were packaging my order at that very moment.
Still no news. No update to this thread. Nothing unless I email them and then it’s just a simple “ALMOST!” reply…
Ordered Nov 8th 2023. Black, CM4, no 4G.
Starting to really consider just canceling…
Perhaps one can make a new order, and whichever is shipped first, cancel the other and get the refund… If sparing another 159 USD is not a huge problem for him or her…
People who are getting stuffed around should cancel. It’s clear that clockworkpi are using the ridiculous 90+ day lag time between taking the money and shipping as their operating capital. If they had to either ship real products or give the money back, they would be forced to do business with people properly in a fair and above board way
Sitting around twiddling your thumbs while the company tells you outright lies (“just 3 more batches to go!”) makes you part of the problem. You’re reinforcing this crappy practice.
