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Ok so we all know that one tiny mistake on the internet will get you swarmed usually and most people are morons but honestly this is one case where I think they really did screw up.
So I have been awaiting the release of the Raspberry Pi minicomputer for a while now, and I want one. It's a mini linux computer about the size of a credit card for $35. It's being put together by a charity and being sold to help education.
The FAQ is down right now so I can't link it.
Basically they said they were going to sell 1000 units and use that to manufacture more, limit of one per person. anytime anyone asked when it was coming out they were directed to the FAQ (basically said late feb) and also told to sign up for the mailing list which would announce when it was coming out to everyone who signed up.
They said they were selling it themselves and actually had the store website already set up just with no product.
Couple days ago the store site goes down and the info site says there will be a major announcement at 6GMT.
The announcement is they have licensed the computer to 2 different UK based vendors that have worldwide distribution, this way they can better ship this to people.
So the first thousand sold in 2 hours, that's fine it's not the complaint. Here's the complaints:
1. no email was ever sent to the mailing list like they said would happen
2. both vendors basically went down (not really anyone's fault but annoying)
3. one vendor didn't even list it until later on
4. they were only selling to the European Union at first, with the other region sites either just asking to register your interest or showing no results.
5. the raspberry pi site is still just the basic static site they switched too, no FAQ and no store page
6. IIRC they basically said they weren't going to license it. (could be wrong on that one)
7. while preorders are being allowed for future manufacturing it's still not worldwide like it's supposed to be.
8. I registered my interest with one of the vendors and specifically said I was in Canada in the drop down list, I got an email from them saying I could order it now but if I change the region to Canada on their site it won't let me it just goes to the register my interest thing again.
I personally just think this whole thing was handled poorly and honestly goes against what they specifically said they were going to do.
Edit to add: 2 things I forgot that actually they were only shipping to businesses on one of the sites as well at first no individuals allowed and I need to retract a complaint, Canada is a shipping option on the American site.
So I have been awaiting the release of the Raspberry Pi minicomputer for a while now, and I want one. It's a mini linux computer about the size of a credit card for $35. It's being put together by a charity and being sold to help education.
The FAQ is down right now so I can't link it.
Basically they said they were going to sell 1000 units and use that to manufacture more, limit of one per person. anytime anyone asked when it was coming out they were directed to the FAQ (basically said late feb) and also told to sign up for the mailing list which would announce when it was coming out to everyone who signed up.
They said they were selling it themselves and actually had the store website already set up just with no product.
Couple days ago the store site goes down and the info site says there will be a major announcement at 6GMT.
The announcement is they have licensed the computer to 2 different UK based vendors that have worldwide distribution, this way they can better ship this to people.
So the first thousand sold in 2 hours, that's fine it's not the complaint. Here's the complaints:
1. no email was ever sent to the mailing list like they said would happen
2. both vendors basically went down (not really anyone's fault but annoying)
3. one vendor didn't even list it until later on
4. they were only selling to the European Union at first, with the other region sites either just asking to register your interest or showing no results.
5. the raspberry pi site is still just the basic static site they switched too, no FAQ and no store page
6. IIRC they basically said they weren't going to license it. (could be wrong on that one)
7. while preorders are being allowed for future manufacturing it's still not worldwide like it's supposed to be.
8. I registered my interest with one of the vendors and specifically said I was in Canada in the drop down list, I got an email from them saying I could order it now but if I change the region to Canada on their site it won't let me it just goes to the register my interest thing again.
I personally just think this whole thing was handled poorly and honestly goes against what they specifically said they were going to do.
Edit to add: 2 things I forgot that actually they were only shipping to businesses on one of the sites as well at first no individuals allowed and I need to retract a complaint, Canada is a shipping option on the American site.
The Country you have chosen is not an available Billing option. For orders billing to Canada, please visit the Canada website.