International Refund Program
admin
Posts: 169
Dear Community,
When we launched our Omni Kickstarter campaign in June 2013, our dream was to ship Omnis to our passionate VR community all over the world. At that time, the Omni was still in the form of a wooden prototype made in our garage. Over the last three years and with your support, we converted the Omni to a final product that can be produced and shipped in large quantities. The Omni has become a beautiful and robust device that has all the functionality we deemed essential: accommodating players safely and comfortably up to 285lbs (130kg) and with a variable height of up to 6’ 5” (195cm), easy assembly of the product with an updated one-piece base, and fully de-coupled locomotion tracking thanks to integrated sensors in the Omni shoes and ring.
As we focused on product quality and user-friendliness, the Omni transformed from a simple prototype to a complex machine with more than 200 custom parts, several printed circuit boards, an intricate height adjustment mechanism, and a durable form factor that increased the weight of the Omni to 175 pounds (80kg). The Omni’s production cost grew to more than three times our initial estimate. Logistics became equally complicated. The Omni ships in a large 48” x 43” box (123cm x 110cm) on a wooden pallet and comes with additional packages for Omni shoes and other accessories. The hardest part of fulfilment is not the initial delivery of the Omni and various accessories (albeit costly and complicated), but complying with international regulations and the global shipping and storing of replacement parts necessary to effectively support a range of geographically diverse customers.
In the last few months we have explored cost effective options to get the Omni distributed and serviced worldwide, which has become increasingly difficult and expensive given the Omni’s transformation to a high-end entertainment device. After much internal debate and soul-searching, we have concluded that as a small U.S. based startup, we unfortunately do not have the resources to deliver and service units in every country. Our dream of shipping the Omni to customers all over the world has proven naive and unfeasible. Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to only deliver units to our U.S. home market and issue refunds to our customers outside of the U.S. Internationally, our goal is to work with distributors for commercial markets such as VR arcades and family entertainment centers where logistics and customer support channels are more established. To make up for having customers’ funds in our possession for such a long time, we will supplement each refund with an interest payment of 3% annually (compounded monthly) on the funds held by us. We realize this offers little consolation after you committed financially and emotionally to the Omni for several years. No words can adequately express our appreciation for your generous and long-standing support, without which we would not be here today.
We assure you that we have not given up on our dream. We will continue our efforts to expand our distribution markets, and we hope one day to be able to deliver an Omni to you. However, we do not deem it appropriate to hold on to international customers’ funds until that time. Along with our refund, please accept our sincere apologies. We will contact all international customers via email with further details and instructions.
For customers in the U.S., we will also issue refunds upon request plus the interest payment of 3% per year (compounded monthly). We understand that circumstances change, and our product has changed as well. The Omni is quite heavy, comes in a large box (230lbs / 105kg) on a wooden pallet, and delivering the unit to your home will cost around $200, which is much higher than we initially estimated. Therefore, feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you’d like to request a refund of your pledge.
Our process from Kickstarter campaign to delivering a hardware product has been very humbling. At the start of any journey it’s not always exactly clear where you might end up. We’d like to thank each of you for embarking on this journey with us and for all your support along the way. We will continue to work hard to bring natural locomotion to VR and enable the kind of VR experience we’ve always dreamed of.
Best regards,
Jan and the Virtuix team
When we launched our Omni Kickstarter campaign in June 2013, our dream was to ship Omnis to our passionate VR community all over the world. At that time, the Omni was still in the form of a wooden prototype made in our garage. Over the last three years and with your support, we converted the Omni to a final product that can be produced and shipped in large quantities. The Omni has become a beautiful and robust device that has all the functionality we deemed essential: accommodating players safely and comfortably up to 285lbs (130kg) and with a variable height of up to 6’ 5” (195cm), easy assembly of the product with an updated one-piece base, and fully de-coupled locomotion tracking thanks to integrated sensors in the Omni shoes and ring.
As we focused on product quality and user-friendliness, the Omni transformed from a simple prototype to a complex machine with more than 200 custom parts, several printed circuit boards, an intricate height adjustment mechanism, and a durable form factor that increased the weight of the Omni to 175 pounds (80kg). The Omni’s production cost grew to more than three times our initial estimate. Logistics became equally complicated. The Omni ships in a large 48” x 43” box (123cm x 110cm) on a wooden pallet and comes with additional packages for Omni shoes and other accessories. The hardest part of fulfilment is not the initial delivery of the Omni and various accessories (albeit costly and complicated), but complying with international regulations and the global shipping and storing of replacement parts necessary to effectively support a range of geographically diverse customers.
In the last few months we have explored cost effective options to get the Omni distributed and serviced worldwide, which has become increasingly difficult and expensive given the Omni’s transformation to a high-end entertainment device. After much internal debate and soul-searching, we have concluded that as a small U.S. based startup, we unfortunately do not have the resources to deliver and service units in every country. Our dream of shipping the Omni to customers all over the world has proven naive and unfeasible. Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to only deliver units to our U.S. home market and issue refunds to our customers outside of the U.S. Internationally, our goal is to work with distributors for commercial markets such as VR arcades and family entertainment centers where logistics and customer support channels are more established. To make up for having customers’ funds in our possession for such a long time, we will supplement each refund with an interest payment of 3% annually (compounded monthly) on the funds held by us. We realize this offers little consolation after you committed financially and emotionally to the Omni for several years. No words can adequately express our appreciation for your generous and long-standing support, without which we would not be here today.
We assure you that we have not given up on our dream. We will continue our efforts to expand our distribution markets, and we hope one day to be able to deliver an Omni to you. However, we do not deem it appropriate to hold on to international customers’ funds until that time. Along with our refund, please accept our sincere apologies. We will contact all international customers via email with further details and instructions.
For customers in the U.S., we will also issue refunds upon request plus the interest payment of 3% per year (compounded monthly). We understand that circumstances change, and our product has changed as well. The Omni is quite heavy, comes in a large box (230lbs / 105kg) on a wooden pallet, and delivering the unit to your home will cost around $200, which is much higher than we initially estimated. Therefore, feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you’d like to request a refund of your pledge.
Our process from Kickstarter campaign to delivering a hardware product has been very humbling. At the start of any journey it’s not always exactly clear where you might end up. We’d like to thank each of you for embarking on this journey with us and for all your support along the way. We will continue to work hard to bring natural locomotion to VR and enable the kind of VR experience we’ve always dreamed of.
Best regards,
Jan and the Virtuix team
Comments
Really guys... When I read what Cyberith has done to they customers I thought "I'm glad I choose omni." Now....what You doing is not a lot better. Refund? 3% per year... it's a joke. I beat most of us wouldn't be satisfied even with 100% per year refund. You gave me a dream and now you try to take it away...
hello backers!
As a Early Bird Backer from Germany i can’t unterstand your decicion…
When you send the Omnis to he U.S. Backers, why is it not possible to find a way to send it to all the other Peopel who support this project?
When you won’t send my Omni to me, you can’t refuse to send my Omni to an U.S. Adress! I will organize the shipphing by myself, either a pickup from your company or from the given U.S. adress.
I found a company which will transport pallets from Miami to Bremen (Germany). When other german or european Backers are interesting in that, fell free to contact me.
Sorry but i can’t accecpt that you split the backers who support the Omni and your company since august 2013!
I had to calm myself first because I am so extremely angry and disappointed about this announcement!
Please consider your decision and speak with your backers so that we can find a common solution and do not treat us like idiots!
Best regards and sorry for my english
Hendrik
One of the things so many people lose track of is just how many legal and financial hurdles are involved in shipping products internationally on a professional basis. Even though it's not a dangerous or biological item, it still has wireless devices that require FCC regulations to be met, tariffs, taxes, testing and licensing fees, and a heavy weight and footprint that make it difficult to arrange shipping without using custom shipping services and even owning distribution centers within the country being shipped to. I had always assumed that Virtuix had already had shipping services in mind that they were already negotiating with for shipment and getting FCC approval, but it looks like this is more a case of Virtuix simply being too inexperienced to properly anticipate the problems with this type of endeavor.
It doesn't mean much coming from someone who is in the US and already has an Omni unit through Pathfinder on top of that, but I sincerely believe Virtuix has always had full intentions to ship internationally, and that their inability to do so is as hard of a blow to them as it will doubtlessly be to their international kickstarters, especially coming right on the heels of the announcement that consumer units had finally started shipping.
Hopefully there will still be options for members that are still hell bent on receiving an Omni unit, regardless of costs, but there is also a legal culpability that Virtuix would have to shoulder, depending on how consumer laws are written with any particular country. Otherwise it seems like the best chance the average international consumer has is to maybe call virtuix up and ask what companies for your particular region is Virtuix trying to negotiate with, and then call that company and ask about the Omni to demonstrate the interest for it in an area near you.
But todays post increased the weight:
habe eine US Adresse, meine Schwiegereltern leben da, lasse mir die Omni dorthin senden. Wenn du willst kann ich dir da aushelfen. Warte schon seit 2014 auf das Ding sollte also bald soweit sein. Dann kann ich dir auch sagen, was das kostet und wie lange es dauert.
Gruß
Christian
This is a difficult decision for us. Again, we’re very sorry for the frustration we’ve caused you and hope our refund with interest makes up in some small part for this disappointment.
- The Virtuix Team
super, danke dir für das Angebot! Wenn keine andere Lösung gefunden wird, komme ich gerne darauf zurück. Ich will die Hoffnung aber noch nicht aufgeben, das wir eine möglichkeit mich Virtuix finden...
One Pathfinder live in Paris and receive his Omni this year.
Greetings Hendrik
@h3ndriks & @ChristianEhrich _ ich hab zwar erst im Januar bestellt (will gar nicht erahnen, wie lang das gedauert hätte), aber wenn ihr das irgendwie hin bekommt, wär das schön das hier zu lesen
Beste Grüße,
Michael
as a foreign Kickstarter backer and a small investor through seedinvest, I ask you to reconsider your immediate refund program to foreign backers and allows us some time to explore US exports possibilities organized by ourselves.
I will glady forgo official customer service and any warranties, if it allows me to get a Omni in 2017 instead in indefinite future.
Best Regards
Robert
And here is to hoping you go out of business as soon as possible. I sure will do my part to help with the PR for the omni from here on out!
- The Virtuix Team
I'm really sad to read these news. I've been eagerly waiting for the last 3 years to get my hands on the product you have promised. I do understand that I wasn't purchasing an already final thing when making my pledge on Kickstarter, but basically funding its development, with the promise of getting a reward at the end in form of the final thing, once it is ready. That is what actually kept me to be patient during this long time.
But reading this feels like a punch in the face. It really does. To keep myself calm, here some questions:
@ Virtuix Team:
1. As a native German speaker, I'm not that good in this english financial slang. What exactly does "3% per year, compounded monthly" mean? Let's just assume an initial pledge of 500$, what would be the outcome?
2. One advantage about backing your project on Kickstarter was the promise to get an Omni cheaper than it would cost when we order the final product later regularily on your website. Is there a chance of you keeping this promise - of course with adjusted prices for shipping - once you figured out a way to make it shippable to Germany? Because if you would still plan to make it possible to ship the thing to outside the US, I might probably just wait another year until you figured it all out
3. Did I read your last post correctly? You are not allowing us to change the shipping address from an outside US address to an US address?
@ h3ndriks, ChristianEhrich and all the other backers from Germany:
1. Ich hätte auch ein paar Kollegen in den Staaten, die ich fragen könnte, ob sie mein Gerät aufnehmen. Also wenn ihr irgendwelche Infos habt zum Thema Versandkosten etc, immer gerne her damit. Perfekte Überleitung zu Punkt 2 - gerne auch hier posten ...
2. ... Ich habe mal eine Facebook Gruppe aufgemacht mit Namen "Virtuix Omni Germany". Ihr seid alle herzlich eingeladen da beizutreten. Vielleicht wäre ja jetzt z.B. auch der Virtualizer eine Alternative, nur hab ich mich etwa mit dem gar nicht weiter beschäftigt. In dieser Gruppe können wir mal unsere Erfahrung austauschen und uns organisieren.
Dissapointed Greetings,
Marius
I honestly think this will send a signal out to any body that may be thinking of backing other projects on kick starter, and that is a real sham that others with all good ideas may not reach there goal as a result.
Ii doubt very much I will ever be backing another kick starter project
You have let us all down,big time
http://www.twitter.com/virtuixomni
the omni come from china on a palet, the only thing they have to do is to put a sticker with your address on it and phone DHL or Fedex to pick it up.
and probably that's what they will do to distribute in USA.
They can even do this from china, have distribution center etc....
I order lot of things from china, including huge led wall that wheights over 300Kg.
DHL is delivering in one week by air for less than 500$.
I ordered solar panels (about 200kg) that cames in palet bigger than usual from USA and it took 1 month from California (by boat) and it cost me also about 500$.
So again they have an hidden agenda here, and won't tell us.
some American should raise a legal case, because here there is nothing that prevent virtuix to deliver (product exist, works and produced in large amount).
...and they deliver to US (a continent across 5 timezone, so transport/support is an issue also here)
That is probably the reason they deliver to US only, to avoid a lawyer grabing the stick.
they event refuse for silly reason to send to an US address or send at customer cost.
The excuse for support is pure bullshit also. Did a guy from texas or Oregon will send back his omni to fix it ?
At best it could require to swap an electronic board or cable. the big bulky part of the omni is just plastic an metal, I doubt there would be any problem with it.
That explain all.
they just decided to ignore the people that make them a multimillion rich company. and it cost them peanuts (9% of 600$=50$ )
Especially after boasting about all the money they got from investor (and that's probably were it hurts)
Probably Kickstarter could also help here , since their reputation/rules is heavily impacted here.
Kickstarters should start to learn to fight as consumer do...
and pre-order are consumers, so they have even better chances.
More problematic is the lay down of consumer because this also means the perspectives for software instantly vanished also.
who wants to buy a product that will get probably no support.
The only developpement we will see are from big game company into locked machines for locked games you will probably not be able to install on your pc.
for this reason, I would consider a refund even if I would be an American. Not to be screwed twice...
and after all, Chinese clones (Kat VR?) will be available soon.
and I wouldn't be surprised that virtuix is coming back in few month , announcing pre-order but with an increased price (2000$ ?)
If I MOVE TO THE US will you still refuse me? What if some US citizen who gets his Omni now should one day decide to move to a foreign country and bring his Omni with him? Come on. I backed you on day one and I am not happy that you are leaving me out in the cold.
Just a thought.
http://www.dhl-usa.com/en/express/small_business_solutions/easy_shipping.html
" I didn't know you where an expert on international Import/Export law and supply chain management"
so now you know.
The only tricky part is to get the CE electronic conformity certificate (for Europe), but any Chinese plant will give you one in a few week.
and anyway they need it to import electronic good from china into USA
if their intent is not to sale the product, they would better close their website.
it is an insult to thousands of kickstarters and pre-order customers.
Plausible deniability. If you post on the forum that your going to circumvent things they put in place and they then allow you do to so then there on the hook. If you get in trouble they get in trouble, again possibly big trouble. However If you somehow get someone in the US to buy it for you and then they ship it to a US address and then you ship it out of the country, if there is an issue then that's all on you and the person that bought it.
I mean for ****'s sake that's like going to rob a bank and calling ahead first.
What I don't want is found Omni in some local vr game center, or whatever in half year when I will need to pay £20 to use it for half hour....