Topic: Alpha Technology Litecoin (Scrypt) ASIC Miner Order Batch 1 Now! - page 187. (Read 529054 times)

Actually their T&Cs and FAQs state their timeline as Q2/Q3.

"We are currently working hard to ensure that the products will be available for delivery as soon as possible, and hope to have them available for shipping in the second or third quarter of 2014"

Saying they HOPE to ship in July doesn't change anything. They are only bound by the timeline stated in the T&Cs.

So Amex, or any other CC company won't get a penny out of their bank unless they ship in October.

Yes

I should also add. You do not have to be a business to buy, sell or mine cryptocurrencies.

As an individual in the UK any profits you make are considered a Capital Gain not income. Similar to selling shares or a second home.

You can earn a salary from a regular job and mine coins personally at home. Any profits/losses you make from the sale of the coins will be liable to Capital Gains Tax not income tax.

From the HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/vat/brief0914.htm

"Gains and losses incurred on Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are chargeable or allowable for Capital Gains Tax if they accrue to an individual or, for Corporation Tax on chargeable gains if they accrue to a company."

Not only is this very tax efficient, it blows another hole in Alpha's retroactive argument that you have to be a business to purchase their products.

That's right and that's why I was bothering to read through this thread. I emailed them to ask why I can't see my final invoice so that I can pay, no reply, logged in again, still no invoice. I was only reading their e-mail announcements and decided not to read any forums or FUD at all, until now, because they did not reply to my e-mail. Bad customer support is bad.

Now after reading the thread, I am not sure if I would even pay the final invoice when they eventually give it to me.

The fact they stopped posting on here to support their original base, makes it very clear what's going on.

I would like to know who of you guys can already see their final payments invoice in order to pay it?
My order number for the the 250 MH/s miner is around order #74XX and I can not even see my final invoice yet.

If the invoice would be there I would have paid it by now. I even emailed them to ask why I can't see my invoice yet and why my order status is on hold.
I had sent the deposit by wire transfer and was planning to send the remaining payment also by wire transfer.

@lucaing. Yes you are right.

What brian_23452 said is pretty much spot on. They are dishonestly claiming the products are only for business use, even though they are selling to consumers. Furthermore this position has evolved, as when initially asked why full refunds weren't given, they said on Jan 10: https://litecointalk.org/index.php?topic=2859.msg94545#msg94545


"In regards to DSR. 7 days after you RECEIVE your product you are entitled to a FULL refund including deposit. This is once final payment is made.

That has no relevance with deposits pre final payment and pre shipping. If a customer decides after agreeing to our set agreements to pay the deposit. And then decides they do not want the product or want to pay final payment. They forfeit the deposit and by law we are allowed to take full deposit. But once again as a courtesy we are giving back deposits as well.

Please do your due diligence and full research. We have checked and confirmed all our rules via the international regulations.

You should contact the DSR and any authorities regarding this case for your self satisfaction.

Alpha Technology Team"

This is complete bullshit and was quickly discredited, so they changed it to this on March 24: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.5875510

"You are not classed as a consumer to us. Our devices are sold and are classed for business use, cryptocurrency mining earnings in the UK is classed as income and is taxable, our units are used purely for mining, therefore every customer is classed as a business-user. It is your duty to register as a business and class your mining earnings from our devices to the relevant governing bodies. As we are selling for business use only therefore our terms of conditions are what you have to comply by as you accepted before you ordered."

More bullshit. None of this is in even in their T&C's. Even if it was, it doesn't matter. As Alpha are selling to consumers. What the product could be used for is irrelevant. If you are not buying through a business and the product is for your own private use, YOU ARE CLASSED AS A CONSUMER.

As alpha are not strictly a B2B supplier pretty much EVERYTHING in their T&C's is irrelevant and superseded by UK law.

You can see a clear evolution as they make up policy as they go along to avoid paying refunds and flout UK consumer law.
As they are a UK registered company they are bound by the law of the UK. In this case the Distance Selling Regulations 2000. Even if you do not live in the UK or the EU, the law applies as Alpha are based in the UK.

Email Alpha stating that you had intended to use the product for private personal use and not for business. If they are a decent, honest company they should void your order and issue a full refund. They won't of course but you will have their reply on record. I hope this helps

Ty for that explanation! Didn't knew that and it may come in handy 

Retro may be able to explain it better but, Alpha was only ever offering partial refunds for cancelled orders, with the exact amount being determined by when you cancel.  But this is apparently against consumer protection laws in the UK; they are required by law to provide a full refund.  When he mentioned this, Alpha responded that consumer protection laws only apply to consumers, not businesses, and that these products were not intended for consumers, only for businesses, and so the law doesn't apply. 
Naturally though, it doesn't much matter what Alpha considers you, but rather what the regulatory agency considers you, and while I am not especially familiar with UK law I can't imagine that this excuse will have much credibility.

I'm sorry, I've been distracted for a while but I'm back to monitoring Alpha, and just wanted to ask, what is this about the offer being for business? I don't see any new posts on their forum, I'm suspecting something happened? Did they refuse a refund saying it was for businesses only that option? Sorry if I'm confusing everything but just want to make sure I know what's going on

No one knew because these things WEREN'T for businesses.  It is fairly obvious to an impartial observer that these were marketed to consumers not businesses and to claim it is for businesses is just a flimsy attempt to get around consumer protection laws. 

In my mind these have become synonyms:

"We have a big announcement"

"We have another empty promise"

"We want to make fun of you once again"

n e hoooo
I have my own business but for the life of me i can't remember being asked that question when i purchased.
What reinforces this memory is many people who purchased did not know the offer was for business only, so to speak.
so what are my options? I don't care about the refund, all i want is them to deliver or being someone's GF behind bars.

Well done retro, a service to the community. Hopefully this is helpful.

I've been lurking on their forums again, an IP ban is pretty easy to get around.

I managed to shame Fiaz into posting on the "Chip status" thread before getting banned again. It really wasn't worth it though. Here's what he wrote:

"Apologies for the delay, we are very busy with orders but very soon we will have a big update releasing fulls specs and more details".

Not too busy to spend all day on the forums arguing and banning people, just too busy to answer a really important thread.  Looks like more stall tactics from Alpha until they can scrape together enough money to pay the bills.

By the way I talked to the Citizens Advice Bureau again today. I updated them on the situation. They have flagged the case "criminal withholding of consumer rights" and passed it on to Trading Standards. They'll contact me in 5-10 working days if they decide the case has merit. Anyone who is NOT A BUSINESS and has or is having their refund, partially or fully withheld should contact them direct on 08454 040506 or fill out the form on their website

https://ssl.datamotion.com/form.aspx?co=3438&frm=citacomplainform&to=flare.fromforms

You need to complain. Not just post on forums. The more people who bring this to their attention the faster it will get resolved.

Some of us got together on the Cointerra forum and complained to the Better Business Bureau and they issued a warning to the press (http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-bbb-bitcoin-warning-20140605-story.html). Cointerra were getting slammed so hard they had to shut their forums down and guys who had been waiting months are finally getting refunded.


Just to be clear. If you are not a business customer you are entitled to a 100% REFUND UNDER UK LAW.

If you are unhappy with the refund situation contact the CAB and complain. Unlike the BBB, Trading Standards has the ability to bring criminal charges. They take this sort of thing very seriously in the UK.

Wait and see, thanks

Have you lost your damn mind son?