Why don't they say that in public? Like i say 'POOR COMMUNICATIONS/WHITE LIES'.
I know of no business that secretly sends info out to their fanbois only.
Actually, there was a public post made saying that 53 units had been shipped and that if they didn't make it out of China prior to 2 February then they wouldn't arrive at their destination until after CNY. That post implied that they wouldn't ship any more units until they knew everything had gone OK with those units (they said they'd used a different route, but didn't elaborate).
If they've been assembling the units themselves, there's no reason why assembly couldn't have continued throughout the holiday period. Two Chinese vendors I use are resuming shipping today - the question is whether Avalon will ship any units they've assembled during the holiday period ASAP or whether they'll wait until they know the batch of 53 already shipped have been delivered without problems (because you really don't want to use that method with larger quantities until you know there are no problems with it).
Avalon have never regarded themselves as accountable to anyone other than their customers and have tended to communicate with them directly rather than through the forums. It's a different business model than BFL's and you can't really compare the two. A company of 22 people which has a dedicated customer service team (as BFL claims to have) should definitely be able to provide something better than "probably by June" in response to customer questions about when they'll receive their order - and should be capable of answering 500 emails if that's what it takes to keep customers informed (what do their customer service team at BFL actually
do all day if they don't have time to respond to emails).
In re. 500 emails:
My sister works for an outfit (Rassah knows which one) that ships products to convenience stores like 7-11. She recently got promoted from being on the floor to an office-type position scheduling the fleet of drivers. I asked her how many emails she handles a day in that capacity. She said 2-3 hundred, of which she said she could handle more, for she's bored shitless and prefers to be back on the floor where it's more challenging, albeit pays less.
I asked her how she does it, and she said it's easy. I answer all that I know the answer to, and the ones I don't, I know which person should know the answer and pass the email to them. She also said a couple times she's sent to an incorrect person, but they relayed the email to correct department to make sure the concern is addressed properly.
And my sister's an idiot! Not in the derogatory sense, but knowing her command of the English language, making the classical mistakes we've all seen here (allot, their/there/they're, etc.). Yet, she handles the position well enough, allowing the system to function properly. Out of the pool of people wanting the position, she was the most qualified.
Now, if I'm not mistaken, there's no less than 6 people doing customer service at BFL. 500 emails a day divided by 6 people is... Divide that by 8 hours, and you have...
Again, not a diss, and did not take the time to proofread this post.
~Bruno K~