I didn't want to post this publicly in the off chance it would increase refund requests, and push more FUD onto BFL. But, since there was one post already, I figured what the heck.
I requested a refund from BFL during the first week of October and received it soon after. I had paid BFL via paypal, so I was refunded the money via paypal, and paypal in-turn credited the original credit card that was used to pay BFL.
My order was a pre-order of a Single -> SC upgrade.
The reason for doing so because I needed the money, so much so I am also in the process of selling a BFL single.
I made the difficult decision to terminate the BFL SC pre-order based on the following additional logic:
- The purchase was a day or so near the end of the 60 day paypal dispute window. And based on what I read in the BFL FAQ "be considered non-refundable until products begin shipping or 1 January 2013, whichever is earlier.", I didn't want to risk having my refund denied and not being able to use paypal's dispute process. I took this FAQ statement very seriously. If I requested a refund after the 60 day window, and they refused, then the funds would most likely be tied up with no chance of winning a paypal dispute.
- If it wasn't delivered before block 210000, I felt the previously assumed ROI would be in question - estimated current block reward reduction is 3rd week of Nov
- In recent days, the number of ASICs pre-orders (BLF + others) seemed to be growing geometrically, which I had not expected, again affecting difficulty, and thus ROI - making the delivery more of a lottery win than an investment.
Since cancelling, I have followed BFL's information faucet. Ie, Inaba & Jody's release of bits of news, both here and on their own support forum. The photos of PCBs with place holder chips, were interesting. Based on my previous work with mixed signal ASICs, plus what my gut tells me, I think they are serious about getting an ASIC product out. I would guess they are just as anxious to ship as any of the pre-order folks are to receive. But, as they say...stuff happens.
