Today I received a new order confirmation from HashFast for my august 9 order. It contains the following fine print (emphasis mine):
Your order is expected to ship between October 20 and October 30, 2013. Physical delivery of your order will take place within days, depending on the shipment method selected. HashFast guarantees that all "Baby Jet" units from our first production batch will be delivered by December 31, 2013. If Buyer ordered one or more Baby Jet units, and HashFast does not deliver such units by that date, then Buyer may at his or her discretion, cancel the undelivered portion and HashFast will issue a full refund the payment for the units that Buyer purchased but did not receive and cancelled. This cancellation and refund is Buyer's sole and exclusive remedy for HashFast failing to deliver by the December 31, 2013 guaranteed delivery date. Buyer must cancel the order and request a refund by January 15, 2014 to avail him or herself of this remedy. Buyer to pay all taxes, duties and shipping costs on units delivered.
I did not remember seeing this clause when I ordered an am not very happy about it. Basically they give customers only 15 days recourse to cancel if they don't deliver by December 31st.
I saved a copy of the Terms of Sale when I bought and compared with the current version:
old version:
DELIVERY AND QUANTITIES.
- Products shall be delivered EXWORKS (Incoterms 2000) Hashfast’s manufacturing facility, or other facility as designated by Hashfast, unless otherwise agreed in writing between Hashfast and Buyer. Except for delivery dates explicitly guaranteed in the order confirmation, delivery dates communicated or acknowledged by Hashfast are approximate only, and Hashfast shall not be liable for, nor shall Hashfast be in breach of its obligations to Buyer because of any delivery made within a reasonable time before or after the stated delivery date. Timely delivery requires Buyer to provide all necessary order and delivery information sufficiently prior to the agreed delivery date.
- In the event Buyer contests delivery, the Buyer must request a proof of delivery from Hashfast within ten (10) days of the date of Hashfast’s invoice or guaranteed delivery date (whichever occurs first), otherwise delivery shall be deemed completed. If Buyer fails to take delivery, then Hashfast may deliver the Products in consignment at Buyer’s costs and expenses.
- Buyer will give Hashfast written notice of failure to deliver and thirty (30) days within which to cure, unless the order confirmation explicitly guarantees a delivery date. In any case, Buyer’s sole and exclusive remedy after such cure period or guaranteed delivery date is to cancel the affected and undelivered portions of the order.
- No order, Agreement or any part thereof may be rescheduled or cancelled without Hashfast’s prior written consent.
new version:
DELIVERY AND QUANTITIES.
(a) Guaranteed Baby Jet Delivery Dates. All of the 550 Baby Jet units from Hashfast’s first production batch are guaranteed for delivery by December 31, 2013. If Buyer ordered one or more units of such Baby Jets, and Hashfast does not deliver such units by that date, then Buyer may cancel the undelivered portion of the order at Buyer’s request and Hashfast will refund the payment for the units that Buyer purchased but did not receive and cancelled. This cancellation and refund is Buyer’s sole and exclusive remedy for Hashfast failing to deliver by the December 31, 2013 guaranteed delivery date, and Buyer must cancel the order by January 15, 2014 to avail itself of this remedy.
(b) Other Delivery Dates. Except for the delivery dates described in Section 3(a) above and delivery dates explicitly guaranteed using the words “guaranteed delivery” in the order confirmation sent by Hashfast: (i) delivery dates communicated or acknowledged by Hashfast are approximate only; (ii) Hashfast shall not be liable for, nor shall Hashfast be in breach of its obligations to Buyer because of any delivery made within a reasonable time before or after the stated delivery date; and (iii) Buyer will give Hashfast written notice of failure to deliver and ten (10) days within which to cure. In any case, Buyer’s sole and exclusive remedy after such cure period or guaranteed delivery date is to cancel the affected and undelivered portions of the order, and receive a refund for the undelivered portions that were cancelled.
(c) Products shall be delivered EXWORKS (Incoterms 2000) Hashfast’ manufacturing facility, or other facility as designated by Hashfast, unless otherwise agreed in writing between Hashfast and Buyer.
(d) In the event Buyer contests delivery, the Buyer must request a proof of delivery from Hashfast within ten (10) days of the date of Hashfast’ invoice or guaranteed delivery date (whichever occurs first), otherwise delivery shall be deemed completed. If Buyer fails to take delivery, then Hashfast may deliver the Products in consignment at Buyer’s costs and expenses. Timely delivery requires Buyer to provide all necessary order and delivery information sufficiently prior to the agreed delivery date. Delivery may also be contingent on full payment. No order, Agreement or any part thereof may be rescheduled or cancelled without Hashfast’ prior written consent except for cancellations permitted under this Section 3.
Interestingly both the old and the new Terms of Sale are labeled 'HASHFAST ONLINE TERMS OF SALE Ver. 1.B – Revised August 8, 2013' even though they are different.
So only 15 days to get a refund after the December shipping date. Not cool HashFast. Don't get me wrong, I like the MPP you guys have rolled out recently. But changing the Terms of Sale without notifying customers is a bit sneaky TBH. I expect this behavior from a company like BFL, but not HashFast.