Jumping in to this from the reddit thread.
I prepaid for a batch 2 unit, I got that unit delivered (finally). Thats all I care about and all the business of Avalons I have the right to be involved in. If they didn't scam me of exactly what I paid for then I'm fine with them. However they chose to run their business before I get my box is their business and there was a very likely risk I wouldn't even see my box that I accepted. They don't owe you anything, they haven't committed fraud regardless of what your layman's grok of law makes you think.
Upset?
Hire a lawyer sue them, otherwise stop wasting everyone time with your complaining. When you bring a product to fruition and ship as promised in 9 months beating your competitors maybe then I'll have some sympathy for your opinions. For now you just sound like a whiny rabble.
Jesus, what's with all the apologists in this thread?
Once upon I time, I needed to dig a big hole, as a foundation for a building that I needed to build in a timely manner. Unfortunately, all the excavation equipment available at that time was not powerful enough to get the job done in time. Thankfully, along came this company called Mavalong, who said they were developing the next generation of excavation tools. All they needed was for me to pay in advance and they said they would be able to deliver my excavator within a few weeks. They had even proved that they had these new machines by delivering a few to early customers, but they needed funds to continue production as planned.
A few weeks go by, the originally promised delivery date has passed, and my Mavalong excavator still hasn't arrived. I tried contacting Mavalong several times to see what the hell was going on, but they ignored every attempt I made at contacting them. Other Mavalong customers all around the world had the same experience. The Mavalong CEO ignores everyone's attempts to contact him, but he still attends trade shows where he publicly promises that Mavalong is NOT using their customers machines to dig holes of their own. He ignored any questions about his business, but sometimes he would respond to attacks on his personal character, because heaven forbid someone calls him names on the internet.
One day, more than four months later, my Mavalong excavator finally arrives. Only, it's covered in mud, the tire treads are already worn, and the excavator scoop has been weakened from months of use. I use it to start digging my hole, but the deeper I dig the less efficient the machine becomes. Now it looks like it will never even be able to finish digging my hole. Meanwhile, all original financial projections I made are ruined due to the behavior of this company, and my competitor down the street who decided to go with another excavator company (run by an enigmatic CEO known only as FriedBat) has already completed his building and received all the business contracts in the area.
How can one argue that Mavalong did nothing wrong? Sure, you can say that I was just buying their excavator machine and that they
eventually delivered, but I look at their lack of communication, missing of delivery targets, the fact that I basically loaned them the money to produce the machine, that they used the product that I paid for for their own personal gain, the fact that the financial calculations I did when I purchased it (even when accounting for potential shipping delays) were now totally off-base, that I purchased a new machine and received one in used condition, etc., and realize that I have been screwed over.
But still, some internet trolls will try to tell you that Mavalong's CEO, Beefu Doe, is a hero who deserves to be commended for his great work