Dear AMT,
I have supported you publicly against claims that your company was a scam. I am not some forum crazy. I have two orders with you for 1.2 Th/s miners that I paid over $12,000 U.S. for. I also have orders of similar size with Black Arrow and Butterfly Labs - I am not a neophyte who has unreasonable expectations.
There are only two things that I ask for from any company that I do a pre-order with: (1) a delivery date or date range, and (2) if you cannot meet your original delivery date promises, provide a revised delivery date and timely and complete updates as soon as you have information that indicates that you may not meet those delivery dates. In fact, these requirements are law in the United States. 16 C.F.R. 435 (especially 435.2(b)). For a serious delay, a refund needs to be offered. This is NOT a consumer friendly law either. It was essentially drafted by the Direct Marketing Association and adopted by the FTC to displace state laws that were more aggressive (pro-consumer). So, it is an absolute minimum that AMT (and other companies selling pre-orders) should be able to follow this rule.
The FTC Guide explains further what must be provided in the event of a delay:
"If you cannot ship the merchandise by the definite revised shipment date included in your most recent delay option notice, before that date you must seek the consent of your customers to any further delay. You must do this by providing customers a "renewed" delay option notice. A renewed delay option notice is similar in many ways to the first delay option notice. One important difference: the customer’s silence may not be treated as a consent to delay.
A renewed delay option notice must include:
a new definite revised shipment date or, if unknown, a statement that you are unable to provide any date;
a statement that, if the customer chooses not to wait, the customer can cancel the order immediately and obtain a full and prompt refund;
a statement that, unless you receive notice that the customer agrees to wait beyond the most recent definite revised shipment date and you have not shipped by then, the customer’s order automatically will be cancelled and a prompt refund will be provided; and
some means for the customer to inform you at your expense (e.g., by providing a postage prepaid reply card or toll-free telephone number) whether the customer agrees to the delay or is canceling the order.
the following information when you cannot provide a new definite revised shipping date:
the reason for the delay, and
a statement that, if the customer agrees to the indefinite delay, the customer may cancel the order any time until you ship.
If you have provided an appropriate and timely delay option notice and the customer agrees to an indefinite revised shipment date, no additional delay notices are required."
See the Guide at:
http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus02-business-guide-mail-and-telephone-order-merchandise-ruleI want to reiterate that I am very reasonable, as I expect are most of your customers. The following is all that anyone reasonable should want. It is what any respectable company that takes pre-orders should provide, and it is what we are entitled to under the FTC mail order rule. At its heart, the FTC rule is about communication and timely options if there are unanticipated problems. I (we) just want to know what is going on, and AMT's silence in the face of what is now missed delivery dates (including some where AMT said it shipped, but no one has received product yet) is not providing me with a great deal of confidence.
Here is what I am asking AMT to do for me, and for all its other pre-orders that are delayed:
(1) Please provide formal revised absolutely guaranteed delivery date commitments for each of my two orders.
(2) If you cannot do that (if the delivery dates are uncertain because you are still working out issues), then a full and complete explanation of where you are at, what problems remain, and what steps you are taking. With pictures to provide and back up the story (which I am willing to entertain if there is some real problem you are working on that could not have been anticipated). In this case we need best guess timelines, and real, complete, information because you are (according to the FTC rule) asking us to wait an undefined period of time. I would also want to see a clear picture of AMT's ability to complete this project: financially, and from a management perspective (who owns AMT, what commitment and investment is there that guarantees the obligations of AMT).
(3) If the delay is likely to be more than a few weeks, you must provide for a refund option. In practical terms, I personally would rather have my miner but if the delay is substantial you need to offer the refund under the FTC rule (really, you need to provide this in any delay, but in practical terms a short delay of a week or less and I don't think anyone would care if that were the extent of it). You can also offer some incentives for us to stick with you through the delay - increased mining capacity, 2 for 1, etc. depending on the delay but in that case I would expect to really understand what is going on and why you are so late (and why you said you were delivering 1.2 Th/s product when you in fact did not send any out to my knowledge).
These required options and information should be sent to each customer individually.
These are not unreasonable requests. And they are required. Please do the right thing and make me (and the rest of your disheartened but still hopeful) customers believe in you again.
Best regards,
[signature]
If you
(One stranger to another, in public.)