jtcoleman
Well-known member
hey guys,
i've been a huge RED fanboy for so long, and I think the technology Jim and the guys have put together is really revolutionary ... but as a company, you guys aren't there, yet. i'm writing this in the hopes that it will help you, by seeing things from a new perspective...
From a logistical standpoint, it seems like there is a pattern of things being just... slightly off. I've received a handful of invoices, most of them conflicting. My deposits were lost in accounting and I had to fax in my deposit receipts. The $7500 cap on credit card payments took me completely off guard and caused a tremendous amount of stress when I received the 'pay-for-your-camera-by-this-date-or-lose-your-place' deadline email (later dropped, I realize, but I didn't know that at the time... maybe this one is my fault? i pour over these boards, but somehow I missed this cap.)
The first rep working with me is gone now, no idea if he left or if I just got reassigned ... to be replaced by Travis, who is much better, by the way, I don't mean for this to be a reflection of him. he came along late in the game and had to come up to speed quickly. things were even worse before he started working with me... but I still get the feeling he doesn't have the authority to help me nail this stuff down, and now I feel bad for pestering him on a daily basis.
I find myself now in a strange limbo where I don't have any idea when my camera is going to arrive. I've been told there is no holdup -- money is paid, parts are in, camera is "ready to go." In fact, I was told last week that my camera would arrive on "friday, monday or tuesday (yesterday) at the latest". Here we are on Wednesday and I still don't have a shipping number, or any increased visibility on when my camera will arrive. I understand delays, but the only answer I get from my rep is "it is back in shipping ready to go." I'm not even sure what that means. I had a small production scheduled for this weekend, which at this point I have no choice but to cancel ... not the end of the world to push it off, of course, but costs me some money and could have been avoided with a better estimate of my ship date.
I've been in startups before, so I understand where all of this is coming from. Given the size that you guys are trying to grow to in so little time, wires get crossed, and things fall through the cracks. As I said, I love the dream of RED, I've been a fan forever (in the long run a few weeks won't make any difference *at all*), but... I don't know, the errors in communication and the inability to give me firm dates aren't filling me with a sense of confidence. This is a big purchase for me. A little better job of setting expectations on the front end might cause a lot less heartache later.
Thanks for listening,
JT
Austin, Texas
Red #396
i've been a huge RED fanboy for so long, and I think the technology Jim and the guys have put together is really revolutionary ... but as a company, you guys aren't there, yet. i'm writing this in the hopes that it will help you, by seeing things from a new perspective...
From a logistical standpoint, it seems like there is a pattern of things being just... slightly off. I've received a handful of invoices, most of them conflicting. My deposits were lost in accounting and I had to fax in my deposit receipts. The $7500 cap on credit card payments took me completely off guard and caused a tremendous amount of stress when I received the 'pay-for-your-camera-by-this-date-or-lose-your-place' deadline email (later dropped, I realize, but I didn't know that at the time... maybe this one is my fault? i pour over these boards, but somehow I missed this cap.)
The first rep working with me is gone now, no idea if he left or if I just got reassigned ... to be replaced by Travis, who is much better, by the way, I don't mean for this to be a reflection of him. he came along late in the game and had to come up to speed quickly. things were even worse before he started working with me... but I still get the feeling he doesn't have the authority to help me nail this stuff down, and now I feel bad for pestering him on a daily basis.
I find myself now in a strange limbo where I don't have any idea when my camera is going to arrive. I've been told there is no holdup -- money is paid, parts are in, camera is "ready to go." In fact, I was told last week that my camera would arrive on "friday, monday or tuesday (yesterday) at the latest". Here we are on Wednesday and I still don't have a shipping number, or any increased visibility on when my camera will arrive. I understand delays, but the only answer I get from my rep is "it is back in shipping ready to go." I'm not even sure what that means. I had a small production scheduled for this weekend, which at this point I have no choice but to cancel ... not the end of the world to push it off, of course, but costs me some money and could have been avoided with a better estimate of my ship date.
I've been in startups before, so I understand where all of this is coming from. Given the size that you guys are trying to grow to in so little time, wires get crossed, and things fall through the cracks. As I said, I love the dream of RED, I've been a fan forever (in the long run a few weeks won't make any difference *at all*), but... I don't know, the errors in communication and the inability to give me firm dates aren't filling me with a sense of confidence. This is a big purchase for me. A little better job of setting expectations on the front end might cause a lot less heartache later.
Thanks for listening,
JT
Austin, Texas
Red #396
