I like the RGB indicators, and the quickness of a hardwired solution (plus not having to keep a stock of yet another size button cell!). But location flexibility of a battery remote is a plus.
Is this still expected around 10/1/21? Asking because I’ve yet to hear someone reach out for my labeling options and theoretically this should probably already be on a ship over to the US from China if it were going to arrive aroundf 10/1 so…
We do not ship via sea - we ship via air.
Hopefully Eric should have an update for everyone shortly! I’ll break the bad news though and say they will not be ready by 10/1. Pretty status quo for an Inovelli project!
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Are preorders still open on this? I tried the link at the top of the thread which gets me to the product page but I don’t see anything to click to order. But I also didn’t see anything that said preorders were closed and the top of the thread makes it sound like they are still open. What am I missing?
I suspect that mine will be arriving the week of 11/8… 
TLDR: Project will likely not be released until Q2 2022 – a former employee lied to the manufacturer about the sales volumes and who was responsible for engineering costs and we had to come up with $150k to cover those costs, which took us a bit as it wasn’t budgeted. Pre-orders can be refunded if you’d like.
Update: The time has come where I feel the need to give an update on this project and I will preface this by saying the project is not going anywhere, we’re just running into some red tape that I will address below.
Please also note before I go down this path that we have set aside all money related to pre-orders so if you do request a refund due to the delay, we will of course honor it. The way our payment processor works is that it charges up front instead of when it ships. I know it’s dumb, but it’s the way BigCommerce and Stripe work.
That said, here’s where we’re at – and I’m going to be as transparent as possible so that everyone knows what’s happening.
Background
This project officially kicked off back in January 2021 (I know this thread started in Sept 2020, but the project was approved in January) as a project that we were working on with a separate company as they wanted a 5-Button switch.
Part of the agreement we had with our current manufacturer was that there was to be no new innovation allowed until we pay off our debt with them (they will continue to ship products we’ve already created, but no new innovation).
A former employee who was originally in charge of this project pitched the project to our manufacturer as this was a project that was going to provide a very large amount of volume and was being made for a very large company. He told the manufacturer that this company would pay all associated engineering fees, firmware fees, etc – totaling around $150k.
After some convincing, the manufacturer agreed with the fees to be paid in April 2021.
Well, April comes around and the manufacturer asks to be paid and I asked the former employee when this other company is going to pay, to which he replied, “they never agreed to pay those fees – I thought we’d have an investment by now, so I figured we could just pay”.
Naturally, this gets us in more trouble with the manufacturer as the hard work they’ve put into this project now is not being paid for – from a company that promised them this was going to be paid for.
This, among other things lead to this employee’s termination right then and there.
I then get on the phone with the company we’re making this switch for and find out that this former employee told them this is an Inovelli switch and we’d pay for it. To top it off, the massive volumes that were promised initially were also a lie and the company I talked to said they were going to order a test of 200 units… 200 units… this is a far cry from the 10k unit initial order we promised the manufacturer.
Great. So, I was duped, the manufacturer was duped and now I’m having to cover $150k worth of fees that were not budgeted.
Next Steps
Over the course of 3-4 months we’ve been working behind the scenes to get this project on track and continue to try to deliver on time – or at least by the end of the year.
Recently, there was a problem with the PCB where all the samples we received popped when we tried to test the initial firmware. When we requested additional test units, the higher ups at the manufacturer caught wind that they were lied to and they said that until we pay the fees, they were going to stop working on the project.
So, we paid the fees and this is where we’re at today.
At this point, we’re basically having to start over from a PCB standpoint and this project is looking like it will not be released until likely April/May 2022, but I also do not have a firm timeline.
Pre-Orders
Due to not having a firm timeline, we closed pre-orders. Once I have a definitive timeline and better optimism for a release date, we will open them back up. But I/we can’t, in good faith, keep taking pre-orders.
For anyone that has placed a pre-order, we can certainly refund you and I sincerely apologize for this. It’s likely the worst case of project management that I’ve ever seen and I definitely take responsibility for putting my trust in our former employee.
I will continue to work with the manufacturer to get a timeline locked down, but my best guess is Q2 2022.
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Well crap. Sorry to hear how all that worked out, but really appreciate the transparency on what all happened and why we’re looking at the delay.
I’m good waiting until Q2 2022 or whenever this ends up getting completed for mine.
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That’s a shame that it all went down like that 
Thank you for the transparency! As far as pre-orders go, I’m content just letting mine sit as a pre-order as long as y’all are continuing to march forward with the project; I want some of these, and I’m happy to keep my money where my mouth is as long as y’all are still working on delivering them!
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Same with me. What a cluster of a situation.
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I consider my money already spent, so I have no issue with waiting until 2Q22.
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I agree with @k5map. Money is spent and can wait until product is delivered.
@Eric_Inovelli Thank you for your transparency.
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Well I for one am super bummed. I understand though and can only imagine your frustration. Thanks for the honesty.
Given the delay, will these switches be able to ship with etched buttons now? I know that wasn’t going to happen originally but given the new target date, I’d love for that to become a reality.
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wow, what a bummer. keep on fighting, and thanks so much for the transparency—I think it is good for people to get a human glimpse into how new products get made. they might feel less entitled when they hit “buy” on a kickstarter, if they saw how commonplace it is for good people to get utterly roadblocked by a whole world of external factors.
I had the pre-order tab open, and came back today to find this thread. even so, if you re-open preorders, I would still absolutely put myself down for a bunch!
really hope you guys (and all of us tbh) find calmer waters in 2022. it’s clear Inovelli has all the right stuff going on, but have suffered from setbacks by hands other than your own.
I for one will continue to be excited for your new products, for as long as you all wanna keep makin’ em!
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sorry to hear that. hope all these troubles are gone soon. thanks for being honest in this situation.
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Wow, bro. THAT sux all around.
Good luck. I’m def excited by this concept!!
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Guys, as a dude, it honestly means so much to hear ppl feel some compassion. It’s hard to lay everything out all the time as it’s admitting failure. From my (and the teams) POV, we try our best to do what’s right, while also balancing keeping the investors happy.
I can promise from the bottom of my heart that I will (and the company will) fight for what is right and have your back no matter what.
I plan on tomorrow writing up the full story of what has transpired. I originally thought, “well crap, if they knew what went on behind the scenes what has transpired, they’d think we’re crazy…” But after reading these responses, it only inspires me to keep telling the truth about what has happened over the past year and keeps me excited about being transparent as possible about everything.
Tomorrow I will write a, “tell all” and keep everyone up to date about things and hopefully it will explain everything to date and excite everyone about what is to come as well as keep everything in check.
Thanks again for all the support and please know from the bottom of my heart, I’m genuinely crying at the support. It honestly means a lot.
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We won’t give up on you if you don’t give up on us. 
As you can tell we all appreciate the honesty.
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Thank you sir, that means a lot. I’ll explain more tomorrow in my, “tell all” but I believe in us and I believe in you all so much that I took out a guarantee on my house for an SBA loan.
In other words, I took out a personal loan to ensure product with the SBA that if I default, I lose my house.
You guys are my family and I promise we will take care of you.
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Thank you for the update! I’ve had my pre-order in for a while and have no intention of asking for a refund. Being as straightforward as this goes beyond just doing good business, it shows integrity. And this I will support always, so I just bought 4 more dimmers and will be purchasing some red switches when they are back. Thanks Eric!
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It’s amazing to me that an individual can cause so much pain to a small business that has already got at least a lifetime of stories!
Also, it seems to me like maybe communications should go in an out through an ACCOUNTABLE party.
We run into this all the time in consulting engineering. We go through a RACI matrix for each project and define roles. I’d expect for a small business to have yourself at a minimum informed with what is transpiring.
I’m glad you guys are working it out, and while I don’t have one on preorder I almost want to just to get you some in-house cash (however small) to keep running.
This comes at a good time with red dimmers coming back though!
The adventure continues!!!
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