Last chance to fill in the warranty replacement form
3 months ago – Thu, Feb 08, 2024 at 04:17:43 AM

Dear backers, 

a quick follow on from our last update.

A couple weeks back we sent out the warranty form for replacements Soapstones. Thank you to everyone who has done so already - we are happy to say backers have already started receiving their replacements.

This is a reminder that there’s only one day left to do so. The absolute last date of form submission is the 9th Feb, which will put you in the 2nd wave after Chinese New Year. These will be shipped by the end of Feb.

Form: https://forms.gle/RHQAVw4aEMNZMzZt5

(Please note, due to SKU level MOQs we are unable to hit, we are only able to provide standardised colourways - Silver Metal & Blue Plastic - which were the most popular choices among our 3,500 backers)

The form asks for photo evidence of your fault. Please take the time to include this if you are experiencing a faulty product, otherwise we cannot process your replacement. If you never received your reward because of shipping issues you don't need to upload a photo.

As usual, thank you for your patience and bearing with us through these difficulties. We are pleased that this is getting sorted. 

Wishing you all a lovely day.

Eli and Pete

Replacement Form
3 months ago – Sat, Jan 27, 2024 at 09:45:43 AM

Dear Backers,

Again, thank you so much to everybody for bearing with us patiently over the last months through this enormous faff. As we mentioned in the previous update, there was a quality control issue with a batch of Soapstones. We are really sorry that these slipped through and have broken with use for some of our backers. We want to continue to apologise for the frustration this has caused you, and reiterate how we ourselves are very frustrated and, frankly, really disappointed. 

Replacement Form

As promised, we have created a form for warranty replacements. We ask that people who have experienced faults, or have not received their item yet, to please complete the form and we will organise a replacement Soapstone to be sent out within the timeframe below. 

Form: https://forms.gle/RHQAVw4aEMNZMzZt5

Thank you to everyone who has already emailed us with photo evidence. It has informed us how many replacement units to produce and QC checks with our factory. We do ask those of you to log your issue a second time in the form above, as this is the final & only database we will use to organise the replacement units. Sorry for the hassle. 

(Please note, due to SKU level MOQs we are unable to hit, we are only able to provide standardised colourways - Silver Metal & Blue Plastic - which were the most popular choices among our 3,500 backers)

The form asks for photo evidence of your fault. Please take the time to include this if you are experiencing a faulty product, otherwise we cannot process your replacement. If you never received your reward because of shipping issues you don't need to upload a photo. 

Timeframe

The stock is on track to be ready on Monday or Tuesday next week. Please submit your form before the 31st January if you want to be in the pre-Chinese New Year shipping wave, which will be shipped by Feb 5th. The absolute last date of form submission is the 9th Feb, which will put you in the 2nd wave after Chinese New Year. These will be shipped by the end of Feb.

We are looking forward to getting this sorted. 

Thank you again,

Pete and Eli 
 

Faulty or missing unit replacement form + manufacturing/QC update
3 months ago – Thu, Jan 25, 2024 at 05:15:58 AM

Dear backers,

We want to apologise again for any inconvenience or disappointment you may have experienced with these ongoing issues. 

As discussed in updates and the comment section, there has been a quality control issue with our factory partners. This is limited to a specific batch, and we know only 1-2% of all 3000+ backers have encountered issues. Nonetheless, we acknowledge the problem with our manufacturing partners, as well as our management of communication, and we understand the frustration that comes with product faults and delays.

We are really disappointed ourselves and want to sort it out properly. Hopefully this update will provide some clarity and resolution. 

Email form for replacements

We are pleased to announce that replacement Soapstone units are currently being assembled, with quality control starting on January 28th. To streamline the process, we will be sending a form to everyone who has emailed us with photo evidence of a faulty Soapstone or evidence of one that hasn't been delivered. The form will request updated address information, tax information (for some countries), the type of unit (metal or plastic), and the number of units.

(For Brazilian backers: Please provide your CPF tax number. No new units have been sent to Brazil since the initial wave of shipping. We have already sent direct messages to all Brazilian backers regarding this matter.)

Once the stock passes quality control (during the week of January 29th), it will be shipped out (during the week of February 5th). We are making every effort to complete this process before Chinese New Year, but please be aware that uncontrollable delays can occur in China during this time of year. The time it takes for the product to reach the end customer after shipping varies from 1-3 weeks, depending on the location.

Communication

We are receiving a high volume of emails, and occasionally some may slip through the cracks. As a small team of two, we are doing our absolute best to handle all parties involved in resolving these issues, and we sincerely appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding.

Best wishes,

Pete & Eli

Final Loose Ends + Acknowledgement of Issues
5 months ago – Tue, Dec 05, 2023 at 03:54:59 AM

Dear Supporters,

We're thrilled to see the incredible community that has grown around our project, with over 10,000 units now out in the world! We're incredibly grateful for your support and enthusiasm.

We wanted to provide an update for the few backers who have experienced issues with their order.

We are truly sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment you may have experienced. Our top priority is to deliver a high-quality product to all of our backers, which is why we implemented comprehensive quality control measures and delayed delivery. However, there has been a quality control issue with a specific batch of products at our factory. We believe this issue is limited to that particular batch, as the majority of the products we have shipped are functioning perfectly fine - we have identified that 1-2% of all 3000+ backers have encountered issues that need to be resolved and we are actively working on addressing these issues. We acknowledge this issue with our factories QC process but also our management of the coms process, and totally understand the frustration that comes with product faults and delays. 

As discussed in the comments, we have been waiting for all complaints to trickle in, so that we can collectively address them in one go with our factory, in a clear and efficient manner. 

We have already sent out another batch of products earlier this month, and we are now waiting for a new production run to provide replacements (as we have run out of stock). The production run is expected to be completed by the end of February, and we will promptly ship out all replacement units. 

We are receiving a high volume of emails, and occasionally some may slip through the cracks. As a small team of two, we are trying to do our absolute best to handle all parties involved in resolving these issues, and we really appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding. Hardware is truly hard.

Despite these unfortunate issues affecting a small percentage of our backers, we are delighted to see that many of you are thoroughly enjoying your Soapstones. 

Thank you for being a vital part of our story and for understanding the challenges we are facing.

Best Wishes

Pete & Eli

Finalising the project
7 months ago – Thu, Oct 05, 2023 at 09:56:23 PM

Dear Supporters,

We are really glad that so many of you have now received and are enjoying your Soapstones. Thanks for your continued positive feedback. This message is intended to tie up the final loose ends on this project. It will likely only apply to less than 1% of supporters, so if you in receipt of your order, you can disregard this message.  

Final Shipping

We will complete a final shipping wave for late survey completions in the next few weeks. Please see country specific instructions below:

• Brazil: we need additional information to ship, please direct message your personal tax number
• Taiwan: please direct message EZ WAY, ID card number and Chinese address
• South Korea: please direct message Korean name, PCCC number, and matching phone number
• Brunei/Cambodia/Chile/Colombia/Ghana/New Caledonia/Peru/Ukraine: please direct message an alternative shipping address in a third country, we do not have reliable shipping routes to these addresses

Product faults

In the event of any faults please email photos and a description of any faulty products to [email protected]. Please allow us time to process your feedback, communicate with our factory, and arrange replacement units.

With best wishes

Team Soapstone