Wed Mar 29 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Wed, Mar 29, 2017 at 11:31:58 PM
Dear backers,
We'd like to give a short update to those who have not yet received their Omnicharge, and alleviate any concerns you might have.
So far we have shipped over 14 000 units, and we are currently working on the fulfilment to our international backers. We’re thrilled to let you know that our trial shipment to the EU was successful and we have sent tracking numbers to those included in this trial batch. We are now moving full steam ahead in delivering to all 80 + countries.
As some of you may know, we recently started an exciting trial run on Amazon with our 110V US model. This is just a small test pilot program that is only shipping inside of the US. We’re proud to say that we’ve already fulfilled the vast majority of US orders and that is why it is important for us to learn how to transition from crowdfunding to retail. We hope to see some support from all of you as we navigate towards new territory. Please keep in mind, that this has not in any way affected our shipping plan to our remaining customers, and we hope that you understand that this is the natural next step in our company’s evolution and growth.
As we reach the final stages in our crowdfunding fulfillment, we kindly ask that anyone who has not yet received their unit to please check that your survey has been completed, and that your order is correct. Kindly note: we still have a few hundred people with incomplete surveys, and it will not be possible for us to ship individual orders after your regions batch shipment has been sent out.
If you are unsure about selecting either the correct DC cable or adapter tip? Please reach out to us at [email protected]. You can request access to your survey through this page: https://omnicharge.backerkit.com/
Mon Mar 13 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Mar 13, 2017 at 04:25:16 AM
We hope you, as our backer, are proud to have backed a campaign that IS successfully delivering. We never raised any angels investments nor spent time pitching for funding; our team spent the last two years only in R&D and only on making sure we deliver the best and most innovative portable power source for professionals on the go.
Our team receives on average over 100 emails on a daily basis, plus IGG comments, facebook messages, and others. We are trying our best to respond to everyone. There are ONLY two of our team members that are dedicated to customer service, Eric and Jane, and many of you should be familiar with them by now. We are trying to add more folks so we respond to you sooner rather than later; while in the meantime we are optimizing our Omni Help Center so everyone can quickly access to our knowledge center to resolve any questions about products and features.
For the 12,000 backers that have received your Omnicharge, we hope you are happy with the results of our journey together and that Omnicharge is keeping you powered up on the go. We really appreciate that you took a chance and believed in our campaign and throughout supported us with your patience and understanding while we deliver this incredible product to you.
For the backers that haven’t received their Omnicharge, it is on its way to you! We are delivering on our promise to giving you the best product out there. Please continue to extend you patience and understanding while we work with production and logistics partners to deliver these units to you. There are over 60 countries that we have to ship to; this is not a simple feat but rest assured, we will figure it out and get this to you.
And for first-time backers that are just frustrated with us, we apologize. No amount of complaints via email or comments really helps you or us. We are on a journey TOGETHER; our Omnicharge team is working everyday to make this happen, using only our passion and an unhealthy amount of coffee. You as our backer should understand and encourage us and continue to cheer us on to get to the finish line. This is a MARATHON and you are running alongside us!
We already live in a world full of critics and cynics, instead of choosing to be a believer and optimist. We hope once you receive your Omnicharge that this will change, and the whole world will be a better place, one person at a time.
Now, let us go and finish delivering your Omnicharge to you. Power On.
Sincerely, Omnicharge Team
Mon Mar 13 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Mar 13, 2017 at 04:07:13 AM
PRODUCTION AND DELIVERY CHALLENGES
Through each stage, we were faced with production challenges; from product quality improvements, component suppliers’ delivery problems, tooling improvements, production process improvements and transportation regulation changes, etc. These are all very standard problems experienced in the hardware world whether you’re a small team like ours or if you are an established brand (look at Samsung; they are still challenged by the re-launch of Note ⅞).
We made sure we took the time to pay attention to details, fix any production defects, and inspect every unit! Some days we were able to produce 300 units, some days 100 units, and then there were also days we produced NONE!
Our team have worked around the clock with our suppliers; living on the factory floor to ensure everything meets the quality standard we have promised you. And we are so glad we did. We appreciate the feedback and validation that many backers have given us in emails / youtube videos / articles over how omnicharge is the BEST portable power product they have ever seen with the utmost quality.
A lot of backers have requested to see the inside of their Omni 20 so they can see what goes on inside and we have decided to do an unveiling right here. Our PCBA design is very complicated with over 300 components and customized design to ensure it performs according to our specifications for power, safety, versatility, and compactness.
Omnicharge is the most advanced portable power for professional users!
IGG UPDATES AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
We have over 20,000 backers in the community (one of the largest campaigns in the crowdfunding industry for a tech product) and we closed the campaign in Sep of 2016. Omnicharge is also considered one of the top campaigns in InDemand by IGG.
Within ONLY four months after our campaign ended, Omnicharge began shipping and continue to do so. Many backers that are in the crowdfunding world should know that this is UNHEARD of in the crowdfunding community. Hardware is HARD, and there have been many failures, delays that last for years, or campaigners that stopped trying completely; thus burning through backers pledges, angel investors funding, family and friends support. And not the least the campaigner sweat and tears left in the dust (read this: Crash and Burn)
Mon Mar 13 '17 Announcement
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Mar 13, 2017 at 03:55:47 AM
Dear International Backers,
As many of you have received news of, all lithium battery products have come under serious scrutiny over safety concerns; all major couriers (Fedex/DHL/UPS) have stopped processing any packages containing lithium battery via their air shipments internationally.
This posed real challenges for us to fulfill non-US backer orders, but we have GREAT NEWS - we just sent out a small trial shipment to backers in the EU region and another batch of 1000 units are due to leave next week. Our shipments are via cargo air freight compliant to IATA regulations for these type of products. All VAT will be pre-paid and we have already received payments from EU backers that are in this trial batch via paypal. We will reach out to individual backers prior to each new batch to process their VAT payments.
For those in other regions (APAC, MEA) don’t worry, our freight forwarder also confirmed that they are able to handle shipments to your region and we are in the process of preparing for a test batch. Be on the look-out for our invitation to be included in this batch.
There have been many comments on IGG about when they can expect their Omnicharge and complaints over the delays, so we wish to address them here altogether:
POST CROWDFUNDING TIMELINE
Omnicharge ended the campaign in September 2016. Upon receiving the entire funds from IGG, we started to work with our factory partner over ordering parts and production setup. Then Samsung Note 7 Incident in October put a PAUSE to everything, raising concerns over safety and certifications.
Since Omnicharge was originally designed with the best safety system in the powerbank category (see below), we felt confident that we are prepared to deal with any oversight by regulators. During that time, we immediately took actions and worked with certification test labs to ensure Omnicharge meets the toughest required standards and ensure we are compliant for consumer usage and transports (refer to our backer update #14 and #15).
In December, we finally started production and shipped out the smaller batches whilst continuing with larger production batches. These are released to US backers first and just last week we released the entire batch for Canadian backers, and their package is on its’ way via local post services.
Sun Jan 22 '17 Announcement
almost 8 years ago
– Sun, Jan 22, 2017 at 02:55:30 AM
Dear Backers,
We started the new year in full stride, delivering thousands of Omnicharges to backers. There have been many messages from backers who have received their units describing Omnicharge as a high quality product with amazing features. We want to thank you for believing in us.
There have been difficulties along the way; for those that are familiar with launching hardware products, every day presents new challenges on quality control, supply shortage, and many other issues. In the past few months, we have worked hard to ensure that production gets smoother every day, and that the product is something we can be proud of. Feedback from backers that have received their orders shows that we have done the right things.
For EU model backers, you are next! We will ramp up production right after the Chinese New Year holidays from Jan. 24 through Feb. 4 - during this holiday all manufacturing businesses are closed. We expect production of EU models to continue until the end of February, and shipping to take place in February and March.
One challenge that recently came up is international shipping. All major couriers no longer accept consumer packages containing battery packs to be shipped by air (link). Now we have to air freight in bulk to each region and use local ground service to deliver your packages. We are working with our logistics partners to iron out the details. Please understand this may lengthen the delivery time.
It pains us to disappoint our backers with any delay. Growing a young hardware brand is not easy, especially when you are building it to last, with every intention of building truly great products that are loved by users. We only hope that you view Omnicharge as such a brand, and give us the time we would need to grow. We promise you will find it to be worth the wait. And because you pledged your commitment to our campaign, we’ll do our best to deliver what we’ve promised, an Omnicharge that you can be proud of. This is our commitment to you.
Lastly, we have launched our Help Center to provide answers to frequently asked questions, such as: “When will I get my Omni?”, “Where to find my DC cable”, and “How to use DC output”. We will continuously update the Help Center so you can get answers to your questions quickly. Please refer to this page before posting your questions in the comment section or emailing us. Most likely you will find your answers there. If you are unable to find an answer, our team members are standing by to help!
