Maybe there should be a fee attached to every group buy as a "**** up" fund? I know I would be happy to pay into such a thing.
For that matter, I've actually been toying with the idea of opening up an IC/GB...for hiring a lawyer. I don't know how difficult it would be but what if we could get a lawyer to help us generate a general contract, one that could be applied to all group buys, international or otherwise? You sign it, the GB leaders sign it, and now there is a legal contract between the group buy runners and the participants, vs. the handshake agreement we have now.
As for how the group buy leaders should be dealing with their **** up fund, yeah, it really should be factored into both the timeline and the price they charge for their product. It works right? There are two cases: (A) Something goes wrong, but lucky for them they have some money to fix the problem or (B) Everything goes perfect and they keep the money, and deservedly so because they clearly ran a great GB if nothing failed.
Everyone would be happier if we knew that if something went wrong, we would be compensated (in one form or another) without a huge amount of hassle.
Also, if you can't deal with what a group buy is, don't join one goes both ways Amnesia. Know what you're getting into if you want to run one. Sure as **** keeps me out of the game.
One other thing - For those of us that received bum PCBs, and why my "punitive" damages aren't quite that: they basically outsourced fixing the PCBs to us, the customer. Had they shipped off all the PCBs to some other group of people to get them in working order, they would have compensated that group in some way. Well, that's what they did, they just did it to us. Why should I not be paid for my time just the same? I'd charge 50$ an hour for that kind of work, it took me about an hour (once I figured out what needed to be fixed) to fix the PCB, and I'm asking for between 15$ and 30$ in compensation. Is that not reasonable? To charge for my time?
Kacase:
Could you stop ****ing denigrating me? For one thing, this isn't my first group buy. I've gotten a number of keysets through massdrop (if that counts in your opinion), and I'm attached to the Model F and GMK 9009 R2.
You're right though, I'm intent on making these my last group buys, but that's not necessarily because I don't give a **** about the keyboard community. No, I just personally can't hack it. The waiting, the worrying, the delays, the nervousness. It's more stress than it's worth. I basically, at this point, refuse to buy a product that isn't already sitting on a shelf in a warehouse or storage room somewhere, waiting to be shipped. The only things I'll make exceptions for are keycaps that are really special in some way to me (that's why I joined GMK 9009 R2 for example).
All that though is until I see that the community changes on a fundamental level the way it runs group buys, or in general produces products. This system we have? It's a pain in the ass. We need some more structure, some better pathways. Easy to achieve a better system? Definitely not. Necessary? I think so, otherwise we are going to repeat this cycle endlessly, until everyone gets so sick of dealing with a GB they stop joining them altogether.
But seriously, cut the **** Kacase. I don't have it out for anyone.
Yuktsi
Great update, that totally ignored one of the major discussions going on right now. What are the specifics of your replacement plan? When do you intend on shipping out replacement parts? What is the response of the group buy leadership to what's been discussed regarding replacement parts/receipt of damaged products/compensation?