Lol, thanks – yeah, we took it down. We wanted to get everything squared away again before putting it back up.
The good news is we just had a great call with the manufacturer (the US guy who’s always had our back) and the third party and everyone wants this to go through and it’s very important for these guys as their entire plan is hinging on this product, so they’re eager to help in any way they can.
Now, we just have to pitch it to the Chinese side of the manufacturer (the side who’s rightfully mad at us).
The backup is to work with a different manufacturer, but I’d prefer not to bc then we’d be starting from scratch when this project is super close to beta testing.
Wow Eric. Crazy. Thanks for sharing the whole saga… Complete with redacted screenshots as evidence!
Makes so much more sense now. This wasn’t some guy low down on the totem pole going rogue with no oversight. This was a partner that you trusted to do what was right for the company.
I’m encouraged that your third party company is sticking by your side. Hopefully you can work out an amended agreement that is mutually beneficial. And hopefully your manufacture who is vested in this outcome, will continue to work with you.
Can’t imagine the amount of antacids you must’ve gone through over the last six months.
WOW I was not expecting that roller coaster ride. Glad things seem to be working out, can’t wait until I can get my hands on the 5 button controllers Thank you for the transparency!
I want to echo what a lot of people have said here about the transparency. There are two reasons why Inovelli is my favorite smart switch manufacturer: One is that you make a great product with lots of features that I like, and two is that when there are problems (as there inevitably are), you’re up front and transparent with us about it. Well done. I wish more companies would follow your lead.
Have you considered some sort of crowdfunding from some of your more enthusiastic customers? I don’t know enough about finance to be able to propose a specific plan, but it sounds like I’m not the only one who appreciates and believes in what you’re doing, so perhaps we could be part of the solution to your cashflow issues? I, for one, would definitely consider it, depending on the details.
Do pre-orders actually help your financial situation, or not really because of the way you have to account for them? What if you provided a way for us to buy rewards points with cash, that we could redeem for future purchases?
If etching/stickers are still in the cards, I’d like to add that some users invert their switches. For etching, that means adding a checkbox on the order form, for stickers that means either making a second sheet of stickers or making clear stickers that cover the LED and have the text offset from the left side enough for the LED to fit.
Just wanted to throw in a comment about the email that went out to pre-order customers this morning. Well done, and another example of the Inovelli transparency that keeps us all coming back for more stuff…
Came here in response to the e-mail, Thank you for the transparency! Let me know if you open it up for more pre-orders, would love to help support the efforts.
If anyone wants a refund on their preorder, I’ll take their place in line.
Quick question on the plastics… Are the three large button and two small buttons the same molded part? Like are there two button parts, one used 3 times per item and one used twice? Or are they all unique parts? Either way, are they user replaceable? In case we try our hand at engraving them…
Thank you for the transparency! I hope having to shell out those fees didn’t put too much strain on your operations. Im loving your product and your buisness model; the transparency and that you take feedback from your community says great things about your organization. I hope you’re around for a long time and continue to grow and be successful.
Product page says this is on hold now. Did something new happen, or did I just not notice that before? I can wait until next year on these, but just want to make sure that I’m planning everything out correctly.
Which ‘last message’ are you referring to? We also sent out an email about 3 weeks ago to everyone with a pre-order so if you have a pre-order you should have gotten an email. Could possibly be in junk mail.
The physically connected load can only be physically controlled by the 2 smaller buttons.
My presumption is that the device will register as both a switch and a button controller, so you ought to be able to control the physically connected load via Zwave.
Will the non-primary buttons support z-wave association groups?
I’d like to put one of these by my back door, to control the main back outside lights (physically connected load) with the primary buttons, and use the other buttons to turn on/off other outdoor z-wave lights via association for the lowest possible latency.
Thank you for the transparency!