Author Topic: Fiire experience  (Read 36150 times)

bulek

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Re: Fiire experience
« Reply #60 on: September 19, 2008, 02:16:41 pm »
Thanks, Aaron for the response.

The only real critique for any of this was that none of this was explained sooner.

People tend to assume the worst, when nothing is said.

-Thom

I fully agree... It takes few minutes to write such email and inform commmunity what is going on vs. such threads.... I guess we will in majority understand that...

Thanks for response,

regards,

Bulek.
Thanks in advance,

regards,

Bulek.

aaron.b

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Re: Fiire experience
« Reply #61 on: September 20, 2008, 12:57:11 am »
Justin,

I know for certain that there was no intent to defraud.  We signed contracts with Via to license their drivers, and so Fiire committed and bought a bunch of Via hardware under an OEM agreement.  Everybody was under the expectation that Via's drivers would work as stated in the contract.  Personally, the people I hold most responsible are Via because everybody moved forward based on their promises that their drivers would work well.  But that's beside the point, and doesn't ease your frustration....

One thing you could do is check your credit card statement.  As far as I know, all U.S. customers were actually charged by Polywell, not Fiire.  I know there were many refunds issued; that's what caused this mess in the first place.  Most people who bought the Via-based md's were content to use Xine for media playback and only used MythTV to record from the linuxmce core.  This is what was shown in the LinuxMCE demo video, and that's the reason why you never see MythTV running on the Via boxes.  I've been told the people at Fiire's call center were told to advise customers that Via's drivers don't work with MythTV, and that there was some reference to this on the web.  Of course I don't know if that actually happened since it was, after all, an outsourced, overseas call center.  AFAIK, Polywell and Fiire did issue lots of refunds to everybody who complained about it not running on MythTV.  I was also assured that despite all the returns, everybody who ordered a Via system got a brand new one and that they never tried to pass off a previously returned unit as "new", but instead sold them at a used PC auction (apparently for a fraction of what they paid for them, which is why they lost so much money)...  I do believe that nearly everybody who complained sent back their Via-based station got their refund and there were only a few at the very end that slipped through the cracks.  I know they bought back lots (like hundreds) of Via stations and I've only seen complaints from a couple people who bought right at the time that Fiire stopped selling Via systems from Polywell.  I'm sure there's no genuine attempt from anyone at Fiire to defraud.  The Via boxes that came back were, afaik, all returned to Polywell.

RE: Jeff,Blake,Jane,Adrian not responding....  I know Blake was a U.S. guy and he stayed on after the Via mess and Fiire's financial problems and worked a few months without a salary, but eventually had to leave to support his family.  I assume Jane and Adrian were part of the overseas call center which isn't there anymore.  Jeff, the owner, has been having some health problems so I've had a hard time getting through to him either.  Like I said, the Via driver debacle really hurt them a lot.

Going forward, starting with the new gen of stuff, all the fulfillment and orders are now handled by PC Design Lab.  AFAIK, essentially all the operations are now handled by PC Design Lab, and I've heard only positive things about the service PC Design Lab is giving current customers (CAVEAT: PC Design Lab aren't Linux experts, so the service is limited to order fulfillment type stuff, not LinuxMCE trouble shooting).  Justin, what I wasn't clear on from your post is...  Did you actually return your Via-based Fiire Station and not get your refund?  Or do you still have it, and you didn't get an RMA?  Also, who did you pay?  Fiire or Polywell?

justdeb

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Re: Fiire experience
« Reply #62 on: September 23, 2008, 03:31:51 am »
Hi Aaron,

In relation to your email - that makes me alot more understanding of the current situation. In summary my situation is as follows.

1. I purchased the product via polywell.
2. I believe i paid funds to polywell.
3. I had issues from the time i rec'd it - ie overcharge of $200USD for freight, no drivers, etc.
4. After contacting several people - they all just gave up (ie not respond)
5. No one has contacted me in relation to a refund or anything of that nature. I have been waiting for someone to actually contact me via email or phone regarding getting an rma etc so that i can send the unit back. I still have the unit and want to return it and either get a credit for the full amount (including the freight) or pay the difference of a new unit if need be to have a unit that functions with linuxmce and mythtv.

I am here in Australia and feel that it should not be used as an excuse.

I can see what they are trying to achieve and understand that they may have been 'mislead' to some extent by via.

If you know of someone there that i can talk to or communicate within polywell or fiire i would be more than happy to speak with them and try resolve this issue.

Regards

Justin

aaron.b

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Re: Fiire experience
« Reply #63 on: September 23, 2008, 03:43:52 am »
Justin,

Just a crazy thought, but something you might want to consider.  The Fiire Station 1" is the exact same thing as the VMPC VM7700.  But the VM7700 costs around $1,200.  Via gave Fiire a very special price because Via wanted to go into the Linux market and Fiire committed to buy a bunch of them.  Fiire said $1,200 was too much for the Linux hobbiest community, so Fiire made a special deal and was selling them well below the wholesale price of a VM7700.  You bought it for something like $900, right?  If you're not in the U.S., it will probably cost you about $200-300 to ship it back.  Which means that if you get your $900 refund, you'll only net $600-700.  I don't know if the VM7700's are still selling for $1,200, or if there's much of a market for them, but if there is, my guess is you could sell it on eBay or something similar as a "VM7700", not a Fiire Station (cause there's no difference), and get more than the $600-700 you'd net by getting it returned.  Just an idea.

I'll also send you an email so we can discuss off-line.

Aaron

justdeb

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Re: Fiire experience
« Reply #64 on: September 23, 2008, 06:40:14 am »
HI Aaron,

I like your idea and will certainly look at it as an option to recoup some of my costs - even if i get half of my money back it will get the wife off my back !!!!

Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions - now that i have a better understanding of what has happened behind the scenes - i am tending to think the ebay option might be best for all concerned.

Rgds

Justin