[Got the Shakes]

We are in the exact same boat..i also never done it before ..Will you insure your unit around its full price?
Will be super cool if all of us who are upgrading can ask James if they can as you said cover the logistic for sending back our units and then charge us the fees..?

So I was messing around on UPS.com a bit more and when I select shipping as a return and enter all of the info, the shipping cost ends up being about $68 US (if gives pricing in British Pounds I think because the return destination is the UK). It appears that the price of $68 dollars does include it being insured for $4,000. If all of the number UPS spit out at me are correct, then this upgrade got a lot more reasonable than I thought it would be about an hour ago.

 

[Om ma Ni]

So I was messing around on UPS.com a bit more and when I select shipping as a return and enter all of the info, the shipping cost ends up being about $68 US (if gives pricing in British Pounds I think because the return destination is the UK). It appears that the price of $68 dollars does include it being insured for $4,000. If all of the number UPS spit out at me are correct, then this upgrade got a lot more reasonable than I thought it would be about an hour ago.

what do you mean by "select shipping as a return"? I m a bit lost sorry...

 

[Got the Shakes]

what do you mean by "select shipping as a return"? I m a bit lost sorry...

This is directly from the notes on the invoice James sent me this morning:

1. Please ship your A16 unit ONLY, no cables or accessories.
2. We recommend you ship using UPS or DHL.
3. Please state when shipping that your A16 unit is being shipped back for 'return for service / repair'

When putting in the information to get a quote from UPS, one of the options for shipment type is "UPS Returns". I'm assuming that is what we are supposed to select. I emailed James to see if he could provide me with anymore guidance as I want to make sure I'm getting an accurate price quote and that I'm shipping properly when the time comes to send it back.

 

[GeorgeA]

But then if they waited to complete all scheduled KS/Preorders shipping before bothering with the upgrades, wouldn't that create another logistical nightmare....

Anyhow, I think that the present and/or another logistical nightmare derives from the fact that the kickstarters campaign has been a hat that is much too big for Smyth Research’s head.

 

[Om ma Ni]

This is directly from the notes on the invoice James sent me this morning:

1. Please ship your A16 unit ONLY, no cables or accessories.
2. We recommend you ship using UPS or DHL.
3. Please state when shipping that your A16 unit is being shipped back for 'return for service / repair'

When putting in the information to get a quote from UPS, one of the options for shipment type is "UPS Returns". I'm assuming that is what we are supposed to select. I emailed James to see if he could provide me with anymore guidance as I want to make sure I'm getting an accurate price quote and that I'm shipping properly when the time comes to send it back.

Will wait for your update regarding James correspondence, we will need to be sure that the "UPS returns" option is the correct one before going ahead and send our beloved A16..

 

[Dixter]

Just asking... what is the $520 figure... extra $20 for paypal??

 

[Got the Shakes]

Will wait for your update regarding James correspondence, we will need to be sure that the "UPS returns" option is the correct one before going ahead and send our beloved A16..

We’ll see if he can give me an answer. It’s the only option when on UPS.com that is even relatively close to what he mention on the invoice so I’m assuming I’m right.

Now I need to find a box that’s the right size. The original shipping box disappeared from my house somehow, but to keep shipping costs down I need to track something down that is much closer to the actual dimensions of the A16. Also does anyone know how much the 2U unit actually weighs?

 

[Got the Shakes]

Just asking... what is the $520 figure... extra $20 for paypal??

Yes. It appears that the extra $20 covers the PayPal fees so that Smyth Research pockets $500 from the transaction.

Edit: Also my invoice is due on April 19th not April 22nd like the email they sent out yesterday mantioned.

 

[Om ma Ni]

We’ll see if he can give me an answer. It’s the only option when on UPS.com that is even relatively close to what he mention on the invoice so I’m assuming I’m right.

Now I need to find a box that’s the right size. The original shipping box disappeared from my house somehow, but to keep shipping costs down I need to track something down that is much closer to the actual dimensions of the A16. Also does anyone know how much the 2U unit actually weighs?

Asking regarding the UPS price bc when i tried to get a quote on their website it was around the 200 USD for me...to just send it to them in UK..one way..
So when i heard from you that it s only 68 USD for both ways?..it s a huge difference..

 

[You Gene]

I hear you. A huge upside is the fact that the A16 has now been shown to be upgradable without having to buy a whole new unit. Having to spend (another)$4k in order to get a significant upgrade would really suck. I anticipate that somewhere down the line there will be a hardware upgrade available for HDMI 2.1(or whatever HDMI version exists in the not too too far off future). I’m totally cool with that and will cross that bridge one way or another if and when the Smyths make that announcement. I just hope that they stay in business, fulfill their Kickstarter and pre-order commitments, get the Realiser Exchange up and running, and eventually get around to obtaining DTS-X and Auro 3D certification(and yes, asynchronous measurement capability would also be nice!).

Talking about cash flow problems :
- We all know that license fees will have to be paid.
- Smyth Research Ltd is now recently registered as a Dolby licensee :
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/professional/licensing/licensed-dolby-manufacturers.aspx#S
- DTS is now almost ( ?) upon us : new license fees will also have to be paid.

And in his last Kickstarter update of 11th March 2020, James said :
…we have had to postpone our ongoing firmware updates and general development for now…
Did he also mean DTS, Auro 3D, etc. ?

I hope I am not being overly pessimistic. I still have a recurring dream about having it all as promised initially...

 

[Got the Shakes]

Asking regarding the UPS price bc when i tried to get a quote on their website it was around the 200 USD for me...to just send it to them in UK..one way..
So when i heard from you that it s only 68 USD for both ways?..it s a huge difference..

Not both ways, it looks like it's the equivalent of $68 one way when picking a return shipment, using an 18" x 10" x 6" shipping box, and guessing that it's a 10lb shipment (I'm not sure what the actual weight is). When you choose a return shipment it makes you enter everything in metric instead of imperial and spits out a price in British Pounds instead U.S. Dollars. I declared a value of 3300 British Pounds with is a little more than $4,000 U.S. and that appears to insure it for that value as well best I can tell.

 

[Dixter]

Ok... I just paid for the mods via Paypal... all is good so far... I guess in a way we all are depending on each other a bit as James indicated they plan on modding all at once when they get them "all"... he said payment due by April 19 per the invoice... April 19 is a Sunday... so I'm kinda thinking about sending the unit to them on Monday April 20 ??? that way they should get it the week of April 20... does that sound right for everyone... open to ideas on getting them there....

 

[Got the Shakes]

Ok... I just paid for the mods via Paypal... all is good so far... I guess in a way we all are depending on each other a bit as James indicated they plan on modding all at once when they get them "all"... he said payment due by April 19 per the invoice... April 19 is a Sunday... so I'm kinda thinking about sending the unit to them on Monday April 20 ??? that way they should get it the week of April 20... does that sound right for everyone... open to ideas on getting them there....

I have not paid my invoice yet, but I am going to move forward with the full modification. I was planning on shipping April 20 or April 21 at the latest which I think will get it there by the end of the week using UPS at least. And I think UPS is who I'm going to use because I'll likely still be working from home in a few weeks and I can schedule them picking the box up from my house.

 

[VandyMan]

I sent my A-16 back for repair on March 1st. It took about 3.5 weeks to arrive at Smyth. I sent it via USPS from a local mailbox store (not the best prices), and it cost me about $150. IIRC, that included full insurance.

 

[Got the Shakes]

I sent my A-16 back for repair on March 1st. It took about 3.5 weeks to arrive at Smyth. I sent it via USPS from a local mailbox store (not the best prices), and it cost me about $150.

That's about the price I got from USPS when quoting them. Unless I'm really missing something, UPS is going to be the way to go for under $70 and it says if it ships on a Monday it will be delivered by Friday of the same week.