[kh36267]

Could it get any worse? Realiser was due yesterday. I have just received notification from UPS that they've begun a "lost package" investigation.

if it's any consolation, i'm in the same boat. my upgraded unit was due last Monday the 13th.....but never made it to my local UPS facility. they are pursuing a 'lost package' investigation.

the odd thing is that my original shipment last August also got lost and had to undergo an investigation. in that situation, they said that the label got separated from the package during shipment.

 

[Got the Shakes]

if it's any consolation, i'm in the same boat. my upgraded unit was due last Monday the 13th.....but never made it to my local UPS facility. they are pursuing a 'lost package' investigation.

the odd thing is that my original shipment last August also got lost and had to undergo an investigation. in that situation, they said that the label got separated from the package during shipment.

When my A16 got delivered last week in the span of a few hours UPS said my package was delayed because of a vehicle malfunction, then it teleported 500 miles to an UPS facility 30 minutes later. Tracking never showed it loaded on a truck, but it arrived at my house somehow. Then UPS demanded that I pay $39 in fees for them to drop it off (which I had actually paid a day earlier over the phone) and I had to make some phone calls to get that sorted. Bottom line is UPS has been a mess during the pandemic and I’m hoping for your sake that it’s just a simple clerical error and not your package actually being lost.

 

[kh36267]

When my A16 got delivered last week in the span of a few hours UPS said my package was delayed because of a vehicle malfunction, then it teleported 500 miles to an UPS facility 30 minutes later. Tracking never showed it loaded on a truck, but it arrived at my house somehow. Then UPS demanded that I pay $39 in fees for them to drop it off (which I had actually paid a day earlier over the phone) and I had to make some phone calls to get that sorted. Bottom line is UPS has been a mess during the pandemic and I’m hoping for your sake that it’s just a simple clerical error and not your package actually being lost.

For some reason, I was never charged any import fees, etc. last August when I received my initial A16 shipment......possibly due to it being lost for awhile and UPS was just focused on closing out the investigation.

Not sure what I'll face this time if/when they ever find the package. James did confirm that my shipment was fully-insured......which alleviates at least some of my concern....

 

[hadron70]

Could it get any worse? Realiser was due yesterday. I have just received notification from UPS that they've begun a "lost package" investigation.

if it's any consolation, i'm in the same boat. my upgraded unit was due last Monday the 13th.....but never made it to my local UPS facility. they are pursuing a 'lost package' investigation.

the odd thing is that my original shipment last August also got lost and had to undergo an investigation.

This is becoming scary. My unit is currently also lost during UPS shipment (a lost parcel investigation is running).

in that situation, they said that the label got separated from the package during shipment

I will notify James about a potential systematic problem with the shipping labels.

 

[Got the Shakes]

For some reason, I was never charged any import fees, etc. last August when I received my initial A16 shipment......possibly due to it being lost for awhile and UPS was just focused on closing out the investigation.

Not sure what I'll face this time if/when they ever find the package. James did confirm that my shipment was fully-insured......which alleviates at least some of my concern....

Last year when I initially received my A16 I actually had it held at a local UPS facility for pickup since there’s one close to my office. The guy at the counter specifically looked to see if I owed an fees, and said I was free and clear. Two weeks later I get a bill from UPS for $38. Last week on my return from upgrade shipment I get an email notice the day before delivery that I owe the same $38-$39 import fee. I call UPS to pay it ahead of time as to not delay delivery. The delivery driver shows up the next day with the package and claims he wasn’t notified of payment and couldn’t leave the package even though I had confirmation and a receipt. I had to call the UPS brokerage who then had to call the local UPS hub who then had to contact the driver to let him know he could deliver it and not collect payment.

What I have learned from the past year or so of dealing with various A16 shipments is that there’s no consistency with UPS and international shipments, no one seems to talk to each other, and international shipping with UPS in general is a nightmare. Hoping you and everyone else who is having issues see a speedy resolution that results in your A16s being found and delivered in one piece.

 

[Fox1977]

That's quite worrisome for a company like UPS... It's a good thing that shipping was handled by Smyth Research and not individually by each of you.

Retrofitting has been completed for nearly two weeks now, but still no news about resuming shipping for backers, nor any update coming so far...

 

[phoenixdogfan]

That's quite worrisome for a company like UPS... It's a good thing that shipping was handled by Smyth Research and not individually by each of you.

Retrofitting has been completed for nearly two weeks now, but still no news about resuming shipping for backers, nor any update coming so far...

The last report prior to the "lost package search" was on July 17 which said it left the facility in Newtownabby, UK. I would expect UPS to supply more detailed informaton (like "hey, it's on the plane", "hey they plane landed in Kennedy", "hey, it just cleared customs", "hey, it got loaded on a truck headed your way", "hey it's in a depot in your town", "hey it's on the delivery truck", "hey, we just dropped it off on your porch, and here's the photo to prove it"! What, man, What! Ps my final line got edited!

 

[Got the Shakes]

The last report prior to the "lost package search" was on July 17 which said it left the facility in Newtownabby, UK. I would expect UPS to supply more detailed informaton (like "hey, it's on the plane", "hey they plane landed in Kennedy", "hey, it just cleared customs", "hey, it got loaded on a truck headed your way", "hey it's in a depot in your town", "hey it's on the delivery truck", "hey, we just dropped it off on your porch, and here's the photo to prove it"! What, man, What!

I just went and checked the tracking from my delivery and there were 29 updates in the trip from the UK to my front porch...

 

[You Gene]

I just listened to a video interview of Gilles Gerin by Hugo (from HCFR) on the subject of the new upgrade ; but unfortunately exclusively in French :
https://www.homecinema-fr.com/reportage-hcfr-smyth-realiser-a16-mise-a-jour-hardware/

What interested me was the following comment by Gilles :
..."despite the rapid changing of the cards that was done physically recently, the Smyths needed 4 months of development to adapt the existing firmware and make it possible to handle 24 channels"...(5:03 on the video)

Let this be over soon and get on with it with the kickstarters...

 

[ivanrocks321]

This is crazy I’ve got a pre order for years, I have not been following this thread super close but have a few questions. Are they still stuck on Kickstarter orders? Are they shipping with the individual measurements if you got them during a demo event like canjam? Are these bugs with software or hardware issues? Thanks for any updates the thread is huge.

 

[Got the Shakes]

This is crazy I’ve got a pre order for years, I have not been following this thread super close but have a few questions. Are they still stuck on Kickstarter orders? Are they shipping with the individual measurements if you got them during a demo event like canjam? Are these bugs with software or hardware issues? Thanks for any updates the thread is huge.

I can answer at least the first two questions definitively. They are still shipping Kickstarter orders and actually they’ve been on pause with that since March. They are not shipping with the individual measurements, but supposedly they’ll be available for download once the Realiser Exchange website is up and running. My guess is that most of the bugs are software related, although there have been a handful of people who have had to send units back for repair because factory restores, rolling back firmware, etc didn’t fix their issues.

 

[ivanrocks321]

I can answer at least the first two questions definitively. They are still shipping Kickstarter orders and actually they’ve been on pause with that since March. They are not shipping with the individual measurements, but supposedly they’ll be available for download once the Realiser Exchange website is up and running. My guess is that most of the bugs are software related, although there have been a handful of people who have had to send units back for repair because factory restores, rolling back firmware, etc didn’t fix their issues.

also I’ve seen that the warranty is not transferable for at least one listing on a A16 put up for sale here is this policy only on Kickstarter units? I’m debating on canceling my order despite how impressive the demo was, reason being not just long delay but possible delay to the measurements for a website exchange as well and just general concerns about after sale service and repairs if needed.

 

[Got the Shakes]

also I’ve seen that the warranty is not transferable for at least one listing on a A16 put up for sale here is this policy only on Kickstarter units? I’m debating on canceling my order despite how impressive the demo was, reason being not just long delay but possible delay to the measurements for a website exchange as well and just general concerns about after sale service and repairs if needed.

All I know is that people here have confirmed that the warranty is not transferable, but I’m not sure if that on all units or just Kickstarter ones. I would assume it applies to all A16s, but you could probably email James at Smyth Research if you need to confirm.

 

[esimms86]

This is crazy I’ve got a pre order for years, I have not been following this thread super close but have a few questions. Are they still stuck on Kickstarter orders? Are they shipping with the individual measurements if you got them during a demo event like canjam? Are these bugs with software or hardware issues? Thanks for any updates the thread is huge.

I own a recently updated Kickstarter unit that was initially shipped out to me in January 2020 and reshipped to me this month after I paid for the upgrades. They've got a long way to go to be done with shipping Kickstarter units before next getting to the pre-orders. There are 330 Kickstarter backers but the Kickstarter numbers go into the 370's(375?) due to order cancellations inflating the numbers(e.g., if you cancelled Kickstarter order #330 then the next KS backer could be #331, with the ultimate number of backers still being 330). I believe that they are shipped up to KS backer 204, if that gives you an idea of where they're at. They also have to upgrade all of the current stock before resuming Kickstarter shipping and who knows how long that will take. I have no idea as to how many pre-orders there were, nor, obviously, do I know where you sit in the queue.

They have Dolby Atmos certification done but not Auro 3D or DTS, and they have put both of the latter on the back burner. Word is that the Realiser Exchange is coming soon but "soon" takes on a different meaning in the Smyth Research universe. Still, I expect/guess that the probability is overwhelmingly high that the Exchange with the Canjam PRIR's will be up and running long before any pre-orders are shipped out.

The Smyths have been generally pretty good about doing firmware upgrades and the A16 is an awesome piece of kit of you have your own PRIR. There's honestly nothing on the market that can do what it can but the decision of whether to continue waiting or to bail is up to you. I'd have to say that, based on SR's track record thus far, I don't realistically see any pre-orders shipping in 2020. If you have deep pockets and are willing, you can spend $4K to get an A16 shipped out to you pretty quickly but that is obviously also a personal issue, plus money is tight for most of us anyway in the pandemic. HTH.

 

[You Gene]

I also learnt from the video I mentioned today of Gilles (French importer) that the cards of the standing units are much more difficult to replace/install for the upgrade than the rackable units.
I am drawing no conclusions, just stating a fact.