Hello Felix,

I’ve covered the DAV production issues and 3PL debacle in the past and will just provide the TL;DR version here: DAV had unexpected issues with PCBs and production, which led to 3 redesigns. After many steps and headaches I had to take to set up the 3PL fulfillment, the company closed its doors and I had to rescue the product before the creditors limited access to the warehouse and staging area.

Some of you are aware of the rest of the situation in the background. I will provide the general picture without the details, and will probably cover it fully with someone trusted and reliable, if I see the need for it.  While working through development, production, fulfillment and support I've neglected a few critical signs that my body was trying to give me, and as result certain unrepairable damage happened. That resulted in a chain reaction of proportions I didn't expect. It started with something as small as high blood pressure, and ended in me fainting slightly and smashing my knee during fall, fracturing tibia and fibula and rapturing PCL. There were a few more steps in the process that I may not be comfortable to release in this update. Additionally, a close family member’s health turned to worse and the whole family and myself have to deal with it. With a slew of issues and very limited mobility I now have to take a step back and look at the whole situation critically.

Where I differ from many “fly by night” companies and individuals is that I always treat everyone with respect and take steps to prevent the worst case scenario for my clients. That included the plurality of the ODEs and interfaces I've developed for you. While you may think that the pre-order status meant that the pre-sale is needed to fund the production, it is far from the truth. The entire development process, prototypes and production was started before the pre-orders were even announced. Knowing all this I always stated and stayed behind my statements, that the cancellation, returns and refunds are always available as an option. However it backfired in a way I didn’t predict. Every day I have received, canceled and refunded orders. But every evening I had to reconcile the fulfillment sheets and that snowballed quickly. The reconciliation of each order takes not only “mark the order as canceled”, it also requires me to go box by box and remove the actual shipment, making me unable to start the process that day. Add the previous issues, that makes everything slower even more.

That brings me to the current situation. After taking a step back and looking at the situation critically, I made a decision to cancel ALL of the unshipped pre-orders and refund them in full to the original payment methods. After this action, I will take a little time to mend my health to an acceptable level, arrange a proper warehouse, staging area and shipping; launch new website with plethora of information; send samples to all my colleagues and people who want to review them; and finally; launch all of them as an ready to ship products. Not preorders, with all of them shipping on the same business day.

One important thing that I have to mention is that chargeback is your choice, and some of you have gone this route. I’ve accepted every chargeback request, canceled and marked the orders. However, effective from this announcement time, August 18th 2024, any new chargeback will be in direct violation of your card’s TOS. This announcement serves as indication of the steps I'm taking to rectify this situation. As such, any and all chargeback requests issued from this moment will be: accepted (you will get your money back), TOS violation reported and blacklisted from future purchases of my products and many other makers.

Finally, some of you will still receive the orders despite the refunds and cancellations they have received or will receive. It is up to those individuals what to do with the products. I will not be asking for return or payments. 

I will be available to answer questions live on Discord, just don't flood it, or it will be easy to miss your question. Few potential questions and answers you may have:

Q: When will you refund my pre-order?

A: As soon as humanly possible. I will be refunding them manually, daily, in batches, in accordance with the ordering date. I will start the process early next week (The week of August 19th 2024).

Q: When will I receive my money?

A: It depends on your bank. Sometimes I will have to contact the individual to process the refund, those cases will add slight delays. As practice shows the fastest case was a few seconds, the slowest was 10 business days. You will receive refund confirmation. If you didn’t receive the refund after 10 business days, use tracking info from the refund confirmation to contact your bank.

Q: I want your product, don’t cancel my order.

A: I will post the google form, where you can submit your request to be removed from the cancellation wave. 

Q: I want proof pics. Now! When? Where?

A: While I have a full set of documentation describing the situation, they will only be used in a legal environment, should I have to defend myself. Product pictures and videos will be available before the store re-launch. Some will have review units as well, and promised to post the reviews. I will be hosting a few livestreams once my health permits and maybe some q&a sessions. 

Q: Does it apply to xPort and FZ1 ODEs as well?

A: Yes. I’ve held sales of those. Will relaunch with the new store.

Q: 3DO R6 When?

A: In due time. 3DO was and is my primary interest and I will not abandon it. In fact, some downtime will help me to get to it faster.

I'm available on my email (just reply to this email), Discord.