...because dear, we had 1,000 QCX-mini
orders in under 4 days. And by now we have 1,300
orders in the first 2 weeks of December, compared to
a normal order volume of around 500 a month, and a
previous record of 832 orders in August 2017, the
month the original QCX made its debut.
...and then taking 1,000 QCX-mini orders
is just the start. Soon after that, 200 emails come
in from people who made a mistake in their haste and
want to change their order.
I ordered 30m, I meant to click 40m, can
you change it for me?
I forgot to add the TCXO I meant to
click.
I forgot to click on the enclosure.
I clicked on the enclosure AS WELL AS
added it separately, I don't want two.
I clicked all over the place and ordered
all kinds of things I didn't intend to.
I clicked hardly anywhere and didn't get
half of what I wanted.
I changed my mind about changing the
band to 40m, can you change it back to 30m?
I don't see the transaction on my credit
card statement can you check?
The bank charged me twice.
I didn't get a confirmation email and
I've never heard of spam filters.
I've changed my mind again, actually I
really do want 40m, change it one last time.
The dog ate my telephone and I need
funds to buy a new one, please cancel.
I forgot how to spell my name and typed
the wrong thing in the order form.
My telephone number isn't what I said it
was.
etc etc.
...and then eventually when you start to
finally manage to ship some, another 250 emails:
I received my shipment notification
email yesterday, why does it still say collecting?
TNT estimated delivery today but it still says
collecting.
How long do you think it will take?
How long will it take?
When will you deliver my ASSEMBLED
QCX-mini order?
Why is it coming via USPS from Missouri?
etc etc.
...and after another day elapses, then
the next 450 emails start:
Why haven't you shipped my order yet, is everything
OK?
When are you going to ship my order?
How are you going to send my kit?
What if I change address in 5.313 days
from now, can you route it to the new place?
My order ID is NNNNN, where am I in
line?
I ordered in the first 4 minutes, why
hasn't my order shipped yet?
Etc etc.
...meanwhile, since all the kits were
sold out in under 4 days, fun fun it's time to start
buying kits for another batch. And all the other
kits which also ran out, or almost ran out, because
people ordered them alongside their kits. Of course,
it's nearly Christmas and nobody wants to do
anything. Some suppliers are now out of stock.
Nobody can ship anything anywhere because all the
planes are full.
Etc etc.
...and then, just about when you started
to give up on ever catching up on the volume of
email flooding your inbox, a few people started to
receive their kit and actually build it, and when
they finished, hey they manage to smoke it. Not that
I ever did in building or dev or testing but hey,
there are more than one of them so it pays to take
it seriously even if it is midnight and you were
just about to go to sleep already. So figure out a
solution to that. And then eventually 4.5 hours
later, finally lay in bed mulling over the
situation. And wondering if it really might have
been a good idea all those years back to do an
Electrical Engineering degree at university rather
than Physics, so maybe you'd know something about
how rubbish SMD capacitors could be. But then on the
other hand you've never met an EE yet, or a Comp Sci
major, who knew their posterior from their elbow,
let alone what to do with either, so what hope is
there that they'd know anything about SMD capacitors
anyway? With all due apologies to the assembled EE
and Comp Sci masses in the current audience, no
offence intended, the opinions expressed herein may
not be representative of the management, etc etc. I
am merely relating what passed through my 98%
delirious mind just before sleep finally took over,
for a whole 10 minutes until the tinest cutest lab
tech decided he'd been asleep a whole hour and who
needs to sleep more than 1 hour at a time anyway?
Sleep is grossly overrated by all those grown-ups.
Zzzzz....
Ladies and Gentlemen, in summary:
YOUR PATIENCE WOULD BE APPRECIATED
