[maxklein]

This is pissing me off more and more. How do I know that these "premium" features are not the actual features that I want? They may just give me the bare minimum, and since I already invested $50, they now try to squeeze more money out of me by withholding the good stuff.

Tell me this stuff before you make me pre-order. Let me be aware what I am getting into. I thought that the hardware is what you pay for, and the website and all awesome upgrades would be free. But it seems the hardware is just the entry ticket, then they will do the usual - premium, solo, business bullshit to try to make me pay them $99 a month or whatever.

This is bullcrap, and I feel it is dishonest marketing. I would not be pissed off if they just asked me to put my email on a list. But they asked me to give then $5! Then turn around and stab me in the back. No, I don't want your product anymore.

When I give you money, we have entered into a very different kind of relationship, and you have given me the right to get pissed off about you and complain on the internet.

[teej]

The negative tone in this thread is incredibly out of character of Hacker News. What happened to civility?

If you have a problem with the way they handled these delays, I can understand. Getting delayed -sucks- and getting a crappy response sucks worse. It reminds me of dealing with airlines - they already have my money and can't manage to give me a straight answer.

But please consider giving these guys a break. Hardware is hard! It's a delicate balance between software and electrical engineers. You can't avoid outsourcing production - a process that's hard to manage for cost and quality standards. You don't just hack a site over a weekend and go from there. It takes tons of planning and lots of risks. It is not easy.

If you don't like it, at least give them the benefit of common curtesy. Email them sternly and politely and request your money back. Problem solved.

[maxklein]

You know why I'm harsh now? Because this is just a small community. They are dealing with a mass-market product - if they discover the things that piss off customers now, they will know better how to do things in the future.

Yes, hardware is hard, but if you coddle a business then it will grow in expectancy that things will just fall in their lap. They made a serious mistake - it annoys me, and I'm telling them. If they think that I am wrong for saying my opinion, then they will repeat the mistake and they will piss off more customers that way.

I was really really a big fan of their approach when they launched. But they fucked it up. They did something wrong, and because they belong to this community, we could pat them on the back and say - oh you'll do better next time - but the customers do not belong to this community. The customers don't give a shit who YC or PG are, all they know is this same feeling I am feeling now. And they will convey the same impression to their friends, other potential customers.

WakeMate is not launching a new concept. They are entering a market with established competitors. They need some tough love, because they just played bad with their greatest asset.

Their greatest asset is the fact that they have a direct line to the early adopter community, through this site and through the YC program. This social network is what they can use to leapfrog over competition. Apart from that, they have little compared to FitBit and others.

If they mess with their core advantage, people have to let them know. There HAS to be a negative tone so that they know they fucked up. If we are all nice and dandy, then they will merrily go on whistling down the road till they discover that the cliff started a few steps back.

They fucked up. I am angry. I am communicating this to them, so that they know how what they did makes their customers feel.

If you feel it is not neccessary to communicate this to them, then it is you doing them a disservice.

[daleharvey]

you have implied that they lied about ever having a product and that their company is falling apart behind the scenes because their shipping was delayed and mentioned they have premium features. both of which I think everyone expected anyway.

I dont think they announced their premium stuff in the best way, but you went well past the stage of giving constructive advice, or "tough love"

[lanstein]

Whoever came up with this email should employ the George Costanza tactic - take your instincts, and do (write) the opposite.

[lanstein]

Exactly. Also, for many people, it's not the $5 or $50, it's that they were really looking forward to using the product because they wake up tired every morning. That to me is the issue, the trivial amount of money customers paid up front is not.