Soloshot3. Soloshot "Fully expects" shipping before end of MARCH 2017

[J-Lu]

[QUOTE=demidq;8943606]
I second the question of why on earth don’t you cancel the order and get a refund instead of complaining? Clearly this company has violated it’s contract with you with this delay, and doesn’t sound as if it is getting things together anytime soon. I can pretty well guarantee that someone else somewhere fairly soon will come up with a similar camera, and maybe for less![/QUOTE]

I’m not convinced this is true. And I don’t think that we “investors” know enough about the company to project their solvency and I don’t think there is a competitor on the market right now.

I complain because I want the product more than the refund. Right now. It’s my right to complain about a product that I want that isn’t being delivered. Others should know that the product is still deep into beta testing and isn’t about to be shipped, and that’s something that us pre-order people can confirm that the company isn’t so willing to publicly state.

[Color_of_Light]

[QUOTE=J-Lu;8943818]
I’m not convinced this is true. And I don’t think that we “investors” know enough about the company to project their solvency and I don’t think there is a competitor on the market right now.

I complain because I want the product more than the refund. Right now. It’s my right to complain about a product that I want that isn’t being delivered. Others should know that the product is still deep into beta testing and isn’t about to be shipped, and that’s something that us pre-order people can confirm that the company isn’t so willing to publicly state.[/QUOTE]

Everything that she said! :yes:

[SnicklefritzG]

How does the Pixio compare?

[seabreeze]

Bumping this up for the folks in the Eventing and Dressage forums who were talking about this same topic.

[tarmakin]

Hi there,

recently I posted a video to youtube to help generate some internet exposure to Soloshot and their practices. Feel free to check it out and comment. I had a convorsation with Soloshot last year where they verbally confirmed to me that yes in fact the preorders were used to generate the funding for the development of the Soloshot 3.

Here is the link ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vReM1065E74

[Altermyne]

great vid, tarmakin.

who has a pixio? Do you like it?

[Crockpot]

There’s a lot more than simply Beta testing going on behind this whole thing. I kept tabs on this and pre-orders were supposed to first ship in March, then May, then July. It’s now November and they’re still offering the pre-order discount! This is just bad business all the way around to take people’s money with a basically open-ended date on delivery?? That’s just nuts.

And yet people are believing the latest projected release date.Why?

Good luck.

[Snowdenfarm]

I have a slightly different take on this. I also placed a preorder, at a 50% discount, back in September of 2015. I do have a SoloShot2 which I love and is keeping me happy in the meantime.

I assumed that a preorder with a small company, at a steep discount for a product with an extended delivery date, was to fund development – no surprise there. I did not expect it to take so long past the first delivery date to get the product, but kudos to them for not sticking us early supporters with a rushed-to-market, problem-riddled beta version.That happens often (I am looking at you, Apple) and you end up buying not only the first generation at full price, but the second generation at full price as well. By my math, SoloShot3 is only costing me 25% of most of my early adopter purchases.

[MR1]

I completely agree with Snowdenfarm. Maybe the messaging became unclear with later discounts, but I was also part of the initial 50% discount preorder. At that time, it was clear to me that I was investing in them developing a new product - that it didn’t exist yet. Just like Kickstarter (I’m pretty sure the original SoloShot 1 was the result of a Kickstarter campaign BTW). When I paid, it was clear that they didn’t have a final product, had only a guess on manufacturing/delivery timelines, and that our preorder $$ was funding their ability to move from initial R&D to production.

So, happy to support them - I love my SS2 and SS has amazing customer service! - and excited for when my SS3 finally arrives.

P.S. Update on manufacturing just sent out this evening - still on-track for shipping to start in March (first to the US distribution sites, then to the preorder customers - barring final “certifications”, which I assume to be import tax or some type of regulations).

[MR1]

P.P.S. Here’s a quick video from the SS CEO that was part of tonight’s update
https://youtu.be/Zsi4XyRgLjU

[SnicklefritzG]

I contacted them about the indoor accessory and they confirmed it won’t be shipping with the base. Apparently some key parts have been out of stock and will be for a while. They’ve found an alternate source however, so they are planning another update on the timing in the next week.

I just hope it works

[Elizi]

I feel this company has been intentionally dishonest repeatedly. I ordered Nov. 2015 as well. At the time there was footage supposedly of the product in action and a spring/summer 2016 expected ship date. It’s now March 2017 and still only excuses. I would never have ordered even for a discount if I had been told it would be over a year later and still no product. There is just no way they ever could have realisticaly met the dates they put out originally. Now I read former employee comments about the company on Glassdoor that basically confirm they were being unrealistic with customers and that some there make fun of their customers complaining about their behavior and failure to release the product in the time frame they stated. I would cancel but their tactic of always pushing the date just a few weeks or months ahead makes you feel like maybe it will come out and you would be silly having waited this long to cancel now and lose your prebuy discount. I think they do this intentionally. It is unfortunate that there is a similar product out that I could have purchased instead but since it required setting up three tracking beacons in the arena while the Soloshot wasn’t needing these to work I thought it would be the better choice. Our arena is often busy and I fear fiddling with set up like that of various components might be annoying to others. I could have been filming for the past year though with this other product if I had known this company was nowhere near ready with an actual product. I would advise anyone considering buying a Soloshot to not preorder but wait until they actually have a product that ships. I think if they are able to release a product the technology will appear in more options from other companies and my disgust with this company and its willingness to mislead their customers for their perceived gain makes me advise anyone to steer clear of them if there are other options. In general I would advise based on my experience to think twice about preorders, they appear to frequently not deliver on promises. Its been a popular tool lately for small companies to get money but many are selling an idea that doesn’t really exist as a working product that can be made into one in a reasonable time frame for most customers. They are sometimes misleading about this fact. For example, the Lily drone camera, people waited two years and now a class action lawsuit to try to get money back. Gnarbox, people waiting over a year now. The AR-1 helmet, the Glowforge printer, etc… never delivered products. I fear Soloshot should be added to this list. Be wary of preorders, they make it sound like they have products that are on the verge of shipment that are far from it.

[js]

Have any of you that preordered in 2015 asked for or gotten your money back? I would not have waited this long for any product, discount or not. I hope you all get your money back because at this point I don’t foresee this company ever producing the product you ordered. I hope you have also filed complaints with the BBB.

[Elizi]

Just wanted to update that I did get my money back from Soloshot for those that might wonder if it is a problem. After they pushed the date back again to mid June but the extra part required to enable tracking indoor now won’t be ready before next fall I gave up and cancelled. Upon receiving our cancellation request we were contacted by someone from Soloshot who did try to convince us not to cancel and offered a small amount more discount. We were honest that waiting over a year was beyond what we would have signed on for if we had known and we really did want a refund. The refund went through two days later. We ordered a Pixio robotic tracker for cameras instead and received it three days after placing the order. It looks great but we haven’t had a chance to test it out riding yet.

[Cowgirl]

Elizi, please let us know how you like your Pixio. I just canceled my preorder today: same experience, offered me an additional 5% discount to stay on. The thing is that I no longer believe their spiel. I don’t think the indoor accessory will be ready by June. I think you are looking to the end of the year, at minimum for that. The indoor functionality is the reason I ordered it. Also, the Pixio has a much further indoor range than the Soloshot3 is predicted to have. You can video your entire test. I want it to help me to work on a freestyle and so the Soloshot3 wouldn’t really work for that anyway as the range is “up to” 100 feet.

The last time I worked on a Freestyle, btw, I just set up a video camera on a tripod far enough away to get the entire arena. It basically worked.

[Elizi]

We tried the Pixio this morning and I am quite happy with it. We didn’t fuss about with set up much. Set out the three beacons in configuration of instructions. I had someone watch the viewfinder as I walked my horse and initially it was skewing at a slant tracking from left to right but we realized one of the tripod legs was subtly shorter so the camera wasn’t completely level. I spent maybe 10 minutes maximum setting up beacons, turning everything on, and then adjusting tripod to level. After that it tracked fine. It kept us in the frame completely and followed us fine the whole ride. We were very slightly left of center but always completely in frame, I will have to look at refinements to make us dead center but honestly even if it always had us that just a bit left of center it would still be acceptable to me. I didn’t mess with trying to set the amount of zoom for our first test run so at the far end of the arena we were a bit more zoomed out than what would be ideal to me. But I think the instructions said this is adjustable by standing what you are tracking at the far end and then zooming the camera in to the amount you wish and then it will keep that default. The green lights on the beacons were bright in the indoor and the camera movement and quiet whirring sound on the Pixio were the hardest parts of using it as it took me several passes to master the basics of riding correct corners on my spook monster who didn’t want to go anywhere near the beacons or camera. She adjusted to them though and a few more rides it will be nonissue but it is something to be aware of if sharing the arena with other horses too. Also if your arena walls dont allow you to set the camera back from the arena a bit you will need to either turn a few feet before the end where camera is to stay fully in frame or accept you will ride too close to the camera in passing it for it to keep you full view. All in all it tracked great and it is super useful to review your whole rides yourself. Why am I staring at the top of her mane so much??? No one knows, least of all me but I will be more conscious of looking forward to where I am riding next time!

[andhourspass]

Bumping up this thread to see if anyone has received their SS3 yet… Mine is supposed to ship next week but I am ready to throw in the towel I think.

Elizi - do you still like your Pixio? Is there anything it doesn’t do or that you wish it did differently?

[WW_Queen]

My BO bought a pixio and I recently pre-ordered the SS3… if we can do a comparison at the end of the summer when the products have been delivered and tested I will post it!

[Altermyne]

bumping this up, anyone get theirs? It’s October now!

[SnicklefritzG]

They are shipping soon supposedly. Maybe even some this month. Yeah, I’ll believe that when it happens.

The indoor accessory won’t be available until 2018 though!!!