Rockwell Model T

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by Sabre, Mar 16, 2018.

  1. DanielB

    DanielB Member

    Back in September...
    Hmm.. I just noticed that back in late September, YouTube shaver Donald Younger (WetTheFace) posted a follow-up video to his original Model T unboxing/review video because although his original Model T was without issue, he too received a 2nd Model T package (presentation box, razor, blades, sheath), unannounced.

    He tells his viewers that the 2nd razor was sent because Rockwell wanted to replace all potentially flawed 2-piece T-bar Model Ts. If true, that would be GREAT customer service — though a somewhat unnecessarily costly thing to do seeing as the Model T is able to be user-dismantled and the T-bar swapped out, so only that part (and replacement instructions) really ought to have been sent. However, Rockwell has never publicly (read: to all backers) stated that they were doing this and as you know, jwr3265, never included a note with the surprise replacement razor package to explain why they were sending it.

    Donald mentions and reads from what he calls "a letter" from Rockwell which he says explains everything; he even posts a printed copy of it at the end of the video for viewers' benefit. However, in the Description area of his video, he writes that he received it as an email and it is clear to me as a fellow backer that this is simply the "September Update [2/2]" sent out to all backers per regular communications... and is not therefore a courtesy email, as he seems to purport it to be. In any case, it absolutely does NOT say that replacement razors have been sent out to all who received an early production model.

    My point is that I'd like to believe that your wonky original (which was a 2-piece T-bar, for sure) was replaced with a 2-piece T-bar razor, and then when Rockwell realized that the 2-pieces were inherently flawed, they preemptively sent you a 1-piece to replace it.

    The only wrinkles in this theory are that to date I've only seen TWO reports of unneeded (surprise) replacement razors and member Terry Williams has an early 2-piece and I don't remember him ever saying he received a 2nd razor. I'll ask him in his review thread.

    EDIT/UPDATE: Terry confirms there that he did NOT receive a 2nd razor, despite having an early 2-piece T-bar. So, Donald was wrong, and we are still clueless why Rockwell sent out unannounced extra razors to some backers.
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2018
    brit, PatrickA51 and Tdmsu like this.
  2. Spang

    Spang Member

    The spin gets more and more ridiculous. Here is Rockwell's official response to the "empty box caper":

    " We're currently approaching this as a case of potential theft by the service provider who picks up packages from the fulfillment warehouse."

    Huh? So think about this: they're saying that some courier picked up the parcels, opened them up, took out all the packaging, opened the presentation boxes, removed the razor, then put everything else back together, in order, taped up the shipping boxes and then proceeded to place them into the shipping system. I'm sure this happened right after the dog ate their homework.

    I think these guys have finally lost it. This campaign has been utterly inept from the start, and Rockwell has never been willing to come clean about all of the delays and, especially, what has happened to the more than $600k they raised. But this whopper really takes the cake.

    Of course, ever decisive Rockwell has swung into action and told the burned backers that they "have executed a full investigation." I'm not reassured.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
  3. DanielB

    DanielB Member

    As you know from reading their Comments section, that was my interpretation too, and I'd already asked them to confirm if that was indeed an accurate interpretation. (The only other thing I can think it may have meant is that the courier entered the fulfillment warehouse, found the Rockwell stock and pilfered razors from Model T presentation boxes prior to their being packing into shipping cartons).

    I can't reply to my own comment in their Comments section but someone should post under my post and ask Rockwell to post a copy of the police report.
    :lyrtuy5:

    Then I can reply to that and ask if the number of empty box reports is roughly equal to the number of unrequested extra razors shipped out to some backers.
    :rofl:
     
    brit likes this.
  4. Jim Bennett

    Jim Bennett Member

    Why not steal the whole damn box, blades and all? Their explanation doesn't make any sense.
     
  5. DesertTime

    DesertTime Well-Known Member

    It's been awhile since I heard anything about the Model T. Last I read, delivery to all backers was to complete this month. Have most folks received their razor? How is it?
     
  6. korbz

    korbz Active Member

    New update this morning. Looks like they never ordered all the t-bars back in Sept like they said, and now there’s more delays. Might see it Easter 2019


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  7. PatrickA51

    PatrickA51 Well-Known Member

    I am beginning to think they are full of S##t like Christmas Goose. (that was one of my Uncle favorite sayings he was a member of the Great Generation made the Bataan Death March and spent WWII in a Japanese POW Camp) (they are dying) at a rate of about 3 a day) I read the update that they posted this morning. More BS
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2018
  8. Spang

    Spang Member

    Yes, the latest update on the Model T from Rockwell reads like yet more shuck and jive. The good news is that after much haranguing by backers they did actually provide, sort of, a time certain for fulfillment of all pledges. The bad news is that this new time line reneges on the September update wherein they stated that all pledges would be fulfilled by the end of the year. Citing a series of dog-ate-my-homework excuses, they are now saying it will be the first of March for completion. If you are a backer who selected either the gunmetal or (especially) the brushed chrome finish, I would not hold my breath. So far, Rockwell has not been even remotely close to meeting any of their stated deadlines. The extensive equivocating in this latest update does not inspire confidence.
     
    DesertTime likes this.
  9. DesertTime

    DesertTime Well-Known Member

    I read the report after @korbz mentioned it. I think February/March would be very optimistic. According to their own words, they still haven't completed the Chrome deliveries, they have around 2000 gunmetal and I would imagine a large number of brushed chrome. So they may be about half way there (if you can believe anything these guys say).

    And like they never thought about the holiday season shutdown?

    I read through recent comments and they've been assuring folks as recently as a couple of weeks ago that they were on schedule for December completion. They didn't know two weeks ago they'd miss the mark by several thousand?
     
    Spang likes this.
  10. PatrickA51

    PatrickA51 Well-Known Member

    It keeps getting deeper and deeper! What is that saying ? "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we try to deceive?
     
  11. PatrickA51

    PatrickA51 Well-Known Member

    I have about had it with Kickstarter and Rockwell Razors I posted a comment and got a snarky reply from some one
    Savinien43 minutes ago
    @ Patrick : maybe they don't post ont because it's none of your business, as long as replacement are send to every Backer nedding it?



    So much drama for a late KS...
    This was my post
    PatrickA51about 17 hours ago
    Why not post a copy of a Police Report?



    Spang said: ↑

    The spin gets more and more ridiculous. Here is Rockwell's official response to the "empty box caper":



    " We're currently approaching this as a case of potential theft by the service provider who picks up packages from the fulfillment warehouse."



    Huh? So think about this: they're saying that some courier picked up the parcels, opened them up, took out all the packaging, opened the presentation boxes, removed the razor, then put everything else back together, in order, taped up the shipping boxes and then proceeded to place them into the shipping system. I'm sure this happened right after the dog ate their homework.

    As you know from reading their Comments section, that was my interpretation too, and I'd already asked them to confirm if that was indeed an accurate interpretation. (The only other thing I can think it may have meant is that the courier entered the fulfillment warehouse, found the Rockwell stock and pilfered razors from Model T presentation boxes prior to their being packing into shipping cartons).



    I can't reply to my own comment in their Comments section but someone should post under my post and ask Rockwell to post a copy of the police report.

    :lyrtuy5:



    Then I can reply to that and ask if the number of empty box reports is roughly equal to the number of unrequested extra razors shipped out to some backers.

    :rofl:
     
  12. Spang

    Spang Member

    Yes, I agree with all of the above. Also, while the update includes a guesstimated time frame for delivery of the gunmetal and brushed chrome finishes, there is no indication as to how many of the white chrome razors have actually been produced and shipped to date. The implied (but unstated) message is that the white chromes are all completed and shipped. But, of course, no actual numbers are provided, which is SOP for these guys. For all we know, there could still be white chromes, perhaps many, yet to be produced and shipped. I guess we'll see come March.
     
    PatrickA51 and DesertTime like this.
  13. DesertTime

    DesertTime Well-Known Member

    I don't want to cut and paste their actual report, but in the third paragraph they state that brushed chrome and remaining white chrome razors will likely start shipping January.

    It remains unclear if this pertains to just Kickstarter or if Go is included. My guess is this just covers the Kickstarter because of their pledge not to ship Go until all KS backers have received their "rewards."

    They also state that gunmetal will start shipping the end of December, but the factories will be closed for the holiday, so who knows what that means.
     
    PatrickA51 and Spang like this.
  14. Spang

    Spang Member

    Assuming Rockwell can meet their current estimate of delivery of all Model T pledges by March, that will be three years after the launch of the campaign, and exactly two years past their originally promised delivery date of March of 2017. Here is what Rockwell had to say upon the launch of the Model T campaign:

    "This isn’t our first rodeo - we’ve successfully delivered on a Kickstarter before, and we’re going into this with much more experience and a little wiser. We’ve confirmed all our dimensions and manufacturability, with multiple options, well in advance of launching this campaign. We are extremely confident in our ability to deliver the high quality Model T you expect, and in delivering it on time. That being said, there are some crazy, unexpected things that can happen in manufacturing and shipping that could delay you receiving your Rockwell Model T. We’ve accounted for these possibilities, and others, in our current timeline. We don’t expect delays in delivering the Model T ..."

    Given what we have seen in the conduct of this campaign, I find the bravado of this pitch nothing short of breathtaking. What is truly unbelievable is that this snake-oil sales pitch is still up on the Model T KS site.
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2018
    Str8on2, Zed117, brit and 2 others like this.
  15. PatrickA51

    PatrickA51 Well-Known Member

    I wonder how long it will be, before Garth drowns?
     
    brit likes this.
  16. Spang

    Spang Member

    In the comments section over on the RR KS site, there are yet more recent reports from backers who have received empty boxes. More than a month has passed since this "empty box syndrome" was first reported, and this is still happening? To date, Rockwell has offered no clear statement as what actually happened in these cases. So much for Rockwell's "full investigation".
     
    brit likes this.
  17. Spang

    Spang Member

    For those still hanging in there, there is a new update up on the RR Model T KS site. It consists mostly of some photos of an assembled gunmetal finish Model T and an elaborate description of the assembly process for the Model T. They make this sound like a cross between rocket science and brain surgery, seemingly in an attempt to justify why it will take so long to get these razors out the door. Apparently the parts for the gunmetal finish razors just arrived to the assembly location in Canada and they now say that the first gunmetal razors should start shipping after Christmas and then, after their 2-week holiday shutdown, on into January. They say the brushed chrome will start to ship "... in January", but no details on exactly when or even if they have received the parts yet. I assume not, since there are no pics of the brushed chrome. RR claims they will meet their latest deadline of fulfilling all pledges "by February" which I take to mean the 1st of March. We'll see.

    I do find it strange that RR is just now receiving from their manufacturer the parts that are needed to fulfill pledges received more than two and a half years ago. This fact fuels my suspicion that the RR boys managed to burn through the $620k they raised in short order and have since had cash flow issues paying their suppliers. There has obviously been plenty of incompetence in the conduct of this campaign, but even given that, I wonder why they are still waiting on parts from their primary supplier after this long. One possibility: suppliers don't supply if they aren't getting paid.
     
  18. Jim Bennett

    Jim Bennett Member

    That would explain why I got the email today offering a special deal on a 6C. They're hemorrhaging cash and need to pay creditors. I see a bankruptcy on their horizon.
     
    Zed117 and PatrickA51 like this.
  19. luv2shave

    luv2shave Active Member

    I have been a backer too for the past years / months. I've now mostly moved on to SE razors and don't find this project worth waiting for anymore; the wait has made the razor loose it's bite and only barks remain which are more whines.

    I can use the money for SE razors from the good old days ! I've written to Rockwell to refund me on two razors I backed. Will keep you folks updated on how it goes.

    Sent from my MI MAX using Tapatalk
     
  20. PatrickA51

    PatrickA51 Well-Known Member

    They posted more BS :angry021::angry019: today. I guess They say mid January now they will start shipping. :angry019: I think with as many people that are waiting for these they should work up until 24 dec. and then start up again on the 26th until the 31. But they have their money and how many people bought these and paid for them in in 2017 more BS :angry019:
     

Share This Page