Strooder : officially becoming a failure ?
It had been smelling bad for a long time (and I'm not talking about ABS fumes either), but now it does look like they really can't BS anyone anymore. Most of the things reported here had been pointed out already but were never adressed by the kickstarter campaign creators. The facts regarding the university are something new however.
Will there be any response and reaction from Kickstarter ? I'm voting for a NO.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ament/comments
Quote:
Lothar Il y a environ 1 heure
I got this via a personal channel and would like to share this.
Make your own opinion about the facts.
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Seen that you're a backer of Strooder and just wanted to anonymously share some data with you about Strooder and Omni Dynamics.
I didnt back the Kickstarter so can't put comments there but I work with these people and feel that someone needs to do/say something that can be released onto the Kickstarter comments section (and shared with the Kickstarter staff) as these individuals should be permanently banned from doing business.
As you know it's now 2 years since launch day and whilst their intentions seemed initially good they are a toxic combination of complete business and technical ineptitude mixed in with a big helping of delusion. They are part of the BRL (Bristol Robotics Lab) technology incubator, however this is more of a life support machine for them now, and has been for some time. They have been there now for 3 years (normal max stay is 6 months to a year), indefinitely delaying completing the final years of their degrees to do Strooder. The only reason they are being allowed to do this, is because they were the first member of the technology incubator at the BRL and so it would look bad on the whole BRL technology incubator program if they were allowed to fail. Hence they are being allowed to continue to operate in this way, continuing to pile up debts and bad feeling as they go. They are consistently exploiting people and owe money to a huge number of people within the BRL. They are also some of the laziest people I have ever met (they spend more of their time at the pub and on Netflix than actually in the BRL and even when they are in most of time they are doing other pointless things, faffing around or coming up with other new product ideas, rather than working on Strooder). Core to their success at screwing people over is their directors' ability to bullshit to a level I have never seen before (and truly believe their own bullshit).... This is how they sucker in new interns, employees and buyers when they know full well they will never be able to pay them or deliver a product. The sad thing is, that the good name of the BRL is what they are using to bolster their continuous delusional claims, dragging the BRL name down with them. I would recommend everyone on Kickstarter calling Jill who is listed on this web page and voicing their concerns -
http://www.brl.ac.uk/businessengagem...ncubation.aspx
She's the head of the BRL tech incubator and if enough people call she may actually put some pressure on them.
As to the product... As well as being mostly obsolete due to the falling cost of extruded filament, in my experience with electronics and mechanics, it is completely unsafe. There are no safety mechanisms built in whatsoever and I do not feel comfortable these being shipped without telling someone. The electronics work is basically bodge work and the original engineer who was contracted on some of the electronics (a very good engineer) is now distancing himself from them so as not to be held liable for any of the rest of the team's bodge work. They have not been tested for EMC or safety compliance or even been run in a controlled environment for long periods of time. As to the quality of the filament, their claims are ridiculous also. The open hopper allows dust and dirt to get into the filament and there is no cleaning mechanism for the pellets meaning that when you actually print with it the 3D printer nozzle gets clogged up so regularly with dust and dirt it is unusable and a fire hazard. They are so delusional however that they do not care, or even think about these things, despite advice from others to that effect. It also seems apparent that they are making 50 devices and sending 40 to reviewers and only 10 to backers...a complete joke by any measure but probably a good thing as hopefully the reviewers will quickly realise they are tat and bin them before any safety issues arise. Also, they are so expensive to produce that they will have to sell 3 units to pre order backers to send an additional one to a backer. Meaning they need to do 900+ pre orders (£200k) in order to fulfill the Kickstarter alone!
Take a look at their company here -
https://www.endole.co.uk/company/08403948/omnidynamics-ltd…
As you can see they are in £87k of debt. They are always talking about investors. At one point I've overheard them talking about floating their company on the stock market with a value of 10 million GBP! Haha. It's so ridiculous it is almost funny, but then I didn't waste hundreds of dollars on their vaporware. Once again, they are so delusional that they think is in their best interests to go to trade shows and events discussing a product they don't even have any of to sell, and try to attract investors in a company that is circling the drain plug... Nobody in their right mind, doing even the smallest amount of due diligence, would invest in them.
At this point, they are completely insolvent, and should be put immediately into administration. I would recommend reporting them here -
https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov...Complaint.aspx
I appreciate that them becoming insolvent doesn't help you get your product or money back but I can tell you that there is no possible way they will able to deliver on this project, and even if they did I would not be comfortable with the thought of people actually using these unsafe devices in their homes. And as you can see they have already wasted all the money. For anyone in the UK I would recommend speaking to a lawyer about the potential for a class action lawsuit, or at the very least starting a small claims court claim (http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk ) to try and get their money back, or at least get county court judgements against the company and its directors.
I think it is about time that they are stopped in their tracks, before they steal more and more of other people's money and possibly lives.
Best,
A concerned onlooker
Grain of salt for the undecided...
I actually assume it is all correct from their viewpoint. But life is far more complicated and there are multiple sides to any argument. It could have been this person could have jumped in and led them to success. It is very easy to sling mud. It is much tougher to make it into a nice sculpture.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Roxy
Well, it could be a disgruntled funder too. They are 2 years late. Its obvious who ever wrote this doesn't like the company. But with that said, I'm glad I didn't "invest" in them!
Roxy, I switched from MBL to ABL, whew MBL hugs a messed up printbed much better. ABL can G29 for every print. (I did make a bunch of changes to MBL though...) Anyways... Quit playing around reading and not building the ultimate MBL! (See, it's on-topic!):p
