Kickstarter

Creator David Luong on April 5

Judging from the lack of comments on the recent 2 updates, I'd have say there is hardly any excitement for poor Twine. It seems to me what initial was "free" services from Twine is now turning into a "subscription-based" model which is such a shame to all backers (including me!) that contributed to the initial product launch. I would not pay anything near the market-selling price Supermechanical is charging after all the BS on delays, battery life, lack of functionality, pay-per-use fees, etc....that's my final 2 cents, I'm out.

Creator Jeffery Miller on April 5

You guys are not handling this well at supermechanical. Disappointing

Creator Jeffrey Satz on March 29

Selling mine at a discount for those interested. Original box and break out board sensor included. Send me a message

Creator Chris Anderson on March 28

Hey David, I'm still waiting on my twine and no response after sending a couple emails. Any chance you have a tracking number so I can track down the package?

Thanks!

Creator danny on March 22

selling mine. send me a message

Creator nu4an on March 19

Still no Twine for me. Anyone in Europe received his Twine?

Creator David Luong on March 15

Bought a used plain Twine (no sensors) for $35 USD off one of the original backers. I could use one more, please message me if interested.

Creator Larry McClenon on March 10

To the people having battery issues. Have you tried setting the twins up with a static IP address thus mitigating the need to ask the router for an ip everytime it checks in?

Creator Roro on March 3

Selling mine too. Leave me private message.

Creator Jeffrey Satz on March 2

I am wiling to sell mine. Send me a kickstarter message

Creator Bill Donnelly on February 23

David Luong - If I ever get mine, I'll sell it to you......

Creator Alex360 on February 15

Hey! I got my Twine today.
Thank you from Germany :-)

Creator Bitslinger on February 12

I would be delighted to sell mine for the $115 I paid. I have been away so could only now respond. Is there a way to post to you privately on this system?

Twine sucks. The company sucks more, in my opinion. They just don't respond to inquiries, emails, etc. "Take the money and run." So, I would be thrilled to get my money back and sell mine. It was minimally used.

Creator Karel Gillissen on February 12

@David: you can have mine. I did not receive my Twine yet, but with the short battery life it will be useless for my use.
I sent a cancellation mail today to supermechanical, but had no response yet.
So if your friend wants to pay my kickstarter price, it is a matter of changing the address...

Creator David Luong on February 12

No response in 6 days from anybody on offers? Wow. I guess you all really love your Twine to let one go...still waiting if anybody is interested to sell.

Creator David Luong on February 6

My friend is in the market for a slightly used Twine and need to know any backers willing to sell theirs? Please let me know and leave a contact here on asking price.

Creator Phil Shen on February 4

Still waiting for my Twine, in China. Could anyone check for me?

Creator David Luong on January 30

Judging from the lack of comments here on the new v1.2 update, sounds like everybody has given up hope on this product. I had a quick laugh when they mentioned the new "fast mode"....as if our Twine lasts for months on a pair of AAA's...this mode will kill batteries in a few hrs, nevermind in days. On the plus side, the promised vibration function has finally arrived but in what usable state? Have to update tonight and hopefully it won't have too much quirks or bugs lurking in the software code.

Creator Bitslinger on January 25

The text on SuperMerchanical.com touting batter life lasting for months was at the very top, on the home page. They did a rather sloppy edit to remove the claim of lasting for months. I have a screen capture of the original text. On Kickstarter the claims continue.

I have asked repeatedly and have heard nothing from SuperMechanical. No claim they will fix the battery problem, no claim they will fix the missing functionality. No offer to refund money nor to honor the terms of the sale.

You should initiate chargebacks with your CDIF card company before it is too late. I suspect SuperMechanical is simply running the clock out until refunds are no possible.

I have not yet seen much to indicate that SuperMechanical operates ethically or responsibly, their total unwillingness to communicate should be worrisome.

So, how much did these devices actually cost to make? $20? So, this they just walk off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in a huge fraud scam?

Creator David Luong on January 23

My Twine has been sitting idle for a good 3 weeks - battery drained (calls "home" way too often), lack of functionality (specifically, rule sets and VIBRATION) and developer has been quiet in providing what they had promised. Sure, I understand the vibration function is in beta testing right now and may be available in 2 weeks but I've heard also that Twine was supposed to be shipped 7 mths ago, too. Anyways, hard earned money washed down the drain - POOF!

Creator Darren Ingram on January 22

Kickstarter home page still has the battery claim "two AAA batteries that keep it running for months". Screen copy made in case chargeback is necessary.

Creator Sorin Stefan Nicolin on January 21

@Bitslinger: Where did they change the text? I didn't find any reference on http://supermechanical.com

Creator Bitslinger on January 19

Supermechanical has just modified their web page regarding Twine. The home page used to advertise: "two AAA batteries that last for months" and now the "last for months" text has been removed.

This gives me the bad feeling that they do not intend to provide the level of performance advertised originally.

Creator Bitslinger on January 19

Still no reply or returned phone call from Supermechanical. Have requested a refund from them per the written policy, but they are not responding.

My twine gets under 2 weeks of battery life and lacks the advertised features.

It would be nice if they honored their agreements and issued a refund. I don't expect service like Nordstroms, but I do expect them to operate as they promised.

Creator SOREN HOFFNER on January 17

@supermechanical

No twine yet in Copenhagen, Denmark

please advise

Creator architactics on January 17

Battery life is extremely poor (5 days) and triggers are not working reliably. Is there a fix, or is my unit faulty?

Creator Patrick A. on January 16

@Matthias Thanks for your info. So it seems that mine is lost... :(
@supermechanical Can you help please?

Creator Andrew on January 15

Obviously the "two AAA batteries that last for months" claim is ridiculously wrong - with a brand new set of batteries, my Twine lasted about 5 days before I started getting the low battery emails. This device is useless and a big waste of money.

Creator Oystein on January 13

I receive mine around christmas and it is working very well. The software support for the vibration sensor is coming, so it is quite alot of possibilities with this one.

I think it was a good thing the did the shipping even though all the features are not ready yet. It is good that the team is working hard on improving the device :)

Creator Matthias on January 13

@Patrick A. I received mine just before christmas (also stated 3 Dec in Chicago) and was able to pay the customs fee directly at the post office!

My Twine runs since 23.12.2012 on the same batteries - but the notifications are not working right...
So I monitor it over a small, self written, php script which pulls the data from the twine server ;-)

But indeed, Supermechanical is a little bit to silent at the moment...

Creator Charlie Van Dusen on January 12

Reading these comments and I am now not knowing if I am happy that I have not yet received my twine or unhappy thinking I will never receive the twine. All I want now is a refund.

Creator Eugene Zheng Yong Sheng on January 11

I am also shocked that they are listing their products up for sale on Amazon at the state Twine is in right now - do they not care about their reputation at all?

Creator Eugene Zheng Yong Sheng on January 11

I got a baaaaaaad vide from Supermechanical now.

Creator Bitslinger on January 9

Still no returned phone call, or a reply email from the Twine folks. I wonder if anybody else is getting responses? of course, no refund, either, despite their legal requirement to do so.

My twine sits, unused. I travel frequently and planned on using Twine to monitor a machine. But with a 2-week battery life it is useless...out of batteries before I would return.

It sure would be nice of the Twine folks would care enough to answer the phone, email, or talk to a customer. But then, it would also be nice if they quit advertising that the Twine lasts for months on a set of batteries, when this is just a bald-faced lie.

Creator Patrick A. on January 9

Still no twine here yet (Germany)
Shipping status is still Dec 3rd Chicago... :-(
Any other more lucky?
@supermechanical could you advise please?

Creator Flávio Oota on January 8

I got mine yesterday here in Brazil and the setup went somewhat smoothly. Had a problem with the magswitch not being detected but then all of a sudden, it showed on my twine page. But to be honest, right now I don't know what else I can do with it. Also disappointed with the vibration thing.

Creator Nicolas Hauviller on January 7

So... after some weeks during which I tried to "use" Twine, my conclusion is that this device is absolutely useless as it is today. It cannot support an acceptable number of rules. Rules are only trigerred once when I remove the batteries (which have an autonomy of about 2 days) or when I switch off/on the external power.
> Twine was the first project I backed on Kickstater... I am so disapointed that I am not sure to back anything else in the future

Creator Michael Kennedy on January 6

I'm also disappointed about the lack of vibration detection, as that's 90% of the reason why I purchased it.

As for battery life... Lithium batteries last significantly longer. The voltage doesn't sag like Alkaline batteries do even when they still have half of their potential power. Granted, that doesn't make up for the less than stellar battery life of the Twine, but put in a set of Ultimate/Advanced Energizer AAAs and you'll find it lasts a lot longer.

Creator Steve Davis on January 6

It is disappointing that the vibration detection doesn't work out of the box. I had a specific use for which I bought my Twine and now I can't do that. It seems to be on a "to do list" but that wasn't what was promoted.

Heads up for people having trouble with setup, I couldn't do it at first, then discovered that the batteries included were flat.

Creator Bitslinger on January 6

"You are preordering one Twine with the built-in sensors plus one additional external sensor breakout board. "

I didn't purchase a concept, nor did they sell one. They sold a product.

And, they may very well have walked off with hundreds of thousands of dollars. We don't know, they have not revealed their expenses. There are not many scams that yield a net of six figures like this could.

In any event we don't need to debate their intentions or "take", these are the facts:

1) Twine does not perform as advertised, more than a year later.

2) The rules of Kickstarter provide that they MUST refund backers. They will not.

3) Basic etiquette is that when you are a business you return phone calls, emails, and you make at least some attempt to resolve problems such as mine...at least a conversation. Something.

4) State laws reaffirm that refund is due. There is still an obligation to follow the law, right?

I would be less animated, and would feel less "scammed" if they would dialogue. I don't like this public forum. But they leave no alternative.

They continue to advertise a battery life of "months" even though they know this is false. That, certainly, qualifies as "scamming."

Creator Angustimus on January 6

Bitslinger, you do realise that they did not "walk off" with any money, right?
The money we pledged was used to develop a product and has been spent on designing and manufacturing the twine. This is kickstarter, you backed a prototype, not a pre-order of a completed unit.

Surely there are a lot of easier ways to scam people (if that is what you are insinuating) than spend months on developing and testing.

I don't represent Supermechanical, and the views are my own.

Creator Bitslinger on January 5

Dear John LaRoux: your opinion is no more valid than mine. You have no authority to represent persons other than yourself.

I am not writing for your entertainment, nor for anybody else.

My Twine just doesn't work. I want my money back. Super mechanical does not answer their phone line, they don't return phone calls nor emails. That is hardly a professional way to run a business.

I would not dialogue with them through this comment box if there was any other way of doing so.

It may, indeed, be of interest to others to know that it is not only their Twine that does not work as advertised. And, it may be of interest to others to know that Supermechanical has walked off with their $556,541 and doesn't as much as respond to emails. They hide behind anonymous web registrations, third party payment systems, and a Google phone number that they don't answer.

So, perhaps what interests you is not what interests 3965 others.

I happen to think that what I am writing is highly relevant to a number of other people. If you are happy with your 2-week battery life, lack of motion detection, and a company that ignores customers then perhaps you have no need for this comment area anyway.

Creator kevin on January 4

For those in Germany waiting for their Twines:
Received email "Your twine has been shipped" on Nov 30th. Mine was processed December 01, 2012 by USPS in Chicago. Then it was received by Customs on Dec 17th. It arrive at my residence on Dec 22nd.
Had to pay an additional 19% on the € Value for Import.
Hope this helps

Creator John LaRoux on January 4

@ Bitslinger I think the 3965 of us that are not complaining should get mental anguish damages from YOU for having to read your stupid posts.

Creator Bitslinger on January 4

They are still advertising "two AAA batteries that last for months" even thought it is blatantly false. (Go to www.Supermechanical.com) They know the battery life is not months, yet they continue to advertise this falsity.

They do not return my telephone calls, or reply to emails.

The product does not work as originally described. It does not detect motion, for example.

--------------------------

Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act (DTPA)

This Act is intended to be liberally construed and applied.

BREACH OF WARRANTY: Good cannot do what the sales person said it would do.

The consumer shall be entitled to the following:
1) Economic and mental anguish damages;
2) Additional damages**;
3) An injunction;
4) A restoration order;
5) The appointment of a receiver;
6) Revocation of a defendant's license or certificate to do business;
7) Court costs and attorney's fees;
8) Interest; or
9) Any other relief that the court deems proper.

** ADDITIONAL DAMAGES:

1) If a court finds that the conduct of the seller was committed "knowingly," a court may also award not more than three times the amount of economic damages.

2) If a court finds the conduct of the seller was committed "intentionally," a court may also award not more than three times the amount of damages for mental anguish and economic damages.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/SOTWDocs/BC/htm/BC.17.htm