PPE HAS PRIORITY
about 4 years ago – Tue, Apr 14, 2020 at 10:46:48 PM

Hello everyone,

We understand the frustration. Please review update #20 as things have not improved since that update. We want these watches to ship to you. We have over 6,000 watches ready to go but our warehouse in HK won't ship out because countries around the world are shut down. Packages either can't get space on an airplane or they sit in a warehouse in the destination country with backlogged deliveries while everyone copes with COVID-19 pandemic. HK Post has suspended regular shipping to all countries until further notice. Part of the reason is to free up space for PPE (personal protective equipment such as face masks and gloves). Customs offices are short staffed and priority is being made for PPE packages. We are receiving daily updates from our shipping partners regarding air freight, ocean freight, postal services, rail services, port operations. We have heard that the curve in Europe is flattening and are optimistic that in a couple weeks our HK warehouse will be able to ship packages to that region. 

HARSH REALITY

We prefer to take the brunt of criticism/complaints now. We have the ability to issuing tracking numbers, but they won't show any progress because things are shut down. When we are able to ship, if your country is in lockdown it will negatively impact your shipping times and possibly increase the risk of package theft as things pile up in sorting warehouses. Issuing tracking numbers for packages that can't go anywhere would likely just cause more confusion and questions that we wouldn't have answers to at this time. We're working with our shipping partners to use ocean freight services to send a portion of the watches to the US as mentioned in update #20. There has been a significant increase in cancelled sailings so space is even starting to get tight on boats. This is a logistical nightmare for everyone. 

We're doing everything within our power to get the watches in your hands, but again, COVID-19 is causing never-before-seen disruptions to the entire global fulfillment and shipping systems. 

REMAINING BACKERS

The remaining 5,754 backers whose rewards haven't been fulfilled would have received their watches back in February/March if China didn't get shut down followed six weeks later by the rest of the world. We're in a state of emergency because of the pandemic. We have always relayed the most up to date information that we receive from our factory and shipping partners. 

XERIC.COM PREORDERS

Kickstarter backers will continue to be the first people to get NASA watches before any Xeric.com preorder. The Xeric.com product page has an estimated date of June 20 for any NASA preorders and that will always be pushed back behind Kickstarter backers if COVID-19 continues to delay fulfillment/delivery. 

QUESTIONS

If you have additional questions, please be respectful to our customer support team when you email [email protected]. We're all doing the best that we can in these difficult times. You can also visit our FAQ page. https://www.xeric.com/pages/nasa-kickstarter-faq 

LET US KNOW

We're totally open to sending weekly updates, but honestly the content will most likely be the same COVID-19 news about lockdowns/disruptions. We generally post updates when we receive important news regarding the production or fulfillment of your rewards from our factory or our shipping partners.

We can't wait to get these amazing timepieces shipped out to the remaining 5,754 backers. 

Be safe. Stay healthy. 

The Xeric Team

Finishing Assembly + Shipping Update
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 01:21:13 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Progress 👍🏽
about 4 years ago – Wed, Mar 11, 2020 at 02:21:25 AM

Hi Everyone,

We've been in constant communication with our manufacturing partner and things are slowly moving along. They've started assembling watches again and are looking to increase output as employees continue to come back. They have completed some full watches as well as some watch heads are assembled and undergoing testing; after which the straps will be attached and the watches will get packaged up.

You can see they're working on the models we weren't able to ship out prior to CNY like the Apollo 11 and Saturn V quartz. The factory plans to ship around 2800 more watches to our HK warehouse before the end of March so we can start fulfilling  more rewards from there. 

Getting additional watches into the U.S. is more difficult because of the lack of air freight or ocean freight options due to COVID-19. We are working with our freight forwarder to try to reserve any open space for a April shipment, but it's a fluid situation and hard for them to forecast that far out as things are changing day to day. 

We will update you towards the end of March with more information, but we wanted to share the good news that assembly is moving forward.

Thanks

The Xeric Team

The Hard Truth
about 4 years ago – Wed, Feb 26, 2020 at 02:56:33 AM

Hi Everyone,

First off, thank you so much for your support, patience, and honest feedback. 

We always share the most up-to-date information we have via these updates. We've shipped 10,000+ rewards, but we still have 7,000 to go. We're getting 100+ messages a day asking for more information or a new timeline. We totally understand the frustration. We were told by our factory that they'd be able to produce all 22,000 watches before Chinese New Year, but that obviously didn't happen. And then the coronavirus hit which has drastically limited production with mandated closures to businesses and transit systems. It's truly unprecedented and is impacting the global supply chain as well as major economies. Even Apple, the #1 brand in the world, is only at 50% production capacity.  If there was no coronavirus (known as COVID-19) outbreak, we're confident based on our production experiences that we would have already received the final batch of watches to ship out. We've fulfilled 11 campaigns before this one and we've never experienced something like this. It's the perfect storm -- biggest campaign ever, most watches we've ever had to produce, and the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in modern times.

BRACE YOURSELVES 

If you haven't received tracking information then your reward will be part of the last batch. Based on the factory's assembly capacity, they've informed us that the final batch of watches should be ready in April. We don't like hearing this information as much as you. We will continue to update you as soon as we have more detailed production information, but for now we don't foresee the above timeline getting any better.  Rest assured that we will fulfill your reward. It's taking longer than originally estimated as our suppliers try to keep themselves and their employees safe from a deadly virus. Our Shenzhen production manager's mother actually passed away last week so please keep the people of China in your thoughts.

KS MESSAGING & COMMENTS SECTION

If you need to contact our customer support team, please email us at [email protected] or use our Contact Us form on Xeric.com. Both methods are the fastest way to get a response (generally within 1-2 business days). Please do not use the comment wall or Kickstarter messaging system because it does not sync with our customer support ticketing system. 

The campaign comment section is not actively monitored once the campaign ends. It becomes more of a forum for backer discussion or to share links to pictures. When a campaign's funding time expires, Kickstarter locks down the campaign wall and FAQ section so we aren't able to add new information. The inability to add to the FAQ section makes communicating on a campaign very difficult; especially when it's generally the same questions being asked over and over again and our responses to those questions are constantly getting buried by more comments asking the same questions. Backers would have to click "Load More" many times to find the answers. Plus the comment section doesn't display responses/posts the same way on different devices (mobile, mobile app, desktop browser) which makes it difficult for backers to follow along with conversations. We decided that it is more efficient to add a FAQ section to Xeric.com that can be updated with the most accurate information thus enabling backers to easily find answers to their questions. If for some reason you can't find an answer to your question, please email us directly at [email protected].

Here's the URL for the NASA Kickstarter FAQ: https://www.xeric.com/pages/nasa-kickstarter-faq

 $4000 INSTAGRAM PHOTO CONTEST EXTENDED

Winners will be announced on our @xericwatches Instagram profile on July 20, 2021 (the 51st Anniversary of the Moon Landing) to give every backer plenty of time to enter the contest! 

We encourage everyone to share your photos of your new Trappist-1 NASA watches! Show us your creative content for a chance to win! Details of how to enter below.

HOW TO ENTER

1. Post a cool picture or video of your Trappist-1 NASA on your Instagram profile. Some ideas for placement to get your creative juices flowing: space/astrophotography, everyday carry/flat lay, scenic/exotic environments, or enjoying your favorite hobby/activity with your new watch.

2. Tag @xericwatches and use #xeric #trappist1nasa #nasa in your caption. You can enter as many times as you want. The more the better!

***!!! Very Important: Your profile needs to be public during this photo contest so we can see the photos you post. !!!***

PRIZES

Sixteen (16) Grand Prize Winners (one from each Trappist-1 colorway) will receive a $250 gift card on Xeric.com for a total photo contest prize of $4,000.

We can't wait to see what you come up with. You can also see other contestant's photos with hashtag #myxeric.

Thanks

The Xeric Team

Closures Continue
about 4 years ago – Wed, Feb 12, 2020 at 02:35:03 AM

Hi everyone,

It's been two weeks since our last update and the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc to the global supply chain. We were hoping to have a solid update from our production team in Shenzhen, who returned back to work yesterday, but the three watch assembly factories that we use for the NASA project have pushed back their open dates to Feb 18th (or later) because of the nationwide business closures to prevent workers from being at risk for coronavirus. As soon as they return to work, we will update you. They will resume assembling the rest of the watches including all the remaining watches from update #16 (see the quantities in gray: Auto, Quartz) as well as producing the blue PVD metal straps, additional Trappist-1 leather straps, and straps with deployant clasps. If you ordered any of these items, your reward won’t ship until stock is received.

Once the watches are assembled, QCed, and packaged up, they will be freighted to our shipping warehouses in either California or Hong Kong, where our shipping team will package everyone’s individual orders and ship your reward to you. Our production team will give us a new estimate of the remaining production time needed once the business closures have been lifted. We will keep everyone updated about the estimated remaining production time needed as soon as we have it. We sincerely appreciate your patience while we work through shipping everyone’s campaign rewards. When your reward has shipped, you will be emailed a tracking number from Xeric Backerkit. Once your reward has shipped we are no longer able to change your address.

Again, we are grateful for your continued patience while we work to produce and ship an unprecedented amount of orders. We know everyone is very excited to receive their new watches, and we are excited for you to have it as well. We remain committed to fulfilling all campaign rewards as soon as possible without affecting the safety of workers.

Fulfillment

We are still shipping rewards from both the U.S. and the Hong Kong warehouses from the bulk shipment of watches we received in January.  We're averaging around 300 shipments a day. As of today, we've shipped out close to 10,000 rewards of which 6,000 have been delivered with the remaining 4,000 packages still in transit. Based on our current inventory, we anticipate another 3-4 weeks of shipping out rewards. Right now it is nearly impossible to know the exact day when your reward will ship until the assembly factories are back up and running. This is due to a lot of variables (current stock levels at each warehouse, which watches or add-ons were purchased together, how many watches are still need to be assembled, etc).  

As stated above, here are the products where we haven't received any units to ship yet: Neutron Star Automatic, Apollo 11 quartz, Saturn V quartz, blue PVD metal straps, additional Trappist-1 leather straps, and straps with deployant clasps. If you ordered any of these items, your reward won't ship until stock is received after the closures are lifted. 

Kickstarter Messages and Comments

The campaign comment section is not actively monitored once the campaign ends. It becomes more of a forum for backers to share pictures or discussions. If you have a question, please visit this page (https://www.xeric.com/pages/nasa-kickstarter-faq) that we've created and will continue to update based on frequently asked questions. If you aren't able to find the answer, then please email us at [email protected] for better service. Kickstarter messages do not connect to our customer support ticketing system so please do not use this method of communication as you will receive an answer much quicker by looking at the FAQ page on Xeric or emailing [email protected].

Haven't filled out your survey?

You can access your survey here or by requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://xeric-nasa-trappist1.backerkit.com/. Remember to enter the email address associated with your Kickstarter account. We are not able to ship your reward until your survey has been completed.

$4000 INSTAGRAM PHOTO CONTEST

We encourage everyone to share your photos of your new Trappist-1 NASA watches! Show us your creative content for a chance to win! Details of how to enter below.

HOW TO ENTER

1. Post a cool picture or video of your Trappist-1 NASA on your Instagram profile. Some ideas for placement to get your creative juices flowing: space/astrophotography, everyday carry/flat lay, scenic/exotic environments, or enjoying your favorite hobby/activity with your new watch.

2. Tag @xericwatches and use #xeric #trappist1nasa in your caption. You can enter as many times as you want. The more the better!

***!!! Very Important: Your profile needs to be public during this photo contest so we can see the photos you post. !!!***

Winners will be announced on our @xericwatches Instagram profile in May to give everyone plenty of time to enter the contest!

PRIZES

Sixteen (16) Grand Prize Winners (one from each Trappist-1 colorway) will receive a $250 gift card on Xeric.com for a total photo contest prize of $4,000.

We can't wait to see what you come up with.

Coronavirus Impacts

Our watches are produced in Guangdong. It is now the #2 province behind Hubei province for the most cases of coronavirus infections. Here are a few articles that describe the situation in Guangdong where the Trappist-1 NASA watches are made, the potential lack of workers coming from Hubei province, and the delay to return to work. The coronavirus has definitely impacted our production in Shenzhen as well as the fulfillment from the HK warehouse. For example, Air Mail shipments make up 50% of the available air shipping space in the bellies of commercial airplanes. Around 90% of commercial flights have been cancelled into China and HK which means transit times for your packages will take longer than normal.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected] for the fastest response. We are receiving hundreds of messages a day so please be patient.

Thanks

The Xeric Team