Status
Stingray:
* The general ordering pages are now active.
* Pre-order customers: Shipments will actually begin this week (one week late). The reason will be outlined below. There are two current issues that may delay individual orders 1) AR coated crystals will arrive this week. This may mean that shipments due for June 9th may be pushed back if the parts are not received early enough in the week 2) The Stingray 50 and 60 Time-elapse (diamond) insert are still enroute from the factory. Orders requiring these parts will be assembled as far as possible without the parts in order to ship these orders as quickly as possible after the components arrive.
General: I am trying something new and that in the past has been largely impossible to do in order to improve communication. I am aiming to reply to e-mails pretty much every day rather than in the past where I did them in a batch once every week or so. Getting into this rhythm has actually cost me productivity this first full week back, which is why no Stingrays went out this past Saturday as originally scheduled. However I am hoping with all the improvements that we have made in scheduling and communication, as well as the change in the mix of services that we offer, that we will be able to function in a more disciplined manner. My hope is that this change will be sustainable.
May 27th
A quick update:
*Replies to e-mails to the “info” account are almost up to date.
*Replies to the “orderstatus” account are still backloged but will be taken care of in the next day or two
*Parts orders have been scheduled and the sales orders with the updated ship dates will be sent out by Tuesday
*Watch orders will be scheduled in the next day or two and the e-mails will go out by Thursday
Please note that we are out of stock of the Seiko sapphire crystals. More are on order but are not expected to arrive back in stock until the end of July. My apologies for this inconvenience. This will affect some of the orders already received for parts.
Back in the US
I am finally back in the US but won’t be back at my desk until Wednesday. We ended up bringing back too much stuff from Taiwan. I had to leave my wife and daughter up in NYC, where we flew in, and make a trip just to PA just to bring back our luggage. I have to go up to NYC this morning to pick them up and we should all be back tomorrow afternoon.
Online ordering
Online ordering is now open. Please note that we will not be able to download orders from our server until May 22nd. We will begin shipping orders again by May 31st.
E-mail problem
I am currently unable to send messages via Outlook. I am not sure why but this does happen to my e-mail system sometimes when I travel. My mail server for some reason when I travel sometimes does not recognize my login to send messages via Outlook. Unfortunately this means that e-mails to the “info” account and the “orderstatus” account will not receive replies until after I return to the US. The auto-reply will also not be sent until I get back to the US. I am able to receive your messages and download them. The problem seems to be with the outgoing messages only.
Hopefully I will be able to clear up the problem before I return to the US but if not I do appreciate your understanding and please accept my apologies for this inconvenience.
Web Site Updates
I am currently in the process of updating our web site. You will notice inconsistences between prices listed on the web pages and those calculated by the shopping cart. When online ordering is re-opened the lower prices seen in the cart will be honored. The discrepancy will be cleared up once we are back at the office and have a chance to re-synch with the server. Some of the preview functions will not be completely functional on the MMT. For example certain hand sets will not preview correctly until we have a chance to re-work the preview function at the end of the month.
Many items have been re-categorized. For example the section formally called “Send in your own watch” has been re-named and moved to the Parts and Accessories section since it more accurately reflects what we actually provide. Services have not been cut but have been moved around on the site.
The Gallery section will now be the new home for pictures of customer watches and customer feedback. The headings in the section are currently wrong but that will also be cleaned up once we are back in the US. Other sections including the DIY section is also going to be removed from the navigation. However the content will be relocated to the FAQ section and some of the tutorials will be re-located to the blog.
I hope that the changes will make navigating the site easier. The changes will also mean that many new products will be available.
I am currently going through e-mails. Please note that if you have an issue or urgent request regarding an open/shipped order please e-mail me at the “orderstatus” account as those messages receive priority.
Status: Back in the US for a few hours
I will be getting on another plane bound for Taiwan in a few hours. I am looking forward to some good food and warm weather. I should be able to check e-mail and address any urgent issues early next week.
Basel was bigger and better than last year. There were new brands and a lot of new products in stark contrast to 2006. Rolex put out two new watches this year to some mixed reactions. The re-issue of the Milgauss was very cool and drew a lot of gawkers but the Yachtmaster II seemed to be decidely less popular. The Omegamania auction took center stage over the weekend and was quite an event. I would have grabbed a catalogue for the auction but it was the size of a phonebook! The watches overall seemed to be markedly bigger than last year…which hardly seems possible. Also I think one can expect a lot more watches derived from the Hublot Big Bang styling and the Bell & Ross BR-1.
Thanks to Jocke and Tony for their help and showing me how the other half lives. I am extremely jealous. As always Mike (Urtid.com) and Ernie Romers (www.watchseek.com) it was good to see you again!
Stingray: Pre-order Shipment E-mails
E-mails with your sales order’s attached were sent out on the 10th. The PDF copies of your sales order has the estimated ship date listed. The order status portal has been updated with most of the orders received but does not include accurate ship dates or payment status information.
I will check e-mail again around the 20th of this month. If you didn’t get your sales order please e-mail me at the “orderstatus” address and I will provide the sales order number and estimated shipment date via e-mail.
Status
The last of the watch orders due before my trip will ship tomorrow. I will begin answering e-mails and taking care of overdue paperwork tomrrow, including the scheduling of Stingray orders.