So, it's been a long hard road thus far. I pre-ordered one of these bags way back when and now i am excited to get it so long as I get it next week like J@ has promised. That being said, I will never, ever, buy another thing from this company. This whole situation was handled so poorly that i have lost all faith in Grip Eq. By dealing with the delays in the manner he did he has basically marred the name of his company beyond repair for some. I would prefer to say most but I can't rightfully say that.
As far as the customer/investor argument goes I see it like this:
We(pre-orders) are for all intents and purposes investors in this company. Seeing as how J@ most likely used the "collateral" of our pre-order monies to get a loan to start Grip Eq. What would happen if something fell through and the bags were never to be delivered and he owed the loan to the bank? We're up ****s creek without a paddle as our money would be used to pay the bank.
I am envious of the people that didn't pre-order. At this point, I wish I hadn't. That way I wouldn't have this whole debacle hanging over my head and I could have just waited for production and gotten one when they are in the hands of trusted sources. Instead, I had the pleasure of waiting to see if my money would ever materialize in a bag. As of now it looks like it will but truth be told, I'm not holding my breath.
So let's look down the road for Grip. Will J@ be able to get people to trust him for a pre-order of the smaller bag? Probably. Will it be on the scale of the original run pre-orders? Probably not. Will he need it to be that big? I would bet not. The capital he will have after this first run of bags is sold will hopefully(for him) be enough to front further expenses. This all hinges on the fabled product being as quality as has been promised by J@. If this bag turns out to be a dud with many malfunctions you can forget about ever seeing this company make it. After all the delays, he must deliver a product of the highest quality or his company will fold. People are willing to wait(not always patiently) for a quality product but definitely not for a shoddy one. If the pre-order customers waited this long for a bag that falls apart I can promise you J@ will never see another dime from anyone.
We all know after time this whole **** storm will blow over and we all will have learned our own personal lesson. Be it J@ learning the ****ty side of being a business owner, or me, learning that investing your money in a, at the time, non-existent company/product is a losing venture.
In the real world perception is reality. The perception of Grip Eq. is highly unfavorable at this moment. Can that change? Of course, but it is going to take time.
