I'd hate to bash the guy, but I was one of the folks that was only able to get my cart from x|k by opening a PayPal dispute back in 2010. not long after that is when he switched to Google cart. I am looking to buy another one to replace the one I had to sell a while back to meet financial obligations (I never got to go to college either, buddy). Now my concern is: If I give him any money; will I indeed get my cart in the 3 months his site promises? Google only allows 90 to open a dispute, & they can only mediate a dispute, not refund your money. This is what I had to do when I bought from him with PayPal. I didn't necessarily want to make a fuss, but I was emailing him every week to no avail. I only got concerned after I didn't get a response after the 1st email I sent to him just to check the status of my order after several months had passed. If I got something back that were to the effect of "sorry, I'm running behind, didn't forget ya"; then I would have been more patient & continued to wait without the need for further harassment. He says he doesn't have time to answer emails, but he also invites people to continue sending them. I have a busy career also as a social worker that leaves any free time I have (when i'm not on call) planning schedules & doing other paperwork. So, I would think with something as important as your reputation & customer service you could find 5-10 minutes to send out a blanket email to all your customers (rather than answering them individually) if need be, or at least putting a temporary banner on the site explaining any delays. for $100+ each you owe us at least that.
- but like I stated earlier, I am not here to bash. I think you are doing great work & have good ideas. However, you made a conscious decision to enter the business world by opening a site & selling the carts, so you therefore have an obligation to honor your commitments with the people you do business with. It's good to see you're back to clean up your name, but you also promised to do the same thing in 2008, so how do plan to expand or attract more customers (obviously, that is what you wish as your dev'ing a midines2) without loosing their trust?
- Lastly, for the MidiNes fans out there, If you feel confident buying from Wayfar, I in no way, intend on hampering your decision. I myself am interested in what the Midines 2 will feature. But I also know that there are individuals out there exploring alternatives & seek similar hardware. Having 20 years of EE experience, I would like to submit a proposal to those interested in volunteering... What if there existed a OPEN SOURCE MIDI interface for the NES? It's not a far stretch of the imagination that one could be created, & no secret that x|k dev'ed his from existing nes mappers & technology. As an open source device, the schematics, program, & circuit designs would be posted for anyone to use or replicate. anyone with amateur soldering skills could purchase or DL the circuit boards from sites like freepcb.com. There could also be firmware updates & patches & the ability to load samples directly to the cart. For those who would want a pre-assembled & programmed cart, they can be sold one as a "service" from multiple vendors.
this is just my Idea & I by no means would consider it an easy undertaking. but it seems to me when there are enough people interested in a project, It is at least worth an attempt. I also do not wish to "outsell" or put x|k or anyone else out of business, there will always be a demand for his projects. I just see an opportunity for the NES DEV scene & chipcore fans to colaborate on a project that could be beneficial to lots of people - even those who don't belong to either & just want to experiment with their NES.