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New ship date?

Wayne_13919

Last communication I received was 4/21 stating a May ship date. It's June, albeit the first day with no communication advising of a new ship date. Can we get some idea what's happening?

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Comments

nathans1

Joule is being delayed because of technical issues. It should ship when those issues are resolved.

viet_bui_118369

Timeline? best guess?

pgcath

This has been discussed inside the CS team, and they aren't going to announce a ship date until they have something that they can absolutely stand behind with all certifications in place, etc. @Amy_Hatch_146624 feels pretty strongly about it.

Stay tuned.

Ellen_212162

Hi Wayne! Thank you so much for your post and I'm happy to shed some light on the situation. Our announcement at the end of April was meant to convey that we would not be shipping in May:

"Unfortunately, we have some disappointing news: Joule isn’t quite ready to ship. What’s the holdup? There are a few things: First, during our initial manufacturing run, we found some engineering problems we need to fix. Our hardware team is working alongside our manufacturing partner to solve these issues. Also, because Joule uses both WiFi and Bluetooth, we need certification from the FCC in order to ship. During our final FCC certification test this month, Joule exceeded the maximum permissible power transmission. We need to resolve that before we can send Joule to you. What does all this mean? It means we won’t ship in May.

Getting Joule into your kitchen is our number one priority, and we are doing everything we can to ship as soon as possible. While we can’t promise an exact ship date at this time, we are fully dedicated to finalizing our FCC certification, making these adjustments, and getting Joule out in the wild."

I truly wish we were able to say more on timing with any kind of certainty. Here's a note that our cofounder posted on the forum discussion page in response to why we're not able to give a solid new date:

"So what we don't want to do is have to disappoint anyone again.

Manufacturing problems tend to be open-ended because they require studying the problem, evaluating possible solutions, designing modifications, making the modifications, building new parts, and finally testing them. If all goes well, then we have to schedule the changes with all of the manufacturing partners involved. If there are cost changes involved, those changes have to be negotiated.

We've been working with our manufacturing partners for nearly a year, and all of the folks involved are very experienced at doing this kind of product. Unfortunately, even with all of this careful long-lead work by many talented individuals, problems still occur and take the time they take to be resolved. With all of this said, sometimes this goes really quickly, sometimes it's painfully slow.

As a result, we don't want to predict a new date that is nothing more than an informed guess that turns out to be wrong. This is not a very satisfying answer, but it is the answer to why was our update vague."

If you prefer not to wait for Joule, I am here to assist with a full refund at any point. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions via email at ellenk@chefsteps.com and best wishes for a great rest of your week.

susan_fox_33805

I'm really surprised at the lack of communication - with most pre-launches they send regular updates via email. I've heard nothing from ChefSteps except for when I come to this site to find out the current status. I love ChefSteps but this is deeply disappointing customer relations.

Charter member.

walter.w.casey

I agree with Susan. The delay is disappointing but understood. The issue I have is with the communication. This is a design/manufacturing issue and progress is measurable. I am also disappointed by a delay in shipping of an outdoor pizza oven I ordered from a startup. Their communication was a note that described the issue, much as ChefSteps did, but every Friday afternoon I receive an email update of the weekly progress, or lack there of and photographs of the process moving forward. ChefSteps should follow the same model. It's just good customer relations.

Vicki_245905

I totally agree about the need for updates. I'm trying hard to be patient. Weekly updates would go a long way.

Richard_Schelin_271184

Hi Ellen, while I completely understand the need to not set dates that you are not 100% confident in, what might go a long way is sending updates out when milestones are reached. FCC approval, a re-fresh of the line. Enough information that the people waiting get a taste that there is progress happening, not enough for Monday morning quarterbacking.

If we don't know what the complete list of goals/issues/achievements is but you tell us you are making progress in somewhat specific ways the community would be much less restless.

Just something to think about.

Rich

John_Avenoso_322356

It will ship when they are satisfied with their product. I rather they take the time necessary to get things right to avoid customer returns. I also work in manufacturing engineering and support the fact the many time solutions present problems which require additional work. It's better they say nothing than throw out guess dates.

Luke_Jennings_266764

I'll second this post from Rich - an entire month (the release month, no less) without a peep to the pre-purchased customers about estimated timelines or at very least "we're still working on it, do not fret" does not feel like good customer service. What strikes me more, is the fact that these problems were not foreseen before a release date was published. There are other immersion sou vide cookers that work on bluetooth/wifi on the market already, so this is not brand new technology that's being worked out for the first time. Customer service starts on the shop floor, not in the PR department.

Finally, the price for the Joule on the Chefsteps site has been cut from $299 to $229. We pre-order customers are now only saving $30 over the general customer now for... what? A chance to win dinner cooked at our home? No thank you. Personally, I'd take the cash value of that instead - which, if they're professional chef, I would expect to be considerable. Other cookers like the Anova retail for less than the pre-order price of the Joule, at $179, and their features seem better (a clamp for your container if you prefer to use aluminum or plastic, a display showing you actual and set temperature, to name a few).

I legitimately want to know: what are we waiting for Chefsteps?

pgcath

This is really kind of an impossible situation for ChefSteps. Over and above @Ellen_212162's reply below about why they can't be specific with updates, scroll down in the forums. Some users want weekly updates, even if those updates are "no news". Some users go crazy when they see the Joule in the recipes and don't want to see it at all. Again, that's just in the past couple of weeks.

It's a tough balance to strike, and no one will be happy. We all want our Joules. They are awesome. They're coming soon.

If you need a refund, contact @Ellen_212162 and get one, she's great about it. I'd stay the course, and wait for them to ship... Some of the community members, me included, have had a chance to work with them, and they're worth the wait.

pgcath

Not a peep does not equal mails sent out, blog posts made, and forum posts updated, along with deep and continuing engagement with their community here, and in other places. Sorry you feel that way, but that's just one way of looking at it.

You may be unhappy with the frequency of communication, but other people don't want to see Joule *at all* until it is done. Other people want *no* communication until the device is certified. Some people want a daily mail of, "No new news." There is a balance to be struck, and Chefsteps is trying to strike it.

There are a number of points in your mail that lead me to believe that you aren't following this space very closely. For instance, "There are other immersion sou vide cookers that work on bluetooth/wifi on the market already, so this is not brand new technology that's being worked out for the first time." Clearly, you are not following the trials of other circulators that launched with wifi and bluetooth to a chorus of unhappy customers and technical problems. You probably haven't noticed that almost every consumer product with these technologies that isn't an off the shelf implementation has these exact same delays. Almost every one. Sure, phones get approved in a timely manner... They're all also using the same six chipsets. Lastly, your evaluation of "better features" seems to be completely bogus... The Joule has a clamp, *and* a magnet. The Joule has a screen, and it's your phone or tablet screen - which is far, far and away a better screen than any of the competitors. They're running shitty 3 dollar commodity LCDs, while the Joule is taking advantage of display technology subsidized by the entire phone industry - screens you simply could not get on another CE device... I have those shitty 3 dollar LCDs in my parts bin. They really don't compare to your phone screen.

Look. I can totally understand being salty about not having your Joule. I get that. What I can't see is the validity of your line of argument. Again... It's fine to be disappointed that you don't have your Joule. Understand that you are part of a spectrum of customers with different opinions about the launch. Understand that almost everyone that is building these devices is running into the same exact issues - big companies like Microsoft and Apple.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Have you ever dealt with government compliance testing for a consumer electronics product?

fisher23

"....their features seem better..." Please name one that is a real better feature, the clamp and display are what you came up with. Joule has a clip and a magnetic foot. Display, I would much rather the display I carry around my phone or my iPad, another part I don't have to worry about. I have an Anova..or had one it broke...doesn't circulate, shuts off on long cooks, especially when using at higher temperatures, why because moisture gets in it because it's not sealed... Joule doesn't have those issues.

Bill_Martin_17506

Hasnʻt everyone gotten the email that they will notify in August and ship in September?????

brian_martin2001

Unfortunately, no