Thu Oct 17 '19 Announcement
about 5 years ago
– Thu, Oct 17, 2019 at 08:34:36 AM
Dear Backers,
We have been reading your comments and want to give you a more transparent look and insight into why shipping has been delayed.
But first, WE ARE GENUINELY SO SORRY for missing your “biking season”, so many summer bike trips, several gift-giving occasions and overall, for our numerous delay notices. We know it’s frustrating to receive these delay notices (we don’t like sending them either!), and to not know when you will get your helmet. For that, We Sincerely Apologize! This update will explain some factors for our delays and also give you our solutions and plan to deliver your helmet.
Shipping Schedule:
- Late November - we will begin shipping the first 3,000 helmets (size and color will be sent in an upcoming update)**
- mid-December — we will ship the next 3,001-8,000 helmets (size and color will be sent in an upcoming update)**
- Late December – January 2020, we will begin shipping 8,001+ helmets (size and color will come in a future update)**
- Beginning November 1st, all new orders will be shipped in late January/early February 2020
** This is a change from contribution #, since some backers have ordered multiple helmets and shipping will be determined as helmets come off the production line and are safety certified (certification occurs just prior to shipping).
We ABSOLUTELY APPRECIATE every single Backer and each of you deserve our heartfelt Apology. You’ve asked for transparency and following are the actual business reasons behind these delays. Regardless of what you’ve read from backers’ comments or on social media, Park & Diamond is 100% COMMITTED to delivering your helmet.
First, we’ve been blown away and a little overwhelmed (in a very positive way) by the success of our Indiegogo campaign, and frankly, our initial factory and supplier set-up wasn’t big enough to account for this success. Therefore, rather than starting small, then stopping, and then moving to new factories and different suppliers (all of which is financially impossible for a company our size) we made the decision to significantly ramp-up our tooling needs and pursue additional suppliers to account for our much greater product demand and production needs. In addition, with so many more backers supporting us (THANK YOU!), we decided to significantly upgrade several helmet components (e.g. premium hat skin and interior lining materials, we added extra-comfortable straps, Fidlock magnetic buckle and attaching hardware, better carrying case and packaging). Doing all of this took several additional weeks to source and secure new (and upgraded) suppliers, and then several more weeks getting these new suppliers up-to-speed producing prototypes and safety testing samples. We were able to use the time from these external delays to improve your helmet, and our productive time was not wasted.
Next, when we started this Indiegogo campaign we couldn’t account for several other business factors, including:
Global trade conditions with China (where are factory and most of our suppliers are located) became highly unpredictable and is constantly changing. Some of you may be tired of hearing about this, but it is very real and hits small companies very hard, especially when you start a new manufacturing business. The good news is, we’ve adjusted our plan and continue to develop contingency Plans B and C. These are the facts (not excuses), as politics and global business conditions sometimes take control of product manufacturing and delivery timing.
Other factors contributing to our shipping delays, include:
- On-again/off-again trade tariffs greatly affects our suppliers’ quantity allotments and pricing
- Government trade and quantity restrictions on several materials used in our helmet effects our supplier’s ability to deliver product material quantities (this has impacted the delivery timing for hat skin fabric and premium straps).
- Hong Kong political protests have shut down and delayed travel access to our factory and access to/from our suppliers numerous times
- We’ve also had to reschedule and re-route travel to source and secure new suppliers in several other countries (e.g. Korea and Taiwan)
Yes, these are our daily work challenges, however, none of these factors will prevent us from delivering your helmet.
Again, we sincerely apologize for the delays and we are working very hard to reclaim your trust and deliver your helmet – it’s all we care about and think about every single day!
FAKE SELLERS
We’ve heard from several backers about fraudulent copycats stealing our ads and trying to sell the Park & Diamond helmet for a very low price. These sites are NOT AUTHORIZED SELLERS and have NO HELMETS TO SELL.
The Park & Diamond helmet is ONLY AVAILABLE on Indiegogo InDemand for USD$89. If you see the P&D helmet on sale anywhere else (for less than USD$89.00) then it is not from Park & Diamond and you should report them and avoid them.
THANK YOU SO MUCH – WE WILL DELIVER FOR YOU!
Jordan Klein, Co-founder/CEO
David Hall, Co-founder/President
Fri Sep 20 '19 Announcement
about 5 years ago
– Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 07:50:52 PM
Dear backers,
We’re making great progress and getting closer to shipping. Here is the updated shipping schedule and some great photos and a .gif from our production line.
Shipping Schedule:
November: we will ship the first (ordered) 3,000 helmets**
Late November: we will ship the next (ordered) 3,001-8,000 helmets**
mid-December: we will start shipping the remaining 8,001+ helmets**
** This is a change from contribution #, since some backers have ordered multiple helmets and shipping will be determined as helmets come off the production line and are safety certified, just prior to shipping.
Since many backers have asked, here are photos and a video from our factory showing different stages of production, including our upgraded helmet strap components and our production line in action.
Want to see the .gif in a bigger screen? Use this link.
As we’ve mentioned in prior updates, we’ve had some delays and supplier changes, but we are back on track with production, putting helmets through rigorous safety certification testing and also testing them through independent testing labs (to date, all tested sizes have passed).
We absolutely appreciate your support and continued patience as we take this journey together to protect our cycling/scooter community. We can’t wait to deliver yours!
All the best,
Dave and The Park & Diamond Team
Fri Aug 30 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Aug 30, 2019 at 01:52:47 PM
Hello Backers,
We’ve recently validated a critical process step (see video GIF), which was a previous bottleneck in the production process - this allows us to hit higher production rates and deliver faster once we begin delivery - we are very happy with this outcome.
Download the .gif to view in HD.
In future updates, we will show our manufacturing line and fantastic production team assembling helmets along with upgraded components (straps and hat skins).
Despite the daily (sometimes hourly) political trade volleyball being played, our team is firmly entrenched in our factory working very hard to produce your helmet. And while the ongoing US-China trade uncertainty continues to present great challenges (especially for a startup hardware company and our fantastic manufacturing partners) we continue to make great progress rallying all of our suppliers.
We read every comment (on Indiegogo, email and social media) and do our best responding to all backer questions. We will continue to prioritize delivery for our first 20,000 Backers. Please note the Indiegogo page delivery date is not accurate for past orders, please reference your Contribution ID # and previous updates for accurate shipping timelines.
Of special note: This Saturday (August 31st, in the U.S.-only), Park & Diamond will (again) be featured on CBS’s Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation (please check local listings for the time in your area).
We’re committed to send more frequent updates and photos as we get them from our factory, and we can't wait to delight you with your new helmet!
Thanks again for all your support,
David and the Park & Diamond Team
Fri Aug 2 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Aug 02, 2019 at 12:24:24 PM
Hi Backers,
We’re happy to report that we're completing factory tooling and preparing for manufacturing and assembly. As of now, we’re still on track to start shipping at the end of September (see schedule below) and our suppliers are up-to-speed. We’re approximately 3-5 weeks from hitting our next milestones and we will commit to sending more frequent updates (every 2-3 weeks) and photos (as we get them from our factory).
Also, to focus on our earliest backers, we have pushed shipping for new backers (Contribution #20,000+) to November.
Updated Shipping Schedule:
- September (first 3,000 orders, approx. based on Contribution ID#)
- October-November (Order 3,001+, based on Contribution ID#)
WHERE DO I FIND MY CONTRIBUTION ID?
Please review the instructions posted in a previous update here.
HOW DO I CHANGE MY SHIPPING ADDRESS?
1) Go to https://park-diamond-foldable-bike-helmet.backerkit.com
2) Enter the email you used to place your P&D order.
3) Follow the instructions to change your shipping address.
We’ve had a lot of questions regarding safety certification on our current design. So please allow us to clarify the safety certification process:
- The bike helmet safety certification process (for ALL bike helmets delivered to the U.S., EU, Asia, AUS/NZ and all countries/regions where we will deliver) occurs AFTER helmets are manufactured and JUST BEFORE they are shipped to customers.
- Most of these certification tests have similar standards with some minor variances. We have successfully tested iterations of our helmets throughout the development process, and our final designs have passed internal Park & Diamond testing AND independent third-party testing. If you are looking for more info on this process, most of these safety certification standards and processes can be found online.
As always, thank you so much for your great support and we appreciate your patience as we are working 24/7 to deliver your helmet!
The Park & Diamond Team
Thu Jun 13 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 06:46:14 PM
Hello Backers,
First, we genuinely appreciate your patience! We know you are very anxious to receive your new Park & Diamond helmet, and yes, we’ve had some delays. The ever-changing global trade conditions have created some short-term supplier challenges with our hat skins and we have now worked through these issues. All suppliers are up-to-speed, we are ALL-IN working on manufacturing and we assure every Backer…You will receive your helmet!
Updated shipping schedule:
- September (first 3,000 orders, approx. based on Contribution ID#)
- October (Order 3,001+, based on Contribution ID#)
Some good news…
We now have a stronger handle on our supply chain and we’re building solid long-term relationships with suppliers to take us into future product development and growth.
Because of this delay we’ve been using this time to make improvements in our helmet design, which we didn’t think we’d be able to deliver in our first helmet. Taking this time to conduct additional research and testing, we have added some very important innovations, including:
-
Custom Strap and Hardware: Say goodbye to the typical, uncomfortable black nylon straps with black plastic pieces. We have developed a custom strap system with softer webbing and laser engraved aluminum hardware in a sleek gunmetal grey.
-
Lighter, Faster: We have refined the fabrics and construction method to reduce the weight of the helmet by 15 grams without compromising safety and reliability.
-
Above & Beyond: Optimized the adhesives for an increased product lifespan.
Our on-going R&D, constant product testing and our search for even more product innovations have absolutely paid off, and the cool thing for you is, we were able to add these enhancements and refinements in this first helmet design.
We know you will love your helmet even more, and with these great product refinements, we’re confident you will agree it was worth the wait!
WHERE DO I FIND MY CONTRIBUTION ID?
Please review the instructions posted in our last Campaign Update here.
HOW DO I CHANGE MY SHIPPING ADDRESS?
Log in to backerkit.com with your e-mail address. Click on “Edit Address”.
Please send any questions or personal requests to: [email protected]
Thank you once again for your continued support!
The Park & Diamond Team
