Posted on 16th Aug 2011 @ 8:09:35 PM

News for August/September 2011

The Short version...

• OctoInkjet are moving out of our current home based workshop and into a Business Center unit, over August/September
  (More Details)
  
  
• New Products for August/September
  • REdSETTER [USB] for PGI-525/CLI-526 cartridge chips
  • Chip Resetter for PGI-225/CLI-226 cartridges (USA/Canada)
  • More Inks now in 250ml volumes
  • Canon Cartridge Clips/Holders
  • CIS systems now available
  (More Details)
  
  
• August 24th to September 6th - Physical orders were held for shipping on or just before Friday, September 8th. (
  As of September 7th, all orders (for which payment has cleared) have now been shipped
  (More Details)
  
  
• Order confusion (August 10th - 17th) - The last downtime (for family visits) was not as clear as it should have been and resulted in some confusion for customers who ordered during this period and who missed the extended shipping terms
  (More Details)

The Detailed Version...

We're Moving!

Part of the reason for the extended downtime is that we're moving premises to take up a workshop space in a local Business Center. This will massively increase the amount of storage space as well as allowing me to create dedicated work areas for development, manufacturing different products, and of course improving the whole pick/pack/ship process.

I'm recognising the value in promise less, deliver more so, I won't spill the beans on every pipe dream I'm hoping to realise from the change, but watch for news over coming months as we start to take full advantage of the new space and working environment.

Obviously it all takes time to setup new work benches, work out effective storage and pick systems, and the like so it will be a work in progress for a while. Please bear with me while I work out the kinks, and get it all tweaked to perfection.

Summer Downtime #2

Updated: 7th Sept 2011

All orders placed before, or on September 6th (where payment has cleared) have now been shipped...
...a day earlier than originally anticipated (with thanks to my long suffering wife, who helped enormously!)

Previous Notice:

With everything from a family funeral, wedding, family time and of course the need to organise and move the OctoInkjet base of operations...
Physical orders (with some exceptions - see below) will not be shipped as normal between:

August 24th to September 6th 2011

Some items will be available for dispatch as "almost normal" during this time, while others will not, as follows:

The Bad..

• Any orders placed for most physical goods (see table above) will ship on or just before Friday, September 8 th. 
• Despite preparations to the contrary, my email/internet systems went totally offline causing a massive headache until today. I now have a new email provider and will be catching up over the next 24 hours
  

The Good..

• We're staging the move to the new unit so orders will be minimally affected on our return.
• Some of the lighter/common physical items are still being shipped as normal* (see table above)
• Support and pre-sales queries should still be answered within 48 hours
• WICReset key purchases will continue to be sent by email automatically and should not be affected by the downtime.
• A number of issues relating to the earlier downtime (see below) have been identified and solutions are now in place to avoid similar issues recurring

Whilst I recognise this is not an ideal situation the fact that I run OctoInkjet on my own means I don't have the luxury of leaving everything in the hands of a trusty lieutenant. It is something I'm thinking hard about in terms of the future though.

Downtime Support

Please use the contact page for any support or pre-sales queries. I will be continuing to answer support queries by email/helpdesk as quickly as I can.

Order Confusion (Downtime #1)

There has been a bit of confusion and frustration relating to some orders placed between August 10th to 17th so I thought I'd best clear this up.

During the downtime the delayed shipping information, relied on customers clicking through to this announcement (or clicking on one of the site banners)

While the announcement was linked as "Extended Shipping Terms" and customers had to indicate their acceptance, I suspect quite a few people didn't click through, and simply assumed they were boilerplate terms and conditions, rather than specific information. Obviously it's never a good idea to just accept without reading but I recognise I could have made things clearer.

I've since identified a method, previously used to great effectiveness, that will ensure customers are aware of any downtime related delays in the future.

Most of the affected orders have since been shipped today (August 18th) and the rest are going out tomorrow (19th).

Apologies if you were one of those affected.

New Products

You can check our the new products from the front page or via the RSS feed but here's a few new products that have recently been added to the store

• REdSETTER [USB] for PGI-525/CLI-526 cartridge chips
  This has been eagerly awaited by quite a few people and the delay really has been worth it
  
  
• Chip Resetter for PGI-225/CLI-226 cartridge chips
  This unit is specifically for the latest Canon cartridges in America/Canada and has been available for a few weeks now.
  
  
• More Inks now available  250ml volumes
  Following a lot of requests from customers I'm now making more and more inks available in 250ml volumes as standard. This process is taking time but the new premises will provide the space necessary for this.
  
  
• Canon cartridge clip/holder parts
  For anyone using the Top-Fill refilling method or those just looking to store cartridges more effectively, these are a very useful bit of kit.
  
  
• CIS systems from RIHAC and InkRepublic
  Initial offerings of Continuous Ink Supply systems are now live and plans to increase the models covered are planned for once the move has been completed (See above)