Interesting idea Gilad. We have explored this, but it hasn’t made the current final version at this time.
With your last newsletter in mind I was browsing the updated grobo webpage and was wondering because there is contradicting information. For the new pre-order round you state that there is a first come first serve principle. But at the faq you write:
“Grobo One production is scheduled to begin in fall 2017. At this time, the delivery estimate for new reservations is the fall of 2017 or later, depending on the country of delivery.
Once production begins, we will begin deliveries in North America starting on the east coast and moving west. As we continue to ramp up production, we will begin deliveries in Europe, APAC and the rest of the world. As we get closer to production, we will have more details to share with you.”
I can unterstand that it is difficult for you to predict the exact delivery date since you have to get everything up and running first. But it makes a difference for me if I as a pre-order customer from last year living in europe have to wait until all american pre-orders - even the new ones - are delivered or if it is still a first come first serve principle.
It’s not the most important but still a crucial point at what time I can expect delivery since the competitors in Europe offer similar products probably this year (http://www.minigrowbox.com/)
I’m still into Grobo but such a long waiting time is hard.
Hi, august is coming closer: when will we get information about delivery date, shipping costs, service options and so on? Some pictures of assembling and testing would be nice too.
Hi Fanatic,
Our apologies for the delay in getting back to you - this message slipped past us. We just sent out a newsletter update yesterday with updates on shipping. If you didn’t receive it, here is the most important part:
We’ve made a lot of progress this past month on the development of Grobo! We are currently testing the product with a number of beta testers, and we are on track to ramp up production throughout the fall and towards the end of the year.
It will take us a few months to fully ship out all of the orders. This is due to a few reasons: the extensive quality checks that we employ, the sheer number of orders we received, and the large size of the product. We want to ensure that you get the best Grobo possible, but that requires rigorous quality control that takes time.
We will provide more precise shipping dates and details in August.
We included a number if testing images in that email as well. If you didn’t receive it please let us know and we’ll forward a copy to you!
I did receive the mail. Thanks. Still hoping that delivery to europe won’t delay to much. Love the growing and assembling pictures. Really looking forward to start growing with grobo.
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Now that we’re into August, and the last update was a while ago. Do you have any idea when these are supposed to ship out as I’m very eager for that August shipping update.
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Got your mail and not really surprised that there is a delay again. Don’t misunderstand me. I really appreciate that you try to distribute the best product and therefore test grobo extensively but I would hope for a honest communication. So this delay every few months is very annoying it would be much better if you just give a realistic date even if it is summer 2018 or whatever. The reasons for the latest delay came not suprisingly so I don’t understand why you kept on communicating that distribution starts in august when you already knew it wouldn’t. Especially when it’s about a start up trust is essential for customers and I would really prefer a honest communication. You can answer here in the forum or via mail as you prefer but I would like to know when grobo will be distributed to Europe.
Hi @Daniel - An update was sent to existing customers last week. Did you receive it?
@fanatic - We understand your concern and are doing our best to be as open and honest as possible. In this case, we have been working towards certifications for many months and for a variety of reasons it took longer for us to complete the pre-certifications than expected. This unfortunately pushed back our timelines for officially shipping, however we are still shipping units to customers as planned this month. They are designated as testing units and will have to be replaced with certified Grobos once that process is complete.
In terms of a timeline for Europe, we still cannot guarantee a shipping date yet. Using our existing shipping carriers, it would cost ~$400-600 USD to ship a single Grobo One to Europe. To avoid this, we are working with distribution partners in the Netherlands to greatly reduce these shipping costs and ensure that you can quickly and easily access nutrients, carbon filters, etc. when you need them. As we have more details we will continue to update you. In the meantime, we truly do appreciate your patience and I promise you that our entire team is working as quickly and diligently as possible to get you your Grobo!
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Hi Bjorn,
I did not receive an email last week as aforementioned. Have been awaiting any kind of email regarding the shipping of the unit I had preordered as I also stated on the forum to which you responded that I could possibly even arrange coming to pick it up myself as I live in Barrie.
Thanks,
Daniel Jursza
@bjorn - Hope all is well with you and the Grobo Team. With the information above, have you received any further updates as to when you expect to receive these certifications? If you could shed some light on what obstacles you were/currently are still experiencing attempting to solidify certifications? As for you shipping units out this month as “test” units,are these considered “back-orders” from the first fun of pre-orders? I would hope that this is not the case as this would indicate a very heavy delay for current customers who were under the impression of an August ship date, however I will wait for you to confirm this prior to me making any assumptions.
With that being said, I know there have been some possible ship dates thrown around of possibly December, but is that now solely based on waiting for the certifications or are you still awaiting material for production of the Grobo Ones that were just ordered back in May? Not sure if this is a lead time issue on some of your material, but some direction as to what is taking place would be greatly appreciated. I try to follow you guys as closely as possibly, but the information provided to us on the forum and social media is limited (at times) and we are simply looking for some clarity as to when we can truly expect to have our Grobo orders arrive.
I typically email you direct, but I’ve found that there are plenty of folks like me who are looking for some updates and I figured this would be best served here for others to read in case they had similar concerns/questions. As always, thank you for your time and I look forward to your response!
Thanks!
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Hi Rich,
Apologies for the delay I just noticed I hadn’t pressed send 
Thanks for asking these questions and hopefully we can add some clarity below!
At the moment, I cannot guarantee when the certs should be complete. We have spent months going through pre-certification tests so we expect to pass the remaining tests quickly.
We are currently applying for both North American and European certifications all at once which adds some difficulty as the standards and tests are slightly different. Challenges faced getting to this point are varied, but to give you an example, we failed a test early on due to power supply issues. As we dug deeper, it turned out that although our supplier had all of the right logos, they were not actually selling certified products.
We have since replaced them with a new supplier and we have visited their manufacturing facilities in China to ensure that everything is safe and properly certified. We know it’s frustrating, we are frustrated as well, but our goal is to make sure the product you end up with works well and is safe.
Until we have the official certifications, we cannot “sell” a unit. All Grobos we have shipped and continue to ship are considering “testing” or “beta” units which we will take back and replace with a certified Grobo once that process is complete. It will still take us time to ramp up manufacturing but we are still moving quickly.
As we have more updates, we will continue to provide as much information and estimated shipping dates as possible. We are getting closer each day and I promise it will be worth the wait!
Bjorn
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You say you cannot guarantee when the certifications should be complete, however I would imagine that you guys have an internal timeframe as to when these should be completed, please correct me if I’m wrong. If previous certifications were granted during the first run, what additional area(s) are requiring further attention to gain certification for final sale of the Grobo unit? Was the hold due to the non certified products or something deeper?
As for the units you are still set to ship out this Fall will that be for customers who reserved a unit in your most recent pre-sales (April) or are you still fulfilling units from the “First” round of orders? That area is concerning as it’s not directly been addressed.
Finally, you mention that you had units sent out to be “tested” with the understanding that you will be removing these units from their homes to be replaced with a “certified” unit? If you could provide some clarity as to what that process will look like and why the process is being done? For customers who ordered and currently has one of the “test” units, why would they be sending back the unit and upgraded unit with more expensive parts, cost, shipping (twice now, if your truly removing old units from homes), and transit times involved with the entire process, I do not see how this is an advantageous move on the side of the company as it will be extremely expensive out of pocket cost in logistics alone. Would it not make more sense (not sure if the industry allows for this) to just send out the certifications to the current “test” customers with units and be done with it that way? Again, this is all solely my opinion and I’m not bashing your current processes, I’m trying to get a better understanding as to why my order is delayed and continues to be delayed. I appreciate all of the updates that you have provided to this point, so please do not take these words as me being disgruntled, just looking for some information on a product I’m very excited to receive.
Wishing you guys continued success with the Grobo One and I can tell you that I truly look forward to finally receiving my very own Grobo.
As always thank you guys!
Hi Rich,
Now I understand the confusion. We have not yet officially shipped out any Grobo pre-orders to customers from either the first or second round of pre-orders. This is the first time we are having the product certified which is why we cannot guarantee when that will be complete.
You are correct that sending units to Beta testers and then replacing them later is expensive, however it’s the best way for us to test Grobo as much as possible. These testers provide us with invaluable feedback on how easy and enjoyable it is to set up and use Grobo, and we use this feedback to constantly improve the hardware and software. This is a process every company does and the Grobo you will receive is going to be much better because of it!
As soon as we can provide better estimates of shipping dates, we will be sure to share them. Our goal is still to fulfill all orders before the end of this year.
-Bjorn
Hi Bjorn,
Thank you for the clarification and update!
Thank you,
Rich
Hi Bjorn,
didn’t receive an update for september yet. Anything new about the certification process? Still hoping that grobo will be delivered this year.
Thank you
Fanatic
Hi Fanatic,
I’m Joshua, the new Marketing Lead here at Grobo. I’m working on better ways to bring updates about things like the certification process, and just timely news in general. Stay tuned here, I’ll have an announcement next week.
Thanks!
Joshua
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Hi Joshua,
great to hear that there will be news. Hopefully good ones 
Thanks
Fanatic
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Hi Joshua,
what about this info update? Week is over but still no new info. End of october and still no september update is not exactly a “better way to bring updates about things”.
Hoping for an update soon and good news.
Thanks
fanatic
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Hi Fanatic,
You should have received the update by now. I also posted it for you to find here, in a new section of AllGrowers dedicated to updates - http://www.allgrowers.com/t/fall-updates/365 . Hope this helps.
Best,
Joshua
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Hi Joshua,
yes, I did. Very exciting news and really looking forward to your weekly updates. One question for one of you next updates: What’s the situation with the smell? I think @bjorn said something that there is still some smell leaking out but your working to make it disappear. Did you make progress on this topic?
Thanks
Fanatic