Fri Apr 26 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Apr 26, 2019 at 07:50:53 AM
Hello Backers
Just a quick update before the big WAU trucks are loaded.
As our main goal is to produce nearly triple the volume of BEAST WAUs in the same amount of time to make sure we can ship not just 1 container but another 5 WAU containers all at once, this week we have had a problem with the current QC in the panel department. It was a 0.3mm tolerance alignment which normally is okay in the industry, but if you guys waited this long we will make sure your personal WAU is nothing short of perfect before it leaves the port. This has caused only a few days of delay in the final packing and shipment of all WAU BEASTS but please stay tuned for the awesome news when everything is being loaded on the monster loading trucks.
WAU Air for the battery is scheduled to leave next week, I will confirm with the guys. And for those that are waiting, you will simply receive a tracking number from us.
WAU Sea is scheduled to leave in in a week and a half. We will need to ensure all bikes have passed QC before they leave the factory. **
By the way, we have further good news coming for you guys as this week we had a meeting with our software partner and they are willing to do something truly special and exciting for WAU Indiegogo backers ONLY.
Their rule is always to charge a monthly subscription for their hardware, customer services and maintenance of their massive global satellite infrastructure. However, we stuck a deal with them that EVERY Indiegogo WAU will be void from this monthly fee FREE FOR LIFE as a further gift from us to you guys. We got this complete fee fully covered on the house for you! :-)
We are now 97% of the way there and extremely close to making the second to all the way fifth shipments all at once for you guys all over the world!
BIG LOVE
Linas, Crystal, Tony and WAU Team
Mon Apr 22 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 01:41:37 PM
Hello Backers! :-)
A quick catch up on all our the latest progress!
We are running around and checking like crazy all the tooling, staff and product quality on an everyday basis. The good news is that we are now very close to delivering the current shipment and shipping the new WAUs too. Finally light at the end of the tunnel
Current WAU Container in Sea Shipping Process
The shipping company has now successfully updated us that the first WAU US sea container is scheduled to reach the destination port in approximately the 8th - 9th of May. At this point, the US sea freight container will then go through all border customs checks, get precisely divided for different destination all over the US and then get delivered to you guys by the local delivery trucks! :-)
Ready For WAU Air Shipping
Exactly 7 days ago we have asked all WAU AIR backers to complete their air shipping order slots in order for us to successfully book each and one of you guys a personal space on the cargo planes. Today we are all ready to close the order window and scheduled to start loading the WAUs on planes by early this upcoming week (25th - 26th of April)! :-)
The cargo plane company has updated us that the air delivery process takes in the ballpark of 5 to 8 days compared to 6 to 8 weeks on the sea cargo ship. The process usually involves from 1 to 3 planes as it's connecting flights to get to the destination airport. Then clearing all border customs and then as the final step the local delivery trucks will get your new WAU to your doorstep for you to enjoy the Beast!! :-)
**DO MAKE SURE** that you are present on notifications as the delivery attempt will be made 2 to 3 times by the final delivery company. You must accept your delivery or else the delivery company then would ship the WAU back to the original factory and that would be very bad news causing delays. We will send out emails informing each and every one of you guys about your personal order in the next week or so, so please be present guys and keep an eye out.
Next WAU Sea Shipping
As it's our first time in this project to ship all of our technology, we quickly learned that all the shipping companies only do large shipments of each large container to a single global port. However in our much more unique case as our awesome backers are anywhere from New York to small Madagascar islands registering and getting our deliveries placed with logistic companies has been a great nightmare. They simply don't yet see the potential in us and causes countless daily rejections. Our only solution was for the 3 of us to pursue every single credible shipping company we could find and in the end, pay much higher tariffs just to get them to say yes to our none standard WAU shipments. However, now we are good to go for another secure round of shipments.
EU WAU Sea Shipment:
30th of April ETD (Estimated time of departure)
Global WAU Sea Shipment:
30th of April ETD (Estimated time of departure)
As soon the 2nd and 3rd WAU containers are successfully loaded and shipped we will right away email each and every one of you guys to let you know the next round of WAUs is on its way directly to you! :-)
P.S This is some more behind the scenes process taking place. We don't normally share this with you because the majority of it is quite on a low note as we're all 3 continuously dealing with the quality and logistics process, but like so many of you have asked we will share these moments with you. :-)
One of the things that me and Tony do on a weekly basis is to travel early on Sunday mornings at 6 am on our 1000km train trip with no internet to one of the injection factories to check all the quality progress to make sure that you guys get your WAUs without any of the classic start-up manufacturing defects. The factories, of course, aren't used to their customer being this present, but we have found that in today's process this is the only way we can truly provide great quality WAU Beasts for you guys! :-)
Stay tuned for the next progress update!!
BIG LOVE from Linas, Crystal, Tony and the WAU Team
Sat Apr 20 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 04:18:38 AM
Happy Easter Guys!
Don't worry guys, there are no days off for us. Today we are packing for a 6 am 1000km train trip to one of the injection factories to finalise all final checks before shipping the next WAU rounds to you guys.
The full update is already being written with all your exact shipping dates and arrival updates. Please stay tuned for Mondays (22nd of April) update with ALL the latest progress and information!
BIG LOVE from Crystal, Tony, Linas and the WAU Team
Mon Apr 1 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Mon, Apr 01, 2019 at 10:19:16 AM
Hey Guys! :-)
Second & Third WAU Sea Container
Due to highly custom Super-lights construction and especially Super-lights management operating system (WAU OS), it requires each and every individual WAU bike's built-in computer brain to be coded.
As a result, the second and third round of WAU bike shipment was unfortunately pushed back to the 14th of May. However, we agreed with all 4 factories staff to pay them overtime and work 7 days a week approximately 11 hours a day until EVERYTHING is ready to ship to you guys.
We can confidently say we are able to save those 2 weeks and finish the WAU bikes ready for FINAL shipment on the 30th of April!! :-) (This shipment will include ALL backers)
This also means that we can cut delivery time drastically by shipping all WAUs at once in slightly larger volume so every awesome backer will be receiving their WAU's on this awesome shipment round, just in time before the summer :)
P.S In the process, we have also opted in for a little more expensive and improved Matte WAU paint chemical structure. This allows easier care and long lasting finish as some of you know that matte cars and other vehicles tend to be hard to clean, however, we are doing our best to make it easy as a little bonus for you guys. :-) This also applies to the first shipments of WAUs
WAU Air Shipment
We do have an update from our air cargo team. They have called us in for a meeting and they have updated us that they misunderstood what we're exactly asking them. They quoted us for the battery shipment only as the battery has to go on a separate plane, (believe me when I say global logistics, trade war and customs are complicated as h**l). We've worked hard for them to update us with fully inclusive services at one of the lowest prices they have ever done = $589, but as you guys paid $199 for sea shipping already we have worked hard to recover that money from the sea shipping group and on your choice we can put that $199 towards air shipment.
For those that have opted in air freight and wish to remain so, the additional price is only $390 for Air Cargo. Or we can put your WAU bike on the next sea EU, US, World shipment without any additional cost and get it delivered to you.
Our first air shipment is taking place on the 12th, and we will work through each and individual backers that opted in for Air Freight from then onward. That means backers will start receiving their bikes from the 20th April WOOOO!
For you guys that want to go ahead with WAU Air cargo please confirm with us over email and Crystal + Tony will complete all the paperwork for you.
Mass Air Cargo
Will be starting to leave in early April, you will be contacted one by one privately by Crystal about your exact shipment details, so please keep an eye out for PM from us guys!
Duty & Duty
We have discussed this trade war nonsense between the continents, but our way to reduce the cost for each and one of you guys will be for us to ship each one of your batteries separately (no extra charge for you, will cover any extra if needed) and work our magic to help you guys as much as we can for tax and duty. In return by doing this and working hard, we can then cut your taxes drastically and save you guys by far the most money possible.
We will be in touch very soon, we are confirming the final duty and tax costs.
However, as you guys asked to share with you not only the highlights but also always be real with you. This is why we are opening up and share with you even some of the bigger challenges we work hard to overcome every day.
Hot Heated Handles
Here is an update about the heated handles. During the manufacturing stage, our handle provider has had a meeting with us and updated us that the current technology/ system we have on board is not compatible with the Hot heated handles. All the controller we currently have is custom made and programmed specifically to only work with WAU Bike. We did further testing and have noticed these hot heated handles draw significant power from your C3 power pack, in turn, will decrease your mileage. therefore we have decided not to go ahead. Many heated handle refunds have already been processed 100% back to your guy's accounts, we will process the remaining in the next few days :)
Shipment Order and Code
A few of you have had a question if your guy's order is on the way, you will always receive a full confirmation code as soon as it arrives at the port.
P.S As I have a Lithuanian passport, I will have to leave the Chinese border on the 4th of April by law due to the Chinese visa. This gives us a good opportunity to visit partner factories in Saigon, Vietnam and see if connections there can help us with any further logistics, trade war and work with to source great quality raw materials for the survival of WAU.
Tony will take over for one week with all quality control and management here in Shanghai and after the 7 days, I will then come back to support everything again for another 30 days and carry on working hard with Tony to get every WAU finished, registered and shipped to you guys!
Always keep your faith high and trust that this will be the BEST SUMMER EVER on YOUR SUPER AWESOME WAU Bike!!!
BIG LOVE
Linas, Tony, Crystal and the overworked WAU team <3
Sat Mar 23 '19 Announcement
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Mar 23, 2019 at 09:20:26 AM
Hey guys,
This is the update to answer all your key questions.
Next EU Shipment
As it is our first time we are ever doing this, our shipping companies have updated us that every single container leaving the shipping port is near impossible to split the ocean freight into multiple delivery parts (around the world delivery). It is the by far the most efficient and fastest way is to do a single clear cut container per continent and then do prompt last mile delivery route to the door.
This way ensuring that they stick to their most effective way of delivering, which answers the questions of why WAU's have to be delivery segmented by each clear continent. However to counter this method of shipping we are scheduling to speed up the manufacturing process even further and take out staff into more overtime to reduce the manufacturing time, even more, helping you guys as much as we physically can. We will update you on the promptly upcoming EU shipment very shortly.
Fans Support
Here below we also wanted to share the crazy love you guys are showing to us and believe me when sh** hits the fan and it becomes this hard, you guys are the strong mental driving force to keeping all 3 of us driven and making us never give up. We know you guys keep it real with us and this is what we love about you guys. You Are Core Of WAU. You Are WAU.
Clear Terms
For the few guys that have been getting a little unstable, we wanted to share that we are always open with you, and clearly listed all short terms on our campaign page and Q&A to always let you know that you are in good hands and no bs 'extra' fees would ever apply to you. If any extra fees ever creep up and believe me they have racked up very high, we always cover all of them on the house, so you guys are never affected by any unexpected increase of fees.
P.S almost everything you purchase contains tax, it is of course, less visible when it is embedded in the price already. As we are shipping Worldwide it is impossible to price our bike differently to each every country if we included taxes into our prices.
Total
Tony has done the latest calculation on all costs, and it is clear that even the lowest spec of WAU at $699, cost us just shy of $1250 to manufacture, including all raw materials, additional reliable parts suppliers, factory payrolls, tool customisation, final assembly etc). With scraping out first ever injection tool to make the battery easily accessible have set us back hugely financially.
It really puts things in perspective for us as we always make sure we provide only the best possible upgraded parts, and design function for you guys, but it does eventually come at a cost. We will be of course covering the difference and always keep our word.
You guys are receiving a heck of an e-bike for the prices paid and guaranteed no other e-bikes will offer the same quality for the same price, even if you think they are the same, please pay particular attention to the components and parts used. Off the shelve parts or rebranding, existing bikes are always cheaper than new innovation.
In Addition ADD (Anti-Dumping Duty Tax)
We will also cover ADD taxes (varying from 25% to 40% of the total WAU cost depending on delivery country) ourselves so you don't have to ever think of this complete monstrosity of a colossal Trump's + Brexit + EU tax from the government. In total it this will be pushing the final cost from the original prices starting at approx. $699 to anywhere from $1563 to $1750 cost per each WAU. You can only imagine the cost of the WAU S with all the upgrades.
Campaigns
Some of you guys have noticed another clue. You started to see that some other well-known campaigns do post very rarely and delivery timelines take up to 2 to even 3 years longer than the original delivery date.
The overall idea of pushing the industry limits sounds great, however, when it comes to accomplishing every high task on the list, it becomes very real and difficult very fast, and you will have to make many personal sacrifices to push and deliver as close as it physically possible to stick to deadlines and never even think of stopping/pausing.
All in all, we want to make this very clear that if there are some of you that don't share the WAU family vision we would personally ask you to contact us on [email protected], we will make first-ever refund if your WAU is not on the container yet to relieve of your short term worry.
P.S Some of you asked to show you guys how my set up looks like here in Wuxi. It's simple, 1 narrow sofa and an 11-year-old MacBook to work on. Rolling lean and efficient :p
P.P.S You guys will also receive a final update as soon as the container arrives at the destination port with tracking numbers and exact dates when your WAU will arrive at your given address (even down to the time of day of delivery) :-)
Stay tuned for more updates!!
BIG Love <3
WAU Team
