I got an email from CL. Somebody else get this message too?
How can be a pre_order product out of stock?

Mazak

"Dear ***,

We're Sorry! The product(s) you've ordered is currently out of stock and could not be shipped. The product(s) has been placed on back-order and will be shipped as soon as possible when the stock becomes available. You will receive another email notification when your order has actually shipped. Your credit card has been pre-authorized, but you will NOT be charged until the product ships. Thank you for your patience and understanding."

I got it, too. I think it's a robo-mail. Probably from Digital River (the company that handles CL's store). They probably send it out automatically whenever a product can't be delivered, whether because it's out of stock, or because it doesn't exist yet.

"Dear Customer, We're Sorry! The product(s) you've ordered is currently vaporware and, well, vapor is hard to put into a box and ship..." ;0)

I hope you be right. I was wondering, I ordered P6 on 17-Feb-05. Has CL only 100 copies made? ;-) Stupid robots :D Mazak

I ordered mine yesterday and then got the P5 pre-order coupon. When I tried to cancel to re-order with the discount I got a message that said my order was in the process of being shipped.

When they said "limited edition," they meant limited edition! ;-)

Don't worry. Katherine has promised that everyone will get the limited edition and all the discounts they are entitled to, even if the various technical difficulties prevent them from ordering before the deadline.

Digital River creates and runs Web stores for all kinds of companies, not just CL. The "backorder" notice is probably the closest they could come to the current situation. Maybe they'll add a "vaporware" message to their robo-mailer's menu in the future.

All I got was the header, no message. Strange company.

Yeah I wouldn't worry I've gotten similar automated messages with pre orders from other online stores in the past.

I ordered on the 17th also and I got the back order email too. I though mine was just a header, it took about 4 minutes to pop in which was very weird. Kristta

I ordered mine on the 17th as well and got the back order email as well. I think its just to say they haven't manufactured all the CD's yet to ship.

Same here, ordered on the 18th as my S/N was deemed invalid on the 17th! =0)

Well they billed my credit card already!

"Dear Customer, We're Sorry! The product(s) you've ordered is currently vaporware and, well, vapor is hard to put into a box and ship..." LOL. Makes me wonder if you guys are ordering vaporwares now ...

According to the email, my debit has been pre-authorized, just not billed yet...

BE VERY CAREFUL of Digital River. I made a 19.95 purchase at Jasc last week. They use Digital River. It charged my Paypal ATM twice. One order is complete, one is pending and Digital River basically says TOUGH LUCK

EDITED TO FINISH::

I can afford being whacked for 19.95 twice, but not the price of Poser6. I have to wait 10 days for Paypal to drop it out of their system because it is not completed to get my money back. I finally hung up on DR yesterday, I got the most worthless CS rep I have ever dealt with.

Message edited on: 02/22/2005 12:43

PapaBlueMarlin on 2/22/05 11:48 According to the email, my debit has been pre-authorized, just not billed yet... MAybe thats what they meant, but I'm sure they said it was billed, because they day after I ordered Poser 6 my creditcard was used online by someone else! (creditcard fraud) and I had to call and report it to the card company and they were going over my recent charges to see what was mine and what was fraud, and the one for P6 was charged according to them, cause I had to okay it.

What worries me is that the total shown on the back order email thingy is without the additional 15% that everyone gets who has pre ordered between 16. and 22. February.

As I stated once already, if I do not get the "Early Adopter" and 15% for pre-order even though I cannot order but with the fact that I have IM'd Katherine with the proper information to sort this out, I will not be a happy camper at all. The inability to order is not MY fault. It is DR's and CL's (mostly the first, I'd imagine). Therefore any penalty I pay will be extracted from them.

I'm suprised at the number of people that are shocked that a hold has been placed on their credit or debit cards. I noticed that most of the places on the internet that you order stuff from place these holds. Amazon.com and eagames.com and a few others all do this. It ususualy disappers after the first 24 to 48 hours so that you never even notice they did it. Kristta

I ordered mine on the 2/16, after 3 tries, it finally accepted my S/N, I got the confirmation letter, then I got a letter for the problems with the serial number on 2/19/05, and was told like all of you that I would get a discount, they have not yet charged my card, cause I ordered it for the box in the mail, not the download version. Then also on 2/19/05 I got an email that said if was out of stock. Out of all of this, I am assuming, I preordered it, I will get the discount once they charge me and I will be charged on or about the same time it is released and shipped. Sharen

I think I have ordered my Poser 6 Upgrade on 18th February - I have received the Order Notification with the information that I will receive an email within 2 to 3 days containing the payment instructions for GIRO (live in Germany, therefore I figure I am able to transfer the money through GIRO). BUT - I have not received this mail YET. I have written to the customer support and I dont have an answer yet. I know, that I didnt get anything because my spam is not deleted, but transferred to a spam category - therefore - null - nada. Ive never experienced it, that I am running after a company to give them my money .. sigh ;-) this time, its the first time ever, that I wrote them, that they have to give me their account information where I can transfer my money too (no answer either yet). Michael

Just wishing for the 'Good Old Days '. See something in a catalogue, call the toll free number and actually talk to a salesperson. Life was simple.

These online ordering systems usually work, but Curious Labs, like so many other software companies, has fallen under the false pretense that the higher and thicker the barracades, the least likely they will be breached by pirates, hackers, crackers, script-kiddies. And the walls get thicker and higher and the products still show up on the warez sites before they are even released. The thick and high walls result in our discomfort and irritation - the honest customers and users. A good article I read discussed the arms-race between piracy and countermeasures, was both praised and trashed, but it made some very sound points. No amount of protection will ever work - ever. Encryption schemes that require supercomputers to create have been cracked by people in their bedrooms! This all has to do with trust between groups. The old 'prisoner dilemma' - Game Theory 101. Right now, we're in a mostly lose-lose situation. The companies invest more and more time and money in protection schemes, which directly translates into more inflated consumer prices, which in turn causes these stupid guffaws when dealing online - all of which has almost no effect on piracy. When will they learn?

Hopefully - they will learn. (its another question if I believe that for myself). Anyways - I have read in the Pre-Order FAQ, that despite of spamming eMails might have been overseen. Well, not on my part. Because, I have stated before, my spam mail gets pushed in a spam envelope where I can view it from time to time BEFORE it will get erased. BUT - trying to get somebody from the support "on the line" via eMail is something with Curious Labs that is, for me, a miracle for itself. I have sent one to Digital River - no answer yet. I have sent an eMail to the Customer Support at Curious Labs - no answer YET. Is that a fact these days that the companies dont care anymore? I mean, I do understand it that it will take some time - but one thing I would make sure in a "pre-order" is, that this system WORKS! Well, I think everybody has seen that the entry of the serial # for the upgrade didnt work either (at first). Nice to see, that pre-orders because of this get some financial plus - BUT - the system should work before I am going to take pre-orders. I, for myself, am very annoyed of this whole case ... (pre-order, customer support and so forth) ...

This is what I don't understand. BEFORE announcing and implementing the pre-order, why wasn't there a correlative check of databases. One assumes that Curious Labs has records of sales, registrations, serial numbers, shipped/downloaded products, registered users, etc. You make sure that these match up and fix it BEFORE going forward. I tried one last time to order yesterday - same invalid error on my valid serial number. Still no response from Katherine, though she is probably drinking alot of coffee (and hopefully not something else!). If they like, I can send scanned receipts, emails. Just don't get it.