This situation is a real bummer. In my opinion, it is partially on Mindstream, but it is also on the consumers (I don't mean to sound insensitive). You bought a completely unproven piece of tech, from a company with either zero track record or a bad track record, and unfortunately you may be out a lot of money. We all get excited about new tech and ideas, but I think we need to (as a group) be a bit more scrupulous and require data to show that any new tech can consistently perform as promised which may require a bit more patience.
Unfortunately in the reef aquarium industry it is somewhat normal to offer a product and have it work terribly or have significant issues in the first generation. Companies are essentially using customers, paying full price, as beta testers. This is poor form for anyone especially when livestock lives are on the line. The keys to this are the consumers. These lofty promises are snake-oil unless proven via data, supported via satisfactory customer/technical support, and with a warranty that not only covers broken units but also critical changes in performance. These things are not cheap! Heck you can buy a big flatscreen TV for this price. Expect more from your vendors!
I hope that the folks in this thread who bought in do get good closure and I hope that other companies view the mindstream example as something to learn from.
Unfortunately in the reef aquarium industry it is somewhat normal to offer a product and have it work terribly or have significant issues in the first generation. Companies are essentially using customers, paying full price, as beta testers. This is poor form for anyone especially when livestock lives are on the line. The keys to this are the consumers. These lofty promises are snake-oil unless proven via data, supported via satisfactory customer/technical support, and with a warranty that not only covers broken units but also critical changes in performance. These things are not cheap! Heck you can buy a big flatscreen TV for this price. Expect more from your vendors!
I hope that the folks in this thread who bought in do get good closure and I hope that other companies view the mindstream example as something to learn from.