Ouya remains missing in action for some early backers

While our own Shawn Farner was able to drive 150 miles and 3 hours across the country to get his Ouya console, some customers – who backed Ouya back when the console was just a mockup on a Kickstarter page – still have not received their first run Ouya consoles despite being promised a delivery before the project hit retail. Unfortunately, Ouya the company has been all but silent to these frustrated backers, ignoring or talking around customer support calls, instead clearly focused on preparing for a retail launch of the console.

This has of course led to some pretty angry backers. Even a quick look at the company’s Facebook page will reveal all sorts of comments like the one below by Ouya backer Whiskey Pete, clearly at the end of his patience:

In a new blog post published to the company’s original Kickstarter project, CEO Julie Uhrman has finally acknowledged the seemingly widespread issue, claiming that the reason behind why so many funders have yet to receive their Ouya unit comes down to the way that the consoles are shipped. Ouya’s Head of Operations, Ken Stephens, claims that DHL – the service Ouya uses to ship the consoles from Hong Kong – has been lax about activating tracking numbers. That mixed with the long shipment time – up to 20 days, according to Stephens – has led to the illusion that some backer’s Ouyas are seemingly “missing in action,” a ghost with no digital footprint to track them.

To compound the issue, several international backers have their own set of delivery problems, making delivery tim even longer for these customers. Julie Uhrman strongly claims that she “is pissed” over these issues, and are trying to do everything they can to “make it right”. But for some customers who have been waiting since early April to receive their Ouyas, a strongly worded apology and a promise that the consoles are on their way won’t be enough to win them back. Ouya is a small startup without much cash, but if they want to stay in their customers good graces, they should strongly consider making good not with words, but with gifts.