The Ripoff Mac Pro Case is HERE

[BrandonPonYoutube]

It seems like Dune isn't willing to ship anything until march 2022 unless you pay extra.  they supposedly dispatched 300 cases to a third party logistics company on may 31st 2021 yet those cases have never left their home port.  they claim the shipping crisis has outcompeted them, but in reality the crisis is that they aren't willing to pay market price to ship anything. Dune discovered that the clips that they had manufactured for their front panel are difficult to use with the Dice Y front panel accessory. So theve been waiting over 5 weeks now to adjust their clip mold and with no end in sight. supposedly over 1000 dice y panels are waiting for anodizing for some reason. Discord user M.ritche calmly and concisely tried to remove all roadblocks asking dune to keep the dice y panel that he paid for and let him pay for expedidted shipping of JUST the standard case, Alex Gomez misinterpreted his request either willfully or igornatly and went on a long discussion about manufacturing forecasts and didn't answer the question. two other users SoulSniffer and myself both pointed out in the live Q&A that he did that and ask that he address it again and failed to get any response. later M.ritche posted in discord this PM he had sent to Alex. 

 

Soulsniffer also pointed out in clear concise language that the newly floated expedited container pricing was of by about 20000 dollars since Dune was already Willing to pay the bloated pricing on standard container pricing and dune stated that the pricing was estimated as such so that everyone would pay for their expedited containers weather the container was going to the USA or Saudi Arabia 
Any comments that are critical of the shipping delays are met with boilerplate shipping crisis and covid excuses and the indiegogo comments section are bascially Matt, Dunes part time marketer and discord admin, copy pasting the same response on all of the comments 

 

Matt who keeps the discord at a cooldown between 2 minutes and 5 minutes also is often quite dismissive and snarky of comments critical of dune

https://ibb.co/wrqF4Td
 

 

So where we are now is that the product that was supposed to ship January 2020, November 2020, May 31st 2021, October 2021 and was supposed to be available to have backers choose at their expense to Expedited ship October 1 will continue to wait till March 2022 and beyond to receive any news of shipments.

[Guns N Rosen]

You have to love the Freudian Slip. At least Matt corrected himself two days later 

 

We're also past the October 22nd deadline for the clips with zero communication as to the status.

[BrandonPonYoutube]

To date Alex Gomez the project owner  has not responded to m.Ritchie about Alex’s misinterpretation of M.ritchies attempt to remove every obstacle and pay for an expedited standard case. Alex has been tagged, pmed and brought up live that he needs to address the misinterpretation and make it right. Again to date he hasn’t. 

[BrandonPonYoutube]

Tried to get Alex Gomez to respond regarding m.ritchies Open PM and he deflected again 

[Cooper.11]

On 11/3/2019 at 7:08 PM, wANKER said:

I'm curious, is there anyone here who actually likes the styling of the new Mac Pro? 

Yeah it’s a shiny box white a cheese grater on the front.

[BrandonPonYoutube]

Welp I think I have to bow out and just buy a different case at this point. During recent showcase of anodized dice y(the cheese grater) panels for the “lucky 10” several discord users pointed out that the panels didn’t match. I believe it was Alex Gomez intent to ship those expedited cases with mismatched panels. After it was pointed out by several users Alex finally relented and went back to the anodizer to try to color match the panels. It was then revealed that the 300 cases “shipped” in May are being recalled to color match as well. That seems to indicate that they ALSO didn’t match. In my mind I believe that they knowingly shipped poor quality products and only recalled them because they were called out. 
I’m done. They have spent all the time and attention and furthermore stolen 1.5 million dollars from backers. I guess I calculated the risks of backing but man am I bad at math. 

[Torvalds is the true Linus]

Myself and another backer who is a lawyer are now preparing to take legal action against Dune Case LLC in the form of a class action lawsuit.

 

I urge you to bookmark and share this link: https://duneclassaction.com/

 

In the next few days you will be able to register for updates. We're in the very early stages of getting set up but will reveal more details on the site in the next week or two.

[IPD]

Not feeling it.  G4/G5 case would be better.

[Pnyboy42]

On 11/23/2021 at 12:15 PM, Torvalds is the true Linus said:

Myself and another backer who is a lawyer are now preparing to take legal action against Dune Case LLC in the form of a class action lawsuit.

 

I urge you to bookmark and share this link: https://duneclassaction.com/

 

In the next few days you will be able to register for updates. We're in the very early stages of getting set up but will reveal more details on the site in the next week or two.

Alex is digging himself a grave. He sent a youtuber a review copy ahead of the "Lucky 10" backers who get theirs first, and the youtuber broke some sort of agreement to say the case was crap quality and Dune was running out of money. Alex denies this, and says the youtuber is lying. I dont know how much is true or what you know, but this is a show and a half. I'm keeping an eye on the class action suit, because this dude is really digging himself deep.

I made this account just to follow this form, because this is really just getting crazy. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Pnyboy42

[Guns N Rosen]

An update for everyone. I apologize for the novel.

 

This company is so incredibly shady and inept that it really does feel like a scam at this point. They constantly gaslight their backers, trying to rewrite the narrative.

 

Dune finally (after something like 3 months late since the promised date) delivered cases to the "Lucky 10". One of the backers commented that the case has gaps in the panels, was missing a screw, and was rattling when he was working with it. Any reputable company would have addressed the feedback and investigated it so that it doesn't happen with future cases. Dune's response? It's okay for a premium product to rattle, just don't shake it. They then cherry-picked only the positive impressions and completely ignored any critical feedback to use for marketing purposes in their update. They admitted in November that they've been making structural revisions to the cases in recent months, after 600 units were supposedly manufactured, assembled, and boxed awaiting departure out of China since May 2021 or earlier.

 

I've now learned that some backers have indeed received refunds. I've been asking for one for months now and each time they ignore me or give me a copy & paste response about how the money goes straight into manufacturing so refunds are unavailable. What company does not have $300 in liquidity to refund a customer that has waited over 2 years for delivery? I was an early backer as well, #479 from the original batch before they started taking additional orders through Indiegogo after the campaign ended.

 

Dune is now removing my comments from their Indiegogo page asking for a refund and comments pointing out the lies and false promises they've told backers for 2 years. They claim this is because links or email addresses are not allowed in comments and are removed by Indiegogo automatically, however, I know it is Dune removing them because there are previous comments with email addresses still visible and many of my comments did not include links or email addresses. It's also convenient that my comments are removed during the day in the UK where Matt lives, but not at night when he's sleeping. But you know, it's DEFINITELY Indiegogo removing them. There are other backer comments critical of Dune that remain visible, however, mine are being hidden, so I am forced to post new comments so that I am not swept under the rug. 

 

I am being targeted and silenced by Dune for trying to get my money back.

 

Quote

By Dune Case LLC

Nov 18, 2019 • 10:20AM

 

During the last four weeks, we noticed that there were many supports who were undecided in purchasing the Dune Pro case. For those who are still deciding, I can assure you that the Dune Pro case will be in the hands of everyone who supported this campaign and made a pledge. In addition, the construction of this case and the quality control will be at its highest level. I will personally inspect the construction and assembly of the 1388 backers who backed Dune Pro case.

 

Apparently, the highest level of quality control means you get a rattling case with missing screws, panel gaps, and various other problems. Dune loves to use COVID as an excuse for everything, but you can't use the pandemic for QC issues on a batch of only 10 cases.

 

Here are a bunch of screenshots of Dune trying to silence me as well as proof that refunds have been issued for others.

 

Being Silenced by Dune, Two Backers Refunded

 

@LinusTech @James please please please, we seriously need some sort of follow-up with this. The brief mention on the WAN show and changing the video title for the Dune Case was, unfortunately, not enough. No one that I know of in the tech space has investigated or tried to find out what's going on with the status of this product. I backed this project because of the LTT video and Dune misled LMG and backers by making it seem like they were ready to start manufacturing. They've consistently over-promised and never delivered to their backers and now they're trying to censor the truth.

 

[Guns N Rosen]

I have some good news for everyone!

 

After going full Super Karen and reporting Dune Case LLC to the Federal Trade Commission, the Delaware Attorney General's office, and the Better Business Bureau, I have FINALLY received a refund. 

 

Matt at Dune is LYING about them being unable to issue refunds.

 

No doubt, he'll say refunds were issued by Indiegogo for violating Indiegogo Terms of Service. This is a LIE. I have not been banned from the platform and received no warning or notification about violating IGG ToS. Indiegogo support told me through several tickets that they are unable to refund me and that it can only be done by the campaign owner. There was no acknowledgement of my refund by Dune or IGG until I received an automated email by IGG notifying me. My support tickets with IGG support have not been closed and support has not mentioned anything about my refund. Therefore, my refund must have come from Dune themselves.

 

They are lying to you that they are unable to offer refunds.

 

If you are a backer of the Dune Case, please contact the FTC, Delaware Attorney General, and BBB to report Dune Case LLC for their fraudulent business practices and continued false statements to backers and DEMAND a refund.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guns N Rosen]

Another update in the Dune Case saga. Things are getting much worse.

 

This really is looking more and more like an instance of the money has run out. That is, if they ever seriously even tried to produce the cases in the first place. With how they struggled to manufacture even 10 cases, it's difficult to believe they can manufacture, assemble, and ship 4000+ without significant time or issues.

 

Dune is now holding backers' cases hostage by "offering" a $99 "expedited container" option, with a suggested delivery time of 8-12 weeks (that's a big maybe), OR you can pay $349 for "fast courier service" (essentially DHL). Keep in mind, backers have already paid $20-$30+ shipping already.

 

Not only are they holding cases hostage, they're also taking NEW orders directly through their site for cases from unsuspecting suckers, I mean, customers. The cost of a case? $349.

 

Doesn't anyone find it odd that the cost of shipping worldwide is also the EXACT same cost of a case? Dune has a lot of examples of "coincidences" like this; such as production batch #1 being 100 manufactured cases, batch #2 is 200 cases, and batch #3 is 300 cases (what?).

 

The longer this drags out, the more the Dune Pro Case project shares similarities with the iBackPack project. In that instance, the FTC got involved because the project owner was using money from backers for things that did not contribute to manufacturing and delivering the product, such as marketing to raise more money and personal expenses. Where did Dune get the money to build a new website to promote sales of their product off Indiegogo's platform? I wonder...

 

It really is disgusting what Dune is doing to people that trusted them and gave their hard-earned money for this project. Not only do they not have the product after waiting for 2 years, if they want it anytime soon they now need to pay the equivalent of a new case. On top of it all, Dune has the audacity to take new orders for cases directly through their website when they have yet to deliver on the original Indiegogo orders.

 

 

 

EDIT: Oh, and new customers get FREE shipping. 

[pedrotski]

On 12/22/2021 at 12:22 AM, Guns N Rosen said:

Another update in the Dune Case saga. Things are getting much worse.

 

This really is looking more and more like an instance of the money has run out. That is, if they ever seriously even tried to produce the cases in the first place. With how they struggled to manufacture even 10 cases, it's difficult to believe they can manufacture, assemble, and ship 4000+ without significant time or issues.

 

Dune is now holding backers' cases hostage by "offering" a $99 "expedited container" option, with a suggested delivery time of 8-12 weeks (that's a big maybe), OR you can pay $349 for "fast courier service" (essentially DHL). Keep in mind, backers have already paid $20-$30+ shipping already.

 

Not only are they holding cases hostage, they're also taking NEW orders directly through their site for cases from unsuspecting suckers, I mean, customers. The cost of a case? $349.

 

Doesn't anyone find it odd that the cost of shipping worldwide is also the EXACT same cost of a case? Dune has a lot of examples of "coincidences" like this; such as production batch #1 being 100 manufactured cases, batch #2 is 200 cases, and batch #3 is 300 cases (what?).

 

The longer this drags out, the more the Dune Pro Case project shares similarities with the iBackPack project. In that instance, the FTC got involved because the project owner was using money from backers for things that did not contribute to manufacturing and delivering the product, such as marketing to raise more money and personal expenses. Where did Dune get the money to build a new website to promote sales of their product off Indiegogo's platform? I wonder...

 

It really is disgusting what Dune is doing to people that trusted them and gave their hard-earned money for this project. Not only do they not have the product after waiting for 2 years, if they want it anytime soon they now need to pay the equivalent of a new case. On top of it all, Dune has the audacity to take new orders for cases directly through their website when they have yet to deliver on the original Indiegogo orders.

 

 

 

EDIT: Oh, and new customers get FREE shipping. 

Keep it up.

 

Alex is a top tier scammer and double speaker.

 

I called out Alex and Matt in Discord a few months ago and they asked me to come on the live podcast (why a case company needs a podcast..... ok) to ask them the hard questions. Before the live they banned me from Discord because I "Doxxed" Matt.

 

All I did was post his public Linked In page to Discord. If you're running a company, you need to be public facing and not hide who you are. The only people that hide themselves are scammers.

[whispous]

7 hours ago, pedrotski said:

All I did was post his public Linked In page to Discord. If you're running a company, you need to be public facing and not hide who you are.

That's just inciting people to harass, you know this. You must know this.

 

Even if the guy is a scammer, you WERE linking it for the purpose of encouraging harassment.

[pedrotski]

3 hours ago, whispous said:

That's just inciting people to harass, you know this. You must know this.

 

Even if the guy is a scammer, you WERE linking it for the purpose of encouraging harassment.

Ok sticking up for the scammer, whatever, but its still not doxxing someone lol. It was to highlight Matt was lying when he said he didn't have a linked in account, however it was listed on the Dune Case LLC page. 

 

The guys are serial liars and thief's mate. Not sure why you are trying to white knight them. 

[whispous]

8 minutes ago, pedrotski said:

Ok sticking up for the scammer, whatever, but its still not doxxing someone lol. It was to highlight Matt was lying when he said he didn't have a linked in account, however it was listed on the Dune Case LLC page. 

 

The guys are serial liars and thief's mate. Not sure why you are trying to white knight them. 

Talk about straw-manning me. How dare you.

[HenrySalayne]

45 minutes ago, pedrotski said:

Ok sticking up for the scammer, whatever, but its still not doxxing someone lol. It was to highlight Matt was lying when he said he didn't have a linked in account, however it was listed on the Dune Case LLC page. 

 

The guys are serial liars and thief's mate. Not sure why you are trying to white knight them. 

It sounds a lot like playing the victim role, if you complain about being banned for something you knew could get you banned beforehand.

Rallying the masses and throwing around conspiracies and hate isn't constructive.

I'm not trying to defend the Dune team and they have their fair share of responsibility for the delays, but dealing with all the negativity and the accusations from the community isn't easy. And it's certainly not helpful.

Read the ToS of Indiegogo once again and then you know what you're entitled for - nothing. There was always a chance the entire endeavour would go down the drain. It's sad, bit that's what we all signed up for.

[pedrotski]

7 hours ago, HenrySalayne said:

It sounds a lot like playing the victim role, if you complain about being banned for something you knew could get you banned beforehand.

Rallying the masses and throwing around conspiracies and hate isn't constructive.

I'm not trying to defend the Dune team and they have their fair share of responsibility for the delays, but dealing with all the negativity and the accusations from the community isn't easy. And it's certainly not helpful.

Read the ToS of Indiegogo once again and then you know what you're entitled for - nothing. There was always a chance the entire endeavour would go down the drain. It's sad, bit that's what we all signed up for.

What do you mean "playing the victim role"? I am a victim as they have stolen millions of dollars from myself and other backers. 

 

That is the point of this thread to warn other potential buyers off of this company. 

[Guns N Rosen]

On 12/29/2021 at 11:59 AM, HenrySalayne said:

Read the ToS of Indiegogo once again and then you know what you're entitled for - nothing. There was always a chance the entire endeavour would go down the drain. It's sad, bit that's what we all signed up for.

That's not entirely accurate. People seem to think that the rules regarding crowdfunding is the same as donating. While crowdfunding doesn't guarantee a successful project and delivery of the product, the owner of the crowdfunding campaign also has certain responsibilities to their backers. The iBackPack is a great example of the FTC taking legal action against a crowdfunding operator:

 

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/05/ftc-charges-operator-crowdfunding-scheme

 

Quote

“If you raise money by crowdfunding, you don’t have to guarantee that your idea will work,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But you do have to use the money to work on your idea—or expect to hear from the FTC.”
 

Monahan made a number of false statements to consumers about the status of products as well as to the crowdfunding sites to keep from being kicked off their platforms. These include announcing in August 2016 that the POW Cables were “on their way here” or were “done/finished/shipped over with” or would be received within six weeks.

Despite repeated assurances, Monahan did not use the contributions received from the crowdfunding campaigns for the promised products, the FTC alleged. Instead, he spent most of the money on personal expenses and marketing efforts to try to raise additional funds, according to the complaint.

 

Alex and Matt have made numerous false statements to backers about the status of the project. I don't think anyone will dispute that except for Alex and Matt. I suspect this is why Dune's campaign was "closed" on Indiegogo. Not because Dune decided to close it themselves, like they've stated, but because Indiegogo saw that Dune was continuing to take orders for cases and claimed they were in the "shipping" phase, while not actually delivering cases or even proving that cases were manufactured. This would explain why Dune is now taking orders directly through their site and would lend credence as to why Indiegogo support told me that they're investigating the campaign. It really feels like Dune ran out of money, so they need to sell more cases to unsuspecting "customers" to raise enough money to fulfill the original Indiegogo orders.

 

The problem is, has Dune actually done everything in their power to manufacture and deliver cases? Or has money been used for other things like marketing, personal expenses, etc.? We don't know. Anyone that's reputable and cares about their backers will do what they can to make things right despite the setbacks, including offering refunds for those that request it. I've never seen someone so vehemently deny refunds like Dune has. And now Dune is, for all intents and purposes, extorting backers for more money with the "promise" of expedited delivery. I'm sorry, but $350 shipping even for Chinese backers is extremely suspicious. You have to wonder where they come up with these numbers.

 

If the project failed and Dune simply can't deliver cases and no one is getting a refund, that's one thing. Be honest about it. Yes, people will be upset, they're allowed to be. But the repeated gaslighting and lack of accountability is what's really inexcusable and why people keep calling this a scam.

 

As one backer put it; if you can take your idea and turn it into a legit business, that's great. But I backed this campaign for a computer case, not to fund your business startup. 

 

 

[HenrySalayne]

4 hours ago, Guns N Rosen said:

If the project failed and Dune simply can't deliver cases and no one is getting a refund, that's one thing. Be honest about it. Yes, people will be upset, they're allowed to be. But the repeated gaslighting and lack of accountability is what's really inexcusable and why people keep calling this a scam.

A scam would be something intentional. They manufactured too many components and even showed pictures of the molds. You don't spend that kind of money if you don't intend to at least try to build a case. I still feel like this is a lack of experience and Dune just doesn't want to acknowledge that it is harder and more time consuming to manufacture cases than they proclaimed. A mix of too much pride in combination with too little competence. 

I don't know if money is tight, but I agree that their latest updates point in this direction. 

[Guns N Rosen]

I agree, I don't think the project was ever intended to be a scam, but I understand why so many people have that impression. Dune have continually dug themselves a hole and have not been forthcoming with the project. I don't know whether Alex is just in complete denial, delusional, a pathological liar, or a bad businessman, but charging an additional $350 for shipping with no defined dates or solid information, however, feels like a scam and is completely tone deaf of Dune considering they have not hit a single one of their self-imposed deadlines. 

[daka_uk]

On 1/2/2022 at 3:43 PM, Guns N Rosen said:

I agree, I don't think the project was ever intended to be a scam, but I understand why so many people have that impression. Dune have continually dug themselves a hole and have not been forthcoming with the project. I don't know whether Alex is just in complete denial, delusional, a pathological liar, or a bad businessman, but charging an additional $350 for shipping with no defined dates or solid information, however, feels like a scam and is completely tone deaf of Dune considering they have not hit a single one of their self-imposed deadlines. 

Ive monitored this project from 2019 and early 2020 I knew beyond a doubt its a scam. They were about to ship units just before corona hit and suddenly whole shipping turned into working on prototype. If that doesn't scream scam I don't know what. I was amazed though how people can be guillable - fed with countless BS excuses that didn't make sense and exposed one thing - they tell lies after lies. I guess hope always dies last. Btw I'm impressed how they managed to get people to double down and pay 350 for expedited shipping that will never happen. Exploiting textbook human behaviour.

Its impossible to find any production units of their previous crowdfunded project - Mac Pro previous can design - so this definitely not their first time riding this rodeo.

[Guns N Rosen]

6 hours ago, daka_uk said:

Ive monitored this project from 2019 and early 2020 I knew beyond a doubt its a scam. They were about to ship units just before corona hit and suddenly whole shipping turned into working on prototype. If that doesn't scream scam I don't know what. I was amazed though how people can be guillable - fed with countless BS excuses that didn't make sense and exposed one thing - they tell lies after lies. I guess hope always dies last. Btw I'm impressed how they managed to get people to double down and pay 350 for expedited shipping that will never happen. Exploiting textbook human behaviour.

Its impossible to find any production units of their previous crowdfunded project - Mac Pro previous can design - so this definitely not their first time riding this rodeo.

 

No, I don't think it was ever intended to be a scam, but it has, over time, devolved into one. I think the project started with good intentions, but Alex bit off more than he could chew and instead of admitting his mistakes and course correcting, he lied and made excuses and has continued to do so, eroding any goodwill Dune may have had.

 

As for the people actually paying $350 for "expedited" shipping, if they want to keep enabling Alex and Dune in the hopes of getting their cases, then they have more money than common sense. You never throw good money after bad and there have been numerous warning signs that Dune will not keep their promises. But some people are easily manipulated.

[Middcore]

1 hour ago, Guns N Rosen said:

 

No, I don't think it was ever intended to be a scam, but it has, over time, devolved into one.

 

The Star Citizen of computer cases. 

[Radium_Angel]

9 minutes ago, Middcore said:

 

The Star Citizen of computer cases. 

/thread

I'll get the lights.