Mobius Strip Technologies

Greetings to everyone. We wanted to provide an update now that we are in mid-May. We are still working on the backlog. We are still not taking new orders and have no intention of doing so until we are caught up. Many of you want to know what your current status is, rightfully so. We are investigating a few different ways of providing better order status updates. Namely some kind of page on the site that you can query to determine where you are at. So far, none of the tools we have found have provided the level of granularity we are looking for.

Additionally, once the backlog is caught up, we will be implementing a new method of maintaining a reasonable amount of orders. This way we can keep the turn around times low and mitigate this issue entirely. The “downside” will be that we may close install orders for a couple days while we catch up. There are a few avenues being explored to determine the best course of action.

More exciting news. While working on the backlog we are trying to fit in some additional R&D here and there. With any luck, once we are back to full strength, we are hoping to begin selling Virtual Tap kits, as promised. Possibly some other highly sought after boards as well. Many of you may have seen the Sega CDX Triple Bypass announcement on the RetroRGB Weekly Podcast. This was a direct result of requests from many of you. As a part of that, we will be planning on creating a new board specifically tailored to the CDX and it’s unique design. There may even be a few more things in the works that we aren’t ready to announce.

So the information that you probably want more than anything. Will we be opening back up on June 1? As of right now, most likely no. Reason being, the backlog is taking a really long time to work through. Will we be reopening? Of course! We just don’t want to provide a poor experience and so far we feel like we are. Keep an eye on this page and Twitter to see updates, but all timeline information will be posted here first. If we power through and get the backlog done before June 1 that will be the date. If we don’t have it completed then we will stay closed, keep working, and provide more updates.

As always thank you all for your patience and kind words. As always you can reach out for more specific information. If you want your systems back without being completed, we completely understand and will absolutely return them. Hope to be seeing you all soon with good news.

As posted last week, we have shut down all new install service orders for this month. We will be focusing primarily on the backlog and potentially getting some of the new circuit offerings completed. Any orders already placed but not shipped to us are still able to be sent in. Any order already received is part of the plan for this month. Expectation is to reopen June 1. Please feel free to reach out with questions but we do not intend on allowing “side loading” of installs/repairs. Any items we sell that are available for purchase without install, will still be available. Keep an eye on the page for updates as we work through everything.

Customer service has always been one of the highest priorities in the shop. Anyone who has ever reached out to us knows, we tend to be overly responsive. The last few months have been awesome. Lots of exciting new products have been coming out and are in the works. Colecovision RGB boards are close to being finalized. The ever looming PS2 HDMI mod is on the horizon. Along with so many other awesome products.

As such we want to ensure that we are providing the best experience and products for our customers. Right now we believe we are falling short on that. With the increase of new mods coming out and the health issues that came up earlier this year, things have fallen behind. Instead of continuing to talk about the backlog and timelines, we are going to do something about it.

Beginning on May 2, we will cease taking new installation orders temporarily. This is something we have been discussing quite a bit and is not something we take lightly. The intention is to spend the month of May wiping out the backlog. At this time, we intend to reopen install services on June 1. This date is subject to change, but if it is going to be adjusted we will announce it here. We are not going anywhere. The plan is to finish some of the upgrades we have been putting off in the new shop and burning through this backlog. This way when we come back to taking new installs, we will be starting fresh with short wait times.

So what if you have an install already ordered with us? If we have your console, congratulations, you are one of the people who we will be focusing on for May. If you have purchased an install but have not yet shipped, that’s totally fine too. We will take that console in and get it addressed. If you are planning on placing an order and have not yet done so, you have until May 2 to place the order. After that time any new install service orders will need to wait until we reopen.

What about boards we sell like the FU-RGB? No problem. Any DIY kits we sell will still be available. Some new ones might even pop up.

Just remember, this is not a vacation. We will still be in the shop working just as much as ever. If the backlog is cleared before June 1, we might even open back up early. If June 1 comes around and we still feel more time is needed, we will take it and put off reopening installs. All of this is so we can better serve all of you. Please continue to bear with us and know that our goal is to come back strong and ready to give you the level of service you deserve.

Thank you all for your support as always!

Anyone who has been a customer of ours for any length of time knows that we have always prided ourselves on high quality and fast turnaround. As we continue to grow the offerings of the business so must we accept that there will be changes. As such going forward most repairs will no longer be accepted. What does that mean? Well If you have for example a TurboDuo that has no sound, missing effects, or weak sound, we will still accept that. Since most of the time those types of repairs are replacing capacitors and/or op amps. However if your repair is something more in depth, like a NeoGeo MVS MV-1FZ that is having “click of death” errors, while we would love to help, it’s just not feasible any longer.

What does this mean for current repairs? Well anything we currently have for repairs is still intended to be repaired. Repairs have always taken a back seat to installs and these days we just don’t have the time to focus the required attention on them. Going forward a policy will be instituted that any consoles shipped for installs that have undisclosed issues will either only have the install done or be returned at the owners expense. These situations will be discussed via email with the system owners privately.

At the time of the last post we were getting the turnaround time down to a solid two weeks. Since then the turnaround has been slowed and is now around the one month mark. Rest assured, your systems are safe and we absolutely will perform the work but we cannot sacrifice our install quality for the sake of faster returns. Our queue based system ensures that systems that arrive first are the first to be worked on. We do not provide preferential treatment, unless there are extenuating circumstances, which is done at our discretion. Why is it taking so long? Well we had a series of systems sent in that had numerous issues which the customers were hoping would be addressed by their requested services. These were reasonable expectations but unfortunately was not the case.

This is a long post. The important part is to know that we will continue to increase our offerings. We will continue to provide exceptional quality. We will strive to lower turnaround times but going forward we will answer questions regarding this as “about a month give or take.” Your work will absolutely get done. We still work 7 days a week. New products for DIY will be coming, along with installs for them. Prototypes are in hand for a few new devices that we hope everyone will enjoy. The only public announcements so far are that ColecoRGB will be back and better than ever soon. Along with a new offering for the TurboExpress/PC Engine GT 3.5″ LCD install.

As always thank you all for your support and patience as we work through these growing pains.

The FU-RGB boards are back in stock. Backorders will be shipping out on Monday. This weekend will be spent validating all boards before they go out.

Turnaround time is slowly getting better. Keep an eye on your emails for updates on your order as it moves through the process.

We will keep this short and sweet. Thank you all for your support and keep those eyes open for what comes next.

The FU-RGB went out of stock earlier this week. The number of people who were still after a board was more than anticipated. As such a new batch has been ordered. This new batch is not going to be as large as the previous batch. As such the price will also be increased.

Why the increase? Smaller batches cost more per unit to produce and the cost of components has also changed. If you place an order as of now, your board will be secured and placed in the backorder queue to be fulfilled as soon they are available. This will be roughly 2 weeks according to the factory.

For those who do not follow us on Twitter, Mobius was in and out of the hospital over the last couple of days. As the only person in the company that deals with installs, this unfortunately means that no work was completed during that time. As of today he is back to work and focused on getting as much accomplished as possible. The good news is that while time was lost, Mobius will make a full recovery and be back up to fighting form soon. In the mean time installs will commence as normal going forward. The FU-RGB board is almost fully out of stock and the majority of installs are finished. If you have a SSDS3 with us for install, don’t worry, it’s coming soon.

We have recently spoken with a few customers who have been concerned over the length of time installs have taken. As such we felt it best to provide some insight into how the business operates. While there are multiple people involved with Mobius Strip Technologies, only Mobius does installations. Under no circumstances do any other members of the team directly work on your devices. It’s also important to know that while this is a business and we do take it very seriously, it is not our only responsibility. Mobius works at the shop as well as working a full-time job and consulting job. The other team members also have full-time jobs and only work in the shop in a part-time capacity. On top of that Mobius does have family responsibilities. If you follow the shop on Twitter you may have seen mentions of his young children.

This is not meant to be anything other than more insight into how this shop operates and why your install might be taking longer than you had hoped. Going forward we hope to make changes to the process and return to our quick turn around times. In the interim, please just bear with us and remember your device is in good hands and we will complete it as promised.

Thank you all for your continued support.

This last weekend has been a big weekend for getting caught up. With any luck the shop turnaround time will be starting to level off soon and get back to normal. You might notice that the shipping prices have changed on the site. This is due to the new shipping costs that have now gone into effect in the US as of today. Unfortunately there isn’t much we can do about this.

The FU-RGB is getting very close to being out of stock. Once it goes out of stock, it may very well stay that way. The reason being that there are only so many SSDS3 devices out there and we really don’t know how many need to be upgraded. If there is still an interest a new batch will be produced but it will no longer be sold at cost and the price will increase. This is due to the higher production cost per unit for small batches and the increased risk of excess inventory on our part.

New products will hopefully be on the horizon soon. Once the workload decreases we will have more time to focus on the new R&D projects. A few of these will be fresh takes on existing work, others will be brand new and not previously seen. So as always stay tuned and thanks for your support!

As many of you may have seen today. We have new status categories to better communicate what is happening with your item. When your console(s) are received we will now mark them as Delivery Confirmed so you know that we have it. If we are waiting on parts for it it will go into the Waiting On Parts queue. If it is slated next up for install, it will be marked as Queued For Install. On Hold will now be reserved for extenuating circumstances, such as your console was in need of diagnostic work. If you fall into this status, we will communicate with you before that occurs. Other status categories will remain unchanged.

Now the actual important information. Where is your stuff? Well we are still working on it. We are still working 7 days a week and getting through everything we can, as fast as we can. Turnaround time is definitely sticking to the 2 week mark for now. It may be a bit longer, it may be a bit faster. Either way, the new status categories should help with this. As always, you can reach out to get more specific details as to where your install is in the queue. Please note that timelines will always be approximate because crazy things happen that can slow things down.

We ask that everyone maintains their faith in us and we will continue to produce high quality results. Now to get back to those installs.

Welcome to 2019 everyone. We are starting off this year strong. So strong in fact that the normal shop turnaround times are being extended. While many of our returning customers are familiar with the standard turnaround time being less than a week. This is sadly not going to be the standard case for some time. As it stands right now, turnaround time is pushing the two week mark. While this is substantially longer than we would like or you most likely would like. We do not want to sacrifice any of the quality of our work to get things out the door faster.

Why the longer turnaround time. Well it’s actually a few things. The number 1 thing is the popularity of the FU-RGB. The number of boards and installs for these are quite high. Luckily most of these are not very time consuming but we do test every unit before shipping it back, which of course adds time. As does the addition of the FirebrandX Audio Bypass. The second part is the DCHDMI and WiiDual batch 2. These hit right at the same time as the FU-RGB. It resulted in the perfect storm. So while the FU-RGB install is not as time consuming, the WiiDual and DCHDMI are. All work is in a queue and will be completed in the order it was received, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

We are going to be looking into a way to potentially add new statuses to our system to better define when your console has arrived, when it is being worked on, when it’s in testing, etc. In the interim, if you are concerned about your console and what status it is currently in, you can always reach out. Any order that is in an “On Hold” status simply means we are awaiting it’s arrival, waiting until it’s your turn, or actively working on it. Once the status changes to “Completed” in our system, your console is packaged and shipping back.

We do work 7 days a week. Some days we will get more done than others, but the goal is always to ensure that you get the quality service that you paid for. We are going to keep pushing forward to try and bring the turnaround time back down and will continue to allow additional orders. Just be aware that orders are still completed in the order we receive the system. So if you placed an order 2 weeks ago and someone else places one today and they ship their console to us first, they will be ahead of you in the queue. If there are any questions or concerns please just reach out to us.

We have a bunch of exciting things in the works for 2019 so stay tuned.