San Francisco-based Coin tried to soothe tensions last week after a public relations snafu tied to its product delay. But the startup, which manufactures an electronic device for storing credit and debit card info, may have another, less controllable issue on its hands: the company's beta program proved too successful, leaving many customers excluded and, once again, angry.
Coin's beta program was announced August 22 and replaced the company's full product launch. Coin had originally slated its product release for summer 2014 but was forced to push it back to fix manufacturing and product kinks. The beta was designed to give select preorder customers the chance to use a more limited, prototype version of Coin ahead of the official launch next year, with beta units to begin shipping in September.
The delay announcement triggered an immediate backlash because Coin planned on charging beta program participants an additional $30 to receive the finished product. Coin reversed its stance a day later, letting customers try the Coin beta free of charge while expanding the number of users who could apply for a prototype from 10,000 to 15,000.
Yet the crushing demand for Coin -- even its prototype -- left some customers feeling that Coin's gesture was a half-measure.
Nearly every preorder customer who bought Coin on the first day it was available to order has opted-in to the 15,000-person beta program, the company announced Thursday, after the August 28 release of its iOS app. That means that unless you ordered Coin on November 14, 2013, and did so in the first six hours it was available, you're ineligible for the beta program.
"Due to a high opt-in rate of 96.25 percent, if you ordered after November 14th 3:06:38 p.m. PT it is unlikely that you are eligible for Coin Beta," the company explained in a post on its website.
Many Coin preorder customers took to Twitter on Thursday to complain about the beta sign-up's confusing nature and demanded more clarity. Coin repeatedly stressed that a customer's odds of trying its prototype months early would be determined by the preorder number. Meanwhile, a parody Twitter account sprouted up lampooning Coin's efforts to communicate with customers.
A startup to help people understand
