829Japan
New Member
Although I didn't order these specific FE goggles, I bought a GB1 version kit from Rhett on Etsy back in December, so here's how it went for me.
I received them exactly 13 weeks later. I paid $197 shipped thanks to the coupon Rhett shared here, and I'm overall happy with my purchase, but I totally understand the frustation in this thread.
About the item (again, not the one this topic is about but the GB1 goggles kit): it was nicely packed, well made with very little clean-up to do and wasn't too difficult to put together following the instruction videos. The dry transfer decals and stickers are very nice too. The assembled goggles look great and are very light - they just look and feel like an actual movie prop - but not comfortable to wear with the provided thin foam padding. I had another little issue with the length of the strap (which is not adjustable on the GB1 style, unlike the FE style) because the temple to temple measurement I provided was used to cut the entire length of the strap, and was not the distance between the snaps as it should have been. A little oopsie that made the strap too tight, but I got some identical material already to make another one so not a big deal as far as I'm concerned (and nothing to worry about with the different FE strap). I also bought a cheap VR headset padding to replace the thin foam one. It may not be screen accurate but is much more comfortable. Cost me about $15 total and I know the goggles will be perfect after these little upgrades.
About the communication: it was a stressful experience to be honest. To Rhett's credit, he replied fast. But kept saying that the order was about to ship “in the next few days”, when it clearly wasn't. I totally understand that nice props take time to make and would have liked much better for Rhett to just tell me it was not ready rather than leading me on a goose chase and have me worry that my package could have been lost when it hadn't even shipped yet. Being notified that your order is on the way, then not receiving anything several weeks after the delivery estimate has passed and being finally told that it's not even packed yet is not a good feeling and obviously makes you wonder if the seller is really going to send you anything. Maybe Rhett was afraid that I would request a refund as time passed and thought it would be reassuring to tell me it was shipping soon, but it had the opposite effect. I would totally understand some customers not risking it and cancelling their orders because of that. I know I was seriously thinking about it and it would have been an unfortunate loss for both of us.
When I read this thread, I believe that Rhett made the mistake to take too many orders at once but will eventually complete and ship the goggles to everyone once his supply issues are resolved, and that most of you will be very happy with them.
I also believe that everyone filing a Paypal dispute as the protection deadline approches are absolutely right to do so, because ultimately it is Rhett's responsibility to manage any delay to be reasonable enough that it doesn't become a recourse in the first place.
I received them exactly 13 weeks later. I paid $197 shipped thanks to the coupon Rhett shared here, and I'm overall happy with my purchase, but I totally understand the frustation in this thread.
About the item (again, not the one this topic is about but the GB1 goggles kit): it was nicely packed, well made with very little clean-up to do and wasn't too difficult to put together following the instruction videos. The dry transfer decals and stickers are very nice too. The assembled goggles look great and are very light - they just look and feel like an actual movie prop - but not comfortable to wear with the provided thin foam padding. I had another little issue with the length of the strap (which is not adjustable on the GB1 style, unlike the FE style) because the temple to temple measurement I provided was used to cut the entire length of the strap, and was not the distance between the snaps as it should have been. A little oopsie that made the strap too tight, but I got some identical material already to make another one so not a big deal as far as I'm concerned (and nothing to worry about with the different FE strap). I also bought a cheap VR headset padding to replace the thin foam one. It may not be screen accurate but is much more comfortable. Cost me about $15 total and I know the goggles will be perfect after these little upgrades.
About the communication: it was a stressful experience to be honest. To Rhett's credit, he replied fast. But kept saying that the order was about to ship “in the next few days”, when it clearly wasn't. I totally understand that nice props take time to make and would have liked much better for Rhett to just tell me it was not ready rather than leading me on a goose chase and have me worry that my package could have been lost when it hadn't even shipped yet. Being notified that your order is on the way, then not receiving anything several weeks after the delivery estimate has passed and being finally told that it's not even packed yet is not a good feeling and obviously makes you wonder if the seller is really going to send you anything. Maybe Rhett was afraid that I would request a refund as time passed and thought it would be reassuring to tell me it was shipping soon, but it had the opposite effect. I would totally understand some customers not risking it and cancelling their orders because of that. I know I was seriously thinking about it and it would have been an unfortunate loss for both of us.
When I read this thread, I believe that Rhett made the mistake to take too many orders at once but will eventually complete and ship the goggles to everyone once his supply issues are resolved, and that most of you will be very happy with them.
I also believe that everyone filing a Paypal dispute as the protection deadline approches are absolutely right to do so, because ultimately it is Rhett's responsibility to manage any delay to be reasonable enough that it doesn't become a recourse in the first place.
