tl;dr: There was an error at the Gateron factory severely affecting the quality of the end product. QC fell short and a subpar product was delivered to vendors. Gateron owned the mistake thoroughly and promptly. They are in-process of making it right. Timelines have been extended 5-6 weeks and we are working internally to discuss preorder handling, vendor QC, and more. Additional discussion can be found in the Discord server. Thank you for understanding.

What happened?

Several of our vendors and I received our Summertime switch orders yesterday. It goes without saying that we were all very excited, and some of us even shared photos of the deliveries with all of you, anticipating that you would have them in your hands this week and the next. However, last night, one of our vendors discovered something troubling during the quality control process, which sparked a surge of coordination among all of us to ensure that we weren’t delivering a subpar product. As we went through our switches, it became evident that a significant percentage of the Summertime switches exhibited varying degrees of tolerance issues in the top housing. This, in turn, led to a less than desirable keypress experience. Consequently, the overall product delivery fell significantly short of the original design intentions, except for a few outliers which could be seen as “unuseable”.

Gateron’s Response

I promptly reached out to Gateron, and their response was swift. They advised us to halt the delivery process and assured us that they would identify and rectify the error. Replacement switches, which adhere to my standards, will be sent. Their exact words were, “…we can’t give the bad switch to the customer…” and I must commend them for upholding this principle. In a hobby where accountability is sometimes overlooked, it’s refreshing to see a manufacturer that has consistently maintained high standards of quality and consistency take responsibility for their oversight. Following this incident, Gateron proactively contacted all the affected vendors, without requiring my direct involvement, to notify them of the issue. I am personally impressed by this demonstration of their integrity.

Resolution and Timeline Adjustments

Now, what implications does this have for our delivery timelines? During the initial interest check (IC) phase, our goal was to ensure that these switches would be in your hands by late August or early September at the latest. The IC explicitly mentioned “late Q3”. Our progress was on track until these recent developments came to light. While it remains plausible that replacement switches could be dispatched to the vendors by the end of September, I would estimate that the likelier timeline for receiving them would be early Q4. Thankfully, Gateron employs mold markings on their molds, enabling them to accurately identify problematic molds, address the issue, and provide us all with the expected high-quality product. Given this context, I believe it’s imperative to afford them ample time to rectify the situation. The rough production timeline encompasses a minimum of three weeks, followed by shipping times to the vendors and subsequently to you, the customers. Please rest assured that we will diligently monitor the corrected production process and any associated fixes. As soon as we receive updates, we will ensure that you are kept informed.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your patience and understanding in this matter. While I acknowledge that this situation is less than ideal, I can unequivocally assure you that the design’s worthiness is underlined by the positive coverage we have garnered so far from our esteemed partner creators.