So you're telling me that if Purism continues to receive new pre-orders that outstrip their manufacturing capacity, they will indefinitely hold the money they've collected from me thus far since new customers' pre-orders take precedence over my refund? My refund, initiated because of their inability to meet demand in the first place, is now perilously delayed because of their inability to meet demand while they service new customers?
If so, this contradicts what I've been told in emails by Purism staff, the fact that people after me in the queue have received refunds and the fact that this policy in question no longer even exists on their website. It's all super transparent, fair and customer friendly.
The policy that you quoted states that quite literally, I don't understand your question. Even if you only consider pre-orders up to when the shipping has merely started, there are still some left to fulfill. The policy has been changed since and now mentions "when your pre-order is reached in the shipping queue", which is more favorable to customers and AFAIK that's how all requests are being handled now. You have stated yourself that "people after [you] in the queue have received refunds", which wouldn't be possible when sticking to the old policy. There must be something going on with your particular request and it isn't going to be resolved by a software developer writing comments on Hacker News.
I missed "back" when I grepped the new policies for "crowdfund", Purism changed the verbiage, my apologies. This was their earlier policy I believe, before the one I put up from 2020. There was some waffling as far as I can remember.
In any case, I guess I'll send another email because I think you're right, I should already have gotten a refund. Maybe Purism will agree with us time around. Saying my experience is anomalous doesn't really square with community sentiment. My situation isn't some crazy one-off and I think today Purism is more well known for their shady customer service practices than their open hardware and software. Hang around any of the forums and you'll see more disillusioned Purism fans than happy customers. I certainly didn't pre-order a Linux phone so I could be stuck in customer service limbo five years later divorced from both cash and computer.
Hell, I'd even take a phone if I could get one before they push back deliveries another year or two but I think that may push me into a different queue.
If so, this contradicts what I've been told in emails by Purism staff, the fact that people after me in the queue have received refunds and the fact that this policy in question no longer even exists on their website. It's all super transparent, fair and customer friendly.