Fate of Ugobe/Support

[justbede]

The person in the below linked thread claims that ugobe have finally stated that they are struggling, have had to downsize their work force and are trying to find a cheaper server for pleoworld. If true it doesn't sound good.

Link http://www.robocommunity.com/forum/thread/15620/Pleo-maker-Ugobe-is-in-trouble/

[degers]

I read the WIRED blog where it was first announced they downsised just to Idaho.  Their server move was the thing that closed the forums and hence why this forum exists.

[mweed]

We know they downsized.  Emails to customers from the Ugobe help line state they cut 75% of their staff and consolidated to eagle, ID.  We know they also downsized the server as of Dec 10th, 2008, but I admit I've never seen an official statement from Ugobe about their web service.  Would be nice if we could get an offical response from Ugobe as to what's going on!

[justbede]

Yeah i find it really odd that they haven't even taken the site down properly or posted some kind of notice.

[hmrbri]

Does anyone have any info on the fate of ugobe?
as previously mentioned support has been missing in action.
i spoke with Lawrence on fri feb 27 via the chat and haven't been able to contact anyone since.
they have my pleo and i'm getting worried........
bri

[Fireboy]

Take a look at my last post in "Pleoworld Disastor" it might explain why it may take them longer to get back to you then it should. But I would not worry as I have not heard anything about Ugobe not returning Pleo's. I'm sure its just a delay. 

[mweed]

Others have reported not being able to contact Ugobe either.  But no word has come out.  In theory, Caleb Chung has a speaking engagement coming up here soon . . . .

[Fireboy]

Do you mean he is actually going to talk to the bobthepleo forum ?
Last I heard he had been refusing to do interviews.
If he is going to I would love to know when as I would like to be online as he talks.

[gucci_boi7782]

He won't be talking with us....heavens no. He'll be doing some speech or what have you. We'll just be the first (and only) group to get a copy of this speech.

[Fireboy]

Oh I see! well I will just keep an eye out for it then 

[49er]

I guess I should post the information about Caleb Chung again. As listed in Pleo Cafe under the title " Caleb Chung talks live?" junkroxy reported that Caleb Chung was going to give a free lecture at the Garden City Library.  You can check that thread for the complete story, but it boils down to this e-mail sent by the Youth Services/Outreach Coordinator:

"We’ve confirmed with Caleb Chung that we can record the event  and post it on the website and we will try are best to do this.  I’ll keep you informed about our progress!  Thanks for your interest – we hope the teens in our community will take advantage of the privilege of hearing Caleb speak!

Thanks again,

Youth Services/Outerach Coordinator
Garden City Library
6015 Glenwood
Garden City, ID 83714
(208)472-2944
www.notaquietlibrary.org"

[D-Rex]

I also sent our pleo back to ugobe for repair Feb 5th. Ours would never walk. I spoke to Rafeal around Feb 18th and he said we had defected sensors and camera. Ours was brand new so they were going to fix it or send a new one. He had told me we would have ours 2 weeks from that conversation. Last week I tried to contact them by chat, email, and phone. I have had no luck reaching them. Their phone is now disconnected. THEY STILL HAVE OUR PLEO! I am affraid we may waisted 350 dollars and have nothing to show for it. I have a bad feeling we may not get them back.

[PLEOGALINBC]

I had to go through that experience too. I'm sure he/she should be coming soon. I waited weeks for my second pleo to get here.Once the pleo got there we waited. After a week, we phoned, they said all of the pleos were on back order. Then the guy remembered us and said one was being shipped today. After that I waited 11 more days then she finally got here.

[fancyfont]

We know that Ugobe has downsized and everything is likely to take longer than what is expected. Do write to the company. It might be faster to get a response then calling.

[D-Rex]

Now I'm really worried. I have not been able to get a hold of Ugobe to find out where is our pleo. First their phone number was disconnected. Then they would not respond to email or web chat. Now their web site is not found. I have tried several times and can not find it. If they have gone under and closed up I'll never get our Pleo back or the money we spent on it. I sure hope they are planning to send everyone their Pleos back before letting all their employees go.

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Ugobe Next Tech here in Australia appears to have shut down too

I contacted them about another Pleo but haven't had a reply, their number is disconnected, their email comes back as undeliverable and their website is gone

[Fireboy]

I have checked and you are both correct the Pleoworld site and the Australian site are currently both down. But the Ugobe store and the asian site Pleoroom are both still up and running and trying to sell pleos. I would keep trying to contact them, but remember they have had to recently scale down their workforce so things might take longer to get resolved and if problems arise with their site it might take longer for them to notice and repair it. We will just have to be patiant and hope that this is not a sign that things have gotten worse for Ugobe.

[mweed]

Ugobe.com is also down.  Ugobe.com and www.pleoworld.com are on the same server.  The server appears to actually be down, rather than gone.  Not sure if that's good or bad . . .

[Fireboy]

Try going to store.ugobe.com ( http://store.ugobe.com/ ) that will take you to the sales page of the Ugobe site but the links to the rest of the site are not working. To me this suggests that the server is still running but parts of the site have been shut down. Hopefully for repair,adjustments or maintenance.

[InmemoryofRomeo]

*fingers crossed*

I wish they'd just tell us what is happening, even if it is the worst case scenario, at least we'd know 

[fancyfont]

I wish they would , too. I'm sure hoping they are just getting reorganized after having so much change.

[degers]

The ugobe store runs on a separate server.

I have to say that I'm glad I got rid of my pleo while I could still get a refund.  Not looking good for UGOBE now.  Anyone else hear the toll of the funeral bell?

[fancyfont]

I;m actually glad I have my pleos and would never consider getting rid of them. They are so precious.
I can't believe that Ugobe would close down. Now, we really need to be patient to see what their next step is.

[ScribbleMonkey]

I think there next step is to quietly curl up and die. Lets be realistic, Ugobe's only product is Pleo. This isn't the best economy to be selling expensive toys. and if they are in such a poor financial situation that they couldn't even maintain basic website updates. What are the chances of them launching  and marketing a new product?

It stinks because there was a lot of potential. But the writing has been on the wall for months. 

I wonder how this effects Pleo in other countries. IIRC Ugobe used distribution partners for making Pleo available overseas. Will Pleo live on even if Ugobe does not?

[fancyfont]

Our pleos will.