Dear Jolla Tablet contributor, As promised, we are beginning to process the refunds further on cash flow positive months by randomly selecting a number of backers and providing them with a few of options in order to handle their refund situation. As of end of July is now at hand, we can confirm the financial situation is allowing us to start the process with 100 random backers. While admittedly that is not a huge number, it is what the situation permits us to do so far. We are determined to continue with the process each month we have a positive cash flow.

How backers get selected

Since we have decided to make this a fair play and select backers randomly, a common random generator script is executed by our sailor engineers in order to pick the selected refund backers for each round. For the moment, this is the most efficient way to compile the list, and to make the process fast.

Options

As mentioned in our summer update blog post, the randomly chosen 100 backers will be contacted via email. As we all want to believe in the success of Sailfish OS in the future, we have considered adding options in this refund round. The backers will be given three options to select from:

Receive credit for the same amount of money that they can choose to spend on future Sailfish programs. (such as using the credit for Sailfish OS for Sony Xperia X, which we are considering and will confirm separately if feasible) Donate the remaining 50% refund sum to the development of Sailfish OS Receive the remaining 50% refund

The backers will be given a couple of weeks in order to check their details in our refund tool so that everything goes as smoothly as possible. If option 1 seem like a popular fit for our community, we can provide dedicated channels for it later. Will get back on that based on the reception we get based on offering this option.

We thereby thank you for your patience and support and hope you have had a nice summer so far.

Sami

UPDATE (18/08)

On the August 15th we successfully refunded the first batch.

As communicated before, 100 backers were given 14 days to check their email and confirm their information. There were 71 reactions logged including donations and those who chose the credit option. People who did not react have been put back to the pool of backers.

As of now, no exact date is yet decided for the next round, however we are working to make it happen during September. An updated blog post will be published regarding the second batch moving forward.

UPDATE (15/09)

We are continuing with the same pace for this month as we did during August and are refunding another 100 people, completely randomly, out of the pool of backers. The backers are chosen using MySQL mathematical functions just like last time. We do feel the urge to repeat that while you may think 100 is not a huge number, this is what our current financial situation allows us to do.

Options

We have provided everyone with three options as the last time, although with a slight update on the first option. We are also providing the same option to the previous 100 people in case they would like to choose it.

The first option is now updated to: “Receive a voucher to purchase Sailfish X and deduct the price from the remaining of your refund. Receive the rest of the refund as money or alternatively donate the sum to the development of Sailfish OS.”

The backers will be given 2 weeks since they receive the email to choose their desired option. If they choose the voucher option, they will receive their voucher when Sailfish X sales starts.

Backers who did not respond to our email

As for the backers who we sent an email to and did not receive any response back, we are sending them a final reminder before making any further decisions.

We certainly are trying our best to refund everyone as fast as it is financially feasible for us.