Why I decided not to invest in the Tezos ICO

A lot of you may have read the many articles posted online saying that billionaire Tim Draper is participating in the Tezos ICO. I must say that after coming across the article, I myself got really interested in Tezos. I mean, Tim scored big as an early backer of Skype and Baidu, and if he is a billionaire, he must know what he is doing and I can't go wrong following his lead, right?

Who knows, perhaps investing in Tezos early may make me a millionaire?

I got really enthusiastic in the Tezos ICO, joined their Facebook group, page and even told many friends about this. As the date of the ICO in May came along, it was announced that they will need to settle some paper work and legal matters and the date will be postponed. Fair enough, that didn't damper my spirits and I continued to wait for the next announced launch date of July.

It is the series of what happened next that really got me thinking twice about putting my money into it. Now, before I continue I would like to share with you that this was based on my personal experience with them. Still, the coin may be a good investment, and as of today, 23 July 2017, Tezos has already raised $232 Million, making it the making it the largest "crypto-funding" to date. Some people think that the price is over hyped due to the articles on Tim Draper backing it up, which is good to take note of too.

So here is my story.

On 15 June 2017, I received an email from Tezos saying that the Tezos fundraiser is scheduled for 1 July 2017. We have the option to either wait for 1 July to purchase it using other coins such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, or can already fill in some forms and submit it online to their broker, Bitcoin Suisse AG.

I submitted the forms on the next day, 16 July 2017 and after submitting the form online the website said that they will get back to me within 24-48 hours (can't confirm this but I am sure it is before 2 days).

Next, I received an automated reply from Bitcoin Suisse saying that "Currently we are experiencing a large amount of request, and we therefore kindly ask for your patience. All requests will be answered, and on-boarding can be expected within 1-3 days."

"Wow, that means this really is a good investment! Lots of people are getting into it!" I thought.

4 days later, on 20 June 2017 I have not heard from anyone yet, so I sent an email to Bitcoin Suisse on 20 June asking for a status update. This was also due to the fact that I wanted to make sure the forms have been received properly and did not get lost in cyber space. I will get my chance to become a millionaire and I will make sure it is going to happen.

Another 4 days passed, still no news from them. So then it is time to contact Tezos directly, I thought. So I sent a private message to the Tezos group informing them about the situation and asking them to help, and guess what? Once again, few days have passed with no news from either Bitcoin Suisse and Tezos.

Meantime, I was looking at the Facebook group and page of Tezos, and noticed that a lot of messages on their wall have not been replied to. There wasn't much updates from them too, other than the random few posts talking about the dates of the ICO launch. I have already noticed this before, though previously I gave them the benefit of the doubt, brushing it off with the excuse that they must be busy with the ICO and building the technology.

However, at the back of my mind there had always been a bell ringing, as I would think that building a community and marketing is as important as perfecting the technology of the coin itself. Are they really THAT busy that they can't even manage their Facebook Group/Page AND emails? To keep in touch with the potential investors whom they are asking money from?

Still, I was not ready to give up yet. After waiting for another 3 days, I posted a comment on their Facebook wall after someone else's comment, saying that I have yet to hear from anyone and for someone to please contact me. Now this finally get their attention as this time my attempt to contact them is available for the public to see. As of now, I am unable to find the comment anymore, perhaps it is covered by the other new posts, or they have deleted it.

On the same day, 27 June, I finally received a reply from the Tezos page (that I contacted 3 days ago) saying that Bitcoin Suisse was going through a huge backlog of requests, and that I can however contribute directly through the crowdfund website on 1 July. That was their only reply and solution. From a customer service point of view, it would have been nicer for them to have offered to contact Bitcoin Suisse to check on my application, yet they didn't.

Fine then. Since I have submitted my application to Bitcoin Suisse, and even though there is a backlog, they will get back to me right? The ICO date came and went by, and today it is 23 July, yet I have not heard from anyone ever since.

This means that other than the automated-reply from Bitcoin Suisse, they have not gotten back to me. Not even to my follow up email. Since then, there had been no follow up from the Tezos page too. My patience finally went dry.

So in conclusion and in view of my experience, I have decided to give up on investing in the Tezos ICO. My personal belief is how you do one thing determines how you do other things. The lack of proper organization, communication, and basic customer service are the main factors that lead me to my decision.

If they are unable to properly handle my application to participate in the crowdfund, I am unable to comprehend how they will manage the bigger tasks ahead of growing the coin, bringing it to the masses and more.

I may still decide to invest it it later on. However, as of now, I am happy standing at the back and observing how the story unfolds.