Ok, I have a few more things to add here, firstly, I'd like to withdraw what I said about Steve-O. Having seen a few more of his posts and his attitude, I genuinely believe he is a decent bloke. That said, he has a huge amount of power on the boards as a mix maker and that in itself will be enough to cause a rush for the shelves. That said, I don't think he does it purposely.
Phya, pretty much hit the nail on the head regarding as to why I also find it hard to believe AD sell MX's at a loss (continuously).
Whilst I agree with the general sentiment that androtics don't owe us a damn thing in terms of asking for formulas etc. What I do have a problem with is the fact that they mess around with the commercial formulas without telling us. In my view that is completely wrong and is on the slippery slope towards selling snake oil when stocks of real molecules run low (I have an example, which I'll detail later on). In the case of A314, so many alterations have been made. My first bottle of the stuff worked amazingly, the second bottle stank, was far less viscous and noticibly less effective. Now, when I pay for goods I expect them to do they say they do, not whatever minor tweaks they've thrown into the latest batch to satisfy their curiosity. Especially since it's a consumer product, I'm not being a guinea pig for their "˜research'. If you bought a ready to roll computer package one week from a retailer and then the following week went to the same package again, only to find they've changed the spec without telling you, you'd be pretty damn annoyed. In my mind the same principles apply here. I'm buying A314, not a test product.
A long time back I purchased some Mx's and two bottles of Instant Jerk, they didn't bother sending the two bottles of IJ the first time round and didn't even acknowledge the fault. I had to chase them for it, the second bottle was for my younger brother, he's a bit blasé when it comes to mones. He'd spray 3 or 4 sprays at a time whilst in uni just to annoy me. Funnily enough he didn't OD...draw what conclusions you like but either AD has massive quality control issues or they just sent me two bottles of low none content neroli colognes, we both got minor hits from it. Hence, until they get their head straight, I refuse to make another purchase.
The variations in MX292 is astounding to say the least. Given the initial positive feedback, why do they continue to sell batch 614 (I can't lie, I've had decent results with it) I think everyone will agree the whole point of their "˜R&D' is to pinpoint the versions that work, hence they were pretty close to perfection from the start, why continue to sell a new formula instead?!? Of course that is their prerogative, I won't be buying anymore unless the original formula is re-released. As Mark has said, they don't ask for batch numbers so I can't really say their "˜scientific' approach has me dazzled.
And don't get me started about Pheroproof...