Update 9/22 5:10pm PT:
Hey all - orders have been getting packed up and shipped throughout the day, and the team was in the process of shipping the remaining orders when I talked to them a few hours ago and on track to get 100% of orders done today. This means everyone should get their tracking number within 12-24 hours from now, and an expedited package heading their way.
Update 9/21 5:58pm PT:
As of today the kitting was fully completed for all of the remaining orders, and the shipments were getting staged. The team expects to have 100% of orders out tomorrow.
Update 9/20 10:45pm PT:
I did not get an update today before I had to leave the office - I'll be following up on this tomorrow morning to get the latest info. (Next Update 9/21 before 5pm PT)
Update 9/19 8:30pm PT:
Hey all - We are on track to have everything shipped (and sent via expedited shipping) by end of the week (9/22) per the email, though individual orders will continue to go out as soon as they are each able to be sent (sorted + kitted) this week.
To be clear, the sorting and kitting of the thousands of various orders combinations is the part that is manual and takes a lot of time, and that should have been done well in advance of now. There are also a number of better ways for this to be done, and to make sure this process does not lead to a delay, but obviously improvements to the process now (which are being made) won't help with this drop.
(Next update 9/20)
Updated 9/18 11am PT:
Emails meant to be sent on Friday 9/15 were actually sent this morning (9/18):
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/planck-mechanical-keyboard/talk/1817244
(Next update 9/19)
Update 9/15:
Today's update: We are continuing to ship today and through next week and we currently expect all of the remaining 33% of orders to ship next week. Our whole team at the warehouse is on this, and we will be expediting shipping of these orders (domestic and international) to ensure that you get the order as quickly as possible at this point. I'm personally expecting remaining orders to go out first thing next week, but will be updating this thread daily until they're all sent out.
For more context, this delay was caused by an incorrect estimate of the amount of time it would take to sort and kit all of the orders, along with a prioritization communication issue (meaning specifically other drops being worked on in conjunction with this, when this should have been all hands on deck). To be clear, these aren't excuses nor are they acceptable - that's just the facts of what happened. Regarding point (2) below, the teams are meeting next week to discuss what went wrong here and how we're fixing it down the road, so I can share more on that, hopefully next week.
For point (4), [regarding] what we can do to get these all out on 9/15, what I was able to do was get priority shipping for the remaining items and get the team to prioritize these entirely today and into next week. We were not able to get these all out today, nor were we able to get overtime scheduled last minute that could help get some out this weekend. I'll be bringing the priority issue up along with the ability to get ahead of these drops and schedule overtime as needed as ways we can get ahead of this in the future.
And lastly, as I've mentioned before, I've kicked off a new internal process for us to improve communication on drops. This will not be perfect, but it will help create a more regular conversation between Massdrop and the community when problems happen, and will also better serve us to get ahead of these issues and not leave us in the state we're in here.
Again, I'm truly sorry for the issues and horrible experience Massdrop has provided here. Thanks again to all of you who participated in this drop, and we hope to have the chance with many of you to show ourselves doing better in future drops.
(Next update 9/18)
Update 9/14:
Hi all - sorry for the delay in following up today. At this point, about 2/3rds of the orders have been sent out, but the remaining third has not been shipped yet and are expected to continue to go out over the next couple business days.
To save a few of you here a small amount of time, let me simply state for everyone that the continued delay is unacceptable. And, let me say I'm sorry. I don't have a clear reason into why the remainder haven't been sent out beyond it taking more time than expected, and I don't really think there could be an acceptable reason at this point anyway.
All I can offer at the moment is: (1) a commitment to give daily updates until the order have all been sent out with as much information as I can gather, (2) a follow-up and explanation from the teams involved into what actually happened and how we're going to fix it in the future as soon as I can produce that information , (3) and a commitment to improve the messaging from Massdrop in the future (a new process has been started and is being driven by me, and will begin next week).
edit: (4) I also want to let you know that I'll be following up to see what can be done to get these all out tomorrow (9/15), and provide an explanation if for some reason that's not possible.
I've read most of the comments below, and understand the frustration from most people in this drop. For those of you who have decided to not buy from Massdrop anymore and those of you who are sticking with us, thank you for giving Massdrop your time and being a part of the community. I'm sorry again for the delays and poor messaging, and am working to try and improve and communicate improvements being made on both fronts.
Update 9/8:
The remaining orders are on track for being shipped early next week. As of now, 43% of orders were shipped. The remaining 57% of orders are all on track to ship by Weds (9/13), but some orders will start being shipped on Mon (9/11).
As a reminder, you will receive an email once these are shipped and tracking numbers are in the system (this can sometimes be 12-24 hours after they are actually “shipped”).
Thanks for the continued patience (and feedback on this thread), and sorry again for the delays and poor messaging on this drop.
--------
Hey all - I have a quick update for you:
As of now, about half of the Plancks have shipped out. The other half, unfortunately, have been delayed another few days due to a mistake on our end with our inventory management process. This resulted in us not having the needed amount of switches ready to ship by last week, and means that our team is putting together the switch packs right now. The remaining orders are expected to ship early next week at the latest, but we are pushing for a Friday ship date.
The next update will be from me, or someone on my team, on Friday 9/8.
I want to recognize that this is yet another delay for those in the second bucket, and apologize for messing this up. It's a pretty disappointing, and avoidable, oversight that happened due to human error related to the previous delays with this drop.
Beyond that, I want to personally apologize for poor communication on our side throughout this drop. I think most people here recognize that mistakes happen, but it's unacceptable to see bad (or a lack of) communication when mistakes come up. I'll be working on fixing the communication process and sincerely appreciate @atari.zero.tv and others who are sharing feedback on the thread below:
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/planck-mechanical-keyboard/talk/1804697
Thanks!
bradrThanks @bradr. This is all I've been wanting- a simple straightforward message about whats going on. (Well, aside from my order, but that goes without saying). I really really really hope communication is better from here on out, because this has been a textbook example of how not to handle delays. There is nothing more stressful as a customer than not knowing whats happening after your money is spent.
bradrI'm planning on moving to a new state on Oct 2. Should I have my Planck shipped somewhere else, rather than my currently location? I'm getting concerned with having the ship date getting pushed back closer and closer to my departure date; I don't want to see it ship to my location here, right as I hit the road and me end up missing it.
EpicFlymanYou got screwed, these guys, like other MD droppers will redirect shipments to retail outlets if they think they can make a higher profit, then they make up some lie about why they cannot deliver, it's a shameful practice.
Sep 6, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 6, 2017
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damagedI would not put it past MassDrop to do this, but I think people would notice if there was a Planck kit at a retail location. In fact I can't say I have ever seen a keyboard kit available at a retail location. I assume this is because most people are just not willing to solder the switches, casuals!
Dotwad11@Dotwad11 From what I've heard, I'm confident that you'll get your Planck before Oct 2 and shouldn't switch. That said, I'd recommend you still reach out to make a support ticket (you can do so from your transactions page) to confirm with them. (That way, if somehow something messes up, you've already raised the issue).
@damaged Massdrop is certainly a bit of a non-standard setup for selling stuff online, but we don't have or sell to any retail outlets at this point that I know of. For Massdrop made products like this especially, it wouldn't even be possible because, as @RabidGnome 's comment suggests, Massdrop made products aren't available in any retails stores. Plus, if I was gonna make up a lie about why we couldn't deliver on time I would *definitely* pick something a bit cooler / less embarrassing than "we messed up and didn't have enough switches" for half our orders. We definitely don't benefit from upsetting paying customers and community members.
bradrHands-down, Massdrop offers the poorest customer service & communication I've ever dealt with.
This delay, ontop of the previous delays, is unacceptable.
Can I assume Massdrop will be using expedited shipping for the remaining Planck packages? Although sadly I think we all know the answer.
R-SeabrookYou haven't dealt with TV, phone or ISPs companies before then? ;-) MD has attempted to be communicative but obviously hasn't been as forthcoming or punctual as we would like. Internally they fumbled twice in this drop. Those fumbles were entirely avoidable which reduces my willingness to dismiss these delays. They weren't unknowns or out of their control.
I am not sure what they will do other than apologies. I went with MD because I don't want to trust some anonymous single person who may or may not have nefarious purposes in handling stranger's money to group buy mkbs and their associated paraphernalia. Most of my transactions and communications have been OK. However, going forward I may go directly to source and pay a little extra. IE Preonic from olkb.com directly. As far as custom key sets, I may just forgo new keysets or bite the bullet and try other avenues.
Sep 6, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 6, 2017
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damagedOk. So where do I go then to buy a Planck keyboard kit that is covered in MassDrop branding?
bradr@bradr Thanks for the honest answer and insight into what's causing these delays. I'm willing to forgive delays that are accompanied by an earnest explanation of what went wrong and when we can expect further updates (of course, keeping that follow-up date is very important, which is another place MD can improve). I'm guessing I'm not the only one that feels this way. I hope MD is serious about improving their customer interactions, because the way the delays have been managed here will definitely affect my participation in future drops.
djugglerI don't see the MassDrop case, the switches, or the XDA keycaps from the drop. However, you could be right about the PCB and top plate, I guess. However, it would be weird to prioritize selling on OLKB, as I am pretty sure it is cheaper than her on MassDrop, if you don't figure in the case, switches and keycaps.
I love a good conspiracy theory, but I am pretty sure you are reaching on this one. I would totally believe that MassDrop sold some of the switches when things started to get delayed or something along those line.
It is pretty clear that MassDrop is no telling the truth, as statements like "if I was gonna make up a lie about why we couldn't deliver on time I would *definitely* pick something a bit cooler / less embarrassing" are a trademark of liars. However, I don't think your explanation is the real *truth* either.
RabidGnomeI misread your post as " So where do I go then to buy a Planck keyboard kit that is NOT covered in MassDrop branding?" I don't know of anywhere that sells all the parts as a kit. I seriously doubt MD or OLKB would be reselling the kits we ordered before sending them to us.
"I am pretty sure you are reaching on this one" Not my conspiracy. I think someone in this thread did mention that but I have not lost any faith in MD or OLKB. I personally don't care if the kits arrive next week or in December. I know the Planck is coming and I'm going to enjoy building it when it arrives. I have been burned before but that was by https://nymi.com/. I pre-ordered their product in 2013...and crickets. But that's the risk you take with group buys, pre-orders, and kickstarters.
R-SeabrookHa. So, I've actually got my tracking number already, and thought it was supposed to be delivered Tuesday. Was wondering what was going on with Fedex and looked closer. It is supposed to be delivered on Tuesday...the 12th. So expect a 2-week shipping time if you live on the west coast.
bradr@bradr You should really be sending emails for these kinds of updates rather than just posting to this thread. There have been no emails regarding this drop since July 10th (outside of the opt in email August 3rd). Most people in the drop aren't checking this thread daily, and it is a poor medium for informing all purchasers.
BestUndecided@BestUndecided Yes, you're right. Thanks for calling this out. Will send future updates on email as well, and make sure the updated process for this always includes both.
@RabidGnome I guess I need to work on my truth telling skills :( It's probably more a trait of 'deflection' than it is of just lying. As in deflecting the embarrassing and disappointing nature of having to make this post. But I appreciate the feedback, and understand I can't convince everyone that I'm doing what I can to share what's going on. I'll be working with my team on delivering clear, frank, consistent, and timely messaging around drops.
bradrI completely agree with the idea of e-mailing instead of posting here. As in, I had no idea when I was getting mine until it hit my doorstop today. Which if anyone gets theirs soon, watch out for the switch plate, it has extremely sharp edges.
bradrHi Brad, I got this email from Massdrop CS about 40 minutes ago in response to my question to them a few days ago.
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Massdrop Community Support. My name is <person>, and I would be happy to help.
I have reached out to our Logistics Team handling this drop requesting an update. There is not a definitive ship date that I can see at this point. Hopefully, they will be able to get a group email and/or post on the discussion board with some details on why there is a delay and when it will be resolved.
I apologize for the lack of communication regarding this and I will be keeping an eye on this drop, and continue to request updates moving forward.
Please let us know if there is anything else we can help you with.
Best,
<person>
"There is not a definitive ship date that I can see at this point. Hopefully, they will be able to get a group email and/or post on the discussion board with some details on why there is a delay and when it will be resolved. " Getting this today is making me question if the Friday or early next week dates are going to happen. Has something else happened?
Sep 7, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 7, 2017
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3KidNerdThe dates are made up. You get it when you get it or maybe you don't and you get a refund.
RabidGnomeWelcome to Massdrop! Where the dates are made up and the complaints don't matter!
Honestly though, at this point dates don't mean much of anything, but they're still something to cling to. I just want my damn board.
Sep 7, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 7, 2017
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EpicFlymanIts fun an exciting! When you buy something on Amazon you pretty much can expect to actually get it and on which date (plus or minus a day), but here who knows!
3KidNerdHey @3KidNerd - I had someone take a look at your specific thread, and it sounds like there was a confused CS agent who didn't see the latest update we shared when we moved up the ship date. Sorry for the confusion. I have been told the timeline I wrote above is still correct. I'll still follow-up tomorrow with any additional information I have and to confirm.
@TalliBighood - that's pretty messed up and shouldn't happen - sorry. It sounds like you may be over it... (it being this drop and/or Massdrop). If you still want to get your Planck please create a ticket with support. I'll also be here if things don't get resolved that way. Thanks.
ertoThis is a really good question! A good follow up questions is, do they have an estimate for delivery of these switches. I do understand that their switch sources may not deliver on time, but it would be nice to know when the switches were ordered and when the expect delivery.
I ordered one Planck with Zealios 65g and a second one with Zealios 78g. The current Preonic drop does not have an option for Zealios 78g, so I expect to be shit out of luck on this one. The annoying part is that at least one of the people who has received their Planck had Zealios 78g.
RabidGnomeFull disclosure: Zealios 65g. I don't expect a full half of the orders are Zealios. I think I saw a breakdown Jack had in reddit or his blog. Now I gotta find it.
bradrI'm getting so annoyed at this whole thing. Is it possible to get part of the order shipped? And the rest refunded or something? If it's just the switches that are missing, i don't care... I just want my planck man... :(
fnnlnI thought the same thing. I guess I can stare at the parts until I either get the switches in I wanted or get different ones from another source. It would be a nice option but logistically I think it would be difficult for MD to execute in a coordinated and timely manner anyway. I did shoot off a request for information on the switches they forgot to order and awaiting a response with an ETA. Until then I check my email every 5 minutes and revisit MD every 6 minutes.
bradrHere's what I found out: the mistake on our side caused us to not have enough packs ready across switch types, not just on one particular type of switch. Basically, when the other delayed components (Plancks) hit our warehouse, we were completely unprepared to ship them out on time because of that human error. It's a really dumb mistake and again I'm sorry that it delayed half of the shipments, and even more sorry that we were so bad at communicating the delays in the first place. I'm about to update my sitckied post to say we're on track for shipments early next week.
bradrI figured it was a cross section of switches. If kits will be all shipped early next week, then I'd be happy. I know it isn't a imperative to give out specifics but if you could indicate how many shipments were delayed and that all of them would be ready to ship early next week, you would alleviate some concerns.
bradrYou know since we have to go through alll this bullshit. I'd at least expect like a complimentary t-shirt, or a free keycap puller or something. Because frankly, this whole issue is losing you guys customers and making massdrop look extremely unprofessional.
Sep 8, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 8, 2017
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ALEC_BI would be happy with just expedited shipping. If nothing is done on their part, then this is my last purchase.
Just to be clear, I expect MassDrop to do something that costs them money, e.g. free t-shirt or expedited shipping.
RabidGnome@ALEC_B@RabidGnome Thanks for recommending this and letting us know that you expect this. I'm going to follow-up with the team (specifically... the heads of custom products, logistics, and communities) to surface and discuss.
RabidGnome¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I didn't actually buy a Planck (as much as I want one, soldering scares me...) but I commented here a while ago and it keeps telling me when you all reply, so I've been watching this whole situation with some interest.
bradrI think this drop has left a very bad impression in the minds of a lot of the members of this community. The thing is, I don't really know how anything free in this drop will address that issue. It's going to be a constant fear from now on, which is why I gave those recommendations on the other thread and emailed them to you.
I would like to join the Preonic drop, because I think the case is really cool and I have an older model Preonic that I love, but it feels like a risk to me. $200 dollars now for a product I might receive on time? It's the same kind of feeling I have about keycaps, now, but I know that's not Massdrop's fault.
If you want to make some of the members happy, but not affect your bottom line, how about this: for the next Yanbo's Closet sale, give first-in-line access to the people in this drop. Let them buy one item from the sale before the public gets access. There's probably some amazing stuff left over (probably even the Plancks they cancelled ;-) ).
Sep 8, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 8, 2017
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BlueCrownedI get how soldering can be scary, but it not that bad. Even if you do screw up bad and damage part of the board, you can usually fix it. Also, everybody over at https://www.reddit.com/r/olkb/ is really helpful, if you need any guidance.
If you have the money and time you should do it!
atari.zero.tvSpot on, again. This drop has left me feeling constantly anxious - There is no way I'll be able to trust MD again in the near future, and I'm sure I'm not alone. This is not an easy fix, and the damage done to PR is not insignificant.
That said, expedited shipping seems like a reasonable expectation after all this. Personally, I wouldn't mind a counter toward my friend referral purchases.
Dotwad11I feel that man. I moved a few weeks ago, so I had support update my delivery address expecting there to be further delays. I would talk to support and see if they can change the address to a family member if you aren't sure it'll get to you in time.
EpicFlymanYeah. Just did. Sucks that whenever this thing eventually does ship, I've gotta wait, yet again, for my family to reroute it to me. So, I'll probably be THE LAST person to receive a Planck
Evan_R@Evan_R@atari.zero.tv I think that's an awesome idea - logistically/product wise I'm not sure how feasible it is, but I'll definitely be following up on that concept with the team and Yanbo.
I do think some way to show the company cares and apologizes for a really bad experience is in order, but ultimately, I agree w Atari that we're going to have to prove ourselves by making improvements to our process and communication and consistently delivering on that moving forward. Lost trust is not easily regained or bought, and we can't take that lightly.
OlibattsAs others have suggested, I'm just going to ship my package to a family member. I really can't think of anything alternative, so if that's something you can't do then you have my condolences. Godspeed my friend...
OlibattsSince they are using FedEx, have it shipped to the FedEx location near wherever you are moving and held for customer pickup. This is the safest option in my opinion.
bradrWhat a pity that things have gone this way. This will be my first and last purchase from Massdrop: I just don't see how the discount can justify such a poor experience, from the two month delay to having to come here myself to find out why my order still isn't on its way. That no-one thought to email customers of this drop with the latest news is just _weird_, and that @BestUndecided pointed this out a week ago and still no-one has sent an email speaks *volumes*.
bradrAnyone receive tracking info today? Really considered the current OLKB, but this drop makes me want to seek direct purchase from the original site.
DaddyWilsonNo I haven't received anything. The only thing I have to say about all this. Is that massdrop shipping dates are bs, and lack of communication is frustrating. Add an extra three months to it. And if you're ok with waiting that long for the preonic then go for it. The expected ship date for us was June (purchased it in March) .. and I doubt I'll receive it by this month. So expect about 6 months wait from date of purchase.
DaddyWilsonThe soonest anyone will see tracking is Tuesday. Brad's said some (not all)will ship today, and it typically takes at least 24 hours before tracking numbers are sent out.
All will be shipped by Wednesday. You would know this is you bothered to read.
gwilFor those of us that have experienced the delays and radio silence from drops before, it seems like Massdrop hasn't learned their lesson from previous mistakes. I ran down my transactions list and tallied up the money I've saved on products I can purchase direct. I've personally saved $19.71 across 8 buys. I'm done.
Sep 11, 2017
killingmoon
Sep 11, 2017
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PoekRosei'm deleting my account after this, this wasn't worth the $20 or whatever that I saved on the drop
Sep 11, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 11, 2017
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PoekRosebut, what about the convenience of getting all these parts from a reputable seller! LOL!
RabidGnomeYeah that is one of the benefits of going through Massdrop, getting everything all at once is nice. This was the first drop that I ever joined on here but too bad it's been such a disappointment how this drop was handled. Considering how late this drop was delayed I completely understand @killingmoon .
Sep 11, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 11, 2017
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killingmoonThis is also my last drop. Would love to buy more keycaps and olkb stuff, but not supporting Massdrop with another penny. I hope the WhiteFox kick starter works and out well and shows people we don't need Massdrop.
bradrAre we going to get an update? What percentage of the Planck kits were shipped on Monday? Also, you never did answer what the time line on the switches arriving was... Do you actually have all the missing switches in hand or are you still waiting for them?
This new Massdrop feels a lot like the old Massdrop!
RabidGnomeHoly shit you are fucking annoying dude. He didn't promise another update, allow the stated time to pass before you start bitching again.
I want my board just as bad as everyone else; whining about details does not help
Sep 12, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 12, 2017
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EpicFlymanActually repetitive complaining is about the only thing that does work. Besides I have to do something on my 5 minute breaks.
EpicFlymanNot trying to argue, but I did read the update provided. Problem is I also read the other updates prior to this stating ship dates that weren't met. No disrespect, but you made a poor assumption in thinking I dropped a blind post without reading plenty at first. Instead of trusting another expected ship date, I decided to place my trust in the community to see if anyone received any shipping info. I've spent a lot of money with Massdrop and honestly weighing options future purchases. You don't have to understand or like my position, but please remain respectful.
bradr9/12/17... When are we expecting the rest of the shipments to go out? Still waiting on mine!
Sep 13, 2017
killingmoon
Sep 13, 2017
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FlameTexit's in the last update, bradr said he expected all shipments to be out the door on 9/13 and that we would get tracking numbers when the carriers started tracking them (several days later...)
bradrHi, I haven't got an update yet, though it is 9/13. Why do I get an email from massdrop every day, but can't get email updates on the status of this?
agbellHey @agbell These units are all expected to ship by EoD today, and tracking numbers should be received within 12-24 hours of that. We did not provide another update, as things were on track, though I am working on getting our communication process fixed so we consistently update, in a timely fashion via both discussion AND emails, for these situations. Thanks!
bradrI want to be clear in stating that I appreciate you stepping in to help. Please don't take my previous questions/statements as being directed at you. You personally will help retain a lot customers including me.
bradrWhy do I have to go searching through the comments on here to get an update? Can't you update the first comment with a 9/13 update to say they're all shipped? That'd be way better than scrolling through 50 comments. I woke up assuming that it was delayed again. The fundamental issue again, I shouldn't need to search for updates. Front and center, not down and hidden, please.
3KidNerdWell, that comment was not an update. Everything got shipped on Sep 13, and there was no change in that. (Unless MD skrewed up again, but we can't make assumptions right now) Tracking numbers have never immediately appeared after shipping (applies to pretty much every group buy), and in MD's case, it usually takes 1-2 days before the tracking numbers show up.
I would wait until 2 days after the shipping date before ranting.
3KidNerdMD has acknowledged the problem with updates and notifications. Actually it has been acknowledge before but I haven't found any changes to their system other than switching from DHL to FedEx. We will see who is patient enough to see what they come up with next. Updates within a threaded forum such as this is problematic. A notification system per drop (For options like: email, text message or none) would be ideal. Scheduled drop updates, shipping notifications and unscheduled (delays and opt-in/outs) could be sent out. The problem is perception of responsiveness. I see some threads get zero responses to inquires while others get good responses. A separate method must be used then these threads for inquires, however, the questions should be answered in group form so the question does not keep getting repeated.
I don't think their system works like this and it would take time and money to implement a better solution.
VictualsIt wasn't an update? "These units are all expected to ship by EoD today." I mean, that sounds like an update to me. The 12-24 hours is on me since it was in the pinned post and I obviously forgot about it. However, the drop missed the ship date by > 2 months. Required an FTC mandated opt-in process for the new date. Then missed the new date by > 2 weeks. I don't feel like I'm being unreasonable when I ask for an update that everything has shipped. And Massdrop would appear to agree, because they posted that all units are expected to ship. @bradr has been soliciting feedback on how to improve communication. I'm providing that feedback.
To me, this is a site about community. If that's the case, a more personal touch feels appropriate. In fact, many drops that are on time have a posted update from Massdrop "All <dropped item> have shipped!"
3KidNerdThe top level comment includes that most drops were going to be shipped on Sep 13 ("The remaining 57% of orders are all on track to ship by Weds (9/13), but some orders will start being shipped on Mon (9/11)"). bradr simply restated that, and that's not an update/new info.
ertoYeah, that's sort of the ideal state. In the interim, they/we must deal with what they have. So, updating the pinned post with the most recent details seems like the best option. And they do have the ability to send emails, so that'd be good too. However, there may be significant manual setup or cost associated with that, depending on what they're using for email.
VictualsTo me, it's an update. Take another example. You're building a bridge. You tell me it'll be done in 12 months to the day. Ok, maybe, maybe not. What's your confidence level in hitting that day, 5%? 6 months from now, you tell me, you're still on track for 6 months out. Is that an update? What's your confidence level now, 10%? 10 months in you tell me, you're still on track for 2 more months. Is that an update? What's your confidence level now, 40%? 11.5 months in you tell me you're still on track for 2 weeks out. Is that an update? What's your confidence level now, 90%? Three days left you tell me you're on track. Is that an update? What's your confidence level, 99%?
At work do you have to provide your boss updates on progress? Do you simply start building that bridge and 11, 12, 13 or 15 months later tell them you're done? @bradr posted several days ago (last week in fact), that they'll be sent out by yesterday. To me, that's a 95% confident update. Him posting they will be sent out today (yesterday) is something I can be extremely confident in since it's in the same day and is easy to estimate. If you don't provide updates to your boss, I hope your bridge is never late. That could be a very uncomfortable conversation.
3KidNerdThis is much smaller scale than that. It seems to be a false analogy, but I guess that depends on the person. The last "update" was less than a week ago, so I would expect the information to stay accurate.
Xemothi got it 2 days ago and is currently building the kb. Here's hoping the rest of you guys get the kb soon. The kit is exquisite. Feeling the weight of the PCB and the plate. Alu casing is one solid piece, edges are smooth and the CNC work was done very well. And the make of the PCB is remarkable i tell ya.
Just the packaging has some room for improvement, otherwise i feel good about this drop.
zeshonMakes me wonder what their website/order management/shipping platforms are... Certainly MD has some customized eCommerce software to handle all the options/products/categories, but there has to be some sort of integration available with a shipping provider to update our orders when they print a label.
Sep 14, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 14, 2017
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PoekRoseYou mean like every other eCommerce site where you actually get the tracking number *before* it ships?
RabidGnomelike every other eCommerce site where you get the tracking number when the label is printed. The normal process in all the eCommerce companies I've worked at (4 now) is that when the label prints, it gets applied to your box and you get sent the tracking number. It hasn't "actually" shipped (ie. is in the hands of Fedex or UPS), but it's close enough. Having @bradr saying "everything has shipped" and not having a tracking number doesn't help.
RabidGnomeLet's be honest. Group buying mechanical keyboards and their components, discounting the other communities they do and coordinating with designers and overseas manufactures isn't a typical e-Commerce setup. I think the issue is communication and MD has admitted as such we just need to see if they can address it. I have said before, I prefer going through a reputable, reliable and upfront company than an anonymous guy with a paypal account and a google order form. Refunds haven't been an issue with MD.
ertoWe agree, the supply chain, assembly, and organization portion of MD is a massive undertaking. We all agree that their communication could use a revamp. However, printing the shipping labels should be the very last step in the entire process, and automated notifications should be in place. Adding a tracking number to my order when the shipping label prints is a standard integration in today's eCommerce technology. Getting my tracking number "12-24 hours after it ships" is what I would expect from some anonymous guy with a Paypal account and a Google order form, not a reputable, reliable, or upfront company.
PoekRoseExcept the anonymous guy would be dealing with a lot less in terms of items to be shipped but I see your meaning. I had at one time gotten the MD tracking numbers prior to shipment. At least the last few. This morning I got a shipping notification for a custom cable I had ordered via MD and it was already shipped the prior day. This 'shipping notification the day after' is either a scaling issue with MD or a change in procedure for their shipping system or shipping staff and new.
rykersiveWell, I have cancelled every order I have with them but this one because of how they are handling things, so that should help with their load in future sales!
Sep 14, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 14, 2017
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zeshonBetween this and what they are doing to Input Club, I hope no one ever buys another keyboard item from them!
Sep 14, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 14, 2017
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bradrSo is this reply I got accurate? How much longer are we waiting?
Dear RabidGnome,
Thank you for contacting Massdrop, XXXXX here to assist you.
We do apologize for the delay in shipping your order and are doing everything we can to resolve this as soon as possible, looks like the vendor has short-shipped us and has been unresponsive regarding more inventory coming our way.
Your concerns about this drop are understandable and our logistics team is looking into what is going on. They will update the group via email once they receive more information.
If you would prefer not to wait any longer, I can cancel your order and issue a full refund to your original payment method. Please let me know if you decide to proceed with cancellation and I can help with that process. Otherwise, feel free to check in with us if you have questions. Please make sure to keep an eye on your inbox for any email updates from our logistics team.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Best regards,
XXXXX
RabidGnomeI got this response just now.
Thank you for contacting Massdrop Community Support. I'm XXXX and I'll be happy to assist.
We appreciate your patience with us while we work on getting the Planck keyboards out. As Brad explained in his most recent post, it can take some time for the tracking info to actually be sent out. I would expect that you should receive the tracking information within the next couple of days.
Please let me know if you have any other questions and have a great day.
Sep 14, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 14, 2017
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cig-natureI guess you got lucky or maybe I got lucky! If I don't hear anything tonight I am canceling my two orders.
RabidGnomeI got:
After checking your account I see that we dispatched another unit to ship to you from our warehouse, yesterday. It can sometimes take our warehouse 1 to 3 business days to prepare a shipment, so please keep that in mind.
Once your replacement has shipped, you should receive an automated confirmation email with tracking. Please note that it can sometimes take up to 48 hours for the tracking information to update in the courier's system.
I have no clue what she means by a replacement, but I can only assume they are going to fuck my order up somehow.
RabidGnomeYour email came in first, and the second two seem more consistent. I would guess your rep had old info because that was the initial excuse BUT SINCE WE CAN'T GET AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON THE THREAD, WE CAN'T KNOW FOR SURE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE MAD ABOUT YET MASSDROP?
I'm inclined to believe that they are shipping them out slower than expected and don't want to admit it, but my guess is this time they actually do have all the parts.
EpicFlyman "We were promised that at the very worst case, this drop would have been shipped out yesterday. 24 hours later and your team has still not updated the thread, and many people still don't have tracking numbers. Why do you care so little for your reputation? "
Sep 15, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 15, 2017
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zeshonI replied to their reply with what you wrote here. I just asked "What's up with getting this thing shipped?" originally.
EpicFlymanThat's no problem. Husband ordered the 4th PCB revision that isn't shipping until October anyway. We were likely going to end up selling his green case and ordering through olkb.com anyway because the green is so off from the original renders. This just saves us the hassle of trying to sell them ourselves. I'd rather our money go directly to Jack than MD getting any portion of it.
Edit: Also, someone over on /r/olkb posted his Planck kit tonight. Has packaging that says Matias-compatible plate...opens up the box, and it's a damn MX plate. How can you suck so bad, MD?!?!
clicky_clackyI respect your decision and MD has completely failed on the comunication front for this drop, but didn't this drop come with the REV 4 PCB? I can see it in the pic that is on the drop page. @jackhumbert What was the Rev of the PCB included in this drop?
fan-tuhmYeah, the drop comes with Rev 4. It's just on olkb.com it doesn't ship until 10/4. Sorry for the confusion. Poor wording on my part. Someone had mentioned the extra wait going through olkb.com, and I just mentioned it wasn't available to ship anyway until 10/4.
bradrso yet another delay and another half assed apology. How much delays is that? This has to be some kind of record ... Im just upset because there are no repercussions for massdrop. They can keep delaying and delaying all they want. And at the end of the day what can we do? People are still gonna keep buying from them. It's not costing them anything. Massdrop doesn't have any competitors... So they can keep doing shit like this. And I'm in no rush for the board. But come on! Stop giving us fake info just to shut us up for a bit.
ALEC_Bhttps://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt
Easy to fill out. They're obviously in violation of the shipping requirements (each missed ship date should require a new opt in email). If one or two people fill it out, probably nothing. If 50, they may get an uncomfortable phone call.
What I don't understand is massdrop knew this a day ago. There's no reason at all to wait a day to announce it.
3KidNerdExactly. I think all of us expect clear communication, which is the one thing we have not gotten enough of. They should have easily been able to let everyone know that indeed all the kits are packed and shipped on their given date, 9/13 at the latest.
Im giving them until EOD today, if no tracking numbers then I'm cancelling this and my Godspeed order. And then I'll be filling out that FCC complaint form.
Who's with me?
bradrWhat frustrates me is that if I enjoyed my planck I might have bought the preonic as well, but since that drop ends this month and I still don't have my planck I don't know where to go from here. It's my first planck and soldering job as well, so I don't really know what to expect once I get my drop. If the preonic was launched after everyone had gotten their drops it would probably leave less of a bitter taste in peoples mouths, but it is what it is now and I just hope I get my drop this year at this point.
bradrYou're right, at this point no excuse is reasonable or justifiable, but I Would still love to know what this excuse is. Been racking my brain, but the best I could come up with...
*guys in warehouse*: "darn guys, we are slow and still need to ship out thousands of kits by the end of today.. ehh, it's almost 5, let's just say there was an issue and we'll have them out in the next few business days..."
bradr I have 2 items currently delayed by MD - the Plank keyboard and the Dasher and Dancer keycaps. While I am a little bit more forgiving abt the latter because of the delay from SA, this keyboard's delay is inexcusable. I don't get the impression that you have been sincere abt your service delivery because all we got was lip service from bradr. For what it is worth, I am just glad Massdrop has not folded yet.
bradrDoes Massdrop just no have formal logistics processes? Or are the processes there, but ignored? Because if it was my company at this point I'd be firing the logistics managers as well as the quality team responsible for ensuring compliance to processes, and maybe the process designers too. Oh, and I'd be screaming for a new MRP tool since it's obvious that whatever you use now is woefully inadequate.
Sep 15, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 15, 2017
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bradrCanceled my order of two Plancks! This is just one delay too many. Once I get my refund I will close out this account.
RabidGnomeGood for you, man. As soon I canceled my two last night, I knew I did the right thing for me personally. Already reordered one directly through olkb.com. I think MD is somewhat listening to feedback, but the only way they're going to be motivated to change and change quickly is by speaking with our wallets.
Sep 15, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 15, 2017
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clicky_clackySame here. The breaking point was realizing after all this time and money I still get Massdrop's shitty logo on the case.
bradrThanks for the update. Im sticking with MD and look forward to the improvements that are to come. I had to return my ergodox and joined the preonic and am hoping for a better experience. Im also staying in the planck drop and hope it ships soon.
RabidGnomeI'm planning to machine away the massdrop logo. Might end up buying another case as well
Sep 15, 2017
RabidGnome
Sep 15, 2017
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EpicFlymanThen why not just buy the PCB at olkb.com? I guess that would mean another 3 weeks, but I am not in a real hurry. I just don't like being jerked around by massdrop.
bradrAs of the 8th 43% of the kits had been sent, which had increased to 66% as of the 14th. As it stands now, on the 15th, I have not received any notification as to whether my planck has been shipped and many other people appear to be in the same boat.
So I guess my question is, with something that was already delayed by months, why is shipping taking so long? Why did it take an entire week for 20% of the items to be shipped (and not even the first 20%, so I would have assumed the process had been ironed out by then)? At this rate are we looking at another two weeks until we reach 100% shipped? Will MD make any effort to expedite shipping to cover the extreme delay? (Although as it stands this might complicate matters even more, resulting in further delays...)
And this is not even covering the canvas keycaps which were set to coincide with this drop. But I've heard even less information about that, so I'm guessing if and when I get my board, it may just be caps-free for another few months...
Finally, there has still yet to be any email updates sent about these delays. This was promised a week ago. Instead, I need to attend to my, by now, daily ritual of checking this thread to find out what new delay has occurred. At this point we know that emails can be sent out because that's how we received notice that we would need to opt-in. Since this is obviously possible, can we start getting these updates via email?
By the way, the first email update when this drop was barely a week late, but it was clear it would be further delayed due to testing, included the line "All keyboard orders have been produced and are ready to ship." That was back on July 11. I remember those halcyon days.
killingmoonconsider yourself luckier than some. Still nothing for me, as I imagine is the same for lots of folks...
Random thought: why doesn't MD just ship out the PCB/case/whatever they DO have, to everyone, and then MD can pick up the tab on shipping the rest of the kit out as they acquire the materials? Are there just no repercussions for MD for screwing up so badly, besides tons of angry customers?
bengineerMy uneducated guess is that it would be a sure way increase the complexity of the messed up shipping situation they currently have and most likely screw up more orders in the long run.
bengineerConsidering how long it's taken them to ship anything, and how often people from various drops end up with the incorrect product...
I wouldn't want to give them an additional chance to fuck this up. They're doing a fantastic job at that on their own.
killingmoonI got my e-mail, but the package hasn't been scanned by fedex... To add insult to injury, it's Smartpost, which means we aren't even getting upgraded shipping.
bengineerI'm not particularly trusting the updates above as he doesn't seem to have the real details based on comments he's made.
I just got a support response that says they're "working on gathering and packing the remaining orders ... We will be sending updates periodically in the discussion board to keep everyone informed when we have a solid shipment date.". So they don't have a ship date yet.
3KidNerdExactly... The latest I got after asking for actual details...
"By the information I have gathered from logistics, seems that the drop was bigger than expected and it has not been humanly possible to pack the items within the estimated deadline and we apologize that we gave out a date that could not be fulfilled, we recognize it was an error in our end and we are working to remedy the situation. Thank you for your patience. "
LOL WTF
EpicFlymanI don't know about that... the drop has been done for months now. I would expect they'd have the numbers available to be able to say it wouldn't be humanly possible to pack X number of shipments within a certain number of days. Every estimated ship date should have been able to take packing time of a certain number of orders into account, even if it were to say "Shipments will start on this date, due to the large volume it could take y number of days to complete shipment of all of the orders."
PaedurAt this point, Massdrop is making whatever crap excuse comes to mind the quickest. It's ridiculous how this drop is getting handled. Did everyone just decide to take the day off of work at MD for the past 2 months and not give a crap? Sure seems like it.
m_whThanks @m_wh and others who have provided feedback (positive and negative) and thoughtful posts here. Your comments helped me push forward expedited shipping and escalate the insanely horribly shitty experience we provided to get improvements prioritized. I know it's too little too late for many here, but just wanted to thank everyone who was involved and apologize again.
Regarding your specific questions, I addressed some of this in the post. We did (finally) email out an update here. And the new process requires both an email and discussion post update every time. We've also expedited shipping on remaining orders.
bradrThanks bradr - does this: " what I was able to do was get priority shipping for the remaining items and get the team to prioritize these entirely today and into next week " mean that they will be shipped at a faster speed, or just that they are being moved up in the queue of the warehouse as a whole?
bradrI just cancelled my order and I will be cancelling every order I have with MassDrop. After around 7 delays if I'm counting right and only receiving 3 email updates about delays I no longer consider MassDrop a trustworthy site. I will be buying from OLKB which states a ship date of 10-4. At this rate I expect to have one from them before all of the MassDrop orders ship even with this revised date.
fnnlnAn email was sent out today to people who haven't had their Planck shipped yet. If you didn't see an email, you should have either have had your planck shipped or you missed an email (check spam folders!).
bradrI didn't receive any email. Nor have I received a tracking number. Does this mean that my Planck has shipped but my tracking number has yet to be sent to me?
bradrI have received no emails, except for the initial opt-in.
am I suppose to check the comments section to get updates on this drop?
Why are email updates not being sent out ?
bradrSo, I was looking through my transactions today looking for my tracking number and noticed that I had 2 new orders listed among my other purchases. Two orders which were listed as being free, which I am 100% certain were not there yesterday. A 40% cloth case for the plank, and a datamancer 40% (Planck) walnut case. They showed as having already been shipped. Initially I assumed it was a gift from massdrop as a thank you for sticking with the drop, or something along those lines. I just checked again, but noticed now that both orders now show canceled. I don't know what's going on. Why do I have canceled orders in my transactions, orders which I have never purchased?
Dotwad11Wow, this is getting better every day... Does this mean MD has their database messed up and they don't even know who ordered what? That would explain the massive delays.
bradrThis has been my worst online shopping experience i have had so far. First the FCC delay. Then they don't have enough switches. Then they "misscalculate" the time needed to sort the different orders. Now they are saying i should have gotten either an email or a tracking number, of which i have neither.
Thinking about all this now, isn't massdrop a goto place to get MK gear? One would think they should know how long it takes to sort and ship these packages.
Hard to believe that so many things went wrong with the same drop.
Makes me think that something fiishy is going on here.
bradrI'll add myself to the no notifications/no emails/no tracking number group. I certainly sympathise with everyone involved it this process and hope that this is just a glitch.
bradrThanks for the update. I agree, this is atrocious. I'm not calling for anyone's job, but at my company if someone had messed up this many shipments for so long, the logistics manager would be having an uncomfortable conversation with our CEO. We ship expensive equipment all over the world. One missed shipping date costs us hundreds of dollars PER SHIPMENT.
A single mistake in something like this is one thing, but this has been one issue after another; and EACH of these issues has been 100% avoidable. This drop has been grossly mishandled from the beginning.
Right now MD has a near monopoly on purchases like this. That makes people uncomfortable when things like this happen, since we have little recourse. Then things like the drama with the Halo switches happen. Dont drag your own name through the mud.
bradrListen, I'd just stop with the apologies. I'm pretty sure they lost all meaning after the 3rd apology with no considerable change. Clearly, they are empty words to allow you more time to delay.
If Massdrop was really concerned with making this right, then they should have upgraded the shipping for all users with delayed packages. This would ensure that they would get their packages as soon as possible. Again, stop with the apologies, if you really want to make this right and treat your customers well - then you need to take the hit and pay for shipping upgrades and learn so you won't have to take another hit in the future. That's an apology worth accepting.
travmSounds like they have upgraded the shipping for the most delayed of the orders, but I still don't have a tracking number so I can't confirm that yet.
sssdI still have no tracking number or email, either. My "cancel order" button did vanish yesterday, however, so part of me wanted to believe that mine shipped already.
sssdMine shipped on the 15th, and I can confirm that nothing was upgraded. So, if yours hasn't shipped yet and they are expediting shipping like they have claimed - you may get yours before me. At least I hope so, since you have to continue to wait.
This shipping upgrade should've happened the second they missed their first promised shipping deadline and they could have offered it as the original apology.
PaedurI hear those of you saying you didn't get an email or shipping notification. I do know it takes 12-24 hours to get that notification sometimes, so its possible that those of you who didn't get an email or shipping notification will get that notification shortly (my mistake to not account for that potential delay above). From what I was told, the remaining unshipped orders all received notice of the change to expedited shipping via email.
That said, I'm going to get more information on this and will provide an update Monday morning 11am PT (if not sooner) to verify those of you who didn't get the email saying you are in the "shipping hasn't happened" group have already had their drop shipped.
@travm I agree that expedited shipping should have happened earlier. And that no apology is really going to be meaningful at this point. I am a little late to the game.. I only joined the company a couple months ago (as head of communities) and
was only made aware of this drop when I stared my first post. There's more I could have done earlier if I had realized how bad things had been, or that we weren't going to be able to get these out at the new time communicated to me by our logistics team. I personally am trying to be as communicative and transparent as possible, to get things as fixed as much as they can be in the current situation (read: last minute things that don't make up for months of issues/delays/poor communciation), and to get the company to figure out what the fuck happened here and what we're doing to fix the processes that let it happen. Again this doesn't make up for what happened on the drop, and I dont expect most people in this drop to care or give masssrop another shot. But for those who do care, and for future members, I will continue to try and provide info consistently, work to fix the shit that got us here, and will apologize for a horrible experience.
bradrThere's something seriously wrong going on, here. I have several items in my transactions history that I never ordered that are showing up as canceled. I also have duplicate orders for the items I did order that are showing up as canceled, one Planck and one K-Type.
atari.zero.tvI have 2 as well, both items I considered (clicked through to join the drop, but decided against it in the end). Very disconcerting, to say the least.
bradrI see some people are wondering why they didn't get a shipping notice, it may be they missed some of your posts between the sticky post and the posts within the thread:
MD didn't complete sending out the orders on Friday which means that some of us won't be getting a shipping notification. MD management decided not to allow overtime to complete the shipping on Saturday . You indicated that an email notice would be sent to those who didn't have their orders shipped indicating that your order didn't ship and of course many more apologies. The email didn't happen. The as yet shipped orders were again promised to be shipped Monday /Tuesday (not sure how many were left because percentages don't tell me anything and I am not going to do play a numbers game with no winner) shipping with highest priority (being processed first in the day) and expedited shipping which is like the manager putting a cherry on a sundae after the ice cream melted because the sundae was never brought to your table.
I have skipped three drops that I had planned on buying because of this drop. I haven't cancelled my pending orders because I still want them and understand that delays can happen. However, depending on how this drops' issues are addressed (so far not so good) and how my remaining drops are handled I may just stop using MD.
BlueCrownedAn update on Monday is fine but this is a complaint about a communication we already should have received. We've been told that we Should have received one of two emails by end of day yesterday that either our package has shipped or will be shipped with expedited packaging. Now I wonder is shipping only updated Mon-Fri so that 12-24 hours is business days only? Or do we have to be concerned that some lot of orders fell through the cracks? Or that the expedited email never made it out? Regardless of which explanation, it seems reasonable to say if we have not received a communication we were told should have already been sent.
BlueCrownedHe also said the 24 hour delay was the reason. Confirming it is not.
It's not Bradr's fault, but there's definitely an issue on massdrops end somewhere in their status/customer notification process and it should absolutely be known and addressed.
And nows not really a time to call for patience anyway. Not on a drop this delayed. People have a right to be past the patience limit with this many upkept email/update assurances.
bradrI have not had any emails about any of this, and had to log into the discussion board to find out what's going on. Will we be getting any kind of redemption for such a long delay? I still have no tracking number.
PaedurWelp. As pointed out by a lot of people above, the emails Friday night, 9/15 (which were only sent to people who hadn't had their drop ship yet) did not all go out. Or rather... they looked like they went out, but didn't actually get sent. What matters is, you didn't get them.
Yup...
The good news (...) is that we've resent these emails, they include confirmation that your orders are being expedited (domestically and internationally), they include $25 credit (for those of you who haven't sworn off Massdrop), and your orders are the priority to go out today and tomorrow.
The bad news is it's too little too late (for many). I hear the feedback and comments. I'm sorry (I also hear some saying that doesn't matter without follow-through... hopefully daily messaging, expedited shipping, and credit shows at least a little follow-through and desire to improve even if it doesn't make up for the shit show you've experienced), and hope to have yet another chance with some of you in the future. My take is that daily messaging, expedited shipping, prioritized drop shipment, and all of that would be a perfectly reasonable reaction on Massdrop's side 1+ month ago... or when Massdrop first finds out that something may be delayed. That's where I'll be steering Massdrop for the future. For now, thanks again for giving Massdrop a shot and being a part of this drop. Sorry we let you down.
PaedurShipped by Friday 22nd! That is fucking disappointing and weird . It can not take 5 business days to ship a kit that they had already shipped 33% or some other number. My guess is that they are still short switches or someone messed up the sticker process and screwed up each box so they now have to unbox and resort all the orders.
$25 merchandise credit for a place people are considering not using any more isn't much of a consolidation prize.
bradrThank you for the update and email. I can't say I'm happy with it and I suspect there is something else going on but knowing what and any other details is immaterial to me now. I will be trying to avoid MD this week so I don't get caught up in the agg. However, while you are contemplating more ways to improve the relationships, you may want to check out the various drop's discussions that are going normally but causing some angst since the requests for status go unanswered.
For Example: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/planck-keycap-set/talk is related to the keycaps that was suppose to be sent in conjunction with the Planck drop but had to be redone. Understandable but as we get closer to the date when the caps were completed, people would like a status to make sure everything is on track.
ertoThanks @erto. Appreciate the consistent and honest feedback in this thread, and for the recommendation. I'll definitely take a look at that thread, and have my team who's working on the new communication process for Massdrop made products this week try and update as many of these drops as possible.
bradr I decided to use my $25 credit. Joined the drop for a brass flashlight. Confirmation screen showed that the cost to me was $4.99 (after the credit was applied). Now my transaction history, and bank account, are showing that I was charged the full price for the light. Now we've messed up credits as well?
Contacted support and am waiting for a reply.
Edit: If I go to the join screen of any drop, the credit still shows as if it hasn't been used. I'm backing out of the light drop until you guys get this shit straight.
Edit 2: Looks like I can't cancel since I've already been charged. At least not without going through support. FML
bradrReceived my shipping notification well before a another purchase on Massdrop. They have followed the same journey but I have not received any updates on my shipping for my keyboard. How is this possible? All aboard the support ticket train...
bradrThanks for the explanation and apologies, unfortunately, this is far too little way too late. The problem here isn't the delay, it's communication. We've seen several apology updates during communication on this drop and yet the updates still aren't regular. I've purchased several things from Massdrop but this has caused me to lose all faith in this company.
Sep 19, 2017
killingmoon
Sep 19, 2017
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bradrYo, where is @YanboWu in the midst of all of this? Why is it up to you to handle this shit instead of him?
bradrSo because my order was shipped Friday (9/15) morning I don't qualify for the $25 credit and expedited shipping? Fedex tracking shows ship date of 9/16, expected delivery 9/27. You're telling me after a 3mo delay some of us missed the "we're sorry" credit and expedited shipping by 1 day... Way to take care of your customers Massdrop.
bradrI have now finally received an email. Here's hoping that things are sent out by Friday, although since this is not the first time I've heard this, you can forgive me for being somewhat skeptical. Y'know what they say: fool me seven times...
That being said, when we were told last Friday that everything would be sent and are now being told "By the following Friday" I honestly don't know what to say. I would have thought this was a "We didn't quite finish on the day we said, so we'll have it done 1–2 business days later", not another week. But at least the dates are padded enough that (I hope!) we can be sure it will be done by this date.
Now @bradr, I'm not saying this is in any way your fault. It sounds like you are getting faulty/outdated/misleading information. So you're somewhat in the same boat that we all are. But I'm hoping, after all this mess is cleared that we'll be able to see some sort of postmortem write up of what went wrong and what Massdrop can do to fix it. Because at this point that's the only real way I'll ever be convinced to use MD again.
As an aside, I should point out that when debating to join this drop I looked at all the issues that the previous planck drop had. With all of the delays I have had and others have had with previous drops–in comparison very minor delays, but still delays!–I thought to myself "Surely this won't happen this time. They've ironed out most of the kinks." So where I stand right now I'm not sure I can really trust MD to figure this and just tell me "it'll be fixed next time".
p.s. as someone who lives overseas, a small ($25) credit is basically useless. Something that won't even cover shipping/import certainly won't change my opinion on whether to use MD again.
p.p.s. is group-purchasing and shipping not the raison d'etre of Massdrop? It just boggles my mind that shipping these products could take so mind-numbingly long for something that is basically your core business. And even if it does take that long (again why?) would you not have reasonable estimates for the length of time things take?
bradrYou know what you could habe done with all those 25$ "apologies"? Paid workers to help with the shipments.
Seriously who the fuck is currently making decisions at MD, because they really seem a bad fit for the job.
Just a little tip: keyboards is an enthusiastic community: enthusiasm first, financially sane decisions second. I'd rather do group buys on Geekhack with people who get that mentality.
bradrI wonder if anybody has actually cancelled this drop because of delays. I've ordered with no keycaps because of (now severely delayed Canvas). So I've figured if someone has cancelled, maybe MD can add a set of keycaps to my order. Seems like a no-brainer for them. No luck. Got a standard response. "If you want, click on 'Request' blah blah blah".
FirstOneI've seen comments on here and reddit of several people canceling, myself included. I had two Plancks on the way and was in the Canvas drop as well. $350 between the two drops. I canceled last Thursday or Friday when they kept with the excuses.
clicky_clackyThat's what I kind of thought. MD's response doesn't make sense. Unless it's something to do with the way their billing/shipping system set up. I figured it'd be better for them to change my order rather than eat the cost of cancelled stuff while other people might pick those up. Well, whatever. Waiting for Canvas. Hopefully that will come in before xmas. I'm fairly patient.
bradr" they include $25 credit (for those of you who haven't sworn off Massdrop) "
Fuck you.
You make everyone wait, and instead of giving them a reason to reconsider, you give them the bird again. Thanks for making sure I will never be back.
I even had the datamancer Ergodox inifinity case open in another tab, reconsidering leaving massdrop. Not anymore.
I mean seriously. It costs you nothing to apply a credit to an account that is abandoned, yet you single out the people most angry at you and do nothing to change their mind, in fact you make it clear that their business was never important to you as a company. I hope the community replaces your broken ass business model with something better, as there are plenty of college kids running group buys by themselves on GeekHack.
Someone would have had to make a list of people who were swearing off massdrop from these threads, and actively remove them from whatever credit was being given. Do you think Amazon is so spiteful with their customers?
bradr had clarified: " "anyone who's planck ships after 9/12 will have the $25 credit" is correct. Sorry for my confusing language... was just trying to acknowledge that many people were fed up. "
I have yet to accuse them of lying to us, yet I don't have said credit. We'll see what happens.
zeshonI suspect you are misreading that statement. The credit appears at checkout. If you have sworn off Massdrop, you'll never see the credit because as someone who has sworn off MD, you'll never find yourself in the checkout. I am certain they did not go through the threads and single out people. That would be too much work for no gain.
FirstOneMD doesn't work like you are thinking. They don't have an actively updated inventory system to keep track of what they do and do not have so they can't just sell you someone else's cancelled order.
That's why they have the Yanbo's Closet sales. After some period of time, they go through everything they have, inventory it, and then offer it for sale. Not sure when the next one will be, but my guess is probably not for awhile since there likely isn't much to sell. There have been very few boards/keycaps that have actually shipped out since the last one that they had.
zeshonI think you'll need to clarify what you're saying is wrong. As someone who has not had their planck shipped I can confirm the discount appears at checkout.
sssdAre you someone who "swore off massdrop" as well? That's what is being called out.
I cancelled my order for the XD60 because of this GB, and because it's also late, and I called them out a month ago that it was going to be late and they said it wouldn't be. I am now one of those that is "swearing off massdrop". As such, I was in the bucket that did not get a credit, as I called out above.
The misinformation is: " If you have sworn off Massdrop, you'll never see the credit because as someone who has sworn off MD, you'll never find yourself in the checkout. I am certain they did not go through the threads and single out people. That would be too much work for no gain. "
zeshonI know for a fact that they're having issues with the credit not applying in some situations. Just because it does not show up for you just yet (assuming your planck didn't ship before 9/12) doesn't mean that someone else is by default lying or wrong. The email stated that anyone who's planck ships after 9/12 will have the $25 credit.
I have a feeling the people at MD are too busy trying to unfuck themselves to go through and cherry pick who gets a credit or not. They are not out to get you. You are NOT that special. None of us are.
Genuine"anyone who's planck ships after 9/12 will have the $25 credit" is correct. Sorry for my confusing language... was just trying to acknowledge that many people were fed up.
bradrI don't think your language is the problem, I think people are just so angry that they can't see straight, which is causing them to have difficulty reading your comments. I don't think they would be happy if you gave them a free Planck at this point (I will gladly take one on the other hand). I stayed in this drop and joined the Preonic drop so please make sure that one doesn't have the same issues that this one did.
ChitownM2Having a bad inventory management after 5 years of service is a sign of bad company leadership, especially if the main value proposition is the handling of inventory. Everyone can run group buys, it's MD's business model to stream line this. Thing is currently small buys on forums offer more service value than MD. People wanted MD to succeed and are now getting disappointed by the atrocious leadership.
noxxitWhat your describing is a logistics system not an inventory system and for the most part their logistics have always been pretty good.
Their business model is based upon not having items to stock, warehouse and manage so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that they don't have a robust system for tracking what they have in stock. While they probably have quite a few planck boards that won't be shipped out that is definitely the exception and not the rule for most everything else they sell. Even with this debacle, I bet the number of cancelled orders is less than 1%.
killingmoonExcept that it probably isn't. They sold 3400 of these and I see the same few dozen people complaining in here and only a portion of those have cancelled their order. When the closet sale does eventually happen there will probably be ~100 or so of these available which is a lot by normal drop standards, but in the end would only represent 3% of customers. They are just a lot more vocal than the other 3300 people which alters your perception of reality.
ChitownM2The latest drop only had about 2300 purchases according the email right after the drop ended.
Edit: Your math was a bit off as well. With your total sales, the estimated cancels would be 3%. Not 0.3%. With reported sales from massdrop (still assuming roughly 100 available for closet sale) that puts cancels at closer to 5%.
ChitownM2I agree that the closet sale won't be "fucking full of Plancks" as was suggested by another person. That said, don't use arbitrary numbers and made up percentages. It doesn't help make your point (which I think is correct overall).
Here's to a tracking number showing up in my email this week!... hopefully.
GenuineAgreed to hoping for a tracking number in the next couple days...and I caught the math error right after I posted.
3-5% is still an extremely low number considering this is probably the worst drop in the history of MD.
ChitownM2Afaik a logistics system is concerned only with items on the road. I admit that it is possible to argue that MD works in logistics, but it feels weird to me since traditionally logistics is just about getting items from point A to point B. Which is outsourced by MD to different courier / logistics companies.
For my understanding it feels more fitting to add incoming items to inventory, then do the dispatching or keep them stocked. This could be called warehouse logistics though.
Minimizing time an item is stored is important for all businesses (but storage services). The pull based made-to-order strategy employed by group buys is one way to do that. Minimizing does never equal elimination and MD is dealing with an item volume worth several million dollars per year. If someone has a small etsy shop or makes on group buy a year, this can be handled with a few sheets of paper (or excel). But after a certain amount someone leading a company has to come to the realization, that this won't do it anymore.
Edit: this is not only the Plank drop. For example with the ErgoDox drop people seem to be getting the same half twice. In general failure rates of 1% are completely unacceptable. That would be 1% of planes crashing or Google or Facebook being offline for 3.65 days a year or every 100 key keyboard having one broken key.
noxxitFor what it is worth, the ergodox error was on the manufacturer. They put the wrong label on the items. I know because I'm lucky enough to be affected in that drop too.
Edit: the above only qualifies for the pcb, the vast majority of complaints area from people who post before they realize that the case is symmetrical and they are all packages as right hand. When it's assembled you need to flip each of the acrylic pieces to make a left hand.
bradrI'd like to throw out here that some of us are not upset over this drop. Yes, it is fubar'd. But I am certain my Planck will arrive one day. To be frank, once it arrives, with my current schedule, it will probably take me another 4 weeks to assemble. Like a kickstarter, Massdrop is not a traditional path to a product so when I committed, I also accepted that the product may be delayed or even not arrive at all. That's the gamble I took and had I not been willing to take that risk, I would have chosen to buy direct from OLKB.
djugglerI kind of feel the same way about it. I'll definitely keep buying custom keyboards and keycaps (stuff I cannot readily get elsewhere). However, the specific pain point is this: it's not a problem with manufacturing at this point. It's not even a problem with bad design / design error, as is the case with Infinity keyboard keycaps missing 6u spacebar. This appears to be simply logistics / shipping issue. This is not one of "excusable" reasons. MD knew this drop was very popular and should've been ready. We're not talking about 3 pairs of watch drop.
Another problem with MD, not related to this drop per se, but on another drop a percentage of the people wasn't shipped the product "because manufacturer short shipped", while subsequent drop after that was shipped and yet another one was started. Maybe it's because they lack inventory system, as per above. But if this is not a good reason to revamp inventory system, I don't know what is. Sigh.
Still, I can't figure out why people get so worked up. I mean you've been waiting for several month, what's another few weeks. Maybe my patience keeps going up with every year I live.
P.S. I fully expect to see this same drama play out in 6xx drop in a couple of month with > 10k orders. I'm not a part of that one though.
djugglerI agree with you somewhat for most of what you said but have to disagree with the 'not arrive at all' part. MD is not a kickstarter in any sense. You are paying for a product here not making a wish on a star. You sometimes are not paying for an item that exists yet in terms of stock but all the steps up to that point were made. That is why some delay is almost a normal. Those delays should be understood by most of the users of MD but aren't so they get a bit whiny. Shit can happen during production like bad molds, dyes like what happened to the keycaps related to the Planck. I get disappointed but I don't throw a tantrum. What isn't normal in this drop is was the mistakes made by the handlers of this drop. The misunderstood testing by FCC, application of the stickers, and now the fumbling method of the actual shipping process were all due to MD's mishandling of a large popular drop. Bradr admitted that this was poorly handled and to my knowledge this is the first time MD offered anything in terms of compensation for a badly handled drop.
ertoGood point on the "not at all." I added that because of my experience with https://nymi.com/ in which I pre-ordered, but was never charged, and their business model changed yet the company never once reached out to those of us who pre-ordered to explain anything.
bradr" I did not get an update today before I had to leave the office - I'll be following up on this tomorrow morning to get the latest info. (Next Update 9/21 before 5pm PT) "
I'd really like to have a % of total orders shipped and number of days remaining included in the daily updates. I'd also like the daily updates to be daily please.
As other people have said, delays in one off manufacturing are expected. When the product has been sitting in a warehouse for a month, that's not ok.
bradr"As of today the kitting was fully completed for all of the remaining orders, and the shipments were getting staged. The team expects to have 100% of orders out tomorrow."
Thank you for that update.
bradrCool. I suppose the 12-24 hour delay in shipping notification still stands? That means tomorrow I should get the info. Thanks again for the update.
I still haven't seen any responses to the request of status on other drops, specifically the keycaps related to this one. Even if there is no new status, let them know that everything is on track or something.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/planck-keycap-set/talk
sssd@erto and @sssd - Thanks for surfacing that - I'll make sure we try and get it high on our list and get you an update there soon. We've just kicked off a new messaging process this week, and are playing catch-up on a bunch of drops where we can / should have better messaging for Massdrop colab and Massdrop made products.
bradr5PM Eastern time and still no shipping notification. I understand that that may take 12-24 hrs, but I hoped with the promise of expedited shipping that notification would be received sooner. Here's hoping I hear something soon!
bradrAlmost 24 hours out from the, "we absolutely will ship all of them." Has anyone received a shipping notice in the last 24-48 hours? Or are we delayed yet again?
3KidNerd@bradr At this point I'm resigned to getting another update on Monday that not all the items shipped out. I think it's telling that no one is posting they they received a notification yet...
HazardousPsycoI seriously hope that isn't the case. That would actually cause this to be my last drop. I will also submit yet another ticket and see what they say.
bradrHey we want a real update at this point. We don't want to hear, "last I heard", we don't hear "I think", we don't hear "they said", we want clear updates that say, "today we shipped 287 units, we are on pace to ship 400 units tomorrow this leaves 2000 units to ship. At this pace we will have the rest of the units shipped in 5 days."
HazardousPsycoI'm waiting out the 24 hours and then if nothing by then I will open a ticket. I haven't participated in the gratuitous bashing of massdrop but if they don't have enough parts then that's a whole new level of bullshit. The number they needed to order wouldve been crystal clear as soon as the drop ended... that's the point isn't it? So that they can produce niche products without having overstock... if anything they should have more stock now since a bunch of people already cancelled. I sincerely hope that is not true because c'mon... that's a ridiculous mistake.
HazardousPsycoI find this difficult to believe as they order what they need to fullfill the orders placed. If they fell short then the manufacturer of whatever they are short on probably screwed up. Also, support knows more than @bradr who is communicating directly with the people packing and shipping?
fan-tuhmSupport has been behind in the info stream for this entire drop. Would not be surprised if that was the case again. That's what I'm hoping for anyway.
bradrI have not received any shipping notification. Is it because it is the weekend? Should i expect it to come on Monday? I hope that'd be the case. I cannot accept excuses from you and your team anymore.
VZoutThe official reason at one point was because of a lack of certain switches, so maybe they are still referring to that?
Edit: From his original post 3 weeks ago: "This resulted in us not having the needed amount of switches ready to ship by last week, and means that our team is putting together the switch packs right now."
bradrI also got my tracking number this morning. Might stick around for GMK laser if this is the only place it's going to be sold, and after that I'm out.
PeculiarPixelI doubt it. I think they packed them and got most/all/some in the system for them to ship out today. I got the shipping # yesterday and today it shows as label created and got a delivery date of Wed but Fedex hasn't picked up yet.
Sounds like they didn't get through all of them like we were told.
PeculiarPixelHey all - glad to hear it sounds like most everyone got their tracking #'s this weekend.
@PeculiarPixel and anyone else who hasn't gotten one, I'm following up on this now to ensure they all were sent out as expected per my update on Friday.
3KidNerdHey @3KidNerd - just confirmed with the team that if your package wasn't already picked up by FedEx it will be today.
EDIT: Got some additional info: "technically, the tracking number gets updated once the shipment go through FedEx sortation in their facility. So that means there will not be an update just because FedEx pick up the shipment at our facility."
bradrI don't even have a tracking number, yet. Did the packaging get finished? I don't want to sound pissy, but at this point I am a bit concerned that I'm getting the board I ordered.
bradrWell my package was picked up by FedEx and delivery date is still Wed. I hope Bradr can track down those who have not gotten a tracking number yet issue.
bradrJust wanting to see if we're going to get another update? There are still some folks without tracking numbers or any kind of info.
I'd also like to point out that as of tomorrow, this shipment is officially 3 months late.
atari.zero.tvI woke up in a sweat tangled in my sheets last night because I had been dreaming that I somehow got shipped a Steelseries Zboard... you know, that 3-panel monstrosity with replacement inserts made for specific things like WOW and FPS games?
You are not alone thinking we're not getting the boards we ordered.
PoekRoseHey all - I don't have any additional information. If you haven't gotten your tracking number, please write a ticket to support (via the transactions page) or reply to me. (I'm also personally escalating anyone that's commented here already today @atari.zero.tv@PeculiarPixel@sirfelion).
bradrI already sent a ticket to support, but this is just crazy. Why do I need to check a discussion board and send in a support ticket to make sure that I get something I ordered? Shouldn’t massdrop be emailing me to update on status rather than the other way around? How is it that 100% got mailed out, but really that’s not the case?
bradrI've still not received a tracking number or shipping notification email. I opened a ticket as you requested.
Do you not have a way to detect what users haven't gotten an email / tracking number yet? MD should be able to figure that out and save everyone the logistical troubles of posting support requests. Not only is that a better customer experience, but it'd probably be a reduced burden for your support desk staff as well.
fualknerHey all - Yes, Massdrop support should have already reached out to you regardless of whether or not you write in if you don't have a tracking number (from what I've been told everyone should have their tracking already, save a couple people where there was a problem who were contacted via email) or if there was a problem with your order. There is always the potential for a one-off issue or a missed email that could cause you to not be on the support team's radar, which is why I suggested you write in as well.
bradrHow is that my package was shipped out 2 days ago, but today I find out it was shipped without keys, which will take 2-3 weeks. I understand that problems happen, but why not give timeline that allow for enough time to get everything together, instead of waiting until a promised date, and then promising another date, over and over. This is what you guys do, why are you so bad at it?
bradrKind of feels like it isn't such a one-off. And I've never been contacted via email still. And no tracking.
I get the impression that if I wasn't keeping watch of the discussion I'd not only be entirely in the dark but potentially not get my order. Which is concerning to say the least.
I'll again stress that this isn't your fault. But I do think there is still something seriously up with Massdrop's communication; and it might be technical, some bug that's overlooked.
A shot in the dark, but maybe something to do with signing up for both the Planck drop and the Planck keycap drop and then canceling the keycap drop (while staying in the Planck drop)? That's the case for me.
bradrI just received an email stating :
As our warehouse staff was fulfilling the remaining orders,it was discovered we did not have enough 65g Zealios switches available to complete your order."
I thought my order shipped out two days ago?
"We have placed an order for the correct 65g Zealios switches and expect to be able to ship them in the next 2-3 weeks."
Im trying to stay calm here. Does this mean two to three weeks? Or does this mean 21 to 28+ days? I need some answers here. Why is this happening?
BlueCrownedI feel like his question is "who" is getting it in 2-3 weeks. is MD getting switches in 21 days, or is he getting his board with switches in 21 days?
bradrI'm not trying to be too bitter here. But I feel like a personal escalation and a support ticket should have at least got an email about not getting even a tracking number by now.
This drop is a group-funded birthday gift to a member of my friend circle that faaar past due by now (and was ordered with a 2 month window in line to arrive way early). So I totally get your frustration in assuring a timeframe based on what you're told and then it being wrong; because I'm having to do that as well to my friends. And each time it is getting all the more frustrating for all involved. Relatively two day of silence isn't so bad, but in context to the runaround after a '100% fulfilled' statement it's really upsetting.
glazedMassdrop just placed an order for our remaining stock of 65g Zealios yesterday night. The shipment is being delivered overnight and will be at their warehouse Thursday morning.
As for the shortage on switches, I'm not too sure why. The Zealios Massdrop ordered for the Planck drop were delivered in May.
ZealHey @PeculiarPixel and people above with the 65g Zealios shortage issue, I don't have an update tonight but will follow-up and get more information tomorrow. Thanks
ZealThank you Zeal. It's comforting to see a reply from you. My main concern was that Massdrop said "100% of the orders" were packed and ready to ship on the 22nd, but there was no update saying that 65g Zealios were not going to be in the packages.
BlueCrownedI was trying to ask if the 2-3 week estimation was accurate or if it was going to be more like 3-4+ more weeks. Since everything so far has been delayed for me, I wanted a real estimation rather than a deadline I can look forward to and be disappointed yet again.
glazedI didn't trust the 2-3 week deadline on getting them, which was why I ordered some Otemu Dark Purples after doing some research on switches comparable to Zealios. Once my Zealios switches eventually get here, I can decide if I want to desolder and install them instead. In the meantime, I'm sick of waiting and I want to actually use my keyboard already.
bradrAll parts arrived in good order. Thank you @bradr!
Unboxing my OLKB+Massdrop Planck. Quick and dirty video showing what came in the box. Will do a higher quality video for the build. I cannot refund these 7 minutes of your life. - [07:18]:
https://youtu.be/4BI_KYaqydM
bradrI opened a support ticket 2 days ago, regarding a tracking number I should have gotten at the beginning of this week. No tracking number, no response on the ticket. Please help me understand what's going on, because it seems like there's an unexplained gap in service here. At this point, I'm fairly certain my package was never shipped, and perhaps never even existed from the warehouse perspective.
bradrWanted to confirm that I finally got a tracking number/label. Thanks.
Still kind of curious why some of us got them so much later after everyone else (and some still haven't) . A mass email at the least could have saved some stress there perhaps if it was being looked into.
PeculiarPixelGlad to hear you finally got some confirmation! I've still got radio silence.
If you don't mind me asking, what sort of switches did you order? Mine are Cherry MX Greens. I'm wildly speculating here -- All I can do at this juncture -- but I wouldn't be surprised if the more unusual switch choices are taking longer to ship...
fualknerI had Cherry MX Browns, and a black case. I figured I'd be on the far common side of things as far as orders go.
And I pretty much got silence on what was going on, no email reply from support; just the tracking number finally popping up. Hopefully yours will do the same soon, but the tension of just having to wait for the tracking number to eventually appear with no other word is pretty bonkers.
I feel like Bradr is doing as best a job as he can do, so props to that, but I feel he's having to act as an inbetween for a support that isn't doing as best a job as they can do. So the personal escalating of things still just leads to silence. So either unresponsive support, facing bugs in their customer system, or some horrible amalgamation of both; it would be good to know the true culprit and how it is being dealt with as it will affect my decision to use massdrop in the future.
PeculiarPixel@PeculiarPixel - so glad you finally got your tracking. I finally got a little more info on this today, too... there were ~11 unshipped plancks (out of the 1000 or so orders) that just happened for various reasons. And unfortunately these were always being processed but there just wasn't a good system for alerting customer support to make that communication. Those users should be emailed today or tomorrow, though as you noted the remaining orders should also be shipping today and tomorrow anyway.
@djuggler as someone who has been working a lot on trying to get through the mess of Planck, it really helps to see this unboxing. Sorry again for all the issues and delays in the drop, and thank you for sharing this. I'll send it to the whole team involved!
@fualkner as mentioned above, I was able to confirm there were still a handful of one off orders that didn't ship for various reasons, and you may have been in this bucket. The team should finally be writing you or responding to your ticket (not sure how it took so long), and these should be shipped shortly as well.
Regarding the Zealios switch shortage some people faced (and have been emailed about)... some more info: the kitting was finished end of last week, as I noted. Shortly after that (Saturday) I was notified by the team that there was a shortage here, and we met on Monday to figure out how to resolve (we fully refunded everyone for those switches, expedited new switches from Zealios so we could still get people what they ordered - Thanks @Zeal for jumping on that). It sounds like the shortage was due to the way we inventoried our switches (at the bag level instead of the switch level), allowing us to have improper numbers on partial bags of switches. The team is working on fixing this inventory system to be at the switch level to prevent this in the future.
bradr@bradr Thanks for keeping us in the loop. I also seem to be one of the chosen 1%, haven't got a tracking number or a response on my ticket. I did get the Zealio delay mail, replied to that as well, but have yet to receive more than an automated reply.
This is less of a complaint (I'm way past raging at this stage), think of it as a show of hands, and hopefully this can get resolved soon.
bradr"It sounds like the shortage was due to the way we inventoried our switches (at the bag level instead of the switch level), allowing us to have improper numbers on partial bags of switches "
is that why I got 2 extra 78g switches or was that intentional?
bradrThanks for the update, we really appreciate it. Based on Zeal's post, the shipment of Zealios switches should have reached Massdrop yesterday – do you know if there are enough switches to cover all those orders yet?
bradrI finally got and built my board! Man, this layout is zany... I need to modify my Preonic layout to fit on this Planck so I can use them somewhat interchangeably.
Cherry MX Clears, and I only got 49. not an issue since I got enough to complete my planck. Not every bag of switches is perfect, so that might be the real reason for saying we're getting more switches. Just to make sure that they give us enough to finish the project.
desk is a bit crowded with all 3 of my keebs for work. Eventually, the planck will replace both the full size and the 8-key macro board.
cflee@cflee yes, from my understanding we were able to order more than enough to cover the remaining orders.
@atari.zero.tv awesome. SOOOOOOOO glad you finally got it, and thank you for sharing the pics. loving those keycaps.
bradrI got a response from support on September 29th at 11am.
" Thank you for reaching out to Massdrop Support. We do sincerely apologize for the delay in shipping your order and also the delay in getting back to you. My name is ***** and I'm happy to offer some information.
First I would like to assure you this drop is being examined to the fullest, to diagnose where the break in completing this drop successfully came around. We're not pleased with the way the situation ended, and we will do our best to make it right for our members and take into deep consideration the events that happened, so other drops do not suffer the same fate.
Please know the remaining Planck orders have been flagged to our warehouse and put at top priority, meaning you can reasonably expect your tracking to to be sent out today or tomorrow. Your time and patience are deeply appreciated.
I hope that helps clear things up, but please let me know if you have additional questions or concerns and have a lovely day.
Kindest regards,
*****"
It is October 2nd, and I have not gotten the tracking number yet. I'm sharing this with you, @bradr, because this is worse than missing a publicly posted deadline; I can accept that there's the occasional mix-up in large-scale operations. This is worse. This is breaking a promise made to me, as an individual.
If you're going to successfully support and bolster MD's reputation, you *must* make sure that your support and operations people are on the same page, and you *must* stop over-promising and under-delivering. Expectations must equal reality.
bradr@bradr after waiting months to get my planck it finally arrived on Wednesday and low and behold the sleeve I ordered with it has an ink or grease stain of some kind on it. I submitted a support ticket that night, but still haven't received any response beyond the automated one. I want a new sleeve expedited out to me ASAP. Ridiculous that after the disaster that has been this drop they aren't even QC'ing the orders before they go out the door. I submitted a second ticket tonight. Any way you can look into this??
bradr@bradr Can you help out with some updates on the Ergodox drop. Several of us received the wrong pieces for the keyboard and many others are still waiting for their initial orders to be shipped out.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/infinity-ergodox/talk/1821415
Edit: I'm unlucky enough to have had an issue with both drops :)
Hey all - sorry, I was out of the office for a couple days. I'll follow up on the Zealios (and a couple of the other people's notes above) and let you know what I hear today.
bradr@ChitownM2@fualkner@wezm - I followed up with our CS lead to make sure she personally looks at the status of your order/ticket.
Regarding the Zealios - they are still expected to go out within the original timeframe of 2-3 weeks from when the email was sent (I believe 9/26), and will be expedited when sent out - it sounds like the team expects them to be out in the earlier part of that time frame. Those of you who did not get the 65g zealios with your order were compensated via a complete refund of the switches, and were given the option via that email to wait for the new order or ask for one of the other variations that was available.
bradrDamn, I want to work somewhere where I can just delay unnecessarily for a week when the product I'm supposed to turn around is just sitting in a warehouse. We know the switches were overnighted to you guys 8 days ago so how can it possibly take this long to ship them?
I don't understand a lot about the logistics involved here and would love to know where these long gaps are coming from. In my mind you guys at this point should be trying to get our switches out ASAP. With the information we've been given it seems like you don't care at all about getting them out. Either give us more detailed information about why this could possibly be taking this long, or admit that you don't care about getting them out as soon as possible since the deadline is 3 weeks anyway.
clickclackjackI hope they're going to extend the return window for those that still dont have their zealios (including myself)
i can just imagine getting my switches in 2-3 weeks, something doesnt fit/work, contacting md support and being told i waited too long to get ahold of them
clickclackjackgod, this is still going? I got mine a while back, but I've been watching this to see how it pans out. definitely not buying anything around her for a long time.
bradrI received the 3 Planks I ordered this week but the Zealios were missing and I’ve not received any emails about them. If I didn’t read this discussion I’d assume they had just been forgotten. I’ll wait until next week (3 weeks from 26 Sep) before contacting support again.
Hey all - orders have been getting packed up and shipped throughout the day, and the team was in the process of shipping the remaining orders when I talked to them a few hours ago and on track to get 100% of orders done today. This means everyone should get their tracking number within 12-24 hours from now, and an expedited package heading their way.
Update 9/21 5:58pm PT:
As of today the kitting was fully completed for all of the remaining orders, and the shipments were getting staged. The team expects to have 100% of orders out tomorrow.
Update 9/20 10:45pm PT:
I did not get an update today before I had to leave the office - I'll be following up on this tomorrow morning to get the latest info. (Next Update 9/21 before 5pm PT)
Update 9/19 8:30pm PT:
Hey all - We are on track to have everything shipped (and sent via expedited shipping) by end of the week (9/22) per the email, though individual orders will continue to go out as soon as they are each able to be sent (sorted + kitted) this week.
To be clear, the sorting and kitting of the thousands of various orders combinations is the part that is manual and takes a lot of time, and that should have been done well in advance of now. There are also a number of better ways for this to be done, and to make sure this process does not lead to a delay, but obviously improvements to the process now (which are being made) won't help with this drop.
(Next update 9/20)
Updated 9/18 11am PT:
Emails meant to be sent on Friday 9/15 were actually sent this morning (9/18):
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/planck-mechanical-keyboard/talk/1817244
(Next update 9/19)
Update 9/15:
Today's update: We are continuing to ship today and through next week and we currently expect all of the remaining 33% of orders to ship next week. Our whole team at the warehouse is on this, and we will be expediting shipping of these orders (domestic and international) to ensure that you get the order as quickly as possible at this point. I'm personally expecting remaining orders to go out first thing next week, but will be updating this thread daily until they're all sent out.
For more context, this delay was caused by an incorrect estimate of the amount of time it would take to sort and kit all of the orders, along with a prioritization communication issue (meaning specifically other drops being worked on in conjunction with this, when this should have been all hands on deck). To be clear, these aren't excuses nor are they acceptable - that's just the facts of what happened. Regarding point (2) below, the teams are meeting next week to discuss what went wrong here and how we're fixing it down the road, so I can share more on that, hopefully next week.
For point (4), [regarding] what we can do to get these all out on 9/15, what I was able to do was get priority shipping for the remaining items and get the team to prioritize these entirely today and into next week. We were not able to get these all out today, nor were we able to get overtime scheduled last minute that could help get some out this weekend. I'll be bringing the priority issue up along with the ability to get ahead of these drops and schedule overtime as needed as ways we can get ahead of this in the future.
And lastly, as I've mentioned before, I've kicked off a new internal process for us to improve communication on drops. This will not be perfect, but it will help create a more regular conversation between Massdrop and the community when problems happen, and will also better serve us to get ahead of these issues and not leave us in the state we're in here.
Again, I'm truly sorry for the issues and horrible experience Massdrop has provided here. Thanks again to all of you who participated in this drop, and we hope to have the chance with many of you to show ourselves doing better in future drops. (Next update 9/18)
Update 9/14:
Hi all - sorry for the delay in following up today. At this point, about 2/3rds of the orders have been sent out, but the remaining third has not been shipped yet and are expected to continue to go out over the next couple business days.
To save a few of you here a small amount of time, let me simply state for everyone that the continued delay is unacceptable. And, let me say I'm sorry. I don't have a clear reason into why the remainder haven't been sent out beyond it taking more time than expected, and I don't really think there could be an acceptable reason at this point anyway.
All I can offer at the moment is: (1) a commitment to give daily updates until the order have all been sent out with as much information as I can gather, (2) a follow-up and explanation from the teams involved into what actually happened and how we're going to fix it in the future as soon as I can produce that information , (3) and a commitment to improve the messaging from Massdrop in the future (a new process has been started and is being driven by me, and will begin next week).
edit: (4) I also want to let you know that I'll be following up to see what can be done to get these all out tomorrow (9/15), and provide an explanation if for some reason that's not possible.
I've read most of the comments below, and understand the frustration from most people in this drop. For those of you who have decided to not buy from Massdrop anymore and those of you who are sticking with us, thank you for giving Massdrop your time and being a part of the community. I'm sorry again for the delays and poor messaging, and am working to try and improve and communicate improvements being made on both fronts.
Update 9/8: The remaining orders are on track for being shipped early next week. As of now, 43% of orders were shipped. The remaining 57% of orders are all on track to ship by Weds (9/13), but some orders will start being shipped on Mon (9/11). As a reminder, you will receive an email once these are shipped and tracking numbers are in the system (this can sometimes be 12-24 hours after they are actually “shipped”). Thanks for the continued patience (and feedback on this thread), and sorry again for the delays and poor messaging on this drop. --------
Hey all - I have a quick update for you:
As of now, about half of the Plancks have shipped out. The other half, unfortunately, have been delayed another few days due to a mistake on our end with our inventory management process. This resulted in us not having the needed amount of switches ready to ship by last week, and means that our team is putting together the switch packs right now. The remaining orders are expected to ship early next week at the latest, but we are pushing for a Friday ship date.
The next update will be from me, or someone on my team, on Friday 9/8.
I want to recognize that this is yet another delay for those in the second bucket, and apologize for messing this up. It's a pretty disappointing, and avoidable, oversight that happened due to human error related to the previous delays with this drop.
Beyond that, I want to personally apologize for poor communication on our side throughout this drop. I think most people here recognize that mistakes happen, but it's unacceptable to see bad (or a lack of) communication when mistakes come up. I'll be working on fixing the communication process and sincerely appreciate @atari.zero.tv and others who are sharing feedback on the thread below:
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/planck-mechanical-keyboard/talk/1804697
Thanks!