Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
“Since 2012” and a half-complete website to create the illusion of a legitimate seller. I’d laugh if it was not for the fact I and many others have been taken advantage of by this person for 3 years. I am reaching out to you potential and current participants as well as Massdrop to hold this person accountable. To start from the beginning, “since 2012” refers to Sprit operating in Korea. I can neither confirm nor deny but word was he has no reputation from Korea. So he looked to getting his projects funded in group buys outside of Korea through the sites Geekhack and Deskthority starting near the end of 2013:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=50580.0 https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=55888.0 https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=60887.0 https://deskthority.net/group-buys-f50/mx-springs-via-proxy-shipping-geekhack-t8416.html
His very first group buy since that time has yet to be completed. I personally sent him close to $500 on Feb 2nd, 2014 and I have seen nothing since then. This is the case for many others who some of which have orders over $1000.
So what happened – why were these orders never fulfilled? That is a very good question because Sprit himself REPEATEDLY disappears - no contact completely ghosts us for MONTHS (like half a year) at a time and gives NO explanation beyond being “busy” if we are lucky. Sometimes he will give a timeframe for his plans to fulfill outstanding orders but they are usually highly ambitious, especially for one person, and usually ONLY WHEN HE WANTS MORE MONEY.
That’s right, Sprit will continue to take new orders and even create new group buys such as this Massdrop one while orders >3 years old remain unfulfilled. While taking new orders is not necessarily a terrible thing beyond delaying older orders to an indefinite completion date – Sprit continues to reassure and put out new pushed back timeframes so that he can collect more money unopposed. Because why would people want to create a stink when he is LITERALLY HOLDING OUR MONEY HOSTAGE. We are way past any chargeback date and we have no way to go after him in Korea.
This is why only recently have the moderators of Geekhack finally given up and placed restrictions on him from creating more group buys and even EDITING threads on the Geekhack site. Sprit has actually purposefully dodged Geekhack moderators and BYPASSED their approvals on thread creation by EDITING old group buy threads to create new group buys. All so that he can collect more money with the moderators unaware he was “creating” new threads.
Surprise surprise, with these new Geekhack restrictions on Sprit’s account making it unable for him to collect more money on Geekhack he has now turned to Massdrop. THAT IS NOT TO SAY HE WILL NOT FULFILL SIMPLE ORDERS. He is fulfilling what he can easily do so that enough people are satisfied so that he can continue to get the new projects he is personally interested in funded relatively unopposed. The funds for the outstanding original orders have literally been used to get him off the ground. Sprit has:
- shown NO INTENT to fulfill or give a refund for these last, bigger original first group buy orders - given completely UNSATISFACTORY communication with multiple disappearances for months at a time until he needs a new group buy funded
Everything is well documented in the threads above. He has been given many chances to explain himself to a community that is understanding to a fault. Many have even offered to reduce his work load either through help or simplifying their orders. He purposefully ignores these emails and posts while still replying to new customers such as in this comment section. This is even the reason I am posting here; he has been given chances in the past to prove he is planning to fulfill orders. He has yet to simply because the most obvious explanation is he cannot. He does not have the parts for those orders on hand and he never plans to.
Sprit could have easily white-lied and said he had to take breaks for health reasons. Hell, at this point he could even admit the items are lost for good but then he would not be able to continue funding these projects of his. Instead, he continues to push back a blatantly obvious untrue timeframe to allow him to continue making group buys. Please, help us hold Sprit accountable and choose not to deal with him. He is using our initial start-up funds from his first group buy to fund the completion of your orders.
Massdrop is managing all the processes, the springs have already produced, packed and will be shipped in a week to Massdrop by my team members. This is the basic difference
A) Prove you have the parts. Not pictures of random boxes and not just pictures from 3 years ago. Actual current pictures showing you have the parts you intend to ship from Round 1. This shouldn't be hard, seriously, it's bad enough we have to come here and threaten your new funding just to get a response.
Or
B) Actually ship them.