I met him at the mailbox again today. He remembered our last conversation and asked if it was delivered (which I took as a bad sign since, uh⌠he would be the one delivering it?) Anyway, he took the tracking number down and said he would talk to his supervisor and see if they can find out whatâs happened to it. He said he didnât find it that day it was âdeliveredâ, so heâs not sure how it got scanned.
HmmâŚ
I figure Iâll end up going back to the post office tomorrow afternoon and see if I can talk to someone there
I searched for that 90077 zip code in my email and the only vendor returned was Keebs For All. Have you ordered anything from KFA in the past year (or more if itâs a GB)?
Yes I have! Holy shit. I bet itâs the EC kit for my Class60! That whole order was weird because it doesnât show up through my account there but I have a PayPal receipt.
They were using a different checkout system for that group buy and it doesnât work anymore. But I think thatâs it!
I have no idea about where it is, but at least I can contact them for replacement if thatâs it
Iâve emailed KFA to see if they can confirm the tracking number is attached to my order. That will help for info at least. Letâs hope I can just find it at the PO tomorrow
I canât believe you solved it! I didnât have that zip code in my mail because KFA used a separate checkout and never sent out a âorder has shippedâ email. Apparently that was the case with all group buy participants for the class60. The package just showed up.
I guess one silver lining is that I love my MX build of this board l, so I can certainly live without an EC kit
Now that you mention it, none of my KFA orders appeared in my email search results either. Only the KFA newsletters seem to include the address and zip code.
Oh snap, update throws a wrench into the situation.
I havenât heard back from KFA yet. But, the mailman rang my doorbell to give an update. He said after talking to his supervisor, they determined that the package was not legit. It had a weird history of movement and it weighed less than 1oz. So just some kinda scam and the Post Office wonât deliver it? Iâm not sure what they think happened to it. Maybe they trashed it.
Dunno, dude seemed pretty nice though.
I told him that I thought I had figured out what it was and that I would get back in touch with them if it turns out to be a legit package. Now to wait for KFAâŚ
My Class60 order was delayed bc it came with a part different from what I ordered. They said they hope to receive the replacement part in 1-2 weeks. That was more a month ago.
Until today, USPS tracking page for the orderâs status was âAwaiting Itemâ but, when I visited the page this afternoon, status changed to DELIVERED. I checked the routing history and it sure looked like a real package moving through USPS system. But when I checked the mailbox, it wasnât there. Also checked the front door. NOTHING.
I donât know what KFA is doing with delivery but itâs definitely getting on my nerve.
Since 24hrs has passed and still no keyboard, Iâve filed service request to USPS. No idea where this path goes as I never had lost mail in nearly four decades I lived here but, in the worst case, my credit company should be able to refund but, given that chargebacks are quite damaging to retailers, I hope I wonât have to do that.
Same. Never had a lost package since Iâve moved here 8 years ago. KFA said it was their package and says it was delivered, even though I explained it wasnât.
My god KFA got some funny stuff going on!? Iâve heard of similar bad experiences with KFA from others too. So glad I didnât grab that Dolice they had for $500 on thier marketplace awhile back. I was super tempted cause I love the design language of the Dolphin, I love Alice layouts, & I still donât have a TGR board. Was close to pulling the trigger, wonder if I wouldâve even got it though hearing your guys experiencesâŚ
I think I know what the âfunny stuffâ is. My wife had signed up for USPS Informed Delivery service which notifies of incoming packages.
She received a new notification on Sunday saying a new package was scheduled to be delivered on Monday. I checked her phone and shipper was Auctane ShipStation. She had also received notification for my âDelivered but Missingâ package USPS claims was delivered on Friday. Same shipper: Auctane ShipStation.
Googling revealed Auctane was a shipping company and ShipStation is one of their products. The later claims to save 89% off USPS retail prices.
A shipping service company canât just remake a missing custom keyboard exactly as ordered (color, extras, etc) out of thin air so if whatâs coming on Monday is what I ordered then its Auctane doing the funny stuff as well as manipulating USPS delivery status.
My Hypothesis
Auctane may have built a network of independent delivery agents. Orders got routed through this network but Auctane updates USPS tracking DB to match normal shipping route to keep USPS user experience the same.
My keyboard got an agent near me somehow by Friday morning but the agent for some reason updated delivery status to Delivered without actually delivering.
In short, my theory is that there are businesses that offers far cheaper delivery services by hacking USPS database, using USPS as frontend if you will, with or without USPSâs approval.
Yeah that seems kinda shady to me too, how could a third party save you money on shipping? Where is the money they make coming from? Many questions with that Shipstation for sure. Auctane owns Stamps.com though which Iâm pretty sure is legit, maybe they somehow leverage that to get lower shipping rates from the big carriers? I still donât see the money to be made there without funny business though.
There may be law bending go on. What if USPS never even saw the package but just charged these âghost mailmanâ services fee to use USPS âfrontendâ?
Anyway. Something is going on that all the parties involved are trying to keep under the cover: Retailer, Shipping Hack Services, and USPS. Not a secret but not publicized either.
UPDATE: So that something is Auctane and possibly others. I donât like that USPS is hoodwinking its customers like this. If they had to change their ways to survive, thatâs fine. Not actively informing us about the change is not fine.
Honestly, thereâs nothing shady going on with Auctane (or similar shipping companies). Pretty much all major shipping companies have either formal (for negotiated lower prices) or informal policies in place to use the USPS as a âlast mileâ shipping partner. Since USPS is required to visit every house on a near-daily schedule, UPS or FedEx or Auctane can sometimes transfer a package from their delivery network to USPS for actual delivery to an address and get it there faster or (more likely) cheaper than having their own driver make that delivery.
Itâs not a scam at all, but it does sometimes create convoluted tracking updates, particularly so if say UPS tries to offload a package to USPS but thereâs a fumble.
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