ProjectKeyboard MIA

original paste: https://pastebin.com/iVFDgFXF
I wrote this without an account, so I reposted here to be able to edit.

Update 8/30/23:
It seems many share the same frustrations as I do with PKB. Thanks to moderators of r/MechanicalKeyboards, the situation has gotten more attention. There are more people talking about it. That's good. As of now, I have still not received a resolution from my credit card company. I submitted everything, including a word document of my paste with some further explanation, and I believe it can take up to 60 days to resolve, which would be sometime in early October. I will update if anything happens.

Update 9/17/23:
Earlier this month, 9/8/23, Project Keyboard's LLC status was updated to "involuntary dissolution." This change happened on the official Illinois Secretary of State website ilsos.gov: https://imgur.com/d9SPBgq.jpg From Patterson Law Firm (via Google): "A company may be dissolved involuntarily by the Secretary of State if it fails to pay required fees. Involuntary dissolution may be a shareholder remedy arising out of a lawsuit complaining of deadlock, fraud, management problems, or illegal conduct."
Today I received news from my credit card company (Chase) that my dispute was credited to my account: https://imgur.com/DaqkyYX.jpg This means Chase sided with me, not Project Keyboard. I was only able to charge back BOW Hangul, but something is better than nothing. It was tedious to upload so many documents to Chase, I felt as though I was uploading some for no reason, or some that were "unprofessional." I will outline what I submitted:
- This pastebin, well the original without my updates, used Microsoft Word to put the pictures inline.
- My 2 emails to attempt to cancel Bingsu (relevant because if they didn't respond to that, why would they respond to a later order)
- The original order emails for both Bingsu and BOW Hangul.
- Images from PKB showing delivery estimates.
This was all submitted mid August. Once I got news of the involuntary dissolution, I quickly formed a document to highlight that, as well as showed the Proto[Typist] update re: delivery dates. Proto[Typist] keeps online record of their set delivery estimates. https://prototypist.notion.site/prototypist/dfedac384a2b494c9137be7638b11e93?v=11769ac8c9764aafb907fe3d65fb0c50
I screenshotted the BOW Hangul update, where the original estimate was Q3 2023, and then June 1st 2023 there was an update "Moved to Q4 based on current estimates." I wrote the timeline shift first, to indicate that the delivery date was pushed and that is why I waited to dispute the charge, and the involuntary dissolution status to indicate that even if the keycaps were manufactured, if Project Keyboard cannot function as a business, they, in my eyes, cannot deliver the set. I hope my notes are helpful for those of you charging back.

ProjectKeyboard MIA?

Does anyone know what happened to onefiftynine/159 or Project Keyboard? They have been shipping out GMK Sumi since December 2022. It is now August of 2023, and there are STILL customers without GMK Sumi in hand.

From their email on March 1st 2023: "GMK Sumi: Water/mold damage was found in a section of the warehouse. 75% of orders have been fulfilled but needs to be put on hold as we order replacements for the damaged goods. We are expecting replacements to arrive in approximately 6 weeks (including transit time). We apologize for any convenience this has caused."

6 weeks from March 1st 2023 would be mid-May. That is roughly 12 weeks ago. Where are the sets? Where are the updates?

Now for sets that I am actually involved in, GMK Bingsu R2 and GMK WOB/BOW Hangul R2:

Bingsu R2:
The last update was in the same March 1st 2023 email: "GMK Bingsu R2: Waiting for confirmed ship date from GMK."

This set, according to their Updates page, was slated for Q2 2023 delivery. We are a month into Q3 2023 now. Any further updates?

WOB/BOW Hangul R2:
The updates page still has this set as Q1 2023. Obviously that has long since passed. I could not find mention of this in any of the update emails. Are there still no updates?

Apparently, this is relatively common for Project Keyboard. My emails show LARGE gaps in updates:
08/31/21 - Project update email discussing Perestroika customs delay
01/12/22 - Project update email discussing keyset updates (Noire, Masterpiece, Sumi, etc)
03/15/22 - Project update email discussing keyset updates (Masterpiece, Dolch R2 - which should be Dolch R5?, etc)
04/11/22 - GMK Masterpiece shipping soon email
04/25/22 - GMK Noire Dolch R5 shipping soon email
06/17/22 - Extras email for Dolch R5, Noire, Masterpiece
07/07/22 - Elongate shipping soon email
03/01/23 - GMK Stealth shipping soon email, along with updates on Sumi, Slasher, Retrowave, Astral Light, Modern Ink, and Bingsu R2
04/10/23 - GMK Retrowave shipping soon email

I have not received any communication since then. Nearly 4 months have passed and Sumi buyers have still not received sets. Bingsu has not had updates since March 2023 (5 months ago). WOB/BOW Hangul has not seen updates in any of these emails.

Quakemz, bless him, was supporting via Discord (which he notes was never an official channel for updates) has since stopped updating the server as of 7/27/23:
"Sorry, I never got an answer to that [regarding a question in the server]. I'm no longer working with PK, though, I'm pursuing work that's more local to me. My guess is that there will be no pre-order phase but there will likely still be extras to sell."

Someone asked: "oh wait so now we have no one left from project to talk with here?
(this is assuming your previous role was as a liaison for the other project staff)"

He replied: "I do not know if he's bringing on more people, but if he does, they'll probably be here. Discord has never been an official platform for PK at any point though. I wasn't contracted to look at it at all, at least. Just tried to check in when I could."

This morning, Jae (from ProtoTypist) checked in when another user had concerns regarding Project Keyboard and Bingsu R2.
Jae replied: "Hi, I’m Jae from Prototypist keyboards. I’ve received a lot of DMs over the past few days asking about 159, Project Keyboard, Bingsu R2 and other projects. I’ve reached out to 159 and will post an update when he gets back to me. If you are looking for updates on any projects Prototypist was involved in you can check our Gb updates in our discord/on our site. If you need me for anything else please tag me here. I’ll provide updates when I can"

If another vendor has to step in to communicate, that is not really a good sign.

This may be a glitch on Shopify end, but it's worth noting that the ProjectKeyboard Shopify site was down around 7/14/23. It returned, but if the site goes down, that is usually not confidence inspiring.

I have emailed twice regarding updates and refunds. Once on July 14th requesting updates. And once on July 16th formally requesting a refund, giving one week for them to take action before submitting chargeback request. I gave them more time, not exactly on purpose or by accident, but this past Friday I have filed for a chargeback for WOB/BOW Hangul R2, because Bingsu R2 was too far back it could not be disputed.

I'm sure the downfall of Mechs&Co has left an impact on everyone. I for one went to look through the outstanding group buys I was waiting on and ProjectKeyboard just happened to be one that was the farthest back. I have received several sets that I ordered *after* Bingsu R2 and WOB/BOW Hangul R2.

March 1st 2023 email: https://imgur.com/uKE31OZ.jpg

Quakemz discord messages: https://imgur.com/fwpMbbX.jpg

Jae (ProtoTypist) discord messages: https://imgur.com/BjCyz3S.jpg

Bingsu R2 status as of 8/6/23: https://imgur.com/wzjRl8R.jpg

Sumi and Stealth status as of 8/6/23: https://imgur.com/XDkD1ab.jpg

WOB/BOW Hangul R2 status as of 8/6/23: https://imgur.com/G0WeKJd.jpg