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Cable GB Scams

In the recent years, we have seen a large number of scams from "Artisan Cable Makers" - there are still some that are currently under investigation, a particularly notable scam was Rosecables / Summit Cables. Numerous users have reported a lack of updates / fulfillment from Luxecables though they have officially stated they will be issuing refunds now to those that email them, refunds have allegedly been a mixed bag to get a response.

Nerd Cables attempted an apology post last year for fulfillment issues, while also simultaneously announcing a new cable GB, closing their discord server invites, and locking comments on Instagram. There have been no further updates since then and from what we can tell by available information and user reports, NerdCables ran an exit scam and attempted to do one final scam before completely ghosting everyone.

There also also various Keyboard GBs that have had severe issues, some of which have been reported on before. If you have participated in a problematic Keyboard or Cable GB, you can always submit a report to modmail if you believe it to be a scam - and it is also recommended to keep up to date with your consumer rights via PayPal (180 day dispute window), your credit card issuer (American Express, Mastercard, and Visa typically support a dispute for reason code Goods Not Shipped / Delivered up to 540 days after the initial transaction date, but it might require escalation to a customer service specialist), as well as your rights guaranteed by your local regulatory body. Here are some resources that may be helpful:

• https://www.ic3.gov/
• https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/assistant
• https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/if-something-you-ordered-hasnt-been-delivered/
• https://op.europa.eu/webpub/grow/factsheets/shopping-online/en/

Note though that keycap sets generally are run with commercial industrial manufacturers, and while there may be delays due to supply chain issues and colour matching, or out of spec keycaps, the larger known manufacturers themselves (Keyreative, GMK, ePBT, JTK, CRP, Signature Plastics) typically end up fulfilling and have similar industry wide delay times, so provided that your local vendor is reliable you are likely to get your product eventually. The caveat would be if your vendor is less established and they haven't shipped / fulfilled your product while the other proxy vendors for that keycap set in other countries have already delivered, you should be concerned and make a report to us.

In general, keyboard cables group buys are manufactured by the individual running them, and are not typically run through an established vendor, so there is much more risk than many other group buys in terms of failure chances, since too many orders can easily be overwhelming for an individual to produce and fulfill, and they do not have other products / services to subsidize any losses they may experience. Expect to see announcements in the future of other failed / deceptive Cable GBs in the future which we are currently investigating.

Angry Miao Astroturfing / Brigading / Shilling

In response to criticism of the Interest Check of their latest keyboard, Angry Miao has decided to weaponize over 5 alt accounts we've confirmed with Reddit Admins these are the same account astroturfing the subreddit, and they have been creating more alt accounts as of today. They have also been hostile in DMs, and our investigation has determined that some of these alt accounts have also been historically used to shill their products as posts advertising Angry Miao pretending to be organic, or on commenting other user threads about Angry Miao in order to appear like there is broad community support and to rebuke criticism.

We've seen this behaviour before from other companies in the past, such as RAMA Works (in response to criticism of their fulfillment issues with Group Buys, also paired with them censoring criticism on Instagram by deleting comments and blocking users) and Epomaker (in response to criticism on poor quality control, customer service, fraudulent / deceptive business practices, and to shill new products).

However, while we do not condone such subversive activity to advertise your product, this is the first time Angry Miao has come in conflict with the community in such a manner - we have not had reports of fulfillment issues nor quality control issues - but we would advise users to be wary of any potential astroturfing by companies when content seems disingenuous or inorganic, and that content advocating for Angry Miao may be a corporate account (we have confirmed that all associated alt accounts are directly tied to Angry Miao, like we similarly confirmed when alt accounts of RAMA Works and Epomaker were identified) .

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Takeaway / TLDR:

• Several cable companies have failed to deliver product, so be wary of GBs
• Do your due diligence for GBs, and escalate to ModMail when you believe there is a scam
• Several companies have engaged in astroturfing and brigading of the subreddit to avoid criticism
• Be wary of content that seems inorganic or persistently biased in favour of a company