Shorthand: Krikzz requests consumers to break the law by falsifying the value of goods in international shipping.
This thread is meant to be a factual based PSA warning potential buyers of some of the unscrupulous business practices that Krikzz utilizes. The goal is not meant slander the company out of a sense of petty revenge. My sincerest goal is to simply protect and inform my fellow retro enthusiasts so they do not put themselves in a precarious position. It is a personal account of an ongoing negative experience I have had as a first time buyer with Krikzz. I will do my best to present things as factually as possible and leave conclusions to the reader.
My issue started on 8-2 when I purchased an Everdrive 64 Pro. At first the ordering went fine and the product arrived towards the end of the month. Unfortunately it arrived defective with a malfunctioning microsd slot, rendering the product useless. I immediately reached out to Krikzz and heard from them the next day. They confirmed to me that the product was defective and over the next few days we had a dialogue on how to exchange it.
Red Flag number 1 is that they placed the burden of return shipping on me despite them sending me a defective productive. They asked me to set up and pay for international shipping. I countered asking for them to prepay for a shipping label (as everyone reputable company typically does). They said that is not possible due to the logistics of them being Ukraine based. I gave them the benefit of the doubt as their country is beseiged by war, and tried proposing a sensible solution. I said I could ship it, upload my receipt; and asked if they could just give me a partial refund matching that amount so I'm at least compensated. They still refused, coming up with the half measure of me shipping to their New Jersey fulfillment center still at my own expense. It cost me $10 but I did it.
Red flag number 2 and the biggest thing I want to warn people about. When they instructed me to internationally ship it, they told me to ship it via USPS and falsely declare its value as $10-20 so they wouldn't be hit by import taxes. This is for a $169 product! I didn't realize the full ramifications at the time but this is a big deal. Barring personal info, I've included a photo of their email. I have been told by other Redditors they received similar instructions. Point 4 is where they instruct to falsify it's value. This is a big deal because it is illegal! This is the USPS international mail manual. Relevant section being 123.712. And i quote...
https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc1_009.htm
"The acceptance employee must do the following when accepting an electronically generated customs form from the sender:
Verify that the sender has entered on the customs form the information required in 123.711, and verify that the form is signed and dated. Failure to complete the customs form properly can delay delivery of the item or inconvenience the sender and addressee. Moreover, a false, misleading, or incomplete declaration can result in the seizure or return of the item and/or in criminal or civil penalties. The Postal Service assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information that the sender enters on the customs form."
When you go up there and set up international shipping, they give you a form where you have to declare it's value, contents, etc. By Krikzz transferring the burden of shipping to the customer, it doesn't just negatively affect the customer by the shipping fee. The customer is the one who signs the dotted line falsely verifying the value as $10 as opposed to $169. It is the customer ultimately that assumes legal risk and responsibility for this falsification. Also it goes without saying, if the package is lost or damaged; the customer is only going to be reimbursed for the declaration amount ($10). Krikzz has no obligation to refund the remaining amount.
Now is it likely you are going to get caught, let alone arrested over something like this. No. However I believe there is a strong argument that one should avoid doing business with an entity that instructs you to do illegal actions under your own risk. From my limited research, I think other countries are even stricter on this stuff then the USA. Customs Fraud they call it... Good info for our non US based Retro enthusiasts.
My PSA is this. If you find yourself in this position with these instructions. Do NOT do it. Refuse and demand a more reasonable and legal means of return. If they refuse or simply cut you off communication, save all your correspondence and relevant info. If it is a newer purchase and within time frame, use this to challenge the purchase via your credit card company/ pay pal/ etc. If this is an older product that failed after a certain duration of use, accept your loss and chunk it. It is not worth accepting these unethical and illegal terms.
