Since I received both my June 2018 and July 2018 MakerGeeks Geek Boxes back to back, I decided to just combine the content reviews. At this point I am fully caught up with my GeekBox subscriptions however it has been a long time coming. There has been a lot of chatter about MakerGeeks and their shady business practices, along with some pretty bad ratings by the BBB. While I have never had any issues with their filament, I will certainly say the support and service has been hit and miss. If you purchase from them or sign up for the monthly GeekBox you are doing so at your own risk. I am hoping that the customer service and issues with supply, shipping logistics are apart of company growing pains, that they can work through. At this point I am taking my subscription month by month, if there is another long delay like I had with my June geek box, I will most likely be stopping my subscription.
June
The theme for the June box was about getting something “new”. This box was the unveiling of MakerGeeks new Nano-Tech line of filament, starting with their Carbon Fiber PLA.
Contents
Project
The project for this month was an IKEA vase – https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2971319
Pros
As always the filament is great. Being a subscriber, gives you the benefit of getting MakerGeeks newest innovations with their filament at a lower cost. The Clear PETG was also a nice surprise, it prints really well and looks awesome with vase prints.
Cons
This box did not arrive until August 17th, and when it arrived it only contained the 2 rolls of filament, the extras were not included. I promptly reached out the MakerGeeks support to rectify the situation and was told the extras would be shipped out Monday August 20, as of today I have not received any tracking information, nor the package itself. Clearly this box was a major fail when it comes to execution and logistics. I know I was not the only one who had this experience with the June box, and what is more concerning there are rumblings that they prioritized orders for the filament over the geek box subscribers, which I would hope is not true.
July
The theme for the July box was supposed to be a continuation of the something “new,” however the Nano-Conductive PLA was not ready at the time the July box was supposed to be shipped. The theme for the box was random, basically not every box was the same and everyone got 2 different rolls of filament.
Contents
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- Maker PLA – Nuclear Green – Retail Price 1-3 Spools $24.55 Each
- Maker PETG – HD White Glass – Retail Price 1-3 Spools $24.55 Each
- Coupon Code for a free roll of Nano-Conductive PLA
- A “Don’t be a square – be a 3D Geek” button
Project
The project for this month was an 8-bit Blinky (MakerGeeks owl logo) – https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:152725
Pros
The 2 random colors of filament I got are pretty nice and print well, I guess this could have gone either way depending on what I received. This month MakerGeeks redeemed themselves a little bit, because it was supposed to be another month of new filament with the Nano-Conductive PLA. This could have been a con because more then likely the fact that they didn’t have the product ready in time could have caused sever delays like in June. They seemed to of accepted that it wouldn’t be ready and gave random filament, plus a coupon code for a free roll of the expected Nano-Conductive PLA whenever it is ready. This seems like a step in the right direction as far as customer service and recognizing their production limitations.
Cons
The box shipping information was sent to me as of August 1st but sat in a pending state with USPS for about 2.5 weeks, I received this box on August 19th. I contacted MakerGeeks and according to them this was an issue with USPS, which they were working to resolve.