Frequently Asked
Questions.

We do not know. This is not evasion. The box arrives when it is ready. We monitor its development and we will notify you when harvest is scheduled. Asking us to provide a date does not produce a date. It produces this answer.

The questionnaire is the mechanism for this. Answering honestly and thoroughly is the best way to influence the contents. Direct requests made outside the questionnaire process are noted but are not guaranteed to be incorporated. The box decides what it needs. We assist in that determination. We do not override it.

Because our boxes are raised free-range. They have space. They have heat lamps. They are not stacked on top of each other in a warehouse next to boxes for people the curator has never thought about. Each box in active cultivation has its own designated area and is monitored throughout its development. This is simply how we do it. We are not going to raise a box in confinement and then send it to someone we care about. See the Why Free-Range page for a more thorough explanation of our facilities and practices.

Yes. Free-Range Mystery Box Co. is a real company with real operations, a real curator, a real box in active cultivation, and a real questionnaire that you are expected to complete. We have a website. We have a process. We have documented the cultivation history of every box we have ever produced. We have a privacy policy, which real companies have. We have terms. We have a shipping policy that explains what happens after harvest, which presupposes that harvest happens, which it does, because we are a real company and our boxes are real and one of them is currently being cultivated for you specifically. If you are asking this question because you are skeptical that the box will arrive, we understand that. It has been a while. But the box is in Stage III. The questionnaire is live. The answer to your question is yes.

Check the Track Your Order page for a full timeline of your box's development history. We maintain detailed records. The length of time is not something we hide. It is something we are, in fact, quite straightforward about.

No. Expediting a free-range box is definitionally not possible. A box that has been rushed is not a free-range box. If you need a box quickly, there are many commercial providers who can assist you. We are not among them.

We have not encountered this. We believe the questionnaire process, combined with the curator's attentiveness over the cultivation period, produces boxes that recipients respond to positively. In the event that a recipient does not respond positively, we would consider this useful information for future box development, though we do not currently offer returns or exchanges.

This is a misunderstanding of how the questionnaire works. Not every question is asking what it appears to be asking. The responses are interpreted holistically. A question about texture is not only about texture. We have found that direct questions about preferences yield less accurate results than questions that approach the same information indirectly. Trust the process.

The questionnaire is live. The tracking page shows your box's current stage. At some point it will arrive. These are the indicators we can offer. We understand that waiting requires a degree of faith in the process. That faith is not misplaced.