"What Are Your Options When The Kickstarer Fails to Deliver" Topic

What recourse do you have when you contibute to a Kickstarter
fund and the person running the fund fails to deliver the stated product in the allowed time.
I've allowed extra time and have got nothing but excuses in return.
Advice please.

Your best recourse is to take your lumps and never contribute to another one again. Unless you have a signed legal commitment for repayment by a given date you are out of luck and even hen you have to get a lawyer to collect.

Like I said, take your lumps, learn your lesson and never do it again.

Those running the KS are legally bound to deliver what they promise.

That said… delays can happen without an intent to defraud.

A few more details would be helpful.

Ditto what OSchmidt said.

Kickstarters are NOT covered by consumer protection laws.

> Those running the KS are legally bound to deliver what they promise.

No they are not. They are legally bound to make the effort, not the same thing.

I'd have to agree. You took a risk – along with the other funders. That risk hasn't (as yet) paid off.
Your options are, as I see them.
Wait more – he may yet deliver.
Complain more vigorously – you may shame him into delivering
or suck it up – and learn from the experience.

From: link

Is a creator legally obligated to fulfill the promises of their project?

Yes. Kickstarter's Terms of Use require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill. (This is what creators see before they launch.) This information can serve as a basis for legal recourse if a creator doesn't fulfill their promises. We hope that backers will consider using this provision only in cases where they feel that a creator has not made a good faith effort to complete the project and fulfill.

Turn around, walk away and hope the product turns up eventually. It is probably not worth your time and money to pursue – assuming the project leader has the money or insurance to pay you if you win a legal claim.

This is on Wikipedia:

"There is no guarantee that people that post projects on Kickstarter will deliver on their projects, use the money to implement their projects, or that the completed projects will meet backers' expectations. Kickstarter advises backers to use their own judgment on supporting a project. They also warn project leaders that they could be liable for legal damages from backers for failure to deliver on promises. Projects might also fail even after a successful fund raise when creators underestimate the total costs required or technical difficulties to be overcome."

Whatever happens, your contract is with the project leader and not Kickstarter.

I thought the in thing to do was start another one? Always worked for Tony Reidy lol

oh you mean from a backers point of view? not a lot can be done, KS don't care.

The organization (Kickstarter) already got paid so they don't have a lot of incentive and from what I understand, they always envisioned it as a patronage for arts and ideas, not a shopping site.

A few cases have gone to courts but those were usually pretty dire.

(cough!) Up Front? (cough!)

You could contact your credit card company and dispute the charge.

You could hire an attorney (probably for more than you spent on the KS) and pursue legal action.

You could spread the word about the person launching the KS who failed to deliver as promised.

You could chalk it up to bitter experience and hope for better luck when/if you back a KSA campaign again.

how much extra time have you allowed ?
are other backers complaining in the comments section of the KS ?
what kind of excuses ? one mans excuse is another man's reason .

it's not at all unusual for KS's to run several months late with little or no communication from the originator . if it's the first KS run by this company (person) then they're possibly overwhelmed by the volume of messages and the challenges of shipping more product than they expected .

I have come to the realization that most miniature games have been about 1 year late. If they are dealing with China, for some reason they always forget about Chinese New year, which throws in another wrench.

As ernieR says, maybe this is the company's first Kickstarter and they underestimated how much time it would take to deliver the goods. Are all of their backers having the same problem or is it just a few backers? If goods are being mailed to other backers, then I would give the company the benefit of the doubt and assume that they intend to meet their obligation at some point in time.

Hire Guido to have a friendly chat with the individual or to make him an offer he can't refuse.

My personal opinion is to never ever touch kickstarter projects. There is a wealth of miniatures out there that I still want and can't afford nor have the room for from manufacturers who don't ask me for money up front based on a loose promise.

Invest in manufacturers that are already out there and taking the risks without expecting their customers to.

It would also help if we knew which Kickstarter you were upset with.

I always tack on at least 6 months beyond the original delivery date. It can be longer if the number of backers is more that one thousand. Look at Relic Knights. Almost two years over due. But is did arrive and the product was as advertised.

I'm not naming anyone. I just wanted to know what my options were. Simple enough.

My KS experience has been that the projects started by established companies with a solid track record of delivering product behind them that I have backed have always delivered. Sometimes late, but they come through in the end.

The KS projects started by new companies or individuals who I had not seen before I backed the project have a very mixed track record. Some have disappeared completely, some have partially delivered, some have delivered everything.

On KS as else where caveat emptor!

The idea to avoid crowdfunding because one project does not deliver is imho paranoid.
There is no guarantee that any online SHOP will deliver, and on most eBay trades the buyer has to send in money upfront, too. You will get busted there, and still to avoid online trading completely would not be a wise advise, just sounding "clever".

You can sue him, if its worth it. Probably not. But if you are sufficiently angered KS provided the base for it. Just as you can ultimately sue any other trading partner who fails to keep up his part of the bargain.

You certainly should take it as a learning lesson not to invest too much money without securities, and to take a hard look to your trading partner before. I have avoided some KS because I was unsure on its ability to deliver – sometimes justly so, sometimes I missed out on a perfect opportunity.

Unleash the Kraken!

Kikstarter is used by people who can't raise the money from conventional sources because either their credit isn't good enough or they don't have any collateral to enable them to borrow from banks.

If they don't deliver you have the normal recourse available to you if a creditor defaults on you, – take them to court.

You still need to do some credit type check when using crowd funding to give people money. It isn't the same as pre-paying for a product. At least check whether someone has a track record of delivering – eg like Martin Wallace of Treefrog.

Cool graphics don't guarantee delivery.

Sadly Graham that's hardly the case now – we see established companies using KS as an alternate funding source – such as Flames of War and their Dust KS to name just one.

Gamers in particular seem to see KS as a pre order system – and its not. You are not ordering goods, you are being rewarded for backing a project, and that's different

PilGrim

Even established companies can't always get credit, – at least not at a price they're prepared to pay. Be interesting to know why FoW have resorted to KS to fund a project (well, I'd find it interesting as I worked in banking and funding for years). Of course they are a private ltd company as far as I can tell, unlike GW, so to find them struggling with investment capital wouldn't be surprising.

I agree with you on your last point whole-heatedly. I do not think people know what they are getting into. KS is very close to equity funding and also has something in common with Islamic Funding in that the "investor" is sharing in both the up and downside risk.

Trebian

> There is no guarantee that any online SHOP will deliver

If they do not deliver and you paid for it with a Credit Card then you can use the built in protection on the card to get your money refunded. EBAY is very buyer friendly in payment/delivery disputes as well. If a KS does not deliver the CC will not refund your money and your only recourse is an expensive lawsuit.