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Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => Playing Card Plethora => Topic started by: xela on December 05, 2011, 05:59:25 AM

Title: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 05, 2011, 05:59:25 AM
So right now I am quite angry. As most of you know, your cards have not yet been charged by Kickstarter. Why? No clue. Lance's project finished two days after mine, and his backers have been charged from what I hear.


Mine? Nope. Not a single one. In my dashboard, it says that the payment requests have been "not attempted." However, in my inbox, the backers that messaged me have their payment status listed next to their info, and this status is instead labeled "errored" due to "declined cards" and that "Kickstarter will contact them via e-mail." However, as of now, not a single person has been contacted by Amazon or Kickstarter that pledged for the deck.


So, what did I do? I send their support an email (they don't even have a phone number you can call). Typically it takes days to get a response, but this time their automated email replied with "We're on vacation for Thanksgiving! In the meantime, read our F.A.Q." Hold on, what? You mean the Thanksgiving that ended weeks ago?


I'm a bit confused as to what I should even do. $32,000 is on the line, and the only thing close to answer I have is that something is wrong with my Amazon Payments account...which is false. I checked my Amazon account and it's in 100% in good standing, with all the required info verified.


At this point, if Kickstarter fixes the problem, I will not be returning to their website for the next decks. I don't need this much risk when it comes to tens of thousands of dollars, and making a living.


I'll keep you guys posted on what happens. The simple fact of the matter right now is that backers will have only 11 days to get their payments paid, instead of 14. This means a lot more declined cards and, I hate to say it, if we actually end up getting below what the projected amount was, I may have to cancel metallic inks. We're talking getting under $25,000 here, which is a huge reduction from the $32k we raised.


Of course, that's if I see the money at all. Who knows? It doesn't seem like Kickstarter has any contractual obligations, and if things don't go my way I don't see why they can't tell me that all the transactions simply failed.


Sorry for the rant guys. It's really stressful as is having to manage all this stuff, and I am working on an insane timeline. Of course, I have to postpone beginning the printing process until this is all sorted out now. Ugh.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Paul Carpenter on December 05, 2011, 12:09:47 PM
Man, sorry to hear that. Something in the system must be slightly out of wack, but only kickstarter could tell. I checked and Vortex shows as successful but pending, while the actuators did go through yesterday. Guess you are just going to wait to hear back from them, which is always a horrible spot to be in.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: IAmTheChin on December 05, 2011, 12:50:53 PM
Hey Alex,


It's your first time doing kickstarter so your priority in the tier list isn't high for them. Eventually things will clear up, its not as if they'll leave this entire campaign alone. I've noticed things usually go a bit better after you have one campaign under your belt since most of the information is registered as a "secure line" etc. That's probably why the Americana and Lance's second campaign went through quicker.


Don't stress. Things always get better.


-Chin
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Kanped on December 05, 2011, 01:34:33 PM
Man, that must be driving you out of your mind.  The only other thing I can think of is rather than emailing everyone asking for their address, email them with a PayPal invoice and get your money that way (after making sure that Kickstarter won't be taking any money).  I'm sure this will get sorted but it really is worrying when there's no way to get in contact with anyone who can tell you what's going on.


EDIT:


OK, super-sleuth at it again.  kickstarter.com was registered 15th Dec 1998 and was sold to its current owners via Proxy, Inc on the 16th November 2010.  The administrative contact for Proxy Inc. is;


      Domains by Proxy, Inc.      DomainsByProxy.com      15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353      Scottsdale, Arizona 85260      United States      (480) 624-2599      Fax -- (480) 624-2598

Now, that's just a company who rents space and domain names to other companies but they will have contact information for the Admin of kickstarter.com who should be able to help you out and explain or fix whatever this issue is, if it comes to that.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: John B. on December 05, 2011, 01:39:42 PM
i was wondering what was up, i got an email saying it should be charged in 1 -14 days.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Overflight on December 05, 2011, 02:34:20 PM
I have to say, this situation is HIGHLY unusual: I have backed around 30 projects and this never happened. Regardless if the creator had done a previous project or not, I have always had my card charged the moment it ended. Maybe this is some sort of fluke. Anyway, I hope everything works out, it would be a shame if this all went to waste. :-(
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Lushbob on December 05, 2011, 02:37:16 PM
This sounds ridiculous. How can Kickstarter afford to do this? A project being funded for $32,000, and they mess up with the payments? It's crazy.
Couldn't you contact the funders individually? It's a horrible feeling that this project might not work out, though I'm sure Kickstarter will sort it out in the next few days. If not, they should change their terms to include a special cases section; the 14 days should only start as soon as it's definite that all the funders have the email. Even so, it's certainly frustrating to have to set back the date of printing.
I hope it all works out soon.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 05, 2011, 03:10:43 PM
still no word from their support team. these guys are ridiculous. its insane how happy I was succeesing so well and now its like I'm being trolled by a company that is supposed to help people like me.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Kanped on December 05, 2011, 03:28:27 PM
Reading though their terms of use right now.  Essentially, it says that they can't be held responsible for any lost profits or bugs.  However, it also states that this part of the agreement is nullified by some state laws, that companies can't opt out of responsibility for incidental loss, so you might actually be able to claim $32k from the company in damages if the whole thing falls through.

It does also say 'Company shall not be liable for any failure to perform its obligations hereunder where such failure results from any cause beyond Company’s reasonable control, including, without limitation, mechanical, electronic or communications failure or degradation'.

Now, it'd be possible to argue that their ignoring you was outside of reasonable control; there was no mechanical or otherwise problem that prevented them contacting you, although there appears to be one with the payment system.  It's tricky, I guess.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 05, 2011, 03:47:15 PM
We have 585 backers, all of whom would like to receive the product, and everyone on this forum has spent many hours of their lives dedicated to the project. I don't see why we couldn't all write them letters before anything gets to a court of law. Kickstarter is still a small company, killing their rep wouldn't take more than a few videos and networking.

They don't get to take 6 months of my life and flush it down the toilet.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Kanped on December 05, 2011, 04:01:13 PM
OK.  Give it as much time as you like and then say the word.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 05, 2011, 04:15:27 PM
I contacted Amazon who, and I quote, said "Yeah we wish Kickstarter actually had a phone number that we could contact, even we have problems contacting them and I've never seen an issue like this, but I have seen worse issues." The guy at Amazon is having his supervisor call me within the next day to see if there is anything they can do on their end. Amazon customer service is unbelievable, but wow Kickstarter has got to be the worst organization in terms of customer appreciation that I've ever seen.

The guy said Amazon is waiting on Kickstarter to give them permission to charge the cards.

Kickstarter, in effect, is doing more to harm Aether than any fiasco we have ever had - and we had some huge fiascos. Still no reply from Kickstarter support.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Lushbob on December 05, 2011, 04:19:53 PM
I hope Amazon can help sort things out. Kickstarter definitely aren't making a good impression with this.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: John B. on December 05, 2011, 04:44:58 PM
so i strongly feel like you need to contact kickstarter, they should have some recomprosion for what they are doing.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Kanped on December 05, 2011, 06:00:53 PM
recomprosion

errr.... repercussions?
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: austin on December 05, 2011, 06:22:41 PM
I think they should have to pay for the full 32k since they make us go through all this right?
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Evan on December 05, 2011, 06:27:24 PM
I think they should have to pay for the full 32k since they make us go through all this right?
Lol. if only... if only
But really, thats pretty ridiculous! 6 months, 32k.... could all be gone? If that happens, we all better learn how to throw cards because kickstarter will have a mob a vortex backers throwing cards at them  :P
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: austin on December 05, 2011, 06:28:54 PM
I think they should have to pay for the full 32k since they make us go through all this right?
Lol. if only... if only
But really, thats pretty ridiculous! 6 months, 32k.... could all be gone? If that happens, we all better learn how to throw cards because kickstarter will have a mob a vortex backers throwing cards at them  :P
Ohh don't worry I know how to throw cards well especially the bicycle plastic ones those hurt.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 05, 2011, 07:07:00 PM
They finally replied and told me I have to contact Amazon because my account isn't fully verified. I was already one step ahead of them and contacted Amazon this morning, who told me my account is in 100% good standing and they're just waiting for Kickstarter's permission.

What. The. Eff.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Evan on December 05, 2011, 07:10:54 PM
They finally replied and told me I have to contact Amazon because my account isn't fully verified. I was already one step ahead of them and contacted Amazon this morning, who told me my account is in 100% good standing and they're just waiting for Kickstarter's permission.

What. The. Eff.
I think THEY need to contact amazon! not you
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: KPopFever605 on December 05, 2011, 07:24:19 PM
0.0 - Sounds like it's a very troubling situation - I hope it works out okay in the end.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Emmanuel on December 05, 2011, 07:33:30 PM
That sucks you're having to deal with this right now; I really hope everything is settled out soon.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Overflight on December 05, 2011, 07:35:53 PM
As much as I love Kickstarter, this behavior from their part is quite worrying. Hope everything works out.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Lushbob on December 05, 2011, 07:40:05 PM
Well, at least they've actually replied. But yeah, I agree. They should contact Amazon themselves.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: dmbaggs on December 05, 2011, 08:26:21 PM
I hope that this all works out. At least some contact has been made. Hopefully that will get the ball rolling and it'll all be sorted out in no time!!
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: MrLukeCarroll on December 06, 2011, 03:58:37 AM
Wow lets keep our fingers crossed that everything works out fine and that Alex hasn't just wasted the last 6 months of his life on a project that everyone here feels so strongly about.

I was planning on using Kickstarter for a theatre project I'm working on but maybe not anymore.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: sinsandman on December 06, 2011, 08:44:32 AM
Pretty nervous about this issue :-X
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: munro159 on December 06, 2011, 10:54:03 AM
my wife (who works in banking) says this is a pretty common delaying tactic among financial institutions.  Kickstarter says its amazon's fault, Amazon says its Kickstarter's fault.  This probably just means Kickstarter has some problems and is delaying....I'm not saying this is right. I'm just saying that I believe this will all work out in the end.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Lushbob on December 06, 2011, 12:59:10 PM
I certainly hope it does work out. I just can't get my head around this. It's so ridiculous.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 06, 2011, 01:50:21 PM
Still no replies since yesterday's "Talk to Amazon" email. I have once again contacted Amazon and the guy said there seems to be no problem on the account.

EDIT: KS contacted me again, telling me something isn't working with the pledges and that they are now contacting Amazon, and apologize for everyone telling me completely different stories.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: John B. on December 06, 2011, 03:26:20 PM
ok im pissed with kickstarter now, they need to get this fixed, i was planning on doing my deck (if i ever get back to making it :( ) through them but wont be now, also screw throwing cards at these (unless http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf_cVnMfjVU  ) guys get out the heavy artillery
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xZEROx on December 06, 2011, 03:27:49 PM
i hope everything works out! i'm really looking forward to get my hands on the vortex :(
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: skaclown on December 06, 2011, 07:41:39 PM
Well atleast they seem to be working to fix the problem!


Hope it all works out very soon! I still have some unopened decks from the thanksgiving sales but I want my vortex!! :P


Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: zmuddiman on December 06, 2011, 08:04:56 PM
I hope that everything works out. I am sorry to hear that this is an issue.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Don Boyer on December 07, 2011, 03:11:40 AM
Still no replies since yesterday's "Talk to Amazon" email. I have once again contacted Amazon and the guy said there seems to be no problem on the account.

EDIT: KS contacted me again, telling me something isn't working with the pledges and that they are now contacting Amazon, and apologize for everyone telling me completely different stories.

Sounds like a step in the right direction.  I'm sure you'll keep us posted.  Best of luck with this, really.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 07, 2011, 04:56:46 AM
Now it seems Amazon isn't doing its part because I haven't heard from them in over 24 hours. *sigh*

Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Joshua Robinson on December 07, 2011, 04:59:56 AM
Please promise me the Vortex WILL be made, I'm so looking forward to having these and if they don't get printed I'm hunting down Amazon AND Kick-Starter and if anyone else wants to join me, Please do so!
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: dmbaggs on December 07, 2011, 05:03:58 AM
Please promise me the Vortex WILL be made, I'm so looking forward to having these and if they don't get printed I'm hunting down Amazon AND Kick-Starter and if anyone else wants to join me, Please do so!


@fiveofhearts I'm sure Alex is doing all he can to make that happen. It's been obvious his dedication to the project, his dream, the discourse, and all the backers. I don't think he is going to stop until there is some sort of resolution.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Joshua Robinson on December 07, 2011, 05:05:10 AM
Please promise me the Vortex WILL be made, I'm so looking forward to having these and if they don't get printed I'm hunting down Amazon AND Kick-Starter and if anyone else wants to join me, Please do so!


@fiveofhearts I'm sure Alex is doing all he can to make that happen. It's been obvious his dedication to the project, his dream, the discourse, and all the backers. I don't think he is going to stop until there is some sort of resolution.

thank GOD!!!
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Jin Jian on December 07, 2011, 11:50:28 AM
tell them your amazon account is in working order !!! it is so angry to hear what has happen .. i bet all the backers are very excited to receive the vortex deck with metalic ink but kickstarter ..
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Lushbob on December 07, 2011, 01:45:54 PM
At least them seem to acknowledge there is a problem. Hopefully that'll mean that they extend the deadline.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: John B. on December 07, 2011, 02:23:22 PM
Alex is there a place where we can complain to them?
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: VortexHead on December 07, 2011, 02:58:10 PM
Sorry to hear about all this Alex, we all know how much hard work you've put into this. Cant say a whole lot other than I hope that it get sorted for us and for you. Keep us updated when you can and I'll let you know if I get any emails from amazon or kickstarter and whether I get charged.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: cdub on December 07, 2011, 10:06:11 PM
I really hope this all works out for you Alex. You put in too much time and effort for it to all fall through like this. 
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 07, 2011, 10:20:39 PM
Alex is there a place where we can complain to them?

Nope, they have an email you can contact via the "contact us" at the bottom of their page - no phone number.

Still no response.  :-\
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Aaron on December 08, 2011, 01:58:43 AM
Alex is there a place where we can complain to them?

Nope, they have an email you can contact via the "contact us" at the bottom of their page - no phone number.

Still no response.  :-\

Have you got any info yet I really hope your Kickstarter doesnt end up not working out. I can only imagine how stressed you must be.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 08, 2011, 02:00:07 AM
Indeed I am very stressed, can't really even sleep much. I kind of dropped everything in my life to pursue this career in art, and it worked beautifully until this little hiccup.

No word from either company, STILL. I'll give them until tomorrow to sort this out.

Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Fallen_Angel_of_Luck on December 08, 2011, 02:22:26 AM
hope things work out alex
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: dee1orean on December 08, 2011, 02:42:53 AM
Alex is there a place where we can complain to them?

Nope, they have an email you can contact via the "contact us" at the bottom of their page - no phone number.

Still no response.  :-\

press@kickstarter.com

http://twitter.com/kickstarter

https://www.facebook.com/Kickstarter

Time to let kickstarter know how important this project is to us...
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Jin Jian on December 08, 2011, 11:45:38 AM
lol i really want to cheer you up alex since when i watch deck review and mostly your since i like your deck review and it always make me laugh cheering me up in a way but now let just hope the crisis will be over soon
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Kanped on December 08, 2011, 11:55:23 AM
My payment was taken; I made a thread in official discussions for it.  Crisis averted!
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xela on December 08, 2011, 01:35:33 PM
Well I said I'd give them till today, and today the payments FINALLY went through. However, instead of having 14 days to collect, there are now only six. This is something I will be having a word with the Kickstarter staff over.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: VortexHead on December 08, 2011, 01:38:39 PM
My payment was also taken today.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Evan on December 08, 2011, 02:44:53 PM
Well I said I'd give them till today, and today the payments FINALLY went through. However, instead of having 14 days to collect, there are now only six. This is something I will be having a word with the Kickstarter staff over.
I hope my payment was taken! I'll have to check with my dad.
But good luck! And hopefully all the payments go through!
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Don Boyer on December 08, 2011, 03:28:09 PM
Mine was also processed.  Good luck, Alex, and give 'em hell.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: John B. on December 08, 2011, 04:37:52 PM
I feel they should part for what they did
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Billywiz on December 08, 2011, 05:22:37 PM
My payment was taken out today. ( wipes sweat from brow ).
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: dmbaggs on December 08, 2011, 06:09:26 PM
My payment went through as well!! Looks like progress is being made which is a good thing
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: xZEROx on December 08, 2011, 06:27:17 PM
i got a notification email from amazon and an update from alex via kickstarter all at once today! glad the issue has been resolved!
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: KPopFever605 on December 08, 2011, 07:19:50 PM
Ahh, congrats Alex, and congrats Kickstarter!
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Jin Jian on December 09, 2011, 09:22:36 AM
i have receive a email about kickstarter from alex .. go and check that out you all also should have it .. i really hope that we will still have the metalic ink
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: norsul on December 10, 2011, 07:45:33 AM
Wohoo, my card has been charged. And just out of curiosity, not that I'm rushing you or anything, when do you estimate we will have our decks?
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: John B. on December 10, 2011, 10:29:01 AM
they are trying for janurary.
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Lushbob on December 10, 2011, 01:47:10 PM
Just to let you know, I've been charged too. Looks like everything's working. (:

Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: dmbaggs on December 10, 2011, 05:55:51 PM
It's great to hear that the money situation is getting sorted out!! It's a huge relief, especially since this is one of those decks I don't want to slip through my fingers. Alex or Victoria, any word on what the unpaid pledge amount stands at as of today?
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: Jin Jian on December 10, 2011, 11:16:53 PM
It's great to hear that the money situation is getting sorted out!! It's a huge relief, especially since this is one of those decks I don't want to slip through my fingers. Alex or Victoria, any word on what the unpaid pledge amount stands at as of today?
i think they mention $5000 at another post .. i dun really remember but i think they mention before
Title: Re: Kickstarter - a place I will never use again.
Post by: dmbaggs on December 10, 2011, 11:35:58 PM
It's great to hear that the money situation is getting sorted out!! It's a huge relief, especially since this is one of those decks I don't want to slip through my fingers. Alex or Victoria, any word on what the unpaid pledge amount stands at as of today?
i think they mention $5000 at another post .. i dun really remember but i think they mention before


Yeah that was the other day, I was looking for an updated count.