Yes... I ordered from kickstarter and waited patiently, but nothing... about a month or so ago, I sent Cosmo an email asking if everything was alright with my order... He replied courteously and stated that he'd look into it and he did... He then asked for my address and I gave it to him, to which he replied "sending your stuff out today..." This was June 18th... A week went by and I asked him if he had a tracking number - no answer... A week later still no products and I sent an email - no answer... Seven or eight emails later still no reply... Had he replied, I would not have taken this course of action, because I believed him to be an honest person... However, one month later, I am without cards, uncut sheet, or money...
Well wouldn't you know, after the "Spectrum - Legal Action" email that I sent to him today while I was posting and researching, I received a shipping confirmation a few hours later (I guess we'll see what he sent and/or if it is the correct merchandise)... I then received a note, which I am not going to get into... Let's just say this whole situation was avoidable and really handled poorly... Just so, so sad it had to come to this... I'll have to see how I feel about hanging this in my house, being that the items are surrounded by such negativity... I will say he was man enough to apologize, and prior to this month, there wouldn't have been a doubt in my mind that it was sincere... Regardless, I accept the apology and I am hoping that the shipping confirmation is accurate and I receive the correct items... What's crazy is that so many people in the Magic Cafe forum and even here say, 'If I don't receive the deck(s) then I'll take it as a loss...' To write that is insane to me... To accept having been swindled out of your money is unacceptable and anyone that continues to be kept in the dark and not receive their decks, merchandise, & magic tricks or supplies should take action, just as I did... Don't allow this individual to line his own pockets, pay to upgrade his website and benefit from your money without fulfilling his obligations to you...
Alex, I know you also had some issues (still waiting on the Vortex)... However, communication is the key... For Cosmo to have ignored numerous messages from me as well as countless others (while sitting with or having spent our money) is wrong on so many levels... Keep the lines of communication open... I hope Cosmo learns from this experience... I know I have and will no longer be pledging for any kickstarter projects whatsoever... If I like a deck enough and I am able to obtain it in the open market, so be it... If not, that's okay too... I will post if and when I receive the alleged package that is being shipped to me...
I'm glad you got everything sorted. Legal action wouldn't be beneficial for either party. Judges rarely demand that the losing party pay attorney fees, and you'd lose more money on the court fees themselves than the product you want. Cosmo would drop a few thousand on an attorney, so would you, and things would get ugly for what I believe to be a very simple problem (clearly, seeing as how it was solved in a few hours).
I will say that because of how KS works, it's very easy for certain people to get ignored. There is no feature that allows you to check off who you shipped to, who you packed and labeled, who requires special attention this or that, so it's very easy to mess up someone's order or to not ship it entirely (even if you keep track via your own list). On top of that, I don't know how many backers Cosmo got, and I know several projects have gotten more than mine, but with ~600 backers, I get messages every day, some of which have legitimate concerns I need to address ASAP, others have ridiculously stupid questions that clutter the inbox. When sent en masse, it's very easy to forget to reply to one or two people.
So I'm not taking Cosmo's side here at all, I just do know that things can get very, very messy on KS logistics. When things hit me in the face all at once, one of the issues I had was simply being able to figure out a shipping mechanism that didn't mess everything up. I think the key is to keep people in the loop, something I failed to do on many counts as well. The worst mistake is to say "all items have shipped" or "all items will ship by X" and then not follow through.
As for people taking losses, I think it's understandable on a smaller scale. If you pledge $5 and receive nothing a year later, there isn't much you can do but pester the heck out of the person. I won't name which project it was, though sleuthy detectives can easily find out, but I pledged for a certain level on KS and received the one under it. I didn't even bother contacting the people to ship out the second portion because I didn't even pledge with the prospects of getting the items. I lost a few bucks, nowhere near $200, and I had a million other things to do that were worth more time than that.
So some people are just lazy/busy/rich or investing for reasons other than receiving products.
However, obviously when you're pledging for $200, it's a different ball game. It's no longer a difference of skipping a fast food meal, and becomes a difference of making rent and whatnot. So in that regard I am really glad you two worked it out.
Also, I don't mean to get off topic, but your order from me shipped our several days ago - so keep an eye out and let me know what you think. :]
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