Author (Read 12328 times)

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.

Paul Carpenter · « **Reply #1 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.

IAmTheChin · « **Reply #2 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

Kanped · « **Reply #3 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.

John B. · « **Reply #4 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.

Overflight · « **Reply #5 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. :-(

Lushbob · « **Reply #6 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.

xela · « **Reply #7 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.

Kanped · « **Reply #8 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.

xela · « **Reply #9 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.

Kanped · « **Reply #10 on:** December 05, 2011, 04:01:13 PM »

OK. Give it as much time as you like and then say the word.

xela · « **Reply #11 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.

Lushbob · « **Reply #12 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.

John B. · « **Reply #13 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.

Kanped · « **Reply #14 on:** December 05, 2011, 06:00:53 PM »

Quote from: MrMagic322 on December 05, 2011, 04:44:58 PM

recomprosion

errr.... repercussions?

austin · « **Reply #15 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?

Evan · « **Reply #16 on:** December 05, 2011, 06:27:24 PM »

Quote from: 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?

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

austin · « **Reply #17 on:** December 05, 2011, 06:28:54 PM »

Quote from: ezstreet1997 on December 05, 2011, 06:27:24 PM

Quote from: 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?
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

Ohh don't worry I know how to throw cards well especially the bicycle plastic ones those hurt.

xela · « **Reply #18 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.

Evan · « **Reply #19 on:** December 05, 2011, 07:10:54 PM »

Quote from: alex. 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.

I think THEY need to contact amazon! not you

KPopFever605 · « **Reply #20 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.

Emmanuel · « **Reply #21 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.

Overflight · « **Reply #22 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.

Lushbob · « **Reply #23 on:** December 05, 2011, 07:40:05 PM »

Well, at least they've actually replied. But yeah, I agree. They should contact Amazon themselves.

dmbaggs · « **Reply #24 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!!