I supported urban toy lab and they lied stating they didn't use toxic materials yet said shipments were made because it was too toxic🤦 They stopped giving updates, ignored hundreds of comments on their page requesting updates and Kickstarter does absolutely nothing for people supporting these sellers. Kickstarter has made it so easy for any scam to come along, take your money and run. Kickstarter needs to be shut down or they need to do things differently where both parties are protected.
Had multiple backing now of projects that just go MIA and stop updating or responding to backers. Once you realise they have your money and you won't be getting the product there is no area to report the scam to Kickstarter. Pf what I'm seeing from others here is if they have made contact that Kickstarter don't care anyway. I've stopped using them and definitely recommend to everyone else to do the same.
I have used Kickstarter on several occasions and have overall been generally satisfied. On the most recent campaign that I supported, it has become clear that the order will not be fulfilled by the creator (i.e., 6+ months since estimated delivery and over 5 months since the last time anyone has heard from the creator. I understand there is risk involved in any crowdfunding campaign, but Kickstarter has taken zero actionable steps to look out for the 2000+ supporters. I will not be using the platform every again.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crosshub/all-in-one-thunderbolt-4-power-docking-station/comments
Most of the projects are from China, a large part does not communicate after the selection of finance and basic information. I'm guessing that a combination of AI and forethought can generate projects and documentation that look like they work. Kickstarter only selects the frills and does not decide if the projects work. A platform like this is dead.
This was my first time getting burned by Kickstarter who vetted a scammer who took our money, provided convincing project updates, and then disappeared. There won't be a second time for me. Any project can take your money and run and kickstarter will take their cut and do absolutely nothing about it.
Kickstarter has no complaints department. They state upfront that you are backing a project; if the project is "successfully funded" your pledge is non-refundable. If the developer then disappears with your money, it's nobody's fault but your own for believing them, and Kickstarter approves of this. I lost $229 to a fraudulent campaign. I disputed the charge with my credit card company, they investigated and came to the conclusion that Kickstarter is ok with your lost money and it's your own fault for giving your money to the fraudulent campaign. Why is Kickstarted OK with this? Because they got a 5% cut on all the money that the fraudulent campaign stole.
Kickstarter takes zero responsibility for their customers being ripped off. I wrote five times to get help. I bought 2 units for our Navy Veterans with PTSD Suicide Prevention boat restoration project Facebook.com/NavyDayzTim
Every time more and more projects are fully backed but the creators just run away with all the money not fullfilling the project. I don't recommend to risk money in kickstarter, just wait to the product to become real and buy it once is is the market. I'm not going to waste moey in Kickstarter never again.
Another BAD experience, but with good end. Kickstarter stopped comunication after clearly saw that procejt is scam. Honkong creator stopped comunicating, closed websites etc. Kickstarter does nothing, even marked project as sucsess. They see only money, not customers. Not even one project more. My lucky was that my bank has 120 day policy FROM date od delivery not from paying :) So they refund me and Kickstarter blocked my account - only good peoples are here, lol :D
F*ck you!
I have been scammed with project Dride 4k, 1.1 milion earned from about 3800 backers.
No control over the project from Kickstarted, every request closed without any reply.
They are a criminal association!
Kickstarter will allow liars and thieves to post phoney products, they absolutely do not care if you ever get your products, they only care about their commissions.
This is an absolute scam of a site
Plain and simple don't use them unless you want a year + of agitation and getting your hopes down. You'll lose your money and it's just another weight on your shoulders and no one needs life to be more miserable than it already is.
I have been a contributor to quite a few projects over the years with Kickstarter but as of late I do not feel safe investing on the platform. It does not seem like they are properly vetting some of the projects or following up on customer complaints of fraud to where I now I am hesitant. I have stopped looking at Kickstarter at this time and I am just crossing my fingers that my remaining investments follow through. Fool me twice...
Kickstarter does NOT do any due diligence on the people posting projects, they do NOT care if you get robbed. They allow these scammers to withdraw 100% of the funds even if they are scammers so the site is a hotbed for repeat scammers posting phoney projects.
They only care about commissions and have no ethics whatsoever.
Attached is a photo from a recent scam, 3800 backers got robbed of 1.1 million dollars
Kickstarter doesn't react to messages about the scam project "Conga AI Mown Roboter". They hide behind their terms and conditions. They should be held accountable for all the scams. No excuses.
I've backed 2 projects: one went off without a hitch, came on time and everything worked out spectacularly. The other was delayed about a year, had no communication (aside from telling us about more delays and product issues) and pretty much killed the brand.
That being said, that's all the start ups and not Kickstarter itself. I can't speak for the site, but as a consumer just know what you're backing and understand that there is some risk involved. But yea, most of the stuff is either insanely expensive, very niche or crap. Also way too many people trying to fund little homemade candle operations.
Sadly, kickstarter picks and chooses who does or does not qualify for their promotion based on their own political outline. I've read other comments about this supposedly beneficial website helping so many to get financial assistance, yet like any other online site seeking to gain popularity and obtain that infamous 'google' status they simply entice individuals to share their unique concepts, hash over the suggestions, pick at random who should or should not be accepted, then run with the ideas themselves. I'm sorry, but this is yet another scam to take advantage of other concepts and the naive individual that submits them. It it looks too good to be true, it generally is, and with kickstarter, they really pull the wool over your eyes.
I backed one item only at this stage with a couple hundred dollars down the drain. Even tho the kickstarter customer services reps are responding in a timely manner, there is 0 solution to any of the problems, especially when you get no responses from your creators.
Kickstarter started as a great platform to give legit creators a way to pass the hurdle of advancing their own creations but now it's a big clusterfck and all they can do is point to the T&Cs.
I'm utterly disappointed with the lack of anything they can offer/do after money has been released to the creator. So many flaws in the system. I hope others have a different experience. I for sure won't back anything anymore as I lost trust in the actual system.
Kickstarter is absolutely horrible. Our project had reached its goal, & then some, & then 5 days before completion, it was 'suspended.' No explanation - we had absolutely not violated any terms. (and we scoured them again afterwards to be sure.) I have no idea what agenda they're pursuing, or what motivates them, but it is very bad business to rely on them for this service. Don't make the same mistake we did. There are much better fund raising sites out there.
Kickstarter was awful in every part of my experience. I had an idea for a unique fishing reel, but they rejected it because it was a "consumer product". After looking around on the web, I found that a lot of funding sites also do not like the "consumer products". A friend told me about a new crowd-sourcing site called Product Funder; they are actually focused on consumer products and have helped me find manufacturers to help produce the reel. These guys are way better than kickstarter.
Answer: Let me put it like this... two of the projects arrived a year later than promised, so if you don care which birthday your sons receives the game. Go for it! If the game is not as described, does not fuction, or never arrives... you will not get any help from kickstarter. Might as well throw your money out the window. It is worse than gambling.
Answer: Absolutely yes, just read the average rating and reviews of thousands of scammed users
Kickstarter has a rating of 1.6 stars from 209 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with Kickstarter most frequently mention customer service, project creators and great idea. Kickstarter ranks 80th among Crowd Funding sites.