I have two long outstanding pledges with Kickstarter - Custom Dice Lab and Creature Caster. Both are over two years past their designated delivery date.
With Custom Dice Lab, I was looking to get some Skaven Artillery Dice made - yep, that shows just how long ago I pledged. The creator of this KS, John Warren has absconded with the money - around USD 76k - and gone "dark". I was only in for USD 37 but it still sticks in my caw. Warren even took the shipping money upfront and has not refunded a cent. His excuses were related to a mystery illness but thankfully with the love of Jesus (and our money) he is working his way through it. The last contact was in January this year when he said he was organising refunds for those who wanted them. Since then he has disappeared. However other backers have shown Facebook updates where he and his family have been enjoying holidays on our note.
Onto Creature Caster. Again the pledge was made back when the Warhammer World existed. I pledged for the Vulture Daemon (Lord of Change), a Plague Angel and a Maggot Daemon. Local Peter Williamson through in and pledged for the Treewoman. Jeremy Glen raised over CAD$ 320k for this project. Previously he had owned Ultraforge and that gave backers a degree of confidence he knew what he was doing. Unfortunately that faith was largely misplaced when it quickly became apparent that Jeremy was an artist rather than a business manager. The project is now approaching two years late on delivery and in the last month Jeremy has withdrawn "hub shipping" from the project. This has meant that international backers are now liable for increased shipping costs and likely local customs duties. The backers are not happy as hub shipping was one of the key selling points at time of pledge. I've managed to insulate myself by getting my delivery address changed to Jack (Boston, USA) so while I may have further delay in getting my models, I won't have to shell out any more dollars (apart from Canada-USA post). The other concern is the apparent drop in quality of the models now being cast. The detail does not look as crisp as previously promised and the material looks a cheaper type of resin.
I'll keep you updated as to the models when I receive them. In the interim I would be extremely cautious backing any further companies that these companies were involved in.
Really not sure what the go is with thia Kickstarter stuff but why has noone taken the first guy at least to the cops?
ReplyDeleteYep...KS doesn't want to know. I'm not sure why locals can't do something with the law.
ReplyDeleteHowever key is to ensure he never raises any further cash.
Ahhh that is sad about Creature Caster, I really liked the model designs they had proposed and was wanting to purchase some after they got going. Here's to hoping you get them sometime before the end of another year, and that the quality is ok.
ReplyDeleteNot KS related but I paid $100 NZD to Bitzbarn 2 or so years ago and the owner went dark. I tried multiple emails and phone calls to the US but no response. I see he advertises a few things on FB now and then. I feel so powerless when the companies are overseas, I don't really know what else you can do to follow up.