From time to time I encounter crowdfunding campaigns on products I think are interesting and have shared them here on this blog. And I have successfully backed some through both IndieGoGo and Kickstarter with no issue. But have you ever wondered what would happen if something wrong were to happen?

Well, it just has for me and I thought I’d go through the process with my blog readers.

In November 2016, I encountered a crowdfunding campaign for the Solartab C, “The World’s Quickest Solar Charger” and thought I’d back it for US$144.00 to receive two solar chargers.

I sent a payment of approximately $200 in Canadian funds via Paypal to IndieGoGo on the 24th of November 2016 and the estimated delivery of the product was December 2017. But due to complications with the manufacturers in China, the product was delayed on numerous occasions through-out 2017.

In December 2016, they had discovered waterproofing issues with their product and unfortunately, this issue occurred just before a month-long New Years celebration, which caused significant delays in China.

The revised product samples were delayed until mid-March so they were only able to have their final test results on the revised product in late May. And that meant they only started manufacturing the final product in the summer of 2017 and it would only likely get through the quality control tests in the fall before getting shipped during the busy Christmas season, which of course causes issues and delays.

By November 2017 it was obvious that I would not be getting my perks in 2017 because they encountered an issue with the cables and wall plug included with their final product, which was provided by yet another manufacturer. And by the time they replaced all of the cables and wall plugs that were included with the 3000+ units their international shippers had no room for them, having allocated this space to other products for the Christmas rush.

The last update issued by the campaigners was on December 2nd, 2017 and my options are limited in regards to a refund.

IndieGoGo states it won’t honor refunds after the funds have been forwarded and there are complaints on the campaign site that the people behind the campaign are non-responsive, so I’ve emailed them asking for a refund to see if they’d respond.

In regards to Paypal, complainants only have 180 days after the transaction to open a case at the Resolution Center and I’m guessing they would have probably directed me to IndieGoGo, who would have forwarded me to the campaigners. But you should always keep track of this six-month window whenever you use Paypal.

Basically, I would have saved time and money simply buying two Anker PowerCore+ 20100 or Anker PowerCore 26800 to re-charge my Samsung tablet and Sony MP3 player. But I really wanted to have reasonably priced solar chargers for the spring and summer.

I’m still hoping to receive my Solartab-C order though and will update this entry with more information if anything happens.

UPDATE (02/05/2018) – Received word that they have finally received the perks at their warehouse in China and are getting ready to ship. Apparently they had to renegotiate with one of their 3rd party providers. :-/

UPDATE (August 2018) – Complaint filed with the Office of the Attorney General of the state of California.