Seattle Kickstarter project ZionEyez is a prime example of why the Washington Attorney General has his eye on unfulfilled Kickstarter projects.
After three years and $343,415 to make glasses that shoot HD video, the founders have gone silent and backers are fed up.
Seventeen people have filed complaints with the Washington Attorney General. ZionEyez got its start through Kickstarter, which is an online crowdfunding site. People pitch in money with the promise of something in return, often the product being developed.
Their last update to Kickstarter backers was April 2012.
KIRO 7’s John Knicely tracked down the North Seattle office building listed as the company headquarters.
The manager there said the Kickstarter businessmen were there, but moved out in December 2013. KIRO 7 also tracked down two of the company's listed executives to Bellingham home addresses. No one answered the door, but it was clear people were living at both homes.
Assistant Attorney General Jake Bernstein said they’ve received 17 complaints about ZionEyez, but they can’t comment on whether they’re looking into the company.
“If the creator is updating the project and saying we've hit snags, posting updates and pictures,” said Bernstein. “It's a less clear case that it’s a scam compared to when somebody gets the money, disappears, and then a year goes by.”
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is the first go after a Kickstarter funded project siting the Consumer Protection Act.
In May, Ferguson filed suit against Altius Management, who ran Asylum Playing Cards.
That case is pending. "Frankly, we want to make sure people realize there are consequences to doing a project on Kickstarter and not following through and remaining silent," said Bernstein. Kickstarter's terms say there's no guarantee backers will get money back, but the terms say project creators are to refund the backers if they don't give them what was promised. Here are the terms that were updated Oct. 19.
Seth Quest's iPad holder, Hanfree, highlights how parties on both sides can lose big.
“These guys had no concept,” said Neil Singh who paid $70 on Kickstarter thinking he'd get Hanfree. “They didn't know what they were doing with the money.”
After silence and no product, Singh sued. He gave up when he got documents showing Hanfree lost all its money in production, leaving Seth Quest broke.
“He decided to declare bankruptcy,” said Singh. “And once I found out what the financial state was my message to the rest of the group was that's the end. We lost our money.”
As for ZionEyez, one backer posted a letter from the creators dated this past May saying they were still vested in the project.
It read, “We are still 100% vested in this project and we are working as hard as possible to turn this dream into a reality.”
It went on to say the money raised wasn't enough and that they're looking for other investors. But if ZionEyez creators are still working on the project , they're staying very quiet.
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