3 ms·

Honestly to my understanding that is very common terms in contract law. Normally you have a right to a full refund if a date is specified and missed (specifica

Honestly to my understanding that is very common terms in contract law. Normally you have a right to a full refund if a date is specified and missed (specifically you can liquidate the contract for failure to fulfill which allows you to retrieve your consideration). But pretty much everybody ensures the contract avoids that by either specifying damages for a missed date (which avoids full liquidation) or specifies that no real date is for open ended projects. Note that with no end date you can still sue for failure to uphold if say updates stop.

jacquesm 3y ago
Yes, you can sue. But that will likely put the initiator in the poor house, whether you win or lose doesn't even matter. Is that what you had in mind as one of the possible outcomes when backed a project? If so: then don't back that project. People do Kickstarters without vetting as to their business acumen, skills, planning capabilities, ability to source components, product safety knowledge and so on. This dramatically changes the situation from ordering a good from a store or company and you should adjust your expectation as to delivery, quality of workmanship, product safety and guarantees accordingly. It is precisely why I've never done a Kickstarter even if there have been multiple occasions where people indicated they would love it if I did that. But I could see the potential trouble down the line with some clarity: I could easily put in a ton of effort, ultimately fail through some unknown factor and still be morally (and in some jurisdictions even legally) on the hook for either the delivery or a refund. This has such a chilling effect that it never even was a consideration to try. And that's precisely what Kickstarter is: to give people a chance to try to achieve their goal. Best effort, at best, and success as a lucky nice-to-have. And that's why I'm more than happy to back some projects that have low chance of success but where I hope that the initiator will either learn something or in an odd case that it will result in something tangible. I'm pleasantly surprised when it works and I don't sweat it when it doesn't. And I think that's the best match attitude wise for what Kickstarter offers, higher expectations than that and you will be disappointed.

jacquesm 3y ago

Yes, you can sue. But that will likely put the initiator in the poor house, whether you win or lose doesn't even matter. Is that what you had in mind as one of the possible outcomes when backed a project? If so: then don't back that project. People do Kickstarters without vetting as to their business acumen, skills, planning capabilities, ability to source components, product safety knowledge and so on. This dramatically changes the situation from ordering a good from a store or company and you should adjust your expectation as to delivery, quality of workmanship, product safety and guarantees accordingly. It is precisely why I've never done a Kickstarter even if there have been multiple occasions where people indicated they would love it if I did that. But I could see the potential trouble down the line with some clarity: I could easily put in a ton of effort, ultimately fail through some unknown factor and still be morally (and in some jurisdictions even legally) on the hook for either the delivery or a refund. This has such a chilling effect that it never even was a consideration to try. And that's precisely what Kickstarter is: to give people a chance to try to achieve their goal. Best effort, at best, and success as a lucky nice-to-have. And that's why I'm more than happy to back some projects that have low chance of success but where I hope that the initiator will either learn something or in an odd case that it will result in something tangible. I'm pleasantly surprised when it works and I don't sweat it when it doesn't. And I think that's the best match attitude wise for what Kickstarter offers, higher expectations than that and you will be disappointed.