by Evan S. » Wed Dec 04, 2013 8:23 pm
Hi everyone,
Encik Farhan pledged $1,100 to my project after I'd exceeded my goal. Luckily, I hadn't spent any of my budget before I heard about the scam (thanks Anarchy Enterprises), and the chargeback didn't put my fundraising total below my goal.
I'm planning on returning the money, and will post an update about how that goes. I am also planning on asking Kickstarter to refund their fees on this portion of my budget. I think they have a moral obligation to do this, and I will happily draw attention to the issue however I can if they refuse.
Kickstarter's responses to my emails have not been substantive. While they've assured me they're taking the issue seriously, the latest email simply referred me to Amazon payments. Here's a quote from it:
"We are continuing to work with Amazon Payments regarding this issue. They have informed us that they will be taking certain actions for affected creators on their end. Please get in touch with them via the link below in order to clarify your particular situation."
Well, the link was just the standard customer service link, and I called and talked to a rep who hadn't heard anything about this. The "certain actions" Kickstarter refers to don't seem to exist. You can challenge the dispute just like any other Amazon Payments user, but, it seems, nothing's been done to address the peculiar nature of the Encik Farhan scam.
Kickstarter needs to address the fact that this weirdness occurred via their platform. They should, at the very least, refund the fees they've taken on fraudulent pledges. They should also consider creating a fund to support creators who spent money they raised in good faith to complete their projects and then were asked to pay back. Perhaps they can do a Kickstarter campaign themselves for this purpose!
I do think this issue is meaty enough for a good article in Wired or a similar publication. If I had more time, I'd even try to write it! But there are many interesting issues here.
Has anyone challenged Encik Farhan's chargeback? What was the outcome?