[FRAUD WATCH] ZPM Espresso Kickstarter Scam
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:30 pm
*BE CAREFUL BACKERS, THIS IS STILL GOING ON: https://www.shanghaivalley.com/projects/project-taste/*
UPDATE: PAGE REMOVED!
This is a link I found on reddit:
Another major kickstarter project runs off with the money: ZPM Espresso (self.kickstarter)
submitted 6 hours ago * by JLHawkinsBacker x 15 | Screwed x 2
After 7 months of radio silence, the backers got this message today:
Hello Everyone!
Unfortunately we do not have good news to report. At the beginning of December our COO informed us that, effective immediately and with no notice, she would be leaving the company and taking most of our team with her. Since then she's been radio silent. This halted the progress the company was making, and left us reeling.
We explored our legal options, started a search for a new team, and reached out to our existing investors to get a bridge round together. Even though they were very supportive, at the end of the day, we were not able to get a big enough bridge round together to move forward. While we've looked into several other financing options, after serious consideration, we reached the decision to shut the company down. We are currently ending all operations.
It was an incredibly difficult choice to make, given the funds, effort, and time put into the company. We have poured 3+ years of our lives and all our personal savings into ZPM, because we believed -- and still do -- that there is a huge need in the market for what we're doing, and that we've made an amazing product that can get the job done.
We deeply regret that it's coming to an end in this way, especially given how painfully close we are to completion. However we want you to know that you have been incredible backers, and it has been an absolute honor to be working on your behalf and have you guys behind us. Your support and expertise was invaluable, and we wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as we did without everyone's support and advice. Thank you for believing in us -- we are very sorry to disappoint.
The vast majority of the funds have been spent on development and inventory, and we will most likely be unable to offer refunds. However, we are currently having conversations with several other parties to see if we can't create a situation where your pledges are still honored and you guys get something for all your support of this project. Please stay tuned -- we will keep you up-to-date on this front in the coming month, and very much hope to see a silver lining come out of it.
If nothing does, then we will be pushing out as much as we can, and open-sourcing and releasing all our designs and code. Either way, we will also later be putting out information on the financials and challenges we faced that we were unable to openly discuss before.
Thank you all very much. Working on this project was the most ambitious and meaningful undertaking any of us have ever attempted. Getting to know all of you, and working to create some seriously cool technology was one of the most rewarding things we've ever done. We are deeply and truly sorry that despite our best efforts, we were not able to get this machine across the finish line.
Love,
Gleb, Igor, and Janet
Team ZPM
1,546 backers
$369,569 pledged of $20,000 goal
This project was successfully funded on January 19, 2012.
It looks like they may be starting another version of this scam in Shanghai. It looks like this was put up within the last few months: https://www.shanghaivalley.com/projects/project-taste/
UPDATE: If you paid with Amazon Payments like I did, you can't seek help from them: Service Disputes cannot be filed after 105 days from the transaction date , transaction date is :19 1 2012. Contacting my credit card company next.
UPDATE: PAGE REMOVED!
This is a link I found on reddit:
Another major kickstarter project runs off with the money: ZPM Espresso (self.kickstarter)
submitted 6 hours ago * by JLHawkinsBacker x 15 | Screwed x 2
After 7 months of radio silence, the backers got this message today:
Hello Everyone!
Unfortunately we do not have good news to report. At the beginning of December our COO informed us that, effective immediately and with no notice, she would be leaving the company and taking most of our team with her. Since then she's been radio silent. This halted the progress the company was making, and left us reeling.
We explored our legal options, started a search for a new team, and reached out to our existing investors to get a bridge round together. Even though they were very supportive, at the end of the day, we were not able to get a big enough bridge round together to move forward. While we've looked into several other financing options, after serious consideration, we reached the decision to shut the company down. We are currently ending all operations.
It was an incredibly difficult choice to make, given the funds, effort, and time put into the company. We have poured 3+ years of our lives and all our personal savings into ZPM, because we believed -- and still do -- that there is a huge need in the market for what we're doing, and that we've made an amazing product that can get the job done.
We deeply regret that it's coming to an end in this way, especially given how painfully close we are to completion. However we want you to know that you have been incredible backers, and it has been an absolute honor to be working on your behalf and have you guys behind us. Your support and expertise was invaluable, and we wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as we did without everyone's support and advice. Thank you for believing in us -- we are very sorry to disappoint.
The vast majority of the funds have been spent on development and inventory, and we will most likely be unable to offer refunds. However, we are currently having conversations with several other parties to see if we can't create a situation where your pledges are still honored and you guys get something for all your support of this project. Please stay tuned -- we will keep you up-to-date on this front in the coming month, and very much hope to see a silver lining come out of it.
If nothing does, then we will be pushing out as much as we can, and open-sourcing and releasing all our designs and code. Either way, we will also later be putting out information on the financials and challenges we faced that we were unable to openly discuss before.
Thank you all very much. Working on this project was the most ambitious and meaningful undertaking any of us have ever attempted. Getting to know all of you, and working to create some seriously cool technology was one of the most rewarding things we've ever done. We are deeply and truly sorry that despite our best efforts, we were not able to get this machine across the finish line.
Love,
Gleb, Igor, and Janet
Team ZPM
1,546 backers
$369,569 pledged of $20,000 goal
This project was successfully funded on January 19, 2012.
It looks like they may be starting another version of this scam in Shanghai. It looks like this was put up within the last few months: https://www.shanghaivalley.com/projects/project-taste/
UPDATE: If you paid with Amazon Payments like I did, you can't seek help from them: Service Disputes cannot be filed after 105 days from the transaction date , transaction date is :19 1 2012. Contacting my credit card company next.