jamescutts
https://www.kickstarter.com/trust
Creators are responsible for following our rules and fulfilling their promises to backers (as outlined in our Terms of Use). This includes providing backers with a high standard of effort, communicating honestly throughout the creative process, using funds appropriately, and protecting backers’ personal information. Creators must also deliver completed rewards as promised, provide backers with a refund (where possible), or give a clear, honest explanation detailing why rewards will not be fulfilled. While it’s difficult to deliver bad news, creators owe this to the people who have shown them support—honesty brings backers along on the creative journey and helps them understand when things don’t go as planned.
Unlike sellers on eCommerce sites, creators on Kickstarter do not automatically breach their contract with backers if they do not fulfill their rewards or provide users with a full or partial refund. However, if a creator fails to communicate progress updates or delays, does not address backer questions or concerns, or otherwise breaches their agreement with backers, the creator may be subject to legal action from backers.
Creators are also expected to follow our platform rules and use extreme caution when inviting collaborators or other third parties to participate in their projects. We hold creators accountable for the misuse of their accounts, and may suspend or terminate their access.
Backers are responsible for vetting projects, reporting site violations, and, when they choose to support a project, supporting that project, regardless of the outcome. Kickstarter provides backers with an opportunity to support creative work at an early stage of development. By doing that, backers are telling the creator they think their work is worth making—and they may even be helping to make culture-shaping, world-changing work a reality. They are also taking a risk, and it’s important they do it knowingly.
Unlike items on an eCommerce site, projects on Kickstarter are not finished products. It is the responsibility of all backers to thoroughly review the description, risks and challenges, comments, and updates for anything vague or overly ambitious before backing a project. Commenting is only available to backers, but anyone can message a creator in the FAQ section. We encourage backers to search beyond Kickstarter for more context, and to ask questions of the creator and community. If backers observe or experience any violations of our rules, our terms, or abusive content or behavior, we expect them to report those to us (there’s a link at the bottom of every project page), so that we can take appropriate action.
If a creator is unresponsive or doesn’t fulfill a reward, we encourage backers to message the creator directly and ask for a project update. In all communications, it’s important to remain respectful—making something new is hard, and there’s a person on the other side working to bring their project to life. If a backer feels the creator has breached the agreement between them, the backer may take steps outside of the Kickstarter platform, including legal action, to enforce the agreement.
