Hello,
As an European backer, I have some frustrations on how my pledge fulfillment was handled. I would like to hear from GTG how we can move forward on this.
First of all, please accept my apologies for using this forum to post this. I know GTG is not the project creator for the Unpub 5 Kickstarter and that you only handled the fulfillment. I know Darrell Louder, as the project creator, is the only person accountable for that project, but since GTG handled the shipping and my frustrations have something to do with the shipment, I'm posting this here.
I am backer ClémentXVII on Kickstarter for the Unpub 5 project. I pledged $60 for the Memory Box 1, as can be seen on the screenshot below (I just left out my Backer number):
However, when the rewards were shipped, I got the Memory Box 2 pledge level (i.e. Compounded and Mars needs Mechanics) instead of VivaJava. Also, no Compounded scientist was in the box.
This is frustration number 1. I quickly sent a mail to GTG in order to know what happened, but got a reply recently telling me that what I got matches what they got in their spreadsheet.
Then, some days later, I get a bill from FedEx. Since I'm in Belgium, I know that we have to pay 21% taxes if the shipment is valued more than € 20. This is why I contacted Darrell before he would ship the games, asking him to ensure the games would be labeled correctly, to minimize costs.
Some project creators write the actual cost of the game to their backers instead of the selling price, but here the content was labeled at $60. So, I was expecting to pay something like $12.6 in taxes. However, FedEx sent me a bill of EUR 42 (about $ 46 according to http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=42&From=EUR&To=USD ). This is more than 50% of my pledge ! Courier services like FedEx and UPS are known for charging extremely high costs for the taxes. For overseas shipment, usually I prefer when USPS or FIMS (Fedex International Mail Service) are used, because they use the standard mail system. It might be slower, but we aren't charged outreageous fees.
So my frustration number 2 is having to pay $46 in taxes to FedEx for... not getting my pledge.
I don't know how to proceed from here, and I hope GTG can help me out. You may PM (or email) me.
1. I would like to get what I pledged for (VivaJava and the Compounded Scientist promo), shipped using USPS, and labeled correctly.
2. I would like to have a solution for the FedEx bill. I'm not happy to pay these costs, especially since I still don't have my VivaJava...
3. I would like to thank you for reading through this, and helping me through this unfortunate situation.
Thanks,
ClémentXVII
Hey there. Darrell is definitely the one to talk to about this. We are operating here on the information given to us by the project creator (Unpub), and we do solely what we are given to work with. We do not have direct access to the project at all.
Twitter: imprimis5. Follow away!
Hi Craig,
Hey Craig,
Many thanks for your swift response :)! I understand you can't have the details on the KS pledge levels. I was hoping that by showing some proof of my pledge to you (the fulfiller), you would trust that I didn't get what I pledged for. I can understand you'd rather follow the instructions given by Darrell.
Unfortunately, I've been trying to get in touch with him, but I get the impression that my mails are ignored (I'm also commenting on the KS page).
I'll tweet him a link to this forum subject, maybe it'll help.
Regarding the FedEx bill, Darrell posted a project update (for backers only) on June 23rd mentioning this (emphasis mine):
This was definitely not the case for me. I never asked for the game to be sent right away, but still got the international charges.
Should I contact the shipper/fulfiller for this, as Darrell suggested, or should I contact Darrell, as you suggest...?
I honestly don't know, and I start to get the impression that no one wants to help me out. :(
The latter is something you should definitely contact Jodie about. For the rest, Darrell is the best contact that I can offer for you.
Twitter: imprimis5. Follow away!
Okay, thanks Craig.
I sent her a mail about that a few days ago, but since I haven't heard back, I imagine she has a backlog of mails to go through. Could you maybe ask her nicely to reach out to me?
The last thing I want is for FedEx to send me a new bill with late payment charges ...
EDIT: and I tweeted a link to this subject to Darrell, so he can double-check with you (and me?) what I should be getting from the Kickstarter...
Good morning y'all,
I just wanted to let everyone know that Darrell contacted me in order to resolve these matters. He told me he'll make sure I get a VivaJava and a refund of the FedEx bill.
Thanks,
ClémentXVII