Unfortunate experience of backing a Kickstarter for the first time

A little over a year ago, a photographer I looked up to the most announced that he was releasing a set of travel bags designed for photographers and travellers alike. Time and time again I find a bag that I desire so much but I have never wanted any bag more than I wanted this one.

So we decided it was a great investment and since the bag was promised to be delivered four months after the Kickstarter campaign ended, we thought it would be worth all the wait and would be in perfect timing with my trip to Canada.

If you're not familiar, Kickstarter is a website where you can fund a project to reach a financial goal. Backers (a.k.a. the funders) have the chance to receive a reward which is usually the project/product they are funding when the goal is reached. This reward is based on the donation "package" that the backer chooses. In my case, it was the complete set of the bags.

Being mindful that we were still in the midst of a global pandemic, I didn't really have much expectation on delivery time - also because I just really wanted the bag that I was willing to wait for it and any short delay was acceptable.

Oh boy, was the delay just went on forever.

I actually waited my hearts out but when the circumstances were just not lining up to the delivery times anymore, we decided to just back out of the campaign. The fact that there was also a big lack of communication of how things were going behind the scenes were not helping at all. 

I work in marketing and I know it's really impossible to not get even just a brief update out. 

We contacted customer services and spent weeks chasing them up before we finally got our refund. Believe me when I say I was just as devastated to realise that I will never get my hands on the bags but backing out was just something needed to be done or we'll be throwing hundreds of dollars down the drain. 

To say that was not a very good experience would be an understatement. Imagine wanting something so bad that you have never wanted that much in life and to wait for a long time just for you to realise it will never happen.

Because of this experience, I don't think I'll ever back anything again or maybe it will take me a few more years to forget about the emotional trauma this has caused.