{"id":73977,"date":"2024-07-05T08:08:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T12:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=73977"},"modified":"2024-07-05T08:08:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T12:08:27","slug":"crowdfunding-gone-wrong-customer-sues-delfast-for-e-bike-non-delivery-and-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=73977","title":{"rendered":"Crowdfunding gone wrong: Customer sues Delfast for e-bike non-delivery and wins"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A New York resident recently took electric bicycle maker Delfast to court over non-delivery of the company\u2019s new electric bicycle model after an apparently successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo failed to result in a delivery.<\/p>\n

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Crowdfunding campaigns are popular in the electric bicycle industry. While originally intended as a way to fund new projects by crowdsourcing capital in exchange for \u2018perks\u2019 or \u2018rewards\u2019, they\u2019ve largely morphed over the last decade into de facto sales channels and PR machines.<\/p>\n

Such crowdfunding campaigns, usually operated on sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, are popular in the electric bicycles industry. They\u2019re often used as a way to pre-sell new electric bicycle models ahead of their launch.<\/p>\n

Most crowdfunding campaigns that successfully raise funds for new e-bikes end happily, though they often tend to deliver the e-bikes later than promised. That was the case with one of my own recent Indiegogo e-bike purchases, which was slated for delivery last October but only showed up the next March.<\/p>\n

But even if most e-bike crowdfunding campaigns usually deliver the goods, at least eventually, that\u2019s not always the case. And after New York resident Jonathan Rapoport backed a Delfast crowdfunding campaign for the Delfast California e-bike that ultimately failed to deliver his new ride, he took the manufacturer to court.<\/p>\n

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The Delfast California electric bike that was central to the crowdfunding campaign<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Electrek<\/em> actually covered the news<\/a> of this Indiegogo campaign\u2019s launch back in October of 2022 (and included a disclaimer about the risks of crowdfunding). The campaign met our threshold for crowdfunding coverage of either 1) coming from an existing e-bike manufacturer \u2013 not a new startup \u2013 or 2) the company having an existing track record for successful deliveries. In this case, both of those conditions were met. Of course, neither of those ultimately guarantees future success, as Delfast demonstrated when the brand failed to deliver e-bikes after the crowdfunding campaign ended with the company successfully reaching its funding goal.<\/p>\n

Rapoport explained to Electrek<\/em> how the company initially appeared helpful, offering him a refund of his crowdfunding payment, before changing tactics and breaking off communication. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was promised a refund by the company and they completely ghosted me. So, I was forced to take them to court last week, and it was eye-opening,\u201d he said. \u201cIn our court trial last week, the owner, Daniel Tonkopi, admitted that he never intended to provide anyone who backed the Indiegogo campaign with a bike. He stated under oath that \u2018we simply supported his company\u2019 and in fact did not \u2018buy\u2019 a bike, \u2018We just wanted to help his company’\u201d, Rapoport continued.<\/p>\n

This is a common defense among crowdfunding companies that go belly-up before making deliveries, claiming that the campaign isn\u2019t actually a legal sale, but instead a financial show of support in exchange for what Indiegogo refers to as \u201cperks\u201d, or deliverables.<\/p>\n

In the case of Indiegogo though, while the company can\u2019t legally force campaign owners to deliver those perks, their Terms of Use<\/a> do require the perks to be delivered. As Indiegogo explains on its site, \u201cIndiegogo is not able to mediate disputes between customers, including those related to refunds or the fulfillment of perks. If you are unable to arrive at a resolution, you may also use our Terms of Use in a U.S. court of law, should you choose to take any legal action against the campaign team.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what Rapoport did. In the case of Jonathan Rapoport vs Delfast, after the e-bike company\u2019s owner Daniel Tonkopi testified in the company\u2019s defense and both sides submitted their exhibits, the judge ultimately agreed that Delfast reneged on the deal to purchase an e-bike.<\/p>\n

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Delfast California electric bike seen in marketing photos taken before the launch of the crowdfunding campaign<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the court document describes:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cUpon review and consideration of all exhibits and oral testimony, the Court rules as follows: <\/p>\n

Court orders judgment entered for Plaintiff Johnathan Rapoport against Defendant Delfast on the Olaintiff\u2019s Claim filed by Jonathan Rapoport on 01\/18\/2024 for the principal amount of $2,198.00 and costs of $100.00 for a total of $2,298.00. <\/p>\n

Other: Judgement for the Plaintiff based upon the testimony and exhibits admitted into evidence at the Court Trial held on May 23, 2024. The Court finds that the Plaintiff established a Breach of Contract cause of action. Here, the evidence shows that the Plaintiff purchased a Bike and cycling accessories from the Defendant in October 2022 with an expected delivery date of July 2023. The Defendent accepted and kept the Plaintiff\u2019s money without delivering the goods. Therefore, damages in the amount of $2,198.00 plus costs are awarded to the Plaintiff. Defendant is ordered to pay Plaintiff said damages plus costs. IT IS SO ORDERED.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rapoport says he has not heard from Delfast yet and has not received any payment. While the money is significant, he says it\u2019s about more than that. \u201cWhat\u2019s most upsetting is Daniel\u2019s absolute lack of care about his customers and his belief\u00a0that he will get\u00a0away with this deception. He provided zero communication and took no responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of the time of publishing, Delfast has not responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

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FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> More.<\/a><\/p>\n

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A New York resident recently took electric bicycle maker Delfast to court over non-delivery of the company\u2019s new electric bicycle model after an apparently successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo failed to result in a delivery. Crowdfunding campaigns are popular in the electric bicycle industry. While originally intended as a way to fund new projects by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}