Apparently delivering the rewards for a movie funded on Kickstarter isn’t quite as easy as some would assume it to be.
Depending on your pledge level for the Veronica Mars movie project on Kickstarter, you would receive a digital download of the film on the day it was released in theaters. Flixster was listed as one of the possible delivery systems during the pledge drive, but it wasn’t set in stone. This past Friday the emails with voucher codes came through as promised, and that was when the problems began.
Flixster is not the most widely used of streaming video services, and many backers found that not only did they have to sign up for an account there, but they also needed to sign up for an UltraViolet account if they did not have one already, and then get the two accounts to speak to one another. While some people had no issues with that, many more did and could not get the film to work.
Series creator Rob Thomas sent out another backer update stating that the backers had been heard loud and clear, and that if they were unhappy they should contact customer support for possible options. Apparently Warner Brothers heard everyone loud and clear and offered backers several choices of potential resolutions.
Depending on your pledge level for the Veronica Mars movie project on Kickstarter, you would receive a digital download of the film on the day it was released in theaters. Flixster was listed as one of the possible delivery systems during the pledge drive, but it wasn’t set in stone. This past Friday the emails with voucher codes came through as promised, and that was when the problems began.
Flixster is not the most widely used of streaming video services, and many backers found that not only did they have to sign up for an account there, but they also needed to sign up for an UltraViolet account if they did not have one already, and then get the two accounts to speak to one another. While some people had no issues with that, many more did and could not get the film to work.
Series creator Rob Thomas sent out another backer update stating that the backers had been heard loud and clear, and that if they were unhappy they should contact customer support for possible options. Apparently Warner Brothers heard everyone loud and clear and offered backers several choices of potential resolutions.
Dear Kickstarter Backer,
Thanks for getting in touch!
If you’re contacting us about your digital download of Veronica Mars, we apologize for whatever difficulties you’ve experienced.
Right now, we want to make sure that you have a great experience, and are able to watch YOUR movie as soon as possible, so here are the options:
OPTION 1
If you want to download Veronica Mars through Flixster, and just need help with technical issues, let us know the problem. We’ll do our best to help ASAP.
OPTION 2
If you prefer to download Veronica Mars through another service (such as iTunes or Amazon), go ahead and get it RIGHT NOW!
Then, email us the receipt for your purchase, and we’ll refund the full amount that you paid*. (Or, if you ALREADY purchased it somewhere else, send us that receipt.)
OPTION 3
We can give you a $10 refund* — the amount of your Kickstarter pledge that was used for the digital download.
*All refunds will be handled through Amazon Payments, and could take about a week to show up on your card, but we’ll get the process started immediately.
Most importantly, thank you for being a backer on this project.
If you haven’t watched the movie yet, you’ll be able to soon — and when you do, we hope you’ll be proud that you made it possible!
Best,
- Veronica Mars Customer Support
While it’s unfortunate the situation even arose, you have to admit that Warner Brothers is putting its money where its mouth is.
A definite learning lesson for all future movies that use Kickstarter to put together funding: Pay attention to where you put the digital downloads.
A definite learning lesson for all future movies that use Kickstarter to put together funding: Pay attention to where you put the digital downloads.