Waiting 1 and a half years for my Indiegogo order
In March 2018, I placed an order on Indiegogo for a pair of in-ear noise-cancelling earphones.
And when I say placed an order, I mean I backed a crowdfunding project which hoped to raise enough money to make the actual earphones.
If you are not familiar with platforms like Indiegogo: In short, a company or group puts their idea on the platform, states their intent, and asks people to give them money so they can bring their project to life.
In my case, the earphones were from a company called QuietOn, and in return for backing the project with $129, I would receive a pair of aforementioned earphones.
QuietOn had produced and delivered earphones in the past from what I had read, and this instilled enough confidence in me to hand over my money.
The expected delivery date was October 2018, but you already know they did not arrive on time.
Updates and waiting
Within several weeks of me and thousands of others backing the QuietOn campaign, update emails started coming in with information on the planning and production of the earphones.
The updates contained terms like “quality control” and “manufacturing challenges”, and essentially stated that my earphones were not going to be delivered on time.
In the company and Indiegogo’s defence, the detailed updates kept on coming – I received 32 emails in total about the progress of the project.
QuietOn was also quick to reply to an email I sent about delivery options. I asked for my earphones to be delivered via courier and not the postal system, to which they said no problem – as this was their original plan.
Planning ahead
The suspense must be killing you; did I receive the earphones, did I request a refund, or did I fly to Poland and lay a complaint with management?
Well, I received the earphones – they are pictured below.
They arrived on 9 September 2019 – one and a half years after I backed the project and just over 10 months after the expected delivery date.
This is not an issue in itself, and having been exposed to crowdfunding campaigns through media articles, you know to expect delays.
The real problem is that I do not need the earphones any more.
QuitOn’s earphones are called “Sleep” and are designed to be worn at night when falling asleep – and during sleep – to keep noise from waking you up.
While I was battling to sleep in March 2018 due to noise, this is no longer a problem in September 2019.
Indiegogo and QuietOn delivered on their promise and it was a cool learning experience to see how the platform works. However, the long wait from backing to product delivery rendered the earphones non-essential.
If you are backing a crowdfunding project, it is good to keep in mind that this is not a replacement for online shopping – it is an investment in a future product.
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