Indiegogo issue. What would you do?

[Catica]

I'm curious to find out if there is anything I can do about this. 
I purchased something on Indiegogo and the item has not been delivered.  It's been 8 months since I purchased it.  I filed a claim with my credit card company but my claim was denied because Indiegogo stated that I donated the money to a cause and therefore they are not responsible that I did not receive my perk.  So the denial letter came to me over a month ago.  Now, when I go to Indiegogo my account is still in hold status (for that particular purchase) saying "On hold, potential chargeback" and because of that I can't communicate with the seller of the item or other people who have purchased the item to find out if they have received their item etc, that also means that if the seller is just late and he/she was eventually going to send my item they won't do so now because of that "on hold" status.  I have contacted Indiegogo and they claim that my chargeback have not been resolved.  I followed up with a copy of the denial letter and talked to my credit card company who says that it has been resolved.  What would you do in this case?  I almost feel this is illegal of them to hold my money in this status so I can't do anything. 

[Cranky]

I'd read the fine print a little more carefully...

[Catica]

I'd read the fine print a little more carefully...

Fine print of what?  The "on hold"?

[loyalreader]

Indiegogo is correct. You did not purchase something from a 'seller', you donated money to a particular project. You hope to get whatever premium you are supposed to get for donating, but sometimes it is delayed and sometimes it simply doesn't happen. They aren't liable to provide you anything. That's the 'fine print' you should have read.

Pursuing a chargeback with your cc company only adds to the confusion. The dispute isn't usually directly between Indiegogo and the issuing bank - most merchants (for the purposes of this discussion Indiegogo) go through a 3rd party for chargeback disputes. The chargeback process is long and convoluted so I'm not surprised that, although your cc company says the dispute is resolved and you 'lost', it will still take weeks for that info to make it to Indiegogo.

Short answer... there is nothing you can do but wait until they take your account off hold status. Then you can contact them for status of this particular project and hope that you actually get what you wanted. Good luck.

[Catica]

Indiegogo is correct. You did not purchase something from a 'seller', you donated money to a particular project. You hope to get whatever premium you are supposed to get for donating, but sometimes it is delayed and sometimes it simply doesn't happen. They aren't liable to provide you anything. That's the 'fine print' you should have read.

Pursuing a chargeback with your cc company only adds to the confusion. The dispute isn't usually directly between Indiegogo and the issuing bank - most merchants (for the purposes of this discussion Indiegogo) go through a 3rd party for chargeback disputes. The chargeback process is long and convoluted so I'm not surprised that, although your cc company says the dispute is resolved and you 'lost', it will still take weeks for that info to make it to Indiegogo.

Short answer... there is nothing you can do but wait until they take your account off hold status. Then you can contact them for status of this particular project and hope that you actually get what you wanted. Good luck.

I totally understand the donation part.  I wasn't asking about that.  It was only about holding my account "on hold".  Thanks