The BeYou Chair was first put on Kickstarter 9/2020, and then later on Indiegogo. I contributed through Indiegogo in May 2021. At the time, backers were told that shipments would begin 10/2021, and we were given the impression that the chair was much farther along in the process than it was. At the same time (2021), the company began preorders for chairs on their website, beyouchair.com. The website implied that customers were purchasing a chair that was ready for production and would be shipping within weeks. it was not known to preorder customers who paid through the website that they were backing a crowdfunding project. The company continued to send updates close to monthly, each month pushing the shipment date out by at least a month. The company cited Covid and challenges in China for the delay. During this time, the company completely redesigned the chair. At this point, it was no longer the chair that people had backed and/or purchased (materials changed from wood to plastic, the arms of the chair were pistons, which were not in the original design).
As time went on, people, including those who had purchased as preorders and not through crowdfunding, started asking for refunds. The company refused refunds, noting that they had already spent the money they had raised (totaling possibly as much as $7 million). Backers and preorder customers were told that they should sell their chair to a friend. As time went on, preorder customers began requesting chargebacks from their credit card companies. This resulted in a payment processor blacklisting, and Stripe cancelled their partnership with BeYou. In March 2023, an update was sent by the company stating that they were being sabotaged by their customers, and as a result they would need more money in order to ship the chairs (now claiming that manufacturing had begun in China and shipping would begin within weeks). They have now stated that shipping costs to receive the chair will be $150-280 per chair, when the original cost was estimated at $50. Again, many people purchased this chair directly through beyouchair.com and didn't know they were crowdfunding. They have been denied refunds.
A month after the March update, the company has taken down their website, and are still denying refunds. Shipments have not begun and they are offering nothing to consumers who have paid for this project. I have contacted Indiegogo about this problem, but I was told that I was never guaranteed anything. Indiegogo is not taking responsibility for the failure of this campaign, and is not holding this company to any of their campaign promises.
There is a Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/657030658989344 where BeYou's customers have been found if you need more information from all of us who backed through Kickstarter, Indiegogo or BeYouchair.com
BeYou Chair Reviews
The BeYou Chair was first put on Kickstarter 9/2020, and then later on Indiegogo. I contributed through Indiegogo in May 2021. At the time, backers were told that shipments would begin 10/2021, and we were given the impression that the chair was much farther along in the process than it was. At the same time (2021), the company began preorders for chairs on their website, beyouchair.com. The website implied that customers were purchasing a chair that was ready for production and would be shipping within weeks. it was not known to preorder customers who paid through the website that they were backing a crowdfunding project. The company continued to send updates close to monthly, each month pushing the shipment date out by at least a month. The company cited Covid and challenges in China for the delay. During this time, the company completely redesigned the chair. At this point, it was no longer the chair that people had backed and/or purchased (materials changed from wood to plastic, the arms of the chair were pistons, which were not in the original design).
As time went on, people, including those who had purchased as preorders and not through crowdfunding, started asking for refunds. The company refused refunds, noting that they had already spent the money they had raised (totaling possibly as much as $7 million). Backers and preorder customers were told that they should sell their chair to a friend. As time went on, preorder customers began requesting chargebacks from their credit card companies. This resulted in a payment processor blacklisting, and Stripe cancelled their partnership with BeYou. In March 2023, an update was sent by the company stating that they were being sabotaged by their customers, and as a result they would need more money in order to ship the chairs (now claiming that manufacturing had begun in China and shipping would begin within weeks). They have now stated that shipping costs to receive the chair will be $150-280 per chair, when the original cost was estimated at $50. Again, many people purchased this chair directly through beyouchair.com and didn't know they were crowdfunding. They have been denied refunds.
A month after the March update, the company has taken down their website, and are still denying refunds. Shipments have not begun and they are offering nothing to consumers who have paid for this project. I have contacted Indiegogo about this problem, but I was told that I was never guaranteed anything. Indiegogo is not taking responsibility for the failure of this campaign, and is not holding this company to any of their campaign promises.
There is a Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/657030658989344 where BeYou's customers have been found if you need more information from all of us who backed through Kickstarter, Indiegogo or BeYouchair.com