Did Kurt Swanson scam Kapsul Air with a Kickstarter scam? (Update 2024)
Kurt Swanson launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2016 which turned out to be a scam.
His campaign was for the Noria air conditioner which he now calls the Kapsul air conditioner.
You can help us put a stop to online scams before they grow too big and end up ruining thousands of lives. A scam is a scam, doesn’t matter if it’s big or small. Now that this is out of the way, let’s get started with the review.
At the time, Kurt Swanson claimed that Noria would revolutionize the air conditioner industry.
The Kickstarter pitch of Noria said window ACs have been around for over 6 decades, providing much-needed relief during the summer.
However, the pitch highlighted that air conditioners failed to offer a good user experience.
Kurt Swanson’s pitch claimed that window ACs have always been big, ugly, and loud. Also, he pointed out that they were difficult to install until Noria entered the market.
In 2016, the Noria used to be slim, sleek, and relatively lightweight. Kurt Swanson had promised that it would be a quiet AC you can install easily. Also, he claimed that users will be able to control their Noria AC through their smartphones.
Certainly, the pitch was attractive.
The New York Magazine praised the project saying it can improve a technology that stayed the same since 1947.
An Attractive Pitch and Unfulfilled Promises
Kurt’s pitch was attractive and effective. Within 45 days, he crowdfunded over $1.5 million from over 3000 backers.
It has been one of the biggest Kickstarter campaigns in Philadelphia.
Furthermore, Kurt Swanson raised over $800,000 on Indiegogo.
The earliest backers of this project had paid as little as $249 per unit.
In 2016, Kurt told the backers that they could expect their units in March 2017.
However, the date came and went but nobody received an air conditioner. In 2018, Kurt Swanson had to change the name of Norio to Kapsul as he faced a lawsuit over it.
Kurt had told the media that he understood people’s disappointment in 2017 when he didn’t deliver any air conditioners before the deadline.
He blamed some manufacturing problems in China for the delay.
Since then, Kurt has given many excuses to the backers. At times, Kapsul doesn’t communicate with the backers.
Later, Kurt and his team restricted the Kickstarter page of their page. Now, only the backers can post any comments there.
Furthermore, he has banned the usage of words like “fraud” and “scam”.
Several of the backers have even filed formal complaints against him. The attorney general of Pennsylvania has confirmed that people have filed complaints.
Certainly, people feel victimized as they are at risk of losing all of their investments. There have been several scams that use this tactic.
The Various Excuses of Kurt Swanson:
Kurt has stopped talking about Kapsul now. Instead, his Chief Operating Officer does all the talking.
Chris Myers, the Kapsul COO says things have begun changing for the better.
He says the company has shipped over 200 Kapsul ACs to its original backers.
However, that’s not 200 backers but 200 units. Some backers have received multiple ACs.
Myers claimed that Kapsul will ship at least 500 more air conditioners. He blamed the pandemic and the increased tariffs on goods imported from China for the delay.
Some media outlets questioned if original backers are incapable of receiving their products, why does Kapsul’s website allow consumers to buy new units from their website?
In response, Myers claimed that every unit they send to their original backers costs them $110 over the average per-unit pledged amount of $300.
Hence, Kapsul Air relies on selling the $800 units to manage those orders.
Myers also added that the company can’t refund the $2 million crowdfunding it had received. They have already spent that money.
Kapsul Air Conditioner Review: How Kurt Swanson’s Product?
It has been 6 years since Kurt Swanson launched his Kickstarter.
Moreover, his company claims it has shipped several hundred units to its original backers.
Surely, some Kapsul Air Conditioner reviews should be present on the internet, right?
Well, there aren’t many.
I only found one customer review on Kapsul Air Conditioner.
According to the reviewer, he bought a KapsulAir in July and received it in September.
He had installed the air conditioner a few weeks before his post. The reviewer noticed that its compressor doesn’t work, it only blows warm air.
So, he contacted the company because Kurt Swanson’s firm offers a 3-year warranty.
They didn’t respond.
He called them a few days later, Again, no response.
The reviewer wanted to know if the company is still operating or if has it shut down. Also, he wanted to know if the company operates, and how can he get help from them.
In response, people told him he should be grateful that he at least received a Kapsul Air. No matter what promises Kurt Swanson made, many people have yet to receive an air conditioner from his firm.
One user highlighted that he had bought one Kapsul Air too. However, the AC died within 6 months.
Although it took the company a very long time, they finally responded to the user and sent him a replacement. He points out that in the FAQ section of Kapsul’s website, they claim their AC lasts for 10 years or 8000 hours.
Note that 8000 hours is only 333 days. This is not much for warm places at all.
Kapsul Air Reviews: Is Kurt Swanson Posting Fake Reviews On His Website?
The reviews I found on Reddit don’t paint a good picture. However, when I visited the website of Kapsul Air, I noticed a “Reviews” section.
It has over 100 reviews. However, all of them are unverifiable.
All of these reviews present on Kurt Swanson’s website are only available there. They are not present anywhere else on the internet.
This raises suspicion about their legitimacy. That’s because many shady businesses rely on posting fake reviews to boost their credibility.
For example, HULT Private Capital is an investment firm that has received a lot of criticism for posting fake reviews on its profiles. Another example is Dr. Dean Toriumi, a doctor who allegedly uses fake reviews to bury the complaints of his patients.
Hence, there’s a good chance that Kurt Swanson added fake reviews on Kapsul’s website to entice buyers.
Conclusion
From being one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns to turning into a scam, Kapsul Air has come a long way.
Maybe Kurt Swanson’s initial intention was good but it’s clear that he doesn’t care about his backers anymore.
It has been 6 years since the campaign and many backers are still waiting to get their air conditioners.
Many of them have moved on and have given up.
Moreover, the current reviews indicate that Kurt Swanson’s product isn’t what he claims to be. It has an extremely short life and the company offers poor customer service.
Beware.
The design of this looks A LOT like a new Kickstarter campaign for ComfyAir. Hmmm…. Looks legit but I do wonder about backing that now too. Thx for posting this. Obviously the consumer wants a less bulky a/c and are willing to throw our money at it. You think someone could come up with something besides large heavy window a/cs.
I am waiting for my Kapsul and have been following since 2017. I knew when I invested that there wasn’t a product yet, and that there were risks involved. I haven’t seen any evidence that the campaign was a scam, just that the product wasn’t successfully developed prior to the pandemic, then had numerous setbacks and supply chain issues during the pandemic. Also costs went up due to inflation and import tax changes.
The absence of negative reviews on their site is a concern, as are the negative reviews off their site.
It appears the company may be out of business. I am chalking it up to an unsuccessful investment. Now I know why Shark Tank investors never invest in an idea, they only want fully developed products that are in production. Love and learn.
I would thank the author for helping users to beware of such scams and save their time and money.
It was very much interesting and attractive for watching their promotion of the product Kapsul Air, but after purchasing the product you will find that they aren’t up to the mark as they were been claimed to be, so avoid investing in these products as they aren’t providing the facilities which are promised to you.
I have suffered this problem for investing with these scammers as they are not at all interested in producing reliable products, so be sure you won’t get decentralized after watching their advertisements which are false and has no truth in them, it is very much important to be sure before investing with them, they have scammed a lot of investors and are still planning to launch some other product for scamming their investors, it is getting difficult for the users to install these products and also they are not working properly, which is very much, disheartening.
It would be better for you to search for a better product rather than buying a Kapsule Air Conditioner, and also the company is promoting its product with fake advertisements, and the company is not interested in providing the claimed services and is trying to outsmart its users, but this is very much helpful that there are several media houses are there to expose these fraudsters make sure you don’t invest with them, avoid making any of the investment with these fake promoters and keep it safe with you and invest your money with some other, reliable product rather than Kurt Swanson’s Kapsul Air.
If you will go through the advertisements of the company and their product Kapsul Air you will be fascinated of buying it, but before getting the product to their doorsteps I will suggest you avoid ordering the product because none of the users are satisfied with the product because their installation process and several other functions of the AC aren’t working properly as claimed to be, so make sure you don’t waste your money behind these scammers.
Kapsul air conditioner is a completely planned scam, this man Kurt Swanson launched the firm for producing air conditioners that would be smaller in size and more effective as compared to current ACs, but all his claims were lies, none of the capsule AC worked properly, there were major problems faced by the users, their installation was a headache for the clients. If you will go through the reviews section for this AC most of them are negative and are not working according to the claims of the company so I will suggest you not invest with this company, you can search for a better option than Kapsul Air, it is not reliable for purchasing the product, so beware of Kurt Swanson’s product.
Kapsul Air are a complete group of scammers because the ordered product was delivered after a lot of complaints. Even the compressor is not working properly.
They are now claiming that if you are facing some problem with the compressor then you can register a complaint but I don’t think they are going to send any help, as the product itself took 4 months to be delivered no one knows how much time it would take to send the mechanic.
Most of the buyers are still waiting for their product to be delivered so I suggest they take down the owner and his firm by complaining and lodging a lawsuit against him for scamming him, then there are chances you might get your product or cashback.
One of my friends bought it and the company didn’t take responsibility for the delivery date, a few days back as soon as we ordered Kapsul Air we found many negative comments about the product which made us insecure about the product. Then we tried to cancel the order but they didn’t respond.
My husband waited for so long and after receiving the product we faced the issue of the malfunctioning compressor, he got no chills and threw the KapsulAir in the bin. Burn in HELL Kurt!
My one relative brought the product after the delivery when he installed the Kapsul air he observed that the machine wasn’t producing any cool air instead of cooling it only blew warm air, after initiating a complaint to the company they replied no refunds and no exchange. What the F is wrong with Kurt Swanson? I thought he was a legitimate guy.
I bought the unit in March 2022 and installed it around June. It only lasted until September 2022 at which point it simply wouldn’t turn on anymore. I’ve been trying to reach the company for 2 months. They never contacted me at all, even just to say sorry we don’t have any replacement units right now. Now, their Shopify site is down and none of their phone numbers work so I suppose I was also scammed. Total disappointment and I am generally forgiving of the challenges of start ups, especially manufacturing, but this is ridiculous.
I feel you man. Once my girlfriend ordered a smartphone online and they offered to deliver the product the next Sunday but it was a total fraud because they didn’t send any tracking details and no mail was sent for that purpose. She waited for weeks and now has given up. That was just a smartphone tho and all of the Kapsul Air victims are waiting on expensive ACs. It must be tough.
Take a look at the terms and conditions of the company because chances are, there would be something missing freeing them of any kind of accountability. Beware as there are many more companies making trashy products like Kapsul Air.
Don’t trust these companies that ask you to complete the payment and no date is issued when your order will be delivered. It’s a scam.
The company doesn’t care about your money even if you have pre-ordered the product and are expecting a delivery but the company will never deliver it to you because the company is not at all interested in providing the product but just to scam you.
These Kickstarter scams are always going to make a fool out of gullible people. Because they will provide no warranty and no claims as the product is not produced with great quality. Kurt Swanson isn’t the only Kickstarter scammer out there just so you know.
If I had known earlier that Kurt Swanson was a fraudster I would never have invested my $1200 into this product, it is just an attractive product without any output.
The company claims that the product has a long life of 10 years but on the pack, it was written 8000 hours which is nowhere close to their original claim.
I was reading the reviews about the firms and their new product Kapsul Air where most of the reviews were showing the positive aspects of having it, but on the other hand, it was also suspicious that there were none of them verified. This proves that the owner is posting fake positive reviews to increase the credibility of the product. So yeah, Kurt Swanson is a fraudster.
I wonder if backers should start a class action law suit?
One of my friends pre-ordered the product but he got nothing after waiting for 4 months and they didn’t even respond to his refund request. Thats the reason I don’t pre-order stuff online as there are chances that the company may not be able to deliver the item as is the case with Kapsul Air.
Why get attracted to such products after learning that these kickstarters are a scam? Never trust these products because most of the time they are not up to mark, thanks to their poor build quality.
After reading the article it will be difficult for me to trust such Kickstarter products, these products prove to be a scam.
Never buy or pre-order products which are very new to the market because there are chances of the product being poor-quality and no testimonials to know the authenticity of their claims.
I regret investing my $1200 into this mess. If I had any idea Kurt would be another scammer, I would have never gave him a penny. Since I have realized the truth about this scam, I have been avoiding Kickstarter like my life depends on it.
I never got how these kickstarter scams work. Imo You should never pay before having the product in your hand or checked before at some store because these scams are spreading with a greater speed all over the world.
Never get fooled by these products as their success rate isn’t good and also they offer no value for money, following the services of the company aren’t available. My experience wasn’t good as my compressor wasn’t working properly, I registered a complaint but they never responded, my Kapsul Air is still kept as no other company makes a compressor of that size.
The mindset for launching the product was good but the build quality was poor. We should be aware of the product’s claims and the processes because if there are any problems faced will the company be able to solve the problems?
The claims of the company are fake as the product’s life wasn’t as good as it has to be. My kapsul air also stopped working after a few months only whereas the company claimed it’s been working for 10 years without any problems. In the end, I tried to register a complaint but there were no replies from the company.
Kurt Swanson doesn’t even respond to the backers. We all feel cheated. Kapsul Air is nowhere near what it claimed to become.
Kurt Swanson is a heartless scammer as he took the payment before getting the product prepared in the factories and many buyers have shared complaints against the firm where one person was complaining about the malfunctioning of the product and many were still waiting for their delivery.
My experience with Kapsul Air was horrible. as its compressor was not compressing air properly after just 3 weeks in use, which makes the company questionable. Then they were not responding after I told them about the problem which just makes me angry because the company wasn’t taking any responsibility to return or repair the material. Worst product and way worse service.
I don’t trust Kickstarter or any kind of crowdfunding campaigns. My daughter was forcing me to buy one such product online, it was something along the lines of an unbreakable set of plates , but I never trusted the product because my gut feeling was that once I bought the product there would be no warranty provided. Turns out I was right.