Crowdfunding fiasco Coolest Cooler notified thousands of backers Friday night that it will never deliver the coolers it promised. The Portland company offered $20 in lieu of the $200 Kickstarter backers paid to launch the project five years ago.

After years of missteps, manufacturing problems and unfulfilled promises, Coolest Cooler said the trade war with China ultimately made its future untenable. The company, which raised $13 million through Kickstarter, is now the crowdfunding platform’s biggest failure.

“Today, I’m sad to report (the trade war) has proved to be an insurmountable challenge for Coolest and we are forced to close down operations,” Coolest Cooler founder Ryan Grepper wrote in an email to backers. He indicated tariffs on imported goods raised the company’s costs beyond the breaking point.

Coolest Cooler was a sensation in 2014, pitching a novelty ice chest tricked out with a blender, Bluetooth speaker and other amenities. It became a national sensation, featured on “Good Morning America,” countless news articles, and hyped by Kickstarter itself in crowdfunding’s heyday.

Roughly 60,000 backers pledged $200 to launch the project in exchange for a promise of their own cooler. But the Portland company, created from scratch to promote the cooler, was quickly overwhelmed and struggled to build a supply chain and manufacturing network to produce the cooler.

Ultimately, it appears 20,000 backers never received their coolers. In Friday’s email to backers, Coolest Cooler founder Ryan Grepper said they can register for a $20 payment under terms of a 2017 settlement with the Oregon Department of Justice.

Even if the company ultimately pays that settlement, thousands of backers will be out $180 from the money they paid to support the project five years ago.

Online, backers were furious.

“So let me get this straight....Ryan Grepper has to pay me $20 because he’s a crappy businessman & didn’t fulfill his obligations to customers, but where is the rest of my $180??” one wrote.

@Coolest_Cooler so let me get this straight....Ryan Grepper has to pay me $20 because he’s a crappy businessman & didn’t fulfill his obligations to customers, but where is the rest of my $180?? — amanda s bridgers (@amandasbridgers) December 7, 2019

“I was super patient.. i was believeing after 5 years they’d actually get this right. Thanks, @CoolestCooler. Now I only get back $20 and not the $185 I gave you guys? Weak,” another lamented.

I was super patient.. i was believeing after 5 years they’d actually get this right. Thanks, @CoolestCooler. Now I only get back $20 and not the $185 I gave you guys? Weak. — Mega Ran is ON TOUR (@MegaRan) December 7, 2019

Grepper did not respond to messages Friday and Saturday seeking comment. The Oregon Department of Justice, which brokered the 2017 settlement, said it won’t be able to assess whether the company is in compliance with terms of its agreement until Monday.

Kickstarter backers agree to support a project in exchange for a promise of a reward, like a cooler. But even though Kickstarter looks like an online retail site – with detailed product descriptions and fawning reviews – Kickstarter makes no promises backers will actually receive the reward that project creators promise.

So it’s not clear the 20,000 backers still waiting for their coolers have any recourse beyond the $20 from the Oregon settlement.

Kickstarter itself did not respond to a message Saturday seeking comment. Online, the crowdfunding clearinghouse still touts Coolest Cooler as a “Project We Love.”

Earlier this week, Coolest Cooler pitched a “cyber week” sale offering discounts of up to 60% on its products. Though an ominous sign, the company had given no indication the steep discounts were in fact a fire sale to pay creditors.

In Friday’s email, Grepper said Coolest Cooler would liquidate its remaining inventory to pay its debts. He said the company had borrowed repeatedly over the years to cover its manufacturing costs.

“For those who have not received a Coolest, it’s devastating for us to share this, and there is no way of expressing our full upset and disappointment that we cannot keep the doors open or fulfill your order,” Grepper wrote.

-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699