And in the case of Indiegogo, you won't always get your money back if the campaign fails, or even if it reaches its fundraising goals but still doesn't deliver the goods. This is from Indiegogo's Terms and Conditions: Advertisement

"Contributions, including the Service Fees portion thereof, are not refundable. If a Campaign Owner is unable to perform on any promise and/or commitment to Contributors (including delivering any Perks), the Campaign Owner will work with the Contributors to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution, which may include the issuance of a refund of Contributions by the Campaign Owner." Now, there's no question that the Sondors e-bike actually exists, at least in some form. It's been reviewed here and here, for starters, and Mr Sondors has posted plenty of photos on Indiegogo keeping backers abreast of its progress through the manufacturing process. But elements of the campaign are proving unsettling to would-be Sondors e-bike owners, including this latest news that Agency 2.0, the PR firm that specialises in publicising crowdfunding campaigns, claims not to have been paid by Sondors and has sued his company in the Superior Court of California. Whether or not this dispute is a harbinger of problems to come with the e-bike is actively discussed on Indiegogo. For its part, Agency 2.0 says the disagreement "should have no bearing on the delivery of the eBikes".

That's good news, because the Sondors e-bike, despite the question marks hanging over it, is not without its charms. It's priced at just $US649, and even after you add the $US247 for international shipping, that's pretty cheap for an electric bike, which mostly sell in the $2000 to $4000 price range. Other claims about the Sondors e-bike, which remain to be proven, seem appealing too: it can do 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), presumably without the rider pedalling, and has a 50 mile (80 km) range on a 90 minute battery charge. For a $US649 bike, those are very good figures. The question is, are they too good to be true? We should start to find out one way or the other soon enough. The Sondors e-bike is slated to start shipping on May 1.