Where’s Hendrik?

I also note he claims still to be a Gossamer Gear Trail Ambassador http://hikinginfinland.com/about/ but looking at the GG site they don't have him listed now.

Maybe they thought he was not a good connection. Other outdoor brands would do well to consider their relationship with him based on the stuff that is coming out about him.

Honesty, integrity are key business values. Association with people who are now in question for their apparent lack of integrity seems to me to be poor public image management.

"It's beyond a joke, or acceptable"

Correct. But what else can be done? It has been two years. Joking is the only way to relieve the pain for those who gave their hard earned money. And I would guess, as a percentage, BPL members were a large portion of the donation pool. Even if the project is completed by the end of August, I wonder if there will be any quality in them.

When I first looked at the crowd-funding model, the things that have happened with this project are exactly what I anticipated would be the norm.

Unfortunately, it leaves a bad taste and makes it difficult for people like Terry Abram, who delivered on time and exceeded expectations, to utilize this avenue for projects. Also, it must hurt folks and their reputations who recommend these projects and never thought the person would not deliver.

I really liked the title of my blog post that I linked to earlier in this thread, "Kickstarter, or Brother Can You Spare a Dime?"

I tried contacting Hendrik and received an email back this morning….

Hei,

thank you for contacting me. I'm unable to answer my Emails until the 12th of August.

Happy trails,

/hendrik

http://hashendrikfinishedatozyet.com/

That made me laugh Ken :-)

Martin,

I just spotted that outside online article you commuted on.

Yes nick, we all know you hate crowd sourced funding. You are a broken record on the subject. The topic never comes up without you pointing out the stat that 87 percent are delivered late.

Never mind the problem with stats…..lets just drill that home ad nauseum.

Well doing something over and over and expecting a different result is…

;)

I just received a second email…

I'm very sorry that it takes me so long to complete the series. The T-Shirt comes next month (will send an Email via Kickstarter then), the DVD when the series is complete. Updates by the end of this month, too.

However, I completely understand if you're not happy about this and would like your money back. I can offer you a full reimbursement (via PayPal), you could then continue to watch the series updates in Full HD as they come out but there wouldn't be a T-Shirt or DVD. If this is something you'd like, please let me know your PayPal address and I will see that you get your money during next week.

Again, I'm very sorry that I have made you wait. I underestimated the scope of the project and the time a baby and building a house takes. Please accept my apology.

Kind Regards,

/hendrik

"Well doing something over and over and expecting a different result is…"

My life on Match.com?

Nick Terry asked me to say thanks for the support of the effort he had to put in to deliver the film as promised.

I for one don't accept the excuses Hendrik claims. Many of us in the same time period balanced busy jobs, growing families and building extensions to our homes. We know what we have and are committing too.

So for him to claim that as justification is poor, as he in fact had asked funding to pay for his work time to make the film. So this is not an acceptable excuse. His time was factored in and funded.

He also has been outdoors many times, bought lots new gear and tried other outdoor disciplines (cycling, climbing) in the time since funded to film the A-Z. Shows to me a lack of commitment and focus in the promises he made. Integrity would you assume drive you to put it right, and not get more outdoor kit and ignore the films.

Compare that to Terry who went filming, did nothing else as he felt honour bound to deliver.

Or Dave Collins who was funded $10,000 to make the Clever Hiker films and delivered as promised. Again he asked for the time to film to be funded and then got on with it.

I sent him my paypal info for a refund.

Thanks Link. I did too.

"I for one don't accept the excuses Hendrik claims. Many of us in the same time period balanced busy jobs, growing families and building extensions to our homes. We know what we have and are committing too."

I am not giving Hendrik a "pass Go Free" card. I can be pretty vocal and irk people with my opinions — as has already been pointed out in this thread.

Aside from the moral and ethical issues at hand, I can't be too critical as I did not donate to the cause. So I won't directly pass judgement on this particular issue. To be honest, I wasn't that interested in the content to begin with.

It is a shame that there has been a lot of public criticism of the ULA2Z and it appears the first response or offer to reimburse money just occurred.

He deposited my refund into my paypal account yesterday.

UPDATE:

Hendrik emailed this today:

Hei everyone!

Here's the latest with the production of Ultralight A-Z.

In case you missed the previous mention, this project is running late. I underestimated how long this would take and it's still going to be a while before the last episode launches. I'm concentrating on making this series the best I can and my impression is that the vast majority of you support this. If any of you find this unacceptable, message me and we'll work it out. I want everyone happy. My priority is for this to be as good as I can make it, and that's going to take lots of time, much more than I could have imagined when I started working on this.
I'm currently spending a lot of my time doing client work to make ends meet. This slows – but not stops – progress, but is unavoidable.
Backers who get a T-Shirt should check their Inbox for a Survey Email. DVDs will follow when the series is done.
Below is a still from one of the coming Episodes, which will conclude the kitchen and stoves segment. Then it's two more Episodes and the free-for-all version will launch, which will be very exciting!

As always, I appreciate your support & your patience.

/hendrik"

Running late is untrue.. 2 years behind this week after being funded is the truth.

He was making videos before launch and had costed his time in to film each episode. So he was paid to make them. He had the funds and time.

Still no sorry to the BPL members here. No I will sort the missing episodes already made and address the questions. Nothing, all he does is jet off to outdoor shows, get more gear and ignore the questions.

Seems a case of no priority and this email update is poor as he has stated on his update to finish by the end of August.

An Update has been posted to the MLIFE Forum about the series, including links to all previous Episodes.

So what happened to all the money and the finish by August deadline?

Backers have a right to know and not just MFL forum members.

Hendrik posted an update to all his Kickstarter backers last evening. I for one am totally happy with the speed at which Hendrik has been releasing these. He may have promised a faster delivery date but honestly if they were coming out much faster I'd probably not have watched them all yet.

I think Hendrik works for Big Sky… : O

Interesting update Hendrik.

You tell us the videos take a long time to film and make. Then post a still photo from a recent episode you claim to be making.

Yet I note the photo seems to be the same scene from a recent climbing trip you took

(all photos are by Hendrik Morkel)

Trip report

http://hikinginfinland.com/2013/07/climbing-at-havukallio.html

You say you were climbing 10h a day. Tired and socialising with others in the evening. Yet you managed to make more videos.

So were you being truthful on this claim to have been out filming more A-Z videos?

Where you being truthful in the claim they take up lots of your time to make? Seems odd if you now can make them while out climbing doing 10h days

What really is happening Hendrik? Seems more questions than answers.

Martin, thanks for the link to Hendrik's climbing article.

This comment by Hendrick in his article caught my attention — "I learned that it’s not bad to fall on lead."

More than 40 years ago, when I was trying to learn to climb, by mentor told me that the number one rule for leading is this: "The leader never falls."

Now it's seems to be different. Falling is OK, even by the leader.

Corollary to that must be that failure is not bad. And that's progress?

"More than 40 years ago, when I was trying to learn to climb, by mentor told me that the number one rule for leading is this: "The leader never falls.""

Key to that is 40 years ago. Ropes, harnesses, protection pieces, belay devices are much muuuuch better now.

when that "rule" came out people were leading on goldline or hemp rope, placing pitons and doing a hip belay. So falling was not a good option since it was far less safe. Now you have nice dynamic ropes, good trad gear, comfortable/supportive harnesses and belay devices that make catches much easier.

still, today you need to know when a fall will be ok or not. there are still "no fall" zones where you could deck, hit something, pull a less than stellar placement etc.

I still have not taken a fall on trad gear but have taken plenty on bolts, i'd like to keep it that way.

Thought this was kinda cheesy.

"Ken,

refund sent. I appreciate your support and am sorry that I am not faster in producing the Episodes. No DVD, though you stay on the list to watch the series. I'd appreciate if you don't go around telling that I issue refunds, there's enough talk about the project as is.

Have a nice weekend,

/hendrik"

Like my Mom would say, You made that bed…

Ken yet more breathtaking arrogance from Hendrik. He should have said he would make it up to you. Have a DVD on me and sorry I failed, broke promise after promise. How he will get a full account of monies spent out in the public domain, and give a proven breakdown of film time and efforts to make more episodes.

Not: "I'd appreciate if you don't go around telling that I issue refunds, there's enough talk about the project as is" – unreal yet again from Hendrik.

Thanks for sharing the facts. I refused his offer to refund way back as he was seeking to deflect my questions. I wont allow him that.

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