“Veronica Mars” Kickstarter supporters: Rob Thomas understands your frustration.
Responding to fan anger over difficulties downloading the new film via online-distribution platform Flixster (digital copies of the movie were provided free to donors who gave $35 or more to the crowd-funding project), the creator of the long-defunct UPN series encouraged fans to be proactive in sorting out their issues in an open letter on the movie's official Kickstarter page Friday, stating:
“I genuinely want today to be perfect for all of you. It's March 14. Today, your movie came out worldwide, and I want you to be able to watch it on whatever platform or device works best for your needs.
So, here's the deal:
We understand that some of you prefer other platforms or services for watching digital content. If you contact our Customer Support team, they can help.
If you paid for a copy of the movie a year ago, we don't want you to have less choice and freedom than people who decide to buy it today. And we definitely don't want you to end up paying twice just to see the movie on your preferred service.
Please know that Warner Bros have given Customer Support a lot of freedom to help make things right, so if you're having issues, please let them know: they'll do their best to either help get Flixster working to your satisfaction, or, if you prefer, to provide an alternate solution.”
Distributor Warner Bros. Pictures also released a statement on the matter over the weekend, offering to reimburse supporters for the purchase price of the film on a different platform if they continued to experience problems:
“The vast majority of 'Veronica Mars' backers who attempted to redeem their code had a successful experience. A communication was sent to all backers yesterday from Rob Thomas telling them to get in touch with 'Veronica Mars' technical support if they were experiencing problems. Backers who had technical issues were assisted directly by the 'Veronica Mars' customer support team while those who expressed a preference to have the film on a different format received the communication below offering to reimburse them for the cost of purchasing the film in that format. We are, of course, working diligently to ensure that all the 'Veronica Mars' backers have a great experience.”
Nonetheless, negative comments continued to roll in on the film's Kickstarter page as of Sunday afternoon.
“Veronica Mars” grossed slightly more than $2 million over the weekend in 291 theaters, good for a solid $6,945 per-screen average. The film's Kickstarter campaign wowed industry onlookers last year by raising more than $5.7 million on the crowd-funding platform, nearly three times the original goal.
Have you had problems downloading the “Veronica Mars” movie? Let us know in the comments.