Hey there, backers Frens!  ૮₍ ˵◕´ ヮ `◕˵ ₎ა 

The campaign has ended for a while now and we're currently working on building up the surveys in the Pledge Manager ( ˶ﾉω<˶ ) 

As we move forward, we'd like you to know (or remind, for those who are not new to our campaigns) the next steps in the process.

✦ꜱᴜʀᴠᴇʏꜱ
We've already started getting everything ready for the next phase and begun preparing the surveys. But, as always, we gotta hang tight for at least the first 14 days while Backerkit works its magic processing the payments -before sending them out. And maybe we'll need some extra time to manually input each individual item from the campaign -and this might take a little bit of time. But no worries—we'll give you a heads-up as soon as the surveys are good to go (starting with the Smoke Test)!

✦ᴇʀʀᴏʀᴇᴅ ʙᴀᴄᴋᴇʀꜱ
Oh, and for those of you whose payments didn't quite go through, and may be at risk of being dropped from the campaign, you have got a whole week to update your payment info starting from the end-day of the campaign. After this time, you'll be able to reclaim your pledge the same through your survey -so please really don't worry. 
We'll send you a direct e-mail for it later on -after the surveys are all set. So please check your mail box!
We want to make sure everyone who participated in the campaign gets a chance to snag their goodies!

✦ᴘʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛꜱ

For the production and fulfillment to be started, funds are needed to be transfered over to us. Campaign funds can take up to 25+ business days to arrive to us, while after-campaign funds (survey add-ons and shipping costs) will be charged by us some time before starting the production (we'll ofc make a proper update to let everyone know when they will be actually charged -as we usually do).
After we'll have all the funds in hands and everyone (or the vast majority) will have answered the surveys, we'll able to actually start the production of the rewards with our manufacturers.

Keep an eye out for more updates in the future  ̖́-

Warm hugs,
the Quirkory team~

We're sorry for the recent lack of communication. We apologize for not keeping you updated!

We've been also anxious about this, feeling overwhelmed -which made us withdraw a bit socially. We do not mean to shift blame, but rather to offer insight into the situation.

We're also going through a tough time for a very long period now, and we're already working hard to handle everything the best we can both for this campaign and for other aspects of our work.

Many of the questions we've received, revolve around what happens if certain items, especially the pocket plushies, are not unlocked by the end of the campaign. 

In the past, we've eventually covered these costs ourselves when something wasn't unlocked, out of our own pocket. But unfortunately, we can't do that this time. Those who follow us, know well that we've faced significant health issues and related-expenses in our family this year -including ourselves. We are truly sorry that we won't be able to produce the other (still locked) items. We were excited about them, as we really wanted to make them (and our previous proposal with the poll is a proof of that).

>Therefore, everyone is always encouraged to keep an eye on the campaign while it's live and adjust your pledge accordingly before it ends (reminder e-mails are also sent before the very end of the campaign for this as well). The great thing about crowdfunding campaigns like this one, is that you can easily adjust your pledged amount (increase, decrease, or even cancel) until the end. We thought it might be helpful to mention this again, as many have asked about it.

Otherwise, the full amount will be automatically charged, and can be used it in the survey to get the unlocked items (choosing duplicates), for any extra post-campaign add-ons available (sometimes we include items from our past campaigns/shop), or for covering shipping costs!
As stated earlier, please note that refunds are not possible once the campaign has concluded and payments have been processed. This is because all funds are allocated towards fees, taxes, and production expenses. We do not have the ability to charge a different amount than what was originally pledged by the backer. The decision to change the pledged amount rests solely with the backer.

This also applies to those who took advantage of the early bird discounts: as mentioned before, if you cancel your pledge or switch tiers after the early bird period has ended, unfortunately, you will lose your reserved spot and the associated benefits. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. We're sorry... Regrettably, this is a measure that we are unable to change in any way.

>If you want to keep the early bird benefits, you can stay in the selected tier and change the pledge level later in the survey -using the remaining extra charged amount for shipping costs or other purposes (because you will still be charged in full). 

Now, hoping we've addressed all your questions and everything is crystal clear, we are excited to share with you the Marigold sample (the first character to come to life as a sample among the others). We are currently collaborating with our manufacturer to make the needed adjustments and on the other samples. There are still a few minor changes to add, but it looks promising!

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us! We really appreciate hearing from you. After carefully reviewing all the feedbacks and considering the situation, we made a decision. Despite the results of the poll, we've decided to stick with our original plan for the stretch goals.
 
We initially proposed that, simply because we wanted to do better, to make sure everyone was happy and had a variety of choices (with the current funds, at least 2 big plushies would have been unlocked anyway, and you would have been able to choose which ones to unlock!) Perhaps we could have even raised more funds in the end, unlocking something else. Many people still do not pledge unless their favorite items are unlocked.

That proposal also took into account those who have pledged for the bundle with a little bit of everything, including acrylic charms and pocket plushies. Which in the current situation (with things staying as they are) they could not receive other items but the big plushies (although extra credit can still be used in the survey for the shipping costs or for extra items to add later).

Just fyi, we couldn't make a change into the stretch goals order just after one day or a few days from launch. It's hard to predict how a campaign will progress (especially with the strong start this had), how much funding will come in next, and which things should be switched at start. These factors can only be evaluated after a good amount of time has passed.

>After seeing other creators make similar changes -switching goals- in their campaigns, we thought about doing it ourselves too, in this situation.

Also, turning this campaign into one focused only on big plushies and saving the other items for a future campaign, isn't something possible right now. Once a tier is pledged to, we can't remove it in any way... so those items have to stay available.

Strong words have been used towards us and we understand that our proposal may have stirred up strong emotions or anxiety for some of you (which was never our intention, especially in a campaign focused on providing emotional support).

We hope that you will still find joy in these goodies and that together we can overcome any challenges~

Thank you for being a part of this Cuddles&Snuggles journey so far. We appreciate your understanding, your valuable input and continued support!


Wish you a lovely Friday and weekend ahead in the meantime,