I have watched this project with interest from the beginning and gradually I got the impression that it was going sour. I think that the money was paid out too soon to the manufacturer of the skirts, a skirt should have been made solely for approval and no more than 30% of the total monies paid for that sample, the balance should have been paid on receipt of the final parts if they were acceptable. No one running a sound business would do anything so risky, as this leaves the only way to get such money back is through litigation and that is often more expensive that the money lost. The way this was run the only people at risk were the twenty odd members in the group buy, the makers of the skirts are the ones who should have taken the risk, as it is they are in and out and clear of blame.
Too much trust was put on a person who it appears did not warrant it from previous experiences, this error is solely the responsibility of those who made that the decision to pay up front. Monies that were meant for this project, shipping costs, were even paid into a private bank account, this is a bad practice for a company. Not having sufficient funds to pay back money paid out in bad faith suggests that the company is run on a shoestring budget and was not able to carry the responsibility of such a project. A company that cannot find $11,000 is a company in name only.
I am possibly going to get some flack from this post but I think some people have been too kind and forgiving, and with some people needing the money back more than others it is a sad affair.