FixBuddy Ratchet: Battery-Free Ratchet + Socket Set

Verdict Status

As of July 27, 2026, BackerGuardian has not assigned FixBuddy Ratchet a trust score — this record is awaiting a scoring pass, and we do not publish scores we have not computed from a checked evidence ledger. The verified facts, however, are serious: the campaign collected HK$128,318 (about US$16,400) from 133 backers, promised April 2026 delivery, and the creator has posted nothing publicly since March 3, 2026, while backers report undelivered rewards and allege a scam.

Campaign Facts (verified 2026-07-27)

The product as pitched: a battery-free ratcheting screwdriver with a 180-degree pivoting, lockable head, aluminum alloy handle, magnetic bit retention, and a kit of 28 S2 steel bits, six 75 mm extended bits, and nine Cr-V sockets. Specs and an early-backer price of US$99 (against a claimed US$179 planned retail) were covered by New Atlas on February 13, 2026; the campaign's own rewards page later claimed a US$199 retail price. Both retail figures are creator claims — no retail listing has been verified.

Delivery Status: Promised April 2026, Silent Since March 3

This campaign ended almost five months ago, and its delivery record as of July 27, 2026 looks like this:

• Two project updates, ever — January 22 (mid-campaign thank-you) and March 3, 2026 (funding thank-you, the day after the campaign closed). Nothing since, per the public updates feed.
• Reward surveys apparently never sent. Multiple backers on the public comments page wrote three to four months ago that they never received a backer survey — the step that must precede any shipment.
• No backer reports any delivery. The visible comment thread (23 comments) contains no receipt reports. It contains repeated unanswered requests for updates from April through July, one backer noting "Kickstarter had ship date as April 2026" while nothing arrived, refund requests, explicit scam allegations, and backers saying they have reported the project to Kickstarter.
• The creator has answered none of it. No creator replies appear in the visible thread.

We have found no independent evidence — press, retail listings, or backer reports — that any unit has shipped. As of this check the campaign fits the pattern of a funded campaign gone silent past its delivery window: unverified as fraud, but with zero public signs of fulfillment. We flag it for BG's delivery ledger as delivery-overdue and creator-silent, and will re-check on the standard cycle.

Creator Profile: First Project, Thin Identity

Facts as displayed on the campaign's creator tab on July 27, 2026:

• "FixBuddy" is a first-time creator account: 1 created project, 0 backed projects, account created December 2025 — about six weeks before launch.
• The listed individual behind the account is XIAOLI HAN. No team members are named beyond the campaign's generic "small team of designers and engineers" copy, and we found no company website or retail presence for this tool brand.
• The tab displays "last login Jan 9 2026" — a date before the campaign even launched on January 16. Whatever explains that display, both campaign updates were posted afterward; the account lists six third-party marketing collaborators (Kickbooster plus five newsletter/promotion services), any of which may have handled campaign activity.

None of this proves bad faith. It does mean the usual accountability anchors — prior delivery record, verifiable company, named team — are absent.

Evidence Timeline

Who This Record Is For

• Backers of this campaign: your recourse channels are the campaign's comments and message tools, Kickstarter's report-project function, and — for recent pledges — a chargeback conversation with your card issuer. Kickstarter's terms place fulfillment obligations on the creator, not the platform.
• Anyone who finds this tool sold elsewhere later: silent crowdfunding campaigns sometimes resurface as retail or marketplace listings. Nothing about this record verifies production quality or that the operation behind it fulfills orders.
• Researchers of crowdfunding delivery risk: this record documents a small (HK$128k) tools campaign entering the delivery-overdue, creator-silent state within two months of its promised ship date.

What Happens Next

This record carries no trust score because BG's scoring machinery has not yet run against its evidence ledger. The verified state above — first-time creator, overdue delivery, post-funding silence, unanswered scam allegations — is exactly the input that machinery weighs. The record is flagged for a scoring pass and for inclusion in the delivery ledger; funding figures, the updates feed, and the comment thread will be re-checked on the standard re-verification cycle.