Is Ghost Ark a scam?

 

Let's review...

image source: GhostArk Facebook page

Update:

They are closed.

 

See below for detailed updates

Below is a collection of articles, social posts, videos, reviews and information publicly posted by others regarding the Ghostark product. This is merely a collection of those reviews and information for the sake of archival in the event they disappear. These are actual posts. For the sake of clarity, these statements are actual copy/pastes from the source, though the validity of the content is unknown. But you can always contact the publisher of each review if you want to hear it from the source. Decipher what you wish from this information. But, be smart. Educate yourself before throwing down your hard-earned cash.

 

"DO NOT leave this unit plugged in, it's a potential fire hazard. SUPER DISAPPOINTED!" -SW

 

Sum it up for me.

Don't want to dig into all the gritty details? No problem. Here's a good synopsis.

 

Ghostark is a product tauted as a revolutionary, all-in-one, device. It's got a flashy look built by slick Apple-like marketing. Pre-order day came in August, 2015. Some number of people plunked down their hard-earned cash for a device they'd likely only seen 3D models of. Several noted ship dates came and went. With many delays, eventually, a few shipped. The reviews were scathing and littered with reports of clear technical and aesthetic defects making the device unusable and potentially dangerous. These numerous reported issues include a bad screen, loose buttons, odd buzzing sound, hazardous overheating and more.

 

  • All US distributors have canceled relationships with GA (currently not sold in the US)
  • Many defective and hazardous units reported
  • Unsatisfactory customer service with frequent runarounds or no response reported by customers
  • Reported GA blocking negative social media comments
  • Reported GA made legal threats to his own customers

 

UPDATES

 

8/1/16- They are gone. The website, ghostark.com, is now offline due to security certs. That means GA didn't pay the bill or the ISP shut them down with good cause. Many customers are still posting on social media that they are still awaiting for units they paid for a year ago.

 

7/5/16 - A message right from a factory worker suggests (though translated) that even they have not heard from the Ghost ark 'owners' for a long time and that nothing has been produced for at least 3 months.

 

4/23/16 - Ghostark has gone silent following all of the refund demands and credit card claims both publicly and privately. No posts or public communication since April 7th.

 

6/12/16 - A comprehensive SUMMARY posted by Chris Fleming.

"...THEY ARE GONE - ITS OVER, THEY HAVE TAKEN THE MONEY AND RUN. Have you been reading the comments over the past few months. GET YOUR MONEY BACK FROM YOUR CREDIT CARD ASAP!!!!! Copy these comments on this FB page (all of them) and save them for record to show your credit card company. The device was a bust, had to many problems and they could not get new ones out to replace them. Many people still NEVER got their units!!!! Whatever replacement units did go out didn't work either! There is no manual for the device and no online software program. Never was. They filed a Limited Liability company in BULGARIA as SELECTION LTD yet they are in Italy. Another country! That protects them from BK and not having to pay money back. There are no comments from GHOSTARK since early MAY, no more units being made via MOKO (factory) and they no longer respond. They shut off responses. Seems Margarita left the company as well as her listing on FB shows her no longer with GHOSTARK since Jan. Massimo now shows GHOSTARK as creative director and NO longer CEO..... His son no longer shows GHOSTARK on his FB page. Do the research yourself!!! Contact your CREDIT CARD TODAY. Gather documentation to state your claim. Us USA' resellers tried to warn everyone back in December! We severed all ties with them (in December) due to suspicion of fraud and lies we caught them in. Sadly, Customers not in the know have still been ordering and getting double and triple charged on their credit cards. It's now turning into a CRIME. Please listen and warn people. I will not allow any more people to get fooled and taken advantage of by these posers." - CF

 

"What a let down, I feel sorry for anyone who has ordered one." - Haunted Magazine

 

Articles

"Is GhostArk Sending Faulty Equipment, or Just Scamming the Public?"

"Why do so few people beleive in GhostArk?"

"GhostArk's First Customers Disappointed by Technical Issues"

Haunted Magazine review and notice of feature retraction

GhostArk Threatens to Sue Customers for 'Embezzlement'

 

Video Reviews & Demos

Unboxing video

Faulty screen, functions not working and SD failure

'GhostFart' parody video (language)

Video review: "Unhappy Ghost Ark Dude" (language)

SD card error and buzzing

Melting cable

Faulty screen and SD failure

A collection of reviews and videos via Facebook group

 

"This could be a fire hazard... I am so disappointed .. DO NOT BUY THIS.... It's awful...." - JR

 

Here's an excerpt from an email sent out to customers from GA. The email details how their own factory "is not professional" and "don't following our instruction". It goes on to warn customers incoherently and with hostility that they will pursue anyone who posts bad reviews, "They say warn. I want are sincerly with you and please don't publish this thing." - GhostArk

 

 

Reviews & Comments

 

These are all social posts noted here as a log for archival in the event GhostArk deletes them (as they have been known to do) or is removed for any reason.

 

"DO NOT PLUG THE USB from your computer to the speaker they provided.. Mine just about caught fire... It heated up and started smoking!!!! If you truly dont believe me try it.... This thing is a FIRE HAZARD...." - JR

 

"GhostArk have only gone and blocked us" - Haunted Magazine

 

"I took the Ghostark out on its first investigation on Friday, it is worse than I originally reported, NOTHING is working as it should be, emf is sensor constantly buzzing, speaker don't function properly, sweeping is receiving way to much interference, evp has a constant static running through it when recording, button covers keep falling off, centre button on upside down, basically the whole device is defective." - EP (GA's response: "Hi Eddie, you probably received a faulty units." - Probably?)

 

"You have turned people's happiness into despair, you have taken £150 of their hard earned money, kept it in your Banque De Italia for 5 months, didn't get quotes until Mid November, didn't deliver on a promise to ship a prototype to us (we know bloody why now), changed the delivery times (and the spec) in January and then have the nerve to delete messages, only answer questions with non-committal replies and have now delivered some non-working GhostArks." - Haunted Magazine

 

"Besides the SD card Failing on Every attempt....Anomalies on boot up....and then working once by some miracle...the speaker squealing like some Slaughtered Animal..... The Push to talk button not working.... The EVP record function not recording... and the MOST DANGEROUS.. When I plugged the USB cable from my computer into the SPEAKER to charge it... THE USB CABLE MELTED and started SMOKING almost catching on FIRE...... THIS UNIT is dangerous........a FIRE HAZARD..... I AM BOXING EVERYTHING UP ... If someone leaves the unit plugged in and a fire starts.... there is going to Lots of trouble... THIS THIS IS DEADLY" - JR

 

For the sake of balance, here is a POSITIVE REVIEW:

"Got my refund through the credit card company... Thank god I paid on my credit card, I genuinely feel for those that didn't, ghostark have gone completely dark so any chance of a refund from them is all but gone" - JT

 

"I have two units and both do not work." - MGR

 

"My unit arrived today. Sadly, I'm not impressed. Fortunately, I did not have any issues with the SD cards syncing up. However, after I finally figured how to turn the unit on, the unit will not remain on unless i keep holding the button. As a fix, I wrapped a rubber band around the button and unit. The unit is visually pleasing to the eye, but appears to be cheaply made. The covers for the knobs come off easily and some of the buttons are wobbly, loud, and rough when pressed. The radio sweep, emf reader, pressure and temperature sensors all appear to b working fine. The evp' mode is suspect. The recording sounds much different than my digital recorder, as during a playback, I could barely hear the radio in the background. Also, it is very difficult to rewind during an evp' playback (maybe I need more practice operating it). The operating instructions says very little and the external speaker is very small and does not look like anything in the video posted......I'll keep playing with it until a manuel is a valuable online." -MS

 

"I finally got one..Here is my thoughts after breaking one apart ,the design was basically a andruino design and made pretty,those that functioned..It would take alot of redesign to make one truely function as they was advertised to do..All sensors was very close together and the switching pots was extremely cheaply made..Bottom line save your money,they sank there boat!.." JC

 

"HELLO I NEED TO KNOW WHO TO CONTACT TO GET EITHER EITHER A REFUND OR REPLACEMENT. MY DEVICE DOES NOT WORK WAS TOLD TO CONTACT THE TECH TEAM 6 TIMES ALREADY. THEY HAVE NIT RESPONDED SO NOW WHAT IVE EVEN MESSAGED MASSIMO.HELLO? ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO JUST SIT THERE AND NOT RESPOND IM ASKING FOR HELP AND GETTING THE RUN AROUND. ALL IM LOOKING TO DO IS GET A REPLACEMENT DEVICE. IT APPEARS TO HAVE ISSUES READING BOTH CARDS THAT WERE SENT TO ME BOTH WERE , BOTH WERE FORMATTED BEFORE PUTTING THEM IN THE DEVICE, THE PUSH TO TALK BUTTON IS NOT LEVEL TO PUSH IN PROPERLY, AND SOMETIMES IT APPEARS TO HAVE ISSUES WITH THE LCD SCREEN." -SW

 

"...please don't publish this thing..." - GhostArk Team

 

"8 days after my tracking number was sent, and still saying item not found by the USPS. I fully understand a one of a kind item and the time it takes to get it right for customers. I am unhappy to say the least at the fact that a more reputable company to ship the item was not found. Saying a country celebration will slow delivery times is ridiculous. I sent email to MOJO over a week ago, and have not heard a word. Not a single word. That makes me wonder about their concern for shipping the ARK. I have not said a word this entire time of waiting. Now, it is getting far more than frustrating." -MP

 

"Times up GhostArk. Where are the shipping confirmation emails? People ordered back in August and have been good and given you the benefit of the doubt through the delays." This was posted January 30th

 

"We were promised a device back in October when we were filming with the Travel Channel. As you can guess they did not follow through, we had two devices on order and like everyone else we're getting the complete run around along with mis and disinformation Regarding the order. since then very few emailS and the ones we did receive we're extremely vague. as of today my charge card company has finally agreed that my disputes for the charge of items back from August would be honored. we here at GhostLand society had great hope for this item but realized quickly there we're going to be issues. I truly hope that go start themselves find themselves in a huge class action lawsuit" -BJ

 

"It's not going to work, and unfortunately people paid for a box with pretty blue LEDS. GA is just sending them to an email tech support. What a disaster." - KF

 

"What a let down, I feel sorry for anyone who has ordered one, it is looking like, judging by all the comments, that it has been made cheaply, made quickly and delivered to a handful of people who are, dare we say, not best pleased. No prototypes issued and I have never ever heard of a company allowing the manufacturer to ship direct without seeing the finished product, because surely if they had seen the finished product they wouldn't have allowed shipping." - Haunted Magazine

 

"It's not going to work, and unfortunately people paid for a box with pretty blue LEDS. GA is just sending them to an email tech support. What a disaster." - KF

 

"Ghostark is a con" - KA

 

"Seriously!!!! This unit is total crap!!! It doesn't work!! The SD card constantly fail upon turning on. After 3 tries you might get a successful card read. The dials are not positioned on the unit properly to the settings on the device. You need a mic to plug into it to record . No mic included. The volume buttons when pressed do not show whether you are turning the volume up or down. I had the ear buds in and had to take them out because they got very very hot, most likely a grounding short in the wiring... Potential fire hazard. DO NOT leave this unit plugged in.. Mine got very very hot while charging.. Also a potential fire hazard.... The recording function does NOT work at all. The battery life was 2.5 hours . SUPER DISSAPPOINTED!! Totally not as advertised.. Anyone else have these problems.. Please post !!!!" -JR

 

"those pesky people at GhostArk have only gone and blocked us from commenting on their FB page and their Twitter accounts. We should've dared them to deliver more GhostArks to the people that have ordered them. Apologies everybody." - Haunted Magazine

 

"I was very excited when this product was announced and ALMOST pre ordered but something didn't seem quite right and when I contacted their marketing person I was fobbed off with an excuse. I have been eagerly following this 'project' or debacle but right from the start I didn't think it was right that you had to fork out several hundred dollars and then wait up to a year to receive the item. It's a fantastic ideal, but a reputable company would NOT charge you until shipped. They just wanted money from the pre orders to fund the project and that is wrong, especially since it seems the project may be flawed! I feel really sorry for those that have paid and put their trust in this company." - PW

 

"...if customer complain, it's not our mistake." GA factory, MOKO

 

"It powered up and thats about it up until the point of it becoming too hot to handle. It literally got so hot they said that it started to smoke." - BJ

 

NOTICE from the Manufacturer, MOKO

 

The below are excerpts from an email from the GA manufacturer, MOKO. These are excerpts from an, otherwise, long message. This was provided by a customer who contacted MOKO directly for answers:

 

"Ghostark said MOKO should reply his customer's complain. So I reply you this email. / Please understand, all the housing is supplied by Ghostark, we just do the assembling for them.

There are many problem in first batch. We suggested Ghostark to redesign the housing mold. But they did not. / We did not test the temp, we never get this temp test requirement from Ghostark. I informed this complain to our engineer, we need to check the problem based on Ghostark's schemetics, not sure if they will supply. / We discovered many problem in the producing process, and informed Ghostark. Untill now they did not solve engineer problem. Just ask us to put glue in housing, add a piece of carton on SD socket...We confirmed with Ghostark, if customer complain, it's not our mistake.

 

"...they did not solve engineer problem. Just ask us to put glue in housing, and add a piece of carton on SD socket." - GA factory, MOKO

 

 

Threats to Their Own Customers

 

This is a response I just got on Facebook: "GhostArk CEO is aware of the situation. So now, you have two defective units. Since you have been refunded, you must ship them back because you do not have the right to keep the units, even if defective, from a legal point of view. And stop saying we are scammers. Or it is defamation from a legal point of view. Kind regards, GhostArk team" - JH

 

"And stop saying we are scammers." - GhostArk Team

 

 

 

In Summary...

 

As an investigator, investigate and decide for yourself.

 

Investigate even further if you feel you want to buy one.

 

 

 

image source: Haunted Magazine

GhostArk Unboxing Video

Video Review: "Unhappy GhostArk Dude" (language)

image source: GhostArk Facebook posted by customer

Technician who, allegedly, works for GA posts "The factory has added protection from sd card casing coming off aswell as properly soldering it." The photos shows cardboard and electrical tape.

 

image source: Facebook posted by technician who claims to work for GA