Tactical Corsets

Prior to Code Hero, in 2009, Alex Peake started a business to sell what he called "Tactical Corsets," a combination of tactical vests and corsets. According to Mr. Peake, it was for him "[t]o learn about business and marketing" and "to try to create a fundraiser to help pay for Code Hero." It was also apparently made because he imagined his ideal woman wearing one, but they did not exist and making it would bring such women to him. Ranging from $300 to $500 (USD), the clothing line would ultimately end in failure, with few actually getting the product they paid for. Mr. Peake claimed difficulty in making the corsets, as well as issues with the staff he hired to make them.

At some point, he ended the entire thing and, according to him, issued refunds. However, this end was not made clear in either the Twitter or Facebook accounts or even the website. The closest I found was in one response to a buyer on Facebook (posts by others) after a buyer complained in Fall 2011 about her June 2010 purchase (and had been doing so for months prior):

I recieved this after I made this post... "Hi Beckie,
I'm sorry it took so long to get you a refund, I have not been working on Tactical Corsets since I closed the store a while ago and I didn't realize yours had not been made already. I will Paypal you a refund by Friday.
Sincerely,
Alex"

(It didn't come by Friday, by the way.)

It seems the first and final post really about Tactical Corsets on the Facebook group was made in February 2010, which coincides with the last updates on the website and on the Twitter account, being April and August (sort of) of the same year respectively.

Although Amanda Coolong (perhaps one of the seamstresses?) seemed to have tried to make an announcement of sorts regarding items being out of stock in May 2011, there was still no clear message when the whole thing was over.

The stories I've read, from those like Beckie Timohovich, Tanya Regan, and Khellendrathas, seem to show that Mr. Peake was terrible with communication. When he did respond after long periods of silence, he made promises he didn't keep (like giving refunds or the product by such-and-such date) and also would give multiple excuses. Sound familiar?

It also seems that, despite Mr. Peake saying items were out of stock and eventually calling it quits on the project, he did not disable the purchasing area of the website until the site would ultimately go down some time before September 2012 (see here). Fortunately, the late buyers seemed to have been able to get a refund through Paypal. It's not totally clear if those who waited beyond Paypal's time limit were able to receive full refunds though.

When Mr. Peake began the Code Hero project in 2011, he began posting on it. Throughout the Kickstarter's running time, he made several posts on the Facebook account and a couple on Twitter with information on the new thing. On both, he posted with a claim to return to Tactical Corsets once Code Hero was launched, seemingly in trying to persuade people to help with the new idea if they still were interested in the corsets.

Thinking on it, maybe that was really the closest Mr. Peake went to announcing it was officially over? By saying he'll start it up again later?

I've done my best to sum up what I have found and provide links for others to see things for themselves. I hope this is helpful with dealing with the current Code Hero situation and other projects that may come from Mr. Peake in the future, even for Mr. Peake himself.