I'm not quite sure what lesson I should learn from it? The sentence kind of implies that you are going to buy something. But you don't buy, you invest in a project. And investment always takes risks. There is no guaranty. What happened to Haunts is more or less what happens everyday behind closed doors. Now that the average consumer can become an investor, this part also becomes public notice. That's all.
To be honest, the backers of Haunts are lucky that they were offered a refund. There was no legal need to do so. As hard as it may sound.
The good thing if you're a game developer, there no reason to learn the lesson because you can finish the project with your own intention.
The project leader has no knowledge in programming, so he could abandon the project and refund to the backers.