It's not about the method (ICO), it's about the people and teams behind the ico's being 1) amateurs with no clue 2) very prepared scammers who have really nice fancy websites but no intention to at all to followup or honour the sale and 3) well meaning but totally immature ideas and teams who are doing a cash grab.

This case sounds like #3 - where they have an idea, but immature company structure, poor legal structure, and no governance that is supposed to bind a team together - in this case they are fighting about the money ...

As always - in the end it's all people. Public ICO is a tool, and it's really NOT the tool to use if you want to find a real base of support and well-intentioned stakeholders (who won't turn around and sue you the moment the ico completes :)