Problems with a Seller - Not sure what to do

[lofty100e]

I have asked one of the people on Ebid to prepare a website for me which I Paid for. He now tells me that the project has taken longer than it should have done (fault on both sides here as for me real life got in the way, with busier times at work and poor health, and slow responses from him). He is telling me that I owe him for wages for this (he wants to bill me for this at £10 per hour) interestingly he has not put a price on this yet.

Another problem is that the website has allegedly doubled in size. (The original deal was £95 for a 5 page website which he now tells me has now increased to 10 pages which should mean paying twice that).


I do not understand this as what I have asked for has not changed since day 1: a site to showcase my stores with a clickable link, photo of sample items from the store and description of the type of items in the store.

I feel he is trying to take advantage here, if he was not prepared to do the job why did he advertise at that price? Also I am wondering why he did not say something sooner about the alleged size of the site.

I am unsure where to go with this: I need the website but am not willing or able to pay double the money (or more for it). I am tempted to refer it to Paypal for a possible refund. In my view if he is trying to charge the same again then he has broken the agreement we had. (I have not got back to him about it yet - I need to think things through first). He would also have been hosting the site, so potentially having tried it on once he cold hold me to ransom a second time.

I am wondering what your views are on this?

Thanks for any advice.

[cornishmaid1961]

I think you are quite within your rights to cancel the deal as you had a contract for a five page site at a set price. If he can't provide you with what he advertised then you can rightly say it is not fit for purpose in my opinion.

[Idealproductsales]

OK.. from someone who has worked both sides of the issue:

1) cancel the deal - if he has delivered nothing to you, pay nothing and void any contracts you may have.
2) Make arrangements to find and obtain your own hosting under your own control, not at the mercy of any developer
3) Try a freelancer website such as upwork.com or getafreelancer.com - Both have measures in place to handle this sort of issue, and make use of them
4) if you do not know how to do ANYTHING related to webmastering, you would need to find a reliable webmaster (preferrably someone you know and trust - many computer "geeks" will be able to handle that sort of thing - from managing your hosting to uploading your web page files, etc.

So you need 3 things that no one should ever allow to combine into one provider (unless you are your own provider) - Web Designer, Web Master, and Web Hosting Also bear in mimd that good designers are rarely ever good programmers.. and vice versa - It is a rare thing to find well done software that is also displayed or "sold" on a glitzy website (unless it is a reputable company that pays other people do do specific pieces of the job)

[sidthelamp]

OK.. from someone who has worked both sides of the issue:

1) cancel the deal - if he has delivered nothing to you, pay nothing and void any contracts you may have.
2) Make arrangements to find and obtain your own hosting under your own control, not at the mercy of any developer
3) Try a freelancer website such as upwork.com or getafreelancer.com - Both have measures in place to handle this sort of issue, and make use of them
4) if you do not know how to do ANYTHING related to webmastering, you would need to find a reliable webmaster (preferrably someone you know and trust - many computer "geeks" will be able to handle that sort of thing - from managing your hosting to uploading your web page files, etc.

So you need 3 things that no one should ever allow to combine into one provider (unless you are your own provider) - Web Designer, Web Master, and Web Hosting Also bear in mimd that good designers are rarely ever good programmers.. and vice versa - It is a rare thing to find well done software that is also displayed or "sold" on a glitzy website (unless it is a reputable company that pays other people do do specific pieces of the job)

what that bloke said

[lofty100e]

Hi, Before I make contact with the guilty party I would like to clarify something. Would I be correct in thinking that if fonts and background colours are changed that it would not increase the page size of the web-site? This may seem a silly question, but I don't want him coming back with something like that and trying to blindside me.

[johnwash1]

Hi, Before I make contact with the guilty party I would like to clarify something. Would I be correct in thinking that if fonts and background colours are changed that it would not increase the page size of the web-site? This may seem a silly question, but I don't want him coming back with something like that and trying to blindside me.

You're correct.

IdealProductSales has summed it up very well, I thoroughly agree with every part of his response. You should definitely extricate yourself from this deal. Point out politely that you're not happy to continue, that deliverables haven't been provided in a timely fashion, so you're going elsewhere. If you've paid up front that was bad news on day 1, do your best to reclaim it. Doesn't matter whether it's a web designer or a builder, if they're any good they might want a small down payment to show good faith, e.g. 5%, but not a major part of the cost.

It sounds as if the other guy is inexperienced and was over optimistic about what he could do, rather than trying to con you. But you still don't want to have such a person learning his business on your nickel.

I've worked freelance for 35+ years, so I can see this from both sides. I'm not touting for business, I don't do web sites.

[lofty100e]

Thanks for that Johnwash, the deal was done through eBid and and paid for through PP so there should be no problems with refunds. I can't really argue about timely fashion as that was partly my fault. As I am to tired during the week after work I normally deal with other things at the weekend plus add in ill-health and it means reduced time. However I think the price-hike and demand for additional payments on top of that should swing it with PP.

One of our forum members has kindly offered to do the website build for free, with the suggestion that I make a donation to her (I think apologies if I got that wrong) charity appeal. Which I may well take up. Then it is just a case of finding a hosting site I could use the company I got the domain names through, but am unwilling to give them more money after being blasted with large scale spam emanating from that deal.

[johnwash1]

... Then it is just a case of finding a hosting site I could use the company I got the domain names through, but am unwilling to give them more money after being blasted with large scale spam emanating from that deal.

Your gut feeling is correct. You should never get hosting from your domain registrar. Google 'Why You Shouldn't Register Domains With Your Web Host'.

If jargon like 'nameserver' leaves you gasping for air, I'm sure there are plenty of people here who'll give you advice and lead you gently. It's pretty straightforward and most registrars these days have nice simple panels on their web pages allowing you to point your domain wherever you need it to be.

[buttons-and-bows]

Who are you registering your domains with I use UK reg and have never had a problem with any spam and i use a different company to host it.

[lofty100e]

Who are you registering your domains with I use UK reg and have never had a problem with any spam and i use a different company to host it.

My domains are registered with 1&1, who looked okay, it was only when I got to the following day (registered on a Sunday) that I found my inbox flooded with spam about website-building and the like.