Legal Actions towards a website company ???

I want to know what are my legal actions towards a website company ?

I have been waiting since October 2009 for my website to be complete and they have not delivered anything significant and keeps apologizing for the delays.

And now, as of today, their website have been suspended !!!

What can I do ? They are register on BBB.ORG and they have a physical address in California, but I live in Canada so I don't know what are the USA laws and what to do exactly. I'm tired of waiting, I want a full refund


please help

Thank you

 

Inform them firmly through email or phone that they would have a lawsuit on their hands if they didn't do a refund immediately. If this fails to put any pressure on them, you have to get in touch with a lawyer. You could start by digging up all of your correspondence with the company, their promised date of completion, and their terms of service. Find out if they included a no refund policy, and check for other clauses as well that may protect them.

 

big words. unless the sums involved are significant, lawyers aren't worth bothering about. Ands no one falls for 'I'll sue' threats these days. Especially when the injured party is in a different country.

On a more constructive note, how did you pay him and when. Perhaps you can charge back.

 

Try to contact them and ask for a refund.
As you started the project in 2009 I don't think a charge back will be possible, specially as most payment gateways have a limit on change backs.
If their website is suspended they might be out of business which means that your money is gone and your project will never be completed and you can not contact them by emails as the emails are no longer working. You should call them instead.

I am sure that there are some laws in US that can help you get your money back, but only if the amount worth hiring a lawyer. For a start you can submit a complain to the federal trade commission.

The problem with your case is that you are in a different country, which makes it little harder.

 

I paid them through Mastercard on October 2009 for the amount of 6 400 $ US.

It piss me off even more become I did so much marketing since the beginning. I have 30 000 fans on my facebook page + 4-5 people that wanted to be the official sponsors of my website niche. And now I can't trust any other webdesign company and even if I trusted another one, I don't want to pay again !

They were founded in 2003 ... And they had a A + rating on BBB.org back in 2009, I thought they were legit since they have been in business for more than 5 years !

 

You could 'take them to small claims court' - if you will accept less than 5K. If more, then you need real court, real lawyers and all that stuff. Even if you win in court, they won't have to pay you because you'll only have a judgment rather than actual cash. If they don't pay a judgment - there is still little you can do. Pretty much the end of this story is you lost that money - even if you 'win'.

BBB is not a good indicator of honesty. It only cost a few dollars to join. Most legitimate companies don't even bother with them. Indeed, shady companies like to register to give a little better appearance to their dodgy business. I'd be willing to bet there are more shady companies than good ones listed at the BBB. Not sure about this though. I do know, I don't trust BBB.

 

Sorry to hear that your marketing efforts were wasted.

Clau is right. A chargeback is unlikely to succeed, since it's been almost 20 months since you made the payment in October 2009. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to enquire with Mastercard anyway. When did the company promise to finish the site? If the deadline was recent enough, perhaps a chargeback just might be possible. Contacting the FTC is also a good idea. If you do eventually decide to take legal action, you will need to dig up their terms of service and read the fine print like I mentioned earlier. Sometimes, companies include a clause that disputes can only be filed in the state of the company and not the user; if this is the case, you'd have to decide if it was worthwhile to proceed. Another thing to note: if you can find other individuals who have similar disputes with the company, a class action lawsuit could be filed.

 

Technically speaking this is almost correct; but class actions are not really used this way. Besides, the company went broke. Nobody sues a company who is now broke. There is nothing at the end of the suit.

 

I'd suggest you listen to what PatentAgent says - his advice will save you spending even more money. The small claims advice is particularly worth re-reading in case you don't understand it.

 

OP, perhaps you could try to find out exactly what is going on with the company, and whether their website was suspended because they actually went broke or for other minor reasons, then decide where to go from there.

 

Cut your losses and start new. There is no point throwing good money after bad by making people in the legal profession more money than you'll ever get out of it. You have wasted enough time already a legal process will drag on.

Just move on I know it may be a bitter pill to swallow.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. If I was you I'd demand a refund and send them numerous comunications claiming that you have begum legal procedings and keep threatening them with that.

If you're lucky they might cough up. I would probably agree that actually going ahead with legal action is probably going to cost more than its worth but it doesn't hurt to play ball and pretend you're going to follow through. Call their bluf.

Best of luck - Can I just ask who the company is ?

 

You've been waiting since 2009 for a website?

You do realize it is mid 2011 now, right? You are just starting to get the feeling you were screwed? My god man, what has been going on the last 18 months?

You might have been screwed, but something else seems amiss.