Hello! I need some advice from DP members. Several months ago, I did an extraordinary web page for a customer. I worked hard during 8 months and now they don't want to pay me my work. I don't have access to server anymore and we didn't signed any agreement. I think I have been scammed. Is there something that can be done in this case? Has somebody lived this situation before? Any ideas will be really helpful. Thank you.
Do you have any access of control panel with that customer if yes then try to remove there code or you can do one more thing that from very soft heart with buttering take another work from him and hangup him at that movement where he can not do any thing with out your help.
I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been really good if it took you 8 months for one page. There probably isn't much you can do since you didn't have a contract. You may just have to chalk it up as a hard lesson learned.
You could try contact the server host and explain, they might be able sort it out, either get the files back or delete their account.
Well, in eight months I did a lot of work, not only the web page, also design logo, installing and configuring sugarcrm, newsletter, basecamp, helping making budgets for customers, confguring domains and servers, etc. They promise me receiving benefits for the enterprise and more work. The web page and all my work is hosted in bluehost. I'm shure they will know that with my IP I accessed to their server, but I'm not shure If they can believe anybody who tells them that they customers don't pay their webpages. And If I contact them, they will notify my customer also.
just contacted to bluehost, they have told me that they are not going to give me access under any circunstance.
The only thing you can do is to forget about them and next time you take a job - just ask for 50% before you start and the other 50% after you finish the job. If you want to be nasty you can make some black hat things to make the site banned by google but it will not give you your money. So make up your mind. I suggest you just go ahead but remember the lesson. Sorry about you - i know what is it to work so hard on something and to take nothing at the end.
Its very sad to learn about all this. 1st of all, no host will provide you with the customer's control panel settings at any cost. 2nd, you did not have any agreement because of which you cannot pull them to the consumer forum. The only thing that you can do is learn a lesson from all this and next time, always take advance money from the customer. Also make it a point that as you complete the project, keep asking for the money or stop it right there. I am feeling sorry about all this and I know how you must be feeling, but don't take it too much on your mind. Someday or the other, this customer will surely come back to you.
Yea you won't get nothing at all. I think you should next time either ask for a down-payment, you can as well sign an agreement but make sure that the agreements are both notarized. From what I heard you are able to issue Bill Agreements on paypal, so issue your client a bill agreement and withdraw funds that way. I'm sorry to hear that you got scammed but there isn't really much you can do. Not even if you contact the host they still won't be able to do much. Open a Ripoff-Report and issue your statement. Are you able to say the website's name or the companies name you worked for or even the people?
Yes right one can always ask for part payments as work progress. Post No.500 (for my reference) Raider to Tauren
I'm really grateful for all your answers. DP is really a great community, I'm glad to be here. @chandan123: Yes, really stupid to work for 8 months, but I believed in the business. @IAMJos3: What is a Ripoff-Report? I don't understand the term sorry. Yes, I can say it, and I can show you the web page. But if I give an address, they will know it (they are SEO's) and they will know that I'm trying to do something, also I am professional and I don't want to make bad reputation for a company. Although they deserve it. @aloksharma: Thank you for pointing me that possibly they will get back to me in the future. They need me, but I'm shure they will point their business in other direction in order not to ask me to work with them again. For shure I have learned a lesson: trust nobody.
realy sorry but what u did is not a business ( u need to avoid the emotional thingy in business whoever they are if u start the work and show progress then u need to ask the payments 30% at least ) well may be u should work with your own host say with a subdomain and show them and later after payments u can transfer the files i hope u get the money for your work
This is one of the those things you learn from the internet, this shouldn't happen to you again, it happened once and you've learnt about it, but in the future I'd suggesting sorting out a legal contract to insure it's a "no scam" and I would also suggest you ask for a down payment, %25-50 is fair to be honest. Sorry to hear of your loss though.
Could you explain why your customer does not want to pay? And what is the site that you build for your customer?
My customer doesn't want to pay me because he is extremely angry with me for my decision of not continuing working with him. Now he's complaining he doesn't have any money and no customers. In fact I now this is not true. The website I worked on is for a chilean seo enterprise. In fact I have decided not to make websites for others. It's a lot of work and you can't live with the money earned.
Load a 9mm Shot them 5 each. Nothing else left if you are working for a long term work. You should have signed something such as hard copy agreement.
If they haven't paid, they don't have a legal right to use your designs - you own the copyright to the designs themselves. So send a dmca notice of the copyright infringement to the host, and in most cases they'll force the client to remove the infringing material.