My quest for a web designer continues!

He moves on in telling me three things:

1) You've been on MSN the entire time.

I must say that I’m connected to Msn mostly all day, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I am on the machine. In addition to that, I’ve always had connectivity problems along with problems with Msn; people not showing up as online when they actually are, messages not being delivered, not being able to respond to a user though seeing him/her online etc.

2) People are telling me that they've seen that skin you showed me elsewhere.

This is something that I would want clearing right away! I’ve asked this to you on Msn, and I’m doing it publicly again. Please provide me the evidence that the ‘people’ you’re referring to have seen this skin elsewhere. I’m keen in knowing how my creation, which was created few days ago, was shown days/months back!

3) You've signed up with cookingforums.net on one of the days you were "out of town"

I’ve signed up on Cooking forums on the 24th, the day I left. I don’t know what you’re on about….

Moving on, I was to provide the remaining 50% to Matt for Sqlforums.com and for some reason I could not provide a partial refund for the $800 invoice. I had to then request a friendly client to make the payment on my behalf to Matt via Paypal, because I can’t happen to use Paypal in the region I reside in. He couldn’t get it done because he wasn’t in a secure transition; and informed me that it could be possible only in the evening. I mentioned this to Matt, and he was aggressive about it. Matt then came up with an idea, that I refund the entire invoice($800) and he would then repay me the 50% through the issuance of another invoice. The trustworthy person that I am, I go ahead and refund the invoice in full, and side-by-side create an invoice for Matt for $400. The next minute I get the following email from him:

go f:uck urself, i jsut called 2co and they locked the refunds, its final. explained the situation. and now ur little lying bul:lsh:it artist fag can go fu:ck urself. never doin business with u again, ur rep is gonna die, ima expose u on every forum to every customer. u know u didnt design skin for sqlforums and taht u blocked me. ur an idiot. id whack u in brooklyn. u ****in dubai piece of ****. u look like garbage btw, saw ur pic on p3rpl3xity. just so u know, im using that crappy skin u gave me. its mine.

To that point, I lost all respect for this person. I mentioned to him that perhaps he needed the few hundred dollars more than I did. And for him to use the skin, I have no problems, because I just placed the source files in a folder named as ‘non-exclusive’. I shall have this design implemented and sold as a non-exclusive once I launch my property. You can go ahead and use it, it’ll make me happy!

Let me make it clear, I’ve always used screenshots of my previous creation as placeholders for the forum areas (tabular data) to be placed in the mock designs. Additionally, I’ve made use of banners from various places to be used as placeholders in my designs. So the content you see in one mock design, shouldn’t make you think that it was created for ‘that’ client; if you do, you’ve got issues!

All in all, I respect all my clients, irrespective of what they pay. And I hold no interest to have their money on me, if I haven’t done anything for them in return. Every time Matt had requested for a refund, I’ve met that request in a matter of seconds. The way Matt puts it that vbulletinskinz has scammed him is entirely wrong. He makes it sound like I’ve run away with his funds, and never invested time in his project. On the contrary, it is him who has scammed me of not paying the 50% that he owes me.

Sorry about the long read folks, but I think it was needed to clear out the odds. Basically, I don’t think either of us had done wrong, if only Matt had provided a proper briefing for the forum design along with the logo design, things would have been a lot clear. Besides, the way Matt has carried himself towards the end would tend to put anyone off!

If anyone needs any further clarification, please shoot me an email at info@vbulletinskinz.com – I shall be happy to respond with specifics.

Cheers!

Honestly, after reading Shy's and Sheldon's posts I would believe Sheldon.
The skin Sheldon designed has a copyright of DeuceAce on it but I am sure that wasn't designed for DeuceAce, as that is a poker site and the colours on that skin aren't really poker colours.
Sheldon probably copied the copyright text from another skin he designed and forgot to change the name for it.

And about copying the tabular data. After creating so many skins as Sheldon, you start to use templates for certain parts and that is completely normal.

It doesn't matter who you beleive.

The guy has been on MSN on all my buddies' lists and has been ignoring me ever since, and at the end he didn't even know if I supply logo or if he does the logo. Completely unorganized. I got my money back, I'm happy never doing business with him again, and I'm just hear to warn others.

How can I trust someone with $3000 if they are blocking me for weeks? Bas you wouldn't get nervous if you'd have $3000 with someone and they'd block you? He claims he didn't show up on my MSN list because he had connectivity problems, yet he showed up on my friend's that lives right by me.

I don't care who you believe or not believe. I'm just here to warn others about this person.

Shytkicker you need to grow up, your e-mail to him was pathetic.

I never wrote that email to him. There are many things there that he wrote that weren't true, I'm not going to go back up every single thing, I don't need to argue because I'm just happy that I got my refund.

Originally Posted by Robson Shytkicker you need to grow up, your e-mail to him was pathetic.

Robson everyone has their moments, you had one with $100 at stake and called them a "*****" (when you were told you were getting a refund), if it was 30 times the amount of money (and you weren't positive you would get your money back), I'm sure you would have called him a lot than a *****.

Originally Posted by Robson Shytkicker you need to grow up, your e-mail to him was pathetic.

I have to agree. Even in a situation like that, derogatory remarks are more than unacceptable.

I have not worked with Sheldon personally, I know a few people who have, but I definitely believe his story considering he has a completely logical explanation.

Robson everyone has their moments, you had one with $100 at stake and called them a "*****" (when you were told you were getting a refund), if it was 30 times the amount of money (and you weren't positive you would get your money back), I'm sure you would have called him a lot than a *****.

What are you talking about?

Originally Posted by P3RPL3XITY I’ve always had connectivity problems along with problems with Msn; people not showing up as online when they actually are, messages not being delivered, not being able to respond to a user though seeing him/her online etc.

I must say, you are not the only person who suffers from this problem time to time.

Regards.

Wow, interesting read.

Sheldon, did you have a signed contract? If you didn't, then it's not very nice. In a project like this I seriously recommend you have a contract like mine:
http://www.talkfreelance.com/thread2745.html

My contract specifies payments throughout the project, it also has cancellation clauses and revision clauses. If you never had a contract then you have to do what the client requests, every time. You lucked out this time.

Also consider using better time management skills Sheldon, it seems like you have too many projects happening at once if you have to use a project ranking system. Every single client you have, thinks that they are exclusive to you, you have to make them feel this way, because if you don't, then your credibility is gone. Clients like to feel special, like you are totally devoted to them and their project, don't over-commit and lower your standards for everyone.

Matt, you need to be more open and have more patience, I know you are upset because this is a lot of money, but Sheldon has good explanations for every single item you brought up. You might think his msn problems are lies, but you are limited to what your opinion, and your perception, of how msn works for you. You can't assume that everyone else connects the same as you. You also need to act more professionally, your comments are totally out of line, be thankful you never had a contract with Sheldon, because I would be saying to Sheldon to sue the beejeezus out of you for your actions. Also please note that you have a design for free, you were supposed to refund Sheldon for his work up to date, but you decided to prey on Sheldons good will and steal his design and keep his money.

Both of you have made some very big, and stupid, mistakes here. Sheldon, get a contract signed every time. If you need help with a contract just ask, also sort out your client/time/communication management problems. Matt, don't assume that everyones computer systems work the same as yours. Don't assume that when you say "jump" that they can always "jump" for you. Learn to communicate your needs in more effective ways, and try to remain open at all times.