Duped Service from Ben Wilkins
 

I was duped by member Ben Wilkins earlier this week.

I had requested a Pay To Post mod for my forum and placed an advert on another forum. Ben Wilkins contacted me to tell me he had written such a mod and i could use it for $50.00. I pointed him to the current mod available on this forum by Calorie but he claimed his was better.

After letting him install it and giving it a quick test i was happy. Today though i thought id download Calorie's free mod to see what differences they had because i found a bug with the mod but i was shocked to see that the code was identicle. I then searched on this forum to see if this guy had any history here and saw that none of his mods were at all complex so when i saw him on MSN i questioned him about it and as soon i mentioned that the code was identicle he signed off.

I emailed him to tell him that i dont appreciate being ripped off and had he told the truth in the first place i might have paid him to install it, although i had received a cheaper installation offer on this forum. I told him he either refunds my money or i will post about it on here. He hasnt refunded so here i am.

I did open a paypal dispute but they were not interested.

To ensure that no-one else gets duped by this guy he can be found at:

http://www.talkmods.com/

http://purlnetwork.com/index.php?page=ben

http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/member.php?u=113173

sitepoint addy.........that explains part of it..

Sorry to hear the guy took ya....

As much as I feel for you, he has done nothing illegal. He is allowed to charge one person for something, and give it to another for free if he likes. The morality of it though, that's another story...

Generally you would check all of that out BEFORE you pay for a script.

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1...571821bhy4.jpg

Sorry you got took, but generally you will do your homework before investing such funds on any script. Often it is the case where it is copied code, or there is a lite version that does about the same for free. And then you get people like him who are just out to scam you.

Sorry to hear it, but you should really look into who you hire (he is 15). Can't expect much...What is that supposed to mean? MANY members here are also SitePoint members. It has a far better reputation than this site.

absolutely...I do lots of business there and have had nothing but positive experiences...although I'm careful who I do business with ;)

I think you missed the point. He never coded this, he simply took a free mod from another member, claimed it was his and sold it as his. This is copyright theft and as such is illegal ;)

I do blame myself a little, i should have done more research before i agreed and we all learn from our mistakes :)

This thread is not about sitepoint, please do not stray off topic.

What's actually stopping vb.org putting a sticky topic with a list of "proven" rippers in the buy/sell services forum for the paid services? My guess is if such a area can be implemented and .org reap the benfits then a list of known scammers should be published so people know who to avoid.

It's not vbulletin.org's job to make sure you hire good people. This is your job.

That's my opinion on this.