[metalguy639]

Most designers worth their salt that do not rip you off will charge you a hell of alot more than $75.00 for an install & skin of anything magento, vbuleltin, ipb, smf etc. They will also ask for a deposit usually because in most cases you are paying far more than that. As stated above you'll find most will ask for different deposits through out the work progress. You will not find many reputable designer/coders that will offer a mock up design and a psd before getting any kind of payment or that will just go ahead on your say so and start a project without receiving any money at all. Designs & coding take many many hours to do & complete and most are not going to waste their time doing something without getting a payment of some kind.

It unfortunate that you did not get what you wanted but sometimes its best not to go with the cheapest price quoted. Unfortunately its sometimes a you get what you paid for kinda thing.