Getting Scammed?

[RSNF]

I understand Vbulletin.org has sticky threads and warnings to read before taking on someone to perform either a new site design or regular maintenance on ones site. What if we follow those guidelines and warnings by Vbulletin and get screwed? Is it fair to other potential victims to not be made aware of someone still able to promote his bogus services for others to fall victim to? For example I had a custom design designed I paid $500.00 for it when it was supposedly completed "The design was done on his site with none of my mods from my site shown in the demo". It took almost 6 months from my initial contact to completion with this person. Now although I only got a partially finished product I was still able to get it completed none the less. Now there are 2 to 3 others whom have used this same designer but had to pay up front I did not pay up front I paid when he said the design was completed and installed on my site. I had several template issues from various mods which needed fixing and he abandoned me after payment. Shouldn't there be some sort of way a new potential client could be warned against this type of stuff? Should this person who is doing the scamming here be reported? Will Vbulletin.org do anything such as take action against the person who is doing the scamming? Maybe I am just wasting my time writing this but I think it's very sad when I get 2 to 3 private messages saying they were screwed by the person who designed my site. With today's economy $500.00 is not a drop in the bucket for most!!

[HobbyStiller]

+1.

We should have some way of saying "this guy stole my 500 bucks" that isn't in a forum where, within days, user's wont be able to see it without trawling through old posts.

[BirdOPrey5]

Originally Posted by HobbyStiller

+1.

We should have some way of saying "this guy stole my 500 bucks" that isn't in a forum where, within days, user's wont be able to see it without trawling through old posts.

If you posted a paid request here you can do a follow-up on your request and say "BirdOPrey5 did a great job" or "I was unhappy with BirdOPrey5's work and will not use him again."

It's up to the buyer in the future to do a search for a potential coder's username if they want and see what people have said about them.

There will never be a forum where unhappy customers can just "flame" coders or vice-versa. The majority of the time when one side feels cheater, both feel they were wronged and no one here is in a position if knowing who was right and who was wrong- and more likely a bad deal was a failure on both sides to make clear expectations and requirements.

[HobbyStiller]

Joe - and in the case of people who take your money and run? There's no 2 sides to stories like that, but it does happen. If there was a way to actually leave some lasting feedback, maybe users would feel there was an incentive to get in touch and deliver the goods they say they will. Since posting my feedback in the Paid Services thread, I've had emails from other people - saying they too have had their money stolen. But will people still end up going through this guy in the future? Probably.

If you don't think allowing stuff like that to go on in your forum is irresponsible as an admin - you're dreaming.

[BirdOPrey5]

If I asked the other side I seriously doubt they will admit to taking the money and running. Even when I've had people PM me "their side" in the past and they claim to have had someone run off with their money I've had the other guy PMing me too claiming they did not run off the customer was just not happy...

Point is I have no way of knowing who is being truthful. No one here does.

It is the BUYERS RESPONSIBILITY to make sure they are hiring someone trustworthy. Even better is - Never give money upfront! If you don't pay until you have something you can see you will never get scammed.

And for every story you can tell me about someone who was given money and "ran off" with it there is someone on the other side telling me someone hired them to do a project, they agreed on a price and a timeline, and when the coder completed the project the buyer stopped returning his emails and basically stole "time" from the coder.

The risk goes both ways. The buyer needs to trust the seller and the seller needs to trust the buyer.

The Paid Requests forums exist here as a courtesy and in my opinion are of last resort. There are dedicated sites like freelancer.com where buyers and sellers are vetted far better than they ever will be here. There are other forums that take an active part in tracking buying and selling- they have the resources to do so, we do not.

[ForceHSS]

There needs added to profiles a feed back section like eBay has and only the ones who say buy or in this case use there services can give the feedback

[JacquiiDesigns]

A system such as iTrader should have been implemented on vB.org years ago.

J.

[Shazz]

Originally Posted by JacquiiDesigns

A system such as iTrader should have been implemented on vB.org years ago.

J.

Yes, it's been talked about many times. I don't see vB.org ever having such a feature.

[setishock]

There are good and bad in every walk of life. Having said that, in an ideal world, getting services for a forum would go down like this.

The person requesting the service should already have an idea of what they want. Putting pen to paper is one way to assure you know just what you want and are able to communicate that to the service provider. In your minds eye you see what you want. On paper you fine tune that image. You tweak it until what is on paper matches what your mental image is about.
That becomes your project roadmap.

The person providing the service looks at your roadmap and decides 3 things:
1> Can it be done
2> How long will it take
3> How much should I charge
A 4th one could be added> Do I have the skills required to do the job
Being honest with a prospective client is paramount to running a good business. If a service provider knows they are in over their head they can go 3 different routes.
1> Point the customer to someone they know that has the skills to complete the task
2> Discuss making changes that are inside their skill level
3> BS their way through the job

Once a project roadmap has been agreed on and the cost factor set, the service provider should pour themselves in to the job and complete it as agreed. Providing the client with updates and peeks at the ongoing job helps to keep them in the loop. (and off your booty)
When you starve a client information-wise, they begin to have doubts.
If a service provider should happen to run in to an issue and it's going to take longer than agreed, they need to be in contact with the client and fill them in. Leaving them hanging is a serious no no. Also if the service provider finds while doing the job there are some undesirable side effects from doing it like the client wants it, LET THE CLIENT KNOW!!!

When the project is completed and delivered, and provided the finished product is as agreed, the client should pay for services rendered. When I ran my alarm company I would ask for 60% up front and the 40% balance on completion. Something like that should work here also.
Communication between client and service provider is the key to being satisfied on both ends with the job.

But it's not an ideal world and people have to be careful. Do your homework. Get online and check reviews. ASK QUESTIONS. Doubt everything...

[New Joe]

More info like this might help
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...42#post2339642