HELP! Website Designer Taken My Money

ryan75

3 months ago I paid a web designer to create a website for me, I have paid over £600 for this website. The website still is not finished and not fit for the purpose that I bought it for. The website designer is refusing to answer any of my emails. So now I have a half finished website that I have paid hundreds of pounds for.

Can some body please tell me what I should do and how to claim my money back? I paid through paypal but dont want to open a case with paypal as i feel they won't be interested and will not refund me.

Help appreciated.

Thank You

ILW

Visit him.

tomwakefield

ryan75 wrote: »

I paid through paypal but dont want to open a case with paypal as i feel they won't be interested and will not refund me.

That's going to be the only option if the designer has stopped responding.

Is there anything the designer has done that is of financial value to you? If you went to another designer, would you be able to take anything to reduce the cost of the second designer finishing the job?

gb12345

ryan75 wrote: »

Can some body please tell me what I should do and how to claim my money back? I paid through paypal but dont want to open a case with paypal as i feel they won't be interested and will not refund me.

From memory, the time limit for disputes with PayPal is 45 days, so I think that you are out of luck any way with that avenue. Also, I am not sure whether they would accept a dispute for a service either.

Your only real option is to take the designer to Small Claims court (assuming he is in the UK and you have his address). It will cost you about 30 quid or so to make the claim online, although you will need to send a "Letter Before Action" first giving him 14 days to either deliver the web site or refund you.

ryan75

gb12345 wrote: »

you will need to send a "Letter Before Action" first giving him 14 days to either deliver the web site or refund you.

Thanks for that, but what is a "Letter Before Action" and where can i get one?

gb12345

ryan75 wrote: »

Thanks for that, but what is a "Letter Before Action" and where can i get one?

It is basically a letter giving him 14 days to either provide your finished website or to refund you otherwise you will comence legal action.

You will probably have to tweak one to suit your circumstances, but do a Google for it and you will find some templates. You will need to have his physical address though and not just an email address, as it needs to be sent as a physical letter.

j0nathon2

Was this somebody you know / somebody local, or somebody you found online. Do they have a website?

There seem to have been a number of similar complaints like this on here and other forums...

angelcake

who is this? I have the same problem, pm me if you don't want to put company name here