Refund sought from online webdesigner

M_anonymous

Hi, 

I have been working with a self employed, sole trader web designer based in the UK. 

Their invoices state from THEIR PERSONAL NAME T/a Their company name (not a registered company) 

Address just states:

THEIR PERSONAL NAME T/a Their company name
Road name
Town
Post code 

They provided website development which we are happy with. It's gone live - GREAT. 
All paid for. 50% up front, 50% on completion to put it live.  Any changes were included in the price as we worked through pages to see how they worked etc etc.  

There was some further work to be done - payment made, and works done. Great. 

Then there was a logo to be made just to finish the site off - payment made up front.  No logo provided, loss of communication and no refund provided. 

Communication has always been through email / phone calls / whatsapp messages. 

This happened mid-august, Whatsapp messages said "I'll have something for you by the end of the week" and the end of the week's passed by etc. 


I sent an email to the address that invoices had come from, also to the email address the person was using to communicate with and also a recorded letter before action to the address on their website and off their invoices (the addresses are one and the same). 

This letter got sent back to sender (me) with a message from Royal Mail "which number!?" 

Now the Letter before action timeframe for response is coming up. There has been no acknowledgement of the letter accepted via email. 

I plan to proceed with the small claims process however how does this work if the address can't be located properly. 
With their business clearly being "online" in the webdesign world, working as a one man band - email seems the logical route, however I understand law doesn't work logically. 

Any ideas or knowledge please. 

user1977

If no more obvious sources of info, instruct a tracing agent to get their home address.

(if you did get a judgement, how would you enforce it with only an email address?)

flaneurs_lobster

How much does a logo cost? 

Have you met the developer FTF?

Could be tricky to get redress here if it turns out the developer is physically located in Mumbai.

sheramber

Check the electoral  register  the street address to see if their name is against any house number.

https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/view-electoral-register

flaneurs_lobster

sheramber said:

Check the electoral  register  the street address to see if their name is against any house number.

https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/view-electoral-register

Google Streetview - is the address a residential street, an office block or a MacDonalds.

Cheslea2010

Is it just the logo you are waiting on? Do you have root access to the website so you can move it between servers etc or do they still have all of this?

outtatune

If it's just the logo then there's a good chance they were going to use one of those crappy free logo design sites anyway.

M_anonymous

flaneurs_lobster said:

How much does a logo cost? 

Have you met the developer FTF?

Could be tricky to get redress here if it turns out the developer is physically located in Mumbai.

This is at £330 (the main part was creation of a logo, then a couple of minor pieces and time management etc) 

Only on Teams. 
I do not believe they are in Mumbai. Totally possible, but they are English and their website is geared towards their location for search optimisation. 

sheramber said:

Check the electoral  register  the street address to see if their name is against any house number.

https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/view-electoral-register

Good idea. 
I tried this last night and the page says "this service is currently experiencing technical difficulties. Try Again later." 
Just tried again this afternoon, before replying to this post and still saying the same thing currently. But it's definitely something I want confirmation of. 

flaneurs_lobster said:

sheramber said:

Check the electoral  register  the street address to see if their name is against any house number.

https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register/view-electoral-register

Google Streetview - is the address a residential street, an office block or a MacDonalds.

I have done this. It's not residential. It's a small street in a major south coast city. 
There appears to be shops, coffee shops etc etc along the street with apartments above.
I live a few hours from their location so I actually took a drive down today. 
I walked along both sides of the street, in the hope of actually finding their name or their trading name on a door buzzer, but no such luck.
I then bumped into a couple of postmen. One of whom was trying to deliver my letter before action this week, unfortunately he didn't recognise the persons name, nor the trading name and wasn't able to help any further. 

Cheslea2010 said:

Is it just the logo you are waiting on? Do you have root access to the website so you can move it between servers etc or do they still have all of this?

I purchased hosting as well from this person via their reseller account.
One would assume they can switch this off at any given point if they wish to be vindictive. This breakdown occured mid-August and I gave time for them to get this logo sorted, but it hasn't been and no communication since 10th September now. Phone calls, whatsapp messages and emails for a refund have been ignored completely. 

I have downloaded all of the files, and databases required to my PC as a back up so that I can move elsewhere. 

The website is live and working, however, I wanted a proper logo creating to just finish it off. 

outtatune said:

If it's just the logo then there's a good chance they were going to use one of those crappy free logo design sites anyway.

I understand that, because that's exactly what I used to get my current logo for £20.... You can tell the difference in work though.  
HOWEVER, they had some product image graphics made for me through their competent, local graphic designers that they use to complete their website design, which definitely weren't of the standard of the fiverrr, freelancer, peopleperhour type work. 
I don't think this person would want to put their name to that standard. 




So given that my only other method to find this person is to return to the street on a weekday just incase of catching at a coffee shop and less people around, what are recommendations for tracing agents?  I have had only a quick google since I got home, and it seems like another wild west opportunity. 

Okell

How did you engage this designer in the first place?

M_anonymous

Okell said:

How did you engage this designer in the first place?

Through the UK Business forum's.  
I spoke to 4-5 people in regards to the project. He wasn't the cheapest, and wasn't the most expensive. BUT, they "got" what I was wanting to do which others completely missed or misunderstood. 

Okell

M_anonymous said:

Okell said:

How did you engage this designer in the first place?

Through the UK Business forum's.  
I spoke to 4-5 people in regards to the project. He wasn't the cheapest, and wasn't the most expensive. BUT, they "got" what I was wanting to do which others completely missed or misunderstood. 

Have you tried asking the people who recommended this designer how you can contact him?

Poor show if people recommend others who are unreliable.