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How did you pay the fee to the web designing co??
Did you pay by Credit Card?? Check??
If by Credit Card, you can deduct the amount from your balance, file a complaint
with the card and they will go to bat for you.
If by Check and you mailed the check out of state, the post office should be of help.
Then you can always contact a Lawyer and the Better business Bureau.
Good luck, LUCKIEST

All of the above answers are great I would add making a complaint with the State(s) Attorney General(s) division of consumer fraud. If you are in one state and the design company is in another then it becomes a federal interstate commerce issue.

You can also file a complaint with the US AG's office of consumer affairs. Try to find who their ISP is/was and file a complaint with them as well. The point is to leave no stone unturned. Your wrath must know no bounds.

Thank you so much....I have just filed a complaint with the State attorney.

How long do you think this procedure takes?

Thanks again

Contact PayPal directly. They are vigilant when it comes to fraud and will help as well. PayPal will pull their PayPal account if they are dealing fraudulently with customers...that reflects badly on PayPal and they do not want that!.

Contact the credit card company. You will have to dispute the charge and I am not sure if there is a 'limitation' on the time between the charge and the dispute. Then you will have to fill out a dispute form and get it back to them. Better yet, check the back of your credit card statement, there are usually instructions on what to do if you are disputing a charge, but you will need to call them, get it noted on your record and get a case #.

The State Attorney General has a website in GA, just google it and it will come up. Go to the consumer fraud icon and click through...instructions for filing a complaint will be there.

Post a notice about them on the internet. Bad publicity travels fast. Again...,your wrath must know no bounds.....

I had the same problem with a project site that one of my teams was setting up (perhaps the same company). I authorized on-line payment using a credit card (AMEX) through a PayPal portal. Four months later, I was advised that the team hadn't received squat. Like you, I tried to resolve it with the design company myself without success. We then started pursuing all the options suggested above (all of which are good recommendations). The path that ultimately got our money back was having AMEX open an investigation as DomainDiva outlines.

AMEX immediately credited the money back, then contacted the company requiring them to prove the legitimacy of the charge. Here's the unbelievable part: This firm actually sent AMEX 17 pages of generic web page screen shots, each with a stamped approval box that contained initials (not made by anyone in my company) and a date that was ten days after the original credit card charge was processed. They claimed that the work was delivered as agreed and that we signed off. AMEX sent me this "evidence," and advised that they were putting the charge back on our corporate account. Well, not so fast -- the person who did the screen shots left the date in the bottom corner -- a date that was 46 days after I filed the complaint with AMEX. I pointed that fact out, and had Network Solutions (where the domain was registered and hosted) send a letter to AMEX confirming that nothing was ever FTP'd to the domain -- the "under construction" page had resided there from day one. AMEX closed the case, I kept my money, and the whole mess was packed up and sent to the State Attorney General (who got a chance to say, "Don't mess with Texas").

I hope you get equal satisfaction!

You were connnected to a front line person at customer service. When you call back ask to speak to a supervisor.

Sorry to hear this.
Contact AMEX again and tell them it is fraud and you want to proceed with a chargeback. PayPal is probably your strongest partner.
If you have an agreement with the company, did they state a timeline or delivery date? WHAT did their contract say? You may need this for the AG in Georgia.

What is the name of this company and where are they located? What is their website name? We could have their name hammered in hundreds of blogs in a single day if you do not get your monies back.

This is really upsetting to see this still goes on. That's why I offer professional testimony to clients that have been burned like this.

Do you have a contract? Any emails? Notes of phone calls? Back up all of these and print them out so you can build your case with PayPal, Amex, and the Attorney General.

Good luck,
Cliff

That is a good suggestion....have just done that on Amex...lets see!!

I just checked their website...their domain acount has been suspended. OH MY the plot thickens!!! If this is not something that AMEX will look into then I do not know what is.

Information travels fast...especially bad news on the net.

I found the website and they have a contact page. Do you want me to contact them and make a complaint on your behalf? I sure will.

Thanks for your quick reply

Thanks for your help! I am definately trying to with Amex...

I agree. You always get what you paid for - bottom line there are no short cuts. If you want to make sure the work or job gets done keep it American. You have the best chances of fighting then if something goes wrong.

Also three months for a website is not reasonable even for a complex one. I usally get them done in 2-3 weeks not months. Outsourcing will just waste your time and money and I am sorry you had that expericance.

Divmehar ~

I feel bad that someone has taking advantage of you like this. One of the things my company does, is offer pro-bono services for business that have a legitimate need for such.

Obviously you have a legitimate need after someone would do such a wretched thing.

Please contact me via email, if you would like a website designed for you pro-bono.

My company uses website templates and builds sites from scratch. If you would like to utilize a template their is a cost associated with templates around 40-150, as I use a third party company for templates.

If you decide on a website built from scratch the only cost associated with your website will be the cost of hosting and domain name registration. I do not provide hosting or domain name services. I suggest www.Godaddy.com for hosting and domain names.

My company does not have an extensive portfolio of work we have done, this is the benefit for me to designing the site for you. Also, it has been difficult to be taking seriously, and many disregard my business before I am even given the chance. With a strong portfolio, this will not be nearly the issue.

If you are interested in this offer for volunteer web design services, please drop me an email: mike.stratton@intechspecial.com, or contact me via my company's website: http://www.intechspecial.com You can also get an idea of my work, as I have a small portfolio of websites and logo design.

My company is located in the Cleveland, Ohio area and is registered with the Ohio Attorney State Generals office.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Stratton
Integrity Technology Specialists

Yes a who is search would help greatly. Not only for this but for any other web design company.

Go to this Url to do a search on any website: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/ind
ex.jsp

Any company that is illegitimate would not be listed here, and eventually will be removed from the ICANN registry. http://www.icann.org/

I am serious about my offer as well. If you are concerned this is some kind of scam, please go to the Ohio Attorney General and research my company.

My company name is Integrity Technology Specialists and my name is Michael Stratton.

I would expect that you would be more careful as far as your dealings with any company from this point on, and hope that you would do vast research on any company that you might deal with.

Hello, working in this webdesigning industry for years now, i can say that the whois is not that useful bse when someone is registering the domain name they can opt to have their info made private (to avoid identity theft etc)
If you have any qsns on websites, design hosting etc, please let me know.

FROM: JOSEPH A. RIVAS, ACCOUNT MANAGER SALES /REP. TRAING TO FIND A WAY TO GET MY MONEY BACK FROM A WEB DESIGNING COMPANY.