3DPro

Review: One of my hobbies is music and I wanted to do an animated music video to promote a song of mine. I came across [redacted] (founder and president of 3DPro) on [redacted] and eventually hired him to do the video for me. He sounded very eager and capable, based on his portfolio on the [redacted] website. ([redacted] is a virtual marketplace where you can hire all kinds of skilled people). We agreed on a price of $1300. 50% to be paid before the job commenced and the remaining balance will be paid after the job was finished. (2 installments of $650.00). The job was to take 30 days to be completed. At first I was getting routine updates in regards to how the job was going. He then eventually advised me that due to the complexity of the job, he will need 2 additional weeks to get everything done. Then the updates stopped. After a couple weeks, I sent him an email to get an update in which he responded that he was sick and this would cause a delay. About a week after that, another email was sent to inquire but no response received. I sent another email in which he responded that he was busy moving and travelling due to it being christmas time and all. On 1/27/14, I asked him again how things were going and that it was now well over ten weeks. He now stated that he is extremely busy with his full time job and he doesn't have any time for side projects and that since he already put in hours into my project, he will only be issuing me half of my refund. I told him nothing in the contract stated that I my deposit was non refundable and he is cancelling on me, so I want a full refund. He replied stating that there was nothing I could do and this was all he can offer and it is up to me to accept it. In a despearate attempt to even get 1/2 my deposit back, I told him to go ahead and send me half my deposit which he now responded he will send it hopefully soon and that he was going through hard times.But yet, he is not fulfilling his obligation because he has a full time job? I want refundDesired Settlement: 100% refund. We had a contract that didn't say anything about the merchant cancelling the job and having a non refundable refund. The contract discussed a flat fee and not even billable hours. [redacted] cancelled the job, not me. As a result I should get my refund. [redacted] of 3DPro is taking advantage of the fact that I can't dispute the payment via [redacted] or [redacted] website. Proof of payment and copy of contract are available upon request.

Business

Response:

Hi [redacted],

I am responding to your letter of March 20, regarding the matter of a [redacted] and his complaint filing. I only received this letter yesterday, April 5th, by mail - often mail service is spotty in our remote area and I apologize for not addressing it in a more timely manner.

Although [redacted] proposal, which was executed on 11/7/2013, seemed reasonable enough in its original form, like many customers encountered by freelance artists, he followed the signed agreement with increasing demands and revisions as to the specific nature and appearance of the work which far exceeded the scope of the original agreement.

In hindsight, it would have been prudent at this point to either suspend the work immediately, or renegotiate the contract to include his desire for more and more specific work. Instead, I elected to continue the expansion of his work on a "gentleman's agreement" basis and hope that we could reach a balance of some kind without the need to completely re-do the agreement. This turned out to be an error on my part.

His demands eventually not only far exceeded what was originally agreed, but at one point even included his desire that one of the principal characters be reworked completely to look EXACTLY like himself, personally - which can only be attributed to personal ego and had no bearing whatsoever on the visual impression the work would make on its audience. Other highly specific references were then sent, concerning the exact clothing, accessories, and style of the characters - again, things which were not alluded to in the agreement.

In an effort to remain professional and satisfy his vision, all of which is well documented in our email exchanges, I attempted to remind [redacted] of the drastic effect his demands would make on the scope and timing of the production, all in a friendly, polite and professional manner.

Then, on 11/18/2013, I received a mass of even more specific visual references, at which point it became clear that [redacted] had no intention of being reasonable, and would only continue to insist on more and more expansion on the original agreement.

Realizing this, I eventually and reluctantly agreed to refund part of his deposit and terminate the contract. It is entirely typical in my industry that initial deposits for work of this type are non-refundable, and in any case at this point I had spent many more hours attempting to satisfy him than I could ever hope to justify. In my view, for him to insist on a full refund is unrealistic, considering the time I spent working with him. While it is true that he did not receive his completed work, I never agreed to work for free - and for him to now insist on a FULL refund after all the work I did is clearly more about personal frustration than any reasonable overview of what transpired.

This view of his reaction as personal frustration, and his unprofessionalism in general, may explain why he has chosen to attack my professional reputation in any way he can - instead of simply accepting that we were unable to complete the work, due mainly to his own desire to "push" for ever more work for the same amount originally agreed.

I understand that in addition to this Revdex.com claim, which could have simply been resolved in court if he so chose - especially considering the relatively small amount being contested - he has also resorted to other, more sensational and very unsavory tactics online, in an attempt to damage me personally, as severely as he can. Doing so only further reveals his deliberate attempt to irreparably harm and damage my business reputation, something I take very seriously. I too have legal remedies for this kind of behavior on his part, and he would be wise to consider this, especially considering his own role in what has transpired.

I would be happy to provide any supporting material the Revdex.com might want to support my position, as he has done to support his. Summing up, this is a simple business conflict which did not have to rise to this level, and I feel that since I did far more work than I was paid for, no further refunds to [redacted] are appropriate.

Thanks very much for your time and patience, and again apologies for the late reply due to the mail delivery lapse.

Best Regards,