Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: it doesn't actually address the cause of my complaint, which is that the web developer cancelled completely without warning.There is an awful lot of information that has been omitted from the response below, including the Skype call she missed, the fact that I was in India and trying to complete the toolkit without reliable , constant power cuts (Monsoon season in Goa)All of her emails prior to the 10th were positive and none of the doubts/frustrations detailed below were expressed.I considered going over the response point by point but the overall problem is that WE had a contract, which Mindmeld/the web developer chose to cancel without prior agreement from myself, with whom she made the contractShe also decided that she would keep my deposit and the first months maintenance that she had paid. Its clear reading the reply below that the real issue is that I did not like her designs,or accept her opinion., and still do not understand why I couldn't have the site I wantedAll the more infuriating as I flagged this as a potential issue right from the start (I can provide emails to support) She had very clear ideas about how my website should be and look, despite the fact that this is my area of expertise not hers, the remarks regarding cultural appropriation make no sense as the term is used to refer use of a culture not your own, and Desisisters are South Asian(desi), therefore this representation not appropriation Social Media Slander ? I left a negative google and Facebook review reflecting my experienceI believe my comments were fairI wrote a blog post and posted on facebook but at no point mentioned the name of the web developer. I
Sincerely,
*** ***
I have no additional response to this continued complaint. I've clearly stated my position: My contract clearly states that set up fees are non-refundable. I worked a number of hours on this project and should expect to be paid for that work. There were multiple conversations where I calmly and professionally expressed my concerns about and encouraged discussion about this client's insistence upon creating something that did not fit my professional standards or my personal integrity. There's nothing more to say. As far as I'm concerned, this is a closed issue.
This client agreed to pay for a 1 Day website design project with my company, MindMeld Creative. The total price for a 1 Day Website is $1150. She also agreed to pay an additional $175 for me to research, install, and set up a plugin to simplify managing multiple affiliate plans. I...
offer 12-month installment plans to make my services more accessible to small business owners. The setup fee for her website payment was $250. She paid that on July 4 and she agreed to pay the remaining balance over 12 months with payments of $89.59. The total balance of her loan was $1325. I have the contract with this agreement. As you can imagine, 1 Day websites are highly dependent on good communication and detailed preparation. I require all clients to provide all their website details and content at least 48 hours/ 2 full business days before their build date. I provide a 25 page, PDF workbook called the Website Planning Toolkit to help clients gather and organize the information I need. We had to reschedule her first build day because, at 36 hours before the date, I still did not have her Toolkit. We exchanged several emails about her attempts and struggles with completing the Toolkit. One of the primary functions of the Toolkit is for me to be able to get a clear sense of my client’s business, the personality of the business, their clients, site visitors, and goals for their website. I use this information to create a strategically appropriate design that will help them reach their goals.When I finally got some of the information for this client’s Toolkit, it was incomplete and unreadable. It was not sent within the PDF workbook, but rather copied and pasted into a Google Document. There were no complete sentences. I could not get a real sense of what her organization does, who her target audience is, or what she is trying to achieve. Further, I had seen her posting on social media saying that a new website and shop were coming soon. Yet, she did not pay me to create a shop. So, I requested that we have a phone call to discuss these things.Once that call finally happened, it ended up being a 2 hour call. I still did not have a clear idea of what the site should be trying to achieve. I did have concerns about her organization possibly skirting the edges of cultural appropriation. We discussed the concept of appropriation and how to avoid doing that by making sure the site was honoring the culture and providing a bridge that could respectfully introduce white women to this culture. There is a delicate balance to be sure. To succeed at this, in my professional opinion, the site, first and foremost had to be beautiful, modern, and respectful. It couldn’t look like an unprofessional attempt to capitalize on the beauty of another culture. With that in mind, I created a home page to play with and present design ideas to the client. This process took about 10 hours. We spoke again, for another 2 hours while she provided extensive feedback on this first draft. The colors, layout, photos, architecture, everything about the site was not approved. I had to begin again. During that second 2-hour call, she was requesting that I use photos and verbiage that would not make any sense at all to someone who was unfamiliar with this culture. I explained that this was in direct conflict to her goal to use the site as a sort of hub/immersive experience to introduce people to this culture. I explained that none of the things she was requesting would make sense at all. That site visitors would be completely confused…as confused as I was. She replied saying that was great. That she wanted site visitors to think “WHAT?” and to see it as “Bonkers.” I explained that confusion is the one thing all site designers work to avoid and most site visitors would bounce out of her site in seconds, never getting the immersive experience she’s worked so hard to create. She replied that some would stay and that those were the few people she wanted. We talked at length about this for almost an hour. When I explained that I didn’t want to design a site that was destined to fail, she said, “let’s just do it my way first, if it fails, we can try it your way.” I suggested a compromise between the two. I told her I would create another home page, incorporating these ideas, while emphasizing her goal of creating a fun, “bonkers”, immersive experience. I stressed that I wanted to make sure it’s clear who the site is for when the page first loads, so site visitors (those unfamiliar with this culture) could recognize themselves in that introduction… and that the site would be easy to navigate and explore.After that call, I then spent 12 more hours creating this new home page/design concept. I sent her a link to the new home page requesting feedback on August 8. We had a brief email exchange where she said she was concerned about the copy. I explained that all of the copy was merely filler text for now, and she could disregard it. I explained that I needed feedback on the design, not the content. She replied on Aug 9 asking me to, once again, change photos and copy to the things she’d mentioned in our call before that would not make sense to the intended audience. Not only that, but they would not give the impression that the website was a professional or polished design, which, in my opinion, put us back into the gray area of appropriating this culture. I’m morally opposed to anything that feels like cultural appropriation. And I’m professionally opposed to designing anything that does not represent my own standards of quality design. Keep in mind that all of this occurred over a one-month period, when she had paid for a 1 Day website design. My 1 Day website designs typically require about 12 hours of my time from start to finish. I had already spent close to 30 hours on her project and her August 9 email made it clear that we still hadn’t made it past step 1. Her email also made it abundantly clear that we were not going to see eye to eye on how to best present her organization to the world. She didn’t want me to design the website, she only wanted me to put the photos and words in that she had selected…whether they made sense aesthetically or strategically or not. I explained that, if that was all she really wanted at this point, she’d be better served to find someone familiar with Wordpress on Fiverr than hiring another designer.As per my standard client agreement (attached), I explained that I would keep the $339.89 she had paid to date (her setup fee and one of her monthly installments). I also explained that I would cancel any future payments and would send her the color palettes I had created, the fonts we had selected, and a screenshot of the 2 home pages I created. I felt that was exceedingly fair given the amount of time I had already spent on her project. At that point, she started posting on social media and a blog post on her own site, telling half-truths and lies about how unfairly she was being treated by me and my company. As soon as the slanderous treatment began, I took measures to block her as best as possible from all of my accounts and ceased all further communication. I cannot deliver an entire website design, complete with over $600 of premium plugins, when she’s only paid a fourth of the total price, and I have more than doubled my time investment. I simply can’t run a successful business that way. Perhaps if she had made some attempt at polite communication, we could have come to a compromise about how to proceed. But that is not how things unfolded.Throughout this entire process, I’ve been professional and courteous. I will not be refunding this client’s $339.89. But I do wish her the best of luck in all of her future endeavors. Thank you, Larah R[redacted]MindMeld Creative
I have no additional response to this continued complaintI've clearly stated my
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: it doesn't actually address the cause of my complaint, which is that the web developer cancelled completely without warning.There is an awful lot of information that has been omitted from the response below, including the Skype call she missed, the fact that I was in India and trying to complete the toolkit without reliable , constant power cuts (Monsoon season in Goa)All of her emails prior to the 10th were positive and none of the doubts/frustrations detailed below were expressed.I considered going over the response point by point but the overall problem is that WE had a contract, which Mindmeld/the web developer chose to cancel without prior agreement from myself, with whom she made the contractShe also decided that she would keep my deposit and the first months maintenance that she had paid. Its clear reading the reply below that the real issue is that I did not like her designs,or accept her opinion., and still do not understand why I couldn't have the site I wantedAll the more infuriating as I flagged this as a potential issue right from the start (I can provide emails to support) She had very clear ideas about how my website should be and look, despite the fact that this is my area of expertise not hers, the remarks regarding cultural appropriation make no sense as the term is used to refer use of a culture not your own, and Desisisters are South Asian(desi), therefore this representation not appropriation Social Media Slander ? I left a negative google and Facebook review reflecting my experienceI believe my comments were fairI wrote a blog post and posted on facebook but at no point mentioned the name of the web developer. I
Sincerely,
*** ***
I have no additional response to this continued complaint. I've clearly stated my position: My contract clearly states that set up fees are non-refundable. I worked a number of hours on this project and should expect to be paid for that work. There were multiple conversations where I calmly and professionally expressed my concerns about and encouraged discussion about this client's insistence upon creating something that did not fit my professional standards or my personal integrity. There's nothing more to say. As far as I'm concerned, this is a closed issue.
This client agreed to pay for a 1 Day website design project with my company, MindMeld Creative. The total price for a 1 Day Website is $1150. She also agreed to pay an additional $175 for me to research, install, and set up a plugin to simplify managing multiple affiliate plans. I...
offer 12-month installment plans to make my services more accessible to small business owners. The setup fee for her website payment was $250. She paid that on July 4 and she agreed to pay the remaining balance over 12 months with payments of $89.59. The total balance of her loan was $1325. I have the contract with this agreement. As you can imagine, 1 Day websites are highly dependent on good communication and detailed preparation. I require all clients to provide all their website details and content at least 48 hours/ 2 full business days before their build date. I provide a 25 page, PDF workbook called the Website Planning Toolkit to help clients gather and organize the information I need. We had to reschedule her first build day because, at 36 hours before the date, I still did not have her Toolkit. We exchanged several emails about her attempts and struggles with completing the Toolkit. One of the primary functions of the Toolkit is for me to be able to get a clear sense of my client’s business, the personality of the business, their clients, site visitors, and goals for their website. I use this information to create a strategically appropriate design that will help them reach their goals.When I finally got some of the information for this client’s Toolkit, it was incomplete and unreadable. It was not sent within the PDF workbook, but rather copied and pasted into a Google Document. There were no complete sentences. I could not get a real sense of what her organization does, who her target audience is, or what she is trying to achieve. Further, I had seen her posting on social media saying that a new website and shop were coming soon. Yet, she did not pay me to create a shop. So, I requested that we have a phone call to discuss these things.Once that call finally happened, it ended up being a 2 hour call. I still did not have a clear idea of what the site should be trying to achieve. I did have concerns about her organization possibly skirting the edges of cultural appropriation. We discussed the concept of appropriation and how to avoid doing that by making sure the site was honoring the culture and providing a bridge that could respectfully introduce white women to this culture. There is a delicate balance to be sure. To succeed at this, in my professional opinion, the site, first and foremost had to be beautiful, modern, and respectful. It couldn’t look like an unprofessional attempt to capitalize on the beauty of another culture. With that in mind, I created a home page to play with and present design ideas to the client. This process took about 10 hours. We spoke again, for another 2 hours while she provided extensive feedback on this first draft. The colors, layout, photos, architecture, everything about the site was not approved. I had to begin again. During that second 2-hour call, she was requesting that I use photos and verbiage that would not make any sense at all to someone who was unfamiliar with this culture. I explained that this was in direct conflict to her goal to use the site as a sort of hub/immersive experience to introduce people to this culture. I explained that none of the things she was requesting would make sense at all. That site visitors would be completely confused…as confused as I was. She replied saying that was great. That she wanted site visitors to think “WHAT?” and to see it as “Bonkers.” I explained that confusion is the one thing all site designers work to avoid and most site visitors would bounce out of her site in seconds, never getting the immersive experience she’s worked so hard to create. She replied that some would stay and that those were the few people she wanted. We talked at length about this for almost an hour. When I explained that I didn’t want to design a site that was destined to fail, she said, “let’s just do it my way first, if it fails, we can try it your way.” I suggested a compromise between the two. I told her I would create another home page, incorporating these ideas, while emphasizing her goal of creating a fun, “bonkers”, immersive experience. I stressed that I wanted to make sure it’s clear who the site is for when the page first loads, so site visitors (those unfamiliar with this culture) could recognize themselves in that introduction… and that the site would be easy to navigate and explore.After that call, I then spent 12 more hours creating this new home page/design concept. I sent her a link to the new home page requesting feedback on August 8. We had a brief email exchange where she said she was concerned about the copy. I explained that all of the copy was merely filler text for now, and she could disregard it. I explained that I needed feedback on the design, not the content. She replied on Aug 9 asking me to, once again, change photos and copy to the things she’d mentioned in our call before that would not make sense to the intended audience. Not only that, but they would not give the impression that the website was a professional or polished design, which, in my opinion, put us back into the gray area of appropriating this culture. I’m morally opposed to anything that feels like cultural appropriation. And I’m professionally opposed to designing anything that does not represent my own standards of quality design. Keep in mind that all of this occurred over a one-month period, when she had paid for a 1 Day website design. My 1 Day website designs typically require about 12 hours of my time from start to finish. I had already spent close to 30 hours on her project and her August 9 email made it clear that we still hadn’t made it past step 1. Her email also made it abundantly clear that we were not going to see eye to eye on how to best present her organization to the world. She didn’t want me to design the website, she only wanted me to put the photos and words in that she had selected…whether they made sense aesthetically or strategically or not. I explained that, if that was all she really wanted at this point, she’d be better served to find someone familiar with Wordpress on Fiverr than hiring another designer.As per my standard client agreement (attached), I explained that I would keep the $339.89 she had paid to date (her setup fee and one of her monthly installments). I also explained that I would cancel any future payments and would send her the color palettes I had created, the fonts we had selected, and a screenshot of the 2 home pages I created. I felt that was exceedingly fair given the amount of time I had already spent on her project. At that point, she started posting on social media and a blog post on her own site, telling half-truths and lies about how unfairly she was being treated by me and my company. As soon as the slanderous treatment began, I took measures to block her as best as possible from all of my accounts and ceased all further communication. I cannot deliver an entire website design, complete with over $600 of premium plugins, when she’s only paid a fourth of the total price, and I have more than doubled my time investment. I simply can’t run a successful business that way. Perhaps if she had made some attempt at polite communication, we could have come to a compromise about how to proceed. But that is not how things unfolded.Throughout this entire process, I’ve been professional and courteous. I will not be refunding this client’s $339.89. But I do wish her the best of luck in all of her future endeavors. Thank you, Larah R[redacted]MindMeld Creative