Ripped Off (Semi-Long Story)

SinJin · 04-01-09, 11:00

Has anyone ever dealt with a company called High Profile Auto Detailing out of Fort Collins Colorado, and if so, did you have any problems with them?

I was hired by the owner Anthony to build them a website and finished the project for them in a day or two. They paid half the fee up front, with the other half due upon completion. I finished their website on my server within a day or two, but then I soon discovered that they would never respond to my emails. They had responded in the past, but now they wouldn't.

Part of the problem I had was that the login details they gave me for their server were wrong, so I could never upload their completed files to their server. I finally sent them some emails alerting them that if they failed to respond, then I would have no choice but to conclude that they were abandoning the project.

Well, they never did respond to any emails I ever sent. Three months elapse and I'm doing a search on Google and what do I find? Their website has content on it that is very similar to my design. When I look at the HTML source code, I find that not only is their code similar to mine, my url address is in several lines of code (meaning they are stealing my images and bandwidth). I also find that they still have my email address embedded in their email code, just as it was when they stole it.

I finally called Anthony up at work and demanded that he remove my copyrighted work and he does that same day. I also told him that I was confused on why he would never respond to my attempts to contact him earlier, but he offers no real explanation. I then extend my hand in an offer to resume the website work (which he really liked and even stole from me), but he doesn't give me an answer.

Guess what? Three months after the fact in which he abandoned his own project without so much as a phone call or email, he files a dispute with PayPal to try to get his money back. PayPal tells him to get lost, so I send him another bill for the amount due under our original contract that he broke, and a little extra for copyright theft and bandwidth theft of my copyrighted work.

Today he files another complaint, but I'm sure that it will go nowhere. What I find amazing is that this guy Anthony has no spine whatsoever. He will not pick up the phone to call and won't ever send or reply to emails. How does he expect to ever work through disputes if he won't communicate with those he has a problem with?

AeroCleanse · 04-01-09, 11:06

Be glad you got 1/2 of the money up front.

Setec Astronomy · 04-01-09, 11:16

I don't understand how he was able to steal your copyrighted material. If you didn't deliver it to him, and it was on your server, how did he get it?

SinJin · 04-01-09, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

I don't understand how he was able to steal your copyrighted material. If you didn't deliver it to him, and it was on your server, how did he get it?

I had a copy on my server that was visible to anyone who visited. They just copied the design and then stole individual lines of my HTML code. To be fair, Anthony didn't actually steal the code himself, he had another designer do it for him. When I spoke to Anthony on the phone, he told me that he had indeed told his new designer to copy my website. You just can't do that! Anthony is still just as guilty for telling someone to copy my code than if he did it himself.

Setec Astronomy · 04-01-09, 11:47

Sounds like you need to work on your security for work that isn't paid for yet.

SinJin · 04-01-09, 11:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by AeroCleanse

Be glad you got 1/2 of the money up front.

While I guess I should be glad I got 1/2 upfront, I did 100% of the design work per their specifications and deserve to be paid for it. The copyright theft itself is another matter...

SinJin · 04-01-09, 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Sounds like you need to work on your security for work that isn't paid for yet.

Sorry I didn't explain myself better. Actually, all my design pages were encrypted with the exception of ********** elements. What they did was copy the look/layout of my design and where possible, actually stole my images and code. I can only do so much and to be honest, you have to expect that some people will always try to game the system.

Auto Concierge · 04-01-09, 11:03

Is this the same company that has been stealing pics from detailers here in the before and after section?? if so something has to be done.

REVNU · 04-01-09, 11:27

This is part of the reason I refuse to do web design anymore. Good luck man, I hope you can get it resolved.

You should change all of your images they have linked to something like "High Profile Auto Detailing are a bunch of crooks". It might take them a day or two to figure it out. At least you and some other people will get a good laugh.

artikxscout · 04-02-09, 02:35

I'm sure there's something against copyright infringement and you can probably sue them in a small court for the amount of period they had your thing up for.

P1et · 04-05-09, 10:23

I hate hearing stories about people being ripped off. I cannot believe he's trying to get back the up front money. What a loser.

Mysticcal · 04-05-09, 02:54

Next time watermark all your images as well as encrypt your html for viewing processes.