Ripped Off (Semi-Long Story)

**imported_SinJin** · 04-01-2009, 12:00 PM

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** · 04-01-2009, 12:06 PM

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

**Setec Astronomy** · 04-01-2009, 12:16 PM

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?

**imported_SinJin** · 04-01-2009, 12:45 PM

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** · 04-01-2009, 12:47 PM

Sounds like you need to work on your security for work that isn`t paid for yet.

**imported_SinJin** · 04-01-2009, 12:51 PM

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...

**imported_SinJin** · 04-01-2009, 12:54 PM

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.

**autoconcierge** · 04-02-2009, 12:03 AM

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** · 04-02-2009, 12:27 AM

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.

**imported_artikxscout** · 04-02-2009, 03:35 AM

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.