Legal Case against Web Designer for work 'not fit for purpose'

[Vipul5]

Hi All,

Sorry that this is a long post but I wanted to make sure I give enough information for you to help.

I hired a web designer / developer last year to build a site for a new business with a (genuinely!) unique business model based on ethics over profit. The designer made all the right noises about 'getting' and subscribing to the concept but then proceeded to produce a design that looks like an off-the-shelf template for a IT retailer.

I worked hard (over 140 hours of my time) to try and correct the problem of their repeatedly ignoring the brief, my direct instructions (reminding them of the brief, our discussions, and agreements), and explaining basic Web-design, marketing, and usability principles to them (which they, the ‘professionals’, seem to be completely oblivious to).

Eventually, after five months (instead of the expected, but not explicitly agreed, three weeks) they produced a page design that I thought was usable.

When we asked other people (not involved with the project) for their feedback the design was trashed as confusing, lacking sincerity, and utterly failing to explain the business proposition.

I took this design to five design, marketing, and Web-designers who were even more damning of the work – the key observations being that: there seemed to be no evidence of understanding the business before designing; the design looked like a standard template; the page would confuse visitors as they would not know where to start (and would quickly leave).

From a marketing perspective the key observation was that our target audience would be expecting a strong ethical message and would, instead, get an obvious retail site pushing products straight away – they would invariably think this another ‘green-washing’ company and lose interest.

On learning of my user testing the he designer prematurely issued a final invoice despite not having completed the first page or delivered the four others expected as part of this first phase of development.

They refused to negotiate sensibly on a refund so we have had to take them to court. The claim is only for a £1900 refund and £3000 for my time – leaving out my £35,000 unrealized income and an entire year’s business lost as we still have no Web-site.

The judge refuses to make a decision on the design as he doesn’t use or understand the internet and wants us to go to arbitration or submit two expert witnesses each for him to ‘pick one out of a hat’!

My concern is that the poor design is a direct result of failures to act with reasonable care and skill so, while ‘fit for purpose’ can be commented on by an expert, the process that contributed to the failure cannot be easily separated as a discrete contractual issue and needs to be looked at together.

So where do I go from here? I need an expert witness but can’t start throwing money away and, since the defendant is defining ‘fit for purpose’ as whatever he produces irrespective of client instructions and needs, how do I tackle the issue of a judge who only wants one witness (to, essentially, tell him what to decide)?

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Vipul

 

[kulture]

Look at it from the judge's perspective. You cannot prove not fit for purpose on facts alone, just opinion. Therefore he wants an expert opinion. Problem is, it is going to cost. Is it worth it.

 

[TotallySport]

I do think its laughable that instead of testing the design on your target market, you tested in on your designers competition who slatted it, what do you think they would do, say how good their competition was, and have an unpaid review of their competitors work.

You were happy with the design before asking the other designers, the designers have put time and money into it, so they are due some cash, weither you think so or not.

Without knowing the ins and outs of the job the rest is hard to say, there is always two sides to a story, and web design isn't as straight forward as you think, unless you buying a template on a standard platform like wordpress in which case you get what you pay for.

 

[Steve Sellers]

So you are running a business and the guy designed you a site aimed at selling your products - yet your peeved with them?

On another note it is entirely reasonable that you should have to submit an experts witness report. You are the Claimant and it is for you to prove on the balance of probabilities that the Respondent is in breach of contract.

Design quality is often in the eye of the beholder....but your running a business and in your own words they delivered a product geared towards selling your goods....I'm not sure what the problem is.

 

[Vipul5]

Thanks to the posters so far for taking the time to comment and can I please ask that people carefully read what I have actually written before commenting.

 

[TotallySport]

Thanks to the posters so far for taking the time to comment and can I please ask that people carefully read what I have actually written before commenting.

Would you like to clarify, so we can try and offer further info?

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Hi All,

Sorry that this is a long post but I wanted to make sure I give enough information for you to help.

I hired a web designer / developer last year to build a site for a new business with a (genuinely!) unique business model based on ethics over profit. The designer made all the right noises about 'getting' and subscribing to the concept but then proceeded to produce a design that looks like an off-the-shelf template for a IT retailer.
At this point you should have had the alarm bells riunging also your selection process may not have been as rigourous as you may have thought.


I worked hard (over 140 hours of my time) to try and correct the problem of their repeatedly ignoring the brief, my direct instructions (reminding them of the brief, our discussions, and agreements), and explaining basic Web-design, marketing, and usability principles to them (which they, the ‘professionals’, seem to be completely oblivious to).
Again you should have walked and not spent 140 hours of time

Eventually, after five months (instead of the expected, but not explicitly agreed, three weeks) they produced a page design that I thought was usable.
So at this point YOU had spent 140+ hours, got something YOU wanted and were happy with as it was usable

When we asked other people (not involved with the project) for their feedback the design was trashed as confusing, lacking sincerity, and utterly failing to explain the business proposition.
Why did YOU not pick this up then? After all YOU are driving the project, and you have claimed the designer didn't understand basic principles. What are the professions of the experts you ran the design past?

I took this design to five design, marketing, and Web-designers who were even more damning of the work – the key observations being that: there seemed to be no evidence of understanding the business before designing; the design looked like a standard template; the page would confuse visitors as they would not know where to start (and would quickly leave).
Again why had YOU (the project manager) not picked this up, as previously you deemed it 'usable'

From a marketing perspective the key observation was that our target audience would be expecting a strong ethical message and would, instead, get an obvious retail site pushing products straight away – they would invariably think this another ‘green-washing’ company and lose interest.
So what did YOU tell the designer (during your 140 hours+ of work, HOW you wanted it?)

On learning of my user testing the he designer prematurely issued a final invoice despite not having completed the first page or delivered the four others expected as part of this first phase of development.
My guess is he said enough is enough, as YOU had accepted the work, YOU had accepted it was 'usable' but YOu had then gone back and changed things again.

They refused to negotiate sensibly on a refund so we have had to take them to court. The claim is only for a £1900 refund and £3000 for my time – leaving out my £35,000 unrealized income and an entire year’s business lost as we still have no Web-site.
So you are suing then? I ask this as you mention claiming for time and that and consequencial loss is not allowed in small claims court is it?

The judge refuses to make a decision on the design as he doesn’t use or understand the internet and wants us to go to arbitration or submit two expert witnesses each for him to ‘pick one out of a hat’!
fair enough where is the problem here?

My concern is that the poor design is a direct result of failures to act with reasonable care and skill so, while ‘fit for purpose’ can be commented on by an expert, the process that contributed to the failure cannot be easily separated as a discrete contractual issue and needs to be looked at together.
YOU were project manager. have you considered that your methodology etc may have contributed to the breakdown? Also understand that YOU accepted a design as 'usable' only to be shouted down by others, which of course indicates that YOUR opinion of what is right is not of a high enough standard.

So where do I go from here? I need an expert witness but can’t start throwing money away and, since the defendant is defining ‘fit for purpose’ as whatever he produces irrespective of client instructions and needs, how do I tackle the issue of a judge who only wants one witness (to, essentially, tell him what to decide)?
You tackle it by doing what the judge tells you to do, or you walk away.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Vipul

Hopefully by commenting within the post you will accept that I HAVE read the post before commenting.

I will be completely blunt here and say that you appear to have put yourself in a position above your capability, this is proven by the fact that you accepted a design as 'usable' only to get rid of it after talking to others, some of whom appear not even to be in the design/inbternet marketing industry yet YOU value their opinion above your own.

This sounds like a classic case of client from hell, one who doesn't know what he wants but DOES know what he doesn't want, and is expecting the designer to spin straw into gold.

For me the bit about accepting something as usable only to reject it later after speaking to others is classic. Why do this? If YOU are not able to decide what you want then you really shouldn't be leading the project.

you are now in a position where you are claiming that you are not happy with the product (even though you originally thought it usable) and are trying to get money back.

Also the way you snapped at the people who helped you for free in this thread, deamnding they 'read the post before commenting' tells me you truly are the client from hell!

not what you want to hear I guess, but look at it from the other side of the fence, I have no axe to grind, I am not making money out of you, I am not pitching for design work, I am just a bloke replying on a chat forum based on what he has read

 

[kulture]

Would you like to clarify, so we can try and offer further info?

I suspect that the op does not like the answers given and wants ones in his favour. So I have re-read his post. He says that he said he allowed the designer to take five months over a design he thought would take three weeks. Then he thought the design ok until other designers trashed it. I am sorry but if anyone was "negligent" then I suggest it was the op.

My advice would be to stop wasting your money, and walk away.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I suspect that the op does not like the answers given and wants ones in his favour. So I have re-read his post. He says that he said he allowed the designer to take five months over a design he thought would take three weeks. Then he thought the design ok until other designers trashed it. I am sorry but if anyone was "negligent" then I suggest it was the op.

My advice would be to stop wasting your money, and walk away.

have to agree and said so above

 

[TotallySport]

I agree, I just couldn't have put it so nicely

 

[Gillie]

I would suggest you go ask the wonderful web designers who in the first place trashed it after you thought it ok - it would appear they could do a better job - even without looking at your brief.

Can't think though why on earth you let it run 5 months before accepting something from them. Did you sign a contract with them and give them a detailed brief plus have agreed working practices and time schedules?

 

[internetspaceships]

Nah he wanted people to reinforce and back up his own thinking. If he comes back and comments then fair play but I doubt it.

It's a b*tch when you realise that you're probably wrong but one of the defining characteristics of a good business person is the ability to acknowledge it and move on.

 

[Steve Sellers]

Thanks to the posters so far for taking the time to comment and can I please ask that people carefully read what I have actually written before commenting.

If you going to take that attitude then you will be better to go out and pay for a solicitor. They will take plenty of your crap for £200 an hour.

 

[MancunianCreative]

I completely agree with the weight of comments above.

You've admitted yourself that the website was usable. Right there you've shot yourself in the foot in terms of any claim. I hope your designer doesn't see this thread. Or your case is shot.

Hopefully this is a lesson learnt, that contracts protect both the designer and the customer from rogue elements. Not being presented with a contract at the beginning of a job is such an alarm bell in itself.

It is unfortunate that you have not managed to find someone that can create what you require. But I also have to side with a designer here. You are claiming money back for your time. They have spent hours of their time. Perhaps the designer should be claiming back some of their time?

Also I feel claiming for 'lost work' is something you cannot quantify for a new business, and especially for a business model based on 'ethics'.

Good luck for the future, but I feel this is a futile claim where you must take some responsibility yourself.

 

[Vipul5]

I apologize if my asking commentators to read my post offended - that was not my intention and was made because some of the questions and criticisms raised were addressed in my original text, regrettably subsequent posts also do this.

Thank you all for your comments and you are quite right that I don't like what I hear! But, of course, that makes much of it more useful and instructive for me.

A lot has been said so I thought the best way to approach this would be to respond within OldWelshGuy's thorough and systematic responses.
There is a contract for the project and I have masses of documentation to demonstrate clear breach of contract and lack of reasonable care, skill, and timely work. Fit for purpose is a more difficult matter and my question to the forum really revolves around how I deal with this and a judge wanting a single expert witness chosen at random - this is unfair to the defendant as well as me because, obviously we would both nominate experts that support our own views on usability. Again, I stress that my view, expressed long before we entered into the contract, is that usability is about the customer understanding the business proposition as well as being able to use the site; the defendant now insists that usability is about the technical operation of the site, not whether the customer understands the business or site's purpose.

The defendant is an agency and the contract was for £11,000 in year 1 and at least £28,000 in year 2. The contract included specialist designers, developers, and dedicated project management.

On to OldWelshGuy's consideration of my text:

I hired a web designer / developer last year to build a site for a new business with a (genuinely!) unique business model based on ethics over profit. The designer made all the right noises about 'getting' and subscribing to the concept but then proceeded to produce a design that looks like an off-the-shelf template for a IT retailer.
At this point you should have had the alarm bells riunging also your selection process may not have been as rigourous as you may have thought.
Not sure I follow this, as there was no way for me to know that the designer had oversold his own ability at this stage - his portfolio and client list only demonstrates what he wants me to see. Of course, now I know a lot more about vetting!

I worked hard (over 140 hours of my time) to try and correct the problem of their repeatedly ignoring the brief, my direct instructions (reminding them of the brief, our discussions, and agreements), and explaining basic Web-design, marketing, and usability principles to them (which they, the 'professionals', seem to be completely oblivious to).
Again you should have walked and not spent 140 hours of time
With hindsight yes, but, throwing away £1,900 already paid is not so easy when you are a start-up on a very tight budget; moreover, I thought I could salvage the relationship and that the designer would realize that they had to start reading the briefs and doing what they said they would.

Eventually, after five months (instead of the expected, but not explicitly agreed, three weeks) they produced a page design that I thought was usable.
So at this point YOU had spent 140+ hours, got something YOU wanted and were happy with as it was usable
I wasn't clear that they produced an awful design, after about two months, which deviated significantly, and unexpectedly, from the wireframe. It then took a further three months of iterations to get the design that I thought was ok.

When we asked other people (not involved with the project) for their feedback the design was trashed as confusing, lacking sincerity, and utterly failing to explain the business proposition.
Why did YOU not pick this up then? After all YOU are driving the project, and you have claimed the designer didn't understand basic principles. What are the professions of the experts you ran the design past?
The design is only good or 'usable' if it works for the customer. I am not an expert in marketing and design which is why I engaged someone who is supposed to be; also, I already know what the business is so of course my opinion of whether the page works needs to be objectively tested on potential customers who don't necessarily know about the business.

The things we particularly wanted answered (for the customer) on the home-page were largely ignored or relegated to a minor presence:

1. What is this place?
2. What can you do here?
3. What do we have here?
4. Why you should be here, and not somewhere else?
5. Where do you start?

​

These people were potential customers - the ones who I would rely on for a successful business and, therefore, the most important critics. Professional reviews were sought only after the alarming feedback from this testing.

I also failed to spot some important things that I had previously asked for, and some of which had been included in previous versions, because I was so tired of the arguments that I just missed the fact that they had made more changes without consultation and that they had, again, failed to heed certain parts of the brief. I was, simply, exhausted and too eager to see a resolution.

I took this design to five design, marketing, and Web-designers who were even more damning of the work - the key observations being that: there seemed to be no evidence of understanding the business before designing; the design looked like a standard template; the page would confuse visitors as they would not know where to start (and would quickly leave).
Again why had YOU (the project manager) not picked this up, as previously you deemed it 'usable'

First, I wasn't the project manager - there was a £1000 fee for project management, £500 of which I paid up-front. It wasn't until relations irrevocably broke down and court started becoming a possibility that the designer admitted, in writing, that there had been no project management from February to August.

Second, this is the last version of the design produced after five months of going back and saying "you still haven't read this or done what you said on ?? date…" Again, I am under no illusion of the limits of my marketing or design ability so I rely on expert guidance - otherwise I am more than able to produce a mediocre design myself. When I am convinced that the design needs to move in this direction for the site to work (for customers) by the expert I need to listen …although, with hindsight, that is exactly what I should not have done!

Third, the professionals (from your previous question) were deliberately chosen for their different skills and talents:

1. Artist and designer -business concept conveyed in the design?
2. Marketing communications and copywriter - messaging relevant, clear and accurate?
3. Marketing and Branding - message clear and consistent
4. Web-marketing - messaging, usability, relevance
5. Full marketing and web development agency - messaging, branding, relevance, usability

From a marketing perspective the key observation was that our target audience would be expecting a strong ethical message and would, instead, get an obvious retail site pushing products straight away - they would invariably think this another 'green-washing' company and lose interest.
So what did YOU tell the designer (during your 140 hours+ of work, HOW you wanted it?)

Everything! They knew, in detail, the target audience, the objectives of the business, the design and colour styles I did and didn't like, what made us different from competitors, what made us utterly unique, what threats we faced…

Again, the extraordinary effort I went to save the relationship and clarify matters is all documented so there is no chance of arguing that they didn't know.

The vast majority of the 140 hours' work was in belabouring what they had already been told - clarifying, rephrasing, reminding, giving examples.

cont...

 

[Vipul5]

...cont

On learning of my user testing the he designer prematurely issued a final invoice despite not having completed the first page or delivered the four others expected as part of this first phase of development.
My guess is he said enough is enough, as YOU had accepted the work, YOU had accepted it was 'usable' but YOu had then gone back and changed things again.

This probably is their argument, but the reality is that he knew he had been 'rumbled' and would fail user testing - you don't know all the background information but they do. There was no mention of changes just the words 'user testing' before we move to the next stage and his final bill included over £1,500 for the functional specification and four more pages that hadn't even been looked at.

They refused to negotiate sensibly on a refund so we have had to take them to court. The claim is only for a £1900 refund and £3000 for my time - leaving out my £35,000 unrealized income and an entire year's business lost as we still have no Web-site.
So you are suing then? I ask this as you mention claiming for time and that and consequencial loss is not allowed in small claims court is it?

Losses resulting from breach of contract are allowable, and the costs I have claimed are demonstrably for 'mitigating costs' to both parties - if I had simply walked away I would have a weak case.

the design as he doesn't use or understand the internet and wants us to go to arbitration or submit two expert witnesses each for him to 'pick one out of a hat'!
fair enough where is the problem here?

This is the reason for my post - it is deeply unfair on both parties as we would, obviously, pick experts to corroborate our arguments irrespective of the facts and picking one at random reduces the entire case to a game of chance.

My concern is that the poor design is a direct result of failures to act with reasonable care and skill so, while 'fit for purpose' can be commented on by an expert, the process that contributed to the failure cannot be easily separated as a discrete contractual issue and needs to be looked at together.
YOU were project manager. have you considered that your methodology etc may have contributed to the breakdown? Also understand that YOU accepted a design as 'usable' only to be shouted down by others, which of course indicates that YOUR opinion of what is right is not of a high enough standard.

My failing was in trusting them; not being aggressive and assertive at the start - I tried too hard to solve the differences and fix the problem created by their indifference. And with a budget of £11,000 a template style should npot be acceptable to anyone for a design. Again, the £1,900 paid might not sound like much, especially against the cost of my time, but the reality is that it is hard cash that, at this stage in the project, is precious. The designer knew this which is a significant contributor to their intransigence in resolving issues.

So where do I go from here? I need an expert witness but can't start throwing money away and, since the defendant is defining 'fit for purpose' as whatever he produces irrespective of client instructions and needs, how do I tackle the issue of a judge who only wants one witness (to, essentially, tell him what to decide)?
You tackle it by doing what the judge tells you to do, or you walk away.

It may come to that but I have to weigh up losing a portion of a very tight budget against expending yet more energy, and time (and the accompanying angst) - so I need ideas on how to explain that the 'Russian roulette' option given by the judge is a nonsense without saying it is a nonsense.

I recognize that there is a great deal of background information that you are not privy to so have to make certain assumptions but please do remember that I come here for your kind help not on some anti-designer witch hunt.

For your information I approached four designers after this and they were all exceptional, they all 'got' the business and demonstrated it (first lesson learnt from this debacle!). The designer we chose produced, in two and a half weeks, from a 1 hour meeting and the same brief a gorgeous design that stands up to the ultimate test - the potential customer…and they did it as part of the pitch not the £4,000 the defendant was being paid.

I am not a nightmare client; if anything I gave too much free reign and have been too forgiving and accommodating so have to accept a portion of the blame; but, then, the same characteristics have elicited outstanding proposals from other designers, and a stunning new design from one of them, who have a conscience and the will and ability to follow up on their promises.

Thank you all again for your generosity in sharing your time and perspectives - it is greatly appreciated. Also, please don't spend too much of your valuable time on the peripheral issues of who was to blame - I know what went wrong and I have plenty of evidence - the issue I need help with is a legal one of how to work with the judge and small claims court.

 

[kulture]

The basic assumption we all make is that you have told all the details to the judge. The judge, not being a web design expert, wants an independent web design opinion. I am sorry but I fail to see what difference any of your replies makes. The judge, in my opinion, is right in asking for an expert witness advice. This is likely to cost more than you have lost. On top of that it will take more time, more anguish, and yes it is roulette. Welcome to the fun of small claims court. There is no-one, anywhere, who can tell you with 100% certainty if you will succeed or fail. Especially when the case seems to rest on opinion.

 

[Vipul5]

Thanks kulture.

I do realize there is always risk, especially in small claims, that is my biggest concern - doesn't matter how water tight I might think my case is, how do I demonstrate this without a team of lawyers?!

Something for me to think carefully about!

 

[internetspaceships]

Oh and incidentally OP, fair play to you for coming back and explaining all that in more detail.

 

[Steve Sellers]

Thanks kulture.

I do realize there is always risk, especially in small claims, that is my biggest concern - doesn't matter how water tight I might think my case is, how do I demonstrate this without a team of lawyers?!

Something for me to think carefully about!

A man who has himself for a lawyer has a fool for a client.

 

[kulture]

Everyone who takes someone to court believe that they have a good case. Otherwise why do it. Unfortunately they are not always correct. In this case, and bearing in mind we have only seen one side, I think you have a poor case. One that a web designer, especially a cowboy web designer, would be able to wriggle out of. If your web designer was inexperienced, and unable to defend himself properly, then you have a case.

Also apologies, you are indeed the nightmare client. One who hangs on in there wanting o keep on going when clearly you and the designer just have not "jelled". It would have been better for both parties if you had been less forgiving, more professional, and walked away much much sooner. That said the designer should also have walked away much sooner. Now that you have worked with a designer with whom you have got on with, who can read your mind, who does "get" you, you should realise that if you cannot get that wow feeling after the first few drafts, stop. Sometimes even great designers will not fit with you.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Firstly Thanks for coming back and replying, it means (and proves) a lot about your character

The way I see it is it all comes down to the contract. the wording of the contract appears to be such that it comes down to this.

Again, I stress that my view, expressed long before we entered into the contract, is that usability is about the customer understanding the business proposition as well as being able to use the site; the defendant now insists that usability is about the technical operation of the site, not whether the customer understands the business or site's purpose.

The definition of usability is what the designer states. so uhnless you have in writing (email is fine) a specific agreement from the designer that YOUR definition of usability (as above) is accepted ffor the purpose of this job, then it really will come down to an independent witness lottery.

You can't 'tell' a district judge anything, they have made their decision, you may not agree with it, but like a ref in rugby, there is no going back once the whistle has been blown.

finally:

The defendant is an agency and the contract was for £11,000 in year 1 and at least £28,000 in year 2. The contract included specialist designers, developers, and dedicated project management.

Was this a profit share deal or a straight payment for services deal? were there any KPI's in there?

 

[kulture]

The way I see it is it all comes down to the contract.

The definition of usability is what the designer states. so unless you have in writing (email is fine) a specific agreement from the designer that YOUR definition of usability is accepted for the purpose of this job, then it really will come down to an independent witness lottery.

To be honest, even if you have a definition of usability that says it is down to the customer, it is still a matter of OPINION. Judges prefer facts. Much easier to deal with. Opinions require experts. It is crucial to determine what the definition of usability is in the contract so that the expert will be the correct person to challenge the opinion of the designer. Put it another way there is no point in getting an expert to give an opinion on the usability of a site from the technical perspective if it the judge agrees that the customer's perspective is the one needed, and I have not got a clue how you would find a credible expert for that.

 

[Steve Sellers]

Everyone who takes someone to court believe that they have a good case. Otherwise why do it.

Not always, you get the vexatious litigants and they do it because they want to be a pain in the ar#e.

 

[internetspaceships]

Isn't there some kind of national register now for vexatious litigants so people recognise them?

 

[Steve Sellers]

Isn't there some kind of national register now for vexatious litigants so people recognise them?

Yes. I was going to post it on my last post but changed my mind.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/courts/vexatious-litigants/index.htm

 

[Websitehandyman]

Prob falls in the same gaping hole that products like new cars does. If you can drive it you can't have a refund, even if you can't drive too. So if it opens in a browser that's it.

 

[Sam136]

Hi Vipul,

Similar scenario with us re web agency issues. Your characteristics echo our own and we want to help you make your business a success.

You've had enough to worry about, so we won't slag you off or criticise you. It doesn't help anyone.

We've arranged a CFA with a leading law agency to fight our case. We walked away after paying our developers 60k GBP, the project being 170 days past the agreed deadline and core features being omitted. They asked for more money as they believed we had limitless funds. We said no, now they're bricking it when we asked them what their "Indemnity Insurance limit" is. We started from scratch again, have made massive progress and haven't looked back since.

Common sense does prevail and justice should usually be served before going to court. If an agency puts profit above all other S.H.I.T (Sincerity, Honesty, Integrity and Trust) they need to be reprimanded and punished. Take them to court, the cost to them to engage solicitors will be more than what you're claiming.

You seem like a professional. Our founders are ex-city traders, bankers, stategic consultants, Successful entrepreneurs who also misplaced their trust as they believed that businesses conducted their practices ethically, with integrity and pride.

Happy to have a chat to help you explore your options and share experiences.

Feel free to give us a call or drop us a message.

Totally understand how you must be feelng right now, we've been there and are moving onwards and upwards. Hopefully we can add value and get you going again.

The startup scene absolutely hates and despises agencies which give the industry a bad name. No matter what posters are saying about contracts, due diligence, you being ok with it and it's your fault. You should not feel guilty about trusting and paying these people to deliver your dreams.

You'll come out on top.

 

[The Resolver]

Coming to this thread late on its revival so not sue how far you have progressed. However I would suggest the way to reduce the gamble of relying on expert witnesses is to try to break down the complaints into as many detailed and specific elements of non-fulfilment as you can leaving little to the more vague 'not fit for purpose' and then see how far can provide clear evidence in support. For example if one element is the failure to inform visitors of fact x on the home page. then try to identify any evidence that it was agreed/required that such would be one effect of the home page. If the lack of that information is clear then you may invite the judge to come to tthat conclusion himself. If not so clear cut then seek to carry out a survey of an intrnet community and ask what information they are given on the page. If the results support you then introduce that with your evidence and invite the judge to accept such is of more value than an expert opinion (which after all is one person trying to answer the same question).

This problem is of interest to me as I have been appointed to head the European opertaion of a an ebay spin off company developing new processes in ODR (online dispute resolution). Our work is looking right now at novel versions of crowdsourcing to reach just and fair and relevant resolutions to avoid the lottery of expert evidence.I would like to know how your case developed.

 

[goodguy]

I agree with Sam and I had the same problem as the original OP.
Most of my post be about how Cowboy home builders and Cowboy Web designers are similar in many ways, and as cowboy builders, they pick their targets well, and in the case of web designers, new SME are the main target, as have money in the bank, and are to busy, to pay full attention or understanding to what they the web designer doing.
Also I have found out, many graphic designers, think they make good, web designers, but in my experience, other than maybe a very simply web site, they are the wrong people to go for, but they will have the best looking web site and the sales talk, to attract sme business, but majority have no understanding of the processes needed to run a I.T. project, same as most cowboy builders.
I knew not to continue with the web designer, due to the same old excuse, next week, sorry guys ill, sorry guys on holiday(Actually on uni break as a student) tech issue with paypal, etc he had delayed the project so much he had me over a barrel, as to close to the launch to change designer or do it myself. So when insisted that I wouldn't give him anymore money until he gave me a new and final completion date, he turned off the web site, so again had me over the barrel. After a meeting and being given a final completion date, I paid him more money, to complete it.
Yes, you guessed right the same thing started happening again, and 2 months after launch/5 months after original delivery date, parted ways and he terminated the web site, out of spite.
It's easy to say, "You should have walk away", but it never that easy, and in hindsight this excuse can be used when anything goes wrong, And don't forget the web designer is suppose to be the professional in doing these projects, and him talking to the client to ensure what he is doing is correct, should be part of process and job.
My advise, is use the site below and company house to check out the company and director and see past trading history, i.e. if any previous companies gone into Liquidation, and see how businesses he may have, specially under similar names
Previously I only checked company house, and didn't pick up on it, until to late.

companieshouse
company - director - check .co.uk/director/915121167

And I sorry to say, as a new business myself, go for a company that been trading for a few years, if the web site is important.
As like Cowboy House builders, web site Builders/Designers do the same trick, setup multiple companies, move money around between companies, so if they get sued or investigated by trading standards, there is no money in the business, and close it down.
And as a client, do not let the web designer register the domain/s, as could cost you £1,000s, to buy it off them, specially if they know you have spend £1,000s on the printed media. Lucky I wasn't caught this way.
As previous posts have said, it difficult to prove anything in court, and it's likely the company would no longer exist or have no money, so in most cases not worth it, but may be worth it, just to get him to close down the company, so other people can see a pattern, as if nobody sues bad companies, they just keep trading and giving bad service to more and more people.
The best way and free to stop other being caught is to attend, as many business networking meetings in his home town and tell everybody about your experience, so no-one else, gets caught by him, and any-other cowboy web designers.
Of-course his response and all other bad web designers response would of-course be, I was a bad client, not detailed enough specification, expected to much for the money paid, to many changes and things happened he couldn't controlled, very similar to excuses a cowboy builder uses. BBC should do a program on cowboy web site builders.