Website designer - poor work

M

Maryb50

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I was about to pay for my first website on Friday. The guy has been tipping at it since late Feb. I wasn't in a rush with it until the last few weeks. However, at various points in the process, I was very disappointed with what he sent me - text I had sent to him to put in and changes I had emailed were not done - some of them were, some of them weren't, though I would have emailed him a few times about them.

Then on Friday, when I was picking it up, and had been emailing him what I thought were the final changes over the last week, he said he wanted payment straight away - I paid €220 deposit, and the rest of the payment was €860, but that he didn't have time to wait and go over the website with me to check for mistakes or any changes needed, or to teach me how to make these changes, as stated in his website spiel on website design.

However, just after lunch on Friday, I looked at the link he had given me to my new website, the first few pages were ok - after much effort to and fro, however, one of the pages said Meet Wordpress on it, another of the pages had writing in Spanish/Italian - like he took a Spanish/Italian website as a template for my own, another page had an appointment page from what seemed like an American Health Clinic - saying they were open 365 days a year and 24/7 and provided various types of healthcare - that's not me! An article button across the top was not inserted as requested. On another page, some of the headings were coming on top of other headings. I emailed and texted the guy to say I could not shell out e860 for this website that it was sloppy and unprofessional, and I expected the website to be absolutely ready to go live at this stage. He never replied. The guy was recommended to me. He is local. I am now going to get a website somewhere else, but have lost my €220 despite.

Just wondered, after this very long post, is this the type of behaviour/workmanship that often occurs in website design, and can anyone give me any tips on what I should be looking for in my first website.
 
Have you seen other examples of this guy's work? €1,000-odd seems an unrealistically low price to create a professional website from scratch.

He may have just got sick of it and he may be afraid of committing more time to it if he's losing money on it or he could be afraid you won't pay him if you don't like his output.

I'd recommend that you try and engage with him to see if it's possible to retrieve the project and your relationship. It mightn't work out but if it does, you won't have lost your money.
 
Thanks TMcGibney for your reply. I have seen the website he created for the person who recommended him. He also used to have other websites he designed on his website, but seems to have gone more into doing digital marketing for people. He may well have got sick of it, and me too. However, I couldn't pay him the other €860 on Friday when I saw the final output, so sloppy, so many mistakes.

Can you let me know what I should be paying for a basic website? A couple of pages, Twitter and Facebook. What is the usual price for a website? I would be prepared to pay more, up to 2k if the website was good, and was easy to make changes to myself. I don't think I could trust him to complete the website properly at this stage. I felt that he was throwing any old thing at me, and expected me to pay for it, no matter how many mistakes were in it. I didn't feel there was any customer service at all, which I find surprising, as surely a lot of repeat business is by word of mouth for website designer, i.e. that my friend or colleague will like my website and ask for his details.
 
You asked for tips previously and I replied on your thread:

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/professional-website-2k-worth-it.202143/

Might be worth your while reading it again.

There are lots of people out there who say they are web designers and are just winging it.

They prey on the novice (like you) and use templates/quick fixes to charge large amounts of money.

Did you sign a contract for the work? If yes ... make sure that what he said he'd do he does. If no accept the loss of your €220 and be glad you didn't give him more.

There are lots of reputable firms out there ... there are also firms that look reputable but are winging it. I came across a Dublin based web design company who also promised web site security but their own signed had been hacked and remained compromised for 3 to 4 days.

From your other thread:
"Thanks. That's what I thought - basically I think it is a static website I want - don't know too much about websites. I'm hoping for home page with info about what I do, another page with archives of articles I have written, a blog page, and just being able to provide links to other useful information in relation to the services I provide. Roughly how much should I be paying?"

€500 max.
 
You were right in giving him the sack. A project this size shouldn't take more than a week's work, and shouldn't take more than a calendar month start-to-finish.

I'm not sure you can find a competent and established web developer to take on a job this small. Anybody with a respectable track record should have access to longer-term and/or better paid gigs for customers with bigger needs and deeper pockets.

DIY platforms like wordpress and squarespace allow savvy "amateurs" to make bespoke templated sites like this that look decent and work. I'd be looking for a CS student or a teenager who's "good with computers". I'd want to see 2/3 pieces of previous work, professional or otherwise (PM me links if you'd like me to take a look). If they're good at explaining themselves, and prepared to work from your living room for beer money, they're hired.
 
I paid €1,000 for my website and am delighted with it. My web designer is very professional and I have had a lot of compliments on how my site looks. I am happy to pass on his details if you want.

When I read that he's been working on it from February, alarm bells started going off. Web sites aren't that difficult to construct these days and as long as he has the content for the pages, he should be able to do it in a few weeks.

Unless you are selling products on your site and need to have a shopping basket and take card details, a website should not cost anywhere near €2k to build.


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
 
Just one potential issue on the flip-side of the argument. What was covered in your original agreement with regards to content updates/ changes? If you were providing too many changes or updates throughout the process, then the work may have become more time-consuming than it was worth to him. Not saying he was in any way right, just another factor to consider.

Also, how did you pay the deposit? Depending on the method, you may be able to get some or all of this back based on him not delivering on the agreement.
 
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