Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/10/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Began working with Uplink Spyder October of ************************************************************************************************************************* I gave specifics goals:1. Simple easy to use site (for Clients, Class participants and most of all myself going forward). 2. Clear pages that were easy to navigate 3. Payment process through my site 4. A Registration process through my site for those registering for classes 5. The ability for me to take the site into my own hands and do the additions of classes/comments and such on the site going forward easily and quickly. Agreement was made to pay for a finished site. Cost for that finished site to be between $3500-$4000. I have currently paid $2000. To date:1.Still no ability to make payments through site 2.Still now quick way for registration of Clients 3.I cannot take site into my hands and make changes going forward 4.No original content development happened by company. They were given all written content by me from my current working site. In December 2021, I was told site was ready to launch. I would have a tutorial from staff so I could take site over. During meeting it became clear that many of the goals were still unfinished and the staff member seemed unclear on how to use the tools or teach me how to use them. At that point, I made a choice to stop work and end contract with company. Site is still not complete and I have no confidence that this company will meet my original goals. Company is seeking to have me pay additional $2000 for a "finished site" that is still unfinished.I have requested an accounting for work that has been done and the financial details for that work before making any additional payments. Company owner has refused to supply me with my request and threatened to send me to collections. Please help with resolution.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/31/2022

  ***** is not telling the truth of the situation and is simply trying to get out of paying for the website.

  We have a signed agreement from ***** and have responded to everything she has sent. We have offered options, including offering to finish the website but she refuses to even talk to me by phone about this and has been that way since I sent her final invoice. She only communicates in letters and apparently, complaints now.

  It was not until my collections person contacted her that she would even reply to me at all. Please see the agreement she signed, attached. Also her letter to me, attached that she sent after collections called her. Last, see my reply to that letter, attached, which she did not reply to.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/02/2022

   
  Complaint: 17186077
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I do not appreciate being referred to as a "lier".  At no point have I lied.  I have been honest in my intent to resolve this situation. 

  
  I clearly stated my goals when creating the agreement with this company.  The Company agreed that I could make payments. I did NOT stop work due to the payment process.  I stopped the work because I no longer had confidence in the project being completed in line with my original goals.

  
  At the point of termination of services, December 12, I clearly stated in my email what my expectations where going forward. I clearly stated my concerns and request for this company to stop all work on the project. I clearly stated what my original goals were and how they were not being met. I was led to believe from the companys response that they would be doing a follow up with their staff to see what the accounting of hours was so that we could resolve what the remaining payment (if any) would be.

  
  As of March when I received the "Demand to pay" notice, I had not yet received the information I was under the expectation I would be getting.  I also have stated that when I receive an accounting of work that has been done, I am willing to make payment on that work.  I do not feel that it is either fair or ethical to require payment in full for a "completed project" that is not in any way complete.  This company gave me no options other than to be forced to continue to work with them after I no longer had confidence in the process, or pay for something without having it be complete.

  
  I am asking BBB to help mediate this communication so that it can be resolved in an ethical and fair manner.
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 06/13/2022

  UplinkSpyder staff spent over 60 hours building ******* website. Our hourly rate is $85/hour.

  At no time during that process did ***** express disappointment until the site was about to launch. I do have many emails prior to that where ***** expressed nothing but happiness, excitement, confidence, etc. She never gave us the opportunity to work with her. She gave no option except to stop work and this was immediately after being invoiced. She did not reply to my emails or respond to my phone calls until collections were sent her way. I tried to contact her many times to discuss.

  ***** has paid $2000. $2000 further has been invoiced and not paid. This is less than the total amount we are within our rights to charge. I have not yet invoiced ***** for the full amount of our work. I advise her to pay what is invoiced and I will close this matter in our books.

  ***** owns the work we did as it was performed in the Squarespace account that is in her name. She can do with it what she wants. We will not be taken to the brink of launch and then suddenly told the whole website is "not meeting original goals" and then ignored for months and then not paid. This is my last email prior to collections.

  Thank you.
  ****** River, CEO of UplinkSpdyer

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/23/2022

   
  Complaint: 17186077
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have not resolved this issue with the company and was traveling so could not respond until today.

  I have documents still to submit in response to my original complaint.  

  Please see attached documents from the original transcript of conversations regarding website design, payment structure and goals.  

   

  Goals:

  Website Goals

  - needs to be able to update the site with class information

  - wants a cleaner look

  - wants to use her blog 

  - wants people to register for classes on her site

  - wants to be able to refund people on her site

  - wants traffic to come to her site rather than going to EventBrite

  - wants to collect more detailed information through registration process

  - wants to automate sending information when people sign up for a class

  - we determined Squarespace is the best option for ******* needs

  - Evidence Based Birth instructor pages should match their branding guide

  - wants her new tagline to be something along the lines of "Having the conversations that matter"

   

  Cost

  For website:

  - $75/hour plus the 10% discount for women/mother owned businesses

  - website will be in the ***** hour range

  For logo:

  - usually around $1500 but depends on the number of revisions

   

   

  Please also see attached screen shots from site that show there is still no working structure for payment, registration and process.  

   

  I am requesting an allocation for the the 60 hours that were used on this site. 

   

  Also attached are screen shots showing no plug in's for registration/payment as well as no concrete work to improve SEO.  

   

  Thank you for continuing to help with the resolution of this issue,

   

  *****************************

   

  ***************************** CEIM, CD

  Evidence Based Birth Instructor

  Infant Massage Parent Educator 

  ************

  TenderHand Doula

  www.tenderhandsdoula.com

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 07/11/2022

  BBB asked me to respond to this:

  "I am requesting an allocation for the the 60 hours that were used on this site."

  Here is that allocation report.

   

  Please let me know what else I need to submit to resolve this. I have already submitted responses to the rest of ******* last email.

  Thank you.

  
  ******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/18/2022

   
  Complaint: 17186077
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  I appreciate that the company has finally provided the requested information. 

  
  

  As per my original conversation with this company, my most important target for the site was to have integration that would allow for registration and payment through my site.  This can be clearly seen in the original transcript dialogue.  

  
  

  I only made the decision to shift from my currently working site on the suggestion of this company.  They told me making the payment and registration integration would be more efficient with Square Space. They assured me I would be able to use the already formatted templates to shift my content from one site to the other quickly and easily.

  
  

  I am seeing that only 2.1% of the hours spent were on this targeted goal.  That concerns me and also explains why the site was so clearly not ready for launch when I was told it would be.  I also find it difficult to understand the ****% of time spent on design for the site since it was not created by the company.  I was asked by the company to go to the Square Space platform and choose a template design that I wanted. It was an already formatted site, and they would only need to add content and integrations. I was told this would also give me the ability to take the site into my hands once completed.  

  
  

  I provided all written content, photos and outline structure to the company through ****** docs.  Their role was to take that provided content and copy it into the site and then integrate the registration/payment structure into the pages where it was needed.  

  
  

  I would like clarification on why this company spent so little time on the most important targeted aspect for why I came to them originally; on why they needed more than 50% of the overall allocated time to design a site that already had a formatted template; and on why this company needed ****% of those allocated hours to take already written content and copy it into the site.  This also  included photos that I provided and instructed the company on placement within the site.  

  
  

  Finally, I would like clarification on why so little time was spent on the most important aspect of the project.  Payment and Registration through the site was still not completed at the time I was told the site was ready for launch.  

  
  

  I cannot justify additional payment when the most important part of the project was so clearly left without completion. 

  
  

  *****************************

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/12/2022

  This has been a massive waste of time and I truly hope this is the final time I need to respond. This client has no intention of resolution. She's been provided with hours worked, at your request, which she only wanted so she could attempt further insult and provide ignorant reasons why she should not pay us. You can see very clearly in past responses that I provided our agreement, signed by her. We performed our end, she has not paid hers.

  *****, you know perfectly well that a template is not a design. All the graphics were created by us. The entire site was created by us using a framework that Squarespace provides and this was the main responsibility of creating a website - design and layout of information. We do not normally recommend Squarespace but you needed a cost effective solution and so we recommended this and you chose this to fit in your budget.

  We worked with you on integrations of technologies for accepting payment and registration which you had infinite amounts of input in. I have this in writing. Three emails are attached. There are more. Integrating technologies like venmo, stripe, the scheduling app provided through Squarespace and Calendly does not take large amounts of time but design and SEO does. This is what we were hired for. In our agreement, do you see anything about registation or payments? Here is a reminder of the scope of work in our agreement that you signed:

  COMPANY will provide CLIENT with a fully functional website, programmed utilizing Squarespace. CLIENT will establish the Squarespace account and provide COMPANY with access. COMPANY will assist in finding an appropriate theme and will design the site, within the theme parameters, and within brand standards. The estimate below covers **** pages of content.
  COMPANY will perform search engine optimization according to best practices. CLIENT will provide information and raw content as needed.COMPANY will edit content provided and integrate chosen keywords as part of the optimization process.
  

  ***** has been provided with a 100% finished working website that she has possession of under her Squarespace account. She stated satisfaction with all work done until the final **** was sent and then stated dissatisfaction that previously was not stated and further, would not allow us to change anything after that dissatisfaction was stated, she just insisted we stop working. She is unethical and has brought it here to avoid collections.

  Thank you,
  *************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/17/2022

   
  Complaint: 17186077
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I am saddened that this company feels the need to speak in a way that is both unprofessional and unkind.  

  At no time have I demeaned or spoken in a way that was unprofessional or unkind.  I have tried at all times to stay clear with my questions and concerns.  

  1. I do NOT have a 100% finished site.  I am still using my previously working site and have made no changes to the square space site (though I am still currently pay for 2 sites). There are photos that were never approved by me and have no connection with my company logo or brand.  I made requests to have these photos removed and replaced with those I provided.  That was not done. There is no current working platform for registration or payment for classes. Though I was told this would be in place and I would be given a tutorial by the representative of this company, at the time of the tutorial, it was clear that these functions were not in place.  This was the moment when I came to realize that, though things were being told to me and I was seeing a layer of completeness, the site was not in any way ready for launch as I was told.  

  2. I did not choose to switch from my current working site.   I was perfectly fine staying with my current working site and was initially looking to do all of the shifts and changes to that platform since I am familiar with it and would be more able to take the site back into my hands once the work was complete.  This company specifically recommended the shift to square space so that I could take payments.  They said they would be able to navigate that more easily is I switch.  I followed their recommendation on this point. 

  3. Though there is no stated comment in the original document signed by me, there is a clear statement of my goal to take payments through the site (again the primary reason for switching to square space).  I have once again attached to this response the transcript from the goal setting session with this company.

  Within the goals you will see: 

  "wants people to register for classes on her site
  - wants to be able to refund people on her site
  - wants traffic to come to her site rather than going to EventBrite
  - wants to collect more detailed information through registration process - wants to automate sending information when people sign up for a class
  - we determined Squarespace is the best option for *****'s needs"

  4. If we were to look at my current working site and compare it to the "in progress" site, I believe BBB would see that there are minor changes in "design", however the content is the same.  I provided all of that content.  I provided all of the photos and branding information.  

  5. At no time have I stated an unwillingness to work toward resolution of this matter.  My concerns are valid and reasonable.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************