Let’s Get Straight To The Point… I Got Scammed!
Posted by Mike | Filed under Make Money OnlineGetting scammed… it is one of the most dreaded things when it comes to dealing with money online. Well, guys, guess what? I just got ripped off by some “professional theme designer” for $150.00. I knew I should have published a detailed post about this earlier, but I thought that he would be willing to make the necessary changes to what he did. Apparently, he did not, so let me tell my story.
My Story
It was December 8, 2007 (Yeah, yeah, this happened a long time ago). I was looking for a professional WordPress theme designer because I felt like I had to change The WWW Observer’s theme. I came across this site called Blog Theme Machine (If you want to visit the site, search Google. I won’t post a link from my blog to a scammer’s site.) and I’ll admit it, I was pretty stunned by the designer’s portfolio. Well, I checked some of the sites in the portfolio and yeah, they had some pretty themes. Well, after drooling (not really) and wanting to get one of the designs, I said to myself “I seriously need a theme designed by this guy!”
I quickly came in contact with the designer in charge of Blog Theme Machine. His name is Mike Smith (not sure if that’s his real name though), and we chatted via MSN. We discussed the pricing, how long it would take him to finish the job, and everything else that concerns the designing and coding process. It seemed to me that he was organized and can handle the job, so I hired him. The price for a theme was $200+ ($275, I think. But I am sure that it’s almost $300.) He asked me to send a $150 down payment via PayPal to assure that I won’t “run away” once he has finished the job. Well, okay, if that was how he worked with his clients. I paid him $150. I sent him the design wireframe, and I waited for him to finish the first design draft. Honestly, I wasn’t impressed, so I asked him to revise his design. I told him what I wanted, my explanation was VERY very detailed. After waiting for SO long (I’m talkin’ weeks here, guys), he came up with yet another unprofessional design that was full of gradients. Do you think that the designs are worth $200+? No way!
Well, after he sent me the second design, I came into conclusion that either he didn’t really understand what I wanted, or he lacked the skills to accomplish the task.
I sent him a few more e-mails, but I never received a reply. I tried to contact him via MSN as well, but to no avail. I was upset. Really. I opened up a PayPal dispute, and he agreed to make necessary changes if I closed the dispute. He also told me that he sent the PSD files to my e-mail. Here’s his reply, if you guys want to read it.
Fine then, I closed the dispute, not knowing that it would be the biggest mistake that I will ever commit online. After closing the dispute, I e-mailed him right away to tell him that I have NOT received the PSD files. He never replied. What a scammer… what a THIEF!
After a few months, while I was browsing the DP forums, I came across a few threads saying that a certain Mike Smith from Blog Theme Machine scammed them. Yikes! So I wasn’t the only victim of this guy! There were several other people whose money have been stolen by one guy. I feel sorry for them, and yes, I feel their pain as well.
I can’t believe that Blog Theme Machine even got a praise from a blog. I truly believe that such a scammer should not be recognized as an honest professional theme designer.
Lessons Learned
Well, I believe that I have learned a lot because of what happened. I would like to share everything that I realized with you guys. First, do NOT just trust anyone. Make sure that you’re dealing with reputable individuals/companies. Always check for positive reviews first, and it wouldn’t hurt to check for negative reviews too (if they exist). Do not agree to send non-refundable down payments if you’re not sure that you will get an output that will meet (or exceed) your expectations. One last thing, always be careful when making decisions!
To “Mike Smith” (or whatever your name is): If you’re reading this, all I can say to you is… scamming won’t get you anywhere. Someday, all the bad things that you did/you’re doing will come back to you. I assure you.
P.S. Mike Smith, this is NOT for you… LOL. 
If you’re looking for a top-notch WordPress designer and coder, check out my links page. I’ve got a pretty good collection of freelancers that are truly commendable.
No offense, but the quality of the mockups he provided does not seem that bad…actually much better then I would have expected based on your post.
It is also kind of shocking that this guy is doing this for a couple hundred dollars and that a website called the WWW observer would expect to get a high quality custom design for so little cash. 300$ for a completely custom design? that is crazy.
You get what you pay for…
Stephen:
Yes, I get what I pay for, I understand that. That’s why I just requested for the PSD file and not the whole theme anymore because I wasn’t satisfied with the quality. But did I get anything? No, not at all.
From his site:
Because of that, I actually expected something much better from him.
@Stephen - The mockups weren’t bad, I agree, but for $300? I can get better custom blog designs from other designers. And I think Jug’s point here wasn’t about the price or the quality really..it’s about not getting anythin at all for his money.
@Jug - Sorry to hear that you were scammed. It’s like throwing $150 and see it vanish in thin air. Hope you can still get the money or the files.
Lenz: I highly doubt that I will get the money back because 1) I have closed the PayPal dispute and I’ve not heard from Mike for months now and 2) He has a no-refund policy. If ever I get at least the PSD files, I think I’d just sell ‘em to other bloggers. Won’t have any use for them anymore; got a theme for the blog already…
[EDIT] I got the PSD files from him just now, after sending him quite a number of e-mails and numerous IMs. I don’t know if I should be happy, but at least I got the PSDs… though I’m not that satisfied with the designs. I’m going to sell them now on DP, tell me if you guys are interested.
I still feel scammed because I waited so long for the designs. I wasn’t able to follow the redesign schedule for my blog because of this.
Wow Jug! Good to know that. But you ordered last Dec.8, 2007…that’s a very very long wait if you ask me. IMO he shouldn’t get praises even though he delivered the design files to you cause he didn’t deliver it on time! Don’t tell me he wants a “Oh thank you Mr. Blog theme machine for giving me the files!!!” from you.
By the way I just checked his site and it said there that the entire wp theme will be finished within 1 week. In fact, the coding process is included but I guess you didn’t want it to be coded anymore.
My opinion on the themes: what you have now on your blog is better than his 2 designs. that’s just my opinion, don’t know with others. good luck w/ the sale btw.
Lenz: Thanks for that. Yes, I didn’t want it to be coded anymore because if I did, I would have had to pay around $150 more to get the theme. I wasn’t satisfied with the design, so why should I bother getting it coded, right? Anyway, thanks for the support man. Hope you can join my little contest.
Well, at least I guess things went well in the end, since you still got the designs (though not up-to-standard and delayed). Sounds like blogging your issues do work at times.
*P.S., maybe you should release the PSDs to the public and cash in on the traffic. :p
Multippt: Lemme think about that…
Well, I already started an auction for the PSDs so I can’t release them to the public anymore.
BTW, let me know if you’re subscribed via e-mail as you’ll get 50 points for the contest by being subscribed.
I got scammed by the douche bag too. $200.00, down the drain.
Doesn’t answer on MSN, even though he’s been online for months, always away though.
Can you let me know what you emailed him at? I’ll open an unauthorized transaction through Paypal, will get me the money back 100%.
Jason: Yikes! Sad to hear that. If I hadn’t posted this, sent him numerous e-mails and all, I doubt that he would have sent me the freakin’ files.
I got an e-mail from him after 2 months (almost 3 months, actually). The e-mails that he used were:
freefallcreative [at] gmail and staff [at] blogthememachine [dot] com
To everyone: Don’t spam Mr. Mike Smith, guys. I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t like that. IMO No one deserves spam, regardless if the person’s a scammer or not.
Sad news to hear that you got scammed………….
i can give you 1 suggestion that you should first get all information about whom you are dealing with and then deal with him and never pay someone before work done
and i think you can refund your money if the deal was with paypal.
Sufiyan Ghouri: The transaction was made via PayPal. I opened a dispute but I closed it because I thought I’d receive the quality service that he said he would render. I had to pay him $150 ’cause he had a policy that all customers must send a down payment first. Oh well, at least I got the files even though I’m not satisfied with them.
Dude, I hope you can join my little contest over here. I’ve got $500+ worth of prizes waiting!
Man I am sorry to hear that has happened to you. I am a graphics designer as well, and it CAN go both ways lol…. I always get 50% upfront, and 50% after completion. But thats horrible how they would take the money and run without you being satisfied 100%. Bad business. And I am sure that they will not have alot more as soon as everyone reads this! =)
I am extremely sorry to hear that. Hope this doesnt happen again in future. Well paypal offers very less protection
Mayank: Ah well, what’s past is past. Gotta move on! LOL. Dude, you’ve got a cool blog. Just subscribed!
Oh. I was scammed last week for $800
It is really big trouble of online payments. The risk is very high!
Be careful, Guys!
It is really sad how many crooks there are in the web business field. Reviews are very important(hopefully they are from honest people not bought ones) and paying half front half later might also help. Sadly though even those measures might not help :/
I remember that day still. I was scammed for $1500. Yeah. However it was a service to be given slowly. My total profit would have had been $800. But in return I saw a loss of $200. Thank god, the whole work wasn’t completed or it would have had been a loss of $700, unaffordable.
the best way to get ‘your back’ is to publicize this and link it to other posts that give him a bad review. with any luck when googling that company name your review will come up and as most people google a company before diving in, this will result in him getting his just deserts.
Ouch man! Paypal is hardly ever supportive when it comes to digital goods making things worse.
If nothing else, I hope at least one person out there learns from your experience that you should always, always, ALWAYS research the background of somebody or a company before shelling over money to them. It’s not always a foolproof method, but it can sometimes save you a lot of headache.
Sorry to hear you got scammed though
Jug, I am sorry to hear that buddy. I was also contacted by Mike but I did not think to order because of the high price he quoted. Anyways, I was not interested in the custom theme for now too. Rather, I am happy with the current theme of my blog that looks enough professional and it’s free again.
Free is many times too good too!
Anyways, I think you can open up the dispute in paypal again you are really feeling cheated [your post anyways say so]
Mike Smith from also did the exact same thing to me as well- asking me to close my dispute and he would do the work- NEVER HAPPENED. DO NOT TRUST THAT GUY.. He will rip you off
Ophelia: Whaaaaat? Really? Can’t say anything.. not sure why he decided to give me the PSDs and not give you guys the service that you paid for.
[…] focus on scamming since I just got ripped off by some guy who happens to run a blog designing service. When you scam, you take the money of your client and […]
Hey Juggler, sorry to hear you got scammed. Thanks for sharing though - makes others more cautious.
What gets me about Mike Smith is the fact that he would say I was a good client.. Is that how you treat good clients- you take their money and you don’t deliver the jobs…What really bothers me is that he is and continues to do this to alot of people. I’ve heard about 5 people just in feburary who have gotten scammed by this guy and someone needs to put a stop to it since paypal wont… He’s lucky I don’t know how to hack
by the way my dp name is beautyinmd
Ophelia: He never replied on the post over at easywordpress.com anymore. Do tell me if ever he gives you what you paid for (I doubt though, unless you take some serious actions).
[…] write this post as I see he’s back, and scamming other people too. You can also read the comments section of this review, now if it was just me, fine; but so many […]
That’s a long story…I can imagine how it’s feel paying $ 150 for nothing. Recently there are more peoples with bad attitude so we have to be carefull before deciding with whom we will do the business.
i am sorry that you got scammed but it may sure you and other people how to be more careful on the internet and doing things with companies and people oyu dont know.
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Wow, so sorry this had to happen to you. I hope you get you money back somehow.
you are not the ones who being scammed on the net
i have been scammed twice for selling my service.
from that i have learned how to be more careful when make a deal on the net.
“Experience is the best teacher on the net”
Hey mate, I know it can be really tough to get scammed and even worse for an amount of money like that. Although it isn’t overly huge, you would at least like to pay for something and get it. I guess you just need to learn your lessons which it seems you have and carry them in next time. Seems he is pretty known for this thing from what I have read above so like I said, best to do some research before perhaps to protect yourself.
grandonk: Yeah, experience is the best teacher. But a bad experience is a bad experience.
I apperceive it can be absolutely boxy to get scammed and alike worse for an bulk of money like that. Although it isn’t ever huge, you would at atomic like to pay for article and get it. I assumption you aloof charge to apprentice your acquaint which it seems you accept and backpack them in abutting time. Seems he is appealing accepted for this affair from what I accept apprehend aloft so like I said, best to do some analysis afore conceivably to assure yourself.
Ouch! That is a really bad experience and I’m sure that this is a lesson for everyone. $150 is quite an amount. It’s always better you save logs, IMO!
Just get to know people better, before you pay them advance.
Sorry to hear about your loss. I am not sure if this is applicable, but do you think you should have used Escrow.com? Can Escrow actually facilitate this kind of personal transaction?
I would be very careful with anything above $100, only paid that amount to a trusted web hosting.