Complaint Review: Adolfo Salazar

Adolfo Salazar a.k.a. Salazarcorp and also runs thesmartygroup.com is a scammer. I first made contact with Adolfo Salazar on the website GetAFreelancer. I bid on a project to install a Wordpress site with a logo. Since this was an easy job I told him I would do it for $30. We began talking a bit more and Adolfo Salazar stated he would have a lot of work like this for me as he was partnering with Local Splash to provide websites to local businesses.

I was excited about the opportunity and things were going pretty well for a couple weeks. I finished this initial project for Adolfo Salazar and was paid through GetAFreelancer's escrow system. He messaged me a couple days after completion of the first project to do a website for his father's landscaping business at Buena Vista Landscaping. This was an easy website to just add a logo to and install Wordpress (the site looks like it has since been taken down!) I wasn't that worried about payment as it looked like he would provide me with a lot of work in the future so I did it for free upfront without requesting payment.

He then contacted me about a week or so later to do another site that was an add on to the original site I did at thesmartygroup.com. This site was to look like another site he gave me. This took me several hours to complete and get just right (this site is also offline now). He said not to worry because he would send me $100 for that site and for his father's site. I said that sounds like a fair price and went and finished this 3rd site thinking I would get payment soon after.

Adolfo Salazar then came with the excuses. We talked about setting up a bank transfer because it would be easier then using GAF every time due to fees. I welcomed this as I needed the money for some bills due and I would get it quicker. I provided Adolfo Salazar with all my bank information to do a transfer (we use the same bank). He said he would get it done in a day or so. Well a week goes by and I still don't have a payment. I politely ask him for it because I needed it for some bills. He said it was his fault he thought his partner had sent it already (lie number 1). He assured me he would go to the bank himself the very next morning to send it (lie number 2). Mind you, this can very easily be done online in 2 minutes.

Another few days goes by and I figure he got caught up or something. I keep emailing him asking about payment. I finally get a response saying he was sick and would have his girlfriend go to the bank and send it right now (lie number 3). Then another week goes by. He starts to avoid me on instant messenger and also won't answer my emails. I got a little mad at this point and told him I would give him until October 30th (two days) to pay me through the bank or GAF or I would let people know how Adolfo Salazar does business. I told him I knew how to rank websites in the search engines and would go about this if he didn't pay me what was due. This is the first step in that process. I think any potential customers and also people he works with need to know how Adolfo Salazar does business.

Adolfo has all kinds of plans. He runs call centers to cold call people for different things to sell them. He is in the process of partnering with Local Splash to offer small businesses websites to attract online sales through thesmartygroup.com. Also, he seems to even be getting into foreclosure assistance with buyingtime4u.com. He told me he would have me do this site for him as well and was taking over all the marketing from the current people who run it.

Adolfo Salazar seemed like a really cool guy. We got a long pretty well and he told me about all his projects even. I figured this would turn into a good professional relationship. That was until he didn't pay me what he owed me, cut off all contact, and just eventually ignored me. The weird thing is he opens a lot of projects on GAF. I don't think it was a money issue. I am not even sure what happened. I was more then patient with him for about 3 weeks before I got upset in my first email.

I never expect him to pay me now. This is why I am writing to warn anyone who may end up doing business with him. I recommend avoiding business with Adolfo Salazar at all costs - he may rip you off too.