Complaint Review: Black Widow Internet - Crystal Clear Global Solutions Ltd

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am very saddened to read the comments above by this individual. Both myself and my dedicated team take our reputation and client satisfaction extremely seriously. Whilst we are human and sometimes make mistakes, we are a very honest and open company and always work our hardest to resolve any issues for our clients.

When a genuine problem occurs we have a defined complaints process in place to ensure that the issues are fully recorded and investigated as a serious matter by upper management. We do have a very small number of clients that have made complaints, some have been valid and we have worked hard to rectify the situation and sometimes they are not valid. We treat all complaints very seriously as not only do we wish to provide our valued clients with the best products and services, we are aware that by addressing complaints head on we are able to evolve and improve our company for the benefit of all.

The reason I am saddened at this complaint is that I am aware of who this individual is and the real facts of this situation. I will be careful how I address this complaint as I wish to remain professional and also not break the data protection act.

I am extremely confident that Mr Saunders of Mystery Records wrote this complaint as well as a further two complaints on this website, all the complaint links are below. You will see the name Angel and the style of writing to the same. You can also see the testimonial Mr Saunders provided my company on the 30th September 2008 at the link www.blackwidowinternet.com/mystery.php

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/417/RipOff0417645.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/441/RipOff0441491.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/442/RipOff0442178.htm

Mr Saunders has also taken visuals we have provided him which have not yet been paid for and placed them onto his MySpace profile, however I will not post his personal MySpace page here as I feel that is unprofessional and uncalled for.

Regarding the claims made above, I will firstly bullet point each claim and reply accordingly, and then I will put down the honest truthful facts of this situation for you to consider both sides and make an informed decision.


>>>Professional Graphic Designers/Artists submitted laughably infantile, crass 'sketches'.

We produce sketches at the very start of our design process, created by professional graphic designers to allow us and the client to quickly play with a range of different ideas, branding, concepts etc. I would not say that this is laughably infantile, many of the top design houses in London and New York follow this method and all clients are informed that the first idea mock ups will be sketches. Once the rough stages are agreed we move to full digital mock-ups and move forward with changes.


>>>Ignored simple requests and instructions

I am not aware after looking over all emails and letters back and forth with the client of anything ignored so I am unable to comment further on this.


>>>constantly up-selling.

All of my staff are trained to think outside the box and to advise clients of any new ways to use existing technology or new emerging technology to further enhance their business and I feel this is a positive for our clients.

Additional features that were not quoted for would obviously be at an additional cost however with this client, as with all clients, we would provide everything within the original contract at no further cost and clients are always free to say no to any new ideas we have.

We actually ask clients at the start of our relationship with them if they would like us to consider additional features or simply work on the contract, so we do not appear to be focused on up-selling. I admit there can appear to be a fine line between up-selling and advising clients on additional beneficial features and we are careful to find a good balance. There is a possibility on this occasion that it may have appeared focused on up-selling when in fact the team were very excited over the potential of the improvements and new ideas. For any ill feeling this may have caused I would like to personally apologise to Mr Saunders.


>>>Services included in package evaporated over time.

Nothing ever evaporates with our contracts, every single client I have had the honour of working with has always had everything within the contact and most often a little more as well.


>>>Nearly nine months after starting, they declared it finished and automatically raised the final invoice. Beware.

The project did not take 9 months and the build was well within the 90 days ETA on the contract. Once we have finished our work and it has been tested and confirmed ready to go live, I feel it is fair to inform the client of this and at that time send a friendly reminder of the amount left to pay and details on how to pay. I see this as being normal in business.


>>>This starts their 30 day payment clock ticking.

Just as with most businesses, late payments have to be dealt with and we have a very clearly defined process in our contract which the client agreed to. It is worth noting that the payment has been due to us for nearly a year now and when we complete everything and more from an agreed contract, it is only fair to be paid for this in a reasonable timely fashion.


>>>Desktop share meetings cancelled,

Two desktop share meetings were indeed cancelled. One by Mr Saunders and one by ourselves as the account manager was ill on that day. For the time we had to rearrange the meeting at short notice to, which took place a few days later, we apologise to Mr Saunders.


>>>when I finally got to go through the website I found the only thing I had asked for was missing.

We have not been made aware of any features that are missing and such information has not been made aware to my staff. Mr Saunders please feel free to contact me personally on 0845 257 10 97 to inform me of what is missing and if there is anything missing from the contract and/or signed brief these will of course be added without charge, however, I have had an additional testing team go over your website and backend systems this week and we can see nothing missing and no bugs.


>>>Questions not answered

We are not aware of any questions not being answered.


>>>account manager leaves suddenly and I'm passed on to someone else. Ask the same questions to new person.

Yes the account manager did leave suddenly due to illness and we were very upset at that time for the staff member and also apologised to Mr Saunders and provided a new account manager who looked over all the notes, planning documents and was up to speed on the project extremely quickly. Mr Saunders was very helpful with the new account manager which we were extremely grateful for, however I am puzzled that this now seems to be used against us. It is unfortunate that the account manager left, but sometimes these things happen and there was no negative effect from this for the client or the project.


>>>Finally get told, by phone, that my sub-menu and other pages aren't there. Told I never asked for them and if I want them I have to pay an extra 150.

In the original contract the client had an advanced content manager system so editing, creating web pages was possible however the client wanted additional menu control, in flash, that was not in the original contract therefore I feel it is fair to pay for the additional hours on work that was not agreed. The 150 was after a discount was applied.


>>>I sent documents to prove I had requested missing element.

No such documents have ever been received.


>>>They tell me to sign-off completion document (Document which declares website has been completed to my full satisfaction) and pay final 50% and they'll add missing element afterwards.

As it was completed, we asked ( it would be rude for us to tell our clients what to do) for our client to check the website and systems and if happy sign off the work.


>>>Refuse to continue with them, prepared to lose the 50% and walk away. Not enough for them. They demand full payment and threaten court proceedings if I don't.

This is not how it happened; please see below for more information on why the relationship unfortunately broke down.


>>>Late payment charges added automatically at 30 days after invoice raised.

Late payment charges are in the contract and our automated billing systems follow the rules it has set, however it is very rare that we actually enforce these however Mr Saunders has still not paid the outstanding amount and it is fair for businesses to charge a late payment fee. I still pay my staff on time every month regardless if a client pays or not, so this, in my opinion, is common for most businesses.


>>>Legal action threatened after 30 days. Hence their delay in answering questions.

Legal action is always, always the last resort for me and was certainly not raised at the 30 day point and certainly not threatened. Sometimes letting a judge who has no emotion on a situation get involved is the most productive route forward to settle a situation when both sides cannot. I like to think that having an outstanding bill for nearly a year and not being in court shows that I am not gung-h*o on taking people to court, far from it. I actually see it as a failure on my part when I am not able to resolve a situation and I am deeply disappointed to be in the current situation I find myself with Mr Saunders however, hand on heart, I am unable to think of any other ways in addition to everything I have tried to resolve this situation with him.


>>>Also, failed to update my address after move in October, even after I sent letter with my new address on it. Dirty trick, meaning court documents would be sent to my old address. Failing to respond means liability by default and the bailiffs can find you later. Hence, part of Data Protection Act.

We did not receive information that he had changed his address. Only when letters were returned with no longer at this address did we know and we then did a company search to find the new address. No dirty tricks here at all and bailiffs cannot find you from this, only if a judge orders a payment that is not made in a timely fashion and no effort to pay in smaller chunks can bailiffs even be considered by a court. I feel this is an attempt to make me seem like a nasty person / company which is far from the truth.


>>>Believes site to be a template

We do not use templates and never will for several reasons, such as SEO issues, duplicate content issues in search engines and lack of custom branding / concept to aid the main business goals. There is no proof of this statement as this is simply untrue.


>>not bespoke and CMS to be a badly modified existing system, not bespoke. Well and truly stung.

Everything in the contract and signed off brief, where the client had full range to pick anything he wanted, was provided and it would not be possible to find an off the shelf CMS (ie not bespoke) that had everything he wanted and not a single feature he didn't. Again there is no proof on comments of badly modified existing system. The website and backend systems do everything Mr Saunders required, the project was built well within the 90 day ETA and Mr Saunders of his own free will paid for additional features so I am at a loss at how he was stung.
The truth of this matter is that we had a fantastic relationship with Mr Saunders, so much so that we received a testimonial from him for the website which can be seen at www.blackwidowinternet.com/mystery.php

The relationship break down started many weeks after the client saw the signed off visuals and wanted to increase the size of the visuals for a larger screen resolution. At the start of every project we discuss the various screen resolutions with a client, advise on the pros and cons and the client agrees which size they wish us to develop the website for.

Mr Saunders, after signing off the visuals, simply changed his mind and was not willing to pay for any additional work for these changes, even after we applied a large discount. It is at this point we received threatening emails and various false complaints online. The resize of the visuals were certainly not required to take the website live and it is very sad that Mr Saunders took the actions he did. I feel a much more productive route would have been to either a) pay for the additional work or b) take the site live with the original signed off screen size rather than trying to cause trouble for a group of people that have moved heaven and earth to help this individual.

To gauge a more reliable opinion about us, please search the internet for black widow internet review.

In closing, I would like to state that we are certainly not a rip off company, but a very professional company that prides itself in helping our clients achieve their goals from their web business. If you would like to know more about us please visit www.blackwidowinternet.com or call my friendly helpful staff on 0845 257 10 97.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Scott Smith
Director, Black Widow Internet / Crystal Clear Global Solutions Limited

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am very saddened to read the comments above by this individual. Both myself and my dedicated team take our reputation and client satisfaction extremely seriously. Whilst we are human and sometimes make mistakes, we are a very honest and open company and always work our hardest to resolve any issues for our clients.

When a genuine problem occurs we have a defined complaints process in place to ensure that the issues are fully recorded and investigated as a serious matter by upper management. We do have a very small number of clients that have made complaints, some have been valid and we have worked hard to rectify the situation and sometimes they are not valid. We treat all complaints very seriously as not only do we wish to provide our valued clients with the best products and services, we are aware that by addressing complaints head on we are able to evolve and improve our company for the benefit of all.

The reason I am saddened at this complaint is that I am aware of who this individual is and the real facts of this situation. I will be careful how I address this complaint as I wish to remain professional and also not break the data protection act.

I am extremely confident that Mr Saunders of Mystery Records wrote this complaint as well as a further two complaints on this website, all the complaint links are below. You will see the name Angel and the style of writing to the same. You can also see the testimonial Mr Saunders provided my company on the 30th September 2008 at the link www.blackwidowinternet.com/mystery.php

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/417/RipOff0417645.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/441/RipOff0441491.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/442/RipOff0442178.htm

Mr Saunders has also taken visuals we have provided him which have not yet been paid for and placed them onto his MySpace profile, however I will not post his personal MySpace page here as I feel that is unprofessional and uncalled for.

Regarding the claims made above, I will firstly bullet point each claim and reply accordingly, and then I will put down the honest truthful facts of this situation for you to consider both sides and make an informed decision.


>>>Professional Graphic Designers/Artists submitted laughably infantile, crass 'sketches'.

We produce sketches at the very start of our design process, created by professional graphic designers to allow us and the client to quickly play with a range of different ideas, branding, concepts etc. I would not say that this is laughably infantile, many of the top design houses in London and New York follow this method and all clients are informed that the first idea mock ups will be sketches. Once the rough stages are agreed we move to full digital mock-ups and move forward with changes.


>>>Ignored simple requests and instructions

I am not aware after looking over all emails and letters back and forth with the client of anything ignored so I am unable to comment further on this.


>>>constantly up-selling.

All of my staff are trained to think outside the box and to advise clients of any new ways to use existing technology or new emerging technology to further enhance their business and I feel this is a positive for our clients.

Additional features that were not quoted for would obviously be at an additional cost however with this client, as with all clients, we would provide everything within the original contract at no further cost and clients are always free to say no to any new ideas we have.

We actually ask clients at the start of our relationship with them if they would like us to consider additional features or simply work on the contract, so we do not appear to be focused on up-selling. I admit there can appear to be a fine line between up-selling and advising clients on additional beneficial features and we are careful to find a good balance. There is a possibility on this occasion that it may have appeared focused on up-selling when in fact the team were very excited over the potential of the improvements and new ideas. For any ill feeling this may have caused I would like to personally apologise to Mr Saunders.


>>>Services included in package evaporated over time.

Nothing ever evaporates with our contracts, every single client I have had the honour of working with has always had everything within the contact and most often a little more as well.


>>>Nearly nine months after starting, they declared it finished and automatically raised the final invoice. Beware.

The project did not take 9 months and the build was well within the 90 days ETA on the contract. Once we have finished our work and it has been tested and confirmed ready to go live, I feel it is fair to inform the client of this and at that time send a friendly reminder of the amount left to pay and details on how to pay. I see this as being normal in business.


>>>This starts their 30 day payment clock ticking.

Just as with most businesses, late payments have to be dealt with and we have a very clearly defined process in our contract which the client agreed to. It is worth noting that the payment has been due to us for nearly a year now and when we complete everything and more from an agreed contract, it is only fair to be paid for this in a reasonable timely fashion.


>>>Desktop share meetings cancelled,

Two desktop share meetings were indeed cancelled. One by Mr Saunders and one by ourselves as the account manager was ill on that day. For the time we had to rearrange the meeting at short notice to, which took place a few days later, we apologise to Mr Saunders.


>>>when I finally got to go through the website I found the only thing I had asked for was missing.

We have not been made aware of any features that are missing and such information has not been made aware to my staff. Mr Saunders please feel free to contact me personally on 0845 257 10 97 to inform me of what is missing and if there is anything missing from the contract and/or signed brief these will of course be added without charge, however, I have had an additional testing team go over your website and backend systems this week and we can see nothing missing and no bugs.


>>>Questions not answered

We are not aware of any questions not being answered.


>>>account manager leaves suddenly and I'm passed on to someone else. Ask the same questions to new person.

Yes the account manager did leave suddenly due to illness and we were very upset at that time for the staff member and also apologised to Mr Saunders and provided a new account manager who looked over all the notes, planning documents and was up to speed on the project extremely quickly. Mr Saunders was very helpful with the new account manager which we were extremely grateful for, however I am puzzled that this now seems to be used against us. It is unfortunate that the account manager left, but sometimes these things happen and there was no negative effect from this for the client or the project.


>>>Finally get told, by phone, that my sub-menu and other pages aren't there. Told I never asked for them and if I want them I have to pay an extra 150.

In the original contract the client had an advanced content manager system so editing, creating web pages was possible however the client wanted additional menu control, in flash, that was not in the original contract therefore I feel it is fair to pay for the additional hours on work that was not agreed. The 150 was after a discount was applied.


>>>I sent documents to prove I had requested missing element.

No such documents have ever been received.


>>>They tell me to sign-off completion document (Document which declares website has been completed to my full satisfaction) and pay final 50% and they'll add missing element afterwards.

As it was completed, we asked ( it would be rude for us to tell our clients what to do) for our client to check the website and systems and if happy sign off the work.


>>>Refuse to continue with them, prepared to lose the 50% and walk away. Not enough for them. They demand full payment and threaten court proceedings if I don't.

This is not how it happened; please see below for more information on why the relationship unfortunately broke down.


>>>Late payment charges added automatically at 30 days after invoice raised.

Late payment charges are in the contract and our automated billing systems follow the rules it has set, however it is very rare that we actually enforce these however Mr Saunders has still not paid the outstanding amount and it is fair for businesses to charge a late payment fee. I still pay my staff on time every month regardless if a client pays or not, so this, in my opinion, is common for most businesses.


>>>Legal action threatened after 30 days. Hence their delay in answering questions.

Legal action is always, always the last resort for me and was certainly not raised at the 30 day point and certainly not threatened. Sometimes letting a judge who has no emotion on a situation get involved is the most productive route forward to settle a situation when both sides cannot. I like to think that having an outstanding bill for nearly a year and not being in court shows that I am not gung-h*o on taking people to court, far from it. I actually see it as a failure on my part when I am not able to resolve a situation and I am deeply disappointed to be in the current situation I find myself with Mr Saunders however, hand on heart, I am unable to think of any other ways in addition to everything I have tried to resolve this situation with him.


>>>Also, failed to update my address after move in October, even after I sent letter with my new address on it. Dirty trick, meaning court documents would be sent to my old address. Failing to respond means liability by default and the bailiffs can find you later. Hence, part of Data Protection Act.

We did not receive information that he had changed his address. Only when letters were returned with no longer at this address did we know and we then did a company search to find the new address. No dirty tricks here at all and bailiffs cannot find you from this, only if a judge orders a payment that is not made in a timely fashion and no effort to pay in smaller chunks can bailiffs even be considered by a court. I feel this is an attempt to make me seem like a nasty person / company which is far from the truth.


>>>Believes site to be a template

We do not use templates and never will for several reasons, such as SEO issues, duplicate content issues in search engines and lack of custom branding / concept to aid the main business goals. There is no proof of this statement as this is simply untrue.


>>not bespoke and CMS to be a badly modified existing system, not bespoke. Well and truly stung.

Everything in the contract and signed off brief, where the client had full range to pick anything he wanted, was provided and it would not be possible to find an off the shelf CMS (ie not bespoke) that had everything he wanted and not a single feature he didn't. Again there is no proof on comments of badly modified existing system. The website and backend systems do everything Mr Saunders required, the project was built well within the 90 day ETA and Mr Saunders of his own free will paid for additional features so I am at a loss at how he was stung.
The truth of this matter is that we had a fantastic relationship with Mr Saunders, so much so that we received a testimonial from him for the website which can be seen at www.blackwidowinternet.com/mystery.php

The relationship break down started many weeks after the client saw the signed off visuals and wanted to increase the size of the visuals for a larger screen resolution. At the start of every project we discuss the various screen resolutions with a client, advise on the pros and cons and the client agrees which size they wish us to develop the website for.

Mr Saunders, after signing off the visuals, simply changed his mind and was not willing to pay for any additional work for these changes, even after we applied a large discount. It is at this point we received threatening emails and various false complaints online. The resize of the visuals were certainly not required to take the website live and it is very sad that Mr Saunders took the actions he did. I feel a much more productive route would have been to either a) pay for the additional work or b) take the site live with the original signed off screen size rather than trying to cause trouble for a group of people that have moved heaven and earth to help this individual.

To gauge a more reliable opinion about us, please search the internet for black widow internet review.

In closing, I would like to state that we are certainly not a rip off company, but a very professional company that prides itself in helping our clients achieve their goals from their web business. If you would like to know more about us please visit www.blackwidowinternet.com or call my friendly helpful staff on 0845 257 10 97.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Scott Smith
Director, Black Widow Internet / Crystal Clear Global Solutions Limited

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am very saddened to read the comments above by this individual. Both myself and my dedicated team take our reputation and client satisfaction extremely seriously. Whilst we are human and sometimes make mistakes, we are a very honest and open company and always work our hardest to resolve any issues for our clients.

When a genuine problem occurs we have a defined complaints process in place to ensure that the issues are fully recorded and investigated as a serious matter by upper management. We do have a very small number of clients that have made complaints, some have been valid and we have worked hard to rectify the situation and sometimes they are not valid. We treat all complaints very seriously as not only do we wish to provide our valued clients with the best products and services, we are aware that by addressing complaints head on we are able to evolve and improve our company for the benefit of all.

The reason I am saddened at this complaint is that I am aware of who this individual is and the real facts of this situation. I will be careful how I address this complaint as I wish to remain professional and also not break the data protection act.

I am extremely confident that Mr Saunders of Mystery Records wrote this complaint as well as a further two complaints on this website, all the complaint links are below. You will see the name Angel and the style of writing to the same. You can also see the testimonial Mr Saunders provided my company on the 30th September 2008 at the link www.blackwidowinternet.com/mystery.php

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/417/RipOff0417645.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/441/RipOff0441491.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/442/RipOff0442178.htm

Mr Saunders has also taken visuals we have provided him which have not yet been paid for and placed them onto his MySpace profile, however I will not post his personal MySpace page here as I feel that is unprofessional and uncalled for.

Regarding the claims made above, I will firstly bullet point each claim and reply accordingly, and then I will put down the honest truthful facts of this situation for you to consider both sides and make an informed decision.


>>>Professional Graphic Designers/Artists submitted laughably infantile, crass 'sketches'.

We produce sketches at the very start of our design process, created by professional graphic designers to allow us and the client to quickly play with a range of different ideas, branding, concepts etc. I would not say that this is laughably infantile, many of the top design houses in London and New York follow this method and all clients are informed that the first idea mock ups will be sketches. Once the rough stages are agreed we move to full digital mock-ups and move forward with changes.


>>>Ignored simple requests and instructions

I am not aware after looking over all emails and letters back and forth with the client of anything ignored so I am unable to comment further on this.


>>>constantly up-selling.

All of my staff are trained to think outside the box and to advise clients of any new ways to use existing technology or new emerging technology to further enhance their business and I feel this is a positive for our clients.

Additional features that were not quoted for would obviously be at an additional cost however with this client, as with all clients, we would provide everything within the original contract at no further cost and clients are always free to say no to any new ideas we have.

We actually ask clients at the start of our relationship with them if they would like us to consider additional features or simply work on the contract, so we do not appear to be focused on up-selling. I admit there can appear to be a fine line between up-selling and advising clients on additional beneficial features and we are careful to find a good balance. There is a possibility on this occasion that it may have appeared focused on up-selling when in fact the team were very excited over the potential of the improvements and new ideas. For any ill feeling this may have caused I would like to personally apologise to Mr Saunders.


>>>Services included in package evaporated over time.

Nothing ever evaporates with our contracts, every single client I have had the honour of working with has always had everything within the contact and most often a little more as well.


>>>Nearly nine months after starting, they declared it finished and automatically raised the final invoice. Beware.

The project did not take 9 months and the build was well within the 90 days ETA on the contract. Once we have finished our work and it has been tested and confirmed ready to go live, I feel it is fair to inform the client of this and at that time send a friendly reminder of the amount left to pay and details on how to pay. I see this as being normal in business.


>>>This starts their 30 day payment clock ticking.

Just as with most businesses, late payments have to be dealt with and we have a very clearly defined process in our contract which the client agreed to. It is worth noting that the payment has been due to us for nearly a year now and when we complete everything and more from an agreed contract, it is only fair to be paid for this in a reasonable timely fashion.


>>>Desktop share meetings cancelled,

Two desktop share meetings were indeed cancelled. One by Mr Saunders and one by ourselves as the account manager was ill on that day. For the time we had to rearrange the meeting at short notice to, which took place a few days later, we apologise to Mr Saunders.


>>>when I finally got to go through the website I found the only thing I had asked for was missing.

We have not been made aware of any features that are missing and such information has not been made aware to my staff. Mr Saunders please feel free to contact me personally on 0845 257 10 97 to inform me of what is missing and if there is anything missing from the contract and/or signed brief these will of course be added without charge, however, I have had an additional testing team go over your website and backend systems this week and we can see nothing missing and no bugs.


>>>Questions not answered

We are not aware of any questions not being answered.


>>>account manager leaves suddenly and I'm passed on to someone else. Ask the same questions to new person.

Yes the account manager did leave suddenly due to illness and we were very upset at that time for the staff member and also apologised to Mr Saunders and provided a new account manager who looked over all the notes, planning documents and was up to speed on the project extremely quickly. Mr Saunders was very helpful with the new account manager which we were extremely grateful for, however I am puzzled that this now seems to be used against us. It is unfortunate that the account manager left, but sometimes these things happen and there was no negative effect from this for the client or the project.


>>>Finally get told, by phone, that my sub-menu and other pages aren't there. Told I never asked for them and if I want them I have to pay an extra 150.

In the original contract the client had an advanced content manager system so editing, creating web pages was possible however the client wanted additional menu control, in flash, that was not in the original contract therefore I feel it is fair to pay for the additional hours on work that was not agreed. The 150 was after a discount was applied.


>>>I sent documents to prove I had requested missing element.

No such documents have ever been received.


>>>They tell me to sign-off completion document (Document which declares website has been completed to my full satisfaction) and pay final 50% and they'll add missing element afterwards.

As it was completed, we asked ( it would be rude for us to tell our clients what to do) for our client to check the website and systems and if happy sign off the work.


>>>Refuse to continue with them, prepared to lose the 50% and walk away. Not enough for them. They demand full payment and threaten court proceedings if I don't.

This is not how it happened; please see below for more information on why the relationship unfortunately broke down.


>>>Late payment charges added automatically at 30 days after invoice raised.

Late payment charges are in the contract and our automated billing systems follow the rules it has set, however it is very rare that we actually enforce these however Mr Saunders has still not paid the outstanding amount and it is fair for businesses to charge a late payment fee. I still pay my staff on time every month regardless if a client pays or not, so this, in my opinion, is common for most businesses.


>>>Legal action threatened after 30 days. Hence their delay in answering questions.

Legal action is always, always the last resort for me and was certainly not raised at the 30 day point and certainly not threatened. Sometimes letting a judge who has no emotion on a situation get involved is the most productive route forward to settle a situation when both sides cannot. I like to think that having an outstanding bill for nearly a year and not being in court shows that I am not gung-h*o on taking people to court, far from it. I actually see it as a failure on my part when I am not able to resolve a situation and I am deeply disappointed to be in the current situation I find myself with Mr Saunders however, hand on heart, I am unable to think of any other ways in addition to everything I have tried to resolve this situation with him.


>>>Also, failed to update my address after move in October, even after I sent letter with my new address on it. Dirty trick, meaning court documents would be sent to my old address. Failing to respond means liability by default and the bailiffs can find you later. Hence, part of Data Protection Act.

We did not receive information that he had changed his address. Only when letters were returned with no longer at this address did we know and we then did a company search to find the new address. No dirty tricks here at all and bailiffs cannot find you from this, only if a judge orders a payment that is not made in a timely fashion and no effort to pay in smaller chunks can bailiffs even be considered by a court. I feel this is an attempt to make me seem like a nasty person / company which is far from the truth.


>>>Believes site to be a template

We do not use templates and never will for several reasons, such as SEO issues, duplicate content issues in search engines and lack of custom branding / concept to aid the main business goals. There is no proof of this statement as this is simply untrue.


>>not bespoke and CMS to be a badly modified existing system, not bespoke. Well and truly stung.

Everything in the contract and signed off brief, where the client had full range to pick anything he wanted, was provided and it would not be possible to find an off the shelf CMS (ie not bespoke) that had everything he wanted and not a single feature he didn't. Again there is no proof on comments of badly modified existing system. The website and backend systems do everything Mr Saunders required, the project was built well within the 90 day ETA and Mr Saunders of his own free will paid for additional features so I am at a loss at how he was stung.
The truth of this matter is that we had a fantastic relationship with Mr Saunders, so much so that we received a testimonial from him for the website which can be seen at www.blackwidowinternet.com/mystery.php

The relationship break down started many weeks after the client saw the signed off visuals and wanted to increase the size of the visuals for a larger screen resolution. At the start of every project we discuss the various screen resolutions with a client, advise on the pros and cons and the client agrees which size they wish us to develop the website for.

Mr Saunders, after signing off the visuals, simply changed his mind and was not willing to pay for any additional work for these changes, even after we applied a large discount. It is at this point we received threatening emails and various false complaints online. The resize of the visuals were certainly not required to take the website live and it is very sad that Mr Saunders took the actions he did. I feel a much more productive route would have been to either a) pay for the additional work or b) take the site live with the original signed off screen size rather than trying to cause trouble for a group of people that have moved heaven and earth to help this individual.

To gauge a more reliable opinion about us, please search the internet for black widow internet review.

In closing, I would like to state that we are certainly not a rip off company, but a very professional company that prides itself in helping our clients achieve their goals from their web business. If you would like to know more about us please visit www.blackwidowinternet.com or call my friendly helpful staff on 0845 257 10 97.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Scott Smith
Director, Black Widow Internet / Crystal Clear Global Solutions Limited

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am very saddened to read the comments above by this individual. Both myself and my dedicated team take our reputation and client satisfaction extremely seriously. Whilst we are human and sometimes make mistakes, we are a very honest and open company and always work our hardest to resolve any issues for our clients.

When a genuine problem occurs we have a defined complaints process in place to ensure that the issues are fully recorded and investigated as a serious matter by upper management. We do have a very small number of clients that have made complaints, some have been valid and we have worked hard to rectify the situation and sometimes they are not valid. We treat all complaints very seriously as not only do we wish to provide our valued clients with the best products and services, we are aware that by addressing complaints head on we are able to evolve and improve our company for the benefit of all.

The reason I am saddened at this complaint is that I am aware of who this individual is and the real facts of this situation. I will be careful how I address this complaint as I wish to remain professional and also not break the data protection act.

I am extremely confident that Mr Saunders of Mystery Records wrote this complaint as well as a further two complaints on this website, all the complaint links are below. You will see the name Angel and the style of writing to the same. You can also see the testimonial Mr Saunders provided my company on the 30th September 2008 at the link www.blackwidowinternet.com/mystery.php

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/417/RipOff0417645.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/441/RipOff0441491.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/442/RipOff0442178.htm

Mr Saunders has also taken visuals we have provided him which have not yet been paid for and placed them onto his MySpace profile, however I will not post his personal MySpace page here as I feel that is unprofessional and uncalled for.

Regarding the claims made above, I will firstly bullet point each claim and reply accordingly, and then I will put down the honest truthful facts of this situation for you to consider both sides and make an informed decision.


>>>Professional Graphic Designers/Artists submitted laughably infantile, crass 'sketches'.

We produce sketches at the very start of our design process, created by professional graphic designers to allow us and the client to quickly play with a range of different ideas, branding, concepts etc. I would not say that this is laughably infantile, many of the top design houses in London and New York follow this method and all clients are informed that the first idea mock ups will be sketches. Once the rough stages are agreed we move to full digital mock-ups and move forward with changes.


>>>Ignored simple requests and instructions

I am not aware after looking over all emails and letters back and forth with the client of anything ignored so I am unable to comment further on this.


>>>constantly up-selling.

All of my staff are trained to think outside the box and to advise clients of any new ways to use existing technology or new emerging technology to further enhance their business and I feel this is a positive for our clients.

Additional features that were not quoted for would obviously be at an additional cost however with this client, as with all clients, we would provide everything within the original contract at no further cost and clients are always free to say no to any new ideas we have.

We actually ask clients at the start of our relationship with them if they would like us to consider additional features or simply work on the contract, so we do not appear to be focused on up-selling. I admit there can appear to be a fine line between up-selling and advising clients on additional beneficial features and we are careful to find a good balance. There is a possibility on this occasion that it may have appeared focused on up-selling when in fact the team were very excited over the potential of the improvements and new ideas. For any ill feeling this may have caused I would like to personally apologise to Mr Saunders.


>>>Services included in package evaporated over time.

Nothing ever evaporates with our contracts, every single client I have had the honour of working with has always had everything within the contact and most often a little more as well.


>>>Nearly nine months after starting, they declared it finished and automatically raised the final invoice. Beware.

The project did not take 9 months and the build was well within the 90 days ETA on the contract. Once we have finished our work and it has been tested and confirmed ready to go live, I feel it is fair to inform the client of this and at that time send a friendly reminder of the amount left to pay and details on how to pay. I see this as being normal in business.


>>>This starts their 30 day payment clock ticking.

Just as with most businesses, late payments have to be dealt with and we have a very clearly defined process in our contract which the client agreed to. It is worth noting that the payment has been due to us for nearly a year now and when we complete everything and more from an agreed contract, it is only fair to be paid for this in a reasonable timely fashion.


>>>Desktop share meetings cancelled,

Two desktop share meetings were indeed cancelled. One by Mr Saunders and one by ourselves as the account manager was ill on that day. For the time we had to rearrange the meeting at short notice to, which took place a few days later, we apologise to Mr Saunders.


>>>when I finally got to go through the website I found the only thing I had asked for was missing.

We have not been made aware of any features that are missing and such information has not been made aware to my staff. Mr Saunders please feel free to contact me personally on 0845 257 10 97 to inform me of what is missing and if there is anything missing from the contract and/or signed brief these will of course be added without charge, however, I have had an additional testing team go over your website and backend systems this week and we can see nothing missing and no bugs.


>>>Questions not answered

We are not aware of any questions not being answered.


>>>account manager leaves suddenly and I'm passed on to someone else. Ask the same questions to new person.

Yes the account manager did leave suddenly due to illness and we were very upset at that time for the staff member and also apologised to Mr Saunders and provided a new account manager who looked over all the notes, planning documents and was up to speed on the project extremely quickly. Mr Saunders was very helpful with the new account manager which we were extremely grateful for, however I am puzzled that this now seems to be used against us. It is unfortunate that the account manager left, but sometimes these things happen and there was no negative effect from this for the client or the project.


>>>Finally get told, by phone, that my sub-menu and other pages aren't there. Told I never asked for them and if I want them I have to pay an extra 150.

In the original contract the client had an advanced content manager system so editing, creating web pages was possible however the client wanted additional menu control, in flash, that was not in the original contract therefore I feel it is fair to pay for the additional hours on work that was not agreed. The 150 was after a discount was applied.


>>>I sent documents to prove I had requested missing element.

No such documents have ever been received.


>>>They tell me to sign-off completion document (Document which declares website has been completed to my full satisfaction) and pay final 50% and they'll add missing element afterwards.

As it was completed, we asked ( it would be rude for us to tell our clients what to do) for our client to check the website and systems and if happy sign off the work.


>>>Refuse to continue with them, prepared to lose the 50% and walk away. Not enough for them. They demand full payment and threaten court proceedings if I don't.

This is not how it happened; please see below for more information on why the relationship unfortunately broke down.


>>>Late payment charges added automatically at 30 days after invoice raised.

Late payment charges are in the contract and our automated billing systems follow the rules it has set, however it is very rare that we actually enforce these however Mr Saunders has still not paid the outstanding amount and it is fair for businesses to charge a late payment fee. I still pay my staff on time every month regardless if a client pays or not, so this, in my opinion, is common for most businesses.


>>>Legal action threatened after 30 days. Hence their delay in answering questions.

Legal action is always, always the last resort for me and was certainly not raised at the 30 day point and certainly not threatened. Sometimes letting a judge who has no emotion on a situation get involved is the most productive route forward to settle a situation when both sides cannot. I like to think that having an outstanding bill for nearly a year and not being in court shows that I am not gung-h*o on taking people to court, far from it. I actually see it as a failure on my part when I am not able to resolve a situation and I am deeply disappointed to be in the current situation I find myself with Mr Saunders however, hand on heart, I am unable to think of any other ways in addition to everything I have tried to resolve this situation with him.


>>>Also, failed to update my address after move in October, even after I sent letter with my new address on it. Dirty trick, meaning court documents would be sent to my old address. Failing to respond means liability by default and the bailiffs can find you later. Hence, part of Data Protection Act.

We did not receive information that he had changed his address. Only when letters were returned with no longer at this address did we know and we then did a company search to find the new address. No dirty tricks here at all and bailiffs cannot find you from this, only if a judge orders a payment that is not made in a timely fashion and no effort to pay in smaller chunks can bailiffs even be considered by a court. I feel this is an attempt to make me seem like a nasty person / company which is far from the truth.


>>>Believes site to be a template

We do not use templates and never will for several reasons, such as SEO issues, duplicate content issues in search engines and lack of custom branding / concept to aid the main business goals. There is no proof of this statement as this is simply untrue.


>>not bespoke and CMS to be a badly modified existing system, not bespoke. Well and truly stung.

Everything in the contract and signed off brief, where the client had full range to pick anything he wanted, was provided and it would not be possible to find an off the shelf CMS (ie not bespoke) that had everything he wanted and not a single feature he didn't. Again there is no proof on comments of badly modified existing system. The website and backend systems do everything Mr Saunders required, the project was built well within the 90 day ETA and Mr Saunders of his own free will paid for additional features so I am at a loss at how he was stung.
The truth of this matter is that we had a fantastic relationship with Mr Saunders, so much so that we received a testimonial from him for the website which can be seen at www.blackwidowinternet.com/mystery.php

The relationship break down started many weeks after the client saw the signed off visuals and wanted to increase the size of the visuals for a larger screen resolution. At the start of every project we discuss the various screen resolutions with a client, advise on the pros and cons and the client agrees which size they wish us to develop the website for.

Mr Saunders, after signing off the visuals, simply changed his mind and was not willing to pay for any additional work for these changes, even after we applied a large discount. It is at this point we received threatening emails and various false complaints online. The resize of the visuals were certainly not required to take the website live and it is very sad that Mr Saunders took the actions he did. I feel a much more productive route would have been to either a) pay for the additional work or b) take the site live with the original signed off screen size rather than trying to cause trouble for a group of people that have moved heaven and earth to help this individual.

To gauge a more reliable opinion about us, please search the internet for black widow internet review.

In closing, I would like to state that we are certainly not a rip off company, but a very professional company that prides itself in helping our clients achieve their goals from their web business. If you would like to know more about us please visit www.blackwidowinternet.com or call my friendly helpful staff on 0845 257 10 97.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Scott Smith
Director, Black Widow Internet / Crystal Clear Global Solutions Limited