Complaint Review: Door Values Florida

I was sleeping one day on a lovely Saturday morning when I was woken up by my cellphone (why iphones don't have an alarm setting is beyond me). It was my good buddy "David". Hadn't talked to this guy in forever and now, all of a sudden, he needed me to help him create a logo for his new cash cow, Door Values Florida.

At first I was hesitant. I have worked for this guy in the past. He needed me to do some design work on his last company, Reptster (for an interesting read, Google "David Young Reptster", there are some guys who aren't too fond of him and his old company). When it came time to pay for my work, Dave suddenly became very distant and unresponsive to the many texts and emails I sent him wondering why I never received my Paypal payment requests. It wasn't that much extra money that he owed me, so, I eventually let it go.

Now I am stuck listening to this guy being hysterical about absolutely needing a design done today. Against my better judgment, and after telling him that I also expected to be paid back for previous work, I decided to do the design. I mean, what the heck, I didn't really have anything else on my plate and I could always use the extra cash.

Normally, I would request a payment up front from my clients, and, considering my experience with him in the past, I should have known better. But I used to consider this guy a friend, and I am prone to helping out people I care about; silly me.

After receiving all the information about the company, I whipped up a logo the following evening, which Dave loved. I sent him the info and then asked when I will be paid. He told me in a week. I was hesitant about this and he said, "trust me, I'm not going to screw you over; I am trying to regain your trust. Plus I am going to need you for future work with the company, that is your leverage." I foolishly agreed to this outrageous agreement.

Well a week went by and I didn't hear from Dave (what a surprise). After numerous texts and phone calls I finally got a call back from him. He told me he was trying to get a merchant account to accept payments and that as soon as he got that I would get paid. Hmmmmm. So I waited and I finally managed to squeeze a partial payment out of him the following week. That's right folks, partial payment 2 weeks later!

After that he gave me some crap about not being able to get me the rest of the money until he gets a small business loan. First, he said it would be a week after the first payment, but every time I finally get in touch with him, he keeps pushing the payment date back. I told him that if this continued I would add him to ripoff report and sites like that, and he told me that I could either be patient and wait to get paid or I could not be paid at all; it's up to me. What kind of crap is that?

The bottom line is this. I was stupid; I will admit that. There is really no reason for David Young to pay me; I practically handed him the logo on a silver platter. There is really no reprimands I could bestow upon him if he doesn't pay me. But when someone goes out of their way for you and spends his/her much needed free time doing you a favor (and giving you a huge payment discount I might add), it's extremely important to honor your agreements. David Young was supposedly my friend, or, at least I thought he was. If I had thought otherwise I would have made him sign contracts and pay me half in advance like I do with most of my clients. 

In conclusion, after several irritating attempts at communicating with David Young, I have decided that he is no longer worth the effort I have put into trying to receive compensation for my work.