Complaint Review: Master Design Agency LLC

I was contacted by a representative of the company MASTER DESIGN AGENCY offering their services of marketing and web design. They claimed they had an office in San Francisco and Toronto (201 Spear St, San Francisco, CA 94105). I received a public audit of my website, which showed multiple errors and deficiencies that I was starting to get aware of, so I thought that this company was going to fix what was needed.

I received a quote for almost $6000USD, which they "reduced" to $4000 USD. Since I had a bad experience with a web developer, I thought I was now dealing with somebody professional and that would get the work done, so, I made a first installment payment for $2000. Nothing happened for a month, and I waited for them to start fixing my website. I was introduced to whom was the supposed marketing manager of my project. I was explained over the phone and on a proposal that my project marketing services were going to be served for 6 months, and that at the end of the contract they would train me on how to follow up with the work they started. They pressured me to pay the balance arguing that they weren't able to "download" all the marketing resources they had, that it was all or nothing to start marketing. They were also supposed to revamp my website but only observed very poorly results and never corrected them. Instead, they claimed that I was the one delaying all the work since I was also making changes to the site (which I did, to correct the information and delete all the fake images they uploaded, and never corrected). I was asked to provide access to my e-commerce's account, but 3 weeks later, I noticed from the history log that my account was accessed from different points in Pakistan. I blocked the login and notified my main contact right away. Nothing happened to my website after that, they never replaced a new person for logging. Both payments were done through a Stripe link, I got the screenshots, but never got an invoice, despite multiple requests. The marketer communicated with me sporadically, letting me know that "the work was in progress". However, I didn't hear anything for other 3 weeks and when I called them, I was told that both my main contact and the marketer had left the company, and they would let me know of the new team. Almost until August, I was told the names of the new team members. The project manager assured me that everything was going to change for good. During our conversations, I discovered that the team was in Texas (2323 South Voss Rd, suite 109, Sugar Land), not in San Francisco. I communicated with the project manager via text and few emails as she would send me screenshots of apparent new "fixes" on my webpage; however, she said that they haven't started any marketing, as they want to fix everything on the site. As I mentioned to her, I don't like micromanaging, and so, I thought I was trusting again in a new team. However, at the beginning of August tried calling them to all phone lines (415-907-6931/ 437-826-2526/ 346-502-3918/ 833-442-2955/ 415 692 0020) I knew, but NONE were in service until today. The manager sent me a short email at the beginning of September that the company was making some "updates", but I got nothing after that. Now, it's the middle of September, and I haven't been able to recover my money, and no worthy work has taken place. The only "official" information I was able to obtain for the alleged professional company is:

Company Number: 0805165783/

Registered Address: 2323 S VOSS RD STE 109, HOUSTON TX, 77057-3873

Agent Name: SYED I NAQVI (2525 S VOSS RD APT 353, HOUSTON, TX, 77057).

I requested formal project reviews months ago but received no response. Only until August received sporadic updates that resembled those of the beginning of a project (instead of a near culmination). I have complained about not receiving any communication and finally requested a reimbursement of funds. I haven’t received a response to any of my requests/questions of any kind.