Complaint Review: BD Productions Benjamin Donley Ben Donley Web Design - Delavan Wisconsin

I can't fathom that anyone who has read all these complaints about Ben Donley and BD Productions would consider doing business with him, but for the sake of clarification, here's the truth. I certainly did reject Ben's offer to reimburse half of what he owes me - there is no reason for me to accept anything less than 100% required under our contract. That contract states "If the developer does not deliver completed, fully functional sites meeting the client's satisfaction by this revised estimated project completion date, client shall have the right to a refund of 100% of the fees then paid in accordance with the terms of this contract." Ben's contention that he is entitled to even a partial payment is unfounded... even if he spent hundreds of hours on my project, he didn't deliver what he had committed to under the contract, and therefore a 100% refund is required. The fact is, however, that Ben didn't put hundreds of hours into my project. In fact, he barely put an hour into it; I provided him with completed design specs before we signed the contract, and three weeks later he tells me he's going to forward my design specs to his programmers and that he can't do that without the next $750 payment. There was no 'deliverable milestone'. I've saved our e-mail exchanges, so I've got this all in writing. I'm not unreasonable and I'm certainly not trying to rip anyone off. I've asked Ben repeatedly to provide me with any of the work he claims to have completed, and he's never produced anything. I'm standing by my claim: he's a thief that stole $1,500 from me that he was contractually obligated to return. He's admitted as much in previous e-mails when he claimed he needed 30 days to return my money and I granted him that extra time. Incidentally, since my first posting, I have heard from several more 'clients' of Ben's (in addition to those who have posted complaints on ripoffreport.com) who all claim to have been similarly ripped off. I'm glad Todd from Texas got his money back... he had to file a lawsuit to do so, and I'll be doing the same.

As you can see by the clients own admittance in the report he posted, the payment were broken down into 4 installments of $750 and agreed to be made after each of the 4 deliverable milestones were completed. The initial deposit of $750 was to cover the design and layout, and create the templates of the application. Then the next $750 was to move forward with programming and development. The 3rd was after the beta site was up and running and the final payment was due when the entire project was completed. By making the second phase payment of $750 - to total the $1500 he claims I "stole" - he agrees that the first phase was completed, and is indisputable. If the first phase was "not" completed, the second payment would have never been made, and it outlines this within the agreement, statement of work and terms of the contract. After having several issues with my "then" programming team, I was unable to complete the full development of the project, and offered the client $750 refund - for the work that was "not" completed - but keeping the $750 for the work that I did do as part of phase one. This offer was rejected by the client, who claims I didnt do anything at all, which simply doesnt make sense because if in fact "nothing" was done, and phase one was "not" finished ... why would a second payment be made to move forward with phase two? I think my offer is fair, and it was his choice to decline the $750, so contradictory to his title for this report, I did not "steal" anything. I earned $750 for the work I did, and offered the other $750 for a refund and was rejected.

My complaint is the third to be filed against Ben Donley of BD Productions in the last 4 months. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS INDIVIDUAL! I signed a contract with Ben to complete a web-based project for me on 3/3/08. The contract called for four payment installments of $750 each. In the contract, Ben agreed to complete the project within 45 days (which we later extended to 4/30/08), and if the deadline was not met, I would be given a 100% refund. I paid Ben the first two installments - $1,500 in all - when all communication from him suddenly stopped (around the middle of April). I gave him until the end of the month, and when the contract deadline passed, I sent him notice that I was canceling the contract and demanded my refund. Despite numerous attempts to contact him since - including a certified letter to the home he just purchased in April - he refuses to respond. He wasted three months of my time, he stole $1,500 from me and now he's wasting more of my time having to file complaints and seek legal redress against him. He needs to be shut down.