I was seeking a web developer to do a revamping of my company's website when I came across an ad on Craigslist posted by one Chris Seidel for a company called Softweb Studios. That was in June 2012.
Mr. Seidel and I kept in touch, and we even connected on the popular social media platform, Linkedin.
On March 4, 2015 we met at an address in Oakland, 1611 Telegraph Ave., to hash out details for the website, and he later asked me to make a down payment of $1500. The complete site design would cost $4,200. Mr. Seidel had me sign a contract with specifics regarding timelines for the site development. The contract was under a company called Veritas Interactive. I wrote a check on my company's Bank of America's account for $1500. In June 2015, I forwarded him the content for the website to begin the design phase. I was about to leave for a month's vacation out of the U.S.,and he asked me for another payment with the promise that he would have a "Beta Rollout" rollout ready and the link emailed to me...that was on July 10, 2015. I sent him a check, again, from our corporate account for the amount of $1200 before leaving for my trip. That brought the amount paid to Mr. Seidel to $2,700. I have no mockups or beta from Mr. Seidel....nearly 8 months there's nothing to show for $2,700.00.
A colleague of mine Googled Mr. Seidel and found three court judgments against him in San Francisco..two for the identical ripoff I am experiencing.