Hey black/white hatters,
I just did a job for a guy who wanted a website and a bit of content written. We decided on a price and I got started... He had great communication and everything was finished on time. Here's where I messed up... I gave him the files and everything for the site and asked him to pay after and that's when he told me that his paypal account was frozen... I understood because I know paypal can be strict. He said that he would be talking to them on the phone the next morning regarding getting it unfrozen. I told him that would be fine and then 3-4 days passed before I could contact him again. He told that paypal was investigating the issue and that if I wanted he would wire the money to my bank account and I said that would he great. I sent him all the info he needed and another 3-4 days passed. He told me that his bank account was under fraud investigation because he purchased $30k worth of stuff on a credit card in another state... That's when I got leery... Since he told me that about his bank it's been a week. The guy owes me $650. The domain has private registration so I can't get his phone number or address.
Am I totally screwed? I'm going to talk to his domain registrant and host about the situation and see if I can either get his info or have them take the site down and then I can use it for myself or sell it.
Would it be worth taking to small claims court? I am only 17 but my parents know about my online work so they would help out.
Lesson learned: always write up contracts for projects! Also, never give entire project over before getting paid!
I just did a job for a guy who wanted a website and a bit of content written. We decided on a price and I got started... He had great communication and everything was finished on time. Here's where I messed up... I gave him the files and everything for the site and asked him to pay after and that's when he told me that his paypal account was frozen... I understood because I know paypal can be strict. He said that he would be talking to them on the phone the next morning regarding getting it unfrozen. I told him that would be fine and then 3-4 days passed before I could contact him again. He told that paypal was investigating the issue and that if I wanted he would wire the money to my bank account and I said that would he great. I sent him all the info he needed and another 3-4 days passed. He told me that his bank account was under fraud investigation because he purchased $30k worth of stuff on a credit card in another state... That's when I got leery... Since he told me that about his bank it's been a week. The guy owes me $650. The domain has private registration so I can't get his phone number or address.
Am I totally screwed? I'm going to talk to his domain registrant and host about the situation and see if I can either get his info or have them take the site down and then I can use it for myself or sell it.
Would it be worth taking to small claims court? I am only 17 but my parents know about my online work so they would help out.
Lesson learned: always write up contracts for projects! Also, never give entire project over before getting paid!
