Andrew Webber was the first to respond to my post to find a web designer on Craigslist. The portfolio of work he sent was excellent and the price was low but reasonable for such a straight-forward job. After we reviewed the details of the project, he agreed to deliver the next day and I sent him a 50% deposit using Paypal.
We were in touch via email the next week. Each day he would have an excuse for not delivering the work and would promise to send it later that same day or early the next. This went on for 7 days until my suspicions were further raised after I was unable to reach him via email and telephoned his home. The woman's voice on the outgoing message carried sexual overtones that were simply not congruent with the family man/ designer persona and screamed scam. I finally came to my senses and found the other three reports of people who have been ripped off by Andrew Webber in the past.
I'm only ashamed that I found him so personable over the phone that I moved ahead without checking his references. I even purchased a domain name he wanted and set up advanced hosting on my personal web server so that he could move away from the free host he was using (8m.com).
Once I knew the truth, I contact the true creators of sites he claimed:
havaianas.com - Adhemas Batista
hoptsalad.com - Andy Titus
healinggarden.com - Madden Preprint
susangray.com - driftlab
Indeed, he has been taking credit for their work for several years. Fortunately, he use of copyrighted material is against the terms of service of his free host so I hope to have his false site shut down shortly.
I've been using the Paypal Resolution Center in an attempt to have my deposit refunded. Andrew Webber does not deny stealing the work of other artists but has continued to insist he will deliver my design "later." If I weren't so furious it would be funny. But I am furious and if he fails to return my deposit, I will happily make it my new hobby to warn others of his dishonesty and theft.
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