I've had similar experiences with them in the past as well. I was fortunate enough to get the money back.
My past experiences with them:
Beginning of January, I contacted them for two reasons:
- To buy VirtualPetSite.net from them (they put it up for sale at the time)
- To do some coding for HellKeepers for me
At the time of the deal, they weren't willing to take less than $500 for VirtualPetSite.net, however, if I was willing to pay $200 for that, and $300 for the recode of VirtualPetDirectory (totaling $500), it was fine. So, a deal was met.
I would pay $500, they would give me VirtualPetSite.net AND recode VirtualPetDirectory.com (due February 17th, 2017).
Around that time, he also posted on VPL looking for work, so I asked if my work would be prioritized as I had not only reached out first, but I had also committed multiple paid projects.
[2017-01-18, 3:18:07 PM] Chibi Lyro: Yeah, but I am going to finish up your task first and only 1 of those 3 so far is a potential ongoing job like yours but, I've managed multiple programming jobs before. But yeah, yours will be taken care of before I start any oif the others.
2
At this time, I also gave them $70 worth of work for HellKeepers. All of these changes were committed to my git repository. However, I checked a few things and they just didn't run. It looked like they just rushed through the job to make the money without testing.
[2017-01-24, 6:27:56 AM] Chibi Lyro: Do I need to create a new branch for the changes?
[2017-01-24, 6:28:16 AM] Andrew Judd: feature/pdo-updates
[2017-01-24, 6:37:29 AM] Chibi Lyro: Do I do a merge request? Sorry... it's been a while since I last used git haha
[2017-01-24, 6:37:35 AM] Andrew Judd: yup
[2017-01-24, 6:40:50 AM] Chibi Lyro: Do I need to select anything for assignee?
[2017-01-24, 6:41:00 AM] Andrew Judd: select me
[2017-01-24, 6:41:36 AM] Chibi Lyro: Alright, submitted the request.
[2017-01-24, 6:44:01 AM] Andrew Judd: After this all of the pages functional?
[2017-01-24, 6:44:40 AM] Chibi Lyro: YEah, they have ome errors unrelated to the XSS or database object though.
[2017-01-24, 6:44:42 AM] Chibi Lyro: like:
[2017-01-24, 6:44:53 AM] Chibi Lyro: Notice: Undefined index: id
[2017-01-24, 6:45:04 AM] Andrew Judd: that’s fine that’s a notice
[2017-01-24, 6:45:20 AM] Andrew Judd: Merge Request Link (redacted for security)
[2017-01-24, 6:45:24 AM] Andrew Judd: Missing a )
[2017-01-24, 6:49:52 AM] Andrew Judd: Merge Request Link (redacted for security) <— shouldn’t be a function
[2017-01-24, 6:57:32 AM] Chibi Lyro: I fixed the numberOfRows() issue but I can't seem to find where I left out the ")"
[2017-01-24, 6:58:54 AM] Andrew Judd: Line 18 - src/public/auctions/create.php
[2017-01-24, 6:59:34 AM] Chibi Lyro: Ahhh, I see now
As you can see in the chat history, just me doing a quick spot check (not even running the code), I noticed issues which would have been noticed had they actually run the code. Needless to say I was a little disappointed. But I persevered and had them work on another small change.
[2017-01-25, 1:03:19 AM] Chibi Lyro: Okay, updated, not 100% sure I implemented the way you intedned though. And somehow that took longer than the original task. (cwl) It was free but any tips are much appreciated. Oh, and let me know if I did it all wrong or if any errors or anything, I will fix as well.
3
This code yet again I looked at and saw visible issues which would have been caught by just visiting the page. I was far from impressed.
At that time, I also noticed they had posted on VPL saying they would code "complete pet site projects" for a fairly low price, so I asked again if it would impact the deliverables, and they said no.
[2017-01-25, 3:58:05 PM] Andrew Judd:
https://www.virtualpetlist.com/threads/urgent-sale-programming-your-pet-sim-game-for-only-800-only-4-available.51125/ <-- how does that affect the rest of the work I have for you XD
[2017-01-25, 4:03:15 PM] Chibi Lyro: Depends if anyone is interested or not. I need funds pretty urgently... hmm.... Unless I just entirely take on your work, I wouldn't mind but I need to raise funds in a very short amount of time. Just how much work do you have and what does the budget look like? Like I said, I definitely wouldn't mind just working exclusively for you but... I have a deadline to get some funds atm is all.
[2017-01-25, 4:14:58 PM] Chibi Lyro: I need about $[Redacted Amount], $[Redacted Other Amount], to be exact. So I am willing to take on more work than the pay... not sure how to word that atm. XD So yeah, I am definitely willing to work and to do whatever it takes. I just urgently need the funds. Once I have those funds I'd take down that thread... I mean... 4 full games will be a bit of work, but like I said, if I have to then I would. But yeah, not sure if anyone will take the deal or not anyways.
[2017-01-25, 4:22:42 PM] Andrew Judd: i'm just curious how many people are going to be willing to pay that much upfront
[2017-01-25, 4:23:41 PM] Chibi Lyro: I usually get paid upfront, even more than $800 but... things change so I am not sure haha
[2017-01-25, 4:24:58 PM] Chibi Lyro: Though, what would you estimate the total of the jobs you have for me would amount to? Maybe I can work super fast or something... IDEK I am sure it's be near impossible to work faster than my deadline haha
[2017-01-25, 5:04:58 PM] Andrew Judd: not sure right now - depends on what I see out of VPD
[2017-01-25, 5:05:09 PM] Chibi Lyro: Okie
7
6 days after my last message (January 31st), I reached out asking how VPD was going since the original due date was February 17th.
[2017-01-31, 6:17:46 AM] Andrew Judd: Hey - How is VPD going?
[2017-01-31, 8:39:25 PM] Chibi Lyro: Going to start work on it soon, I have one last small job to get out of the way and then it will just be VPD. It will for sure be done before the 17th though!
[2017-01-31, 8:39:41 PM] Andrew Judd: Sounds good
[2017-01-31, 8:39:56 PM] Andrew Judd: can’t wait
1
February 9th comes, I message again and get crickets. February 18th comes, still no word. I start to get a little worried at that point.
Then, on the 19th, I receive the following message:
[2017-02-19, 6:06:14 PM] Chibi Lyro: Hey, yeah, I need a bit more time, I've been a bit busy with life stuffs, like marriage is one thing, so pretty much just have laravel up and the layour setup but nothing more than that, so just another week and if I can't complete it by then, I will refund the $300 regardless of any work I put into it.
4
To which I responded:
[2017-02-20, 7:25:57 AM] Andrew Judd: Ok I'm a bit disappointed because I had a spark app up and running in the repo back when I paid you and you had over a month and yeah...
Which was our last piece of communication. However, on February 25th, I received $382 CAD (all other transactions were in USD) to my PayPal account from "Exceed Games". Which I assume is another one of his businesses.
I sent you a PM with an email address I got early in the conversations. Hopefully, that will allow you to get a hold of them.
~judda