Re: Dispute of Website Iconix ’s Charges for a Website Design for my company
I******** ******* ************* ******* ************* ******* ************
Dear Sir/Madam:
I am submitting this letter to dispute Website Iconix Company’s three charges for designing a website for my company without delivering an expected satisfactory product.
SUMMARY
I made three orders (see attached invoices) with Website Iconix Company for a website design for my company between August and September 2022. When I placed these orders, Website Iconix Company failed to provide me with any document detailing the Terms and Conditions for me to sign. When I placed my first order, Website Iconix Company’s Marketing & Website Design Specialist Walter S**** failed to include the page of Terms and Conditions in the Project Proposal that he sent me to sign. When I placed my second and third orders, Website Iconix’s Manager Harry D**** failed to provide me with any document to sign, including the document that detailed the Terms and Conditions of these orders. No terms and conditions and no link to the Terms of Conditions of Website Iconix were ever provided or attached to my invoices, my payment confirmation and receipts. Thus, I made three payments without knowledge of any terms and conditions of Website Iconix, which caused me to have missed the best time to cancel my orders and seek refund. Website Iconix broke its promise to provide me with a free quality Chinese version of the website by requiring me to pay additional $350 for purchasing new software for editing. When I refused, Website Iconix simply ignored me and refused to make corrections to the contents of both English and Chinese versions of the designed website, even if I repeatedly requested. Website Iconix was dishonest in its practice. Its Manager Harry D**** lied to me by saying that they could not make the corrections because they have language barriers and there is no one in their company who understands Chinese. My recent investigation on Website Iconix Company shows that his statement was a totally lie and not only does Website Iconix have employee who can read and write Chinese, but it also have Chinese developers and designers. Website Iconix’s Manager Harry D**** tricked me into making a payment for 1-year-domain-hosting service fee ($125) which was not required by his company. My recent investigation on Website Iconix Company shows that the charges of Website Iconix are one-time fee and there will be no recurring fee, no monthly fee, no yearly fees and no hidden charges (Exhibit C). *** ****** commerce set-up was never finalized and the defects of the website were never corrected and the designed website was never published or went live. Therefore, the charge of e-commerce and 1-year-domain-hoting fee (Total: $454) was unfair and not reasonable. The Translator plugin that Website Iconix used for the designed website has ruined both English and Chinese pages of the website. As it is automatic translation software without human editing involved, there are many translation errors on the websites. The website that Website Iconix Company designed for my company was a defective product. There is no way for me to publish the designed website because it will ruin my company’s reputation by making audience feel my company was sloppy and untrustworthy. Website Iconix refused to make correction and thus broke its promise to me to have “a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and unlimited revision to make changes to the design or the website functionality at any project stage” (Exhibit A). Last, the final file of the logo design has not been approved. As the logo design was part of the website design for my company and it was ordered and designed for this particular website and not for other purpose, the failure of the website design will make it go al*** the way.
Wherefore, I respectfully ask you to get involved to help me solve the disputes over Website Iconix Company’s charges on me without providing expected satisfactory product and services.
MY ARGUMENT
WEBSITE ICONIX FAILED TO PROVIDE ME WITH ANY DOCUMENTS THAT DETAILIED TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO SIGN.
On August 8, 2022, Website Iconix Company’s Marketing & Website Design Specialist Walter S**** emailed me a Project Proposal and asked me to sign. This Project Proposal did not include any page with detailed Terms and Conditions of this order (Exhibit B).
On August 19, 2022, when I made the second payment for e-commerce and 1 year-domain-hosting service, Website Iconix’s Manager Harry D**** did not provide me with any document to sign.
On September 19, 2022, when I made the third payment for logo design, Manager Harry D**** did not provide me with any document to sign.
WEBSITE ICONIX COMPANY’S FAILUTE TO PROVIDE ME WITH DOCUMENTS THAT DETAILED TERMS AND CONDITIONS WAS OUT OF ITS OWN FAULT.
Recently, I made an investigation on Website Iconix company by acting as a potential customer and started a Live Support conversation with Website Iconix company’s Business Strategist Adam W*** on November 27, 2022. Then Adam W*** sent me a Website Design Proposal just like Walter S**** previously did. However, the Website Design Proposal that Adam W*** sent to me included a page of very detailed Terms and Conditions (Exhibit C: Adam W***’s email to me and the attachment of the full Website Design Proposal). The comparison of this Proposal with the Project Proposal that Walter S**** previously sent me to sign shows that Walter S**** made mistakes and failed to have included the page of Terms and Conditions in his Proposal.
WEBSITE ICONIX COMPANY BROKE ITS PROMISE TO PROVIDE ME WITH A FREE QUALITY CHINESE VERSON OF THE WEBISTE.
During the website design process, Website Iconix company’s Business Development Manager Harry D**** promised me in our phone conversation to provide me with a free Chinese version of the website. However, he later refused to make changes to the designed websites even though I had repeatedly requested. He forced me to pay additional $350.00 to purchase new software for editing (Exhibit D: Harry D****’ email to me on 9/27/22). I told him the additional $350.00 was out of my budget and I could not and I was unwilling to pay for it (Exhibit E: my email to Harry D****).
WBSITE ICONIX COMPANY’S CLAIM OF LANGUAGE BARRIERS AND THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE ANYONE WHO CAN READ AND WRITE CHINESE WAS TOTOALLY A LIE.
During the website design process, I sent multiple emails and documents to Harry D**** and asked him to made corrections to the website they designed for my company. However, Harry D**** always claimed that there were language barriers and they had difficulty in making changes (Exhibit F: Harry D****’ email to me). Website Iconix company even said that “they don’t have anyone here who can read and write Chinese language and it’s not our native language.” (Exhibit G: Website Iconix’s statement).
However, my recent investigation on Website Iconix company shows the opposite. On November 27, 2022, I acted as a potential customer and had a Live Support conversation with Website Iconix’s Business Strategist Adam W***. I asked Adam W*** if he is Chinese and if he can read and write Chinese. Adam W*** told me that he is a Chinese from Singapore and he can read and write Chinese and Chinese is his “mother language.” He also told me in his email that his company can design website in any language. He told me that “We have a professional team of Chinese developers and designers who will be working on your website project.” (Exhibit H. my email conversation Adam W*** on 11/27/22). I was very shocked to learn this truth.
WEBSITE ICONIX COMPANY’S CLIAM THAT I DID NOT POINT OUT ANY MISTAKES BUT TRIED TO CREATE ONE WAS TOTALLY A LIE.
During the website design process, I have given Harry D**** multiple clear and detailed instructions in making corrections on the contents in both English and Chinese versions websites (Exhibit I: my email with attachments sent to Harry D****). Some of the instructions and documents were repeatedly sent to Harrry D**** due to his continuous refusal to make corrections. The documents I sent to Harry D**** are clear documents in **** ******** which are very easy for Harry D**** to upload to the website. From 09/27/2022 to 09/28/2022, I sent Harry D**** total 19 pages of printed website pages and my suggested lineup for correction (Exhibit J: my email to Harry D**** on 09/27-09/28/2022 and attached documents). In each of those pages, I circled the words, sentences and areas that need to be corrected and gave Harry D**** instructions on how to correct.
THE TRANSLATOR PLUGIN PROVIDED BY WEBSITE ICONIX HAS RUINED BOTH ENGLISH AND CHINESE VERSIONS OF THE DESIGNED WEBSITE.
The Translator plugin provided by Website Inconix Company was automatic translation software without human editing involved. It is just like Goolge Translate that many people use today. While ****** ********** is useful for translation, its translation often contains errors and inaccurate words or grammar mistakes that require human editing and correction. However, Website Iconix Company refused to edit and correct the translation. I asked Website Iconix’s Manager Harry D**** to remove the Translor plugin and replace it with the exact contents that I provided. My request was cruelly rejected. Due to Website Iconix’s stubborn refusal to make corrections, the website that it designed for my company was full of errors and thus became a very defective product. It was absolutely impossible for me to make the designed website go live or to publish it.
MANAGER HARRY D**** TRICKED ME INTO PURCHASING A YEARLY DOMAIN-HOSTING SERVICE WHICH WAS NOT REQUIRED BY WEBSITE ICONIX.
During the website design process, Harry D**** called me and told me that his company would place my company’s websites under its hosting and charge me a yearly domain and hosting fee. However, this charge was never mentioned in the Project Proposal that Walter S**** sent to me. At first, I refused. Then Manager Harry D**** sounded like the yearly charge was something I had to pay if I wanted the website design to complete and go live. Then I had to try hard to bargain with him over the price. At the end, he added $125.00 to the e-commerce order of $329.
My recent investigation on WebsiteIconix Company shows that the yearly domain-hosting charge of $125.00 was not required by Website Iconix. On November 27, 2022, Adam W***, the Business Strategist of Website Iconix Company, sent me an email and he clearly stated that their charges are One-time fee and there will be no recurring, no monthly fee, no yearly fees and no hidden charges (Exhibit C: Adam W***’s email to me on 11/27/2022.)
MY CANCELLATION OF THE THREE ORDERS WAS OUT OF MY EXTREME FRUSTRATION OVER WEBISTE ICONIX’S INABILITY TO PROVIDE AN EXPECTED SATISFACTORY PRODUCT AND SERVICE.
On September 29, 2022, after having over one hundred email conversations with Manager Harry D**** over the designed website without seeing any satisfactory result, I asked Harry D**** to cancel all my three orders due to his stubborn refusal to make corrections and asked for refund (Exhibit K: my email to Harry D**** on 09/29/2022). However, Website Iconix refused to refund.
CONCLUSION
The website that Website Iconix designed for my company was totally a failure and it was an incomplete defective product. My satisfaction percentage for its product and services is zero. The fact that Website Iconix provided me with a free Chinese version of the website does not necessarily excuse it for not providing a correct and satisfactory product. It is Website Iconix who chose to offer. Since it has chosen to offer, it must complete and make its product reasonably satisfactory. Therefore, my wish from this dispute is:
1. Refund; OR
2. Making corrections to both English and Chinese website pages as requested;
finalizing *** ******-commerce set-up;
making the website go live; and
terminating the 1 year-hosting service 1 year after the designed website goes live.