Web Template Scam

Scores of web designers today are incredibly deceitful and are fundamentally scamming their clients out of money through web design fraud and template scams.

While doing some freelance work, there are a lot of web designers out there who offer to do web design service for very cheap. A lot of the time this includes offering their "custom web design" service. Shrugging my shoulders, I usually say to myself, "Oh well, I offer my quality services at a premium and some clients simply want cheap designs… for cheap", and move on.

Custom Designed Templates

Then one day I noticed one of my friends made a job posting looking for a web designer and online marketer. After contacting him to get more details what he was looking for, he goes on to tell me how hard it is to find outstanding and trustworthy web designers. He recently was talking back and forth with a designer that agreed to create a custom design to update one of their older websites. A couple of weeks later, after lots of dialog back and forth of about what he was looking to get done, the designer finally showed him the design. He couldn't help but to start laughing at the designer when he saw the design.

The "custom design" that the designer showed him was clearly a standard web template. Even though my friend is not a web designer, he could easily tell the difference between a pre-made template and a custom web design. Web templates are not hard to spot once you have the experience of working with them.

How to Spot a Scam

If you would like to train yourself to be able to determine whether a design is a template or not, the quick and easy way to learn the difference is to simple visit Template Monster and browse through all their web templates. Probably within a few minutes, you will notice that most of their templates basically look the same. The colors, images, flash and text all change but you will start to notice that they all just look like... templates.

When you are done, you can visit a site such as CSS Mania and browse through their listings. You will notice that each and every design listed has simply one thing in common - uniqueness. It's this uniqueness you want to be looking for. Take some time and review a design from a designer.

Template vs Custom Design

Can you make the distinctions between a custom design and basic ready-made template:

vs Web Template

Obviously, the custom design is on the left and the web template is on the right. This is just a basic example used for illustration purposes only. It's not really fair to pick and choose website designs to compare, but hopefully it'll help you able to spot template scams from schiesty web designers.

Know the Difference

Immediately, the "web designer" in question started getting defensive regarding his design and things blew up from there.

The sad truth is that the designer probably bought (or downloaded illegally for free) that template for $30, modified it for an hour or two, then was trying to submit it as his own custom web design and sell it off for about $2,000.

My friend jokingly made the comment that this is "actually a great way to make easy money". It definitely is - if you have no ethical morals and like scamming honest and hardworking individuals and businesses.

What I have learned in the past year or so, is that there are an amazing amount of people in today's world will do anything to make a quick buck – even if it means screwing over their friends, family, or more often their own clients. Greed, not money, is the root of all evil.

From a designer standpoint, every web designer should know the differences from offering someone a template vs a custom design. However, with my clients I clearly make the advantages and disadvantages of both made before I take the project and let them choose whichever suits them best. The main deciding factor on which one to choose is usually money.

You can definitely offer a template at a cheaper price than a custom design, but do not try to pass off a template as a custom design. If you are looking for an ethical and trustworthy web designer, send us a free website consultation service request. We will make sure to treat you with the honesty and respect you, and your website, deserves.

If you've experienced a web design scam yourself firsthand, please feel free to post a comment outlining what happened and how you'd help others learn from your mistakes.

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Related Information

http://www.masterpiececarveddoors.com Cathy Bestland

I purchased a template design website from Mint Tree Media in Montrose Colorado. I now know I have been scammed but at the time I did not know that I should have seen a contract. It took 3 months of begging and pleading and threathening to get a VERY poorly designed site with incorrect information. I was told all along (even in emails) that I would recieve a disc with the FLA codes so that I could update my site in the future. Now the owner is refusing to give me the code and wants to charge me $150 per hour to make the corrections that he never go right in the first place. I cannot go to anyone else to make te repairs with out the FLA code. Is there any way that I can get the code off my website? I do not know what to do.
Terri

Your article on web scammers passing templates off as custom hit home for me. I just lost in court to a scammer (an out of work receptionist) who passed herself off as a web designer. She downloaded free templates, told me they were custom, told me she could put my videos on the site,,but couldn’t, I had to find someone to SEND them to her..then she sent me a bill for 3500 dollars!

I sued, she only got 1300. Lesson learned. I wish someone would do a newspaper/web article on how web design is the Home Improvement Scam of the new millinium! The courts are impressed by the web designers apparent mumbo jumbo and are so confused, they end up legally splitting the baby. You can’t win if your a consumer!
Deez

It’s really sad that I have people contacting me all the time with this exact same problem. They paid for a custom web design to later find out that it is basically just a web template.

The only thing i can think of to help so others won’t fall into the same trap as you is to report that company to ripoffreport.com. Hopefully by doing this, it will show their potential clients what kind of web design company/individual they are dealing with and will look elsewhere.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on how to deal with web design scams & fraud?
Richard

What’s up with the fact that there are a whole bunc h of webtemplate sites all carrriying the same web templates?
http://www.rdeez.com Ricky

@Richard, all these templates sites re-sell their templates to multiple buyers.

If you take Template Monster for example, the re-sell the same template for about $50 to whoever will buy it. They also offer a ‘unique price’, where you can purchase the template for about $1,500 and they will remove it from their website so no one else can purchase it again.

Most template sites operate this way – that’s how they can continue to sell quality templates at low prices. Compared to buying a 100% custom design, they are usually worth the cheap price… as long as you don’t mind other sites having the same design as you somewhere else on the web. But the chances of you running into one is slim.
http://www.apaccapitalgroup.com chris barnett

I’m in the process of having a website built by a company that told me from the start that its a template I select and they modify it to my requirements. They are a company from India so I was a bit hesitant. It costs me $699.00 for everything including flash and hosting. The website isn’t finished yet but I must say the level of service has been excellent. However, I would be unhappy if I’d paid $2000 and then found out its a template. I think if they tell you its a template and the price reflects that, then there’s no problem. They have almost finished my website and it looks great, it should be live sometime soon. I hope this feedback helps.
http://www.sunshinesystems.ca Apac Capital Group

FRAUD-SCAM ARTISTS
We were ripped off $950 from US Website Builder
They took our money and did nothing but kill our business
We were okay on ranking before they made sure to eliminate us on the search engines.
There is one lady who controls it and says she is 10 different ladies(she sounds exactly the same-she doesn`t bother to change her voice
http://www.nuwebdesign.co.uk Ash

The worst company to ever deal with, paid them some money to sort my website out, have been waiting for months for them to design but nothing!!. Avoid these lot like the plague!. Empty promises, just take your money and dont bother doing the work. Ended up doing it myself.
eric

I just got scamed for almost a year from a company named CREAT7VE web designers. The owner Paula Celestino, sold me on a idea that she will do as she could to meet the clients goals (me in this case) and that she will not publish until every little detail was ok and approved. Than of course like any other company she made me sign a contract.
NOTE: DONT EVER SIGN A CONTRACT WITH A WEB DESIGN COMPANY, DONT EVEN GIVE ANY MONEY (IF SOME REASON YOU DISAGREE WITH SOMETHING IN NEAR FUTURE, YOU COULD END UP LOOSING YOUR MONEY)

YOU CANT NOT BUY A CAR WITHOUT DRIVING IT. SO LET THEM SHOW YOU THEIR IDEA AND SELL THEM TO YOU ALL FINISH BEFORE YOU GIVE THEM A CENT.

SO CREAT7VE WEB DESIGN COMPANY (PAULA CELESTINO) Every time i asked her to change some details or some of her designs, which we did not like and disagree with some of her ideas, and i asked her to do something different she will take advantage of my suggestions and take them as I Approved the changes , because that was how i requested, and she did not wanted to even adjust the changes??? . We gave Paula Celestino owner of CREAT7VE almost $4000 for a 5 page web design last August 2010. Today is February 2011… and she is not willing to finish her job, less to return our money… and worst..

We gave also $2000 for SEO services that CREAT7VE will do fpor the website after it was finished, but because she never finished we asked Ms. Paula Celestino for the money back and she is saying that , because is in the contract she cant not refund the money!!!..

What a sacam… and if you do some search on CREAT7VE WEB DESIGN company, you will find a fake SEO stating that they are one of the best web designs firms in the USA.. but they dont even have an office.?

How can companies like CREAT7VE could do so much waste of time and money for those who are really working and trusted them at some point?

I hope our experience could guide some others to be aware of the website companies doing ripoffs out there.
http://www.lmmgraphics.com Lorna

My two cents, we build custom and template designs. I will have to say the custom sites do take a long time to complete. I try to fit my clients budget, if it is a template site, I tell them it is a template site.
My clients are happy with our work. If you are getting a custom site built it can not be done in a few hours, ours take between 4 to 6 weeks from start to finish. We have designed our own back end administration area with a login section for the client to update their custom site.
It is so hard to get new clients with so many scams going on, it is sad, because people put their trust in designers, and $3,000 to $4,000 for a web site is no small change.
Its a good idea to ask for samples, but like this article states, it is hard to know when it is a custom site and when it is a template. I always try to explain the difference to my clints.
Thank you for this article, I enjoyed reading it and the replys.
Lorna
http://www.trigwebdesign.com Charlie Trig

As a professional web designer, it frustrates and angers me that so many people are out there scamming businesses with poor design, slow turn around and contracts that just protect them – even when they don’t do the work! It really gives guys like me a bad name, and now I’m afraid this blog is giving templates a bad name.

It is not evil to use a template, but it is evil to pass off the template “as is” as your own work. I use templates from some of the best creators in the world, but after I am done customizing them, you would hardly know it’s the same template. My name is Charlie Trig, owner and chief designer of Trig Web Design Inc., and have been in business for over 15 years without a single complaint or lawsuit. Don’t choose someone with a slick rhetoric and promises of web glory – do your research and search Google for the name of the company, plus words like reviews, scam, fraud or complaints.
Steve

Wish we’d read this article before hiring Sytable. Sytable are a company located on the west coast who have scammed a lot of honest folk. We were ripped off over $11000 – we paid and they did…nothing! They now have an F rating with the BBB. Check out some of their reviews http://www.adoloma.com/Reviews/sytable.com
Sammi

Avoid Creative Happy if you don’t want to be scammed! Mike Bailey the owner didn’t even get around to offering me a scam template- he simply ran off with my 50% deposit! Now I’m fighting to get it back but he’s a slippery fish cos his website (www.creativehappy.com) has no contact details apart from an non working Maltese phone number. Dodgy. Looking at his past work its now clear to me they were copies from template sites.
Nicole

This post is really anti-web designer/web developer.

I own a web design company and we have contracts in place for both the developer and the client. We were forced to start using complex contracts when clients would give you the go ahead to start designing a website and then when the site is nearly finished decide it is not what they are looking for or they just want to keep changing the design at your cost. They refuse to pay for any work done and you are left after completing 4-5 weeks of work with nothing. They refuse to pay for any work which was completed.

We have found a contract really sorts out who is serious about creating a Website and who is just thinking they might want a Website. (The tire kickers)

There is no problems using a template if the design the customer was looking for is similar in design of the template. The template was custom built by a developer in the first place.

We are a Development Agency who are passionate about our work and we are creating a front for clients business’s. We are not about just taking your money, we enjoy what we do and hope that our work gives you great success in your business.
http://www.rdeez.com Ricky

@Nicole, I agree with the contracts part. Detailed contracts are great as they (usually) help protect both sides and should outline everything you can expect.

I think the problem lies with people who are unfamiliar with the design process. Web designers may intentionally leave out the part of using a template vs a custom design.

A tip for all customers would be to ask the designer directly that you’re going to be getting a 100% custom design and not a template. You can also request for them to add that specifically in the contract.
http://www.safhusa.com Tracy

I hired a web developer, Becky McManus/Rebekah Christensen Clarke, located in the UK to perfom SEO for my business. She advised we switch platforms to a platform that would provide more features for SEO, to which we agreed to do.

She stated she would perform image resize/touch-up, write product descriptions, perform Facebook updates, create an SEO plan and strategy, drive lots of traffic to the site and perform the migration. During the length of her employment, she stated that she’d done some of the things she had committed to (Facebook updates, SEO linking, picture resize and touch-up, product description write up) and asked for payment for the work she’d done and stated that she’d do the migration over the coming weekend.

She received payment and then quit. She said she would send the work she’d done within a couple days so that the business could continue the things that were in process. She sent nothing and has blocked my emails.

She was paid a considerable amount of money for work she claimed to have done and upon receiving the payment, she quit and didn’t provide anything for the payment she received.

I’d advise not making payment until you have either seen progress or the site is complete.
safhusa.com

How about scammers stealing designs from online portfolios to make their scammer templates?
http://motioncitymedia.net scammed by motion city media

Jessica Bolin (if that is her real name) has scammed me out of 755$ by promising all this web design and doing nothing. DO NOT HIRE! What have I learned? Do my homework – know the person I’m dealing with and deal only locally or at least in state. Good luck out there – its a bad world fulll of bad people.
hi

@sammi i have a similar situation with mike, is there a private email i can contact you at? id like to discuss a proposal with you. thanks!
Tim

I’m in process of hiring a pro on guru.com, how can i make sure they don;t use a template? I mean I can look into templetmonster, however there are hundreds of templates.. Is there any other way to see if that a template?

Thanks
Tim
http://www.DanceHamptonRoads.com Brett Long

Web designer comes to my house to train me, talks me into redesign, with drafts/approvals/and communication. Takes money, hides from me and says he’ll let me know when the design is done…

http://www.ripoffreport.com/websites/b3-creativ/b3-creativ-chau-nguyen-promise-71c0d.htm

I noticed a lot of web designers, that promise communication and joint effort, then duck you and say they don’t want to show an unfinished product.
If a high percentage use the same lines can’t this be a 60 minutes industry exposal?
http://www.markettarget.com/ San Diego SEO Training

I would keep trying to get the code, there are tools that do that.

Web Template Scam

Custom Designed Templates

How to Spot a Scam

Template vs Custom Design

Know the Difference

The sad truth is that the designer probably bought (or downloaded illegally for free) that template for $30, modified it for an hour or two, then was trying to submit it as his own custom web design and sell it off for about $2,000.

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