Shah
Cyborg Agent
Hello, digitians
I am a student pursuing B.E. CSE and I work as a freelance programmer and web developer in my free time. My parent's don't know about me working as a freelancer and I just donate the money I earn to charity or I spend it on some of my other hobbies. This post is about how I got cheated by a so-called client after I have completed all the work.
I usually search for projects on WorkNHire and Truelancer. Back in November 2014, I placed my bid on a WordPress project posted in WorkNHire which involved some theme and plugin customization. After some time, I got a reply from the client stating that he would like to hire me. After a few chat and email exchanges, He gave me the login credentials and I started the work. A few hours into the work and a few emails, I realized that he just outsources the projects that he bid and won on other freelancing websites. Also, He doesn't even know anything about development or programming. He said he makes his living from the commission. I had no problem with that. So, I continued the work and completed the project. As discussed, he paid me 600 INR. (I don't know how much he charged the real client though)
After a few days, He again approached me with a few WordPress based projects. I sent my quote for them. He said he'll take a commission of 20% from what the client pays and pay the rest 80% to me. I trusted him and started working on the projects one-by-one. In a week or two, I had completed 3 out of 4 different projects. But, He didn't pay me. Whenever I asked him about the payment, He will say some lame excuses like "The client didn't pay yet", "Paypal is processing the payment to my bank account" and so on. So, I stopped working on the fourth project (I had already completed 70%) and demanded him that he must pay him. After a week or so, he paid me the amount for two projects (the budget of these two were the least out of all the 4) alone saying that the client cancelled the fourth project as It was not complete before the deadline. I believed him again.
When I asked about the third project, he would the client is his classmate and he will surely pay me the money. My quote for that project is 5000 INR and that was only for back-end programming (Core PHP). After a week, he replied me stating that the client didn't like design of the website. And this guy asked me to change it. I said I would charge separately for Designing the Website. After a few hours, he said that the client told he will provide the design himself. A week passed by. Whenever I asked him about the status, He would say the client didn't design the website yet.
One day, he replied me that the client provided him the design and now I have to implement that design with my code. I was shocked when I saw the stylesheets and HTML pages he sent me. It was clear that the client just saved another website from his Browser. He didn't even bother to change the copyright text on the footer. Anyhow, I just implemented the code into that so-called design template. Again a week passed. After that he said the client didn't like the design this time. After a chat session, I came to know that he was the one who copy-pasted the webpage. He said he would redesign the webpage and so he asked me to wait for sometime. The same story repeated for a few months (From December 2014 to April 2015). Whenever I ask him the status of the project, he would say something like "The client didn't check it yet", "The client told me redesign the site" and so on.
On April 22, 2015, I sent him a message on Hangouts again inquiring about the status, He said the same usual thing. After that I was busy with my model exams, so didn't care much about it. A couple of days back, I tried to send him a message asking for the status of the project. That's when I realized that he has blocked on both Skype and Google Hangouts. Moreover, he didn't reply to my mails too. I don't know if he got paid by client or not.
I feel so depressed now. I wonder if I can take any legal action against him for not paying me after I have done all the work. Can someone guide me through this?
I am a student pursuing B.E. CSE and I work as a freelance programmer and web developer in my free time. My parent's don't know about me working as a freelancer and I just donate the money I earn to charity or I spend it on some of my other hobbies. This post is about how I got cheated by a so-called client after I have completed all the work.
I usually search for projects on WorkNHire and Truelancer. Back in November 2014, I placed my bid on a WordPress project posted in WorkNHire which involved some theme and plugin customization. After some time, I got a reply from the client stating that he would like to hire me. After a few chat and email exchanges, He gave me the login credentials and I started the work. A few hours into the work and a few emails, I realized that he just outsources the projects that he bid and won on other freelancing websites. Also, He doesn't even know anything about development or programming. He said he makes his living from the commission. I had no problem with that. So, I continued the work and completed the project. As discussed, he paid me 600 INR. (I don't know how much he charged the real client though)
After a few days, He again approached me with a few WordPress based projects. I sent my quote for them. He said he'll take a commission of 20% from what the client pays and pay the rest 80% to me. I trusted him and started working on the projects one-by-one. In a week or two, I had completed 3 out of 4 different projects. But, He didn't pay me. Whenever I asked him about the payment, He will say some lame excuses like "The client didn't pay yet", "Paypal is processing the payment to my bank account" and so on. So, I stopped working on the fourth project (I had already completed 70%) and demanded him that he must pay him. After a week or so, he paid me the amount for two projects (the budget of these two were the least out of all the 4) alone saying that the client cancelled the fourth project as It was not complete before the deadline. I believed him again.
When I asked about the third project, he would the client is his classmate and he will surely pay me the money. My quote for that project is 5000 INR and that was only for back-end programming (Core PHP). After a week, he replied me stating that the client didn't like design of the website. And this guy asked me to change it. I said I would charge separately for Designing the Website. After a few hours, he said that the client told he will provide the design himself. A week passed by. Whenever I asked him about the status, He would say the client didn't design the website yet.
One day, he replied me that the client provided him the design and now I have to implement that design with my code. I was shocked when I saw the stylesheets and HTML pages he sent me. It was clear that the client just saved another website from his Browser. He didn't even bother to change the copyright text on the footer. Anyhow, I just implemented the code into that so-called design template. Again a week passed. After that he said the client didn't like the design this time. After a chat session, I came to know that he was the one who copy-pasted the webpage. He said he would redesign the webpage and so he asked me to wait for sometime. The same story repeated for a few months (From December 2014 to April 2015). Whenever I ask him the status of the project, he would say something like "The client didn't check it yet", "The client told me redesign the site" and so on.
On April 22, 2015, I sent him a message on Hangouts again inquiring about the status, He said the same usual thing. After that I was busy with my model exams, so didn't care much about it. A couple of days back, I tried to send him a message asking for the status of the project. That's when I realized that he has blocked on both Skype and Google Hangouts. Moreover, he didn't reply to my mails too. I don't know if he got paid by client or not.
I feel so depressed now. I wonder if I can take any legal action against him for not paying me after I have done all the work. Can someone guide me through this?