Is It worth it?

Is it Worth the Price!​

Ok, as I stated in another thread I was looking around for quality paid addons for my vBulletin forums to help improve it, things that would add the the overall look and feel of it.​

I looked around on vb.org for people who offered quality modifications, and I was willing to pay for some. ​

I found a guy by the name of SirAdrian who had released like 80+ mods, had great support for them and took a look at his website to see he owned a Fantasy Cricket script he was selling.​

And therefore being a sport website I thought I would jump at the chance to get it as Cricket is a huge sport in Australia.​

So I paid him $150USD for it - which converting Australian Dollars to the United States Dollar costed me nearly $210AUD.​

So he attempted to install it and found that it didn't work on vB3.8.x and therefore, he removed it from the website to work on it to get it up to 3.8.x standard...​

That was almost 2 months ago and he continues to give excuses after excuses as to why it hasn't been done and now he refuses to even speak to me on MSN!​

I have spoken to a number of other coders to see if they can help just take a look at it (as I took a full backup of it while it was online and even have the product for it) and try and get it to 3.8.x standard.​

However they want $150USD to even open it up and work on it to get it suitable for 3.8.x - I am not a coder so don't know how to do it!​

I would like to know if anyone else has been in the same situation, meaning have you brought a script and been forced to pay someone else to get it up to standard - how did it turn out for you, and do you think for me paying a further $150USD for someone to take a look at the code already made just fixing up to work on 3.8.x is worth it?

EDIT: Sorry I forgot to ask whether you think it is worth paying for codes when things like this happen?​

 

One word of advice, only hire people that are in in good with the vbulletin communities. If that guy will not talk to you, give Brandon a yell. He is a member here and he has his own vbulletin forum at vbulletinsetup.com

 

The sad part is merk_aus thought he could be trusted. With 80 + released mods, it's reasonable to assume he's established in the community and knows what he's doing.

 

I thought he was in good communities releasing so many mods on vbulletin.org and supporting them I thought it was a good choice - obviously I was wrong I tried calling the number he had when registered through whois lookup but that says he is in Reno in the states when his website says he is in Canada.

I was mainly wondering if anyone thought it was worth paying another $150USD just to update the code to 3.8.x - I mean its the same price I paid for the script in the first place!

 

Exactly. This just shows that some of the most reputable people sometimes don't even follow through.

Although he's ignoring you, have you e-mailed and asked for a refund and to just drop the whole ordeal? And if you paid him via PayPal, have you considered filing a dispute?

Personally, I wouldn't deal with it. I would take the two steps I just mentioned and try to get my money back as quick as possible. It's just not worth it to me, but it may be to you. Maybe somebody can just code a whole new one.

 

Even if he does file a dispute, Paypal will not side with M due to the fact its a digital and online transaction that can not be tracked as to whether it was delivered or not.

All transactions that are not physical products Paypal usually doesn't side with the one who files.

I would file just to mess with him though because they will pull that money out of his account and put it on hold till the dispute is resolved. This may cause him to respond in some way to you.

 

Yes I have emailed him a number of times, asking a number of times for a refund the last one he replied three days ago and said:-

"Hey, I can install it today. I'll give you half the money back as well if you want, but I can't do that until a client of mine pays me. He told me last night he would do it by the end of today at the latest."

I paid via PayPal but they claim because it's internet coding work they can not do anything.

It is a shame having 80+ mods I thought he was reputable and see he had the whole code sitting there thought "fantastic" even when he installed it and said "Oh it's not working properly I will have to spend 15-20 minutes on it tomorrow to fix it all up" I felt confident - however 2 months on he continues to ignore me no matter how I contact him and don't know how hard it would be to upgrade it to 3.8.x.

With me not being a coder I don't know what the differences are or where to start! lol

 

I just filed a dispute - (like you said they wont side with me) but then just to get his attention I sent him a request for $150USD from my paypal account

 

Good on you Merk because I think people like that are just not right. It urks me to no end to see them do what they do and get away with it because they know there is nothing you can do.

 

So he has replied to you recently? (I take it he still didn't try to install anything so he's still stringing you along?)

 

I wouldn't hire anyone from vbulletin.org. The place is unorganized and only tempting for people to scam. When there isn't any comeback on the person you hire from this site then they are free to scam you from your hard earned money.

And don't whine to the staff - They couldn't give a shit. As long as they answer their daily support questions they don't want to know. They love the benefits of having a paid area but don't like the responsibilities (these are the kind of people I find to be selfish) and don't want to help unless it's a support issue with vbulletin.

Don't hire anyone from vbulletin.org. It's only a matter of time before you are scammed. You have no protection there and the scammers are free to prey on people.

Another thing. You cannot leave feedback in full about the scammer. It has to be firef otherwise you are censored, sometimes infractioned and most of the times suspended from the site.

 

It use to be when we spoke on msn he would keep giving me excuses, about being out of town for the weekend, his wedding coming up, etc etc.

Then when he stopped replying on MSN I started sending him emails, he got married on the 30th of last month, and returned from honeymoon on the 4th - he replied to my email on the 4th, then the email i posted above on the 7th and I am still here with no script or no refund at all.

I have launched a dispute by paypal who as mentioned earlier are no way going to give me my money back, I have sent him about 5 emails asking for my money back - and about 500 MSN messages because he hasn't blocked me he is appearing online and has been so for the last two or so days, and yet still hasnt sent me one message back.

 

I have learned my lesson now definately I am not going to hire anyone else unless its a full blown website that you can leave feedback without it being moderated.

I am now trying to find someone to at least look at it and see what it will take to get up to 3.8 so I can use the backup i got including the product, and find out what it is going to cost me.

 

What didn't work specifically? I can't see a properly coded 3.6 addon taking a lot of work to upgrade to 3.8 as the code bases are exactly the same.

 

Some options didn't show up, such as add teams/players, create game.

I am not sure all I know is I see it on other websites using 3.6.10 and stuff where it works perfectly, and then just have him saying it didn't work on my 3.8.

As I mentioned earlier I am not a coder and so don't know where to start, I have the full system including the product and am just searching through it trying to figure out (pretty useless when you dont know what your doing)

EDIT: OMG I am blushing Mr Luke is talking to me - My Hero!

 

From what I had read about SirAdrian around different places and stuff he sounded like a stand up mate, a friend of mine who runs a website that uses this same script said he was always approachable they didn't have an issue with the script for about 2 years then they ran into issues and he helped them no worries.

That is why someone who had such a great "supporter" base shocked me when all of this happened.

I know he got married at the end of last month, and so gave him some lee-way for that, however with the whole script and coding to update it etc I did not expect it to take over 50 days to do.

I don't know how much difference between the codes there is, as I only learned about 3 months ago how to change the styles on the website and learned last month about adding mods etc so obviously I am no coder.

However he did say that it is just a couple lines of code he needed to change... I am just waiting for him to do it. lol - to be honest I would love for what he offered and that is to do the coding and get it working and then refund me half the fee I paid - due to the fact that I lost about $300 in sponsorship for competitions it was going to be used for.

But I either want the script fixed or the money back from him... And I don't mean to slander him off as I do know he is a top bloke to many of you guys but I can only go by what is happening to me at the moment.

Lol I know its naughty but if any coder wants to take a look at the script, like i said i do have it including the product I just don't have the coding knowledge to fix it up, and if I got it working I could end all ties with him and not worry about anything (apart from how much your going to charge to look at it) - let me know and I can upload it all somewhere and pm you.

I just want all of this to end but am not going to let it when I am out $150USD and have nothing to show for it.

EDIT: Your not the Kevin from CinVin are you?

 

Yeah, I would love to see something done lol - I have sent him an email with a compromise saying $75USD refund and we call it quits.

That is what he mentioned a week ago, but I think seem I did actually grab a backup of the system including the product I do technically have the system it just doesn't work but at least this way allows me to have some funds to pay someone to fix it up.

I think it is a fair comprimise as I said it is what he offered a week ago and so hopefully he agrees to this and we can put an end to the whole drama.

I can only make opinions of people when I deal with them, SirAdrian although many have had no issues with him I have had this issue which is why I don't actually hold him in the highest of respect at the moment and am hopeful of bringing an end to it all.