Hit Web Design review: Formerly heritage web solution fraudulent company 65

I had recently signed up to do contract work as a website developer with H.I.T. After reading these complaints and seeing one of their websites I decided I did not want to be involved with a company with this reputation, both complaint and designwise. They don't post a portfolio page on their website and there is a reason for it. They spit out alot of cookie cutter, static, cartoony looking websites with absolutely no professional look to them.

I have started a petition against HIT Web Design to be submitted to the Utah State Attorney General's Office. If you have the time please go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/hitwebdesign/ and sign the petition and briefly describe your experience with them. Thanks for your time.

HIT OR HERITAGE WEB DESIGN SUCKS, THEY ARE SORRY ###. THEY DID NOT COMPLETE MY SITE YET AND ITS BEEN SIX MONTHS

FEW POINTER ON HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM if your like me youve probally spent way to much money to walk away now... youve probally cussed out people, cried and got to the point where its you just cant do anything but laugh anymore...I agree about hit web design I have been struggling with them since December 08 and it is now the end of OCT 09. They were much better as Heritage web design I got my website done in no time as for this ABOVE MENTIONED Quality Control Administer /CEO bull ### you will not here from them AT ALL! I made numerous emails to CEO and no one has email or called me back even tho I sent the same email everyday for a week and told them I will keep sending the email until someone calls me they dont care they probally spammed me BUT i am glad they put the information on here for you so you can email the BIG GUYS and hopefully you will get better response than me, but the people at HIT WEB act like that is some top secret information and will not give you away to contact them and do not tell you its capaital CEO@ they just say ceo@. Their customer service people talk in circles and act very indearing say they will call you back and make sure things are followed through you will never hear from them again you have to EXPLAIN YOUR SELF TO EVERYONE YOU TALK TO its a waste to call 99% of the time its best to email to the ACTUAL PERSON WORKING ON THE ACCOUNT. If they are automatically are taking out of you account Bank /Credit card monthly i highly suggest you change your card number that they are charging and demand they get no money til the progect is done ...also they dont tell you this but if your website does not say UNDER CONSTRUCTION and people have access to your website they believe they have provided you some service for justifing charging you monthly so MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SITE LISTED UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR THEY WILL CHARGE YOU! This is a way to cover your ### and they will get to it faster! THEY ARE SNEAKY AND WILL LIFT UNDER CONSTRUCTION SIGN without you knowing so make sure you go to it often to make sure they didnt lift it without verifying with you first. Also if you go through updates team to explain your issues it eats up your free update time, SO make sure they ur complaints dont go through updates team that it goes through TECH SUPPORT also make sure all emails say that its a tech support issue not update. They do make notes in your file to call, or whatever but these notes do not work, because someone has to pull up your account to see the notes and no one will be looking at your acount/notes just to look they only look when you call. Also it is illegal AS ###.. Ive spoke to an attorney and he suggested to get li8ke five people together to press charges with same complaints as me and i would have a real good case! ALSO THERE IS SUCH A PLACE CALLED BETTER BUSSINESS BEAUREAU (dont Know how to spell it) that you can also call to make a complaint and ask them what can you further do other than just make a complaint.

HOPE THIS HELPED!
VERY DISGUSTED CUSTOMER!

This is the worst company I have dealt with. I worked with Bryon Byrge at HIT and he misled me on several items as well as the rest of my so called "management team". I was promised to have this sensational, professional website set up for several hundred dollars. It has been months and months and my site is still not up to my satisfaction. Their turnaround time is awaful because most of the people who work there are part timers who work at night or the wee hours of the morning. You can't get in touch with them and once you do they tell it it will take up to 2 weeks to accomplish the edits. After months and months they just finally got my email up and running properly. THEN!...on top of that one tech support person told me it would be best to synch my email with my Outlook which made sense to me. He said he would help me with it but I declined feeling I could do it myself. When I had trouble and called back they wanted to charge me a fee! I also paid them $300 for a new logo desing. I had created one close to what I wanted with clip art but legally couldnt' sue that. They were supposed to re-create it for me. All they did was make the colors a little lighter! This company runs on scams! DO NOT HIRE THEM!

And complaints WON'T GET YOU ANYWHERE! When I called to complain and requested ownership of my site so I can transfere it to a LEGITIMATE company, they proceeded to tell me that I would yet again, pay the rest of the years' fee. The rep basically told me that even thought the work was poor and turnover for edits was poor, it was ok for them not to abide by their side of the contract. I however, have to abide by mine. Then he refused to even give me his name so I could not even report him. This is a disgusting company. YOU WILL GET SCREWED ROYALLY IF YOU HIRE THEM.

Since this company refuses to act professionally and work to resolve this matter with me I am contacting a lawyer. However, can anyone advise me if there is a specific agency who/where I file a formal complaint against the company in general as well as the specific individuals I worked with?

At HIT Web Design, we are committed to maintaining the highest levels of honesty and integrity. We have been able to resolve most of the customer’s complaints from this website. However, there is no such thing as a complaint free company. Research any large company and you will find they have complaints posted about them on the internet, whether justified or not. There are simply a handful of individuals who, regardless of the merits of the issues, post slanderous and/or negative comments. Let me assure all who read this that those few who complain are less than 1% of our total volume of business. HIT has been able to satisfy every complaint posted, given that customer gives us the opportunity to do so.
If you have a specific complaint or concern, please communicate directly with me at QCA@hitwebdesign.com or CEO@hitwebdesign.com.
My personal promise to you is that HIT Web Design will be completely fair and equitable with you.
Warmest Regards,
Quality Control Administrator

Everyone should follow NoNonsense2009! Call Hit Web Design / Heritage Web Solutions and DEMAND a refund! Get a refund, file a complaint with the BBB, and RUN!

Hit Web Design should not be operating! I wish that they would simply stop ripping people off!

Hi again,

I'm disgusted as I read these emails. I should have read the reviews before I paid them anything. Hopefully I will get my money back here soon as I never accepted anything. I cannot believe these people are doing this. How is this even legal?

Hi,

Thankfully I did not accept the Terms of Service and will be refunded everything. I became a customer of Hit Web Design less than a week ago and I was so frustrated by the eagerness to get my bank account info, but then everyone disappeared. Just like BAM everyone was gone. Something told me to read the reviews. I quickly got disgusted and hurried and called their cancellation department. Luckily because I was smart thinking and didnt accept the TOS, they are going to refund me. Thank God they misspelled my name wrong and got some other info wrong or I would have accepted and god knows I would be screwed. I would not recommend using their services and I feel horrible for people who have been screwed by them. I agree with ethicalhit, file a complaint with the BBB and continue to do so. Maybe someone will wake up and care. I have wasted time and energy with these people.
DO NOT choose Hit Web Design/Heritage Solutions.

Regards,
An unhappy customer of Hit Web Design

Along with that charge back Rose please remember to file a complaint with the BBB and to file an official complaint with the Utah Attorney General's office. You can do that at http://consumerprotection.utah.gov/complaints/index.html

I hope you are able to recoup the money you wasted even though you won't be able to ever recoup the time you lost!

Matt Nelson is NOT able to help Do not waste your time, I have been through about 10 people in the company and sent numerous mails to David Aitken.

I will be doing charge backs with my bank ASAP. This company is a disgrace..spent 2, 000 dollars and now have to pay someone another 2, 000 to start a new website.

Mr. Matt Nelson, Lance Card, Tanner Wolsey all seem to be wrapped up in the same issues. I am glad that you reached an agreement, but it is my guess that it was not advantageous for you. Would mind sharing what your agreement was?

I encourage everyone to contact Mr. Matt Nelson (mnelson@hitwebdesign.com) to try and resolve your disputes. This is what I did and we were able to reach an agreement.

It's UNBELIEVALBE that HIT web Design/Heritage Web solutions is in business. I am also a recent victim to their fraud. I have reported this company to [redacted] and will continue to try to make my voice heard. They are not willing to refund my money. Nothing is comlete and yet they started to charge me the hostessing fee. It's the most sadly unproffesional company you ever care to run into. All I want is my money back... from this corrupt business. I've been reading quite a bit about how NO GOOD this company is. Is there really any retribution in terms of money back, charge back etc., when you give them your debit card number? Does anyone know? I will call my bank however, their TOS that they conveniently through at you is "all for their favor and their gain. Nothing for the customer even though they have been the ones not to provide, the services you hired them to do. Or better yet, in addition to overcharge you. Their Terms of service is IRON CLAD in favor to them. Also, what about the action lawsuit against them... does anyone know anything about that? please advice. "Livid" in Arizona

People need to get their money back from this company before it is too late! In this economy scams like this can't last for long!

was sent this e-mail by an uphappy customer or employee... not sure which...

Whew,

We put together a huge rally for the last 15 minutes of the day and with the help of our nightshift made it to within 4k of our goal. The key today is to adjust our focus and shoot for the 75K level to make up for the missed revenue yesterday.

Hitting 75K is well within our reach, we just have to make sure that every single one of us remains focused on the goal and doing the right things to make it happen. Getting out of the gates quickly is going to be key and I need everyone dialing the phones and helping potential and current customers starting right when you get in.

Lets make today great,

David Aitken

P.S. If your position is based around calling out to your customers then make sure you eliminate anything possible that gets in the way of this activity. One thing we are no longer willing to do is ask our staff to do such a basic part of there position as dialing customers or leads. If you don’t like dialing the phone and staying busy all day long with the tasks you are responsible for then it may be time for you to consider moving on. Our supervisor staff has more important things to do than ask/beg people to do the basics and I am sure that those of you who are working hard get tired of hearing it.

Remember proper effort is a part of every ones job requirements, if working as hard as we request is not something you would like to do then please move on so that we can bring in someone that is willing to do it. Its the only right and fair thing I can do for those who are here working diligently all day every day.

_______________________________________________

Simply changing your Company Name will not make you a better more respected company, You must present your company in a professional manner. Everything I have ever heard about HIT, Herritage Web Solutions or any other name they use is nothing but bad, Both from customers and Other web Designers. I am very hopefull that they will pull their heads out of the sand and see what they are doing to their company.

This compnay is a scam. As an new employee I was to be paid $9 per update (by the way both jobs took 3 - 4 hours to complete). I did both jobs within one day and had the customers apporval on their updates. Both my invoices were accepted by the company and two months later I have not been paid the $18 they owe me. Their excuse. The post office has had too many closings thus delaying the check getting to me.

What a scam, don't work or especially buy a Website through them. Go through somebody local in your own community that you can trust and talk to when needed.

It is in our best interest to work with customers who have complaints in order to reach a reasonable and fair resolution and establish a long term business relationship. One of the core values of HIT Web Design is to demonstrate our respect and commitment to all of our clients. In most cases, Heritage goes beyond what is fair for the company to satisfy a displeased client.
While HIT is committed to establish long-term business relationships with each of our clients, there is no such thing as a complaint-free company. Research any large company and you will find complaints posted about them on the Internet.

Let me know about any concerns you may have and I will do my utmost to make sure you are satisfied. You can email me directly at CEO@hitwebdesign.com, or even Feedback@hitwebdesign.com

As a consumer advocate here in the state of Utah, I must recommend that people who have gotten a service or contracted with Hit Web Design, Heritage Internet Technologies, Heritage Web Solutions, or Heritage Web Design that you immediately call your credit card company, do a charge back, then contact the Utah Attorney General's Office and report the fraudulent practices. We should not tolerate unethical companies like Hit Web Design to operate in our community!

Here's an email that I recently sent to the CEO of Hitwebdesign. It speaks for itself:
To the CEO of HitWebDesign:

This message is written to express my extreme frustration regarding the very mediocre and unprofessional services that I have received from your company.

Since March 3, 2009 I have been trying to put together a web page for my photography business. Today is July 21 and the project has not been completed. Some of the most serious issues that I have experienced and that have delayed the completion because they needed to be resolved have been:

1) Mislead in the terms of the deal: charges and fees such as monthly hosting fees and charges for watermarking.
2) No submission of tutorials when requested (still missing tutorial for newsletter because the person "must be on vacation or something"...)
3) No response from designers, or extreme delay in responding. At times it felt like I was begging for someone to respond.
2) Arbitrary change in design and/or content of the page, without my approval.
3) THE PAGE WENT LIVE WITHOUT MY CONSENT/APPROVAL, mistakes and glitches included, because someone thought that "I wouldn't want to loose business"...
4) Extreme waiting times when one tries to reach customer service by phone... Sometimes given the runaround from department to department... No one seems to be "in charge of that"
5) I requested my money back from Hit Web Design because I was extremely upset and I was not getting any answers. I was told by your people that I couldn't have my money back because "I was breaking the contract", EVEN THOUGH IT WAS YOUR PEPOPLE WHO WERE NOT DOING THEIR JOB!
5) I requested a charge back from American Express because of lack of service from you. Your people responded to American Express quite unethically, taking some of my messages out of context, and saying that "my page was live, that it was on the internet, and that they had provided the service they were hired for". In other words, THEY LIED and of course I did not get my money back.
6) I gave it another try, and the same problems appeared again...

Today, July 21, after about 135 days and 217 e-messages my web page is still not completed. The customer service person (Jeff) says that he "does not have any open items on my account", which means that after all these problems he still does not have a clue as to where my case stands. Further, he still does not show any interest whatsoever in answering my questions or addressing my concerns... He answers some, ignores others... I have to ask again and again... If you don't mind me clogging up your inbox I will be glad to forward to you all the messages that have been going back and forth which support these complaints, if so requested.

You will have to agree with me that your company has obviously not been prompt and professional as it pretends to be. The incompetence of Hit Web Design borders fraud to the customer, and what's worst, the customer has no recourse when it comes to complaining or bringing this behavior to the attention of the law: your contract is written in such a way that it is YOUR COMPANY who is always right and is allowed to do as it pleases.

I am frustrated, angered, disappointed, and tired of dealing with incompetent people. I have spent an enormous amount of time an energy trying to make this work, to no avail.

I want my money back, please.

Thank you

HIT web design is a FRAUD COMPANY. They have designed a single page in a month. When I try to cancel, they say "per contract only a 50% refund is allowed" CRIMINAL!

Amen to that! Well said, The Real Dave in Montreal. I couldn't have said it better myself.

As a designer/developer in my own right, I have to say I am APPALLED at this comment by "GraceGraphics" - if your commentary is representative of HIT as a whole, then there is very little wonder there are as many complaints about the company as there are.

I've had more than my share of "difficult clients", but at the end of the day I would NEVER make a blanket statement as you have that reflects the true shallow character that rests beneath your surface. It is insulting to ANY potential client to see the words "Oh, you're just one of *those* kinds of clients...", or "if you had to pay for design time by the hour... (blah, blah, blah) ... you'd figure out how to be more efficient.

It's not the CLIENT'S job to be efficient - it's YOUR job to determine what they want and produce it, no matter how often things may change. The bottom line is simple - they are paying YOU or YOUR COMPANY to provide them a service, and do so in a way they are comfortable with parting with their money.

Judging from the litany of complaints against the company you work for - none of you there are doing that. And judging from your comment, you seem to have the attitude that they are paying for the privilege of being TOLD what they want and nothing more. People like YOU in the business is what makes it harder for those of us who focus on giving the client what they WANT.

At the end of the day, these "difficult clients", whether you like them or not (and you obviously have a vile distaste for anyone who challenges your idea of "design" - and judging from HIT's portfolio that is a very loosely used word), pay your bills. Learn to deal with it - develop a better attitude when it comes to CUSTOMER SERVICE or get the hell out of the business!

I work for HIT.

I don't know who you were assigned as a Designer, but I AM a PROFESSIONAL Graphic Designer, with a degree in Graphic Design! I bend over backwards for all of my customers. Even though I'm paid a flat rate for the work, I put in extra time into making sure everything is "just right" because I ENJOY the work.

"YOU submit the fonts, pics, everything as you want it. They design nothing. I designed my website. I had to repeatedly send things back to have them make changes. It took six months to get it done" -

YEP - I've seen this. You were probably one of those people who were impossible to get ahold of and wouldn't return phone calls, and/ or who changed everything constantly: "Well, now I want the text changed. OK, I want the left photo put on the right, and the right photo put at the bottom, and I just found a new photo I want you to throw in, too. I also insist on having this weird-### font that I paid $300 for, and I expect you people to buy it, too, because I AM THE CUSTOMER, AND I SAID SO!"

or, even worse: "I don't KNOW what I want... find me some photos... Ok, no I don't like that one, I don't like this one, can't you find this one with a blue background instead of a green one? Why don't you try to read my mind again and come up with something else?"

Just recently one customer complained that the photos he wanted on his home page were blurry. He had supplied small JPGs to use, and wanted them to be 150% bigger. I told him that the photo quality was poor, and when you scaled them larger, you could see the blurry edges.

This guy said the photos were FINE, it was a DESIGN problem.

Absolute B.S. I used my own $2000 design tools to try to sharpen his crappy photos, optimized them, used every trick in the book -- but like anything else, it's garbage in, garbage out.

I finally told him to open them in IE and use the "+" tool to blow them up a few sizes - then he could see what they looked like without any "design".

There are bad companies ... and then there are bad CUSTOMERS. If you want a live website in a short period of time, get your ducks in a row! If you had to pay for design time by the HOUR instead of by the JOB, maybe you'd figure out how to be a lot more efficient with what you want for an end product.