Hit Web Design review: a complete disaster! 178

They stood behind of their Terms of agreement about how I sign and agreed to it but what about our right? Don't we have the right to ask for our monies back because you have broken your own agreement!

Be very, very careful with these people because they only cover themselves and not you the consumer. They will rope you in quickly with their sales dept.

But, don't let that fool you because once you get roped in, the game has only now just begun with these people.

Heritage Web Solutions:

I am at a loss for words to describe the horrible experience of finding out that your server crashed and that you did not have a back up more recent than July 8.

When the server went back online, our site AFFPS.COM had some old files, some missing files, a disabled shopping cart, a subsite (Decatur Market) that was completely lost.

I cannot access the shopping cart from AFFPS.COM/CART/ADMIN.

Our merchant account with Authorize.net has received scrambled data and some orders (with multiple names assigned to the same invoice) that never went through the shopping cart. Authorize.net is also holding some unprocessed orders that were sent from our shopping cart which cannot be processed. I have repeatedly asked for this problem to be fixed, but NO ONE has responded.

Our business is crippled due to the complete disregard for customer service by Heritage Web Solutions. I have called many times today, but never get a call back.

The only person who has demonstrated interest in the success of our site is Kristina Roberts, and she has been reassigned to other areas within your company. I know that she would be very sad to know that the site she helped design has been treated with little or no regard by others.

We promoted Labor Day reservations (purchases on our site) by spending a lot of money. Now we are losing thousands of dollars each hour since we cannot receive or access customer orders.

Our phones are ringing off the hook and I'm handling them as best I can, working late hours. I cannot imagine that your company would just LEAVE work for the day without any interest in helping your clients, but that is what happened. I finally got a hold of one tech person by phone at 5:30 p.m. who told me he was aware of the problems but that no one was working on it. He said he would try to reach his manager, but again that yielded no response.

What will you do to rebuild our site's missing files? Will you take any preventative measures? How can you operate in this manner?

I have learned a hard lesson with Heritage Web Solutions. IF our site becomes operational again, I will only use it until I have established a new contract with a new provider.

AFFPS
Atlanta, Georgia
U.S.A.

On Jan. 13th I paid my 50% to get a web site designed and a data base built.

Since then all that has happened are more contacts from sales people to sell me upgrades for my to be web site.

I am told that my project has been submitted to a programmer but one has not picked it up yet. I have asked for a timeline and what the hold up is. No one can tell me when the work will actually get started or why it hasn't been started.

So today I emailed the ceo, my contact and his manager requesting this information and informing them that i will need a full refund tomorrow if they can not give me a satisfactory answer as to when they will start building my site and data base.

I feel three and a half weeks after paying for the web site is already way to long to have to wait before they will even start the process.

I wanted to get my own website so I filled out a page and they called right back well I did purchase the basic package three pages and they where going to design it. The designer did a good job but there was a couple of things needed to get done before it went live well it went live before I approved the designer said I did approve it but I had emails proving that I was not going to approve it untill these things where changed and this was the day after it went live but nothing was done I had to summit them to the update request. When you asked for an update they take forever or get it totally wrong or they dont have it in the system and you have to use more of the update time they allow a year. These are the most incompitant people to deal with I would not recommend these people at all I'm sorry now that I signed up with them once my contract is up I'm switching my host and tranfering my domain name. DONT USE THESE PEOPLE

If you want your business to fail before it gets off the ground then Heritage Web Solution LOOSERS is for you!

A complete package of heachache, liars and incomplete work. Yes we can charge that... $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Anymore questions!?

Heritgage Web Solutions is a solution that their Utah District Attorney's Office need to rectify. These people at Heritage are a bunch of [censored] TO HELL LIARS! They tell you bull each and everyday until they get at LEAST $1200 and up from consumers.

Heritage Days MUST BE NUMBERED! Everybody is talking about contacting their Utah,Provo District Attorney's Office, the FBI White Collar Crime and the BBB in their area.

VOICE whatever issues you had with this company on [redacted].com Please take the time to do it so that no one will have to go through what you did.

They ripped me OFF as well and for three months I dealt with lies and bull. My bank luckily repaid my refund to me and WILL BE UP THEIR ### IN A LITTLE BIT FOR THEIR REFUND BACK!

Their FALSE advertising tactics of $199.00 is what drew me to this company but mother always say: if it's too good to be true...

DON'T waste your efforts and hard earn money. Checking with the BBB these days may not be enough due to the fact that they may be using the same tactics as the Credit Bureaus due such as not updating information accurately and in a timely manner which also may cause a lot of consumers like myself to fall PREY to companies like HERITAGE WEB SOLUTIONS!

This company advertises that optimization is a very important part of your website, however, after you purchase you then find out as I did that unless you pay thousands more they only do a minimum optimization - not what they claim as advertised or lead you to believe when speaking to them. You can not access this area to do this yourself.

All the instructions for updating/editing your site are incomplete and after I bought this program I was informed that I had asked for too much to be done and they only provide so many hours of free work so I will have to pay them $60 an hour to do anything beyond that. The gimmick here is they never tell you how many hours it will take them to do anything. The bill could run into hundreds of dollars.

It is true I did not buy the biggest package from them, however, I would think I should be able to edit my entire site within reason. They have set it up so that adding an outside link to your page is often impossible or it comes out looking weird.

Often when they did the initial set up I would have to have them go back to do what they should have done to begin with - their incomplete work.

You never know who is working on what part of your site when you do the set up and it took a very long time to complete it. Phone contact with the techs is impossible at times so one has to wait for e mail communication - that was not really made clear at the onset.

I now have a site that I cannot finish without paying more for them to do the correct optimization needed for search engines like google. I also have very little support time each month.

I would not recommend this company even though they brag that they are in the 1% of the top designers now. I suppose that is for the large corporations that can pay thousands of dollars.

Margaret
Cottonwood, Arizona
U.S.A.

This company designed a web site for me for my business. After forking out over $1200.00 it was not designed to my requirements. I had pages with forms of them that did not work. To this date they have fixed them. They charged me for a page that I was supposed to get free for paying up front for hosting for a year. They were supposed to design a page for people to post their information. That was never done. My advice is do not use this company. They have over 300 complaints on the Better Business Bureua.

It does seem as though if you submit content to Heritage Web even before you have electronically signed your TOS, you have already agreed that by submitting your content to your account manager previously, you are committed and binded to their TOS agreement.

I think the TOS is just to cover their ### later down the line if you try to request a refund in anyway they would say that you signed their TOS. But, they already trapped you by asking you to submit your content to have your web designed and then send you an email stating that if you submitted content you accepted our TOS.

Have you EVER heard of a crazy company like this?! For those up and coming victims of Heritage it is our obligation to let them know about this dreadful TOS (Terms of Service) agreement. I know I will.

Hey Utah District Attorney, why don't you do something about these people. They are scamming the people out of their hard earn money and feel as though they can hide behind their TOS statements. Make an example of them by having them display their TOS before any content is submitted or as a matter of fact before you agree to even hire them.

If they had any honor or class, they would want to protect their client as well not just themselves. This in itself shows you that this company is down right unethical!

I hope that the same measure that they have shown to people God is the same measure that will be given back to them in their personal lives because when it's all said and done, He (God) has the last say about the actions we befall on others. So, if their path is Hell, well God will definitely see it so.

Ok. When you get your TOS Agreement in the mail, look up all you can concerning Heritage. Go to the bottom of the pages, make a copy of their policies, job requirements paper work available to freelancers and of course an update on the TOS to date and privacy policies. Now, you take time and read the contraditions in spirit and literal-- there are your loopholes. Frankly, they make me sick.
Since around Nov.2009. there has been an increase of 71 complaints. Just last night 8 more were added:2/17/2010 550 complaints. 2/19/2010 558 complaints!
What ever you are doing guys, keep it up! As long as this company is allowed to maitain their practice, Utah BBB won't be out of a job! I just wish they could do something more, like how each month, each year in the past. Notice, they don't let you investigate the past from the beginning, nor do they let you see the transcripts of the meeting and the such. Maybe Hit could help them with that computer program.
It is apparent that inc.500 doesn't get how Hit became so successful in such a short period of time. Having endorcements toward their Company, written and maintained in the inc.5oo public records, one would not be too far off assuming inc.500 carries some liability concerning how customers ARE ripped off! If a case is launched, and the little guys win, well, I wouldn't want to have my name attatched, they may be partially liable@@@Hint - Hint! Look at all of the endorcements at the bottom of Hits web page. I only looked up one.
You'll like this one! Hit tells its' frelance writters this: "Hit maintains a strict policy on project deadlines. Our customers expect their site to be completed in a timely fashion and one of our top priorities is meeting that expectation. 6 sentences down, "complete projects on time and to the customer's satisfaction." Page 4 of 8.
Page 5 of 8 Last chapter:"there is a completion deadline."
TOS Agreement #6. 1st, 2nd, 3rd. paragraphs after big list. Total contradiction. The question is, If Hit's "Governing Principles, contradict in practicallity and function, let alone spirit, then who is to know which is the real Terms of Service? Is the double standard acceptable, leagal, or legitimate?
#10. paragraph 3 disproves "We Stand Behind Our Work!' You will find this declaration plastered accross their front page on the WWW. In short client claims Hit will not be held liable for accuracy of information, typos...
#26. 90-Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Yes! Hit is supposed to give you back your money if you are not satisfied. From date of sale to the taken live status. TOS #16. indicates they keep 50% with in 16's written definition. Reguardless, customer satisfaction and 90 day guarantee TOS contradiction.
#29. HWS, @sole discretion, may terminate its service and remove &discard any content, for any reason, & at sole discretion and at any time, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
DISCONTINUE SERVICES, HWS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO CLIENT FOR :::::PAID ACCOUNTS WILL NOT BE--------REFUNDED!
Remember the begining of this account, "Client's Satisfaction!
This one screams " LET US RUB YOUR NOSE IN IT!
#31. There is a minimum cancelation fee of 50%, 50%, 50%, 50%!
Ok, does this make any sense? HWS's Governing guidelines and policies contradict all over the place. It seems they only apply when they stand alone against a customer. See, after awhile they start to cancel-out one another, leaving few to stand on. Yet, when one single Term is violated, then all are deemed void. Hit has certainly voided out their own TOS through their own words, practices, and conclussions which violate public safety declarations within the contracts of TOS Agreement, Customer service requirement, and Privacy policies in place.
The complaint against Hit, with the "BBB of Utah", appears to be an oozing bleeder, only in this case it is ###! NO ###!
I am sure you can find more. Each case is different, yet, the same: I have just been %$#&ed and the ### goes on.
Now is the time to read between the lines! Hit, you can't have it both ways or three ways, or always! You time is coming and that ain't no lie!
Hits Victims will laugh last! From what I can see, you have years filled with them, making a case even easier.

Allstate Mapping paid Heritage Web Solutions starting in November of 2008 for the domain, design and hosting month fee for our website. We were billed from Nov. 2008 through Oct. 2010
in the amount of $2, 324.84 total. In that amount was a charge in Aug. 2010 for a so called discounted monthly hosting charge that if we prepaid we would be discounted. That was to carry us through to Sept. 2012. That was $960.00. Our site was not maintained since around March of 2011 and eventually the site went down. (approx. the beginning of June). Do I need to file with the Attorney General in UTAH or my state. Can I retreive my investment or even my domain name.

My experience with this company was almost exactly as other describe. It took Heritage 18 months to complete my website. When it was finally 'live' I did not immediately check to see if it could be googled. Customers called me to complain they could not find my site. To my disgust, I found Heritage had failed to make my site available to search engines.

I found out from my friend's husband (he builds websites) that my site did not contain a page containing metatags. The tags enable search engines like google to find and list your websites presence on the web.

I contacted Heritage and asked them to correct the problem. They told me they did not 'promote' websites. I explained I only wanted what they had agreed to provide in the beginning - a presence on the web with search engines able to find me. I had talked about this frequently as the site was being built. They had assured me they would provide that service. Why they don't is puzzling since their site can be googled.

When I complained they shut down my site without my agreement. They refused to refund the $700 I paid for the site. This has cost me a lot in business. The web address is in the phone book and when customers go there it is shut down. Very embarrassing. They don't call me. My income has dropped as a result.

I signed with HWS in November of 2006. I Have paid nearly 2,000.00 to date for my site and hosting fees. I submitted my content in Feb of this year. Weeks went by; then months. I had made many calls regarding the status of the site. In May I spoke with James Gilmore. He said that for what I required I would need a database built. This was an additional 300.00 and an nearly an additional month of waiting.

Upon the June completion of the design I noted that it was an awful design and the site was very user unfriendly. I had a lot of changes to make. I told the designer this and began emailing some of the changes. I was told by Chris Witchurch one of my many designers at HWS to just accept the design and I could make any changes later at no extra cost. I was sceptical that the later changes would be free but I trusted him and Heritage at their word. This later proved to be a huge mistake.

Heritage neglected to inform me that some of these changes would be extra money...At lot of extra money. At this point I know something was wrong. One morning I did a search for my page on the net. It didn't come up at all. This is more than a month after the site went 'live'. I brought this to HW attention. They said I has only just been picked up by google? and they would take care of it. They sure did... now you have to type in all the words life advice for you exactly in the search block to bring up the site. I brought this up and was told for an additional 65.00 a month I could get it fixed.

At my wits end I asked for my money back and Mr. James Gilmore said that he would 'put my refund request in the system'. I waited for another week. I was given a new designer and account manager Melissa Gunnel. This was never documented because each time I called the system still showed my account manager as James Gilmore. I received 1 email from Melissa and nothing more.

I requested a refund another time. This time I spoke with another account manager. He said he was sorry for any inconvenience. and that he would get a new designer on it. I was assigned Mathew Stubs. I talked with him and discussed the changes I wanted make back in June. I said I wanted to slim down the pages and get a better home page. I was told this would cost 600.00. I told him I couln't afford to pay any more and that I really just wanted to get what I spent back. This is when I finally heard that HWS does not authorized any refunds of any kind.

After 3 months of asking for my money back and getting ran around. Of coarse I tried to get things resolved and tried to let them fix the site. But enough is enough! Nothing is getting done. I requested changes on August 1. I did not receive a confirmation email from Mathew until the 8th. Does it take a week to read email? This email said only that he would get to work on my requests. Nothing has changed to date. Meanwhile I still pay 50.00 a month for a site that looks unprofessional.

I can't count the unanswered emails, the unreturned phone calls, the hours I have spent on hold waiting to talk to a person. I have had more account reps and designers than I can count. I have had enough. I have filed complaints with IC3, my local authorities, this website, Foxnews, The Provo Herald, the and Utah Tribune. I am a very very resourceful and dedicated individual and I have a lot of friends. I will not stop until this is resolved.

I will be writing my congressmen in the morning, and taking additional steps to get this matter resolved. I have emailed the company with my intentions. I have not heard anything. Learning a 2,000.00 lesson like this may not be a hard one for a big company or for people that have alot of money. For me it has been devastating. This is so very disappointing.

HWS is the most unamerican company I have ever dealt with. They take advantage of legal loop holes and innocent hard working people, they are greedy and unethical. Shame on you HWS. SHAME!

Jessika
Navarre, Florida
U.S.A.

I too have had all the complaints of every one else
32 weeks and still no site after they promised it would take 4 weeks. The desighners are useless i sent 10 examples of sites i liked they did the opposite of my requests - they lost my photos told me i should take more and upload them myself - what did i pay them $1000 for they also had the audacity to charge hosting fees for a site that was never done.
I have retained an attorney and my law suit has begun - these crooks need to be stopped.
Has anyone contacted the news station / paper in utah to expose them - if not i will.

I have been working with these people since early September of 2007 and I still, as of today, February 29, 2008, do not have a site that works the way it was promised. I have paid every last cent... (WAYYY more than the initial lead-in of $199) and yet they still seem to have reasons for not getting my site to completion. As I type this, I am on hold with them to get to the bottom of why my site is not working.

I went through 2 account managers and 2 designers in 3 months time. My site should have been done in that amount of time...at the least! (FYI..My first designer resigned because he didn't like how Heritage did business... that should have been my first clue!)

People, it's going on 6 months, and I'm been paying their monthly fees all along... and I still don't have what they promised. They are quick to take your money... but very slow to help you get what you paid for. The other day, after all this aggravation, someone on their sales team had the nerve to call me and ask me if I wanted to sign up for another service for another $50.00. It was to have my "right click" disabled so no one could copy my art from my site etc. I told the guy, if you can get to the bottom of where my site is at, I will consider this service. Well, because it meant more money, and he wanted to be able to "close another sale" he called me back within a couple hours and gave me an update. See, they move a little quicker when you dangle the money carrot. That was Monday, Feb. 25th, I believe. Well, the $50.00 has been deducted from my credit card... but 4 days later... my right click has still not been disabled. See, I still didn't learn my own lesson. So, I now have to get on the phone and wait in line to get more answers. The other night, I was on hold for over an hour just to get some service questions answered.

The staff people have even told me, "Well, we are very understaffed, so things might not get done as quickly as you need them to be." Nice. Their own workers are telling customers that. Also, beware, they have all sorts of people working on your site, and the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. One person promises you one thing, and then you call and check on that and the next person tells you no, that's not how it's done. I have spent numerous HOURS on their phone line waiting to get help to get this thing up and running.

They farm out a lot of their designs to "outside" sources so then they put the screws to those designers to do a quick job and get the site done. It's all about the money with Heritage. They do not care about customer service. They don't care about you as a consumer. They only care that they get so many things billed in so much time. Time is money people. That's all they care about.

I have even had emails with the "higher ups" and they promise that things will be taken care of. Then they hand things back to the workers...and things get messed up again. This is the most frustrating, aggravating process I have ever dealt with in my entire live. I would never recommend anyone to deal with them. Feel free to contact me if you want more details. I'd be happy to provide them. Just please, let me save you the trouble and just take all these complaints for what they are. They are REAL. ABSOLUTELY REAL!

I have had the same problems as described by so many other people out there. Heritage Web Solutions never did complete or even begin a design on my "package deal" and then continue to charge my credit card for hosting fees after I paid to have the domain released over 4 months ago. I wish I had checked the Utah BBB and then I would have known before hand that this company has a HORRIBLE record to put it mildly.

Companies such as these simply take advantage not so savvy consumers and get away with it everyday. I learned my lesson and also lost about $800.00 to boot with absolutely nothing to show for it other than a domain name. I say, STAY AWAY unless you have money to burn.

This is a terrible rip you off company. They take money and don't perform nothing correct. I paid for a logo i designed to be uploaded and it took almost 2 weeks. I have tried to cancel my hosting with them and they are telling me i have a one year contract and i need to pay the balance. The reason I am terminating them anyway is because the correct services weren't rendered so how could they hold me to a contract. I spent 1200.00 dollars on a inadequate data base. I cant even load my own pic on my own site. So how can i get consumers to subscribe and try and do the same.

I had order a web page with two browser names to go to that page, they told me that it was a miss spell the first time then the second time was told they would pass on the message to another department, now is a month and they just had not done so far what they promise!

This is the worst company I have EVER dealt with. I've had my website with them since 11/08 and seriously this company is a joke. A 5th grader could have come up with a better website. And when you get to complaining, they just pass the buck and tell you someones working on it and will call you back. I am soooo fed up with these people and I have spent a fortune.

I wish to retract what I said about Heritage Web Solutions. I jumped the gun and lost my temper. They have resolved all my issues on my web site and also apoligized for the frustration I went through. I am very satisfied with the design of the web site. They did an excellent job. www.thianproperties.com

Greg

I have been on the phone with representatives from this company all morning trying to get $170 credited back to my account. They will not issue a credit and simply keep passing the buck.

If you consider doing business with this company, buyer beware.

This company is a complete rip off, they promise you service then just call daily for more money.After reaching a self proclaimed supervisor I was informed that they will do what they want when they want and not to waste my time with complaining to the BBB or anyone else because they dont care.Pretty good stuff from a supervisor.Stay way away from this companyat all cost, complete scam operation from beginning to end. Jay Thomas Action RV's

I assumed this company was legitimate because they had an impressive looking website. I was fooled by glitter. If you are thinking of getting a website I would strongly suggest you look locally. I learned the hard way. My advice is to stay away from Heritage Web Solutions. Don't be fooled as I was with a good looking web page. I am surprised someone hasn't brought criminal charges against them by now.

They are absolute thieves all these complaints are right. I contacted the FBI INTERNET SCAMS. The FBI will follow up if there is a big enough case so please contact the FBI in Utah. These people need to be exposed for stealing innocent victims money.

This company could not save a computer bug if they had too. They scammed me out of my money and didn't even completed anything. They call themselves the #1 whatever but you always learn from your mistakes and using this company surely was one.

Warning, please take caution, I do not recommend this company.

I can tell you that I have been through it and everything that is said about this company is true. I will never recommend these people to anyone. Not even my worst enemy.

Business owners, if you really really really value your MONEY and TIME: Stay AWAY from these LIARS!

Heritage Web Solutions is the ### of the earth and all deserve to be in JAIL!

Has anybody filed a small claims suit against Heritage Web Solution and won? Please respond..

My father was born in 1890 and died in 1951. This is correctly shown in his profile as well as in the family tree, but when I click on "Site Members" on my web site it shows that he was born in 1938, died in 1951, and has visited my site twice! I have no idea how this could happen and would like to eliminate this ridiculous error. I have no idea when this occurred so restoring is not a solution. Any ideas?
Thank you very much,
Parker St. Amant (parker.stamant@lusfiber.net)

Check out KSL new report. The most accurate out there.

FYI: The Heraldextra did not check out any facts and therefore its new release is flawed and primarily the words of a criminal defense attorney as well as other releases using this information.

One must ask who Sonny Olsen actually represents? Kevin Morrill i.e. isowebworks etc or Heritage Management Services, LLC aka Heritage Web Solutions aka Hit Web Design aka David Aiken, Mark Strong, Leah Young, Eddie Dockery, Bradford Stone? Remember that Kevin Morrill was a key management member of HIT and is family related to David Aiken. He claims to have quit March 4, 2011, the day that employees at Hit were made aware of the lies that were being told. Kevin claims to start up a new company within 4 days with 20 new employees from HIT. That takes a lot of capital, equipment, software and leads etc.

Why has Sonny Olsen participated in a campaign to clear Kevin Morrill and isowebworks. Isn’t this a conflict of interest?

Kevin Morrill told employees he was in the same boat as them. Kevin did not sleep in his car in the freezing cold because he was locked out of his apartment because he was not paid his wages. Kevin Morrill did not beg for patience to keep a roof over his head because he was not paid his waged for weeks and weeks. Kevin Morrill was paid.

One must ask how much money was taken from people under false or misrepresentation of products or services when the tax bill is 17.1 million. If 17.1 is representative of a 20 percent tax that would make the take $204 million dollars from around the world. Not to mention the Hatti donations that HIT took from its employees and the public. No one has released any confirmation that the funds taken in for Hatti actually went to Hatti.

HIT’s web pages for sales leads remained up and running for days before posting a notice of its closing.

Any former customer of HIT who has been contacted by Isowebworks, PPC Management or any related company should contact the Utah County Attorney’s office directly.

Ask yourself if the same people are running a new company with the same equipment, the same people, the same software that they have placed their new logo on, why would you expect different results?

Service of complaints either district or small claims can be served upon Sonny Olsen Registered Agent at Heideman, McKay, Heugly & Olsen 2696 North University Avenue, Suite 180, Provo, UT [protected]. It just needs to be served upon the law firm to someone 18 years old or above. Get the name of the person at the front desk upon whom you hand the documents and their position with the firm. Make sure it is served with a Summons. Small claims documents are usually all in one documents. Read them to make sure. Document due need to be served pursuant to Utah Rules of Civil Procedures Rule 4 you can read this at the following: http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/urcp/urcp004.html

You can send your demand for payment to Mr. Olsen at solsen@hmho-law.com.

People have been scammed and defrauded. Attempting to profit there from is inappropriate.
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Joomla is a free open source content management system (CMS). Some companies put there name on top of the CMS and call it their product when in fact it is the work of many who have devoted their time to the free open source development projects.

We are not against anyone choosing to pay someone to create the sites using Joomla. We are only against not giving credit to the free open source community who actually developed the programs such as Joomla and disclosing its usage to the public.

Because of the short amount of time it takes to build a site with Joomla, use care when paying someone to build your site. Make sure they have actually built sites from scratch and understand CSS, XML, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Perl, and AJAX at a minimum. Make sure they have and are building some sites from scratch or have disclosed to you that they only use a CMS. Make sure it is disclosed in your contract if they will build the code themselves and have qualified programmers or use free open source software.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
1. Never sign a contract that does not provide a full refund if you are not satisfied with the product or service.
2. Make sure that you do not pay for hosting until your site is live and functioning the way you requested.
3. Make sure that you ”own” your site code with no strings attached except payment for the building of the site as agreed to in writing.
4. Never sign an agreement that does not require a deadline for building the site or provides for phased rollout with deadlines of features. You can even request that there is a penalty for each day the site is past the due date to motivate the completion of the site.
5. Never agree to jurisdiction outside of your own state or country.
6. Never agree that the full price as been earned or is due unless the site is built to your satisfaction.
7. Make sure you have documentation of what is in scope of your request and what is out of scope for your request. Get it in writing.
8. Never let anyone pressure into purchasing anything. Tell them that you need to review it with your partners and that until you have your partner’s sign off you can not make the purchase. Then take the time to research and review the information before you buy. Get a family member or trusted friend to be your partner in helping you make the decision. Get three opinions before you buy. If you are uncomfortable in any way don’t buy. It is better to wait than be sorry.
9. Always read the terms of the agreement before you sign. If you don’t like the terms you can change them. Any company that is unwilling to work with you on the terms is giving you a sign of what is ahead. Run don’t walk away from a company that is unwilling to work with your terms.

Utah County, State of Utah is one of the leading places nationwide in white collar crimes that go un-prosecuted due to a lack of funding and allocated resources.

The Utah County Attorney cannot or will not investigate nor prosecute a crime without a police report. Once they receive a report, they must choose which cases to pursue. NSF checks payable to employees or consumers are low on the list. They refer the lack of payment of wages to the Utah Labor Commission. They refer the NSF check to customers to their local police department. The local police department refers the victim to the police department where the business does business, which in this case is Provo Police Department.

Consumers must file a police report before the County Attorney can even consider the case regarding the taking of funds from account without authorization, the promise to deliver services and the keep of funds paid even though the services are never delivered or delivered satisfactorily.

The Utah County, Provo Police Department discourages the filing of police reports, claiming that the victim has to prove intent. They have also informed individuals that they can take the report, but that the County Attorney will just send it back to them and do nothing.

The Attorney Generals office gives out this response:

“Thank you for writing to the Utah Attorney General's Office. The Attorney General’s Office is counsel to the state agencies. A case would have to be referred by a state agency in order for this office to get involved as we can only advise our client agencies. The Labor Commission is a state agency and they would have to refer a case to our office in order for us to get involved and we would represent them in court.

I trust you will find this helpful.”

The BBB take reports, it does not resolve them nor does it possess any authority to do anything about the complaints. It has been under investigation for buy outs for improved ratings, though this company has the lowest rating it can get. Filing a complaint with the BBB make the complaints available to anyone using the BBB as a reference, however the marking of the complaint as resolved does not necessary mean to the satisfaction of the Consumer.

EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE NOT BEEN PAID:

You can continue to work for the company and file a wage claim. If you have not been paid, we encourage you to really think about why you work for free. The claim that you will not get paid any faster if you file a wage claim is simply not true. In addition to your wages, you will also be entitled to receive ½ of the 5% daily penalty. You can contact the division of labor at [protected] if you have any questions. You can fax it for $0.98 at http://www.gotfreefax.com/. Even if you work outside he state of Utah, you should file your wage claim with the Utah Division of Labor as the company is within its legal jurisdiction. Other rules may apply to your state, we suggest that you contact your states labor division for any questions.

If you live in Utah you can file for unemployment benefits for just cause of non-payment of wages. A partial wage is not a full wage and therefore qualifies as non-payment of wages. Contact the Utah Unemployment Services at [protected] or Apply on line at https://jobs.utah.gov/ui/InitialClaims . You will need to register for work through the Department of Workforce Services at https://jobs.utah.gov/sso/login.aspx?application=UWORKS&returnurl=%2Fjsp%2Futahjobs%2Flogin.do

The unemployment office will tell you that they need to review your case before making a decision to see if you qualify. You should be aware that the unemployment claims of those who have left this company for Non-sufficient fund payroll checks and/or, non payment of payroll have been approved. There is usually a 1 week delay before benefits begin. The amount of benefits that you may receive is determined on a case by case basis. You may speak with a representative of the Utah Unemployment Services to help you determine the amount of benefits you will receive.

Many employees who have left the company have found new jobs and are much happier due to the elimination of the stress of not know if or when they will be paid.

CONSUMERS THAT HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE PRODUCT or ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SERVICE:

You may file a civil suite for failure to deliver services/product in a timely and workmanlike manner with the Utah County Justice Court. The small claims court address is:

310 West Center Street
Provo, UT 84601

Main Telephone: [protected]
Main Fax: [protected]

Forms are available at

http://www.utcourts.gov/howto/smallclaims/

Filing Fees

Small Claims
$2, 000 or less (1)(c)(i) 60.00
Greater than $2, 000 and less than $7, 500 100.00
Greater than $7, 500 and less than $10, 000 185.00

Amounts over $10, 000.00 are filed through a civil proceeding in the Utah County District Court, located in Provo Utah.

If you live out of state or cannot travel to appear in court, contact the court and request to appear telephonically. You must appear either in person or over the phone. If you fail to appear the your case may be dismissed.

Contact your credit card company and file a claim for reimbursement of non-deliver of a product. Ask for a new credit card to prevent any further payments for being debited.

If you used a debit card, contact your financial institution and request a stop payment on any transaction from this company. Request that your account number be changed due to unauthorized debits.

Keep in mind that this company will use the contract against refunding any payments.

The (TOS) Terms of service that states

7. Intellectual Property Policy

Domain names purchased by HIT and website designs, databases, stores, or programs created by HIT are the property of HIT until Client has paid all fees including one full year of monthly hosting. (See Domain Names Purchase/Hosting Agreement

11. Completion Timeframes
Client understands, agrees and acknowledges that HIT does not guarantee a time frame for completion of ANY website.

34. Cancellation Fee and Refund Policy

MINIMUM CANCELLATION FEE – Client agrees that a minimum cancellation fee of 50% will be retained by HIT on all cancelled accounts even if no work has been started.

100% cancellation fee will be retained and NO REFUND will be issued by HIT if Client cancels after 90 days from the initial sale

No Refund will be issued on any website cancelled after services have been rendered, including but not limited to, the design work having been completed and/or the website taken live.

Beware of any contract that states:
• cancellation fee of 50%.
• does not guarantee a time frame for completion.
• no refund after 90 day of initial sale.

Such a company is not under any pressure to perform, they postpone the work as long as they like and then claim that it is past the 90 days and you are not entitled to a refund. There are plenty of developers out there that will not have you sign a contract such a contract. An ethical company would provide a full refund, if services are not rendered, they would also deliver a product to the full satisfaction of the purchaser.

Be advised that this company does not own the web servers that the sites are hosted on. At present they lease the server space through Fibernet, they use freeware OS and server software. Their contract locks you into payment of one year of web hosting through them or you do not own your site.

This contract is too one sided and not for mutual benefit of all the parties. Stay away from it.

OTHER INFORMATION:

This company owes more than 8.5 million in taxes running back to 2006. They owe approximately $340, 000.00 in back wages with a bimonthly payroll of $120, 000.00 or $240, 000.00 per month. Plus they have a judgment against them for $44, 000.00 from Aetna Health entere in 2010. Addeco Staffing has a pending case for non payment in the Fourth District Court, Utah County State of Utah.
The Company has no assets and leases a run down bowling alley.

They receive an estimated $600, 000.00 in monthly merchant transactions.

The inside set up resembles a boiler room. It does not presently look like the pictures on its site. It is fairly dark inside because most of the lights are off. Carpet is torn and unclean. The treatment of its employees has been described like a sweat shop. Several employees have lost everything and have become homeless due to the non-payment of wages.

Violations of Anit-Discrimination for non-payment of wages and paying wages with NSF funds have been issued against this company. Employees who have not been paid are encouraged to file a wage claim through the Utah Division of Labor. There is a 5% penalty per day up to 20 days for non payment of wages per pay check. Outsource employees from any state can complete the wage claim form. Google for Utah Wage Claim. It is available from the Utah Division of Labor. You can continue to work for the company and file a claim. If you have not been paid, we encourage you to really think about why you work for free. If you live in Utah you can file for unemployment benefits for just cause of non-payment of wages. Many employees who have left this company have found new jobs and are much much happier.

Consumers are encouraged to contact their credit card companies and request a refund for failure to deliver a product. Due to the heavy indebtedness of this company it is encourage that your file as quickly as you can. It is estimated that the company owes $340K in back wages in addtion to the liens noted above. Consumers need to know that their sites are on servers through Fibernet. This company i.e. HIT Web does not host websites, it sells website hosting through a third party vendor i.e. Fibernet. When this company files bankruptcy, which it should have done long before now, your site may shut down for non-payment of services by fibernet. There is a question of where all of the money this company has taken in has gone, the IRS is not paid, Aenta Health was not paid its premiums and was granted a judgment, employees are not paid, the company has no assets. Those defending the company here on this site no longer work for the company. The promise to pay wages knowing that you can not pay them is fraud. The only purpose for telling anyone that you will pay wages when you know that you cannot pay them is to obtain labor from them for free. The information contained herein has been reported to the Utah County Attorney's office.

Many ask why this has gone on so long; in the words of one management member "because no one knows how to take us to court". If you have not been paid wages and have been promised to be paid, if you have received NSF checks that are still outstanding you are encouraged to request that the Provo police crime division take a report. They will attempt to discourage you by stating that you have to prove intent. The proof intent has already been gathered. If the detective will not take the report, ask to speak with the Cheif. The county attorney's office cannot do anything unless they get as much information as they can on this company. If you have problems with the police taking a report, please contact the attorney's general office ask for Scott Reed the criminal attorney. You can find the information by going the the UT Attorney General's website. The Crime goes on because no one will prosecute due to lack of funding. The attorney's general office can request funding if the complaints are sufficient. Also, please contact Sentor Orin Hatch's office. Funding in Utah county, State of Utah needs to be available for this type of crime.

Thanks for all the comments! I spoke to Heritage Web Solutions yesterday and they gave me so many deals I felt maybe something was up. I told them I would get in touch with them tomorrow and talk it over with some people. They gave me another deal if I would sign up then. So I did. I used my card and we had an understanding nothing would be withdrawn for a couple of days from the account.

Well I woke up today and I didn't feel right. So I checked their site out and looked under hosting. Their hosting starts at like $40 a month! Ridiculous! I thought "Rip Offs"!

I started checking out reviews in Google and this site was #1.

To make a long story short I was able to cancel my card and issue another. Not 1 red cent was taken from me thanks for all your comments!

I am getting really tired of seeing the same email from so-called CEO singing the praises of the company. Clearly he is not listening to the complaints of the huge number of UNHAPPY customers. It's 2010 and still the same complaints regarding this company (or whatever name they are using this year) keep cropping up. Obviously nothing has changed...not even the generic letter he keeps posting under every complaint.

Getting in touch with the actual CEO at Heritage is like trying to get an appointment with Oz. If you're lucky enough to get a peek behind the curtain, you'll see nothing but smoke and mirrors!

"What you don’t see on this complaint website are all the positive emails and letters we receive daily from customers who are extremely happy with the service and work we have provided for them."

That is sooooo funny! I would love to see just one of those letters, and talk to just one of your customers who are "extremely happy."

I have had the worst experience with them. Seven weeks to get my site up, I cannot access the software to make my own corrections, and like an idiot I paid an extra $200 for hosting which I'm trying to get back. They are frickin' impossible, worst service ever. I wish I'd known about these complaints beforehand, I never would have paid them. Worst still, my site is pretty elaborate, about nine pages, so I paid a lot to be pissed on by them.

I too made the mistake of hiring them. First they started hosting charges from day one. It took them 6 months to complete a basic no flash web site. When completed, the home page had broken links, the BLOG did not work, when I tried to access it, I got 403 forbidden errors. I emailed tech support, no reply. When I used the internal update page, to tell the programmers what was wrong, it said XML failure, and it would not transmit a simple note. I am launching a business, and 6 months into it I still don't have a website I can promote.

Oh, and if you read their TOS, they say you are not allowed to make disparaging remarks againt them. Say what? We are forbidden from making complaints?
In the end I am attempting to hire a company to fix my web page, which will just double or triple my expenses. Do not use them.

I payed 200 dollars to have flash buttons put on my site. After a month of going back and forth with customer service they told me it was already completed when the work never started. They said when you hover over the buttons they flash green and I told them thats been doing that for 4 months. They wont refund me they said they just did that even though the technician says he didn't do anything. Heritage Web Solutions now known as hit wont help me. I have sent tons of emails to all their complaint departments they will most likely post after I post this saying contact there 800 number and or email them at customerservice@hitwebdesign.com or qca@hitwebdesign.com or ceo@hitwebdesign.com Trust me you have to send tons of emails to those three emails to get a response. I have called them so many times for help and they wouldn't help me. They are now riping me off saying the work is done. HIT web design stay away. There customer service wont help. All the like to do is sell there service and make you wait months to do anything even though they have the resources. They will tell you after you sign up they have know SLA that's service level agreement. My site was supposed to cost 2999 it's now cost 2000 and still not done. This company will rip you off. HIT Web design should put and S in front of HIT. This company is also Mormon Owned. Their articles of faith state be honest in your dealings with your fellow man. I thought when i signed up with them they were honest. They just sell empty and very late results. I have emailed all of them 800 plus times since the start of my site and its still not done. HIT web design when you read this, this is no new news for you grow up and be honest will your customers tell them we will finish your site when its conversant for us. Also the designers will only email when the site is done so your site will never look the way you want it unless you call and email hundreds of times. Come on give me an AMEN on this report. Just google search HIT for reviews I am telling the truth as God is my witness and I am LDS also. These are just bad mormons.