We started with Design Stallion in August of 2022. They quoted us for a progressive web application. Promised custom coding in multiple languages done by their in-house experts and programmers. I spoke to Shane, who was very friendly and a very good salesman. I spent a lot of time talking to him and asking specific questions, especially are they familiar with nutritional databases. I spoke to the designer Alejandro who listened and said yes they could do everything we are asking. They quoted 6 months, and I paid $18,000.
1. They put our project with Joe, and I spent hours discussing it with him and sharing what we wanted done.
2. Within a few weeks, I was told he was being promoted and they put us with Jax. Jax was not sent any of the emails or description of the program at all, so I started over and spent a ton of time explaining it all to him. He was good about meeting when he said he would and was polite. The design went way off the wall in June, they showed me a build and it was all wrong. Many things I never asked for. I straightened them out I thought. Jax was polite through all of it, and I was disappointed in the lost months, but they assured me it would be back on track.
3. Then a week later, Jax was promoted. I started with Anna. Once again, she was told nothing, it was like I was starting over again. I spent a long time talking to her about it and re-sent all the emails. She is not a good listener and talked over me. She never understood the project or tried to. Is extremely unprofessional. She no showed 5 or 6 times for meetings. I complained about this for the first time.
4. They put me then with Enza, who said she was a supervisor. Once again, I updated her completely on the project and she also talked over me instead of listening and I never felt confident. In the few updates I had, things were not right, and she was so aggressive. She would rather tell me how the app was supposed to work rather than listen to the person who invented it. It wasn't just functional things, she just wanted it her way. She also no showed frequently and would not answer a single direct question. I asked to speak to the developer, and not be with any more middle representatives. I could tell by the work, they weren't being told the right things.
5. Then I was moved to Daniel. He said he is the developer and has 10 years' experience. He assured me everything I am asking for can be done. This was November of 2023 a year into our 6-month promise. He assured me I was speaking to the person I could trust, and he was going to get the job done. I believed him and felt reassured. He listened well, and I once again had to resend all the files and explain the app fully. Then he pretty much disappeared. I stopped getting updates, and he would finally answer only to no show for meetings. He was always very stressed and very busy, but when we would talk, he reassured me, and I believed in him. As he asked, I sent a list of about 20 things that still needed corrected. Some super small and easy to fix, and some larger functional issues. It took over a month to schedule the meeting because he kept needing to delay it, but he kept promising it was done. We had the meeting and only 1 maybe 2 things of the 20 were completed. It was a bigger one, but nothing else was addressed.
We are 18 months in and it's a mess. He lost it, yelling and out of nowhere he said he refuses to address anything or work on the app until I sign a form saying I am happy with all the work and will not ask for a refund. He was screaming at me demanding I sign it. He said the app is done. But it is not! I can't sign saying it is good when it isn't. Then he lied and said I never asked for these things. Then he demanded to launch the website and fix things later. It makes no sense; it is not even functional. I have said it to every person I dealt with, and him specifically. I have all the emails. I demanded a refund. They completely over promised and cannot do custom coding. If your app doesn't fit within a simple template, they cannot do it. If I get any kind of resolution, I will change my review. Otherwise, they will see us in court, where I have proof of all the communication.