Julian P.

We commissioned this company to develop a new ecommerce website - first stage 4-6 weeks with extra stages to follow when it was working satisfactorily. The first stage was six months late which should have rung alarm bells but worse was to follow. The end product threw up all sorts of persistent issues and errors. Six months on and Phase 2 was on the back-burner. Other developers couldn't decipher the code which was so bespoke as to cost more to take on than produce a replacement. Our file of errors grew thicker by the day but we were stuck with OFEC fixing them until they decided we were a financial burden. They advised they were not prepared to ‘continue to support' our business, so, would start charging us for coding errors. Invoices were drawn with scant, vague detail which, when challenged, they could not explain what the amounts charged were for. So, we refused to pay them until they did. Their hosting of the site was no better as it fell victim to Malware followed by a bizarre weekend when our domain name appeared as a Gothic site. Then our site was hacked through their own host server which went undiscovered by them but not by Google who broadcast to all prospective customers on the Google search results (double-whammy) that our site had been hacked. The dialogue between our company and theirs was stretched to the limit because the damage caused to our business and reputation was completely ignored by Ofec's top management for whom we'd become a liability. Using the highly suspect non-payment of invoices clause they gave us notice to terminate their services wishing us well with our new developer knowing that no-one could take it on. The result was that our website (i. E., online business, customer details and order history) disappeared completely from us and the internet. They closed down our online business. No regard has been paid at all to our business, our staff and our financial survival. Even though we paid for this website and thought we owned it this web-developer was able to remove our business in an instant knowing our only recourse is to the British Court system which grinds slowly. You learn at the end of a project never at the beginning unless reviews like these can help to forewarn of the pitfalls.