Hi all

I have created a website for a client, though he hasn't paid and it's been about 5 weeks since he said he would pay via bank transfer.

The last email I recieved was about 2 weeks ago and that he was in Washington helping his brother with his DataCentre.

He has given me now contact details besides email and AIM (which he is never on).

His email is: webmaster@abctracker.com
His AIM name is: dreiscool

His name is Andre Skeete....thats all I know.


Oh also he ownes SeekBarbados.com and he is a registered member of these forums with his member name: seekbarbados

You assistance would be great, as I would love to uncover this money. I would be after an address or even a telephone number so I can call him.

Thanks all

Regards

Jon Grant

hmmm. I hope you didn't release the website to this person before they paid for it. There are many stories of this nature, going on, be it coding or designing.
When it comes to design, one is better off using screen shots.

Only thing I can think of is contact his site's host webmaster@starhoster.com and explain the situation and maybe they'll give you at least an updated e-mail address maybe..

I remembered the name, and remembered that this person was complained about on the following thread http://forums.baddealings.com/t134.html

-Steven

I dont think you'll get your money
=/

You might also try that email. If he is out-of-pocket, he may still check it. However, if he simply wants to ignore you, he can still do that.

Well just an update...

Andre finally replied to my email.

I will keep you all updated on this situation....and thanks for the ideas.

Regards

Jon Grant

If you are desperate, you can look up his IP (which is in the source of his e-mail) and you, or you could get me to run a network info on it. That will tell you what internet he's useing, and with his name, e-mail, ip and ISP, you should be able to get all the info you need on him. If you'd like my help on AIM im Darke 991, on MSN im DarkeFireFX@hotmail.com.

Good luck,
-Darke:angry:

Originally posted by DigiDesignz
...His name is Andre Skeete....thats all I know...

I almost fell out of my chair when I read this part of the thread. I know this person all too well. Do you want to know more about Mr. Skeete and his little operation?

First and foremost, he is a scam. I say this because I have first hand knowledge of his business practices. I first ran into this joker in late December of 1999. It was my first web site I was creating and I found a host called Hosting Plans located in Arizona. He had only a few plans but being new at this I signed up with the one that had you pay $300 one-time and you'd never have to pay again. I took the bait and was sorry since that time. My site probably worked for a couple of weeks if that. Every promise he made and posted on his web site soon became lies. In February of 2000 I was no longer able to modify my site whatsoever. I could access it but I couldn't do anything to it. I tried contacting Hosting Plans and Mr. Skeete several times via every possible way known to man. I never received any responses and he never answered his phone.

To show what he once offered take a look at the below link. Look at the second link for what eventually happened to him:

February 29, 2000 -- http://web.archive.org/web/20000229092619/http://hostingplans.com/

April 10, 2001 -- http://web.archive.org/web/20010410070459/http://www.hostingplans.com/

I tried fighting with him via e-mail and telephone for months but he never was around to take my call. And when the phones went to voice mail, I would get a message that the "mailbox is over its size limit" and I was unable to leave any more messages. To get my money back, since he did have a 100% money back guarantee, I tried getting his attention by posting his antics on webassured.com (http://www.webassured.com/address/ViewComplaint.cfm?ID=GUF9792491131) Note: His company used to go by the name of Helping Hand Services

This did not help as he didn't answer WebAssured as well. I then turned to my local news stations as each of them run a Fame or Shame type segment on companies to avoid. I thought they'd love to hear about an Internet company but all three never called me back. I thought I was getting nowhere until I stumbled on some more interesting information. I found out that he had other ties to the hosting business. His brother ran ArizonaHost and ironically had the same plans at the time (i.e. $300 one-time lifetime package). I contacted his brother and at least I was able to speak with the guy. But, each time I talked to him I was told that Andre was out of the country at the time. How ironic.

Without giving up, I then tried contacting the Michigan Attorney General's office. Jennifer Granholm, the Michigan Attorney General, doesn't care too much for online scams. I layed everything out in a letter I wrote to her and within a couple of weeks I had a reply. I still have that letter in a file cabinet of important documents. Along with the Attorney General's letter, I also received a copy of a letter they received from one Mr. Andre Skeete. He promised that his business was legitimate and that he was not running a scam. He also stated that he sent a check out for the refund on June 5, 2000. I waited longer, and waited longer, and waited longer, and still didn't have the check. I contacted him again and reminded him of me contacting the Attorney General. I made sure he understood that I would contact them again if necessary.

FINALLY by late August/early September I had my refund. It took forever (in my books) to receive the refund and had I not contacted the Attorney General, I'd probably still be fighting this thing. All in all, Andre Skeete is a scam. He has several more web sites which I found and some were other hosting companies, some were not.

I highly recommend if anyone comes in contact with Andre Skeete, do not do business with him. You will most likely be sorry that you did.

Sorry to hear. He says he will be back in Arizonia on July 7, so he is going to pay then. Just hope all goes to pay.

Keep on him and he probably will but you have to be ready to bug him to no end each time he delays. He doesn't appear to like authorities going after him so if that is necessary, that is one step to take.