For those who don't have time to read this entire piece, suffice to say my experience was nearly identical to that of the other reviewer. If you want the details, read on...
ENP Studios contacted me in response to a Craig'slist post I made regarding some basic web design work. I was looking for someone to help with modifying a web template we had purchased for our new corporate site.in his first email. Eric told me he should be able to have the work completed "within 24 hours". I said great, and sent over a 50% upfront deposit. When we finished editing the copy for the site, my partner and I sent Eric our template, along with all the necessary information / instructions - which he confirmed he'd received. Then we waited.
After a week had passed, I asked for a status report. Eric responded that he'd had a medical issue and he would have something ready for me by the end of the day (it was a Friday). I was a little concerned, but decided to give ENP the benefit of the doubt. On Tuesday, when I still had nothing in the way of status, I emailed again. No response. A few more days went by - I emailed again, and left messages with the answering service, to no avail.By the end of the second week, I was fairly certain I'd been scammed. I took to Google (which I probably should've done in the first place), and came across this site.
I sent a final email to Eric, explaining that I had hired a local designer (who really did finish the work in 24 hours), and his services would no longer be required. I didn't really expect a response, but I wanted to cover all my bases. I explained that if my deposit was Paypal'd back to me that day, I would consider the matter closed - if it was not, I would initiate a dispute with my credit card company and post reviews of my own. Amazingly, I received a response... Eric apologized, and promised to refund my money within a week because he was out of town. I immediately questioned why one must be in town to send money via Paypal, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt once more. I waited.
After 10 days, and a reminder email that went unanswered, I decided I'd been more than patient. I initiated a chargeback with the bank. They were extremely cooperative, and refunded my money immediately (my balance reflected the change by the time I hung up the phone). I realized I should've just gone this route to begin with.
As an independent IT consultant myself, I know better than anyone that competition in the field is fierce, and sometimes a single bad review on a website such as this can destroy one's chances of future employment... Even after the BS this company put me through, I hesitated going this route. Ultimately I decided it's better to warn people than let anyone else go through the same headache. Deal with local web designers you can meet face to face - otherwise you're at their mercy.
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