CompleteVB vBulletin Skins is a Scam

Discussion in 'vBulletin Discussions' started by AWS, Feb 13, 2014.

  1. AWS

    AWS Administrator

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    I had a client contact me about CompleteVB this morning. I had recommended them a few years ago when they were looking to give the site a facelift. The client wanted a new design again and went to CompleteVB to purchase another design. They paid and now a week later still don't have access to the skin they bought.

    I went to CompleteVB and noticed that the newest threads and posts were from people that had been scammed by them. Paid and got nothing. I suggested that the client file a dispute against CompleteVB at Paypal and with their credit card company. I know the Paypal dispute will more than likely be denied because of the intangible goods rule, but, the credit card company will refund the money.

    In any event I wanted to get the word out that CompleteVB is nothing more than a scammer at this point. If CompleteVB were above board and honest they would have shutoff the shopping cart.

    I had trouble with CompleteVB also although my problem was corrected after I wrote this blog entry. At the time CompleteVB was popular and Matt the owner didn't want the bad press.
     
    AWS, Feb 13, 2014
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  2. s.molinari

    s.molinari Regular Member

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    That is sad to hear. I had used Complete vB styles in the past and never had a problem.

    Scott
     
    s.molinari, Feb 13, 2014
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  3. AWS

    AWS Administrator

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    The sad part was when they asked me to recommend a good skin design house that they could use and I didn't have an answer for them. All the ones I would recommend in the past are gone. I did recommend that they consider a change of software and showed her a few reputable IPB and XenForo skin sites.

    I'm waiting to hear back.
     
    AWS, Feb 13, 2014
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    Dan Hutter likes this.
  4. Adrian Schneider

    Adrian Schneider Regular Member

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    Sad that it turned out that way. While I don't condone the behavior, I do see this happening way too often and see a pattern.

    One reason for this may be the lack of support for these companies. There are very few places they are allowed to interact, advertise, or list their work. Eventually, most don't last very long, and probably end up very desperate towards the end. They don't gain the experience or support of the community, and the cycles repeats and eats all the newer companies alive.

    Where can these vendors go for support?
     
    Adrian Schneider, Feb 13, 2014
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  5. s.molinari

    s.molinari Regular Member

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    Good question with no answer. This is something any new up-and-coming company needs to think about, if they intend to build a platform and not just an application. They must have ingrained processes to support a developer community.;)

    Scott
     
    s.molinari, Feb 14, 2014
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  6. AWS

    AWS Administrator

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    CompleteVB was the last one standing for vbulletin skins. They weathered the storm and seemed to survive and even thrive off vbulletin 4 sales. I have heard that Matt the owner has a bad reputation and has a hard time keeping devs and staff members. He probably couldn't find anyone to work with him so he just left the place so he can scam the last few dollars out of it. I am pretty sure after my dealings with him that this is by design.
     
    AWS, Feb 14, 2014
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  7. Lizard King

    Lizard King Regular Member

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    Paypal accept these requests way easier then you can ever imagine.
     
    Lizard King, Feb 14, 2014
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  8. Dan Hutter

    Dan Hutter aka Big Dan

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    Same here. Except for PurevB (who does awesome work - cannot wait for them to start doing XF skins) nearly everyone I used to work with on the vBulletin side has closed up shop or doesn't want to be bothered with vB work.

    It sad and really tells the story of vBulletin's downfall. It's like pulling teeth to find anyone who wants to work customizing a vB 4 template.

    @Caddyman seems to be the only 'old timer' vB graphics guy still around.
     
    Dan Hutter, Feb 15, 2014
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    s.molinari, Autopilot and Big al like this.
  9. s.molinari

    s.molinari Regular Member

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    Yup. I have a long running customer, who I've been pushing off doing his 1+ million post vB upgrade from vB3 to vB4 for almost a year now. I really, really don't have any motivation to do that job and the other day, he pushed again to get the work done and I asked him, if he'd be willing to move to Xenforo and that I would be much more willing to get the job done, if he did. It was easy to explain my reasoning and he accepted the suggestion. I am now much, much happier knowing we are moving his forum to XF, just because I know it will be much easier for me to do the work, even if it is a migration. This decision or direction has nothing to do with my stance or views about IB and their poor management of vB. It is actually a result of that poor management and basically has everything to do with the platforms and the work involved. XF is simply the better platform now.

    Scott
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2014
    s.molinari, Feb 16, 2014
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    Autopilot, Dan Hutter, Big al and 1 other person like this.
  10. KW802

    KW802 Regular Member

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    My past experience with them wasn't so lucky; at the time, after purchasing a few branding free licenses, new posts were being moderated and my issue I had ended up being never resolved nor my thread approved. It seems as though only the positive stuff back then was getting approved and anything negative was getting ignored.
     
    KW802, Feb 17, 2014
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