iMediaDesigns - Out of Business

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Generate Fitness.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with iMediaDesigns - Out of Business?

I needed a vendor to rebuild an existing WordPress website. I wanted the site to feature new content, such as videos of the different exercise classes we offer. I hoped to launch the site in time for my fitness studio’s fifth anniversary.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I gave iMediaDesigns the requirements and all pictures, content, and videos. They said they would have the site developed and launched in three months. Several times, I sent them corrections that they didn’t implement.

Weeks before iMediaDesigns went out of business in late April 2019, the team said they were ready to launch my site, but they needed my final payment of $2,000. Given the challenges I’d already faced, I told them I’d pay them once the site launched. A week later, I received an email saying they were closing, and that I needed to download my files by the end of the day. The team sent me a link to download incomplete files; the links to images were broken or non-existent, and their server was down.

I have tried contacting iMedia Designs, but their phone number and email address do not work. I contacted one of their team members on LinkedIn, but he said he doesn’t work there anymore and that there is nothing he can do.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 5–6 people.

How did you come to work with iMediaDesigns - Out of Business?

I found iMediaDesigns online. They were Toronto-based, and I liked the idea of a local partner. I assumed they were a stable company that did quality work based on their high ratings, great reviews, and years of experience.

How much have you invested with them?

I have spent $8,000. When I approved the design, I paid 50% of the quoted $10,000. I paid more after a staging site setup and was supposed to pay the rest after a final review and launch, but we never got to that point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018–April 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The website is incomplete, and they did not do what they said they would. iMediaDesigns outsourced a lot of the work to another company in India. The deliverables were sloppy. The broken and incomplete files that they gave me are just pictures and content that I initially provided them with; I had paid someone else to create the content, which iMediaDesigns cut and pasted into the WordPress template. They did not deliver a marketing tool on the first page of the website, which they said they would build. This tool was critical to collecting new customer information. What iMediaDesigns provided me with is useless, and I have to start this process over again.

$8,000 is a lot of money, especially for a small business; it’s a month’s worth of payroll. Requesting $2,000 when they must’ve known they’d be closing in a week is unethical and inappropriate. They should have been more transparent about the state of their company. Instead of transferring the project to another vendor or returning my money, they gave me two hours’ notice to download my files. They didn’t sign any non-disclosure agreements, so I’ve hired another resource to complete the project. This will cost me even more money.

How did iMediaDesigns - Out of Business perform from a project management standpoint?

Our original point of contact was great, but the project went sideways after he left iMediaDesigns last fall. The team lacked necessary skill sets; for instance, I had to explain the backside of WordPress to our new project manager.

I would have preferred to have some control over project management. We used Basecamp and communicated every couple of days. Eventually, though, communication faltered. I could not reach the owner of iMediaDesigns, who was apparently on vacation.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There’s nothing impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

iMediaDesigns needed to improve customer service, transparency, and honesty. They should’ve hired qualified people to complete the services they were selling.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’ve gone out of business, but I will still iterate that you shouldn’t give them any money until the project is complete. I wish I’d known how easy and cost-effective it is to set up your own website. It might be more time-consuming, but I have nothing to show from the considerable time and money that I spent on my engagement with iMediaDesigns. All they did was use a WordPress template with a few modifications.