WebMeridian

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO of my Web Consulting Agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WebMeridian, and what were your goals?

We hire WebMeridian to support and optimise the eCommerce store that sells lamps and other lightning-related products. To improve site performance, usability and update Magento site to the latest version plus general maintenance of the store (eCommerce System and server administration)

SOLUTION

How did you select WebMeridian and what were the deciding factors?

We already worked with WebMeridian, and I knew that they could do any task related to Magento store development in time, and at the highest quality.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The client wanted to update the store to the latest version of Magento and get minor improvements in the site’s certain functionality for better performance, order tracking and improved SEO results.

In addition WebMeridian also takes care of the server administration. Moreover WebMeridian takes care of the ongoing maintenance of the shop and provides technical support for the daily business.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

A project Manager was the main person of contact. WebMeridian provided us with four developers for this project, a business analyst and a Dev Ops Engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Everything is clear in the development and communication process. We have already achieved better performance results, improved overall functioning of the store, and fixed small site issues.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We worked with their project manager Aleksei; he is a professional and managed the whole project very well. We used Jira for managing the tickets and skype for the communication (chat and call).

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

With WebMeridian, we have smooth communication; they react quickly and solve any issues efficiently.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None, WebMeridian team is perfect. Friendly and reliable.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a product owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WebMeridian, and what were your goals?

We hired WebMeridian for development and e-commerce store migration for the website that was created 16 years ago. One of the goals was to migrate the old site to a new CMS.

SOLUTION

How did you select WebMeridian and what were the deciding factors?

We selected WebMeridian through recommendations. We read reviews of several companies on different websites, including Clutch. WebMeridian showed expertise and experience during the initial call.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The team came up with a solution to migrate our client’s old .Net shop to Magento 2. They worked on the development and testing of the provided by us Web Design.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

A project manager was our main point of contact with 4 backend developers and testers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We migrated and built a new store on Magento 2 with the WebMeridian team. They helped us with the whole development process.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

The project manager was very helpful and was constantly stayed in touch for communication even after work hours. We communicated via email, messengers, and WebMeridian internal project management system.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The company follows its work procedures and is willing to respond to the client's needs. The project manager we worked with provided excellent service. We are satisfied with the quality of work and code that we got from their development team.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It is not unusual for costs to exceed the initial estimate due to scope creep. We could have been notified earlier when we were exceeding the initial estimate. Overall, they did everything that we’ve agreed to and we were able to finish the project on time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an e-commerce manager at my company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WebMeridian?

We’d been having trouble finding a development company for our online shops, so we began a partnership with WebMeridian. We’ve been working together for about two years now. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to form a strong partnership and secure a satisfying end result for our projects.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I'm from Ukraine, so I searched for a team of native Russian speakers. After arranging meetings with many companies, I chose WebMeridian. They offer the perfect business processes and conditions for our company.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

We develop projects for our Magento e-commerce system with WebMeridian. They automated a piece of our internal processes. 

What was the team composition?

We started out with one developer. At this point, we’ve scaled up to two developers and a project manager. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

WebMeridian makes our business better every day. The team is reliable and skilled at development, and they offer good support. Our company is very satisfied.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project manager was very talented. They optimized the workflow for our company, and it’s been very effective. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

WebMeridian only uses the latest technologies, and their team is really nice.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

There is nothing to report. The project manager is great, and the developers have experience with customer service. They deliver solutions for us. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of a company that provides a full range of online services, including web design, SEO, and digital marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WebMeridian?

We needed help with several Magento projects for our customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched for a technical support team that could work with our Git workflow. After a lot of calls with external programmers, we chose WebMeridian. I had a good feeling about them from the beginning.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They started with smaller projects; then we assigned them bigger projects afterward. WebMeridian focused on programming, creating and changing extensions, fixing bugs, and updating the entire Magento system.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and several programmers from WebMeridian.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

WebMeridian always delivered results of the highest quality.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was quite effective. Even though we only met face to face in the beginning, we could always talk with them. WebMeridian solved complex and smaller tasks directly over our ticket system.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

WebMeridian was a good partner. They got things done in a quiet and effective way.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Not at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Director of Gimme Grapes

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

eCommerce platform of selling wine paired to an individual taste.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire WebMeridian to accomplish?

• Build a website from a web design figma files
• Use Magento technology for the website
• Have basic eCommerce features

SOLUTION

How did you find WebMeridian?

Upwork

Why did you select WebMeridian over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We are a start-up based in Germany that sells wine online (eCommerce). Our idea is to have a questionnaire embed and give live recommendations of specific wine paired to the taste of client, for the customer chooses the wines that prefer. The mockups of the website were previously designed in the Figma.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We hired this team of website developers on Upwork who claimed to be experts in Magento technology, unfortunately our experience with them was nothing short of a nightmare. Their performance and expertise did not live up to their glowing reviews on the platform's scoring system, and our project turned into a colossal disaster. Our project turned out to be a colossal waste of time and money. 

The developers lacked the necessary skills to work with Magento effectively. We paid a substantial amount of money, expecting a high-quality website with advanced features, but all we got were basic functionalities at a premium cost. Even the web design was done in Figma from others, they had the Figma files. The developers' lack of expertise was evident in the most fundamental aspects of the project. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The coding was sloppy, leading to a website filled with bugs and glitches that severely impacted user experience. It was as if they were learning Magento on the fly, despite their supposed expertise. The project management was equally abysmal. There was little to no communication from their end, and they frequently missed deadlines. Our project was originally slated to be completed in a reasonable timeframe, but it ended up being delayed by a whopping 4 months. 

This delay caused significant frustration and financial loss on our end, as we were unable to launch my website on schedule. Communication from the developers was sporadic at best, and getting updates was like pulling teeth. To make matters worse, the developers were unresponsive to our concerns and often made empty promises about resolving issues. It was nearly impossible to get any meaningful updates on the project's status. Their unprofessionalism was a constant source of frustration. 

To add to the frustration, we escalated our concerns to the CEO of WebMeridian, the agency they work, hoping for some resolution. However, even the CEO proved to be inefficient and far from an expert in Magento. Their involvement did nothing to improve the quality of the work or the efficiency of the project management. In conclusion, our experience with these developers was a complete disappointment and a financial disaster. 

What was your primary form of communication with WebMeridian?

Virtual Meeting

Are there any areas for improvement or something WebMeridian could have done differently?

Their lack of skills, terrible project management, and substantial project delays made the entire experience a disaster. At the end, when we decided to finish the project they only gave us access to website database and server if we signed a statement of completion where we could not complain anymore. To escalate even more, they offered us to deliver the remaining of the functionalities for free if we made a success story to their marketing team. 

We accepted it, and then they tried to charge us again. We strongly advise against working with this team and regret ever engaging with them for our project. Upwork should seriously revaluate its screening and verification process to prevent clients from being misled by such unqualified and unprofessional developers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Project manager in a Germany based independent record label and artist management company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WebMeridian, and what were your goals?

Support of our multistores based on Magento 2 platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We have found WebMeridian through the Freelancer platform.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

To help with different tasks on development and fixing of features for our online stores.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

1 Backend developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The WebMeridian team’s work is smooth, and we are happy to cooperate with them.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

regular exchange via mail (and skype)

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Fast and open communication and troubleshooting. We've worked with their project manager Andriy. We are happy about the quality of his work and his responsiveness during the work process.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I couldn’t find anything wrong with the team’s work. It’s great to work with WebMeridian.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and founder of EQUALLI, Anderson-Beattie, Rainbow Sapphire Jewelers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WebMeridian?

I had an e-commerce business and constantly needed work done on my site. I was experiencing shockingly slow site speed and unreliable server downtimes. My company couldn’t afford to have the server go down.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted my sites up and running for the German, French, and Dutch markets. I also wanted the German site going for my opal site.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I considered multiple companies and chose WebMeridian because of the client satisfaction and feedback on Upwork.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Most of the scope is confidential. Broadly, they serve as a programming and sever support partner. WebMeridian spent months working on security, sever speed, and site optimization.

What was the team composition?

I work with programmers and the team leader.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The site improvements increased direct sales significantly, which was important because e-commerce customers tend to be impatient with site speed.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I interact with two separate people on the work and invoices. The setup is effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The company’s client feedback and past experience distinguish them.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Yes, because everyone has room for improvement.