We paid a freelancer roughly $10k to do a gig, he took the money, kept us on the hook for months, and then bailed. We got nothing. We have his LLC and contact name and we paid via CC. To this day he’s still active posting and looks like he’s still trying to scam others.
How do we try to get some of this money back? IS there anyway? Also he’s based out of mexico and is a UK resident, and we’re US-based.
We can’t file a chargeback as it’s beyond the scope of the chargeback limits.
Suing seems tough here as we are entrepreneurs and it would probably be hard to actually get anything back.
Similar situation happened to me small claims court did nothing except I ended up paying more for fees and ended up with nothing
If I could go back I might actually pay someone to threaten them and break their legs instead grr
I’d love to know what happens.
You paid $10k in services but didn’t sign a contract? Usually, there’s a presentation, you like the presentation, you ask for a contract and it’s signed by both parties and then services are rendered.
Your best option is to file a claim in small claims court, contact BBB and file a report there, too. He might already be doing that to a few people and it’s now a pattern. If it’s enough people it can be considered deceptive business practices.
Why did you give someone $10k before they did any work? That’s crazy.
Contract and the guy is a well known dude, and the work requires money to get started since he has to pay certain fees
If you dont want to hire a lawyer try to get some money back in small claims court
Does that actually work?
Yes it does. It’s a civil matter handled in civil courts. In FL, $10k might be the threshold of handling this in civil court vs criminal court though. Talk to a lawyer.
Im pretty sure it’s closer to 5k. Plus when you win you still need to figure out how to collect.
The mediator in small claims court can/will help figure out payment solutions