What should I do now to be a web designer?

What process should i go through to get money back from a web designer who did a bad job?

• About a year ago I hired a web designer to design a simple website for me. I explained to him exactly what i wanted, but after half a year of him working on it every time we attempted to go live errors would show up resulting in the live date being pushed back. I eventually asked him to end his services and hired another web designer to finish the site for me. The new web designer informed me that the site was full of errors and bugs and was basically a terribly done job. I am a student trying to start a business so therefore after i spent £2000 on the initial web designer, and £700 on the following one to fix the problems i am now completely out of pocket, so therefore wish to receive a partial refund from the first web designer. I have already sent him an email, pointing out all the problems with the site and the fact that he didnt even complete the construction of the site, but after a few months of waiting he finally replied saying he will not consider a refund at all. I was just wondering if there is any body (similar to the trading standards agency) that would be able to assist me in this situation, or if there is another route to go down to receive a refund. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

• Answer:

  If you had a contract, you can use the small claims court - link to info below. Get your facts straight, fill in all the forms correctly, keep emotion out of it and you may get a judgement in your favour. Or, if you treat it absolutely seriously and in a business-like fashion, the initial web designer may decide to give you a refund rather than go through the process. (DON'T whatever you do threaten him - the courts take a dim view of that.) If you didn't have a contract, I'm afraid you're out out of luck. First lesson of business - get a contract!