Hi.

I have been dealing with my hosting company to get me a website done, but have run into a major wall with them.

To cut a long story short, I was told that they had run out of project time for my project because they underquoted me due to the amount of pressure I put them under to quote (it was 3 months between my first e-mail regarding the quote and payment).

It has now been 3 months since I paid and I still haven't got a fully developed site per the original specification yet. Now, they had the design within a week of meeting me, but its taking them 2 months to move the design to an open source e-commerce system, which surely shouldn't take so long as I do not want them to program any parts of the website, just to overlay the graphics.

The other day he said it was his mistake and he would complete the website at his cost, and that if I have any queries or want an update I should speak to his PA.

So this morning (which is 2 days after he told me he would get them to work on my site, and I haven't heard from him since), I sent the following e-mail to his PA:

Hi xxxx

I was wondering if you could give me an update on the progress of the final stages of my website.
xxxx said I should speak to you.

Rgards

Itai
to which she replies:
Hi Itai

xxx is still working on the website and could you please be patient as he is working on it.

Thanks
Kind Regards
xxxx
Now maybe I was in the wrong, but I took offense to the fact that she instructed me to be patient ... especially seeing as it has been 6 months since I first told them about this, 3 months since I paid the 50% deposit and 2 weeks since they last touched the online version of the site which is incomplete (and for which I give an easy to use detailed list of bugs)

So I replied:

Hi.

And I was supposed to know he has been working on it how exactly?
I check the website, no updates changed? I understand he may be doing them offline, but it would've been nice if someone told me
he began working on the changes.

I have been quite patient actually, as I was expecting the site to be done at the end of February but I understood that deadlines
are hard in the industry. Please do not tell me to be patient. If you had kept me up to date of the progress and e-mailed me from time
to time, then sure you could have told me to be patient, but neither you nor xxxx have been keeping me up to date (Unless I ask) ...
so in my mind I must be prudent and assume that you still haven't started, hence why I ask for updates. I expect basic updates of progress
when I ask, or preferably every couple of days so that I know what is happening with the project. For me, every day this website is
not complete is a day for me losing money. So I like to know how far we are.

If you had to build a house one day for yourself ... would you just hand over money to the builder and say phone me when you are done,
or would you expect to be informed of the progress of the house because you are so eager to move in and do not want to be left in the dark?

Regards

Itai
Now I didn't think this e-mail was personal at all, nor did I think I was speaking to her with a tone, but you guys are objective and maybe will have a different opinion to me.

After I sent this e-mail, I got a reply back from the owner:

Hi Itai

I refer to my email where I explained the situation with the budget etc.
I don’t appreciate your tone in your email sent to xxxx.

I have thus cancelled the project. We are not in a position to accommodate further development.

xxxx will upload the latest to your domain.

Kind Regards

xxxx
So now I am stuck. Because I am assuming they are going to tell me they are complete with the website when both them and myself know it isn't complete and will want me to pay the other 50%. Now I won't pay the other 50% until they finish the design to my original specification and also to the signed off graphic design (which they didn't complete by the way).

And if they refuse to work on the site anymore unless I pay more money, that is unfair to me, so I would rather tell them to cancel it completely, they can have their design back and I want a refund of my 50% (assuming it goes this way and doesn't get resolved).

Now assuming we are this far and they refuse to refund or complete what was expected on the quote, do I have a claim for Positive Malperformance (I'm no commercial lawyer, so need to know what recourses I can take). Also ... if it gets ugly, do I have a claim for damages due to them wasting so much of my time where if I had a website a month or 2 ago, there is a guarantee I would be doing and converting more sales.

I would like an objective outlook on this and any assistance I can get. If I was in the wrong. please let me know.

Regards

Itai