NIGHTMARE - SCAM - RUN AWAY!
NIGHTMARE - SCAM - RUN AWAY!
We built the complete website for SkillCloud.au and were deliberately denied the final $700 payment despite fulfilling all contractual obligations and significantly exceeding the original scope. The founder systematically withheld payment only after ensuring the website was fully functional, seizing complete control of all login credentials to lock us out, receiving all deliverables including fraudulent content he explicitly requested (fake employee profiles with Filipino names, fabricated customer reviews with Anglo Saxon names, and fake management team imagery), and benefiting from all additional services we provided including DNS configuration, third-party integrations, and purchased images - many funded from our own resources. This calculated timing demonstrates clear intent to extract maximum value before denying agreed-upon compensation.
Throughout the engagement, the founder exhibited a pattern of abusive and manipulative conduct. We received over five "feedback videos" containing excessive profanity (18 F-words in the first 10 minutes of one 30-minute video alone) and aggressive shouting throughout. The founder deliberately manipulated project deadlines, suddenly changing from March 24th to March 18th claiming critical urgency for customer outreach, then contradicting this by demanding continued work into April with no evidence the original deadline held any legitimate business significance.
He operated multiple fraudulent employee profiles later revealed to be himself, attempted to move the project off UpWork to circumvent platform protections and fees (direct TOS violation), demanded specialized funnel functionality entirely outside the contracted scope, and called our developer "not the sharpest man" despite delivering a 40-page website in record time. When challenged on the payment reduction, the founder stated: "This is not my first time in disputes. We've been on Upwork since before COVID" - an explicit admission of an established pattern of contractor disputes.
We possess complete evidence supporting every claim: timestamped chat transcripts showing deadline manipulation and scope expansion, documentation of early delivery, records of additional unpaid services, messages attempting platform circumvention, and the abusive feedback videos with verified profanity counts.
This represents our first payment dispute despite years of 5-star reviews. The founder's conduct reflects systematic contractor exploitation through manufactured technicalities, verbal intimidation, direction to create fraudulent business content, and strategic payment withholding timed for after complete value extraction and loss of contractor leverage. Any individual or business considering engagement with SkillCloud.au should be aware of these documented practices and the substantial risk of similar exploitation.