Adam thanks for your amazing incite and insults! There are sites all over the web that have a place to post articles, pics, and videos. So don't try to bash our company, when you have no clue what we were building. We said we wanted Digg functionality, not a duplication of their site! Try asking some questions before you jump to your own conclusions! Obviously we are not coders, or we wouldn't have to outsource. This post is for users who need help and are looking for outsourcing assistance.

If you clicked on the link, you can see it was the Ventrian Systems mod they were tweaking. This was not a full custom build from the ground up. We just wanted them to tweak the interface and add the functionality of posting videos and pics to an established mod. We also wanted a way to track user clicks. They were unable to complete what we originally requested. Developers need to be held accountable, if you are not sure you can complete a request...then you shouldn't take it on.

It is unfair to hold the consumer responsible for a commitment you made that you couldn't keep. That is why we are recommending  to the DNN community to use a service like Rent-a-Coder, so they don't get stuck holding the bag!

We tried to work with All DNN Skins for 6 months, that is more than enough time to be able to complete the job we requested. We even said we would take store credit, so they would not lose out as bad as a full refund. They refused and to this day have delivered nothing, that is why we posted the warning.

Thats not meant to be an insult, I was just stating the facts which you have agreed with your reply ;)

I do however find it very funny you ask me to stop bashing your company when your original post is only about bashing another company (alldnnskins).

Like I prevously stated.. I wish you luck with rent-a-coder.

I've been on both sides of the fence regarding things like this.  I've been a Rent A Coder buyer and seller and to be honest, it's not going to be much different. We outsource all our module development as we don't have in house developers as we don't have the infrastructure nor the desire to, yet having said that, we've developed and deployed many sites without issue.

I think it's about interpretation and expectation and when you are outsourcing to countries where it is not your native language, that can be problematic unless you, the customer have very strong documentation provided that a developer can clearly understand.  It's unfair to attack developers publicly when, you have not articulated here that you had clear and concise documentation that outlined all the specifications and requirements (which you will need on rent a coder or odesk or freelancer or any other place or the same issue will occur)

It's very easy to point fingers at people and tell them how bad they are, but as I read between the lines here, from a completely outside point of view, I feel that this public attack on alldnnskins.com is unfair because they have been around for quite some time now, I'm sure they're not perfect, but you chose this company I am sure because they appeared to be inexpensive (this is how it's reading to me OK) and you thought you could get something for next to nothing.

Let's take into consideration that they have a better exchange rate, but it seems they have genuinely put in the extra hours to get something to work that seems to me to be quite vague and doomed for failure from day one.

I can't understand why, if you feel it was such a 'simple' task that you wouldn't even ask the module developer ventrian to do this project - he does lots of custom work - much of his full time business is working with his own product and turning out some amazing work.  I can only suspect that you did one of the following  -

• 1 - asked Ventrian to do the work and they were too expensive
• 2 - asked Ventrian to do the work and they were too busy

which would have given you the option of posting on very busy forums which are well visited by thousands of people, including excellent developers who know the product well.

I guess it was all answered by your first comment  -

We decided to use their outsourcing services, they seemed cheap and we were trying to stick to a tight budget and needed help for a big project. We asked them to create a site with the same functionality as Digg.com.

You blame the developers who were unable to complete a wishy washy request to do something with a 50.00 product to turn out a million dollar site... and accuse them of being bad, whereas you, the consumer did not do your due diligence yourself by either asking for referrals of customers with whom they had done work for before, projects they had completed, or even at the very least - an email from ventrian confirming they were able to do the task.

I've been in this game too long to stand out and take sides, I can see flaws in both arguments - but that comment in red, glaringly screams out that you wanted something for nothing - bottom line, cheap and fast..

I have great respect for developers and know full well how long things can take - but the end user often has no perception or understanding that a particular element, no matter how trivial or small it may seem, can in fact take a disproportionate time to get right. I call it the ripple affect, and it's often an ungrateful job because we don't see the work behind the scenes to get that 'little tweak' happening.

I don't necessarily think alldnnskins are good or bad developers - but I do think that this public roasting is unfair, but what you've also highlighted, if you want to start pointing fingers, is your handling of the situation. It does not reflect well either as we all know in any situation, like a divorce, there are three sides, his side, her side and somewhere in between the truth, often hard to find due to the emotion tied in between the whole thing.

It's shame it has come to this - I really am genuinely sorry for your problems here. But don't think that these rent a coder sites are much better - As I said, have done both the buyer and seller thing on there - and it's hard work - you really want your documentation up to scratch... but again - you only get what you pay for.

Now that you have aired all your grievences, what steps have you made to get this project finished or moved ahead? Have you contacted Ventrian and asked them for a quote? 

I hope you get it sorted out soon.

Nina Meiers