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Unpaid website developer takes matters into her own hands

Posted at 9:52 AM, Jul 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-31 11:52:22-04

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    Atlanta, GA (WGCL) — What would you do if someone refused to pay you you? Well, a freelance worker said her client refused to pay her, so she took a stand against him in a unique way.

“It kind of took off like wild fire, I had about 8,000 clicks in 24 hours,” Charlsie Niemiec said.

Charlsie Niemiec has nearly a decade of experience in marketing and brand development. In 2016 she decided to become a freelancer. She told CBS46 News the freelance world’s been great, well except for one recent bad experience.

“Quickly it just turned into the worst case scenario for client situation,” Niemiec explained.

Niemiec said on March 15th she agreed to help attorney Jeremy Citron grow his online presence. Digital marketing, PR, and building a new website all for $5,600 over a 4-month period. Both parties signed a contract.

“He pays 50 percent up front which he did, and then he would pay 50 percent at a later date or when the project was completely rendered,” Niemiec told CBS46 News.

Niemiec said Citron needed the website up and running by mid-June. She and her team met the deadline, but there was one problem.

“He kept saying I’ll pay you when the website is finished. Well the website was finished and I didn’t get payment,” Niemiec said.

She called, emailed and sent texts, but Citron was nowhere to be found. That is until he gained access to the website she created for him. He changed the passwords taking full control. So she created another site.

“I noticed that he didn’t have his own website so I bought jeremycitronlaw.com and I posted the exact story of what happened. It cost me $11.99,” said Niemiec.

She offered to take the site down once he paid the $2,800 balance.

“Just because you sign a contract doesn’t mean you’re entitled to get paid, you have to do the work,” Jeremy Citron said.

CBS46 News contacted Citron. He explained he won’t pay Niemiec because he believes she failed to deliver the full scope of the project. He didn’t deny using the website she created for him.

Niemiec said since creating the website in Citron’s name, she was fired by her most recent client because they didn’t agree with her actions.

However, Neimiec explained she still stands by her actions.

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