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worst website template company ever
Ted Mase, Photographer
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Sarasota | FL | USA | Posted: 5:35 PM on 02.22.08 |
| ->> Just fare warning! I bought a web site template from "BluDomain" out of Colorado. Of course you don't know what you've bought until you've paid and are working with it. From the start the template was missing some very vital parts like cut line information for the image that was showing. A big thing to people like us. I admit I assumed some of these basics would be there. A host of other problems has made this very frustrating. When I bought the site they said they could modify it at an additional cost. Well in the past 9 months they've been telling me that can no longer modify any sites because they are just so damn busy. They of course have no other advice on how to solve these problems and they damn sure don't care. I won't go on and on, we are all familiar with these types of horrible companies. You have now been warned.... |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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McCall | ID | US | Posted: 5:48 PM on 02.22.08 |
->> Maybe bludomain doesn't work for you, but it does work great for people like my brother - http://www.unpluggedweddings.com
They are targeting portrait, wedding, and commercial photographers, not photojournalists.
Good (productive) alternatives might be to either consider their target audience, thoroughly investigate their services beforehand and see if there is anyone else doing what you want to do (there isn't with BluDomain), or, after signing up for their services and finding out it won't handle cutlines automatically, to change services/get a refund, or embed your cutlines in your images.
There have been far too threads like this lately.... |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 6:00 PM on 02.22.08 |
->> Your complaint is interesting considering that I just read this on another forum:
"Just giving a shout out to Blu Domain for speedy customer service. In my experience they have been fantastic. I put in a request around 11pm last night to go live with my new site and it went live thismorning. I've always had my emails answered within 12 hours, so I have no complaints."
and
"I purchased this site from Bludomain 7 days ago.
I cannot say enough good words about their customer service!
I had some slight problem with e-mail link and Harald fixed it in a matter
of 1 hour. ( ticket was filed yesterday at 10 pm - problem solved at 11 pm )
I did not expect them to fix problems on Sunday!
I filed request to go live yesterday at 11pm, a couple of minutes later I received
a confirmation letter from Blu. ( I was also told that to go live takes 24H).
I found myself live 12h earlier than promised."
and
"Just wanted to put out a positive note about my experience with Blu Domain. I personally have only experienced great, speedy customer service with them. I put in a request last night around 11pm to have my site go live, and it was up this morning.
I'm a happy customer!"
HOWEVER...as I continue my search, I see TONS of mixed comments:
"The price is right and I LOVE the new site we are getting (if we EVER get it), but their customer service is horrible."
and
"I ordered the site a month ago this wednesday and I've received only ONE welcome email from my concierge. She never responded to a single email I sent."
and
"I tried to order a BLU site last November. After getting zero response to several e-mails and a support request, I had become very frustrated. They never got as far as sending me an invoice after my initial request, or any money changing hands, so once I had had gotten Xmas and some other family comittments out of the way, I decided I'd had enough and told them so by e-mail (of course there still was no response)." |
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Mike Brice, Photographer
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Toledo | OH | USA | Posted: 6:58 PM on 02.22.08 |
->> Blu Domain doesn't have a great track record.
I would go with either Livebooks or Clickbooqs - I have sites by both companies and they have always been great.
The stories I have heard about Blu Domain make me wonder if no one does a search before they buy.
I think they have been overwhelmed by a recent push in sales which was a result of advertising and a 50 percent reduction in the cost of their templates.
Cut your losses, and look for a new company.
Mike |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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McCall | ID | US | Posted: 7:13 PM on 02.22.08 |
->> I'm not quite sure what the "huh?"'s are for, but I'm guessing it's because I'm considering this to be the main complaint, since it's the only one mentioned:
"From the start the template was missing some very vital parts like cut line information for the image that was showing."
If you look at the sites that they showcase, the template samples on their sites, or their blogs and picks for favorite photos of the day, you see that they show mostly portraiture, and no photojournalism (that I was able to find, though I'm sure there's got to be some somewhere). They are going for a different clientele than photojournalists, and as a result really aren't going to take much of a profit from making such features available.
A change like that would take a pretty significant effort on the part of their programmers and could require far-reaching changes in their databases, etc. As a simple cost-benefit analysis, it just doesn't make sense for them to do it, especially if they're swamped with clients already.
The comment about there having been too many threads like this recently is that there's really not a lot that's productive about ranting about them, canon, nikon, racist people, etc... You're going to have to deal with frustrations with The Man in life. Making a structured complaint and posting it or asking for support in doing so, would make a lot of sense; getting all worked up and posting frustrations which aren't going to change anything on a message board (in view of colleagues and potential clients), doesn't.
Regardless, have a great weekend guys! Make good decisions! Don't do drugs! (don't take me too seriously!) |
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Michael Brown, Photographer
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Roxburgh Park | Victoria | Australia | Posted: 5:16 AM on 02.23.08 |
->> @Brian - It's interesting that you should say that they are targeting Wedding and other Photogs. Head over to the Wedding group on Flickr and have a look at the thread on Blu there.
Flickr Thread
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3dums7
***I have never used Bludomain, so I have no opinion either way, just pointing out something I have observed*** |
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Steven Rosenberg, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Chicago | IL | USA | Posted: 8:27 AM on 02.23.08 |
->> I have a Bludomain site. I've seen all the mixed Bludomain comments and feel I've been pretty lucky. No major problems with my website ever and customer service has been pretty decent. I think I got in with them before the huge influx of people.
However, I agree with Brian, their websites are not really geared toward photojournalism. It's major market is wedding, portraiture and child photography. My website is for documentary weddings and I like it a lot.
That being said, I'm considering upgrading to a newer template with them but very hesitant because of the customer service issues I've read. I figure if it ain't broke, dont fix it (or change it, in my case).
If you're looking for a site that will work better for photojournalism, I echo Mike and say look at Livebooks. They're expensive, but really nice sites.
Just my .02 |
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David Bailey, Photographer
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Flower Mound | TX | USA | Posted: 12:28 AM on 02.28.08 |
| ->> I've most recently used http://www.clikpic.com and so far very impressed with their back end admin and they have quite a few templates as well as let you create custom style sheets. You can check out http://www.davidbailey.com and see if you like it. |
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Phil Hawkins, Photographer
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Fresno | ca | usa | Posted: 11:31 AM on 02.28.08 |
->> My site is done with Neon Sky out of Charlotte, NC. Been with them for two years and not once has it been down, I have cutlines, unlimited photos, GREAT backend for $250 setup and $45 a month hosting. Couldn't be happier.
http://neonsky.com
Phil |
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Patrick Murphy-Racey, Photographer
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Powell | TN | USA | Posted: 11:40 PM on 03.17.08 |
->> As far as I'm concerned, they SUCK. They were happy to take my $550 on Feb. 22nd and I still have no site up. They have no phone number to call (now I know why), they often take days to respond to e-mails, and they will not deal with your hosting company as they say they don't have the "resources." They have my resources, 550 of them and I've got nothing almost 30 days out from trying to do business with them. I've set a deadline of noon tomorrow to have me up and working or give me my money back.
My advice to you is that if you have lots of time on your hands, and you're really patient, and you don't mind sending 10 e-mails when one should do it, buy a site from Bludomain. Like many others, I was attracted to their awesome looking sites, and reasonable cost. Now, I wish I'd never given them my credit card number. Pay the extra cash and go elsewhere for your website needs. These guys are not worth the headache. No amount of cool design is worth crappy customer service. |
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Alex Jones, Photographer
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McAllen | TX | USA | Posted: 11:53 PM on 03.17.08 |
->> I'll beat Grover to the punch here:
Photoshelter seamless customization is nice stuff. |
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Rene Mireles, Photographer
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Holland | MI | USA | Posted: 10:38 AM on 03.18.08 |
->> I have been using Bludomain for last couple of years now. I now have a total of 3 sites with them and never had customer support issues, longest I waited for a response was 48 hours.
Just like any other companies who grow pretty quick there are bound to have hit or miss issues.
My previous company thats a dif story there support was weeks behind and that was awful. |
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Greg Francis, Photographer
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Rochester | NY | USA | Posted: 11:21 AM on 03.18.08 |
->> I purchased a bludomain site on 12/31/07. Right around that time they got some national tv spotlight or magazine exposure. It seems they got overwhelmed with all the new clients. I didn't receive my site setup info for 10 days, but since, everything is self taught. All is ok.
gregfrancis.com |
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Michael Martin, Photographer
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Denver | CO | USA | Posted: 9:41 PM on 03.18.08 |
| ->> I've had a Bludomain site for almost a year now and haven't had any problems. I've heard the customer service is sometimes slow, but the few times I've had to contact them they have been prompt. The sites are easy to use and maintain with very little effort. No complaints from me... |
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Caleb Simpson, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | USA | Posted: 12:36 PM on 03.19.08 |
| ->> Perhaps the "good" comments are Blue Domain employees talking themselves up. I personally would never use a template service, but I also have experience with web programing. I think you would be better off paying somebody to do it for you, or learn it on your own. |
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Jon L Hendricks, Photographer
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Merrillville | IN | USA | Posted: 12:47 PM on 03.19.08 |
->> What Greg said was dead-on. Since the national attention they received, it has been tough for them to keep up. I'm sure they've hired new people but to get them up to speed takes time. They've been pretty good to me since getting a site last year.
But, in my best interests please don't get a Blu Domain site. It will only slow me down as they have to deal with others besides me now. So steer clear of them!
$100 website with $100 of hosting a year. Geez, I wouldn't complain. |
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Joseph Victor Stefanchik, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | United States | Posted: 9:53 AM on 03.22.08 |
->> I've been with BLU since '03 and I've never experienced poor or slow customer service.
http://www.jvspictures.com
JVS |
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Michael Brown, Photographer
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Roxburgh Park | Victoria | Australia | Posted: 10:13 AM on 03.22.08 |
| ->> Hate to burst your bubble there Joseph, but when I clicked on your gallery (left image) your site locked up safari on me. Maybe it's not compatible with it? |
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Joseph Victor Stefanchik, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | United States | Posted: 10:37 AM on 03.22.08 |
->> Hi Michael,
Thanks for the heads up!
I just tested the site again on Safari 3.0.4 along with Firefox 2.0.0.12 on a MacPro and the site runs smoothly.
What OS and version of Safari are you running and if you received an error, could you please frame-grab it for me?
I appreciate the feedback and will forward the info to the programmer that designed the site.
Thanks Michael!
JVS |
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Bob Ford, Photographer
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Lehighton | Pa | USA | Posted: 2:38 PM on 03.22.08 |
->> Joseph, I just checked your site and Firefox froze up. I didn't get an error massage, just the spinning color wheel of death. I had to force quit.
I'm running Firefox 1.5.0.6 on a MacBook pro. |
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Joseph Victor Stefanchik, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | United States | Posted: 6:49 PM on 03.22.08 |
->> Hi Bob,
Sorry for the freeze.
I forwarded your OS info to the programmer.
Thank you!
JVS |
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Michael Brown, Photographer
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Roxburgh Park | Victoria | Australia | Posted: 9:38 PM on 03.22.08 |
->> Joseph,
Using Leopard latest update and Safari 3.1.
MB |
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Joseph Victor Stefanchik, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | United States | Posted: 1:52 PM on 03.23.08 |
->> Hi Michael & Bob,
The programmer made some changes to the site, would you mind testing http://www.jvspictures.com and please let me know if it runs smoothly for you.
Thanks for your help!
JVS |
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Rachel E. Bayne, Photographer
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bellingham | WA | | Posted: 3:45 PM on 03.23.08 |
| ->> Hey Joseph, I've been to your site several times in the past few months while running XP and Firefox and have never had a problem. Looking forward to seeing your new site! |
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Michael Brown, Photographer
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Roxburgh Park | Victoria | Australia | Posted: 5:25 PM on 03.24.08 |
->> OK the left link now works in the latest safari, all good.
I did try in it Firefox and it locked on 98%, however I have F/F 3 which is in beta, I have reported it to them.
Mike B |
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Patrick Murphy-Racey, Photographer
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Powell | TN | USA | Posted: 1:02 PM on 03.25.08 |
| ->> I just wanted to update anyone that will listen about my ongoing problems with Bludomain.com. They have not responded to any of my e-mails in the last few weeks. I threw in the towel and finally asked them to credit my card for what they charged me. I started to work through filing a claim against them through paypal as that is how they process payments. The phone number that paypal has for them is no longer in service (720-535-5648). Says it's disconnected. So now I'll take it up with my credit card company since I can get no response to my asking them to refund my $550. Stay away from these people. Don't be tempted by their sexy sites; you do not want to be in bed with these people. |
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Richard Denham, Photographer
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Toronto/Buffalo/Niagara | On | Canada | Posted: 1:45 PM on 03.25.08 |
->> Just thought that I would throw in my experience with them.
I applied for a site, was able to edit it within 24 hours. I have submitted 3 'problem tickets" during the setup time and all three were either answered via email or a phone call, and were fixed within 3 days. I site my site to go live at about 9:00pm one night, and had confirmation of it being "live" by 8:00am the next morning.
I know the team at blu has been busy at WPPI in Vegas over the last week, but I can say I have never had a problem with them at all over the last 45 days of my setup. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 1:53 PM on 03.25.08 |
| ->> While I'm not a BluDomain customer and I certainly realize that in the internet age a web business can be run from anywhere, I'd have to say that I find it interesting that the company is run from a residential address. If I ran the operation, I think I'd work from some kind of business addy. |
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Bob Ford, Photographer
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Lehighton | Pa | USA | Posted: 2:09 PM on 03.25.08 |
->> Joseph, no problem this time.
Good luck! |
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Jason Joseph, Photographer
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Dublin | OH | USA | Posted: 2:47 PM on 03.25.08 |
| ->> So..... I ordered a site last week from Blu. I recieved it yesterday, which took a bit longer than I had hoped. I will say that so far, minus the amount of time it took to receive the site, things have been smooth. I like the interface. It seems to work. I will keep anyone posted as to my experiences if they want to know. |
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Diana Porter, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 10:12 PM on 03.28.08 |
| ->> I use allwebcodesign.com and my site works great. Even have lots of freebies you can add. Here's my site: http://www.designonlinehouston.com |
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Jason Joseph, Photographer
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Dublin | OH | USA | Posted: 10:36 AM on 04.08.08 |
->> Update: I have launched my new BluDomain site and I have to say it was relatively painless and easy to do. I will update the site more frequently since it is pretty darn easy to do.
http://www.jasonjosephphotography.net
To anyone: let me know if it doesn't work or you see anything that might be wrong. Thanks! |
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Patrick Murphy-Racey, Photographer
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Powell | TN | USA | Posted: 9:05 PM on 07.15.08 |
->> I continue to have problems with bludomain.
1. I have a site up but no video element which I paid for back in march of this year.
2. I tried to buy another site (owen) which blu was happy to nail my visa for in April. I got an automated e-mail when I purchased it, then nothing. So, a month ago, I sent yet another nasty note to them (to Rachel) and she assured me that she would help me out... that was on June 13th. I've heard nothing...
Be very forewarned about getting into bed with these people... I should have gone another direction with my website... If they would just follow through and even respond ti my e-mails, I'm sure we could get me going, but for now, it pretty much sucks. |
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Phil Hawkins, Photographer
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Fresno | ca | usa | Posted: 3:22 PM on 07.16.08 |
->> I said it then and I'll say it again; http://neonsky.com I've been with them for over two years and the backend works to perfection, they respond, and I've never been down that I have seen. (All website go down at some point, for various reasons, the goal is to keep it to a minimum.)
$250 setup and $45 a month, virtually unlimited everything. |
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Patrick Murphy-Racey, Photographer
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Powell | TN | USA | Posted: 10:15 AM on 07.26.08 |
->> In the interest of helping others having trouble with Bludomain, I finally found their LLC in Colorado which they do a great job at keeping hidden from all it seems. If anyone else has difficulty with them, this is how you can find them. Please see my letter that I sent today below. There may be an excellent class-action law suit here if there are others like myself that have been taken by them... patrick
________________
Bludomain, LLC
17919 East Dorado Drive
Aurora, CO 80015
Phone
(720) 535-5648
Website
http://www.bludomain.com
Year Founded: 2003
Annual Revenues: 360000
Employees: 3
__________________________
Owner: Bludomain.com
17919 East Dorado Drive
Aurora, CO 80015
7.26.08
Attn. Owner or Principle Partners in the LLC of Bludomain:
I’m not sure where to begin. I have had nothing but trouble since first I pay-pal’d my good heard earned money to your company. I have never had such difficulty with a technology company.
I have attached some of the many e-mails that I have sent to your staff as well as some of their empty promise responses, the latest being on June 16, some forty one days ago. I have been trying to get your people to do what you promise on your website. I can’t even get anyone to respond anymore at all.
I have paid for two sites. The first took forever to get up and I still have no video element to it even though I paid the extra $100 for that feature.
The second site I have received NOTHING. Your customer service sucks. Your admin. Interface and designs are brilliant, sexy, and cool but none of that matters if you piss off the people that pay money for your services.
I have given up on contacting Aundrea and Rachel as they clearly don’t want to deal with me. I would like someone to call me and help me get going on the video part of the “george site” I purchased in March of 2007, and I would like you guys to put up my “owen” site that was paid for back on April 13th (4 months ago).
If you cannot handle these simple tasks, I want all my money back and any trace of Bludomain off my servers as soon as possible. If you do not comply with one of these two requests by August 7th, I will start legal means in small claims and sue your LLC, not just for the money that I’ve been ripped off, but also for the punitive damages you’ve caused my business by not having my websites up to retain and gain new business.
Please respond by phone, e-mail, letter, carrier pigeon, whatever.
Sincerely yours,
Patrick Murphy-Racey |
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Michael Ciu, Photographer, Assistant
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Lorain | OH | USA | Posted: 12:15 PM on 08.01.08 |
->> After reading all of this thread I was hesitant on using Bludomain's templates, but being as crazy as I am I went for it anyway. I didn't have time to research another company or design a new site myself and these templates were what i was looking for.
Here is my experience with them:
Ordered my template, had access to the admin side in less than 8hrs. Worked on the layout, upload images and added text for about 2 weeks. Sent an email to go live last night before bed and was live at 7:42am today.
I am very please with Bludomain. I hope everyone else's problems are just isolated cases.
Good luck! |
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Patrick Murphy-Racey, Photographer
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Powell | TN | USA | Posted: 9:30 AM on 09.29.08 |
| ->> Just to add an update to my sad tale of woe about these people, I have filed a formal complaint through the BBB in Colorado. No surprise that they have not responded to any of the BBB's calls or two letters so far. I still have had no response from them on any level, and certainly no money has been returned to me either. to be clear, after a long time, they did get me live on the first site I purchased, but never allowed me to do video which was one of the principle reasons I went with them. But the second site I bought they have never given me admin access for and they won't respond to my repeated attempts to get my money back. Proceed at your own risk with these people but do not think you will get any level of support from them or even a response if you ever try to contact them. Partnering with these people is not in your long term best interest as a photographer. |
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Alicia Wagner Calzada, Photographer
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San Antonio | TX | USA | Posted: 6:11 PM on 09.29.08 |
->> I also have sitewelder and it is great. I highly recommend it for those who are looking to replace a bad one.
http://www.aliciaphoto.com |
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Omar Vega, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Miami Beach/NY/Vegas | FL | USA | Posted: 7:45 PM on 09.29.08 |
->> I love my BluDomain site, & so do my clients!!
TheVegaVision.com
Adios,
OV |
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John Harrington, Photographer
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 3:51 AM on 01.12.09 |
->> BluDomain has had, as noted here, problems problems, problems. See my thread about other hosting and registrar options.
Do NOT scrimp on your website. Just like we roll our eyes when someone says "my uncle takes photos", or "I have a good SLR, I'll just shoot it myself, how hard can it be?"
From hiring a professional website designer (just like we encourage people to hire professional photographers) to using a great high-end service like liveBooks are two very smart ways to go. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 8:14 PM on 01.12.09 |
->> well as much issue as some have had others have had great success with BD. I have decided to give them a shot. I guess we will see.
I just signed up with them and the clock has now started. (though their business hours are only 8 to 5 MST which happens to be the same time I am on)
I also signed up with it being on my own host.
Can someone explain to me how that works with this company? |
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Jon L Hendricks, Photographer
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Hobart | IN | USA | Posted: 8:26 PM on 01.12.09 |
->> I use BD and have only had some nonresponse problems a few times. But, I've emailed support@bludomain.com directly many times and had responses within a few hours. It would be great if they had phone support though. No big problems through a year.
Matthew, I'm sure they would rather have you host on their server so they may not be as responsive to you. Just a thought. Supposedly they are able to better monitor the site and can't help you as much if you host the site. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 9:02 PM on 01.12.09 |
->> Jon,
Yeah the issue is I already have my host (for around a year now) and I do not feel like moving over to them or paying twice for the same thing.
I hope they treat me like they treat others that they host. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 10:13 AM on 01.13.09 |
->> Woke up this morning and had an email sitting in my inbox from BD.
It was the requirements needed for BD to work. So that to me a good sign so far. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 12:49 PM on 01.13.09 |
->> Update #2
Just got back from working out and at 10:11am MST I received my next email from them telling me my site would be delivered to me by tonight at Midnight MST |
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Jon L Hendricks, Photographer
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Hobart | IN | USA | Posted: 12:56 PM on 01.13.09 |
| ->> It's weird how they are excellent for many thousands of people but seem to let a few people fall through the cracks?? |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 1:11 PM on 01.13.09 |
->> Jon,
That seems like how life is for every business. You're not always going to be perfect when it comes to doing business. All you can strive for is perfection. |
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