Benjamin Kay | Upstate Design Group Theft of Services, Credit Card Fraud, Ithaca New York

I started working with Benjamin Kay as his logo and website designer in 2009. At that time he was running a company called AutoEase helping people find and buy used cars. By the time we were finished with the project(s) Ben had racked up around $600 in bills with my company and I was considering taking it to small claims court - to me, back then, $600 was a LOT of money and as a new freelancer it was frustrating to have someone refusing to pay for services that I completed. In the end I decided it wasn't worth the time or effort to pursue collection and write it off as a loss.

A year or two later Benjamin Kay and I reconnected. He was starting a web design company and asking my advice on content, a logo design, getting business cards done, etc. In the beginning, most of his work was coming from sites like Freelancer.com where he was using the company name "Weblaunch".

It felt like every day or two there were questions about templates, and code, and fixing errors, and Ben needing something  from me to help his business be successful. As my company grew, my website portfolio grew - and Ben relied upon my graphic designs to help sell his services to other companies. He would place my work inside of his own portfolio and say, "Well, it means more work for you if I land jobs."

During that time he used a few different company names. WebLaunch, CNYWebsite, WNYWebsite, Upstate Design Group ... there may have been others.

In 2015 Ben used me a reference when he applied to 5-6 website design jobs across the state, as well as a reference when he needed to provide some for his landlord. In August he was also trying to borrow money from me (around $800) to cover expenses while he sorted out finances with his bank.

I worked on a number of company websites and projects for Ben - not all of which were paid jobs.

• Masters Training
• Bman Architects
• SalonSpa App
• CNY Spas & Salons
• CazaRoofing
• Sweetlancer
• ArchAngel Arms
• New York Rider Magazine
• VapeMail Club
• Palawood
• SA Dygerts

I have Skype logs for the last year which clearly illustrate Ben's constant need for my advice, skills, and services. During this time it started to become clear that nearly every customer Benjamin Kay landed, he lost - because they were unhappy with the service.

Fast forward to 2016 and 'ChromeBiker' Magazine. Ben received a phone call from a customer named Mary Ellen who explained her situation to him. She needed a 20 page magazine designed very quickly. Ben called me and told me what he needed - and I told him I would charge him $800 to design the magazine and $250 for 10 hours of misc. time to be used on other things that needed to be accomplished. Ben paid this bill through PayPal, knowing the work was done and completed.

I designed the magazine, it went to print, the customer received it and she was very happy with the printed copies. She had a big event that particular weekend and she was handing the magazines out all over Central New York. While Mary Ellen was very happy with the magazine, she was growing more and more frustrated with how she was being treated by Benjamin Kay.

There were delays in work being done, additional invoices being created and extra monies being requested. She told me that she had wished she could hire me directly... and multiple times I told her, I was unable to work for her directly as she was working with Ben @ Upstate Design Group. She eventually grew so dissatisfied with the service, she decided to 'fire' Upstate Design Group as her designer / printer.

Immediately Benjamin Kay started harassing me through Skype that I was stealing his customer. Through the next few weeks I had accepted no job from Mary Ellen and I had accepted no money from Mary Ellen.

There were a few projects that I had completed with Benjamin Kay including the design of Pizza Coupon Books, consultation time and content writing for Danielle Duck (Spa), and a Single Page landing page for Bruin Computers. The entire bill was around $600. Benjamin refused to pay the bill and did a chargeback for the $1050 that he paid me for the design of the magazine for Mary Ellen. This is currently under review by Paypal.

In my professional opinion, Benjamin Kay doesn't care about his customers - he cares only about chasing the next dollar / project. He is untrustworthy, deceitful, and guilty of credit card fraud. If PayPal awards him the $1050 back from the magazine that I designed I'll be looking to press credit card fraud charges on him - he is knowingly doing a chargeback for services that he knows were completed. I believe that is against the law.

Over the years I've done my best to be fair and supportive of Ben and his company(s). I just can't sit back and watch him take people's hard earned money (including my own) and treat them unprofessionally.