The Next Wave

The Next Wave worked on original logo and marketing materials– everything from business cards and stationary to custom real estate signs, all of which have generated business for me. The team is easy to work with and meets deadlines, and freely shares marketing advice along the way. Prices are very reasonable. Been a client for about 7 years now.

I attended a casual networking event that had David Esrati speaking about website design. I was impressed with his ideas and out of the box thinking and in the need to create a brand image for my business. I eventually took his websitetology course and was excited about the possibilities for my business future. That was about 8 years ago and I am happy to say that my businesses have grown and our brand has developed along the way. While I would like to think I have a good idea for design and what I like, it is also great to know someone is willing to take the better interest of my business and push it further to accomplish more. With The Next Wave hosting my websites and assisting on tasks as needed, it is a simple phone call to a local person to get assistance. I get compliments on marketing materials they have helped with and they always deliver on time and at a price better than others charge for lesser quality. I recommend David for others who are open to refreshing new ideas and they are glad for the referral.

I hired The Next Wave on Oct 4^th 2012 to produce a video and create a few banners for a business event on Oct 25^th 2012. I emailed my concepts for the banners and video Oct 4^th after our meeting. They started working on my video right away but I didn’t hear anything about my banners so I emailed him my concern on Oct 15^th. He eventually responded to me on the 16^th that Wed the 17^th is the cut off date for printing. Yet I had not even seen the first rough draft at that point. Oct 18^th I went into the office to do my voice over for the video and I noticed they were working on my design of the banners.(A day after the cut off date, they were just starting) They did not seem concerned about the printing, so I assumed since they took so long to start my project that they would work it out with the printer. On the 19^th I received the first rough draft of only 1 of the 3 banners they were doing for me. I asked to see the other 2 and they said they were not ready. They tried to blame me for not sending them the photos for the banners, yet I did that the first day on the 4^th. I did not hear anything more the rest of the day. After not hearing from them by 5 oclock (I figured they were busy working on the other banners) I called Matthew and he was out of the office so I spoke with the owner David (for the first time).He wanted to know what I did not like about the banner. I told him this is not what I asked them to do. He said to me «do you want this to sell or to be boring» I was insulted as this was my brand I have used for years. I did not need them to recreate my banners. I hired them to do exactly what I asked and have it printed (banners to match my already existing service menu).He then said «you hired us to design your banner» I said «Yes, I hired you to design it the way I asked you to» Obviously all the time I took to meet and draw out exactly what I wanted and show him the current menu and brand that I needed them to copy was a waste, and the guarantee that they will produce my product in time was a lie. After them waiting until the last minute to start my project and wasting both of our time, David remarked «well, we needed this to be to the printers a week ago”(that was the day they started the project) He offered my money back for the printing and I asked for the open files so I could take them somewhere else at the last minute to be printed. David agreed over the phone. Then he decided THE DAY BEFORE the event, when I was to pick them up, that now I owed more money for the time they took to go back and make all the corrections. So, the day before my event, I was asked to pay more for unfinished work that he went back to correct to the original way I asked them to design it to look like in the first place. I didn’t even have time to get them printed anywhere. Why would I pay for product that is unfinished, and unusable? At this time he refused to give me the refund he offered and I refused to pay for the service. The problem is, I had to pay half up front. I went through my bank and asked for my money back. The bank has tried multiple times to contact the company to try to close this dispute. Last I received an email from David on Dec 19^th threatening to take me to court. He says in the email that he has been in business for 22 years etc., and any judge would agree that not only should I pay him, but, he would get the judge to charge me 3 times more. I do not like to be bullied, especially by someone who is totally in the wrong. I don’t think anyone would agree that I owe for a service and product that was incomplete and usable or not completed to my satisfaction. If this is how he does business, I don’t know how he is still in business. The Next Wave’s motto is… «Our job is to make you more money than you pay us» What a joke! They were rude to me, aggressive over the phone and unprofessional. I cant say enough about how horrible my experience was with this company, and still no product to show for such the hassle.