I’d selected this company based on what they presented on their website. It came across as a long-standing, well structured and experienced company, with a wide array of technical and design skills. I started to question the veracity of this when I only experienced progress after 5pm. When the second engineer had the same surname as the first engineer, my eyebrows rose a little higher. Although I can’t be sure, I suspect that two brothers and their friend are working full time elsewhere, and have put up this shingle to bring them some extra-curricular income. So I can’t raise them during the day, and their phone is always switched to voicemail – because they’re at work.
An even more chilling thought is that a couple of enterprising teenagers might be using online avatars to earn good pocket money after school, by representing themselves as a professional business. This would further explain their poor English, unfamiliarity with mature constructs in the brief, and the complete absence of a service ethic. Sometimes a handshake in person resolves a host of issues.
Lesson: Do business with people you trust. And if you must do business with people you don't know, then work with companies that have previously worked with people you trust. Rely on recommendations when you can't rely on first-hand experience. Due diligence needs to extend beyond "what you read in the newspapers" - because in an online context, avatars are easily created. Even reputations can be built by selectively deleting reference to any negative criticism, and simply posting the postive comments. The Chinese themselves place heavy reliance upon guanxi; and for good reason.
