In previous cases ive been involved in, taking down the site sending in debt collectors is often the easiest and cleanest method of getting back your money.
And the professionalism of fitnesssf - of not paying their vendors - gets swept under the rug for dozens of other vendors to have to discover on their own, individually, in silence. Great.
"Professionalism" really has to work both ways. If you want me to treat you professionally, treat me professionally. What lines does someone have to cross before they lose that professionalism from you? Financial abuse? Emotional abuse? Verbal abuse? Physical abuse?
"Other clients could see this without fully understanding the situation, potentially losing business."
There's not that much to understand. What's easy to understand is that if you don't pay your bills with developer X, they will take public action against you. If you're the type of person who plans on skipping out on bills, you may avoid developer X. I think developer X would be thrilled to have potential 'business' like that self-select out of his customer base. I know I would be.
What OP did is illegal in many countries in Europe and from what I understand probably in Germany as well. It doesn't matter if the statements are true, it's still defamation. http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stg...