Beware: Erro/AlterForge Studios

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/846553.html

WHO: Erro / AlterForge

WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/erro http://www.furaffinity.net/user/alterforge

WHAT: A digitigrade fullsuit commission.

WHEN: Concerns first arose around January 2015 when I was informed my suit was behind schedule. Fur had only been ordered for the project that same month, https://dl.dropbox.com/s/66r297amnvxs5gd/Skype Fur Chat.png?dl=0 Early into February I was informed I'd only have a partial suit available for my due date of February 21st, Texas Furry Fiesta.

PROOF: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/5zv4p2t06sqww50/PayPal Proof.jpg?dl=0 Contained is my original transaction for the suit, a one thousand dollar deposit. The refund was issued after requesting I send it as a gift instead of "goods and services." I have no log of this exact request but the refund was issued on his part and resent after funds were added from my bank account. Hopefully that can be somewhat conclusive.
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/d7fc033qdr1g6kn/IMG_20150220_135933.jpg?dl=0 As of my due date, this was the only progress he had to show. It is also the only picture I have of any form of progress. This artist is against progress pics as he feels they aren't representative of his final quality.

EXPLAIN: I need to preface this by mentioning that this commission was originally taken one year ago from a (former) close friend. The standard ToS and contract wasn't really brought into the picture due to this relationship. The PayPal transactions are the most concrete evidence I have of the initial agreement--A fursuit maker taking fursuit amounts of money. That being said, upon receiving payment he'd informed me his queue was empty and the due date was not an issue. We'd be attending that convention together again anyway.
For most of 2014 I got very little in the way of evidence it was being completed besides the occasional "It's being worked on." and "It'll be done in time." All of his payment was given far in advance as a means to help him out during a moving crisis. Since he had no queue, there was no line for that to put me to the front of.
Into February he'd told me I would only have a partial suit available (unfortunately communicated through a skype call. I wasn't thinking about logging my steps at this point.)
The subject was largely avoided by him at the convention. As shown above, the only progress was a few foam blocks, and it wasn't until weeks after I was able to get in touch. https://dl.dropbox.com/s/d35u4co8qtx1up5/SL Recent Conversation.jpg?dl=0
After failing to hear back from many messages, I dropped back on trying to around once every two weeks in an attempt to be reasonable, but this most recent update that it won't be resumed until after May was what finally brought me here. He had accepted around an extra 175 dollars--money he owed me from the hotel stay--to continue working on the suit after he returned home. https://dl.dropbox.com/s/pbu17xx403fbksp/SkypeLog2.png?dl=0 Again, it's not exactly the most formal "Do this by then or else..." But an understanding was there.
By mid March he still had not completed the head he was working on at the convention in place of mine. https://dl.dropbox.com/s/r50cwuzcr3qy711/SL Recent Conversation 2.jpg?dl=0 It's still worth noting that commission was taken after mine as well.
Another example of the several failed communications. SL logs aren't the clearest things in the world, but he simply never responded to the message. https://dl.dropbox.com/s/b7bh24s2rao231r/SL Recent Conversation 3.jpg?dl=0

Edit: 7/15/15 -- I've just returned from Anthrocon 2015 which was our newest deadline for completion on the suit. The time leading up to today has unfortunately been filled with even more trouble and I had to attend without a suit again.

Discussing the new ETA - https://dl.dropbox.com/s/rb45ftu1r5ius42/AC Deadline.png?dl=0 Our interactions have grown increasingly short over the months. Just about all of the following are a good example of the breakdown in communication.

Missing the original ship date - https://dl.dropbox.com/s/s5pkmwqifmck2ex/June no deadline.png?dl=0

Asked to ship overnight because of the extreme time crunch - https://dl.dropbox.com/s/vrnlujha7qthqwu/Overnight Interact.png?dl=0

PayPal payment for $100 - https://dl.dropbox.com/s/0x7wvlnjlk2l1an/PayPal Statement.png?dl=0 It probably goes without saying here, but he gladly accepted that 100 dollars and then didn't deliver me a product.

I requested progress pics after the second week of unsuccessful shipment. Didn't go that well - https://dl.dropbox.com/s/jd7codiogwjnu67/ProgPics June.png?dl=0 I'm not about to say I've handled all of these interactions as well as I possibly could, but under the circumstances it was difficult to be perfectly patient.

Calling me out on this very Artist Beware - https://dl.dropbox.com/s/db8et9tf44ea8b5/AB Callout.png?dl=0
This is where he just shut down on me. Now, you've all read this. Nowhere in this article have I suggested or complained about my suit not being completed in 6 months. I knew about a one-year completion from the start and never questioned that. Completely dismissing my issues in this article was just outrageous, and citing that many makers charge more and take more time, after this long, is just outright untrue. If someone's going to take 2 years they mention it ahead of time and it's due to popular demand and a large queue. Plenty of fursuiters I met this weekend reassured me of that. It pains me to have to update this article with yet more bad news, but I've been left with little choice.