Beware: Levana/Levs-chan/XxLevanaxX

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/957689.html

UPDATE: Artist has knocked out work in less than 48 hours after almost 6 months of waiting. It's very sub-par and I wasn't consulted before posting it publicly. Then deleted it. 48 hours later she sent me a revised version which appears to have been completely recoloured. Whilst it isn't great, I do feel that she has now fulfilled her obligation of delivering a complete coloured commission...

WHO: Levana aka Levs-chan aka XxLevanaxX

WHERE: https://inkbunny.net/Levana and http://levana-art.tumblr.com/

WHAT: Standard commission

WHEN: Commission was requested on 3rd January 2017. Payment was sent 4th January 2017. Nothing at all has been done since

EXPLAIN: I requested a standard commission on the 3rd of January 2017 and paid $60 promptly upon receipt of the invoice the following day. References were given the same day, and after some chitchat, the artist went silent for an entire month until I prompted her again on the 3rd of February. The excuse was given that "things [have] been kinda hectic", but no status update was given. A week later on the 11th more information was requested for the work, which I provided.

Again the artist fell silent, this time for two months. On the 11th of April I prodded her again, to be told that "Everything's alright....I have been working on a few commissions". Nothing specific about mine though.

AGAIN the artist went silent. I emailed her again on the 8th of May, but this time received no response. I tried again on the 29th of May, and was told the following day "I've been sketching out all of the commissions lately, yours included, so, it will give me a head start on the LineArts and colors for all of them. Hopefully I'll get them done by next week!".

And yet again she went silent for three weeks. My latest email has gone unanswered. There have been no sketches, no linearts, nothing provided. In fact there is no evidence at all that she's even started working.

As we're getting close to the Paypal 180-day limit I have told her that I am prepared to request a refund unless she can provide proof that she's actually started work. There was nothing in the commission detail or in any of our conversation to warrant such a delay. If I'd been told "The work might take up to 6 months" I would have understood, but there has been absolutely no explanation.

UPDATE: After posting this I received a message from the artist apologising, and saying that she was "getting onto it right now" and would "be working night and until morning for your commission to be finished."

Three hours later I received an incomplete sketch via email. I replied, letting her know of the situation but cautiously adding that I couldn't accurately judge the sketch as it was incomplete. I also mentioned that the Paypal deadline is the 12th of July, whereupon I have to escalate to a claim, or cancel if the art is done.

UPDATE: 24 hours later (the 22nd of June), I get a message saying that she is considering closing all her accounts and paying everybody back. I have replied saying that she can do that if she wants, but there is still the option of finishing the work before the Chargeback deadline. I am bemused by her comment that she is "new to Paypal" but that's beyond the scope of this post.

As of 23rd of June, I have received a rough sketch.

UPDATE: She just posted the finished product to Inkbunny...without showing it to me first...and it's VERY sub-par...certainly not much to show for $60 and 6 months of waiting...

I'm not sure what to do at this stage. She has TECHNICALLY delivered a finished piece of work, but it's hideous and full of errors...

https://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=1383124 (NSFW)

UPDATE: 24th June - She's deleted the submission and said she'll work on it.

UPDATE: 25th June - She's recoloured the entire piece and asked for my approval, which I have given.

PROOF: Conducted entirely via Inkbunny PMs

Initial request - http://imgur.com/DbHrJyQ
February prompt - http://imgur.com/vSA99ci
April prompt - http://imgur.com/u6ZLvIj
May prompt - http://imgur.com/wOv7x2K
Response after Paypal chargeback - http://imgur.com/2PSUEnv
Me updating her on the situation - http://imgur.com/qsksRcL
Artist's apology and my offer of options - http://imgur.com/Zw8a4hm
Submission on IB and my comment expressing surprise and concern - http://imgur.com/FuonUzE