Beware: Porkshanks / Molly Friedrich

Aug. 3rd, 2010 at 3:47 PM

ishrahsan

I'll admit now that I'm hesitant in posting this, but I need some advice on what to do. I commissioned an artist for a custom cane, sent payment in full, and after she asked me for the height and said she was ready to work on it all communication pretty much stopped on her end. My notes on DA still say that they have been unread.


I sent an inquiry to Porkshanks in November/December to see if she was interested in doing a cane for me. While arranging things communication was great, every day or few and I ended up getting a quote of $150-200, I decided to send her $250 since she had never made a cane before, and she had to buy the materials and to cover shipping cost when it was finished.

In March/April (19 weeks, 5 days ago according to the note) she told me she was ready to work on the cane and asked what the height should be off the floor, I responded the next day. Since then. she has not read any of my notes, and she hasn't sent my any either. She hasn't responded to anything I sent to her email, and the one comment she did make was when I posted on her profile page and that was to tell me that she had been thinking about my commission (here). That was on the first of June, and nothing since, obviously. Though she has been active, posting personal works and photo-shoots and such the entire time.

I honestly have no idea what to do. I requested a refund in a note and email, that has still gone unread and she's been on twice since I sent it 3-4 days ago. I would rather not call her out on her DA page, but I'm not sure that I have any other choice since she hasn't responded to anything. It's far to late for me to open a dispute/claim with paypal, but at this point I would rather have my money back than this commission. So what should I do now?

Here are some screen-caps of the notes that I sent her, I thought I was polite?

Edit for clarification:
-I have sent her a couple emails to the two email addresses I have for her and have not received a response from either of them.
-I have the AIM name she has listed on DA on my buddy-list, but either she has it set to friends only, is invisible, or she's just never on when I am.
-I've sent her 6-7 notes since she requested the measurement for the cane 5 months ago because she was ready to work on it, and NONE have been read, or so my notes say. One update request a month when not getting a previous response isn't badgering, right?
-She HAS been active the entire time, posting multiple personal works and such. She's usually on about twice a week.

Aug. 26th, 2010 at 11:05 AM

ishrahsan

I made a post earlier this month about an artist I had commissioned, here.

I've tried emailing her again as people suggested, as well as making another comment on her profile page requesting a refund. She's been on, yesterday in fact according to her activity, but she still hasn't said anything at all. I know I'm most likely not going to get my money back, as hard as that is to swallow, because I really can't afford to raise that kind of money again to get a cane that won't break in a few months.

Should I make a journal on DA and other sites to warn people against commissioning her? I received a note about a week ago from someone thanking me for posting my issues on Porkshanks profile because they had been thinking of commissioning her and decided not to risk it. I feel sort of bad about that since porkshanks seemed like a nice person. I just don't know what to do now, if I should post my experience elsewhere, or if I should try to get a hold of her again in hopes of resolving the matter. Obviously I've learned not to send payment ahead of time if I commission someone for a big project again.

Does anyone know Porkshanks personally? I don't know if she just has major issues going on right now or what. Should I send her a link to this A_B post so she knows I did actually post something, as I told her I would if she didn't respond?

Screenshots of the new things not in the other entry:

Edit:
Paypal transaction receiptTransaction ID and bank numbers blacked out.
-Additional note: Since I forgot to mention my idiocy in the matter, I sent payment as a gift so fees would not be taken out on her side. However, the message sent with payment DOES say it was for a commission, and I did send a note telling her it was sent that way and for what reason that she DID respond to. Because of how the payment was sent, though, I'm doubtful that doing anything through Paypal will help.

EDIT 2: I got a response today after posting a mass amount of journals all over the place explaining the situation, and we're currently trying to work things out. I'll edit again when there's actual results other than talking. :3

Sep. 8th, 2012 at 10:01 PM

ishrahsan

WHO: Porkshanks

WHERE: http://porkshanks.deviantart.com/

WHAT: Custom cane commission.

WHEN: November/December 2009 to now, when I received a clear no that it wouldn't be done.

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PROOF/EXPLANATION:
Previous Entries to community:
Original
First Update

The content of those are, however, pretty much in this post as well.

Summary of the first entries: I sent an inquiry to Porkshanks in November/December of 2009 to see if she was interested in doing a cane for me. While arranging things then, communication was absolutely wonderful, every day or so we'd exchange notes and I ended up getting a quote of $150-200 for this project, I decided to send her $250 since she had never made a cane before, and she had to buy the materials and to cover shipping cost when it was finished.

In March/April 2010 she told me she was ready to work on the cane and asked what the height should be off the floor, I responded the very next day. Since then, she has not read any of my notes and she hasn't sent my any, either. She hasn't responded to anything I sent to her email, any messages to Facebook, and the one comment she did make was when I posted on her profile page and that was to tell me that she had been thinking about my commission (here). That was on the first of June, and nothing since, obviously. Though she has been active, posting personal works and photo-shoots and such the entire time, and I have made two profile comments since then asking for a refund.

Here are some screen-caps of the notes that I sent her originally, I thought I was quite polite considering the circumstances.

-I had sent Porkshanks a couple emails to the two email addresses I have for her and have not received a response from either of them.
-I've sent her messages on her Facebook page, which she never responded too.
-I have the AIM name she has listed on DA on my buddy-list, but either she has it set to friends only, is invisible, or she's just never on when I am.
-She HAS been active the entire time, posting multiple personal works and such.

Shortly after my first update, we had exchanged messages in December of 2011 on FB, where she was asking me about colours and such for the cane, saying she would work on it in the beginning of January. She stopped responding shortly after that.

The update, which was the recent activity and the resolution of it:

Due to having received notes a little while ago about the artist so-far not finishing her kickstarter, and people having found my journal, I have been updating and decided to try once more to get a true answer from Molly about what was happening with my commission. A comment on her page had implied she scammed her kickstarter supporters - I will not say that she has scammed them, since she HAS been giving them updates lately - however, she did imply that she had never scammed someone before. I felt I had the right to reply, saying she still had yet to finish my commission. I received a response from her a few hours ago, which was not very pleasant, but gave me the closure I needed.

Her response and behaviour have been immature and not at all professional, and I felt the need to update my beware to say so, as well as post the final screencaps of the deal. She has pretty much said she will not do it, because I am stupid and selfish and she feels she can get lolz from pissing me off. I had typed a response to her, and tried to send it, only to find that I had been blocked and my original comment had been deleted. I have screencaps to provide it still, and I will also supply my final response to her after the screenshots, in the off chance that she ever reads this journal.

ALL Facebook Messages: I included some of the previous message in each one so you know I didn't skip anything.

Comment that prompted my latest attempt:


My comment that got deleted and got me blocked:

Her response to it:


And my final reply to you in reponse to your message and block, since I can't respond to it elsewhere:

Considering that I sent it to your email, facebook, and DA accounts, saying you just coincidentally "didn't see" it is bull.

And seriously? Glorifying a disability by using a cane? Like thousands of others due when they have painful injuries? I have nerve damage from a cable being reeled in by a truck digging into my skin. I didn't sue or anything, because the fault was my own for not paying attention. And yet you call me selfish for wanting to keep pressure off it like I was told to do by a doctor? When I could have done what plenty of people do and tried to rip money off of someone else?

As for me not mating or having children being a 'punishment'? It's my own choice, I hardly view it as a punishment. I have a loving significant other, and I am glad to have her. I also have many siblings whom I practically raised and feel no need to have children of my own due to that.

I am glad that you finally admit that you're just ignoring me and never intended to do my commission after receiving payment, however. I admit I was stupid to send you the money before hand, and I freely admit that. However, I have not been pissed about it for quite awhile. Tired of being led on, yes. Annoyed at never receiving a straight answer until now, well, of course. But now that I have, I'm letting it go, and updating my journals and Artist Beware posts with the information.

As it stands, I still think your art is beautiful, and it really is a shame that you turned out to be this kind of person. I wish you luck on your game.

TLDR:
Steampunk Artist Porkshanks likes taking money for commissions she doesn't finish. $250 ones at that. She is also rude and extremely unprofessional in later correspondence. BEWARE, DO NOT COMMISSION.