*Just something to note, but unfortunately the ych commishes website doesn't have exact time stamps, only a rough estimate*
In the beginning of February of last year, I won an auction of Mazik's on the ych commishes site with a bid of $75.
After I sent her my PayPal email and refs, Mazik asked if I wanted to add on a background to the YCH at a discounted rate, which I accepted (bring the total from $75 to $110). She then sent me an invoice on February 10th which I paid immediately.
Only after paying it did she tell me that there was going to be a delay in the art because of problems she was having. I didn't think much of it and told her that it was fine, and not too long after I got a WIP so I figured things were back on track.
After a long wait without any update, Mazik came back and told me that another issue had come up and that she'd have the art ready by the end of the week. Again, I didn't think much of it and told her that I was fine with it.
After another long wait I asked Mazik for an update, and she told me that she thought she had already sent me another WIP. I received another update and gave her my approval on it, but then the silence started again.
On the 7th of September I sent her an email asking for an update, as well as a message on the ych website informing her of the email.
On the 9th and 11th of September I messaged her through twitter asking again for an update. She responded to me on the 11th telling me that she had trouble accessing her ych commishes account, and that the art was ready. The next day she posted a google drive link with the art.
She added me on discord on the 12th and we began to discuss the entire process. I also pointed out that the art in the google drive folder didn't have the background that I paid for, and also asked for a clothed version of one of the pics. She agreed to fix everything up, and then on the 15th told me that she had yet another problem and would need more time. This was actually the last time that she contacted me.
I messaged her on twitter multiple times after this asking for an update, but still with no response. I'm trying not to be too pushy with the messages but really it's been far too long.
I'm a writer who is commissioned to write mostly growth/macro stories, and have been at it since 2013. In this time I've taken over 60 jobs which have all been read, approved and paid by every single client.
My DeviantArt ToS: https://www.deviantart.com/blackspyro33/journal/Official-Terms-of-Service-for-Commissions-2021-485184088
I have always operated on an honor system with every single client. I don't set completion dates, I don't take advance payments. People read the final product, they tell me if they're happy with it or if they require alterations/additions, and then I get paid.
I was first approached by Darkgai on September 10th, 2021, as the third slot in a queue of public commissions. Our correspondence was civil and well-mannered for the most part.
Since Darkgai was the third in a queue of three and I don't work on multiple commissions at once, he was made to wait until I was done with the two before him.
Unfortunately, circumstances forced me into my full-time job earlier in the year than I expected. All commissions were worked at at a slower pace. This led me to unusually higher waiting times, including Darkgai, who asked me about his commission.
I decided to give him an update about why I was taking so long, since it's unusual for me to make a customer wait so long.
Finally, at about 00:15 on December 31st, I sent the finished story to the client as explained in the ToS he had agreed to. Instructions were given, and I received critique and engaged in a minor dispute that I believed had reached a positive conclusion for us both. Thinking the issue resolved, I waited for three hours and found no evidence of the guy sending payment, and he has yet to reply to my last inquiry.
As the (current) DeviantArt correspondence from earlier shows, visiting Darkgai's dA will show it as disabled. When I first saw it like that after 3 hours of radio silence I feared the worst. I made this person wait. I explained my situation. I delivered my agreed upon interpretation of his wishes. I saw dissatisfaction and attempted to find an alternative solution. We agreed on a price slash since he did not want modifications.
He paid my time and effort with indifference and avoidance. I dedicated time and effort when I knew I couldn't instead of giving up to the pressure and finished a product that he allegedly found okay except for certain parts which I offered to touch up. Seeing as though our interpretations became irreconciliable, I decided to offer a hefty discount which is basically giving up my claim to time and effort I am not getting back to meet him somewhere I deemed appropriate. He told me he was going to pay me. He hasn't. He deleted his dA, and I take it as him avoiding me. I take it as him avoiding his responsibility to pay what he owes me for the story I wrote. I do not want anybody else to have to suffer through this annoyance ever again.
I commissioned this artist for a chibi back in march, as well as a headshot in april, and never received either nor the promised refund, and my notes since then have been opened and read but ignored.
here's the original chibi listing:
as well as the headshot one:
(both still standing as of this submission, albeit with comments off)
and my comments under each:
the notes confirming both, March 17th and April 28th, respectively:
and the paypal transactions:
(side note, the email appears to be her mate's, another artist, rather than her own, which doesn't help her case)
I poked her june 25th, to no response:
again 5 days later:
and only after I saw just how long the trello queue was and directly requested a refund the 5th of july did I get a reply and promise of refund:
I waited several months, until november 25th, to prod her again:
and several more weeks to continued lack of communication or any amount of refund:
all while constantly posting MORE ychs, commissions, and art, having turned off comments on submissions and the few journals that have not since been nuked, and not updating the trello list since september:
my payoff for patiently waiting long past paypal's 3 month cutoff date was to lose any chance of getting my money back through a dispute:
I know in the long-run it's not a huge amount of money, but it's money I could've spent actually receiving desired art, and it just leaves such a bad taste how this artist treats 'clients' 😞
I contacted Mawbyte on Twitter after seeing an ad on their Twitter for page dolls. The page dolls were $30. I messaged them with my reference sheet asking if I could get one and they sent me a message saying they would take me but needed to add a $20 complexity fee. I found this a bit strange since my character is pretty simple but agreed anyways.
Here is a picture of the reference sheet:
(Image is much larger but keeps getting shrunk on here)
The initial conversation for the transaction:
An invoice was sent for $50. I added a $10 tip for the artist and was given the link to the Trello where I could track my commission. I was told I could contact them if I wanted any changes to be made or if I wanted anything added or removed.
Invoice:
Conversation about the invoice, what to do if I wanted edits and the trello information given:
Me asking for clarification on what the complexity fee was for:
I heard nothing from them again until 12/14/2021. Upon opening my commission I realized that even though it is a very clear reference sheet my character was missing half of their markings. Additionally the quality of the lines did not match anything of their other work and the work appeared extremely rushed. I contacted them back and asked if the markings could be added. Being charged a complexity fee those markings should have been added.
Quality of chibis advertised:
Message sent with my file:
The file:
I did not hear back from them. I contacted them again on the 15th and still heard nothing. Then I contacted them again on the 17th and finally heard back late in the evening. I was told they had deleted the file and that there was nothing they could do about it. I asked them about getting a refund for the complexity fee since my character’s markings were not actually completed. I was told they don’t do refunds and that they simplify the markings for the smaller page dolls anyways so they were sorry but they didn’t know what to do.
Proof of asking for changes:
There were several chibis done that were a lot more complicated than my character. I had never been told about potentially simplifying the character and that does not mean leaving entire markings out. I mentioned writing a beware and then was told I didn’t communicate well enough about what was important for my character. The reference sheet I sent is very thorough and answered any potential questions the artist might have had. They also could have messaged me at any point to ask me the questions but they did not.
Excuses given for why it couldn't be changed:
They finally painted the markings onto the image and said they were blacklisting me. I was asking simply for what I paid for.
The rest of the interaction:
The final changes I received:
There are still several details incorrect on the character. The line quality is horrific especially in the feet and tail. The line making up the claw on the foot is not even closed. The line for the right ear can be seen through the horn. There are several areas such as the arms that are not colored all the way. The elbow being laughed into has a bit of fur colored in as the scales on his arms. I was charged an extra fee for complexity and then when I asked to have things corrected got blamed for the mistakes and then blacklisted.
I want to make people aware of the bad conduct, communication and final product of this artist.
Original Agreement and Proof:
The original agreement between I (KingPink) and Leonan/Staticjack was that I would trade them an Impim and 3 pieces of art for a one-off design they owned at the time.
Leonan resold the design without telling me or the other person to another user on ToyHouse. It was sold in September while our trade was still going. I have attached that screenshot as well.
At the time the character was resold, I had finished 2/3 of the art pieces completely. I was working on the lineart for the third which was an animated icon.
What Happened Next:
Leonan refused to contact either of us after multiple attempts and waiting 72 hours. He has been online/active and has even changed his Discord status but has ignored us. I have been ghosted by him since October but I sent more messages trying to confirm what happened. The person who received the character was also ignored by them.
Screenshot of Twitter DM between me and other scammed individual:
Screenshot of DeathDino’s ignored comment on his TH, you can see Leonan replying to someone above the comment:
The entire conversation from start to finish has been screenshotted and posted by me here. It took place over Discord. It includes everything from the initial greeting from me, the trade agreement, me sending art WIP’s, and me being ghosted.
The Toyhouse screenshot details the ownership log of this character which can be publicly viewed here:
https://toyhou.se/1185924.faust/ownership/log
The character ended up in my hands via the kindness of the other person who was scammed, NOT LEONAN. The situation was not resolved between the scammer and us.
Leonan is involved in many CS communities such as Impim, Kebanzu, Taums, Grems, etc. and I was scammed by them from one of these community servers. I will note it has been reported to the mods of any server I could reach.Please be careful if you see them making trade posts.
Communication occurred on Discord after we contacted each other on an art commissions server.
We agreed on a set of 12 emotes of the client's original characters. I had completed 11 of them and this specific transaction is concerning the very last emote I had owed. Our transaction was initially paid for by April 20, 2021 and completed by May 1, 2021, while the last emote was paid for by June 28, 2021.
It is worth noting that this client was also a friend of mine at the time, so keep this in mind when looking at our screenshots.
My work ethic after the first set of commissions is not acceptable, I am willing to owe up to having not provided wips or relevant business communication regarding the final emote until recently. I want to be transparent that I am not a fully innocent in this situation, however the client's behavior due to this incident is the reason I am reporting for accountability.
Prior to/included in the original transaction were 11 emotes paid for by April 20, 2021 which were finished by May 1, 2021. Along with this, I was paid for commercial rights for the emotes to be used for their server.
After this set of commissions we had agreed upon a final commission, which was the 12th emote. We agreed upon this by June 28, 2021; and it was paid for on the same day.
In the middle of that existing commission by May 30, 2021 I was also commissioned to draw a profile picture. This was completed while having the emote commission in the background.
Said client had messaged me on December 14, 2021 attempting to confront me about claims of other people that I have asked them for money and have not compensated them. Our interaction ended in the following screenshots. I cannot provide proof for claims of others that Tyrian contacted them as the ones who I have testimonies from consented against their names and screenshots being used.
After this confrontation I refunded the client his money for the emote in full. The refunded money was then sent back to me with the following comment "It's not about the money, keep it." We had one final discussion before I blocked the client for my own safety and began writing this post. I also received this message on Twitter today at 2 AM, December 21, 2021.
Having sent the screenshots of our conversation to a friend, said friend messaged this client on December 19, 2021 without respecting my wishes for them to not contact the client. I do not condone this behavior, but it is what transpired.
In light of the event I upgraded my PayPal account to protect my privacy and also hid my public waitlist for the sake of me and my clients. I am unsure on what to do with the 30 USD which was sent back to me, as I am worried that this money will be sent back to me a second time. I overall advise fellow artists to not receive commissions from this individual.
----- This is the start of the problem transaction ----
Post-Confrontation Address:
Block-Evading via Twitter:
[Mod Note: Former client continues to use TNR's artwork via discord, and is erroneously claiming theft via their profile]
This artist was recommended to me by a friend who had just approached them for a commission of their OC. I sent them a note on the 3rd of April and didn't hear anything until the 6th, which, of course, was no problem. People have lives outside of FA / Twitter / etc., so after contact began, we started working towards and approached an agreement on the same day.
Payment was sent the next day, and as seen in the following image and the one above, totaled $110 USD, which was paid:
After this, however, both me and my friend received no further updates. No sketches or any additional questions and/or updates. My friend was smart enough to approach them, and they did finally get their art after mentioning a refund to the artist. Myself, however, did nothing, which I know was dumb. I tried to send them a note to try and get a response over a week ago at the time of writing this:
But have received nothing in response. Since I'm way past the 180-day refund/dispute window, and with no reply to this note as of yet, it looks like I'm up the creek with no paddle. I hate to write something like this out, but I'd also hate to see the same thing befall someone else. Please avoid this artist.
I first contacted the artist MushyOtter on 30 September 2020 via twitter DMs. I was directed to contact them on Telegram the following day.
Details and terms were agreed upon for a $100 colored sketch of two characters. I sent my payment immediately. I subsequently communicated with the artist numerous times to confirm my progress through their queue, and they were fairly prompt in their responses. They sounded busy, and were actively posting art to their Twitter account, so I assumed that they were simply getting through their backlog.
At one point, the artist indicated that they were busy with offline business, so I gave them some space, and I would check in once every few months. In both May and August, the artist indicated that they would be contacting me with some kind of progress "in the next couple of days," but this never materialized.
One year after paying for this commission, on 2 October 2021, I contacted the artist and offered an ultimatum: by the end of the month, either complete the piece, or issue a full refund. On 31 October, the artist contacted me with a rough sketch. While this was not what I had specified, it was more than I had seen in a year, and presumed that since it had already been roughly sketched, and considering that the commission in question is just a colored sketch beyond that, the piece would be completed shortly.
The artist has continued to post about commission openings on their Twitter account, and has been posting new art regularly nearly every month.
At the time of this writing, it is 16 December. The last communication I received from the artist was 3 December, promising that they would send me an update upon arriving home.
I must stress that the artist has been congenial and responsive, and as open as one could hope for. However, their most recent post on Twitter was a completed colored sketch other than mine, dated 15 December. Between the posting of that most recent image, and my exceedingly long wait time, my patience has simply run out. I must severely disrecommend this artist to all potential clients.
This is the Paypal receipt from that transaction as it appears in my transaction history:
And this is the log from our Telegram conversations:
Three months in. I have checked periodically to this point, but the artist seems quite busy with offline business, so at this point I give them space.
After being promised numerous times that my commission was just around the corner, I decide to firmly request the completion of this piece.
The basic sketch finally arrives one year later. This is not exactly the fully completed piece I had described in my deadline to the artist, but by now I am simply glad to have anything at all.
I contacted Kino on 9th September 2020, after seeing that they said they were opening commission slots on Twitter. I emailed asking if any slots were open and if so, what I was interested in getting (NSFW, fully body, fully shaded commission from you of my OC, with background). They said they were, that they could do that and it would cost $160.00
I agree with the price and send across several refs. Kino gave me the PayPal to send the money to and I sent across the $160.00. Payment was sent on the 10th of September.
I emailed Kino on 23rd November 2020, asking how the commission was coming along, as I had not initially asked for a rough timeline. They responded on the 27th November 2020, apologising for delay, saying I can expect it in ‘a few weeks’ and that I’ll be sent a sketch ‘ASAP’. I told them no worries and thanks for letting me know.
They did not contact me at until I emailed again on 6th February 2021, asking for another update. They responded on the 14th, apologising for the lack of communication and cited multiple personal reasons as to why there had been no update / why my commission had not yet been done. They said that I could either get a refund or continue waiting-- I said I understood, life comes first and it’s all good, and that I was happy to continue waiting for my commission.
Yet again, there was no communication until I initiated it, emailing them again on 12th June 2021, asking for another update. They responded the same day, sating they were working on commissions that day and that I should have something soon. I said great, looking forward to seeing the sketch.
After more months of radio silence, I email again on 29th September 2021 asking for another update and for a concrete answer or estimate as to when I can expect the commission. Kino responded the same day, asking if I had not received the email they had sent out (I did not-- I double checked my inbox, deleted and junk folders for said email), which stated they didn’t have the energy to work on art for other people and that refunds will be going out bi-monthly and that they will have a concrete timeframe of when to expect the refund after they receive their first pay check from their new job. I said no worries and good luck with the new job.
Again, I email Kino as they have once again, not contacted me, on 8th December 2021, again asking for an update. They respond the same day, stating that they get paid on the 15th December and that I can expect a partial or full refund then.
It is currently Wednesday the 15th December 2021 at the time of me writing this. I have not yet received an email from Kino or PayPal.
My issue is not that I couldn’t get a commission from them or that the refund has not come through yet; at this point it is the lack of communication on their end and misleading updates. Being told to expect a sketch in a few weeks and then told, several months later, that “I'm actually working on them today”.
ST3LLARPUNK opened for sketch commissions August 5, 2021.
I contacted the artist, but they didn't respond initially so I figured the sale was closed. One month later they replied back saying they didn't see my DM. That's fair, I didn't comment on the sales post so things happen. We went through the exchange of details and payment was sent.
On September 16, 2021 I noticed the payment I sent was unclaimed. I messaged the artist about it, but didn't receive a response.
In fact, I just never received a response from the artist again despite them being active on Twitter and accepting new commissions.
Edit: 12.24.21
The case closed in my favor. The artist never responded to it.
ff.thumb.png.1646b0a075c77c8ade0d740bf275ccb2.png)
