Epilepsy warning: This usser made kidcore/webcore stuff, so lot of shiny things
Okay, im kinda nervous and i hope i made this right.
On September 6th, i asked NekoB0mb on their da about the prices of their customs. We come to an agreement and they give me their discord to talk about how i wanted the customs, originally they were 2. On discord i tell em i want 3 more and they agree, so i send the payment. They answered me and there wasnt any problem. I asked for updates each month, and they answered me, telling me they have exams or things like that.
Agreement of two customs for 150 points each one and to pm them on discord
Payment of points, it has two screen since later on discord, i tell them i wanted 3 more
Description of how i wanted the customs, and kinda proof of them deleting their discord( it doesn't appear their ussername)
Some months later, they desactivate their account on da, and delate their discord, thay were erasing their stuff on th. I panicked and send a message to someone they frecuently commissioned them. Who tell me they were in a difficult situation and that i didnt worry, that my comm will be make. So i waited. And time later they reactivate accounts.
On ends of march i send them a message via th, and they tell me to contact them again via discord on a new one. So i did. And asked them if they have a problem with the comm they can cancel and give me a refund or that i can wait, i also asked if they had a waitlist.
Contacting them after they desactivate their media and giving some time to rest, asking for update or refund if they cant do it. They answered me, they have wips of two of them.
They telling me to contact them on discord to show me the wips and that.
Me telling them that day and some days later i pm them.
They ghost me for weeks. Time later i discovered they had instagram and i pm them about wanting a refund there sending the proof of the agreement and payment. And they continue ghosting me. They continue active on th and opening commissions on instagram and making some adopts.
Me pming them about the customs and asking if they have trello/waitlist And being ghosted
Contacting them on instagram, telling them that they tell me to pm them but they never answered, showing them proof it was me, and being ghosted again.
Now on may, they got the last of my patience, i asked again about a refund on their the profile since they didn't answer any pm message i sent. And they erased the comment i put on their th. So some hours later i asked again telling them that please stop ghosting me, and how cynic is to make a post about being upset about being ghosted when they are doing the same. Time later two of their friends answered me with a low bad joke. Telling me they were dead/killed. I would have believe them if it wasn't by the fact that the user erased my comment and that they continually post and interacted with other commenters. Also that their kind of fun is like that inbetween them. Feel kind of immature.
Contacting them on the comments for second time after the first comment was erased , telling them i wanted a refund becouse of the time with no updates and ghosting. And stuff of them accepting more comms and they need to have a better communication.
I was approached by the user BiiYrd on furaffinity on May 2nd, 2021 who sold me this character on July 22nd, 2020 and wanted to buy them back Which I declined on many times, after declining their offers of other characters or money BiiYrd/AnimyalNoIsEs
#4442 as we spoke on discord they decided to inform me it was "illegally" sold to myself "Imply" and that the original owner wanted it back. I asked for the users name which they wouldn't provide but eventually they added me "UnluckyRNG#3303". I Clarified with The original designer ZerOlativity that this user was indeed "CoCoaFloof" the original owner .
However ZerOlativity also stated that UnluckyRNG#3303/CoCoaFloof sold this adopt 23rd of july 2020, I personally have notes and a paypal invoice purchasing this character from BiiYrd@FA on that date. When making the purchase I asked for confirmation of ownership and for them to inform the seller ZerOlativity. BiiYrd@FA Had stated that CocoaFloof was indeed them and that they had confirmation with ZerOlativity, that they user another handle for twitter.
At the time of the situation my anxiety had peaked and I did not have a folder of evidence that I have back tracked and gotten after the matter occurred. During conversation I noticed that the users AnimyalNoIsEs#4442 and UnluckyRNG#3303 never spoke at the same time with delays typical of switching log ins, it was a suspicion but over time I fell for the false sale and agreed to a pay out for the situation to be fixed so I wouldn't be at a loss. Despite this 100% wanted to keep the character but after being convinced it was a false original sale I felt obligated.
on May 5th I opened my paypal to see a negative balance of $158 AUD ($128 USD) The price sent as the payout/fix plus the fee from paypal, After investigation I found that the same day May 2nd it was sent they also reported it as a false payment/charge and put a ticket in unaware to myself until to late. This caused for the evidence digging which uncovered all the userdames all linked by the paypal "[email protected]". This paypal was the one who received the original purchase funds of character sale, that both paid and claimed back the "fix funds" of $128 usd and then later confirmed by an artists who wishes to remain anon that paid for commissions from usernames aw00saka and @Deactivatetis both usernames who askes to be referred as "CocoaFloof". In the end of all these users and handles the one thing linking them all is the paypal "[email protected]" with confirmation of two respected artists and screenshot evidence.
Clarity of ownership
Providing my paypal
receipt sending "BiiYrrd" Purchase amount to "[email protected]"
asking to buy back
Telling me it was stolen after I declined offers, I asked why they wanted him back.
UnluckyRNG#3303 made contact, they were pushing me to delete things while AnimyalNoIsEs was un responsive. When AnimyalNoIsEs finally came back when I stopped talking with UnluckyRNG#3303 I eventually got paid the agreed "fix" price and given @Deactivatetis as the new handle.
when I woke up to minus funds and found the charge back made the same day. "[email protected]"
After seeing a submission from anon artist after this incident I politely contacted them to ask who the username was that purchased it due to all accounts I had contact recently being deactivated they state aw00saka @Furaffinity is and that they paid with "[email protected]" paypal. The specifically asked to be listed as "CocoaFloof" on this character and had originally used a different oc but requested a change to mine May 12th.
They later come back and state @Deactivatetis on twitter has in the past purchased work and used "This is for my friend" aw00saka @Furaffinity but also paid with "[email protected]"
Screenshot of Zer0 confirming that UnluckyRNG#3303 is "CocoaFloof" the original buyer and stating they were told it had been sold on July 22nd,
character that this topic involves.
Early in November someone I followed on twitter posted some art by an anonymous artist. Goopy approached me claiming she was the artist and after some back and forth I ended up commissioning her for a ref sheet totaling just over $68 USD/$85 CAD.
Sadly my twitter account has been suspended so the initial conversation has been lost.
During the first few days after payment she was actually quick with responses and actually proved a few WiPs, even giving some insight on changing some character details
This was the last update on the order since I paid her
A while later and after a bit of small talk I bring it up with her again as it's been a four months at this point.
She was facing some personal issues at the time which I excused believing it would be resolved in time.
Two more months pass by and yet again I ask if there has been any progress since then, I get yet another reasoning as to why she hasn't been working on it with an issue that I would have thought could have been resolved by the next day
After that I was getting a bit frustrated and just decided to ask for a refund, she's since then still hasn't replied to me.
What's even more aggravating is knowing she's doing fine and well, as she's been streaming on twitch up to 5 hours a day on some days.
Mod note: Twitch cap removed because it was difficult to read and too large. But it was here.
At the current time of this it's been six months since I've paid her, and I can no longer go through paypal to dispute the charge.
I know there's another beware of this artist here already and really just hoping more people can be aware before she starts accepting more money from people.
I'll try my best to explain this case in chronological order.
I claimed an YCH from said artist on Furaffinity on March 7th, 2020.
I also paid it the same day.
The basics, linking characters and discussing the little details. Nothing alarming.
Fast forward couple months, when nothing seemed to happen, I asked them about the delay.
It already took over three days to get a reply after being left on read, which unfortunately cannot be seen here.
In August 2020 I actually got a WIP, well, after asking for it. Little did I know when I thought I'd get updates without asking.
I was still confident that my fear was irrational and that work is being done.
9 months went by in absolute silence. (Later in the post why I didn't go poking them) I started to get really suspicious about what's going on.
Anyone familiar with Furaffinity's file number system notices immediately, that their queue has years old YCH's and commissions,
from which some has been completed, but I'm unable to find the most. Tells something how well clients are updated when even public queue is so neglected.
Almost every client update has been a new or old reason why work couldn't have been done. Very unprofessional in my opinion.
The text above describes my experiences with them until my first attempt here at Artists Beware. Moderators instructed me to give them a final warning before posting on AB, so I did. I went on full disclosure, and said that I've already gone to AB with this case, mainly to strongly describe my disappointment.
I admit on my end that my actions haven't been flawless either, not even close. But I believe lots of the readers here at
AB know the frustration when you think you've been scammed. Even in that case, I should have asked some questions,
no matter how pointless doing so felt at the time. In the other hand however, I've commissioned dozens of other artists and they all provided updates themselves.
So it's fair to assume it's a standard? Especially when to my surprise, today I found out that their TOS actually comes in two parts. The second part being so well hidden in the clutter of their front page that in all honesty I only found out today, May 19th, 2021, when making sure that none of my sayings is false. To which I never received a link or instructions to find it, neither of them. Well, see for yourself, is it easy to find?
Though it seems that there is a connection in my proof that I have seen both parts. From which I had close to zero memory at this point, I realized this myself when noticing that my statement "I remember being told it'll take some time" was written on said missing TOS half. Honest question, am I expected to remember after over a year who had split their TOS in two, or what exactly was written there? Well at least that I was wrong about the client update policy, but also that the usual waiting time has been multiplied by 14.
Content of the easily found TOS...
...and the not-so-easy-to-find one.
My initial assumptions were quickly proven wrong, work had been done. To which I tried to apologize and told them that I'll have to reconsider my actions.
I explained what has led to this and said I may take down the AB entirely. Well that was a lost cause.
The main point is turning to their wait time and attitude. I've waited over a year and I get told that queue must be skipped due to a tight(??) deadline.
How long I would have had to wait? Another year? This time frame is simply unacceptable.
On top of that, my apology was turned down, with quite offensive wording.
It was indeed me who started this, but it was also me who tried to apologize and make things right. They decided to hold to the hostility until the very end. It's apparent that they had no intention to resolve this in a civil manner. I wasn't left with much more options other than showing everything from start to finish.
By the time of writing this I'm fairly confident that I'll receive the art after all, much work has been done in the last few days.
On January 19th, 2021, guppygoopy advertised five slots for iPad sketches for an uncolored $15 through Ko-fi tips/donations. As instructed, I donated through her Ko-fi with my username and left my DMs open for her. From reviews and her activity, I didn't think of the consequences of commissioning through donations as it was a simple commission that could've been delivered right away.
Once the payment was completed, she contacted me through DMs. As brief as it was, her replies were quick and simple.
After that last message, the conversation ended and I assumed that would mean she was going to start on my commission.
Around February and March, guppygoopy took a hiatus. As far as I know, no formal announcement was made on social media. I was not messaged about the hiatus either.
After a few months of waiting without any progress, seeing her active on social media again, I asked her about the progress of my commission on April 1st, 2021. The message was left unread. I asked again on April 22nd, 2021. That message was also left unread.
During that time, guppygoopy was active on her profile to announce Twitch gaming streams and post doodles for friends and outside of commission works.
On April 30th, 2021, I wrote another message to her requesting either a refund or for her to communicate with me. I included my feelings about being ignored when expecting a product from her. The message was left unread.
As of April 29th, 2021, guppygoopy has been inactive on her profile. I have no other way of contacting her; she has a Discord that isn't made public where she appears to be much more active and her Ko-fi is bustling with donations. As of writing this, she is currently live on Twitch as well.
I am beyond frustrated at this point. The least I want from her is communication or my money back.
Contacted the Artist on the date of August 25th 2019 after seeing them advertise in a Dealer Den group on Telegram. Commissioned from them an Icon and a Sketch. After talking about the commissions for a short while I payed them. The next month they told me they were going through personal stuff and thus they've been radio silent. They said it'd be done by the following Sunday and thanked me for my patience. That was the last time I'd hear from them. For the next few months all the way to April of 2020 I would message them to try to get some form of update from them. On Feb 9th 2020 I sent them a message asking for any kind of update and that I'd be fine with the wait so long as they gave me anything. On April 16th 2020 I've had my last straw and sent them a lengthy post telling them that the ghosting was unacceptable and that I'd be reporting them to the telegram group I saw them on originally. Months later they deleted their Telegram completely. Their FA hasn't had a post in a year and their Twitter is Private. Chat logs will be posted as photos however with their real name blacked out.
A final attempt was made to contact the artist again on May 15th on the email address specified plainly on their FA account and the artist has not responded, since.
March 2nd, 2020
SP and I were on VC when a question came up, as seen in the screenshot. Curious, SP made a sketch and shared it with me. Immediately, I jumped on it, offering money as first dibs. There wasn't an addition or edit for the design commission. Throughout this transaction, I did not ask for updates, as I trusted them enough to uphold their end of the deal considering they were a friend to me.
Question
Concept
May 14, 2020 - 2 months from the start
I sent them money to help out and thus, the design became labeled as "Sam Bait".
Payment
July 25th, 2020 - 3 months from the start
I received a second update.
WIP
January 6th, 2021 - 10 months from the start
I inquired about the design comm. They responded they had told me through one of our VC sessions they might have accidentally deleted the file. This, of course, made me upset. But they reassured me they'll restart the design and go deep diving for the WIPs they sent me as there were thousands of images to go through, as we nearly spoke every day.
Inquiry
February 24th, 2021 - 11 months from the start
It turns out they renamed the file. Further discussion of the idea occurred.
Last "Talk"
May 1st, 2021 - (14 months from the start)
I sent them a message regarding the design and having no desire of wanting it anymore. What led to my decision was the fact they had finished multiple comms that were accepted AFTER my purchase for the design and FINISHED before the completion. One given example is this:
Trello: https://trello.com/c/JidbFFqZ
Cancellation
In conclusion, as a client, I'm thoroughly upset. Please, take caution when commissioning synthpolice. Having quality art does not equate to quality services.
[Mod Edit]: After asking the client about a refund policy after the last pic, they responded that the artist has a "no refunds if the client cancels" clause. The artist has not contacted them since.
Coddez reached out to me to commission me. I did the work and, knowing that he’s a kid, figured I’d give him some leniency and trust that he’ll pay me when he can. He even said that he’d pay me once he got the money together. Time passes and nothing only for me to learn that he has no intention of paying me at all and that there’s multiple other artists who he’s pulled the same scam on. As he says himself, the way he goes about commissioning artists, is tricking a bunch to do the work and then only paying the one he likes best; or in this case, the one that’s free.
The only reason he even reached out to me to tell me that he isn’t going to pay me, is because I had another streamer whom both of us know, talk to him and tell him to contact me.
I’d also like to clarify, in the very last message when I say, “and that’s fine...” his actions are in no way fine and are very harmful to the art community. It’s just the only words my brain came up with at the time.
Pretty simple, Ryun opened for $25 sketches, I claimed a slot, then we negotiated the price (I asked for something with an outfit/props and that raised the price to $30) and I never received it. I would attach the original tweet she posted, but she's since deleted it and my reply doesn't make sense without the context.
This is the entirety of our conversation together, including a smaller screencap for the latest message due to the fuzzy date format.
Then here's the proof that I paid her on June 20, 2019:
At this point I have no confidence that she will ever get back to me, or that I will receive my art. She either straight-up ignores you or gives you the run-around. I know $30 doesn't seem like a lot of money, but I still paid for a service I'll likely never get. Also note that she changes her username a lot, and has her read receipts turned off on Twitter.
Goes without saying, but I can't recommend purchasing from her.
Hello,
TL;DR: ChubbyCappie is keeping me on the hook for a $45 for five months with minimal communication and no proof of progress.
----
I never wanted to make a beware for any artist, but given the circumstances and the outcome at this point, my hand has been forced. It may not even be totally relevant for the future since they don't seem to be taking commissions outwardly anymore, but this was still a very poor experience, and warrants a beware as it is the only option I have at this point.
For context, I have previously commissioned CC before (mid Sept of 2020) and was very happy with the result, not to mention receiving it within three days of me paying/first contacting. I didn't expect this to be any different, except for the fact I've now waited five months and have had minimal communication (all of which was from me to them; they never reached out to me first).
----
On November 24th, 2020, I contacted CC for another commission idea I had.
I received a response the following day and sent my information to them, and I paid the invoice that day.
Proof of payment (they don't have their name publicly available afaik so I censored it):
Some time passes, it's now December 12th, and I haven't heard anything, so I reach out to them. I get a response on Dec 20th, and they ask for proof of payment, so I send it to them (censoring URL as it has the above screenshot but with less censored):
This is the last time I heard from ChubbyCappie for months.
Mid February of 2021 rolls around and I'm now getting frustrated. I responded to the last message they sent me (I hadn't received any others):
I receive no response, so in mid March, I send an email to their PayPal email letting them know I'm still waiting and giving them the necessary information. The screenshot cuts off the full text, so I'll include it here, minus the image information.
Hi,
I paid you back on Nov 25, 2020 for a commission. The information is on Furaffinity. You’ve been silent on there but I follow your Twitter and have seen you active there. I’m wondering if I’m going to get my commission, or if that’s not possible, then I’d like to receive a refund.
For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to include all relevant information here.
I received no response and initiated a chargeback, and finally I received a response.
SIDE NOTE: I learned too late to NEVER withdraw the claim, even if the artist asks (I was aware it couldn't be reopened but did it anyway), and that is on me, I know. Unfortunately, I did so, hence why I'm writing this beware, since I already made the mistake. Yes I'm still beating myself up for it. And no, I'm not happy that they asked me to cancel it. They may not realize that that's bad form, but still.
The last time I heard from ChubbyCappie was April 7th, 2021. (link is NSFW so I censored it; the pose I wanted is only suggestive, and there is no NSFW detail in the original links so I didn't censor them)
Now at the end of April and at my wits' end, I sent them this as a note and email, and then followed with the addendum note/email. They have not seen either yet on FA.
Some people might think I didn't wait long enough after sending my final heads up before writing this, but consider:
I've already been waiting five months
I've been struggling to remain in contact
Everyone I've vented to about this told me they wouldn't have waited this long
I haven't seen a single WIP or any proof they've started on my commission
I am a very patient, understanding client. I don't mind if people have delays, I understand internet issues. But given their recent activity on their other accounts, the lack of communication is completely unacceptable and honestly insulting, and I will only wait so long.
----
Conclusion: I feel awful that I closed the claim and should have either accepted a refund if they didn't want to deal with the limited time frame or done whatever else would have happened. I'm accepting that I will probably just have to bite the bullet on this one and accept the loss of $45, since while I don't believe at all that ChubbyCappie was out to scam me, they did. And that's unacceptable. They continue to be active on YouTube and Twitter and have gone inactive on their FurAffinity, so my only hope is that they catch wind that there is a beware on them and find a way to right this wrong, and I will gladly mark it resolved and move on with no lasting ill-will towards them.
Thank you for reading. I hope something comes from this, but at this point, I don't know.
