I've never made a beware before, so bare with me.
5/4//2019 I commissioned this user for a sketch page via Discord. Here is the screenshot of me commissioning her.
1.) https://gyazo.com/06441cec45ba67f0f6044514191211b6
5/13/2019 I asked for an update, and got this. Seemed to be going well.
2.) https://gyazo.com/5911dcfe3d61a128d4baccbcadab75ea
5/28/2019 I asked for another update, this was said.
3.) https://gyazo.com/df9273acf11c889ee6d7cf4584df2d23
Last Tuesday, reached out to her, and still no reply.
4.) https://gyazo.com/ff1d37724e7c9e770962c1ef6651c860
I go to check her DeviantArt page, and I find this.. An empty DA: https://gyazo.com/f670d3d94e9d98be2cb7934655b30711
I urge anyone wanting to commission this user to proceed with heavy caution. Fortunately, I was able to get my refund back from her after messaging her through toyhou.se and threatening to put a beware on her. Soon after, she went into "quiet mode" on her toyhou.se where we could contact her, and said left this message: "Going on hiatus for a while. Guest mode and quiet mode are on, dont contact me."
I have here some pics of our agreement regarding the following art piece I did for the trade (warning NSFW). This Trade started around June 4th, 2019.
She has not sent me any form of WIPs for a mod on SecondLife that she owes me. She has said that she would finish it multiple times. So I felt like i was owed either my mod or the money for my hard work and time. She asked me for WIPs and I sent them to her. I have been patient, understanding, and have been as professional as I could. Then when i confronted her one last time, she showed her true colors to me in a very unprofessional and childish way. She has been disrespectful and has demeaned my work out of anger.
Hi.
This is a story of two buyers who didn't pay us for our work.
A little explanation before I start:
I work together with FyreDraygg. I take care of public relations and make some types of commission; he doesn't talk to our buyers, but is always informed by me about everything he has to know. This is stated on our Terms of Service, automatically accepted when someone decides to commission us.
That being said, let's start.
Terri contacted us on 6 December 2018 asking for a Night in The Woods graphic (a type of commission FyreDraygg does) featuring four characters.
(If you're unfamiliar with the platform it's Plus Messenger. It's Telegram with a different interface)
(I know the correct total was 26€ (6,5 x 4 = 26€) when I wrote 24€, , I made a mistake, but I let that slide even after I noticed.)
Then they proceeded sending us the character references.
I gave them an indicative date as, per policy, we can't ensure any completion date.
I also explained them FyreDraygg will work on their piece (even if they should have known reading our ToS or, simply, my FurAffinity page).
We chatted a little bit, nothing relevant for this.
They contacted me on 12 December 2018, 2 January 2019, 28-29 January 2019 and 7 April 2019 asking about the WIP.
As I told them before, I have a proper channel where I send any update on any commission I'm working on, to let people know what I'm working on, but I still accept people asking me privately.
Finally, on 22 May 2019 I send them the final picture; I know, we took so long, but again we give no guarantees about completion dates and this is clearly stated in our ToS.
Then, problems arose. Again, as per our policy:
"A situation where we finish our job and the client delays payment due to not having the required funds available is not at all acceptable and lands said client directly in the blacklist, along with us reporting such incidents to all market platforms."
...but I tried to be understanding: we took a lot of time and I've decided to be more patient in turn.
I was still annoyed because it was just about 6€ per person, not a really large amount, but I kept this for myself. I just wanted to be payed, nothing else, I didn't care about judging other people's finances.
Then I contacted them on 27 May 2019, 10 June 2019 and lastly 21 June 2019. It was becoming a large problem because I had to file my tax declaration and I needed this payment to be done asap. I also explained this problem to them.
Then, they forwarded a message from another person (a friend who was taking part to this commission), apologizing and promising we will receive payment very soon (I'm censoring personal emails & Paypal addresses).
Then, suddenly they asked to change the price because "2 of the characters weren't used at all". We had been graceful enough to decline charging them extra delay fees when offered, the commission was already dirt-cheap discounted to begin with and while we took a long time to deliver, this gave them plenty of time to notice they weren't using a character and telling us about it. Furthermore, after receiving the WIP, they had yet another chance to ask for changes, which they didn't and now, when pressed for payment, they magically discover issues with the work.
They also complained about us not sending them any WIPs, which we clearly provided as a release candidate due to the nature of the work.
Thus, since work on 4 characters had already been done, that work would have to be paid.
We couldn't send any invoice via Paypal any earlier because we didn't have any email to send it to; the buyer seemed extremely reluctant to provide any such information and had to be solicited multiple times before complying.
The invoice expiration date was set for 15 days after issuing (my email is a public business email, I don't feel the need to censor it) and Maxx promised to pay after Friday (it was June 21, then payment should have been sent after June 28).
As you can see from the screenshot I took today it's still "on hold", while the second one (from another person) is paid. Just a comparison if you're not familiar with Italian.
The invoice will technically expire tomorrow, but since we are way past any set deadlines, we figured we weren't going to receive any payment and decided to cancel this order, ban these buyers from our service and initiatives and report them to the proper platforms as stated in our ToS.
I perfectly understand things can be hard in life, we took a lot of time to complete this piece, but on the other hand if a person commissions some work from someone else, they should keep the proper funds available by setting money aside from the start, not pay at their leisure and blaming it on the worker for completing their work at an inconvenient time.
I also offered them to pay after a WIP because I know it could took more time than expected.
And again, we're talking about 6€ per person; I don't think someone who struggles to set aside the price of a 12-pack of Pepsi should preoccupy themselves with ordering art, but that's just my personal opinion.
These users contacted me on Telegram and, apart from personal emails, I don't have any other contact.
I give you name, nickname and id because it's all I have directly; after some sleuthing I found Terri on FurAffinity.
Terri J. Flippo, @ZoopLoopz, id: 642843923
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/turriboo
Maxx "Wretch", @trashmutt, id: 353535756
So I commissioned Alzeaker a few weeks ago before this happened. His customer service was great, and had a quick turn around. I got two cheap ($10 each) sketches for my characters which turned out great. I found out he would be opening again, so the next time he opened (15/03/2019) I grabbed a slot as a gift for my partner.
I paid as usual and let him know. Sent over all the commission details, pose, character reference. Everything going well.
Proof of payment:
After about 10 days I get a sketch.
Sketch:
I asked if he could relax the brow and in fix the hands a bit, he said he would. That was 3 months ago.
Since then I've tried contacting him 3 times on FA via notes,
And twice on his page via a shout.
I've also tried contacting him over telegram , Facebook and Twitter, neither of the texts have been viewed.
I don't really expect this commission to be completed due to him removing all details from his FA and replacing it with this:
In addition to this there is a post Facebook with someone calling Alzeaker out for lack of completed work (Can easily be found by typing Alzeaker into facebook)
On top of all this he has been active and posting art on his Facebook,
You can find his Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/alzeaker/?ref=br_rs
as well as his other account here: https://www.facebook.com/caffeinedblackwolf
However, this is personal art. Not commission art which he appears to have a back log of.
At this point I don't think my commission will be finished seen as his customer service is limited, and just want to warn people by posting this to show his lack of professionalism (As I am aware there is another post regarding his lack of commission completion on Artist beware).
I contacted Shiro and asked about commissioning a refsheet for one of my characters, we discussed and agreed to payment, he stated that the commish would take about 2 weeks, I'm usually pretty lax with this kind of stuff but i did ask him if there was something after 3 weeks or so. no replies at all for about 2 months. He then returned and explained something about the government and military service. understandable so i didn't look further into it and even commished him a few more time, sketches and the like. bad move.
what soon followed was him completely ghosting me despite still being quite active, i gave the benefit of the doubt perhaps he didn't check the messages so i commented on a post telling him to check his messages, he saw it but didn't reply, he was replying to other people, and even saw others were dealing with this as well. While checking other twitter post he even stated that he was clear of coms, despite me having nothing from him.
Then the kicker, another person form the Thai furry community talked to me and informed me he is in a way their problem child, he was banned from any events in Thailand for his behavior and its common for him to pull this kind of stuff and keep people waiting a year or more. so in other words a ghosting artist who doesnt fulfill their end of the bargain and is very rude and unprofessional, I've filed a dispute with paypal and am currently waiting on that. but this is more of a warning for others, if you see this artist Avoid him and save yourself the annoyance of trying to deal with him.
November 13, 2016 was the time I reached out to her when I saw her via Lemma Soft Forums and discussed about a commission I wanted done. She was a little slow in regards to replying to my messages but I understood considering how she seemed to be a popular pick for commissions based on her website via deviant art. Nonetheless, she replied, gave her the benefit of the doubt, and paid her the amount of $150usd on November 30, 2016 upon agreement on the details I gave her and how much it'll cost me overall. Two other reasons why I thought she's not a fraud are:
1.) She immediately sent me 4 sketch options based on our discussion
2.) I read no negative feedback about her through Lemma Soft and Deviant Art at the time I commissioned her
I started becoming concerned when I noticed that I had to keep asking her about updates regarding my commission. Contacted her through her Deviant and Email and the last message she sent me is through email, January 20, 2017, telling me that she'll be sending me the second wip within that day but it never came. She didn't blocked me or anything and becoming a little more worried, I went to check on her deviant art again and saw that while she had thousands and thousands of lined up commissioned list, she barely responded to people who were starting to demand regarding their orders. I also noticed that she placed my order as almost done when she hasn't even updated me regarding my commission ever since that 1st sketch she sent which was on December 2016. ItaSlipy made several excuses, I say this now as an excuse as it has become ridiculously long, such as she's been sick, she's dealing with her wedding, she's sick again, her hands are giving her problems, etc etc. When the list of complaints were starting to pile up, ItaSlipy deliberately deleted her entire journal, slate clean, and "started all over again" as if nothing had happened. This lead me to believe that she's pretty much stolen people's money not only from Deviant, but from other websites as well where she offers her services. Surprisingly, she's still active in Lemma Soft and Deviant Art and I honestly cannot believe that she had the nerve to still accept commissions and now including Patreon.
I've attached the screen shots that I managed to snag. The payment, the emails I sent to her, and the supposedly "status" of my commission that she never even updated me about. I understand that this is like 2 years ago, but I would like for people to become aware of this artist. For those who has already commissioned her and wasn't fooled by her, you're very lucky. I just hope there are no more victims of her scheme. I've posted this on my Deviant Page and someone messaged me, redirecting me to this site.
So this all starts with Geckorobot1 (Nyx) Messaging in April asking for a commission. I happily accepted as, while i was working full time at this point, i still made time to do commissions but they were a bit slow going. I kept this person updated as frequently as possible, so communication wasn't an issue.
Fast forward to June, the commission is complete and needing to be sent out. I start seeing multiple bewares on twitter about this person filing charge-backs on people even when the art is completed so i hesitate on sending it out for things to die down and see the outcome of all these bewares, more to protect myself than anything.
A few days later, i get a charge-back filed through his credit card company. He claims he is not filing any of these chargebacks but i have proof via paypal this isn't the case and im very distraught, because along with the commission cost i now have to swallow the 20$ paypal fee (half the cost of the original commission+)
Dispute
Paypal transcript (Blocked out my name)
I wait to see if i get a message from this person explaining themselves, and i dont. Not a word. I end the dispute and eat the loss, and block them. I then contact paypal and was thankfully able to get a payout so i can safely keep the art and not have to worry about being scammed out of work already done AGAIN.
Without adding too much unnecessary info about the drama surrounding this and my conversations with this person arguing about insisting to pay after betraying my trust, I dont believe the list of excuses he gave as to why this happened. It went from, my paypal glitched to i deleted my paypal and it caused charge-backs to its my card messing up. None of which i believe as none of these things actually happen and i have proof from a paypal representative saying these were filed manually.
This made me so nervous to continue using paypal but the representative did say that digital artists have protection, so all i can really say is keep receipts of everything and contact the help center if something goes wrong. You are protected.
Since i didnt get to save messages of the transaction before i blocked here are messages admitting the charge-back and me denying further payment. I wish i could provide more info but since i shut the situation down so quickly after hearing from others i really didnt have the energy to hear more excuses/ arguing ways to get the art from me.
In November of 2018, I contacted Lui-Ra on Telegram to discuss a commission. I asked them to draw a character of mine, since at the time said character didn't have art. Once I contacted them and sent payment, they asked me for more details before suddenly going quiet. I have reason to believe I was blocked, though I can't imagine why that is. I also contacted them via Discord.
I have asked for a refund, but I doubt I will receive one any time soon.
I comissioned pinkbananaa at the end of november 2018. The comission should have been an christmas present and she knew that.
In december I got the update that she would start the comission now. In January she apologized because she had much to do, her dad was apparently sick and so on. I was understanding, since that can happen to anyone.
I havent gotten any updates since then, she also ignores my notes.
I will preface this with saying that I am genuinely actually very happy with the result. I am just displeased with what had to be done to get it.
This is the final result, and I do genuinely think it's a good one.
Moving forwards to the content to the beware:
Initially no problems were had aside from it being overdue. I don't have a screenshot of it but the journal stated a turnaround of 2-3 weeks and this took over a month. I consider this pretty negligible, however. I took no issue with this as I know life happens and I had seen some journals about her going through a rough spot so I just waited quietly until she got to me.
Payment was sent on May 25'th 2019 through paypal, and promptly paid up front.
Moving forwards to the 20'th and 21'st of June, correspondence began through email. The initial product that I got I did like, however I just wanted a minor change for character accuracy sake.
This was the ref provided
This was the secondary reference I had provided for clarification
This was the initial result
This was the second change
This was the correspondence surrounding that. Following this second change was radio silence, and someone brought to my attention it was being posted in its unfinished state. This understandably annoyed me a little bit. I can understand menstrual pain needing someone to take a break but this was over 24 hours of no correspondence before I found out it had been posted(End of my workday on the 21'st). The result was me asking her to respond or I would open a dispute with paypal.
Following this final correspondence, I had gotten radio silence for a bit more than an hour. At that point I decided to opt to open a paypal dispute - the problems I had were quickly resolved afterwards to her credit and within an hour of the dispute having been open I closed it having been satisfied.
Proof of the dispute being closed
The following morning I woke up to this. In the comments she proceeded to slander me more, and has offered to disclose my name to attempt to force me out of the community by being unable to commission artists.
Overall I would say this behavior is overly dramatic for the type of situation it was, and I hope it doesn't continue in future. Customers should not have to open disputes to get minor changes like this with the reasoning of "I'd rather move on to other projects, you'll have to deal" nor be slandered behind their backs.
