I have been a patron of SourShock's for nearly two years and have come to known them throughout my time as a patron to be very aggressive about taking large amounts of commissions with very little timely yield. In December, Sour was hosting a sort of fast sketch sale over Picarto, and I purchased a fetish piece for myself and a friend as a Christmas gift featuring our characters having sex in a locker room for $50.00. I had a falling out with that friend so the character ended up replaced, but I never even received a sketch for this piece as far as I can recall and stopped hearing from Sour for several months sometime at the end of last year. I finally got fed up enough to ask them about the commission. They had previously said in her Discord server not to ask about WIPs and so I was doing my best to obey that rule, but it occurred to me an update wouldn't come without me inquiring. When I inquired with Sour (and mind you, this inquiry also contained several subsequent inquiries about five other commissions, one of which was made in October of 2017 and had been followed-up with extensively by me up until the WIP enforcement) I received some very aggressive excuses about their ability to complete work in a timely fashion and how I would not be able to receive a refund because it had already been "started". I told them I really wanted the piece by May 15th or I would be posting a Beware and pursuing a Paypal refund. They said I would be able to receive it and the first piece in that timely interval (this inquiry was in March) but it would mean a significant reduction in quality.
As you can see, I've waited to submit the Beware. And well, they made true on their word. I got both pieces on May 14th at around 6:00 PM, and the first was extremely disappointing. The second, my character's skin color wasn't even right and the lighting looked rushed. I am not satisfied with this work after spending so long pursuing it. I urge you not to do business with them. I regret giving them so much of my money already knowing I will probably never see those comms. The reduction in quality is evident. The piece looks rushed and mostly unfinished.
Completed image:
WIP image: Note the poor background
Examples of other sketch commissions:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/26325014/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/25218125/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/24451194/
My character's swatches:
Wanting to put out a beware on this person. Originally Autobid on a YCH that I got 9 months ago. 65 dollars for the whole thing because it also included 2 "free" bonus flat pictures IF you did the AB on it.
I did actually receive the YCH about a month later. Granted, they didn't follow the reference very well, but it can be overlooked. No problems on the style of art as it did look good. However, when questioned last about the additional flats (in December) I was informed that he would get them to me that week. That was 5 months ago. I don't for see him actually replying to this latest message I sent where I requested at least a partial refund.
The reason I went as far as to even mention that to him, because that same day he posted up two new YCH's for sale. Trying to push out more sales without ever finishing the original.
Edit 08.26.19:
Hello. I wanted to put an update on mine. After all this time RomeliaBlue has done right and I consider this resolved. He has refunded me a partial amount (the amount I suggested in my replies) and has apologized. He did state that he will be trying to get the other portions of the agreement (the other 2 pictures for the AB bonus) done, but I'm not holding my breath on that and I consider the matter taken care of.
I don't know if he just now saw that I had it on here, but it's currently at my satisfaction.
In 2017 I ordered a small piece of fur fabric and a badge from Jheman on telegram. I paid around $35 for the items plus shipping. I have not received them 2 years later after giving more than enough chances for them to send me the items. The artist would consistently make up excuses for why they haven't sent the items and would assure me that they would, and time after time I was disappointed.
Kelpiemoonknives asked me for help and I helped them.
They were a friend and I can't help helping people I like. There's been no progress and they've been avoided contact since January despite being active on Twitter.
I commissioned Kelpiemoonknives aka Kazmik to draw a ponified version of the Crysis nano suit from the original games.
They were taking a while but I considered them a good friend so I didn't worry. The commission was a taking a while so I changed it to something else involving Raven from mlp.
Kazmik hasn't responded requests about my commission since Jan 22, 2019
I tried messaging Kazmik on the one of their Twitter accounts that allowed DM from non-mutuals and no-response even though they're active on that account.
I feel betrayed and have spent too long worrying over this so I created this.
I really hate to do this but i feel as if i have no choice at this point. I commissioned a set of telegram stickers from this person on March 19th. 5 for 20 dollars. They would have been my first stickers of my sona. I waited all the way until April 4th to inquire for updates. I was told that i would receive some when they got home. I didn't. I tried again on the 11th only to be ignored. I tried firmly on the 19th only to be told that the were super busy and would send updates soon. I never got any. On May 5th, i initiated a dispute and then a claim on Paypal to try and get my money back. They sure messaged me fast then! They asked me to remove the claim and said they'd send me updates. And me being as gullible as i am, i canceled the dispute. I didn't know that you couldn't reopen disputes after closing them. So i have no way of getting my money back from them at this point unless they for some reason decide to refund me. And all of this talk about being busy cannot be true. I'm in several furry art groups that they're in as well. And i see them commenting on peoples posts all the time about how they're open for commissions and such. So i can only imagine how many other people are being swindled. I feel so dumb right now but i wanted to warn others.
I had commissioned the artist Climbdraws for a drawing of my puppy when I first got him, sent the payment and never heard from them again after asking several times about the status of the commission. It’s been nearly a year and a half which wouldn’t even be a problem if I had gotten some sort of update (even though all of their commissions seem to be completed within a few days or weeks generally.) Here’s some screenshots of the convo between me and the artist who goes by climbdraws on tumblr. On other social media they go by climbstudio or climbtothestars but I believe they’re most well known as being half of the YouTube animator team, noodlers. This isn’t the first time they’ve been kinda sketchy with me, first I ordered a leafpool sticker from their storenvy which never arrived so after several months I contacted storenvy (which was after trying to contact them directly for months) and they claimed I gave them a bad address and the sticker was sent back to them months ago. Which made me think ‘okay... kinda weird considering that’s my address and why didn’t they tell me?’ They then ‘resent’ the sticker without asking for a new address and it arrived this time leading me to believe they just never sent it the first time. After that the first time I tried to commission them we planned it all out but I stopped hearing from them completely before I even sent the payment. Which wasn’t too big of a deal just weird I never heard anything one way or the other. Then what you see in the photos happened and unfortunately I never received my refund or my commission/: since they’re a pretty popular face in the wc community I wasn’t sure what to do about it, and at this point it’s too late to dispute on PayPal/:
Artist sells regular monthly YCH auctions, purchased a spot at significant auto-buy price and paid promptly. Item was completed and no further contact from artist. This weekend the artist posted their latest batch of finished commissions and I noted that mine was posted - as well as another near duplicate piece featuring another character from the same base sketch. The artist resold the same sketch to a second regular commissioner without notification to the auction winner/original buyer. No mention that this was a possibility was in the auction terms, nor in any terms of service the artist provides. For the significant price paid, I feel it is reasonable to assume the exact sketch would not be reused as a base for additional work. Evidence below:
Original YCH Auction Posting: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/31055673/ (NSFW)
My completed commission: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/31414530/ (NSFW)
Second piece from same base: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/31414687/ (NSFW)
I did contact the artist and they did confirm that they sold the piece twice. All that was offered was an apology and statement they would avoid doing it in the future. However, I did note a second set of identical pieces in the recent postings - I cannot speak to the situation of those and will not link them here, but it gives evidence that this may be a recurring pattern and makes me doubt changes will be made to their practices.
While I don't expect any resolution from the artist (they did deliver a completed piece as commissioned), I did want to warn the community about the incident given the high profile of the artist and high cost of their work. Buyers beware.
Summary:
Mixi accepted a commission, delayed it multiple times for over a year while providing countless excuses, and has since began to ignore messages, outright refusing to communicate. She is not inactive, still streaming and posting new works.
March 9th, 2018
I emailed Mixi with the details of my commission. It was to have two characters, with a large amount of variant versions of the image. Mixi agreed to the request as stated, and placed a rather high price tag on it, which we the commissioners agreed to, specifically stating it was reasonable due to the amount of work requested.
March 10th, 2018
After some difficulty on her part, in regards to the invoice being done correctly, it was finally sent. The invoice was split between the two commissioners - $200 each. This amount was paid in full, along with an additional $20 tip.
April 12th, 2018
Mixi sends an email excusing her delays.
April 28th, 2018
Mixi finally provides the first sketch of the piece.
We have a short conversation back and forth regarding needed changes.
May 31st, 2018
I message Mixi as I have not heard from her in a month.
June 6th, 2018
Mixi messages back an excuse.
Sept 10th, 2018
I message Mixi as there has been no further communication or updates. She replies with further excuses.
Sept 19th, 2018
Mixi sends an image with more work put into it. This is the last update we have received, though the piece is still not completed as per the original specifications. The artist was requested to make some changes to their coloring as they did not reflect the character accurately, and to move forward with the variant versions. This final provided image is unsatisfactory even as a stand-alone, due to the inaccurate depiction of the character, and Mixi agrees to make adjustments.
Dec 2nd, 2018
I message Mixi asking if there was an update. This message was never responded to.
April 22nd, 2019
I message Mixi further stating my dissatisfaction. She replies, stating she is willing to offer a partial refund. I request that she offer specifics on what she is willing to do. She has not replied since.
April 26th, 28th, May 2nd, 2019
I have sent emails on these dates that have gone unreplied to, requesting that she provide specific terms for what she was offering.
Update from comments:
No contact from Mixi in 8 days. Mixi has not clarified on what she is offering in a manner which I can take as a sincere offer.
No contact from Mixi in 8 days. Mixi has not clarified on what she is offering.
Her original "offer" is as follows:
I clarified further what we are asking for, but have not received a response.
It has been 8 days, we are still waiting.
So initially I commissioned them in April for a head base to be finished. It needed a nose, eyes, ears, and fur.
We moved to telegram from here on and that’s when problems began to arise.
They didn’t contact me at all until June when I asked about ventilation Bc of my health issues.
I had to initiate the conversation.
She promised me Tomu would be done in time for megaplex since she had since April. And it was a Premade base.
Little did I know I was a ‘weekend’ project. Which I wasn’t told until I looked at their Trello.
I began to text more frequently since, as you can see, I got little to no communication until July.
And they hadn’t done a thing.
This was when I realized Tomu would not be done. And I would have to wait.
So eventually I decided to ask about a refund. Little did I know their financial issues were of their own doing. They used my commission money for non-commission related things.
So In the span of 4 months all she had for me was a nose.
They told me they didn’t even have the fur for my fursuit. Which I don’t understand as I paid them in April and this is in August. So where did my money go?
I got rather upset when I saw her posting about me.
So I finally set my foot down.
After six months of torturous waiting and run around.
I
They began to ‘warn’ people about me.
And that’s when I blocked and moved on when I got my money back.
I got $700 out of the $800 I paid.
Anyway we came to somewhat of an agreement.
Until I finally began reading people who are to this day still awaiting refunds. Years of waiting.
So I did a chargeback.
