Incident 1: November 2016
In November 2016 I commissioned Graviilean for a fullbody traditional piece (digital copy only - the physical copy was for her school Portfolio). Around January 2017 I sent a note requesting an update. Graviilean apologized and offered a free sketch, explaining that she forgot to scan the original before mailing it. I asked for updates on either piece around every 3 months - until October 2017 when Graviilean asked me to accept a refund for the order, stating she had never done the extra sketch and didn't know if she would get back the portfolio.
Incident 1 Proof: https://sta.sh/2kna8yk4e4i?edit=1
Incident 2: March 22, 2018
I ordered a fullbody digital commission and paid $70. On June 14, 2018 I received a notice of a refund (no other contact from the artist until this point). The artist did comment with a reason afterwards (illness/emergency).
Incident 2 Proof: https://sta.sh/26b16j5xup8?edit=1
Incident 3 and 4: July 5, 2018 and September 13, 2018
I ordered a fullbody digital commission and paid $70. For those wondering, I tried again because I decided to chalk up the first two experiences as bad luck and bad timing respectively. I had also messaged her prior to ordering to be sure she would actually do the commission. At the time of ordering, Graviilean stated it would take about 3 weeks due to character complexity. I had no problem with the wait. I received a rough pose sketch on July 26. While waiting, Graviilean opened some headshot sketch commissions and I ordreed 2 ($40) because it seemed she was getting through them quickly. In October, Graviilean posted some journals explaining that she could not work on anything digitally** and needed to raise $2,000 for a new tablet and refunding old commissions. I was upset so I commented, and I will make no excuses for my rude tone at that time.
Graviilean assured me that my commissions would be done by the end of October. November 4, 2018, after Graviilean ignored my notes requesting an update, I posted a PSA about her continuing poor performance, including proof of her opening commissions to refund older commissions she never did, along with posting statuses for new commissions/asking to raise large ($400+) amounts between the commission journals.
Two days after posting the PSA, Graviilean found out and messaged me "How will I sell commissions to refund you now?" I offered her another solution, to draw my commissions traditionally (she claimed to have broken her tablet). November 18, 2018 I offered (requested) that Graviilean finish my commissions traditionally since digital was out of the question. I informed her I would file a chargeback December 31st if I had not received either the art or a refund. December 30, 2018 (a day early due to a family trip for New Years, where I would be without internet access) I opened the chargeback. Graviilean left a final status message stating she was abandoning her account and encouraging those who could to chargeback, as she had no interest in dealing with it. She refused to communicate with me through Paypal and forced me to wait the full length of time for Paypal to close the case.
** Special note - during my PSA updates, it was brought to my attention that Graviilean had a side account Graviinator (DA) and Facebook where she was posting digital art during the months she stated she had no way to draw digitally, along with opening commissions through that account. Proof of this - https://sta.sh/2twj39et8et?edit=1
Incident 3 and 4 Proof: https://sta.sh/2s2oveupup9?edit=1
Graviilean Status and Journal Posts (offering comms to refund comms) Proof: https://sta.sh/2z1vtwgq09d?edit=1
Graviilean final "Go ahead and chargeback" status: https://www.deviantart.com/graviilean/status/15992687
Summary / End Notes:
Beginning in November 2016, I have attempted to commission Graviilean (DA) 4 times. My orders have been "done but lost", refunded due to "illness/emergency", and finally just simply not finished. I had to file a chargeback as Graviilean would not give me specific dates for the refund on my final 2 orders ($70 fullbody and $40 for 2 busts). In a final Status update on DA, Graviilean stated she was abandoning the name/account permanently and would move on to "better things". She stated those that could, should file a chargeback.
She has moved accounts to https://miau124.deviantart.com (DA) / MiaU (FB) / MiaMatsuno (Twitter) (WARNING: NSFW Twitter account) and opened up new commissions and posted digital artwork (during the time she stated she could not use her tablet)
MiaU / Graviilean + Graviilean final status- Proof: https://sta.sh/0dvuzxgi1kp
https://sta.sh/01798pttiofh
(In case it is unclear from her art style, several of the "fake screenshots" are posted on her Graviinator (DA) side account and now on MiaU124, along with the same character name and bio)
So Let me start out by saying this could likely be cause for a full beware. But I actually quite like this artist, and as this is the first time i've ever had problems with them (I've commissioned them in the past) I decided to go with a caution.
Back on January 16th 2018, I commissioned them after they posted [this post], showing discounted commissions.
they noted me, saying they didnt want it to be public but they'd let me buy one even though at the time I didn't have enough.
at the time I had 13$, but I eventually got more and could pay them 18. they were fine with this, because I was a repeat customer of theirs.
I paid them the next day.
On Febuary 15th, I asked how it was going since it had been a month. They replied, saying life was stressful and shit. And I was totally cool with that, I understand what thats like.
On March 28th, they messaged me asking for a new ref since they lost the old one, saying they were starting the commission. I was cool with this, and provided them with a new reference.
Then, lastly, on April 30th 2018 I messaged them informing them me and my, at the time, Fiance had actually broken up and I'd like the art to be of something different if they hadn't started already.
They didnt reply. As of today, they have not contacted me since, they haven't been active on Furaffinity since March, and most of their other social medias are completely dead with no activity or are deactivated.
I'd really like this resolved, not just for my art or for a refund, but to see if they're ok. Since i've commissioned them before and they were fine, I don't feel a full beware is necessary. But definitely be a bit cautious if they're still active anywhere and you happen to of commissioned them.
Our entire note history is below. The only thing crossed out is their email, as it's not publicly accessible on their page.
On the 18th of October, 2018 I commissioned morvin for a flat colored icon/headshot, gave them my character and paid on the same day. On the 3rd of November, I asked for an update and then contacted morvin again on the 5th to give a redirect link to my character. Please note that my original question for an upate went kind of ignored by them.
On the 3rd of December, I asked for another update and got a traditional sketch WIP on the same day which I promptly approved. On the 29th of December I asked for another update, voicing my displeasure about the long wait time and minimal communication, which was responded to on the same day, telling me to wait as they (assumingly) had quite a queue on their hands.
On the 10th January, I gave them a deadline of 2 weeks to deliver the art, again voicing my displeasure and distrust in them. They responded on the 14th with their own deadline and asked me to wait until the 25th which I agreed to. On the 27th, I told them that the 25th had passed and I gave them a quite lenghty message, asking them to refund me until the end of the week. I recieved my refund in a quietly manner on the same day (27th January).
I'm posting this caution/beware as it was kinda stressful dealing with them, though I wish the best for them to better their customer communication and queue management for the future~
Since watching Dirt-chomp on FA I've purchased 6 busts for $10 each prior to this debacle and everything has been great. The quality of the work and timely manner had me coming back to purchase a YCH and a discount couples bust in July 2013.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10891605/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4868235/#cid:34960083
Month by month passed and I didn't bother reminding her until march 14th the next year. No reply. Tried her DA account at the same time. No reply. Tumblr account. No reply. At this point I simply gave up until I found her twitter and twitch handle. Joined a stream and at the mention of my name she shut the stream down.
Someone sent me a link to her tumblr account and once again, no reply. At this point I gave up until I found their twitter and twitch handle. Found her streaming in twitch and tried talking to her there but the moment I mentioned my name she shut the stream down. I also messaged her on twitch. I found her on Instagram and posted on her latest submission that I've been trying to get in contact with her and at this point, I was pretty darn frustrated being 5 years and $105 usd out of pocket so I threatened to take it to artist beware. Needless to say she deleted my comments.
While waiting for my art she has been actively taking in commissions from other people and doing works for them as you can see on twitter and Instagram as well as tumblr for some older stuff. As a last ditch effort I also contacted the studio where she works at.
PROOF:
Commission Information - https://sta.sh/010z0b33vpqp
Commission Paid - https://sta.sh/0yeocs0c87w
Inquiries - https://sta.sh/0a8iwa1kj4c
Found Her! - https://sta.sh/0141luzy1qdw (The video has since been taken down)
More Inquiries - https://sta.sh/0bigzy2kcm3 https://sta.sh/016efysynm8w (Tumblr stuff has been wiped)
Christmas was coming around and due to financial troubles, Chesta wanted to take emergency commissions to earn a bit of cash to spend on her three children.
Proof of commission: https://sta.sh/024qbp1cjo2s
Proof of purchase: https://sta.sh/011ldghfgpgk
https://sta.sh/01wplj8ap2b3
She did have a lot on her plate, so I didn't worry about it. However, she has a Trello and didn’t update it often, so if anything, I was a bit nervous that she forgot about me. But a simple reminder should do.
I noted her in April 2018 (forgot the original day, sorry) and asked if I could get my name on the Trello and was giving her a gentle poke in that direction. Sadly, no reply. I tried again, copy paste the original note on June 2018. Still no reply.
Getting a little nervous, I wrote out another note on July 12th 2018, asking about my commission and expressing my understanding of the hardships she’s facing. However, I did mention, since it has been 6 months since the original commission was paid for, I was debating to get a refund. I was practically begging for her to reply to my notes. She did...telling me that I wasn’t forgotten and she doesn’t update her Trello enough to be reliable.
Proof of unopened notes: https://sta.sh/0rx20svjd58
Proof of reply: https://sta.sh/0cqypc2a1f6
It wasn’t until November 2018 where I was knuckling down on this. I want my art and she’s not delivering. Not even WIPs or personal updates to me. Her situation is getting worse and she’s constantly taking on more and more work.
I gave her another note, trying to get her to be honest with me. I wanted to help her. I was trying to be good and understanding because of my own experiences. I was giving her the benefit of the doubt.
Proof of conversation: https://sta.sh/0urchox90qe (1)
https://sta.sh/0x1byin29n2 (2)
5 days after this conversation (11/13), she wrote a PSA about explaining her actions (please note the comments are disabled). Sadly, she only refunded a handful of people (questionable) because she “is already working on the other commissions”. I was not refunded, because she claimed that she was working on my commission...but still no WIPs to defend herself.
[Cut by mods. The journal is really personal. It should be noted that very personal information is being shared to clients who have been waiting for commissions.]
The end of November, she gave out her email to everyone because she disabled her notes since they got too overwhelming.
Proof of journal: https://sta.sh/0d2xvgeg56f
I emailed her, laying down the line because I was losing my patience. More or less, I said, “Art or refund.” She pleaded with me to wait a week because she would finish my commission within that time frame. Allowing her one last chance, I agreed. It was November 30th 2018. The completed time would be December 7th 2018.
Proof of email: https://sta.sh/013d1a9hxz8s (1)
https://sta.sh/01954getkwvv (2)
https://sta.sh/01yutosn7v2e (3)
It’s been one month since that email.
It’s now the New Year and I emailed her one last time, demanding the art or I will inform Paypal of fraud. She is telling me that she has it...but must wait until she gets home.
Not since she got her internet back up (which was apparently on the 7th of January), she’s been radio silent on my commission. Yesterday, she posted only one commission; a more recent commission that she took on a month or so ago. I’ve had enough of this waiting game and pulled out the big guns.
I filed a dispute with my bank on January, 9th 2019. Hopefully, I’ll get good news.
Proof of email: https://sta.sh/02fzg9vaz8ds (1)
https://sta.sh/0100d5wwgzxl (2)
Proof of bank dispute message: https://sta.sh/01foihsglonb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s been a month since I’ve heard back from the bank, still left in the dark. So far, nothing.
Chesta finally got some motivation to do some commission work and is actually posting again. She then did note me, asking for “certain” details on my OCs
Proof of notes (NSFW!!): https://sta.sh/0cr9d1o5n36
However, despite this, I’m still posting this Artist Beware. If I FINALLY obtain the commission, I will update this Beware and say, “It is finished” and call it resolved.
Edit update by Celestina: Chesta's response.
https://sta.sh/0e408suwx31
Edit 2 update by Celestina:
My bank got back to me two days ago, unable to help without "contacting the merchant". After today's journal, I know she will not take kindly to any pressuring for either commissions or money.
She did make a new journal today...but more or less, it's another copy/paste job of pity, saying far more personal stuff and how she's sorry that she's slow and disappeared and "should be coming back soon."
https://sta.sh/01icefwqiixy
I had contacted this seller before and expressed an interest in getting a fursuit from them.
I first contacted them on furaffinity.
They were very excited to work with me and were looking for furs before I had ever officially decided to buy.
On December 31st 2015 I had finally placed the order and sent the down payment.
Jump to July 23rd, 2016
My suit is "done"
I would like to make it VERY clear that I did not start this note, this was not a reply to a note of mine. They told me the suit is done 100% on their own with no prompting.
After this note they went silent.
There were many comments on their furaffinty shout section asking where they were. I was also wondering.
I went and explored and found their facebook to contact them.
I was told that they had lost their passwords for all of their sites. All of them.
I hadn't only contacted facebook, I found their Instagram and twitter as well. Facebook was the only place I was answered.
November 24th - 26th, 2016
I asked if the suit would be done by June 2017
Still November 2017: suit is done, just needs eyes.
January 2017
I ask for signs of life
They did send an image in January 2017
After I got the picture I asked about feet being made (I was unaware that I wasn't buying feet, this wasn't made clear at time of purchase.)
In January 2017: "full partial, including feet, will be done by BLFC 2017 (June)
April 4th, 2017 I received a note on furaffinity saying Moose is "almost finished" and will be shipped in a week.
Please see above, in 2016, where they said Moose was done and Nov. 2017 when the suit would be done in a week.
June 2017
BLFC promised due date
They responded to nothing. I'm just fretting over getting this suit after chasing them across multiple accounts and am afraid they're trying to hide from me again.
We eventually decide 2 would be better for both of us, instead of noon.
I eventually got the suit....
But without the feet.
June 30th, 2017.
At this point I'm still missing feet... and they're offering a full body suit. I'm very wary.
So I ask how much just the fur would be (I figure I could get literally anyone else to make the body)
They promise all the fur + the feet
I was then ignored again
December 19th, 2017
I filed a paypal dispute, which they ultimately ignored, causing paypal to side with me and refund me for the fur.
December 20th 2017
January 29th, 2018
February 6th, 2018
They claim twitter lost a message, maybe it did.
Here's what I saw on MY end
Whether or not twitter actually lost the messages or they just didn't send them, I don't know for sure.
March 12th 2018
The feet arrive! In...the wrong... colors....
The fur for the tail, hands and head are all really desaturated brown.
The feet are RED brown
The suit
The suit is well made and followed the ref pretty closely!
The feet were the wrong shades of brown compared to the rest of the suit (was refunded) and her horns were almost nonexistent (I made my own horns and added them myself).
original head
horns I added
They're perfectly nice people and the suit is adorable and well made but they have a big problem with deadlines and lying. Their biggest problem was account dodging and ignoring me entirely.
They would just disappear from all accounts. They'd claim they lost passwords on all their accounts but they'd magically find them all later.
They'd make promises they never kept and lied about finishing things that wouldn't actually be finished for another year or more after. The lying is the most startling because when they claimed the suit was entirely finished (more than a year before it actually was) it was unprompted. They noted me on their own to lie to me about it being finished.
Feb 22 2016
Nycket uploaded the babyshower YCH, they said they lowered the price to $60 because no one was interested in buying it before at a higher price.
Feb 23 2016
I commented letting them know I was interested but I was going to wait in case anyone else wanted the the spot.
Feb 24 2016
I bought slot #2 for $60 in the babyshower YCH, paid that same day.
Jan 07 2017
I had not been given any updates on the YCH since I had bought it, except for seeing it being worked on once in stream. This Trello card was the last documented update on the babyshower YCH. My character is lined and colored (the one sitting on the floor.)
~ May 2017
Nycket posted a submission opening traditional bust commissions (If I remember correctly, they couldn't work on digital images because they couldn't find their computer cord after a move.) I responded with interest. They were a bit slow to respond but later we agreed on a digital bust since they finally got their new computer cord.
(No screenshots of the comments on the submission as it was deleted later.)
May 08-09 2017
I sent a note with my references for the 2nd commission, then sent payment of $20.
Jun 05 2017
I noticed that the submission where we discussed my 2nd commission was gone, and checking their Trello(linked on their FA profile at the time), I realized it was also not listed there. So I sent a note asking about it. They responded quickly saying they haven't forgotten. They removed the Trello link off their FA profile right after(without telling me they did or why), which raised my suspicion.
Jun 20 2017
Nycket made a journal titled "READ IF YOU HAVE A COMMISSION, TRADE, OR COLLAB FROM ME" saying that they've fallen behind on keeping track of things. They said they were going to update their list and to let them know if they owed us anything. I commented with what they owed me. Again this behavior was making me feel a bit uneasy about working with them.
Jul 26-27 2017
[The follow item has been removed by moderation staff. It is inappropriate for Artists Beware given it's personal sensitive information taken from a locked account.]
Jul 29 2017
They were back on FA and I noted them telling them I filed a dispute and that some of their recent actions and lack of communication had really made me regret buying a second commission from them, considering how long I was still waiting for the YCH.
They responded saying that anxiety was why they don't communicate, why they deleted the submission where I ordered the 2nd commission and why they removed the link to their Trello and apologized for everything.
I tried to be as encouraging as possible and offered my full support as long as they were willing to work to get things done and to communicate more.
[Cap removed by moderation staff because it is more personal general chat.]
Aug 01 2017
I had let them know what my telegram was so if they wanted to talk, they could. They contacted me on Aug. 1st. and said they appreciated me reaching out, and said they'd talk to me later. This was the only time they initiated conversation with me. (I don't believe Nycket ever went on telegram again, so at the time of screenshotting this, their account just says 'Deleted Account' as Telegram auto deletes inactive accounts after a time.)
Aug 16 2017
They never did talk to me again. I sent a note saying I was escalating my dispute to a claim (at this point I was tired of waiting still with no updates on either commission and having to contact them for updates instead of the other way around, and I was running out of time on my dispute and I did not have enough confidence in Nycket to complete anything in the time remaining)
They responded saying they couldn't issue a refund because of their paypal being in the negatives and her job not giving her enough hours. This was the last time I personally heard from Nycket.
I eventually did get a chargeback for the 2nd commission on August 25, 2017 (see previous paypal screenshot). Absolutely no word from Nycket on that though.
2018
They were posting journals up until late March in 2018. No updates on any commissions in that time. Absolutely no update about anything anywhere after March.
Jan 16 2019
I sent an email to try to regain contact, but they never responded.
Jan 23 2019
Left some shouts on Nyckets profile officially asking for a refund for the babyshower YCH since I never had asked about the possibility of one before they disappeared. Since they already did the work on my character but did not complete the image, I asked for $30 back instead of the full $60. Still no response from Nycket.
TL;DR: I bought a YCH slot in early 2016 and then a bust commissions in May 2017. Never got an update on either of them, and neither was ever completed. Got a chargeback for the bust commission but still no update on the YCH spot. Nycket then disappeared and nobody has heard from them since.
All in all, Nycket just never communicated and I was always being left in the dark with no updates or WIPs or anything. Lack of communication was the biggest problem for me, looking back on this there were more excuses than actual updates, if there were any at all. They never let me know about the progress on things, I just happened upon them in stream or if I went looking.
On the 29th of March 2018, Wardenz07 requested a commission.
He asked me to make a 20K word story about a man who ends up in a rubber funhouse game show, and must escape from various inflatable obstacles.
I accepted the commission and we eventually agreed upon $95.00, if I remember correctly.
At first, he said that he would pay me half up front, but I waited to ask for the deposit until I was halfway done. When I finished the first half, he said that he was drunk when he wrote that, and that he would pay me once I was finished with the full story.
I continued to write the story and I kept him updated and sent drafts of what I had so far. He sent me a lot of messages checking with me every so often.
Once I finished, he said he would pay me after it was published. That never happened. I kept checking in with him on the status of the payment, and he kept putting it off.
I named the commission The Rubber Funhouse Escape and I posted it in three parts.
Part 1https://www.furaffinity.net/view/27163967/, Part 2 https://www.furaffinity.net/view/27681276/, Part 3 https://www.furaffinity.net/view/27986909/.
Finally, when I asked him if he had the money to begin with, he said, and I quote, "No I did buy stuff just happened that’s all sorry"
That was the last message I got from him before he stopped responding to me entirely.
I kept checking in with him regardless, I even offered a payment plan so he could pay me little by little, instead he blocked me.
He never complained about what was in the story, or claim that I didn't meet his specifications. Rather he constantly sent me excuses to stall until I finally finished his order.
The fact that I never got paid isn't the biggest problem; I felt betrayed since I trusted him.
I have a bunch of the messages that he wrote attached here. I can provide more if necessary.
I tried posting to an "artist beware" site before, however I did not understand its interface and I eventually gave up. Recently, another writer on Furaffinity reached out to me about Wardenz07 asking about my experience with him. After informing him about what had happened with the user, he directed me to artistsbeware.info.
In writing this I hope that Wardenz07 will not be able to hurt anyone again, and hopefully the next artist who works for Wardenz07 will get paid for their hard work.
Quote request sent on December 1st, 2015. Artist/Fursuit Maker, Stormy, Replied March 22nd, 2016 with final price broken down for each part. First payment sent via PayPal and received by Stormy on March 23rd, 2016.
Payments completed via PayPal. Final payment completed on September 15th, 2016 . Work was delayed on June 11th, 2016 due to an animal with an illness. Her entire queue received a message with estimated completion dates on April 26th, 2016, which was supposed to be the upcoming Anthrocon. Work was again delayed on October 6th, 2016 due to a wedding.
Contact was requested on January 18th, 2017 and a response was sent from Stormy to me on January 19th, 2017. Update on her personal life was sent to her clients [including myself] on January 20th, 2017. In this email she put what she has done on each project in order of what is done and where everyone is in her queue. Mine, Soleil, had not been casted. On April 13th, 2017 we all received an email saying she is selling premades for completion in July 2017. She also noted Soleil will be completed by the end of April 2017. Email was sent to her clients to join an Angels Nest Fursuits telegram chat on April 23rd, 2017, with the link provided. Shortly after it sent, it no longer worked.
I emailed her on July 19th, 2017 to see a WIP or any progress to see if materials had even been purchased. I received a reply the same day, stating she is still working on her first two clients, and working on purchasing/replenishing materials. On July 20th, 2017, I sent Stormy a formal request for a full refund as she had broken her own ToS which I was respectful and professional. The same day, she sent me a reply. She stopped replying to my emails, so I contacted her on Instagram on August 21st, 2017, since I noticed she was active. She claimed she was “warned” about me and was very unprofessional in a lengthy conversation via chat on Instagram.
Explanation in depth: In an effort to gain some understanding, I attempted to fix the issue by contacting her regularly to keep with updates, yet she refused to work with me at all. Once I noticed a pattern of similar life updates, but not any fursuit or art related updates, and the removal of her Trello and the Telegram chat, I grew increasingly concerned. I also noticed how she had posted she would be making premades to sell at Anthrocon and MFF. I also grew increasingly concerned since she told us all about her declining mental health and physical health, but after a time of over one year, nothing had changed. I tried to reach out to her as a friend and client but was later met with hostility as I emailed her regularly. I also noticed she obtained two new dogs after her puppy had passed away. I sent her my deepest condolences and gave her time to heal. She also posted on her Instagram how she will now dedicate her time to making a dog training channel on YouTube. After I saw this post, I was very upset. She has clients who have paid her a lot of money to work on custom fursuits/partials. In a series of messages via Instagram, she said some very hateful words and I never once went into all caps, never once did I throw an insult nor a curse word. I even praised her for taking care of herself. Yet all I was met with was hatred and insults and swearing. Since that day, not much has been done and I have not heard a peep. As far as we know, no one has received anything from Stormy/Angels Nest Fursuits. I am both shocked and gravely concerned for all parties involved.
