I had contacted the artist on September 18th by commenting on their journal regarding their open mlp commissions. I apologize for the 'hidden by owner' status on some of the comments in the following journal screenshot. The owner had hidden the commission details between the time that they had refunded me and the time of the final message.
On September 18th 2018 I sent them the payment
On December 12th 2018 I receive a note explaining that they are having trouble and wish to cancel the commission. It was at this time that I received a partial refund for what I had paid them.
Jump to January 23rd 2019 I still hadn't received the owed amount of 1,720 points and so I contacted them to request that the pending refund be sent
They replied on February 17th 2019 claiming that it would take them longer to issue me a refund and that they wanted to re-start my commission and asked me to send them back what they initially refunded me. In addition they also asked me to re-send them the commission information. I promptly declined this offer and reiterated that I would like the refund as this was now 2 months after the initial cancellation date and the note remained unread by them (as indicated by the yellow sticky note on the right side of the page in the second screenshot below).
On March 4th 2019 I sent a follow-up note to the one above as they still hadn't read it. I indicated, again, that I would like the remaining 1,720 points to be refunded. I also explained that if they did not have my points still on their account that they were responsible for finding another way of paying me, one of which was to purchase the owed amount of points from the DeviantArt store directly and then send them to me.
On March 5th 2019 I received their response which was an excuse as well as their indication that they were going to leave DeviantArt and that they were sorry they couldn't issue the remaining refund, leaving me out 1,720 points (converted into dollars this is $17USD as 100 points is the equivalent to $1USD). I promptly responded, albeit a little hastily and angrily and informed them of my displeasure in losing my points without having gotten what I had paid for, as well as informing them that I was going to report / make this public.
When I first started working with them they seemed like a sweet user and I appreciated getting the notice of cancellation and the partial refund. It was that which led me to trust that they would eventually refund my remaining points and instead of pressing further I waited patiently. The responses after that as well as the request to send the partial refund back so they could continue working on a commission that had been cancelled was where I began to have doubts about being refunded. I do admit my final response to them could have been worded a lot better but I was angry, frustrated, and so anxious that I went on auto pilot and wrote everything I was thinking then sent it without having a chance to proofread it. This was my final response to them and I do not intend to engage in further contact unless it is to transfer the remaining funds of 1,720. For that reason I have chosen to leave the user unblocked but I have high doubts I'll ever see the rest of my refund.
Had commissioned this artist back in July of 2018; the piece was a 3 character Studio Ghibli themed pic of my character as well as two of my friends.
Here are screen caps of payment:
At first I was super ecstatic about getting this piece because I really adored this artist and at the time,
they were seeking funds to help them out via a journal (which they conveniently deleted before I could take screenshots of it).
After payment was sent, I noted them asking if they had gotten the funds in which they replied yes and a WIP would be sent shortly (1 to 2 weeks). I figured at the time all was good:
Some time goes by so I send them a reminder note and they state that, yet again, they will have a WIP for me soon:
More time goes by and still no WIP and no reply from the artist. I get a little worried but don't think too much on it because, as an artist myself, I know how commissions can sometimes take a bit more time and personal life can throw some unexpected loops.
I send another reminder note, this time letting them know that this is a shared piece and others did pay for it as well and if things are going to be too much for them to handle, they can just cancel the piece and we'd be fine with a refund:
They quickly reply that they will get it done by Dec. or so:
... and yet I wait more:
Still did not get a reply. My note is ignored and I figure, they are busy yet again. I myself get a bit distracted with my own commissions and personal life. When I catch back up on things, I still haven't received a reply from the artist but I do seem them uploading art.
At this point, it's already well past 6 months and so I tell my friend that we may never get the piece and should each note them letting the artist know that we would like to get a refund. Soon after my friend notes them, I get this note from Yajuuu:
I was shocked at this reply, especially since my friend told me that the artist told them how they were going through medical issues and such at the time and etc. (which they not once mentioned to me this whole time mind you).
My reply to they're outlash:
I was actually hoping that things would be different and give them another chance, but after being informed and seeing another artist post a beware on them, a few weeks before I had put in a commission with them, I changed my mind. I told them I would like a full refund on the $110 but as you can see, they tried to talk me out of it:
I replied again:
After this, they then agree to refund me but I have to wait another 3 months before they can send the payment. They also pretty much black list me then and there from commissioning them ever again:
I acknowledge this and also take note of the date.
Soon after this note was sent. They leave FA and later block me on their twitter account; I wasn't talking to them there. I managed to screen cap this before the block:
So irritating that they make it sound as if they left because people were being "mean to them" and not the fact that they failed to keep their commissioners up to date, failed to give updates on works and pretty much played around with others money.
Yajuuu even went as far as to also block anyone who was in association with me after informing them of a negative outcome with them (wanting to push for a refund). If they were watching me or I watching them on the site, they were automatically blocked.
Now I'm afraid that I may never get my money back for there is no way for me to contact them when the date comes and there may be a possibility of them not keep their prommis of them refunding me at this specific date.
Edit:
Additional screencaps added on behalf of the OP by moderation staff.
[ This article contains uncensored NSFW imagery (nudity). ]
...
I initially got into contact with Strype on the 3rd of November, 2018.
One day later, on Nov 4th, we came to an agreement on a single character thigh-up commission for $220,- USD.
I subsequently provided them with my PayPal address and paid their invoice in full that same day (Nov 4th, 2018).
They confirmed my payment as completed, and informed me that I'd have linework to look at later that week.
On the 16th of November, 2018 (~12 days following the 4th), I received the linework along with a brief apology for the wait.
I approved of the linework some hours later, on the same day.
After this point, a long period of silence and no updates would occur.
This is where I want to bring one's attention to the fact that the artist does not have a ToS.
Below is a collection of screengrabs from their primary sites (FA and Twitter), both having no ToS to speak of whatsoever.
Furaffinity Account Page
Furaffinity "Commissions Available" Post 1/2 + 2/2
Twitter Page
(Additional screengrabs from other sites such as Furry Network (https://furrynetwork.com/strype/) and Weasyl have also been collected, but will not be included here as they are not in use by the artist at the time of writing this article.)
In short; the artist has no rules, no commitments, and no incentive to adhere to any sense of professionalism with commissions that start off at over 200 USD.
I should obviously have considered this a red flag prior, but I did not. That was a mistake.
Reiterating; November the 16th, 2018 was when I received and approved of the linework for my commission.
I waited until December the 17th, roughly one month later, before I sent them a note asking for an update.
No progress had been made - but they had added me to their 'priority list'. I thanked them for the update and continued waiting.
Following Christmas and New Years, on the 12th of January, 2019, I sent them a new note asking for an update if possible.
(The mentioning of 'three weeks' below here on my part is referring to me inquiring about some lighting conditions in the commission, as they had not yet started, three weeks ago.)
Understanding their reasonings, I wished them the best and continued waiting, hoping for an update.
On the 1st of February, 2019, I ended up sending them a new note, asking for an update.
Still no progress - but understanding their situation (they have been open about these issues on their public Twitter, no censoring necessary), I remained patient, hoping for an update soon.
It was during this phase of waiting I came to realize that getting put on a 'priority list' since the middle of December last year actually doesn't mean anything at all.
Strype had been taking on multiple commissions between late December in 2018 and up till early February in 2019 - all while my commission was supposedly a priority.
December 30th, 2018 - Multiple Slots
January 21st, 2019 - One Slot
January 26th, 2019 - Multiple Slots > (This one is especially interesting and will be referred to shortly)
February 10th, 2019 - Multiple Slots
The most alarming about these openings is the fact that these commissions were not prioritized behind my commission.
One of them was actually taken in late January, (Jan. 26th opening), but ended up being completed less than a month later, before my commisson had even been started.
I know this due to getting in contact with the commissioner in question.
[See mod note above]
Following these discouraging news, I wrote up a note asking for a reply in direct response to what I had learned, confronting them with my concerns on the 19th of February, 2019:
This is how my message looked:
This is the reply I received:
Reading this reply, the troublesome lack of any ToS the artist would've had to abide by, became clear to see.
I thanked them for the update and expected results to show up soon.
Three days later, on February the 22nd, 2019, the artist finally delivered my finished commission, thanking me for my patience.
Credit where credit is due, I was satisfied with the finished results, but they had arrived 3-4 months after I had paid my commission in full.
My commission had arrived roughly one week before my PayPal refund (March the 3rd) opportunity would've been rendered forfeit; not a reassuring fact.
Wanting to give them a second chance however, I inquired with them if they would be interested in taking on a second commission, granted that another uncertain 3-4 month waiting period was not to repeat itself, put in a polite of a manner as possible. Their response was simple, and sounded as follows...
There was nothing extraordinary about my experience with them, and 3-4 month waiting period.
If I wanted another commission, I should expect another 3-4 months of the exact same treatment, over again.
...
I urge you to stay away from this artist at all costs, at the very least until they possess a ToS to prevent what happened to me, from happening to you.
Commissioned Bubbles at BLFC 2018 for a Colored Badge. I paid at the convention in cash. They emailed back very quickly to confirm the commission and get references. (They CC'ed everyone who had gotten a commission at the con).
Their Trello was updated with a sketch of the badge.
I didn't hear back from them though, and in November I sent a follow up message. They replied the badge was completed and being shipped out. Their Trello still only shows the sketch and I have no proof of its completion. I also did not get any tracking number or shipment details.
I gave my address at the convention, but just to be sure, In December I sent my address once more. In January I sent a follow up.
I also messaged them on Telegram - it is still not read.
Finally in January I CC'ed everyone asking if they had heard from the artist.
The artist also replied.
I replied I'm happy to wait. Then in February I asked for an update. And then finally in February I asked for a refund.
At this point it is not looking like I'll get either the commission or the Refund. This artist is not communicative, lied about the status of the badge and the shipping, missed multiple deadlines, and in all failed to deliver.
To start this post off, I have never posted my email publically, nor have I ever given any indication that the character (or any character) in question was for sale. I do not know how this person got my email, nor who they got it from, and I have no clue who he even is. I have zero sales posts for the resale of my ocs, and I have very little desire to sell them, let alone give them away. I believe this is a case of character theft.
When they first emailed me, they were very polite. They asked if I could give them the rights to the character, as I no longer get art of her. Eventually they do mention some form of compensation being given, however they still imply they want me to just give them the character.
I'll admit, my response was probably rude, however this was in no way a wanted business transaction and personally, I find it extremely rude to randomly email someone and ask them to give you their oc simply because they want it. They questioned my decision, and I informed them that it was none of their business as to why I would like to keep that particular character. At this point, they attempt to bring in an artist beware post that was made against me (rightfull) years ago, which was resolved between myself and the artist to try to guilt me or intimidate me. After that they get very aggressive, telling me that he will be using the character anyway, claiming I lost rights to the character the moment the issue with the artist occured, which apparently means he has the rights to take her and use her how he wants.
I inform him that if he does use the character, I'll be contacting the artists to remove the pieces from their gallery as there was no permission given to use the character and I have proof that I've owned it since 2016. He then threatened me once again, saying that all it would lead to is him or others posting Artist Bewares against me for informing artists that I won the character. Again, he brings up an artist beware that was solved, at this point I believe he's trying to scare me into relenting and giving him the character.
I blocked him after this.
I do believe they will try to go through with the character theft. If anyone orders a commission with the character below and claims they own it or they have permission, they absolutely do not have either. Below is the original piece of artwork from the artist I commissioned to design her, as well as the general details showing the time the image was made.
The character's name is Ventress. She is a batpony with a distinctive tied tail and mane, and no cutiemark .
*Due do me deleting the conversation on Twitter, I do not have my messages to the artist.*
On Nov. 9th 2018, I commissioned this artist for a $60-65 slot, including paypal tax, I was charged $70.
I didnt care at the time so I accepted and waited for my commission. About a month went by and I asked if any progress was made, they said no, but would start up after the holidays. I accepted their statement and continued to wait. 1-going-on-2 months later I asked again, no reply, I believe I asked more than once if any progress was made, which I got no reply. So I decided to reach out to my bank and PayPal. When I sent out that claim I finally got a reply, about their dog passing, which NO UPDATE POST was made about this on their picarto, trello, twitter, and telegram chats, not even on their relationship partner’s social media. Its been going on three months with just one complaint about making a claim to paypal and my bank (which was closed so now I cannot make another claim to get my money back) and its about to hit four months, and I still havent gotten a sketch.
I wanted to commission this guy for a custom 3d modell of a character. He did work on many interesting pieces before, just view his 3d gallary for proof. So i wrote to him on Discord that i was interested in getting a commission from him.
It started out pretty casual.
I told him what i was looking for.
It went pretty much good until payment as we quickly came to the terms on what i wanted.
I think the last picture says a lot about my patients at that point. Its been 1 year since i commissioned him and i still had not gotten anything besides wips, also most of them only because i keeped bugging. This was my first 3d thing i wanted to get and i usually commission 2d stuff and wanted to try something new. I feel betrayed and scammed by now. There is no way paypal could assist me as the transaction was already from last year and they only gurantee you for 6 months. if i had known that i would have presured him with pulling my money back, but i never was such a person so i gave him time and casually ask from time to time.
By this day i have written him on Twitter, Deviantart and as you can tell countless times on discord. But maybe posting a beware here could help my soul to find some peace at least.
I bought a reference sheet from an artist, and King21 traced it to fill orders and sell them as original pieces.
My reference sheet
The reference sheet they sold the first person
The reference sheet they sold the second person
Proof that they actually uploaded it, meaning that someone had bought the art from them. (paid $$$).
On Patreon, too (1)
On Patreon, too (2)
On Patreon, too (3)
Patreon post 1
Patreon post 2
Proof that it's almost a carbon copy:
Superimpose (front)
Superimpose (back)
Superimpose (second sheet)
I put them on top of each other and decreased the opacity. Surely you'd agree that they traced my bought work, right? Sure, they changed some proportions like the ears, hand/paw, eyes, etc but that's very easy to do as an artist once you have the base. Hell, I could do it, and I have zero experience in art.While they aren't scamming me directly, I feel like they're scamming other people who are expecting original works, so that should be enough?
At the beginning of 2018 I took Codeine up on a deal. She was to do me a couple's sketch page with flat colour for a grand total of $200. As of now, it is still ongoing and I have two basic sketches (not-coloured) which was shown to me at the end of April 2018. (I'll come back to this later.)
Proof of Purchases
From the initial purchasing of the commission to the first sketch update, I always had difficulty communicating with her, whether it was due to no replies on Discord or her emails. This is a long running trend that is still happening today. She has said multiple times that she has personal issues going on, some to do with mental health and some to do with money. I have tried my best to be cordial and to respect the time she may take as I can understand is can be difficult. But even after a year there really has been no progress on my end all the while she still accepts more and more commissions without ever really seeing them be uploaded. (Of course, these people may have very well gotten their work done, but Codeine told me something herself which makes me doubt that.)
Large and Unmoving Backlog
She told me once that she had a backlog of near 100 people but only works on those that continue to pester her (like myself). Obviously at the time of hearing it, I thought it was a little peculiar and borderline scam-like but I tried to stay positive and said at least it lets her focus down on 'urgent' ones and such.
I'm fully aware I could considered mean or inconsiderate to go back on my word of not outing her, but at this stage I feel like I want to get the word out. With all the hubbub of Jailbird working up a backlog and constantly taking more made me think of it, and if I can stop people from falling into this pit like me, then good. From the horse's mouth the artist has a fairly dodgy work ethic / professionalism since it seems a lot of people's money has sunk into the void.
Potential Attempts at using my wallet more
I would take this one with a grain of salt, but it also showcases the long periods of time I would often have to wait for any kind of communication. She once drew to my attention an adopt for a character going and she started out by saying how much they liked drawing my character, and if I were to buy this adopt for her, I'd get a steady flow of art with them together. To her credit she said it was quite a selfish ask and didn't seem bothered by me declining. However it was followed by a particularly long period of time without any word from her after having finally just been in regular contact with her.
Her initial proposition on Jan 17th.
A period of time without contact from the 17th of Jan to the 20th of Feb. (Now, I personally feel this was because she failed to get the character out of me BUT I am happy to be proven wrong and to state that as more my opinion than anything else.) This further shows poor communication on her end, creating a frustrating time on my end.
Combinations
As time went on, I foolishly continued buying smaller things from her which also were never completed HOWEVER she did offer to combine them into the price of the sketch page. With everything said and done, she dropped a few patreon rewards and sketch slots I purchased completely in order to put more detail into the page. This included a piece of work that she left as flat colours instead of finishing, saying that would go into the page as well. We ended up basically having her owe me the same full sketch page but fully coloured, fully shaded instead of just flats like we originally settled upon. (Which I was happy to accept, of course.)
Recent Endeavours and Attempting Refunds
Lately I've been asking her for refunds on the page. Since its been so long since I've had an update, and trying to get into contact with her was a trial within itself, I started talking more about simply putting it to rest and getting me my money back. There are many things I'm still due from her but have stated I'm perfectly happy to just focus on the very original $200 and forget about the extras added on and the little sketches I bought on the side. Just the other day she responded and tried to say that the amount of work she's already done is worth $260. Even though she had this to say about the original.
This was the picture in question that I asked for price on.
This image, flat coloured would be worth $200 in her own words, that we settled upon and I paid.
Compare that with what she had managed to do for me in one evening that she is saying is worth $260.
We since moved to Twitter to speak, since I generally found better success getting her there, and I could see whether she read my messages or not. She said it was worth $260 because she has apparently done more work on it since (That I have not seen so I haven't been able to even approve it.) though I can't help but imagine she will quickly draw something up or colour a part of it to show me when she next gets back into contact with me. (Which to be honest, if she does then fine. I won't want money back for work that has been done, that's the whole point.) But as it stands, that's all I have to show for my money.
Conclusion and where I am now
4 days ago Codeine explained to me she was away from home for personal reasons and assured me she'd be away for 3 days max and would be home to talk with me further about all of this. Obviously, she has not but has read a post I sent to her earlier today. (Still past the 3 day limit she set.) I have essentially been left on read at this point in time.
The blue tick means someone has seen your post. Grey is the opposite. These were from today. 8 hours ago and 52 minutes ago respectively.
I ultimately didn't want to make this as I hoped we could come to an agreement and I could let it all go. But after constant delays to periods of time she comes up with herself, I promised to myself I would write this up and be done with it if she failed to meet the next deadline. (Yesterday.)
Even if my own issue never gets resolved I hope this might at least make a few more people aware that it might be best to steer clear from this one until her backlog seems to be more under control.
