Artist Beware: Chesta

I've been following Chesta for a while, and while it's sad to see her here, I can't say I'm surprised. Over the years I've noticed that she has a habit of taking on more work and building on to her queue without finishing work at the same rate, and it's always made me wary of ordering something. I hope you get a resolution to this, a year for art really is too long.

I'm glad finally someone got around to putting up a beware about Chesta.  Doing business with her has been an experience in extreme frustration.  Multiple instances of prepaid work which took three years to get done.  One is still outstanding.  Purchased a couple of character ref slots middle last year, and I even required on the Paypal Invoice for a done-by date that both agreed to (so it's right on the contract itself and had to be there before payment could be sent).  Of course, that meant absolutely nothing.  Those items are still outstanding.

She got a lot more active when I started pressuring Chesta about those two items when the charge-back expiration got nearer and I started warning her that I would invoke that right, especially since she broke the contract regarding the date when it would be done.  But I allowed her to continue working past the charge back dates, and immediately after that her activity went to zero.  Go figure.

I'm sorry OP [and the commenter above] had to deal with this.  I hope you can get some sort of resolution.

Seeing her behavior patterns like this is why I've never commissioned her.  I've purchased multiple adopt bases from her, since that's already completed and they get delivered to me within hours or a couple of days of me buying them.  I'm willing to buy more bases if they catch my eye, but I'd never get a commission from her.

Also, a note about Chesta and journals:

It seems to me she's frequently including very personal information in them.  It feels to me like an attempt into guilt-tripping readers into not pressuring her into dealing with her commitments. 

Here's the invoices for my outstanding items:

https://sta.sh/01rwv6q292h4 (note the terms at the bottom, where Chesta agreed to have it done by Aug/Sept, this has to be part of the invoice before payment is tendered)

https://sta.sh/01llry0s1y52 (note the terms at the bottom, where Chesta agreed to have it done by the end of that month, this has to be part of the invoice before payment is tendered)

https://sta.sh/014l6xevya7s (three and a half years and counting)

Twilight, I am personally appalled; and I thought a year+ was too much, but 3 years?! You have the patience of a saint, more than me. 

Kei, you are 100% right. That's also why it's very hard to separate evidence from issues because they intertwine so much. I don't like the guilt-tripping and that's why it took so long for me to write this in the first place. I wanted to be nice and wait, but this was just too much.

Oh, Chesta noted me yesterday, getting upset about this Beware, saying she is working on my commissions and wants this down when she's finished.

3 hours ago, Twilight said:

Here's the invoices for my outstanding items:

https://sta.sh/01rwv6q292h4 (note the terms at the bottom, where Chesta agreed to have it done by Aug/Sept, this has to be part of the invoice before payment is tendered)

https://sta.sh/01llry0s1y52 (note the terms at the bottom, where Chesta agreed to have it done by the end of that month, this has to be part of the invoice before payment is tendered)

https://sta.sh/014l6xevya7s (three and a half years and counting)

Why not write your own beware? Multiple bewares have more weight.

19 minutes ago, 1337Scaly said:

Twilight, I am personally appalled; and I thought a year+ was too much, but 3 years?! You have the patience of a saint, more than me. 

Kei, you are 100% right. That's also why it's very hard to separate evidence from issues because they intertwine so much. I don't like the guilt-tripping and that's why it took so long for me to write this in the first place. I wanted to be nice and wait, but this was just too much.

Oh, Chesta noted me yesterday, getting upset about this Beware, saying she is working on my commissions and wants this down when she's finished.

Oh so now she is getting mad at YOU for something SHE did? The audacity to even dare get in a huff for her poor lack of proper business management being made publuc is HIGHLY unprofessional. If she did what she was supposed to do, she wouldn't be having peoole call her out on it ajd make public bewares not to commission her unless they want to be scammed.

Plus this isnt her only beware about her. I've seen at least 2 others.

Can you provide a copy of her message for us in the beware as well please??

Yes, I'd include that new note as well.  It's just further proof of poor behavior as an artist.

And I agree with @Bornes about making another beware.

Luna, Kei, I did inform the admins to include the new note, which they did. It's on the very bottom of the Beware.

Do not worry, I will keep everyone in the loop and add more evidence if it comes up. Thank you all for standing behind me on this. It means a lot to a shy introvert who wants to end the chaos like myself.

Wow, so unprofessional. I looked at her art gallery and she seems to be constantly taking on new work and making excuses. If she is as mentally exhausted and overwhelmed as she claims, she should just refund people.  Her journals come across as very guilt trippy when she starts mentioning  domestic abuse and her kid's behavioral problems.  She  needs to stop getting personal with her customers, take some responsibility, and figure out a plan to make things right.

15 hours ago, Mortymaxwell said:

 If she is as mentally exhausted and overwhelmed as she claims, she should just refund people. 

I get the feeling that the reason she tends to take on work before coming close to finishing old work is because she spends the money before she's done and needs to fill up again to fund the refunds. Which is in itself a red flag as well.

Chesta posted a new journal to her FA a few minutes ago, stating she's taken on too much work, she will refund some current commissioners, she'll work to not end up with such a massive queue in the future.

I... will believe that if and when it happens.  Admitting there's an issue is a good first step, though.

[Not sure if linking the journal would be okay?  I can link it in another comment if mods say it's okay.  It does bring up a bit of personal stuff, though I suppose I could screencap and edit out the personal bits so it's only business-focused?]

5 minutes ago, Kei said:

Chesta posted a new journal to her FA a few minutes ago, stating she's taken on too much work, she will refund some current commissioners, she'll work to not end up with such a massive queue in the future.

I... will believe that if and when it happens.  Admitting there's an issue is a good first step, though.

[Not sure if linking the journal would be okay?  I can link it in another comment if mods say it's okay.  It does bring up a bit of personal stuff, though I suppose I could screencap and edit out the personal bits so it's only business-focused?]

No direct links please!
If users want to see the journal they can head over there themselves (don't bring up this beware as that is between OP and the artist)

Thanks, Kei!

Just read it, but I'm very skeptical for one reason. Paraphrased, she said within the week, she will note commissioners with refunds. However, if it's been over a week, that means the commission has started and will be complete. No refund.

As stated before, not a single WIP has been shown to me (even though her Trello states mine is in the "coloring/shading" stage), so I am not 100% sure where I am on the list of clients. The refund list or the finish-it list.

I will keep everyone updated.

I think it's lame of her to say there will be no refunds if she's started someone's commission.  I believe a client has the right to cancel at any time. It sounds like she's trying to force people to keep working with her so she doesn't have to do partial refunds for uncolored artwork.  If I were on her queue I'd say, not interested in sticking around for colors, refund me everything but the cost of the sketch.

Ok, guys! It's been over a week and I didn't get any note from Chesta, so I'm officially in the "Will be Completed or Bust" line. I'm not surprised in the least, but that still doesn't invalidate my growing anger and lack of communication between us.

The only note she took initiative on was when this Beware first got posted. Since then, nothing but radio silence. She's "trying" to get better, but her communication skills are still severely lacking, so I have a very sharp hunch she will revert back to her old ways.

I'll keep everyone updated if I get any emails/notes/WIPs from her.

She doesn't "appreciate the callout".  Oh really now?  Then she should've done the pieces, not that difficult nor should she act surprised that you put her on here. 

Camy, I personally agree. It's been a long time coming. The fact that a lot of people are beyond upset should've been the first red flag that people will speak out. Honestly...I'm personally surprised that no other Beware was made public about her until now (a few others were floating around, but weren't really "official")

ANOTHER UPDATE!

Apparently, she's been sick and be MIA for the past week, so she is still refunding others. Call it an extension, more or less. We'll see if I'm still on that list, but based that I dropped 160$ on my commission, I think it's unlikely.

Chesta just posted another journal to her FA.  Once again full of overly personal information, promises to change how she does business, etc.

Chesta sent me a Note on my FurAffinity because of the last comment I posted above.

Also incredibly unprofessional...

Edit: I don't know if I should share it here?  It's almost accusatory, honestly.  And it certainly makes me feel uncomfortable that she's contacting people outside of the OP because of this beware.