undelivered refund Beware: 0-ruff

On March 21, 2025, I won a collab YCH slot from 0-ruff at the bid of $95. The payment per the auction description was to be done on Boosty or Hipolink, which I have used with other artists in the past and am familiar with the platforms, so I had no issues placing a bid with these conditions.

Despite the bid being made in USD and Boosty showing USD amounts, 0-ruff insisted in payment being made in rubles. I informed 0-ruff that I was unable to make the payment in rubles as Boosty would only permit me to do payments in USD and asked if this was acceptable. I have always done business with Russian-based artists on Boosty like this with no issues in the past and saw no reason this time would be any different. 

To my surprise, 0-ruff tried to make an argument that Boosty has its own currency exchange rate (?) and that I should pay $98 instead of the $95 bid I placed. I was unsure about this since this didn't sound right, but I made the payment for $98 regardless and sent my information. 

0-ruff then claimed that they did not receive the full payment amount and insisted I pay them more. I was confused because I had already paid more than my winning bid for the YCH and had the receipt showing it, so I questioned them, repeating that Boosty shows payments in USD and I had made the full payment they asked for. When I went to go check on Boosty again, I noticed 0-ruff had then upped the payment from $98 to $100 after I had paid. I confronted 0-ruff about this and provided screenshots of my completed payment, their updated price, and the Google currency exchange (which they claimed to be using) which showed I had already paid the full amount they asked for. 

0-ruff continued to make some claims about currency exchanges not being stable and that each platform has its own currency exchange rate (?) and that they only used Google's exchange, which also showed I had made more than the payment I needed to. At this point, I no longer felt that 0-ruff was following fair exchange rates and business practices and confronted them about it and asked for a refund, as I did not trust them to not continue to ask for more money or hold the artwork hostage in exchange for more money. They had already proven they were just charging whatever they felt they could get, regardless of the initial bid or auction rules and I no longer wished to do business with them. 

0-ruff pushed back and refused to refund the paid amount or acknowledge the retraction of my bid. I repeated that I no longer felt this was a trustworthy exchange and did not wish to continue to work with them based on these principles and a lack of trust. I ultimately had to threaten to do a report and chargeback to get a response from them. 0-ruff continued to refuse a refund, called me unstable for calling them out on uncharging my original bid, and then blocked me without further discussion. 

Following this, 0-ruff then hid my bid on the YCH auction and continued to take bids for the slot despite not refunding me the money I had already paid to them. I am now having to work with my bank and Boosty to get the money charged back as a fraudulent charge. 

This was my first and last time dealing with 0-ruff. From discussions with friends who have also worked with 0-ruff in the past, it seems like this is a habit of theirs. They add hidden fees and charges to their work for U.S. customers and will withhold WIPs and finished work until their "fees" are paid up. I highly encourage everyone to steer clear of this artist, especially is you are based in the USA. They will try to take advantage of exchange rates and hold work hostage unless their ransoms are met.