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  • Beware: NikaInfinity


    ToastyPoodle
    • Who: NikaInfinity
      Where: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/nikainfinity/
      https://ko-fi.com/nikainfinity/
      https://www.artstation.com/nikainfinity
      https://vk.com/infinity.arts
      https://twitter.com/nikainfinity?s=09
      When: 07/17/2020
      What: Commission
      NSFW Content Resolved

    Original agreement:

    Tropical YCH, 2 versions; one SFW and one NSFW version. AB an auction at $200; Paid $212 total for a 6% fee to cover PayPal fees as dictated by the artist. YCH was paid for on July 19, 2020. Please see screencap for PayPal payment, along with confirmation in chat.

    My experience with NikaInfinity began July 17, 2020, when I purchased a YCH from her on FurAffinity. Everything seemed to proceed smoothly at first, with great communication and helping to pick out references. I asked for an invoice as one had not been tendered until the 19th, at which point I had immediately paid the invoice. Sketch was tendered on the 20th, and everything was well.

    No communication for a few weeks, which was shocking considering the good upfront communication. I tried to check in on Aug 4th and again on the 8th; I got confirmation that she was okay on the 9th but no update to the commission.

    Contact was again attempted on Aug 30th, with no reply until Sept 14th apologizing for the delay and promising updates for Sept 18th. I was polite, and waited until Oct 3 to ask her about it, giving her two weeks of grace for the promised date of the 18th. I did not get a reply until Oct 12th, promising lines "this week". I asked her to keep communication, as that was the biggest issue I was having with the process. 

    Not waiting as long, I asked again an update on Oct 17th - I got an update with lines on Oct 18th! I was really happy at this point because despite the complete and utter lack of communication, it at least appeared I would get my commission. Because of this, I eased up a bit on questioning and let things go until Dec 2nd.

    As you may have guessed, I did not get any updates, so I asked if she was well on Dec 2nd. No reply. Jan 9th rolls around, and a journal was posted on FA saying that she had lost all of everyone's commission info - I was not initially on the list, so I asked her about it. There was no reply or confirmation, although I did see that it was added to the list *STILL* at the 30% it was at months ago.

    Jan 12th, and I got a message saying she was working on the lines, and I assured her I would be patient. This is around when Spectacle197 posted their beware about Nika / requested the refund, and Nika posted the journal that they referenced about her becoming "homeless", which was a big red flag for me and an understanding that it was not likely that I was going to get my commission finished. I asked her on the 13th for a timeframe, and I was assured I would be "next".

    "Next" may or may not be fair, as I do not know the order for the other 40+ people on her commission list. She said that she was working on my piece, but the link she posted for the WIP updates (Jan10th, bottom right) was exactly the same as the one she posted months ago (Oct 20th, middle). It was at this point where I stressed that waiting 6 months was taking its toll, and I don't think the lack of communication was fair - especially as her TOS states that she will communicate.

    I have everything to lose from posting this beware, if the artist decide's not to finish the commission as retaliation; I am too far out to request a PayPal refund, and quite frankly, I was too nice through this whole process because I didn't want to butt heads and did not want to lose my commission. I, unfortunately, have little hope of seeing it finished at this point - which is a shame, because the artist is obviously very talented, and I am still just as excited to receive my piece today as I was 6 months ago. The artist vanishes for months at a time from all platforms, makes promises to work and takes new commissions, and then vanishes again for months at a time.

    Judging by the insane amount of clients she currently has, I would not suggest this artist as a client, and I am now out $212. Lesson learned - still hoping like a fool to see the finished piece.

    1058595828_FireShotCapture234-YCH_Tropical_---Closed.byNikaInfinity--FurAffinitydotnet_-www.furaffinity_net.thumb.png.cf79a61b3c68878e2ce2d7a0ee813c0a.png

    1051767903_FireShotCapture235-YCH_Tropical_---Closed.byNikaInfinity--FurAffinitydotnet_-www.furaffinity_net.thumb.png.a9de50bc129c797624233ac7d4b26220.png

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    Edited by Celestina
    added in ych




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    Just as a heads up: it’s against PayPal’s TOS for the seller to charge you the PayPal fee! (which is another strike against this artist for sure) if an artist tries to make you pay it, inform them about the TOS violation and don’t pay it. It could get their account shut down, and also it’s just rude to do??? sellers are using a service to accept payments and there’s no other fees that have to be paid besides per-transaction ones.
     

    also I hope they either refund you or complete the art they owe you 😕  

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    20 minutes ago, Kaku said:

    Just as a heads up: it’s against PayPal’s TOS for the seller to charge you the PayPal fee! (which is another strike against this artist for sure) if an artist tries to make you pay it, inform them about the TOS violation and don’t pay it. It could get their account shut down, and also it’s just rude to do??? sellers are using a service to accept payments and there’s no other fees that have to be paid besides per-transaction ones.

    I did not know this, and sincerely thank you for the heads up! I certainly won’t make that mistake again.

    I thought it was strange at the time, but I didn’t question it - having dealt with many other artists since and reflecting back, that was definitely a warning sign.

     

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    35 minutes ago, Celestina said:

    Do you happen to have any updates after the 13th?  Has she said anything since then?

    Unfortunately, although not unexpectedly, no. She is going in to a “remission period”, where she stops posting on all platforms and vanishes for up to two months at a time. I can only speculate that this is when the money runs out - this is now the third time I have seen this pattern since the beginning.

    Keep in mind, when she is active she posts upwards of 10+ reminders a day about YCH’s or commission openings, before vanishing again. I have attached a screenshot of her last submission time... golly gee it was the 13th!

    BC7DE293-BCBC-4380-BC5A-B11657D728C2.thumb.png.f228092a642dcdd33e28dd6403f3e2d5.png

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    This looks a lot like spam from the way she posts her reminders. it's every few minutes. would be better to just post one reminder with a link to all of them.

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    8 minutes ago, Celestina said:

    Let's keep things focused on the beware at hand and less on how she runs her gallery.

    Can I just say, however, how awful it feels watching all these reminders get blitzed for about two weeks while you beg for an update.

    I have lived that hell a few times now, and when you are months out of a commission the *last* thing I enjoy seeing is practically begging for more more commissions, with such a huge workload.

    It *is* spam and it’s how she’s trapped this huge client list - myself included.

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    • Administrator
    5 minutes ago, ToastyPoodle said:

    Can I just say, however, how awful it feels watching all these reminders get blitzed for about two weeks while you beg for an update.

    I have lived that hell a few times now, and when you are months out of a commission the *last* thing I enjoy seeing is practically begging for more more commissions, with such a huge workload.

    It *is* spam and it’s how she’s trapped this huge client list - myself included.

    That's fine, but please keep in mind that we are not a drama site. In order to maintain our integrity, we try and keep comments on topic and will issue polite reminders to do so.

    Any further comments on how she runs her gallery will have to remain unapproved. If people see an issue with it, then it's best to take it up with FA.

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    • Administrator

    Changed Where to https://www.furaffinity.net/user/nikainfinity/
    https://ko-fi.com/nikainfinity/
    https://www.artstation.com/nikainfinity
    https://vk.com/infinity.arts

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    Adding to this post I'm another victim she scammed. Her scam is to ghost you long enough Her scam is to ghost you long enough that once enough time has passed, paypal has difficult cracking down on it (The default refund period is 180 days from the transaction date.) 


    She has ghosted me completely and I don't expect to ever see this commission, it's been 8 months. Lesson learned from me, I am never paying upfront unless its a well trusted and well known artist.

     

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    50 minutes ago, Tayuta said:

    Adding to this post I'm another victim she scammed. Her scam is to ghost you long enough Her scam is to ghost you long enough that once enough time has passed, paypal has difficult cracking down on it (The default refund period is 180 days from the transaction date.) 


    She has ghosted me completely and I don't expect to ever see this commission, it's been 8 months. Lesson learned from me, I am never paying upfront unless its a well trusted and well known artist.

     

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    This is really quite irresponsible of her to do this to you. Would be best to make a beware on this since more of these pop up the more often they show up on google search.

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    As of this time and if https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9738898/ is to be believed, Nika has 45 commissions (including collabs) that are awaiting completion. 

    Of those 45, 28 are not even started if I'm reading that journal right (21 being listed as (%0) and 7 having no progress % listed). 

    Of those that have a progress amount: 11 are below %50

    So in total, 39 out of 45 (or approximately 87%) of Nika's total commissions are not yet out of the lineart phase. 

    If you all want me to break it down further from what I can see, most of these are YCH's that aren't even out of the 'presketching' phase.

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    • Senior Staff

    If others have been experiencing these issues with this artist, we strongly suggest that you make your own beware post so it adds to her tag here, as it will highlight awareness on our site.

    Please abstain from doing a beware write-up in the comments of someone else's post.

    While many are outside of Paypal's protection period, you may have other avenues, as in speaking with your bank/card issuer to try and force a refund via other means.

    On the other hand, if there are multiple claims made on her paypal, it may be possible to see a refund. This is rare, and we're only seen this happen if the individual has a large amount of claims filed against them. Many years ago, Pirate-Cashoo (Who has since caught up with their work and turned it around) was the most notable example where we saw retroactive refunds, but it took a lot of people being affected by her to have this outcome.

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    As update to the situation:

    Rumblings have no doubt moved things a little bit, and progress on my piece was made! However, Nika is now aware of the beware, as she has confronted me directly.

    I enjoy the progress on the piece, and it seems as if she is still going to finish it, which I greatly appreciate ~ I will keep everyone appraised of the situation. I am hopeful for a happy conclusion!

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    I never understood the practice of blocking a client when they point out something that needs to be pointed out. Waiting that long for art especially when the artist promises clear communication that they, themselves, default on just screams at me that they may have done it to multiple people. It certainly doesn't make me want to work with them  o matter how nice their art may be. 

     

    It also seems to be a really good way to chase away your customer base. Repeat customers can bring tons of business if you treat them well. 

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    15 hours ago, Sophibarks said:

    I never understood the practice of blocking a client when they point out something that needs to be pointed out.

    The purpose is to strip complaints and criticism from her FA page because her business model is to rope in new customers that have not seen the warnings she's already cleared out of her shouts. 

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    7 hours ago, Cryptozoo said:

    The purpose is to strip complaints and criticism from her FA page because her business model is to rope in new customers that have not seen the warnings she's already cleared out of her shouts. 

    Also if anyone noticed her recent journal about updates she really not doing herself any favors on taking more commissions than she is doing.

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    It's like she doesn't get why you're upset and why you made this in the first place.  This "situation" (really? that's what she called it?) is what she made herself.  Clients shouldn't have to keep asking for updates months on end.  Forgetting is one thing, but acting like this is just ridiculous with all the guilt trip and lying.  

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    3 hours ago, Camy said:

    It's like she doesn't get why you're upset and why you made this in the first place.  This "situation" (really? that's what she called it?) is what she made herself.  Clients shouldn't have to keep asking for updates months on end.  Forgetting is one thing, but acting like this is just ridiculous with all the guilt trip and lying.  

    Yeah - I would have to be honest and say that being blocked at this point is hardly a punishment. Truthfully, I may not notice much of a difference...

    As can be imagined, the week that passed saying the piece would be done has come and gone, and with all of the other submissions being posted I was definitely not “next”, as was promised early January. I’d be much less annoyed at that if a timeframe wasn’t given, and broken - and of course, no update why.

    With the situation as it is, I haven’t asked because I don’t want to harass and give ammunition at the point the commission is so close to being done - it feels almost like a Mexican standoff and I just want this to be over. I *will* update when this is completed, and not cause any trouble, so if it’s stressing... just finish the piece??

    She is still, however, charging a 6% PayPal feel on other YCH’s, as a heads up.

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    1 minute ago, ToastyPoodle said:

    She is still, however, charging a 6% PayPal feel on other YCH’s, as a heads up.

    Wait isn't that really against paypal terms of service. Considering her own list of commissions and doing that as well she really digging herself deep in trouble.

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    30 minutes ago, RTKobold said:

    Wait isn't that really against paypal terms of service. Considering her own list of commissions and doing that as well she really digging herself deep in trouble.

    I imagine it would be, although someone better at PayPal law and TOS would be better suited to confirm that.

    I would imagine that PayPal wouldn’t know otherwise, as she did the calculation outside of PayPal and simply invoiced $212, which as far as PayPal would know is the cost of commission without fees.

    I have commissioned many many artists on FA since I have joined and to date she is the only person I have *ever* seen charge that, however. I have always made it a habit to tip the artists to cover the fees myself without prompt (often because many undercharge as well), but she was the only one to demand it upfront.

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    • Administrator
    24 minutes ago, ToastyPoodle said:

    I imagine it would be, although someone better at PayPal law and TOS would be better suited to confirm that.

    I would imagine that PayPal wouldn’t know otherwise, as she did the calculation outside of PayPal and simply invoiced $212, which as far as PayPal would know is the cost of commission without fees.

    I have commissioned many many artists on FA since I have joined and to date she is the only person I have *ever* seen charge that, however. I have always made it a habit to tip the artists to cover the fees myself without prompt (often because many undercharge as well), but she was the only one to demand it upfront.

    It is.  It doesn't matter if an individual posts it publicly or tell clients privately that they owe the fee.  Paypal will act on any proof provided to them.  Usually the first step is the user has the F&F option disabled.  If it's bad enough, then the account gets frozen and any funds inside of it are notoriously difficult to recover.  

    https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#accepting-payments

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    Great success! The art has been finished - and, the results are, in fact, excellent!

    As promised, I am updating the beware to state this fact. As far as I am concerned, my issue is now resolved. Nika has requested that the beware be removed, but it is my understanding that’s not how this whole thing works - so I will leave action up to the moderators or at least get it downgraded to a caution as a sign of good will.

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