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  • Furfancy Artist Beware


    Otterlysilly
    • Who: Furfancy
      Where: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/furfancycostumes
      https://www.facebook.com/victoria10717/
      https://twitter.com/victoria10717_
      http://furfancycostumes.com/
      When: 09/14/2019
      What: Fursuit/ Fursuit Parts

      Resolved

    I originally contacted Furfancy for a fursuit as of Sept 14, 2019. They provided me the link to their website and we continued with conversation from screenshot1.jpg:
    screenshot1.jpg


    We had discussed the details and around December I made the initial payment for my partial fursuit for $2000 and the start date to begin working on the suit around the end of 2020. 
    screenshot3.jpg.29e1b1075e51a50b7e05cc8d8fa33d72.jpg

    screenshot2.thumb.jpg.79d48079623622c18948f99ee6cb1643.jpg

    After December, I started making payments via Paypal. 
    screenshot4.jpg.0be7da9197da3f8465021bffd5a81fa3.jpg

    Thankfully, I requested a written contract on Jan 2, 2020. The contract was created and signed. (Not provided since it contains personal information of both client and seller)

    Aside from the occassional late response, things went fairly smoothly as I continued making payments. It wasn't until September that I started seeing some big red flags. I'll also note that in the contract provided, there was a 1-4 day window for communication which I thought was fairly reasonable. Going forward on this beware, it was mostly the lack of communication that resulted in me wishing to end this contract. 
    screenshot5.jpg.a3da4bc2b1488ed5229e66368c76e0a4.jpg

    On September 18, 2020, I sent the following message on telegram:
    screenshot6.jpg.63f628c1da403053dde77fb14518648e.jpg
    screenshot7.thumb.jpg.0d3be35c518403ba6c660f195aab3704.jpg


    At this point, the lack of communication was already becoming an issue. This was something that I tried to contact her on so that we could continue working around this but kept getting worse as things went on. 
    screenshot8.thumb.jpg.47d7becf3de72d393fde25ee7c2059f6.jpg

    Throughout this process, other commissioners were having the same experience as me and were backing out. On top of the fact that she was so far behind deadline and also the lack of communication, I was (and still am) worried that she has no intention of really completing my fursuit. Despite no work being done on the suit and breaking her own terms on her contract, she never offered me a full refund, and when I requested one eventually, she said that she could not provide a full refund. My initial $400 payment was non-refundable. If any work was done on the project or parts were already purchased, I may have understood. However, at this point, we are already a year after the initial request to commission a fursuit. There was no work completed and still 20 people in the queue before me which meant I would need to wait approximately another two years before she could even start working on my fursuit. 

    At this time, I had also joined her group chat which I will not provide screenshots of since Victoria largely provides updates via voice messages. Every update that was provided has been about personal problems and why she needs to extend her deadlines for all of her clients. These were the only updates that were provided for approximately a year. I can sympethize with these problems. However, I paid $2000 for a commission. This means that I'm working with a company to provide me with a product. I understand that roadblocks occur, but at no point of the process did Victoria hold any accountability or responsibililty. 
    screenshot9.thumb.jpg.c1d2380602ec9bebc8d389aaa367f2c4.jpg

    This screenshot is from September 22, 2020. Please keep that in mind while you look at the next screenshot from October 2, 2020. 
    screenshot10.thumb.jpg.eed71fdcd40dbcb813630ee168bc39b5.jpg
    screenshot11.jpg.3c06005b6db8773ca00ebe6f83fdceb0.jpg
    screenshot12.jpg.d6fe381cb9d147c1ce1997df1129767a.jpg

    This last screenshot I found out that she had apparently purchased my furs apparently months ago and didn't bother to inform me. 
    screenshot13.jpg.d0fc2076f79d6726685974bcba563419.jpg

    "If a charge back is made, I'm going to assume you no longer want the slot. If you are backing out 35% is non refundable." 
    If the communication up to this point was a red flag, then threatening me for 35% of what I paid so that I can guarantee I don't get screwed through this process should be just straight up illegal. 
    At this point, I managed to call her. Only after a full year, did she share her trello board with me. I contacted her asking her to update her contract for a deadline and a full refund if she did not complete the fursuit by August 1, 2021. 
    After signing the new contract, we stopped communicating for a while. Then we pick back up in February. 
    screenshot14.jpg.b7497d17e06490d48feb1313f2b09deb.jpg
    screenshot15.jpg.76bda90560b65a850eefc97a7c2a2800.jpg
    screenshot16.jpg.5682756d5ecac759ddca0c71f3531782.jpg
    screenshot17.jpg.592077239e3bf414158f127429ff85b0.jpg

    At this point, this brings us up to where we are currently in the discussion and I'm mentally checked out of this whole process. I just want my full refund so I can move on with my life. I was really looking forward to commissioning my first fursuit and now I'm not sure if I want one anymore. Victoria has completely ruined the idea of fursuiting for me at this point.




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    This sort of thing seems sadly common among fursuit commissions.

    It's a large part of the reason I don't bother, and only get premades now.

    Sucky situation for everyone (including the maker) though.

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    I hate that this all happened to you, and I HOPE that things do get better for you. 

    This has always made me wary of buying a fursuit, not that I would anytime soon because that's a lot of money for a well-made one, but still.  I see bewares everywhere now about various fursuit artists and it almost seems like you might as well trial and error on your own and make one at this point.  

    I get people have shit going on in their lives, but do these artists not understand that there's $2,000 on the line? I won't pretend to know your situation, but I'm positive that $2,000 is not something that just randomly appears in a bank account, and for most people that's a nice chunk of money.  I mean if I can't so something, I just straight up let people know and always give them options. Refund, extra art for the wait, ect.

    It almost seems like she tried guilt-tripping you as well with each excuse she had, and seemed to avoid the questions and concerns you had as well. 

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    Update: Victoria has let me know that she will not be able to refund me by October 1st, which is what we agreed upon for our contract. I will be taking her to small claims court and hopefully she goes bankrupt and closes up shop because I'm so done with this whole thing and I hope no one has to deal with the same shit that I've been putting up with for the past year and a half. 

    Also feel free to enjoy this gem from someone who has missed their deadline with over 15 other customers still in front of me in line. 

    vic.JPG

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    More updates on the commissioning process: 

    image.png.e689c9c7ab04f3a0468f647f9a7d49f3.png

    image.png.4cfd60aeb5dd6e08a96849f3bd8b0938.png

    So now I just need to see if I can start this process on October 1 which is the deadline we agreed upon for the refund, or August 1, which is the deadline I provided for the suit. She has already told me flat out that she will not refund me by October. Then she later says I need to give her the benefit of the doubt? Either way, I've reported her as a scammer both to the BBB and also to the FTC. 

    I dunno if this is a hot take but if you can't reasonably fit in time to work on fursuits, then maybe don't create a business making fursuits, taking people's money and then walking away with it, and then asking people to accommodate you for years because you're holding their money hostage. Then when people get fed up with the lack of communication, the obvious lack of work ethic, care about what they're doing, and non-stop excuses, then I'm being too aggressive and I'm wasting HER time. 

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    I also have not gotten a single apology from this suit maker. She wants me to care about her situation, but every time I have had a conversation with her, it's basically come down to "I'm in a rough spot right now so you're going to have to deal with it." I have never worked with a person who lacks self awareness to such an insane degree. Also, tips for anyone out there planning on starting work in really any field, for the love of all that is holy, don't use your kids as an excuse.

    Please NEVER work with her. 

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    Wow, honestly I'm impressed with how patient and professional you have been in this transaction, constantly trying to give her options to so you can keep going forward with security.

    Her complaining about having so many chargebacks really just shows her problem. Clearly other people are having similar issues. If she's having issues with a lot of chargebacks it's pretty obvious that she is the problem and should be fixing her business practices so that doesn't happen.

    I really hope your court filing goes well and you're able to get your money back.

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    Update: It has been well past October 1, 2021 which was the stated deadline for both the fursuit AND the refund. A claim has been filed and I am now awaiting to verify that she has been served before proceeding.

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    • Senior Staff
    5 hours ago, Otterlysilly said:

    Update: It has been well past October 1, 2021 which was the stated deadline for both the fursuit AND the refund. A claim has been filed and I am now awaiting to verify that she has been served before proceeding.


    Once your matter is concluded, you may contact us directly to inform us as such.

    As you have opted to pursue litigation in this situation, we will be locking this post until further notice.

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    • Senior Staff

    OP has confirmed that they won their case against Victoria.

    Subsequently, we have been provided public record of this case by Otterlysilly

    Changed Resolved to Yes

    Subsequently, this post is now unlocked for comments. Please keep things civil and on-topic.

    Edited by rikki
    amending case link
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