How long is too long to wait for a refund?

[CrimsonVexations]

I had commissioned an artist who had an emergency flash sale for a flat coloured, sketchy ych to help with their car, and made the mistake of not checking out their queue before doing so. After about two months of waiting for my com I saw they were uploading YCH's daily and when I checked their scraps they had YCH's from stuff like Christmas that hadn't been finished yet. They had a long queue list that wasn't being chiseled away and they had stuff written all over their page stating they had memory issues and often lost notes/ forgot about commissions. I decided to reply to them on the submission I bought the slot on and ask about an ETA because of seeing some comments that said they had notes disabled.

I waited 12 days and didn't receive a reply while they were still uploading things and sent them a note stating I wasn't aware of their backlog when I commissioned them, and that after being ignored I didn't feel comfortable continuing my commission. They were polite and told me that they totally understood and asked for my Paypal email so they could check it and issue me a refund. I gave it to them and never received a reply.

A month later I messaged them again and asked if there were any updates, they said that they didn't have the funds but they were going to a con that upcoming week (I messaged on a Sunday) and should have some spare cash "to get the couple of refunds pending sent out!" it's been 17 days and they're still constantly taking commissions and I haven't heard a word.

The cost isn't "that much" compared to what I normally commission and I don't want to take money from an artist who says they needed it for bills but I also don't want to be given the run around either. So I just want to know how long is too long of a wait?

Thanks for any answers in advanced.

[RollWind]

If it's longer than two weeks without an update and ghosting, I would consider it money lost.

[baja]

Too long is anything that puts you outside of your refund window, imo.

If you still have plenty of time, you can be clear and firm with this person and give them an ultimatum before opting for a chargeback.

But if the amount is truly something you don't want to pursue and you see it as negligible, you can also just let it go and never work with this person again.