Refunds question

[Mortymaxwell]

I was looking at peoples' commission info and saw several with wording like: ''Refunds may be available if you have a 'legitimate reason' for requesting one."  "I'd rather not do refunds unless you can show it's absolutely necessary."

1. Would you commission an artist with this in their terms of service? 

2. Do you think it's appropriate for an artist to press for personal details when someone requests a refund? 

[Eden]

I personally would not as it would read to me like they aren't professional, and I do not think it's appropriate to ask.  Much in the same way I would not appreciate a client pressing for details if I needed to cancel.  If someone makes a habit of canceling transactions and asking for refunds, then I'd probably blacklist them for the inconvenience.

[Alkraas]

Absolutely would not commission someone with such a rule. First, what is considered a "legit reason"? Thats super subjective.

Example:

Customer: Hey you haven't completed the commission in x months, I'd like a refund

Artist: That's not a good reason, sorry, I don't give refunds for this reason. Please wait until the art is finished.

Basically, they can deny a refund for everything that they don't deem to be "important enough"

 

For the second question, I'd say no again. I don't owe anyone private details about why or what.

That's just my take on it~ 

[Ysera]

A commission is a business transaction for services rendered. If a commissioner cancels the transaction, they're entitled to receive their money back, less the value of any already completed work, and possibly material costs (but discuss that because some fursuit makers have a lot of materials stock on hand and will turn around and profit off that "non-refundable materials deposit"). A commissioner doesn't owe their artist a reason for cancelling the transaction. Ever. We don't pour our life stories out to the mechanic when we take our car in for one issue and he comes up with five more.

[PeachyMars]

I wouldn't commission anyone like this to be honest. The way this ToS is worded is a bit of a red flag. To me it reads "no refunds unless I decide your reasons for requesting a refund are legitimate." That's entirely subjective, and it could be abused as another commenter said. Sometimes people don't want to share their reasons for requesting a refund because it's a personal issue or they're uncomfortable.

To answer the second question: No, I do not think it is appropriate. If a customer were to ask me for a refund, the reason is none of my business unless they decide to tell me why, and I'm not going to hound them for those details. It sucks to lose a sale, but I'd rather be respectful and let my client sort things out and come back when they're better equipped to commission me than make them uncomfortable by demanding why they want a refund and have them never commission me again.

[Mortymaxwell]

Thanks for your thoughts on this matter. I felt like something was off with "refunds only for legitimate reasons" and I would feel very uncomfortable if an artist asked me why I wanted to cancel a commission. It doesn't feel good to be pressured to explain why canceling.

 

 

[Bornes]

A TOS written like that is a lack of professionalism and I would only commission them if they were (a) dirt cheap and (b) I was willing to be ok with possibly never getting the commission.

It's a gamble. I've done it before and both won and lost.
Ultimately if you use paypal and the transaction takes place within the refund window, you can always get your money back no matter what the artist says. But a lot of times it's not worth the stress or the effort.

 

[Mortymaxwell]

It's not a chance I'm willing to take.

One of the artists who has in their terms of service that they don't like to give refunds unless the customer who can give them an absolutely necessary reason recently got upset over someone wanted a refund.  They felt like the customer considered them a bank -(the concern expressed in this thread here: https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1033144.html.)  I understand that it's frustrating to feel like a bank, but I don't think their refunds rule is very professional. 

[HaruTotetsu]

On 1/16/2019 at 10:48 AM, Mortymaxwell said:

I was looking at peoples' commission info and saw several with wording like: ''Refunds may be available if you have a 'legitimate reason' for requesting one."  "I'd rather not do refunds unless you can show it's absolutely necessary."

1. Would you commission an artist with this in their terms of service? 

2. Do you think it's appropriate for an artist to press for personal details when someone requests a refund? 

1. No I wouldn't.

2. No it's not.