Am I at fault?

[theodor]

I came across an artists gallery from the front page,; they had these really cool under/in the water animated pieces, and I sent a note asking for one. The exact note I sent was; " Hello, I really like your water commissions, and I was wondering if I can buy one with fish inside the water with my character.
I would like the fish to be a pokemon though, is that okay? "

All was good, with a minor mishap of them forgetting they actually owed me art when I asked for an update, and I got a WIP, paid, and finally got the finished piece yesterday. Except the image is not animated. I asked about it and they claim they are not normally animated and I needed to pay extra. I did not order off a commission list, or a journal. I just sent a note. None of the samples in the gallery are static, they are all animated. They are saying I needed to pay extra, and that I had to tell them I wanted it animated. They are basically saying its a misunderstanding, and that sample was static and linked me a commission sheet I had never seen.

Am I at fault? Do I count it as a loss?

I honestly, never would have commissioned them if it was static.

[Mortymaxwell]

Honestly? I think mistakes were made on both sides. The artist sounds inexperienced.  They should have remembered they owed you art and sent you their commission information to make sure you agreed with it.  And I think you should have asked to see their price sheet and terms of service. Just going off the quote you gave when you wrote to them, it sounds like you should have been clearer that you wanted animation.  I've learned even if something seems obvious, never assume and be explicit about what you want.

I would suggest writing to the artist.  Tell them everything you have told us here and explain why you got confused.  It would also be a good idea to suggest they post their commission info in a clearer spot.

I would ask the artist if you can work something out, because you got confused and never saw their commission info.  Perhaps you can get them to agree to do animation or maybe they'd be willing to give you permission to take the art to a friend to animate it for you.

[theodor]

6 hours ago, Mortymaxwell said:

Honestly? I think mistakes were made on both sides. The artist sounds inexperienced.  They should have remembered they owed you art and sent you their commission information to make sure you agreed with it.  And I think you should have asked to see their price sheet and terms of service. Just going off the quote you gave when you wrote to them, it sounds like you should have been clearer that you wanted animation.  I've learned even if something seems obvious, never assume and be explicit about what you want.

I would suggest writing to the artist.  Tell them everything you have told us here and explain why you got confused.  It would also be a good idea to suggest they post their commission info in a clearer spot.

I would ask the artist if you can work something out, because you got confused and never saw their commission info.  Perhaps you can get them to agree to do animation or maybe they'd be willing to give you permission to take the art to a friend to animate it for you.

They had no price sheet or TOS. I looked for it. There was no info anywhere. The reason I didnt say 'I want an animated one' is because there were only animated one. There were none that were static, and I specifically asked about that image type; it was drastically different from anything else in their gallery.

Ive been in contact with the artist the entire time, and trying to explain what I've been saying here; that there were no static samples and I didnt order off a price sheet or anything.

Ive had some people look at the art samples + what I got and it seems very rushed with no details, so I think Im just going to count it as a loss if the artist and I cant reach an agreement.

[Bornes]

Might be worth a beware or a caution if you feel up to it.
This seems highly situational and without the messages and the gallery it's really hard to tell if anyone is really in the wrong here
(don't post those things in this forum, either. Just post them with the beware or caution, if you choose to submit one)

[theodor]

I was going to leave it because the artist said they would do it after we talked. But it's been a week and this is the response I got;