Sarahcat

Hi all! This is going to be a bit complicated so please bare with me. Back in January I finished a fursuit commission for a client and delivered it to them. Immediately they busted a seam in it but didn't want to pay shipping to send it back to me so they found a local tailor to do the repairs. They wear the suit to another event and pop another seam but have someone else fix it for them. Fast forward to July, we're both at a convention together when they discover the tail hole (a hole for the tail loop to go through) was sewn up. I offered to fix it for free at my booth and give it back to them within the span of an hour. So right off the bat, this seems to be an issue for them and I've never had a client in my years of business bust a seam before so this is very new to me, especially having it occur multiple times. Recently they wore the fursuit to a convention and messaged me after the con that they wanted the sleeves lengthened. I offer to extend the sleeves as long as they pay shipping. To avoid shipping costs we agree to meet at a local furry meet (I drive 60 miles to pick up the bodysuit). I had other work to do so I did not get to repairs until this Sunday, two weeks after picking up the bodysuit. Immediately upon removing it from the bag I can tell it has not been washed and has an odor, again, something I've only read about but never dealt with myself. Not only is it unwashed but there's a 10" seam rip in the arm pit, as well as multiple holes in various places along the sides and front. I resew everything (including adding to the arms) with upholstery thread twice in the areas that are damaged, package it up and mail it back to the client. Except... they don't pay me. They offered to buy me food when I picked up the bodysuit (which I declined) and offered to pay for shipping at the beginning (which was compromised when we met up) but now I'm out $14 in shipping and did work for free. I gave them a tracking number, gave them my PayPal and in the 24 hours since mailing it have yet to be paid. All they said was "thank you," they've read my message, been active on social media, just never bothered to pay me for my service. I've lengthened sleeves before for clients and easily worked out a compromise but never had someone bust so many seams. I've also had clients pay me every time I did this, or at least give me a tip on top of shipping, but I haven't even been paid for that. I admit it was very stupid of me to mail out the bodysuit before payment but man, it really sucks. I'm not sure what to do at this point. Unfortunately I did not invoice them for the commission a year ago so my PayPal doesn't have the email stored in there. I changed my TOS to reflect this incident and build off of it but I'm not sure what more I can do.

A little over a month ago I commissioned an artist for some Telegram stickers. Mid-May they sent me a GIF of 3 of them as rough sketches but that has been it. Shortly after that they sent out a "mass message" claiming that their US state's internet provider blocked Telegram and they are no longer able to communicate avidly, however Telegram claims they're still online. I've sent them two messages this week asking if there's any updates and both messages have been read and ignored. There's so many red flags at this point I'm not even sure what to do. I think it would be kind to message them about a refund first but if they don't reply that does nothing. It's been a month so I don't think that warrants a beware right now. What would you do?

I don't see a TOS, and I don't know what theirs says, but they can't keep the 30% non-refundable (assuming) downpayment and not give you anything in return. It's illegal to keep money and not provide a product. They can either refund you the remaining amount or give you the materials purchased, they don't get to keep that. Seconding that the side chatter is harmless. Feyvaras shouldn't be taking money if clients asking about updates stresses them out so badly that they can't work, that's not right, and the "I can't eat/sleep" comments are guilt tripping. It's not the client's fault they can't keep things together and they need to learn to manage their time/money/health better.

I used to commission her frequently until the excuses started piling up the last commission I had gotten from her, and I was really nervous seeing my work being completed the day after it was commissioned before anyone on her backlog's. It's not fair to those who have been waiting years for a refund or something, a WIP even. You need to demand a refund. Don't ask for it. State that you've been waiting long enough. This is not acceptable.

Hi all, I commissioned an artist nearly 3 months ago for something that they said would be done that week. The past two months I've reached out to them and they told me it was being worked on with other commissions, however when I reached out to them yesterday they had no idea what I was talking about and I had to show them a screenshot of the PayPal transaction. Should I ask them for a refund if no work has been done? This is such a huge red flag and I've never had an artist just admit to completely forgetting about my commission.

I don't even know what to say. This is by far the most unprofessional beware I've seen in some time. Is there even a chance for OP to get their money back at this point? ?

They replied to me last night but it sounds like no work has been done, it was a generic "it's in progress" reply. I haven't seen a sketch or anything but they could be one of those artists who don't send a WIP (which i don't mind) as they had done for my first two commissions I got from them a while ago. Unless they reply again soon I'll poke them again in a month and copy your response- thanks!

I'm an artist. I know we're not machines, I've had clients who believe such. That said, hiding from paying clients and not answering to get work out for free is not an excusable business practice. I've only messaged them twice: the initial check in and a "Hello?" the next day after they said they would have an update for me the previous evening. As I said in my post, even a "I'm working on it" is better than receiving no response at all. The artist replied to me last night and said that commissions are "in progress" but gave no real answer about the status of mine (let alone anyone's). I haven't seen a commission posted from them since they posted being open and gave examples. It's just been personal artwork and free art. There's no public queue/Trello so it's anyone's guess how many people paid and what their lineup is.

Hi all! I've commissioned hundreds of artists and never had this issue before. Over a month ago I paid an artist for a commission. We discussed details over Twitter DMs, I paid them and that was it. Fast forward to now. The other day I asked if any progress had been made and they replied with, "I'll get back to you tonight." It's been a few days, I've asked again and even tweeted at them ("Hey @_____, I send you a DM!") but no reply. They have the 'seen message' button ticked off so I don't know if they even saw my replies. What baffles me is that they are very clearly online at the same time as I am and are now drawing free artwork for followers. They have a business email listed on their profile but I am terrified to reach out them as shortly after I had commissioned them at their last opening they made a subtweet about their commissioners, saying they're asking for too much. I know that commenting on their art posts would be rude. I just want to know the status of my artwork is all. I've never had an artist hide like this before, even a fabricated excuse is better than no response at all. :s