ToastyPoodle
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Great success! The art has been finished - and, the results are, in fact, excellent! As promised, I am updating the beware to state this fact. As far as I am concerned, my issue is now resolved. Nika has requested that the beware be removed, but it is my understanding that’s not how this whole thing works - so I will leave action up to the moderators or at least get it downgraded to a caution as a sign of good will.
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I imagine it would be, although someone better at PayPal law and TOS would be better suited to confirm that. I would imagine that PayPal wouldn’t know otherwise, as she did the calculation outside of PayPal and simply invoiced $212, which as far as PayPal would know is the cost of commission without fees. I have commissioned many many artists on FA since I have joined and to date she is the only person I have *ever* seen charge that, however. I have always made it a habit to tip the artists to cover the fees myself without prompt (often because many undercharge as well), but she was the only one to demand it upfront.
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Yeah - I would have to be honest and say that being blocked at this point is hardly a punishment. Truthfully, I may not notice much of a difference... As can be imagined, the week that passed saying the piece would be done has come and gone, and with all of the other submissions being posted I was definitely not “next”, as was promised early January. I’d be much less annoyed at that if a timeframe wasn’t given, and broken - and of course, no update why. With the situation as it is, I haven’t asked because I don’t want to harass and give ammunition at the point the commission is so close to being done - it feels almost like a Mexican standoff and I just want this to be over. I *will* update when this is completed, and not cause any trouble, so if it’s stressing... just finish the piece?? She is still, however, charging a 6% PayPal feel on other YCH’s, as a heads up.
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As update to the situation: Rumblings have no doubt moved things a little bit, and progress on my piece was made! However, Nika is now aware of the beware, as she has confronted me directly. I enjoy the progress on the piece, and it seems as if she is still going to finish it, which I greatly appreciate ~ I will keep everyone appraised of the situation. I am hopeful for a happy conclusion!
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Can I just say, however, how awful it feels watching all these reminders get blitzed for about two weeks while you beg for an update. I have lived that hell a few times now, and when you are months out of a commission the *last* thing I enjoy seeing is practically begging for more more commissions, with such a huge workload. It *is* spam and it’s how she’s trapped this huge client list - myself included.
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Unfortunately, although not unexpectedly, no. She is going in to a “remission period”, where she stops posting on all platforms and vanishes for up to two months at a time. I can only speculate that this is when the money runs out - this is now the third time I have seen this pattern since the beginning. Keep in mind, when she is active she posts upwards of 10+ reminders a day about YCH’s or commission openings, before vanishing again. I have attached a screenshot of her last submission time... golly gee it was the 13th!
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I did not know this, and sincerely thank you for the heads up! I certainly won’t make that mistake again. I thought it was strange at the time, but I didn’t question it - having dealt with many other artists since and reflecting back, that was definitely a warning sign.
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I remember reading that journal and noticing that as well! I am very sorry to hear that it appears to be "more of the same". I am still going to try and get her to complete my art, if can! Although, if my Beware goes live I doubt she will be happy with me. She got the money that she needed, apparently - because now she hasn't been active on FA since, and has not responded to my messages at all.
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Original agreement: Tropical YCH, 2 versions; one SFW and one NSFW version. AB an auction at $200; Paid $212 total for a 6% fee to cover PayPal fees as dictated by the artist. YCH was paid for on July 19, 2020. Please see screencap for PayPal payment, along with confirmation in chat. My experience with NikaInfinity began July 17, 2020, when I purchased a YCH from her on FurAffinity. Everything seemed to proceed smoothly at first, with great communication and helping to pick out references. I asked for an invoice as one had not been tendered until the 19th, at which point I had immediately paid the invoice. Sketch was tendered on the 20th, and everything was well. No communication for a few weeks, which was shocking considering the good upfront communication. I tried to check in on Aug 4th and again on the 8th; I got confirmation that she was okay on the 9th but no update to the commission. Contact was again attempted on Aug 30th, with no reply until Sept 14th apologizing for the delay and promising updates for Sept 18th. I was polite, and waited until Oct 3 to ask her about it, giving her two weeks of grace for the promised date of the 18th. I did not get a reply until Oct 12th, promising lines "this week". I asked her to keep communication, as that was the biggest issue I was having with the process. Not waiting as long, I asked again an update on Oct 17th - I got an update with lines on Oct 18th! I was really happy at this point because despite the complete and utter lack of communication, it at least appeared I would get my commission. Because of this, I eased up a bit on questioning and let things go until Dec 2nd. As you may have guessed, I did not get any updates, so I asked if she was well on Dec 2nd. No reply. Jan 9th rolls around, and a journal was posted on FA saying that she had lost all of everyone's commission info - I was not initially on the list, so I asked her about it. There was no reply or confirmation, although I did see that it was added to the list *STILL* at the 30% it was at months ago. Jan 12th, and I got a message saying she was working on the lines, and I assured her I would be patient. This is around when Spectacle197 posted their beware about Nika / requested the refund, and Nika posted the journal that they referenced about her becoming "homeless", which was a big red flag for me and an understanding that it was not likely that I was going to get my commission finished. I asked her on the 13th for a timeframe, and I was assured I would be "next". "Next" may or may not be fair, as I do not know the order for the other 40+ people on her commission list. She said that she was working on my piece, but the link she posted for the WIP updates (Jan10th, bottom right) was exactly the same as the one she posted months ago (Oct 20th, middle). It was at this point where I stressed that waiting 6 months was taking its toll, and I don't think the lack of communication was fair - especially as her TOS states that she will communicate. I have everything to lose from posting this beware, if the artist decide's not to finish the commission as retaliation; I am too far out to request a PayPal refund, and quite frankly, I was too nice through this whole process because I didn't want to butt heads and did not want to lose my commission. I, unfortunately, have little hope of seeing it finished at this point - which is a shame, because the artist is obviously very talented, and I am still just as excited to receive my piece today as I was 6 months ago. The artist vanishes for months at a time from all platforms, makes promises to work and takes new commissions, and then vanishes again for months at a time. Judging by the insane amount of clients she currently has, I would not suggest this artist as a client, and I am now out $212. Lesson learned - still hoping like a fool to see the finished piece.
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Okay, thank you! I will work on my own post tonight - I made an account because of this situation, so I would like to do it right! Thank you!
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I am sorry to hear that you are going through this - but I am "happy" to say that you are not alone. If the moderators would like me to, I would be more than happy to go through and share my entire experience with Nika. My own commission (also under ToastyPoodle) has been out since July 17, 2020. It sits at a measly 30%, and only because I have hounded to get it that far. I gave her the benefit of the doubt so I am beyond the time that I can dispute this with Paypal - which means I am out $212 for my YCH. She seems to run a pattern where she vanishes for 2 months, re-appears to sucker a bunch of new people in to claiming art / donations, takes the money, and then vanishes for another 2 months - this cycle has happened a few times now. It's a shame, because she has the talent to be a great artist, but just... isn't. I would be more than happy to provide all the evidence just as the OP has - here or in a new post. I have everything to lose because I am past a refund, but I really think people should know what they are getting in to. I am grateful for the OP's post because I had been considering starting one for her myself, but I was nervous to do so. It may be in her TOS that there are no refunds, but it's also in her TOS that she will talk to you and have great communication.... what do you do when the artist breaks their own TOS?