Rendrassa

If the artist has no plan to finish the commission, a refund is in order. It's as simple as that. Not providing the agreed on commissions AND keeping the money is theft. Very sorry this was such an early experience for you.

As a dragon artist, I really admired their art at one point, but the general attitude they give to followers and now even clients that would pay tips (and offer to buy computer parts for them) has truly soured them as an artist for me. I do hope things can be resolved somehow.

As an artist, I would hate being addressed like this, even if the client's complaint is valid. Exploding instantly like this makes people go heavily on the defensive where a civil tone could have paved the way to corrections/negotiations.

That said, as an artist, it's important to accept when things can't be done due to personal skill or issues. Or to accept if a client is unhappy after being promised certain things and those things aren't done. This is why sketch WIPs are important, or in case of wing-its, being able to accept fault for missing something in the ref. Communication is always key and I find myself sometimes on the border of annoying clients with detail questions so I can be sure I'm as accurate to what they are envisioning.

Sometimes things go wrong and that's why it is so important to be able to handle this on either side of the commission experience.

With the image fixed, I'm not sure that the partial refund was necessary, but this is certainly an artist that wants to fix issues in a timely manner. Highly approve.

While I feel the lack of feet should have been brought up to the artist during the WIP, I do agree that the finished piece clearly lacks quality from the example pieces.

Seconding the comments on the PayPal fee. Amazed they haven't caught it already.

This is one of many reasons I always send an invoice. I can also attach my ToS and be detailed on what is being ordered from me. First step would definitely be to inform the scammer that, due to events caused by their actions, the commission was refunded and she no longer has any rights to using or sharing the art.

On 12/19/2019 at 4:29 AM, Meryiel said:

Big update.

So after waiting for many months, Fytch still haven't paid me back and they stopped replying to my Notes and e-mails.

So yeah, goodbye money forever. I will be releasing the base they ordered as a F2U base. Figured if she can be using it for free, everyone should.

Probably the best way to see to it that the theft isn't directly profited from. I hope your future clients are upstanding ones. You might even set up a private base on itch.io that they officially buy after you get the basics sketched? That way, they charge back a corporation that might take the hit for you.

The qualities look the same, but the style of your icon is vastly different from the other two. Really can't imagine not giving a sketch WIP, especially for traditional.

2 hours ago, Vashaa said:

Also have no idea about that. I am a constant customer of them for over 10 years now, with a business account and never had a monthly fee?

Paypal also states this for my google search:

" No monthly fees, setup fees, or contracts. Just pay a standard transaction fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per US transaction. "

which is what I am used to.

Same. I've had my account less than 5 years, and never had a monthly fee, so I was confused if there was some premium version I hadn't heard of that had fees.

So I think we can chalk that up to the artist trying to guilt the client. And over $6.

There's a lot that can change between sketch and lines. An artist that doesn't give updated WIPs shouldn't be surprised if a client asks for an edit here and there. And, honestly, looking at the sketch and finished versions, the nose IS a lot different in shape. I 100% believe if the artist's ToS states not correcting things past the sketch, they should be held accountable if they deviate from the approved shapes.

Also, I'm not sure what this monthly fee is that the artist complains about?

On 10/6/2019 at 9:51 AM, Moxxxie said:

So, apparently hes a minor. He was using his parents card/account and they issued the chargeback. At least this is the excuse he has given recently. He has at least $600 in chargebacks from what I saw and I only added up totals that i saw paypal screenshots for 😕

Parents should be held responsible for their child's actions. 😕

How was the refund cancelled? I would call PayPal personally about this and get it resolved. There shouldn't be any way someone can cancel a refund when a dispute closes? The artist agrees to the refund in writing and should be enough evidence to PayPal.

First reg flag is when they claim they were on holiday, but active on multiple platforms. I get email messing up, but that's a long time to misplace any sort of update and seek out the client with WIPs.

Ko-fi is, primarily, a donation platform. It's not intended for commercial use like commissions. It's one thing to offer something in exchange for a certain donation, but "taking commissions" through it is very risky, as there is no buyer's protection because as far as Ko-fi is concerned, it was just a donation. Least, that's how it was when I read up on it a while back. Never expect something back through a Ko-fi transaction.

Gonna preemptively block this one. I don't need this kind of risk.

I advise making sure the client is aware that, since they haven't paid for the art, if you discover them trying to use it anywhere, it will be taken down.

Not sure why they offered you a refund AND replacement. It's one or the other, not both. I assume it was offered just to smooth things over for the moment. Really underhanded thing to then ghost and go back on their word.

6 hours ago, Meryiel said:

If I get my money back and all gets explained, I will delete this beware as soon as possible.

Bewares cannot be deleted, only marked as resolved. Their name can still be cleared with an edit and proof that they fixed the problem.

2 minutes ago, Celestina said:

Oh!  He claims the account is deleted, but Paypal allows numerous emails to be associated with an account anyhow.  We're not in the business of releasing personal information, but if we did he could easily just change out the primary email address.

Ah. I've never had to change my email, so it slipped my mind. I do wish with the frequency of chargebacks through the bank, and complaints filed, he'd have his account limited at the least.

Just now, RTKobold said:

I don't think that's going to happen most likely due to privacy reasons as well as laws considering that alone could open a lot of legal issues for paypal.

I wasn't talking about going through PayPal, but Celestina has pointed out an obvious reason it wouldn't work anyway.

5 hours ago, Celestina said:

Sorry, what do you mean by "released"?

Made public. Available knowledge to members so that we can avoid receiving payment from a known scammer.

That's pretty low. If this base crops up anywhere, you should be able to file take down notices on most sites they try to sell.

18 hours ago, Celestina said:

It's not through PayPal. It's through their bank, which Paypal has no control over. The most they can do is remove the $20 chargeback fee.

A good way to distinguish if it's a chargeback vs a dispute is that a fee is involved with a chargeback.  A dispute is handled through PayPal and doesn't involve fees.

I know this is being done through the bank, but the scammer is using one PayPal account to originally commission the artists. That's why I wondered if the PayPal account would ever be released so artists can avoid the whole start of this mess.

Is there no way to file a complaint with PayPal over this person doing so many chargebacks? It should be illegal to use their site this way and reprimands to users who abuse their system.

Time to turn the image into a YCH. Maybe change the candle colors or something. Try to recoup what loss you can on it. Agreeing with rikki on future arrangements.

On 6/19/2019 at 7:22 AM, Blue4Eagle said:

thanks for your time and advice. 🙂 I did, but still held back just incase the commissioner does return. But times up now. I also considered on maybe selling prints on DA trying to make up my loss that way, too.

Prints sounds good. It is a lovely piece. And if the "client" complains, they can pay for the art AND buy the rights to it.