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https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/939896.html Who: Vani / VanillaKitsune / @ashketchumsays / stripesandteeth Where: Twitter When: Commissioned them June 15th, 2016 I commissioned Vani on their Twitter back in June when they were taking a lot of sketch commissions there. I bought two sketches and received initial passes pretty quickly, but since then it’s been very difficult to get in contact with them much less get an update. Break down of events and screen caps below cut. All screen caps are in the Dropbox folder below, and are numbered to be chronological, except for the proof of payment which is the first document. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gnsxt1by8i2dmvk/AAAON_cgjDhnjltT0I8dFCHma?dl=0 June: -6/15/16: I DMed Vani on Twitter like their post said to do, and gave them references and paid promptly. I paid for two 11x14 sketch with shipping, but was later asked to pay for shipping again. -6/26/16: I received preliminary sketches that were very rough and I approved them. I was excited to see progress so soon and was told they’d be finished promptly. -6/29/16: A few days later I received a long DM from Vani saying that they would be attending AX and couldn’t finish the sketches before then. As an artist that sells at cons, I understood and told them not to worry. Afterwards I didn’t hear anything until August. August: -8/14/16: I DMed Vani to check in and ask how the sketches were going and again received a long DM, explaining that things were rough but on an upswing. I trusted they’d work on commissions when they were able and left them to it until November when I saw they were going to MFF. November: -11/28/16: I DMed Vani again after I saw they were going to MFF and tabling there as well. I asked if I could pick up my sketches at the con and they said they would have them ready for me. I ended up not being able to get away from my table the entire weekend and messaged them when I got home. December: -12/5/16: I DMed Vani again apologizing that I couldn’t get to their table to pick up my sketches. At this point, I have not seen the finished sketches and have no reason to believe that the sketches have actually been completed and would have even been available for pickup. Vani tells me they can mail my sketches, and asked me to send $6. I promptly paid, completely forgetting that I had already paid for shipping initially. -12/30/16: Vani posts a 10 page google document explaining their year and the struggles they’ve been through. I read the whole thing, and only gathered that they were stressed from taking too many commissions in between moving a lot and having financial struggles. They clearly state that they can’t deal with the stress of being contacted by customers, which admittedly upset me. January: -1/7/17: At this point unaware of their post, I DM Vani one last time asking if they had mailed the sketches. I didn’t receive a response, so I publicly tweeted at them. -1/11/17: I tweeted asking if they had shipped the sketches, received a reply from a random third party directing me to the 10 page manifesto. After reading the whole thing I e-mailed Vani like they requested and tried to pick up where we left off on Twitter. -1/25/17: No response to my e-mail, so I send another asking if they had received it. At this point I am not expecting a reply. Speaking as an artist, I have been through similar situations that Vani has gone through. I’ve been in very tight spots financially and been forced to move and scramble to find housing. I honestly don’t mind waiting for artwork so long as the artist is able to clearly communicate delays and issues just as I would with my customers. Vani very clearly can’t handle custom work but continues to take more and put themselves into this situation. They are now putting the blame of their anxieties and shortcomings on their customers who are simply asking when they can expect their artwork. I’m incredibly disappointed and honestly even if I were to receive a refund or the finished artwork I couldn’t in good conscience recommend anyone work with Vani.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/939315.html Where https://inkbunny.net/Lando What 60$ commission. I commissioned once before, took a month more or less, so as it was the same style as the first one, I thought may the same or two would do. When 23th june 2016 Proofs Skype deleted the first month of june, but here is the log from july to now. https://d.pr/pvFM https://d.pr/hLs1 https://d.pr/1FY5 https://d.pr/XoMN https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ang7hikop5m0p6/img1.png?dl=0 That's the last thing I know from him. Payment: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8i72d6rev8nm88x/img2.png?dl=0 Further details: So, last year, I commissioned Lando, from InkBunny, a pic from our munks, like a grey and white sketchy style that he does very well. It just took like a month or so to get finished. So, more or less after half year I tried to commission him again. I asked if he was taking commissions that time, and said me yes. So I payed him the amount he asked, more or less the same as the first comm (60$). Said it would take the same time, may a bit more, because he never drew rocket raccoon, I thought it was ok, we all want very good draws. But since then, I only started to have comments like "soon", "the next draw is your comming", and so, as you can see in the pics. I also know that I can be a bit impatient, basically because he WAS my fav artist, but looks he didn't get bothered at all, all the contrary. Once he said me real life things were happening, and I understood that, but since then he told that now could focus on the commission, but only the last pic of the conversation is the last I know from him. He just passed me some sketches from rocket he was practicing and the very initial idea of the commission. Nothing else. So, as you can suppose, I'm disappointed with who was my favorite artist, who I got friendly chats on skype, and now, I just get ignored and scammed. I don't know what else I can do. I tried to make in paypal a petition of "asking money" from him, like a refund, last week just to make contact with him, but as always, no response from him. Also mention that in his account of IB has activity.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/936264.html WHO: Wormskin On Furaffinity WHERE: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/wormskin/ WHAT: Commission Type Was Half Body Digital Art WHEN: May 1st, 2016 - Present day PROOF: https://i.gyazo.com/53bec47615ad2cadfeabbbbc466e8d63.png https://i.gyazo.com/f581a688565103e79797eb5aee01805b.png https://i.gyazo.com/9bd2c423cb4dc5a5059378e5e4263533.png EXPLAIN: It started off when I saw his artwork on the front page of FA, I loved their art style and wanted to get a commission from them. after contacting the artist and explaining to them what I wanted (look at the above screenshots) they sent me an email and I paid for it. 7 months later and I haven't heard from this person, I even sent them a note asking about the art but it was never opened. https://i.gyazo.com/fe3dfcf3df83946ff0046e5946000ca4.png https://i.gyazo.com/caf3d8457586c0ba030c72ea8908210c.png https://i.gyazo.com/3d0c608b7a7fbcf142e88b8382a2018e.png I really don't know what to do at this point, I'm out of $41and the artist has seemed to just drop off the face of the earth. if ANYONE has any info on this person please note me on FA.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/933659.html WHO: Greycat Rademenes WHERE: http://greycat-rademenes.deviantart.com/ (DA), https://www.furaffinity.net/user/greycatr (FA) -> Both NSFW WHAT: A 2 character color picture for $90 WHEN: 12/11/2015 (payment) -> 3/16/2016 (last contact) -> Present Day PROOF: (Identifiers and explicit adult details have been redacted to the best of my abilities) Details of my Commission: http://sta.sh/013r1r3pado7 Payment of Commission: https://sta.sh/01tcxdl753ud Last Contact: http://sta.sh/04oyr12l9g5 EXPLAIN: On 12/11/2015, I paid for a 2 character color commission from Greycat Rademenes. I patiently waited for the picture to be completed, so I send him a DA note on 3/16/2016 asking about the status of my commission. He responded in a timely manner, but then a while later, he never responded when I asked him about my commission. I tried his Yahoo! E-mail, G-mail, FA notes, DA notes and some DA shouts, but he never responded to them. I don't want to believe he's ignoring me, but he hasn't given me anything to suggest otherwise. I've had no problems with him in the past, but this is something I've never encountered with him before. I really hope that he did not get too bogged down with his other non-art commitments (work, school, other people's commissions). Again, he hasn't given me anything to suggest otherwise. I only want my picture to be completed. I'm only posting this because of the total lack of communication on his part. All I need is a simple, one sentence response about my commission from him. I only ask reasonable requests like that to be done. UPDATE 1 (11/21/2016): After a few DeviantArt notes, I finally got a response from Greycat. He did not forget about my picture, but it would've been nice if I could see it firsthand to confirm the claim that he did work on my picture I commissioned nearly a year ago. Partly, but not yet fully resolved. Greycat's response: https://sta.sh/01rs8uyx2kii UPDATE 2 (11/22/2016): After 2 Tolstoy-length DA notes, Greycat is currently working on my commission mentioned above. My commission is NSFW, so it cannot be shown here. A bit more resolved than last time, but still not yet fully resolved. Greycat working on my pic: http://sta.sh/01cwjziz8i0 UPDATE 3 (11/27/2016): After another note, he has finished my picture and sent a copy of it to my email. Again, NSFW commission, so it cannot be shown here. I can consider this issue fully resolved, but I wish Greycat would keep in touch more often so a fiasco like this won't happen again.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/923369.html WHO: TheAquaticRebel (dA) -- Deactivated August 2016 -- New account http://kreayashion.deviantart.com/ Deactivated as well (August 28, 2016) -- (edited) http://loyderwo.deviantart.com/ New new account (Appears to have been abandoned) WHERE: http://www.theaquaticrebel.deviantart.com // http://kreayashion.deviantart.com/ // http://loyderwo.deviantart.com/ WHAT: $150.00 YCH fully detailed commission WHEN: May 27th, 2016 - August 4th, 2016 PROOF: http://ninjakato.deviantart.com/art/The-Aurora-Singers-YCH-CLOSED-611035951 (Original piece) http://comments.deviantart.com/1/611035951/4137225015 (Comment inquiring to purchase) http://ninjakato.deviantart.com/art/The-Aurora-Bringers-YCH-Comm-612444595 (Completed piece) EXPLAIN: In May of 2016 I opened a YCH with multiple characters which were $150.00 each 'The Aurora Singers' (YCH CLOSED). One was bought by someone and a short time later the other was bought by TheAquaticRebel. At the time I was doing commissions under post-pay -- Meaning I would be paid after completion. I had done this originally to save myself anxiety by feeling the need to rush to get a piece of artwork done because it had been prepaid. While TheAquaticRebel had offered originally to pay beforehand -- http://sta.sh/0e24dsjhdb6 I declined because I was pretty busy at the time and didn't want to run the risk of taking too long to get work done (I was in the process of packing to go overseas for a few months). Between May 28th and June 1st 2016 I had completed the commission and sent a note to let TheAquaticRebel know it had been completed and I was ready for payment to be made -- http://sta.sh/026ikm0uink5 I figured it had only been a couple days and I hadn't heard anything back from them to warrant a possibility that they wouldn't be able to pay. The other person who had bought the other half had paid promptly within a few hours after I'd sent the finished product. Unfortunately, that's when the situation went downhill and I received this as a reply -- http://sta.sh/085pjoiu0ra I had never heard of this happening but I asked around a bit and prodded Google.com for information of similar situations and ways to fix/repair it, not only to be paid but for TheAquaticRebel's sake as well because I imagined that situation is a pretty scary one to be in. A few people told me that PayPal doesn't shut down your account or delete it unless you ask them to under the pretenses that your account has been hacked/used by someone else without permission. Also, someone else pointed out the "PayPal bill" section which TheAquaticRebel spoke of -- PayPal doesn't send bills... They send business activity and payment histories monthly to show how much you have made/earned and how much you have bought in that month. Still, I gave TheAquaticRebel the benefit of the doubt and figured if anything they had a bank account and would likely offer to pay with that instead should their card take too long to arrive. The day after (June 4th, 2016) I sent a reply to their note inquiring as to when I could expect payment as banks usually only take 4-7 business days to send you a new card (even in the UK) and I was going to be unavailable for a week and a half or so as I would be traveling and thus unable to view my dA notes http://sta.sh/0rqa1qoxwye A week and a half's time seemed ample time enough to get everything sorted, more so when money and possibly identity theft was involved; I'd be chomping at the bit to try and get everything sorted! A day later I got this http://sta.sh/0bl5yxjjcnb as the only reply which seemed to be the tipping point for me to understand this person was yanking my chains. Their reply was so lackluster and 'meh' -- as if to say "I owe you $150/115£ but I can't be bothered" -- which really kind of annoyed me as I kept thinking of how I'd be in that situation. I'd be in slight hysterics because this is finances that were being messed with AND I'd owe someone 115 quid for work they'd already done. However, I digress -- I replied with as at this point I was beginning to realise the outcome was likely going to be dismal and it was looking less and less likely like I was going to be paid. Time warp to a few weeks later in which I hadn't heard any updates or gotten any notes from TheAquaticRebel about what was going on despite asking them to keep me posted. I don't know of any banks that take 2-3 weeks to send a new card and it's pretty easy to set up a new PayPal with a bank card (I use it myself and have had to change cards before). There had been no word from them so I sent them a note to inquire -- http://sta.sh/024dabpy0amk and funnily enough they replied the same day with -- http://sta.sh/07l9sx60i0e I had NEVER heard of PayPal doing this unless the person didn't have the amount in their accounts (PayPal or Bank) and even then, looking up this situation all I could get close to was a glitch that was a one time thing and usually sorted itself out after re-sending an invoice. However, after talking to other people about this -- I was curious for multiple opinions at this point -- they openly admitted that this just seemed like another excuse; a convenient one at that -- Fake a PayPal glitch. Regardless of my unease -- More so at the fact this all seemed phishy to me and I was not sure I wanted that kind of connection to something of that oddness -- I sent them my PayPal.Me link instead for them to send the payment. I got nothing, including no notification from them letting me know they'd even bothered to send a payment. So at this point I wanted some kind of visual proof of this situation happening, a screenshot if anything -- http://sta.sh/0s60gw7erao because I was ridiculously confused by that time. I couldn't find any direct information about this glitch being consistently replicated like TheAquaticRebel was claiming. Again, I got nothing -- no proof nor reply. August 4th, 2016 -- a couple weeks later I once again wanted to try and touch base with TheAquaticRebel on what was going on with the payment as I felt surely by this time they would have figured something out but at this point with the lack of proof that there was something wrong I was being told by several people to flip them onto Artists_Beware because to them they seemed to be nothing but a scammer -- http://sta.sh/01izcvl8v9et I got this reply -- http://sta.sh/018l60fboufu This is where there was the massive red flags -- mostly over the "PayPal won't do anything about it" because I knew damn well PayPal's support team are not that useless. I've had issues with my account before and any time I'd called them, no matter what the issue, they were always willing to help. They would pretty much always have an answer and if they didn't they would advise on ways and things I could manage things. The fact TheAquaticRebel spoke as if PayPal's people were like "Oh, you can't pay merchants for things? HAHA, OH WELL, nothing we can do :lol: Sorry~" The only thing; the ONLY thing I can see happening is them saying "The issue wouldn't on our end but your bank's as there's likely something going on with your account there. We'd advise you to call your bank and discuss it with them. For now what we can do is suspend any payments leaving your account within the last month since the time of the invasion until now to prevent any further unauthorized usage of your account and funds. If you are continuing to have issues using your account even after calling your bank and getting the OK from them that everything is fine, please contact PayPal again and we will investigate further." Which is pretty much what I got in an email reply when I inquired about the situation with PayPal's help team. TheAquaticRebel also made it out as if they were upset which their lack of cooperation really betrayed that -- More so when all they had to do was provide visual proof of what was happening as I even offered to give insight to help them. However, again... I gave them the benefit of the doubt and offered once more to help alleviate the situation -- This time by offering to bill their bank directly so it would be easier as there'd be no faffing about with PayPal as it was obvious there was issues with it -- http://sta.sh/029jxiy70vor I was concise but stern on the matter and I heard nothing back. A few weeks later I sent them http://sta.sh/019bmkyv12n3 and from then on I had heard nothing back AND they have since deactivated their account... So, here I sit -- Literally having to just deal with $150/115£ worth of work done never to be paid. However, if I can do anything I can warn people about this person. I gave them more than enough time and patience when dealing with the situation. I know it seems harsh but again, with the lack of proof and cooperation I feel genuinely put off and therefore I was told to place this publicly as a warning. I wouldn't be nearly as upset about $20 or even $40 worth of work as I could simply redo the piece but $150 is too much to just throw off without a warning. I'm well aware I should have taken prepay when it was offered, but I had my reasons for not doing so at the time -- Not to mention there might have been bigger issues if I had. EDIT-- (Apologies but they made a new account AFTER I had submitted this so there's some things to be added) TheAquaticRebel deleted their new account which was kreayashion after someone who'd seen my warning asked about the YCH. They then moved to the new new account loyderwo in which they noted me asking me to read a journal they'd written addressing the issue. The claimed to have been harassed before and after on Instagram -- which I should mention I never even knew their Instagram nor did I mention any other site they were on as I didn't even know of any others. So, if they were indeed harassed on there it wasn't because of anything I'd said. I had also not made this situation public until a few days ago when I was advised to make a warning in case others had had the same thing happen with her. It was only then that I had someone note me with other accounts she had made elsewhere but I did not mention a single one of them other than her dA. I was unable to see any comments posted on her page, or even if there were any as she'd deleted her account very soon after. I read the journal she'd written and it basically states they cannot pay me due to being hacked and their PayPal again being messed with so at this point I'm just severely at odds on the situation. I'm out $150.00 of work and I feel like I've been played. I know I should have asked for prepay; lesson learned. However, this just feels like she didn't have the payment even when she said she did otherwise she would have been okay to pay through her bank instead.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/921066.html WHO: Meora_Hedva WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/meorahedva WHAT: $223 Traditional Painting to be mailed out WHEN: Originally contacted and paid for in July 2014 PROOF: First response at contact for info, price, and where to send money: http://imgur.com/DeCHHZ7 http://imgur.com/NkVa72e http://imgur.com/tGQc7Z4 EXPLAIN: Sorry that I don’t have all the screenshots of the conversations listed. It was a mixture of notes, shouts, and emails, and some I absentmindedly deleted as I didn’t know this would go on for so long. I tried to put together the important bits though! The original contact with the artist went great! I had waited for a while so I could save money before contacting her, and saw she remained active while doing so, and figured why not splurge a little on some fantastic art. As the links show up above, we came to an agreement on a large coffee painting, framed, to be mailed out to me for $223. I gave her the character I wanted in the painting, but left majority of the idea and details up to her. She told me to expect a 4-6 month wait, so I left her be. I sent an update request in April 2015, was told pretty quickly it was still being worked on as the paints need time to dry - great! I’m happy for the update and knowing she was working on it. Attempted Contact again in May 2015(unfortunately I lost the email where she did respond) but she said she had been busy and hasn’t been able to work on it, but would soon! I attempted contact with her through a couple notes and then shouts in November/December 2015, and she finally responded to me in January 2016 to let me know she had finished my commission: http://imgur.com/fIPfcU6 I emailed her with the new email and she sent me the painting files in March 2016, and a promise to mail it out once she found a frame: http://imgur.com/6ct0z7Z Waited and poked late in March 2016 through email and shout (I know shouts seem excessive, but it was how I got her attention last time), and received an email back that she still did not mail out the painting, then said she had to wait until April for a frame to arrive, which she didn’t say at all beforehand. http://imgur.com/DW5TXXz I had waited a little longer, emailed her three times between April-July 2016 for an update and, due to silence on her part, I had to resort to giving her a deadline to respond back to me before bringing it to A_B's attention. http://imgur.com/ZVb2Vkb Additional Pokes: http://imgur.com/wDi2jTp http://imgur.com/cQh1x05 All she has to do is mail me the painting, which has been paid for. I have even offered twice to pay her more for the shipping fees since they have risen since 2014. I should also point out that every time I try to initial contact for her update, she seemed to have disappeared online everywhere for months. I usually try to not commission people who have a habit of disappearing for long periods of time, but before I commissioned her she updated constantly, and we even had a mutual interest in each other’s work, so I wasn’t prepared for the lack of communication. It’s a shame overall. I still love her art, but a painting that was supposed to be done and mailed within 6 months has turned to 2 years of botchy communication, and right now about 4-5 months of silence on her end. I do not know what else to do to get her attention, so unfortunately I’m trying Artists Beware.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/914048.html WHO: HornedFreak WHERE: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/hornedfreak/ WHAT: Digital Art, $30 commission WHEN: Initial transaction was on March 22, 2016. I haven't seen any progress on my commission, or my name added onto HornedFreak's trello for two months. Only after I poked her about it did she add my name to the que. PROOF: http://imgur.com/oKmnQ9D - Original Journal Advertisement https://www.furaffinity.net/view/13012988/ - Ref Link 1 https://www.furaffinity.net/view/16875996/ - Ref Link 2 (NSFW) https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17174232/ - Ref Link 3 (NSFW) Aforementioned ref links were directly linked in the journal. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/12777499/ - Ref Link 4 (NSFW) Said link above was linked in the transaction note. http://imgur.com/biFXnh1 - Note conversation involving money transaction. http://imgur.com/3i73reI - Me asking for an update on my commission in May. http://imgur.com/z1hN9Wg - My second attempt in trying to contact the artist https://www.dropbox.com/s/vyqjdqpz91rxm82/User_control_panel_--_Fur_Affinity_[dot]_net_-_2016-06-26_14.49.05.png?dl=0 http://imgur.com/0vRsX2h - Journal of her new commission advertising a few days after I spoke to her asking for an update. http://imgur.com/QAsbwJR - Trello que updated a few days after I spoke to her asking for an update. http://imgur.com/oD4YmSu - My note on June 24th asking for a refund. https://www.dropbox.com/s/hlyfujzgbwfwmvo/User_control_panel_--_Fur_Affinity_[dot]_net_-_2016-06-26_15.24.33.png?dl=0 - Proof that she had read my note in my note outbox. http://imgur.com/EJ7e46e - Finished commission posted two days after I asked for a refund. (NSFW) https://www.furaffinity.net/view/20389722/ - NSFW EXPLAIN: She opened commissions on March 22nd, 2016, and she took mine. I asked her what I wanted, and let her do her thing. I haven't received an update on my commission in a while, and my name wasn't in her trello que, so on May 12, I sent her a note. My note was read, and I didn't receive a response. So I tried again a week later. I received a response on May 19 that my commission is in progress, and my name got added on her trello que. I was content for the time being, so I gave her space. A few days later on May 23rd, she opens up a new batch of commissions, which left me a little confused because at the very least, my commission in the batch I was in wasn't finished. I waited another month to receive my art, and I was getting a bit flustered by the lack of communication, and I don't know when she'd get to my commission since the progress seemed a bit slow with no update at all. I didn't see any art. So on June 24, I send her another note asking for a refund, since I saw no artwork of any kind sent to me. The note was read, and I received no response. However, two days later (today), I saw that she posted my commission; didn't notify me about it either. x_x. At this point I'm really miffed because I wanted my money back from the lack of communication, I didn't want the art anymore. So from my standpoint, it felt like she hurried to do my commission, and posted it to prevent me from getting a refund that I had already asked for two days prior, and she was aware that I had asked for it as the note was marked read in my outbox. Edit: http://imgur.com/Ku2tgKu - Conversation about the refund. As of 6/27/2016, she has refunded my money. So I consider this matter resolved.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/910500.html Included are links to screenshots of the journals etc in case of deletion. WHO: soaru@dA (old account) / hatchimi@dA (new account/formerly Dollrot) WHERE: http://soaru.deviantart.com/ http://hatchimi.deviantart.com/ WHAT: Digital art - Pixel icons x4 - $40 total (+paypal fees) (92 total icons owed to others on her to do list) WHEN: Soaru had claimed to have been diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in early May 2014. We were all very understanding of her situation and that there would be delays with her commissions. ( https://i.gyazo.com/2d18a1584409cebc7fd6d15f3f87241e.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/Carpal-Tunnel-Diagnosis-453965909 ) and then another notice to commissioners: ( https://i.gyazo.com/cda7fca79f835063a19bd737fd96fc10.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/Attention-commissioners-454227201 ) I first noted soaru about the icon commissions on July 17th, 2014, then the agreement was made and I sent the payment the same day. (see screenshots in ‘proof’) Soaru had then made a journal on July 26th 2014 to state that she had unlimited pixel slots open for the summer ( https://i.gyazo.com/ff5ccf459452bb685191edc39e486352.png Journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/work-work-work-470968786 ) Unlimited slots never being a promising sign, but I am a patient person, and didn’t think much of it at the time. A few more updates regarding soaru’s recovery and commission progress were posted between August 2014 until August 2015 (I will get into these in my explanation below). The final update on August 25th 2015 was about her recovery and any updates for commissioners, and since then the account has been dead. PROOF: commission note paypal transaction EXPLAIN: As stated above, soaru had been diagnosed with Carpal tunnel syndrome. She posted a journal about it on May 14th, 2014 and continued updates on her situation. When soaru had opened commissions, I sent her a note expressing my interest, and the agreement was made on July 17th. I sent the payment the same day. On July 26th 2014, soaru posted a new journal stating that she had unlimited pixel slots open for the summer, ( https://i.gyazo.com/ff5ccf459452bb685191edc39e486352.png Journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/work-work-work-470968786 ). I didn’t think much of this at the time. On August 20th 2014, Soaru posted a commission update ( https://i.gyazo.com/1b08df12e524cd8658c41b2a8160a8c6.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/Commission-update-476955835 ), stating that she was working very hard on completing her commissions right now. She asks for our patience due to work and having to take breaks because of her carpal tunnel. I was in no rush for my commissions and only wished for her recovery, as I really couldn’t imagine how awful it must be to suffer from carpal tunnel as an artist.. She adds “I did not forget about your commission, don’t worry.” The next update was on October 6th 2014. Soaru states that commissions are now closed for a good year or so. She tells us that she is very busy with work, so commission progress is moving very slowly, and apologises for the wait. I can appreciate that she is going through hard times, so a few months isn’t much to wait given her situation. “I will not update you on how your commission if coming along because there are too many of you to note. I assure you I WILL complete the commission as soon as possible. So please be patient with me. You will receive your commission when you get it.” And no, I have no idea as to when you will receive it, and for that I'd like to apologize. I also won't be providing any refunds. You will get what you paid for.” I’m a patient person and I could appreciate that taking unlimited slots as there would be a lot of people on her to do list, but looking back now, not receiving any kind of progress report on how your commission is coming along is a pretty bad sign as well as stating that you have “no idea when a commissioner will receive their commission.” But again I was willing to wait and a few months wasn’t anything to complain about given her life situation. (https://i.gyazo.com/83b4d48b277187c21701d02963b5f5f7.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/Commissioners-PLEASE-READ-486724217 ) Between October 2014 and February 2015, there was no real update on soaru’s commission progress or her condition. Apart from posting a journal in December asking if her commissioners would mind if she used her new base for their commissions or not. (I requested to stick to the original base I had ordered as it fit my characters better). ( https://i.gyazo.com/934a152cd6297a6082aef184dc9e00f3.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/Question-for-people-who-have-commissioned-me-498366584 ), though you could hardly call this an update. Finally on February 10th, 2015, soaru posts her public to-do list and an apology for the delay with her commissions. (https://i.gyazo.com/67931c13a0edf8575e38623994e9681c.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/TO-DO-LIST-UPDATED-PLEASE-READ-THIS-OMG-512941211 ) On this list there are a total of 96 commissions yet to be completed. At the time, I simply thought she’s stated many times she is working hard to get these done so over the course of months hopefully her list will get shorter and shorter, and she will get through these and can look past this tough time in her life. The next and major life update was posted on July 13th 2015: ( https://i.gyazo.com/8e096687c3b8c8bc92baef371ba68a41.png https://i.gyazo.com/7e8bc4738ff1ea001597797b8e525eec.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/Life-Update-ADDED-546016180 [screenshot & link to updates journal linked at the bottom: https://i.gyazo.com/12e87e334c506d2f8477ef92f83e50d7.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/updates-447349674]). Soaru talks about how she realizes how unhappy a lot of her commissioners are with her services, her surgery and the date being under negotiation, and that she has been going through recovery. “I'd like to assure ALL MY COMMISSIONERS that I am not running away with your money. I WOULD LOVE to provide refunds to all of you, I cannot stress that enough. But I simply do not have the funds to do so. I know I've already asked you all to be very patient with me, and some of you have and I'm very grateful for that. I do not expect everyone to be understanding of my situation financially/mentally/physically, but you WILL receive your commission.” Her last update and sign of any activity on her account was on August 25th 2015. ( https://i.gyazo.com/0153602488fb599d70ff0bb7bad6a9fa.png journal link: http://soaru.deviantart.com/journal/Recovery-Update-556158826 ) A promising recovery update stating that soaru’s wounds are healing well, she still experiences some pain but it should disappear soon. She says she should be able to start commissions mid-September. She says she’ll be sure to post a journal update, as well as join.me streams of commission work, and finally that “You will also be provided with WIP's of your pixel so you know I'm actually doing your commission.” I cannot speak for everyone on her list but I have not received any kind of work in progress shots from soaru. Since then, soaru had provided no updates about surgery dates, delays, or any kind of work in progress to assure people that she was indeed trying to work on these commissions as she had been stating for the last year. Many of the comments on her page and in her journals talk about the lack of any kind of update given the situation and the wait for all of her commissioners. Soaru is even ignoring notes and comments from her clients. Many of the comments urged her to think about trying to refund even just a few commissioners to lessen her workload and to just resolve the situation as quickly as possible. Soaru also states that once her recovery is over she will be working her hardest to finish all of her commissions in response to another comment. I tried to note her back in January: ( https://i.gyazo.com/cf393ed24d2d8fe08285099283e79359.png ) to ask about changing characters since it has been so long that I had forgotten who I had even requested, but there has been no response. However, in my sent notes it is marked as read. Around late February, a friend and I (who is also on soaru’s to do list) came across a deviantart account named dollrot, but recently changed to hatchimi. At the time there was no evidence that hatchimi and soaru are the same individual, however we did find her art style to bear very close similarities to soaru’s. For some time we just kept an eye out since there wasn’t much posted to hatchimi’s gallery at the time and it could just be a similar style. Here is a comparison we compiled of all the similarities we found (style wise) : http://orig03.deviantart.net/d537/f/2016/154/f/1/comparisons_by_theangelofmemories-da4ubbh.png Over the course of the last few months we’ve tried to gather as much evidence as we can that links hatchimi and soaru as the same person. A few things we noticed: Her icon style is in the same style as her old one (they’re not made from the same base, but the way the eyes are pixeled have the same technique done on them, plus they almost overlap in terms of head placement over body) She still uses bases extremely frequently and they all have their toes pointing inwards with their hands by their sides with closed fingers. A similar technique with the way she shades her noses, and the highlights in the character’s eyes Handwriting comparison http://orig02.deviantart.net/06b4/f/2016/166/2/f/handwritting_by_royal_jelliefish-da6ck3m.png The first semi-concrete proof comes in the form of a work in progress shot from soaru, and something I noticed when I popped in to one of hatchimi’s picarto streams a few weeks ago. This is Soaru's wip screenshot with her file location atop the SAI window. notice the "C:/users/mew/desktop/file/cootiewootie.psd" Now, look at the location on this screenshot taken from Hatchimi's picarto stream. Same user name and location as to where the file is saved. "C:/users/mew/desktop/file/BASEA.psd" Along with the similarities of their style, noticing that they share the same user name and have the habit to save on the desktop is too much of a coincidence. Now, the evidence we have found that positively links soaru and hatchimi as the same person was something I noticed when hatchimi posted her artvsartist meme. She has since taken it down but you can still view it via google cache here: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://hatchimi.deviantart.com/art/artvsartiste-611370644 screenshot: https://i.gyazo.com/ad467bb0d3af2f1e4794c2464916a57f.jpg A while back soaru had posted a self portrait to her deviantart, and looking at the two images it’s hard to think they’re two different people. Please note the same piercings and gauge in her ear as well as the facial similarity. http://fav.me/d8hcuq8 screenshot: https://i.gyazo.com/090fdf9f9535898df2d0febda19d16d6.png A friend had found soaru’s old paypal/email address through the icon commission transaction. Hatchimi’s current paypal does not contain personal information linking her to soaru, but with some digging with the ‘soaru’ email address, we have discovered it is used for her instagram account that has been up since 2012 and is still active: https://i.gyazo.com/b536e315ee2473202d9842807a0a1561.png When lined up side by side from the image from the artvsartist meme: https://i.gyazo.com/09f0a7f2270ec47712465a1e29420878.png The name that appears in the transaction for the payment to soaru from 2 years ago also matches the name on the instagram account if there is still any doubt that they are the same person. The evidence collected in this case was through a group effort from her dissatisfied customers I have reached out to. **Edit : 17/06/2016 We have posted jorunals on deviantart revealing our findings and to spread the word. my friends (who has been in contact with hatchimi to send her the beware post and to see if the situation could still be privately resolved) : http://royal-jelliefish.deviantart.com/journal/ARTIST-BEWARE-Soaru-Hatchimi-615658826 Hatchimi has also posted a journal with her defenses and some evidence of a conversation between herself and soaru through email, as well as a note she sent inquiring about commissions to soaru. http://hatchimi.deviantart.com/journal/Harassment-soaru-drama-615813488 Someone picked up that there is a tab open in this screenshot for 'msn canada' it isn't by any means concrete but it could confirm her location, and this could be another piece of evidence that links another similarity between them. http://orig06.deviantart.net/ce3f/f/2016/165/e/a/ccb568bad3054274b7fe6f00b4a87a34_by_hatchimi-da6aqen.png anoher edit: a user found a page in the waybackmachine that has her country listed as canada: http://web.archive.org/web/20151024030234/http://dollrot.deviantart.com/ So we can prove that she and soaru share the same location. A big question for me in all of this is that why now of all times would she choose to reveal this screenshot of her noting soaru about asking about commissions? Surely its a strong piece of evidence to support that the two are different people, so why wouldn't she send it to us sooner rather than this much later? http://img10.deviantart.net/289a/i/2016/168/6/a/proof1_by_hatchimi-da6mxv6.png (screenshot in case of deletion: https://i.gyazo.com/f95a0191f17fd6a7aa8e13112f34e47b.png ) At first it looks fairly normal, but someone commenting on the beware journal checked their old notes from before they changed their username, ane the previous username shows up in older notes, not the new on since hatchimi was formerly Dollrot until earlier this year, why does it say "Hatchimi said the following" and not "Dollrot said the following"..? Another commenter then claimed that it is possible to run a test on images which will tell you if the image has been edited, and the screenshot came up as edited in photoshop, so this tells us that the note screenshot is fake. Here are the websites one can use to detect a doctored image: http://fotoforensics.com/ http://imageedited.com/ Hatchimi is still denying that she and soaru are the same person, despite all of these new revelations, I will continue to update as more light is shed.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/908926.html WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/bakasnowbunny/ and https://mobile.twitter.com/BakaSnowBunny WHAT: Partial fursuit commission, later refunded. WHEN: February 22nd; payment was held until March 14th. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736210837000.jpg Refund issued on May 20th. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736230758000.jpg PROOF: PayPal transactions are above. Unfortunately my Gmail isn't letting me retrieve the emails sent from February to March. I updated them weekly as I was working on other commissions for clients whose payments were received before hers. I'll explain what went down in those emails below. Initial reference sheet given: http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682757348300.jpg Colors change from pink to purple (were pink on the reference sheet, later change to purple when the design changes) http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682780450500.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682799660500.png She asks about the color again 2 days after ordering the fur, which she had approved then. The new reference comes up a few days after this but I can't seem to find that e-mail. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682770468700.png Having the nose moved: http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682757572500.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682773362000.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682799789500.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682743573300.png (in reference to where the nose was first) Her asking about the dots above the eyes when I mention the ones UNDER the eyes (so maybe there's another dot not on the reference sheet?): http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682743277600.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682713249500.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682759983300.png Me refunding her, starting with the tail issues: http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736274181200.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736210648100.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736214488700.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736215937600.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736241789200.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736254110500.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736269066900.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736260942300.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736269846400.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736220547700.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736285150000.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736288180900.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736249328300.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736264931200.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736286129200.jpg Twitter posts: http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736274107100.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736299628000.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736297296300.jpg Her boyfriend sent me notes on FA, again blaming me for her depression: http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736275769200.jpg FurAffinity journal about me: http://www.ezimba.com/work/160525C/ezimba13736275402700.jpg EXPLAIN: In late March I started working on my clients fursuit. I should have refunded them then, because despite saying that she was patient she would ask for changes (the nose, for instance, was moved 4 times), questioned how I did things compared to others (not as a compliment, as if I was doing it wrong) and she gave me odd measurements (I have it recorded that her hip to heel measurement is 44" and the head size changed three times). I was sent two different reference sheets, which changed in late March again. I was incredibly patient until we got to the tail, in which the furs she picked out herself were apparently not long enough, and she questioned how I made it. At this point I put my foot down and decided to refund her. She threw a fit at work, blamed me for her depression, sent her boyfriend after me, posted about me on Twitter and then later made a journal after the supplies arrived. She would not give me her PayPal address or shipping address so I had to find them through PayPal myself; she switched off receiving payments while I looked too (as there was a period of time where she wouldn't answer my emails). She was taking PWYW commissions during this time so that's how I know she switched it off on me. I sent her everything I had involving the commission: fabric, the base, feet, tail, claws, patterns, etc. I was more than halfway done with the commission when it was refunded which is why this situation is difficult. A week after canceling her father decided to contact me on behalf of the commission. He sends me very threatening e-mails and demands a larger refund than what I had given her. He even gives me his phone number and asks me to call him (which I don't do; the phone number was sent in a side e-mail that I did not include because it solely contained the number alone). http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682752279400.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682791641300.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682783556000.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682771676200.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682776155700.png He also forwards me the first set of measurements I was sent which I have left some notes on. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682757783500.png There is an error somewhere where I mention her shoe size is US women's 8 instead of 10 1/2. I have it marked that I got her 10 1/2 shoes. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682740583600.jpg http://www.ezimba.com/work/160531C/ezimba12682788472100.png (The purchase through eBay) Do not work with this individual. It's unfortunately one of those situations where you just can't please someone, no matter how hard you try. EDIT June 1st 4:30PM: More tweets about me. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160602C/ezimba12682785868100.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160602C/ezimba12682749512500.png http://www.ezimba.com/work/160602C/ezimba12682723872100.png EDIT June 4th 6:45PM: Found this in my spam as I was looking for an e-mail from another artist that accidentally went there. My parents are fully aware of the matter and will not be contacting him as they helped me with the number crunching with the refund and relaying of e-mails with him. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160605C/ezimba12682792641600.png EDIT June 9th 7:00PM: Came home to see that the client (or her father) issued a chargeback on my account. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160610C/ezimba12682772759100.png EDIT July 27: A second chargeback has been issued by the father. http://www.ezimba.com/work/160728C/ezimba19677183466200.png

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/906397.html WHO: Gideon Hoss WHERE: Anthrocon Pittsburgh, PA, July 9th-12th, 2015 http://www.furaffinity.net/user/gideon / http://www.gideonscorral.com/ WHAT: traditional "con sketch" for $40 WHEN: Friday, July 10th, 12:45PM Pittsburgh time EXPLAIN: As soon as the dealer's room opened, I rushed in to get several commissions for a friend of mine in Sweden, knowing that sketch slots fill up fast. One of my friend’s requests was NSFW sketch of his zebra/dog character (Gideon is well known for his hyper-genetila pictures.) After securing commissions from several other artists first, I arrived at his both around 12:30pm. I purchased a sketch commission slot for $40, along with one of his CD compilations for $10. I gave him my friend’s character references, along with a description of what he wanted, and paid the $50 at that time using my PayPal debit card (see receipts above). I was told he would complete the sketch that night and it would be available for pick up the next morning. The next day (Saturday), I went to his booth to pick up the sketch, but was told he didn’t have enough time to complete it, and that he would try to get it done that night for me. Ok, fine. Things happen, sketches take longer then they expect, etc. Again, when I went to his booth the next day, I was again told that he did not complete it, but he would try to get it done before the end of the con. We exchanged phone numbers so that he could text me when it was ready. Instead, later that evening he texted me to say he did not complete it, but would do so when he got home and mail it to me. I waited several weeks with no messages from him, so I sent him a text message inquiring about the status of the sketch, but he never responded. I tried several more text messages after that over the following weeks, and again received no response. I was able to locate his email address on his website and attempted to contact him that way, but again received no response. As it turns out, my friend was going to be attending Eurofurence in August 2015, and Gideon was to have a booth there. They exchanges several emails and made arrangements to meet to pick it up, but Gideon never showed up at the arranged time. After that con, he again failed to contact us. Both my friend and I attempted to email him every couple weeks or so after that, and he yet again didn’t respond. In September, I again tried contact him as I saw that he was going to be at the Rainfurrest convention in Seattle later that month and could make arrangements to pick up the sketch, as I was going to be in the area visiting friends. Again, I received no response from him. In November, I tried to contact him via his Furaffinity.com account. Needless to say, I was very surprised when he actually *DID* respond. He claimed he was not receiving our emails (which I find very hard to believe since they seemed to work just fine when we could “pin him down” at a con, but whatever.) After a few exchanges on the fur affinity message system, he stopped responding yet again. My friend and I both attempted to contact him several times in December and January, to which we again received no response. At some point I also left him negative feedback on his credit card merchant account, citing the long overdue delivery and lack of response, and yet again he never replied. At this point, it’s now been over 7 months since the con it was originally supposed to be done at, and we’ve been given him more than enough chances to correct the situation. My friend is heart set on getting this sketch from Gideon, so I would very much like to receive it, and soon. At this point, if he has any intention of completing it, I feel he should mail the sketch to my friend in Sweden at his cost: Has he actually completed it at Anthrocon as originally promised, I would have been able to send it in a package of other “con goodies” I got for my friend – an additional sheet of paper probably would not have raised the postage any more. If he has no intention of completing it in a reasonable time, I want a $40 refund. I’m sorry, but there is no excuse for this lack of customer service on his part. A paying customer should NOT have to try to hunt down an artist like this, only to be given empty promises or be completely ignored. It makes me wonder how many other people he’s done this to that maybe gave up after a few tries. My friend was actually considering getting a full colored commission from him at some point, but after this experience, I don’t think that’s going to happen anymore. PROOF:

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/898774.html WHO: Riikai WHERE: Deviantart WHAT: Full body YCH + a bonus chibi. WHEN: March 2nd 2015 -> present PROOF: When I AB'd her YCH I sent her a message with references + told her I paid Proof that I actually paid it I am listed on her YCH that I paid for her AB I asked her to put me on her To-do-list I asked her for some updates I finally asked for a refund EXPLAIN: I first saw Riikai’s YCH via watch list, and I ran over in my head if I wanted to buy it or not, and then I bought the AB. She was very kind and allowed me to send the references and I sent the points immediately. I was highly understanding of her current To-do list, as it was large... so I told her not to rush it. A few months later, I noticed I wasn’t on her to-do list at all so I asked her to put me on her todo-list, which she promptly put me on. A few months later, I noticed she didn’t have her to-do list on her DA anymore, so I asked her for any updates. After no response, I asked for a refund, which has gone read but unresponsive. I must admit that I am also at fault for not asking for updates either. And me asking for a refund didn't exactly sound pleasant either. However, at this point I really do not care for the YCH anymore and would prefer a refund, but at this point I don't expect it. I honestly wouldn't have minded if she had stated she was busy with school or had a reason for it, but because she hasn't given me any excuse... or actually responded to me after telling her I paid... I can't really give her the benefit of doubt anymore.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/886127.html Text: WHO: rakkphotography on deviantart, audience0fdeath on weebly, #101897 on furry-paws. WHERE: Occurred mainly on furry-paws.com, but also on deviantart. WHAT: Digital art WHEN: Dates are listed above, but generally we first started talking on 3/29/15. First set of unpaid art completed 4/26/15, second set 5/5/15. Repeated attempts at contact between then and now. Payment still not received as of 1/1/16. PROOF: (Click for massive image) I then emailed them here. And then some deviantart replies here. I sent them another message later and they opened it but never replied. Proof of activity below in 'explain'. EXPLAIN: Rakk approached me after I made a thread advertising commissions. They seemed extremely kind at first and paid for their first commission batch promptly, so I didn't feel like it was dangerous to continue accepting payment after I delivered the art. Stupid move, and now I only accept part or full payment before. Live and learn. After offering to combine two commission batch payments into one, they didn't pay and stopped replying. They claimed they were sick and in the hospital. Up until today, I believed they were still in the hospital. However, that doesn't seem entirely true. I snooped on their weebly page and found their blog and instagram, both of which they've been incredibly active on. Proof of their activity on instagram. 2+ posts every single day. Posting to their first blog here(post too long to screencap it all, was just talking about training dogs) Seen here, they were also active this September, when they were ignoring me and claiming to be in the hospital. Here is their activity on their other blog. So obviously this person has had ample free time. They're posting selfies, writing blog posts, playing games, etc. And yet they refuse to get back to me or pay me for over half a year now. Yet, they're using my art on their blogs and weebly. I hate to have to write this about someone who was previously so kind to me, but it is what it is and I don't want any other artist having to deal with this. Bonus points! Since submitting and waiting for a mod to get back to me, this is now their instagram. Yep. All of those photos(besides the very last one) in 2 days. Clearly, too sick and busy to pay me. (thank you to CelestinaKetzia for helping me with this post! hopefully I got everything right this time!) edit: Since posting this, they've now sent me the full amount.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/886993.html I agreed to do a trade with FA user Lyshastra back in July. We met on Facebook, and she agreed to trade me for a plush that I had premade. We agreed on a trade for the plush of $10 + 4 bookmarks, and agreed to make the trade at Anthrocon as we were both attending (and I had a table, making it easy to swap). She never showed, and after the con asked me if I would ship the plush. I behaved unprofessionally in that I agreed to ship despite the discomfort I had with shipping her the plush despite not seeing any evidence that she had even worked on my half of the trade. Because of my anxiety issues, I did not express this to her and instead delayed shipping for months, hoping that she would eventually post evidence of the half of the trade I was supposed to receive. I definitely acknowledge that I didn't handle this the way I should have and I feel like I've learned more about speaking up about my discomfort in trade situations like this because of it. Regardless, no evidence showed up, she eventually became frustrated with me and my agreeing to ship but never doing so. She contacted me again in October about it. I felt really bad at this point, and finally shipped the plush to her. At this point, I still had not seen any evidence that she had even picked up a pencil to work on my trade. I asked her about their status, and she claimed to have mailed them to me already but that they were sent back to her... Some time passed after my shipping her half of the trade. She didn't respond to me for a long time (me asking her if she received the plush) until I threatened to post her on here... then she responded within seconds lol. Shortly after she posted pictures of two of the four completed bookmarks on her FA account. Weeks passed again. I told her I wanted evidence that she had shipped the bookmarks. Weeks passed again with nothing. I posted publicly on her Facebook page asking about the bookmarks and she said to message her about it privately to remind her. She never responded. This was on November 30th. I would offer screenshots of the Facebook posts made to her account but she has unfriended me. Her FA page: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/lyshastra/ Link to screenshots of our Facebook convo ( some things were cut out that were just conversational, but I can grab those if anyone needs anything else inbetween these for clarification, I just wanted to keep the post succinct): http://imgur.com/a/Gqf5u ^ I'm Sam Williamson. I've blurred out her name, though she has been posted to here using her IRL name as well. I don't expect anything at this point. She obviously doesn't plan to actually compensate me for the shipping I paid to send the plush to her that we had never agreed on me paying OR my bookmarks, but I really really highly discourage anyone from commissioning or trading her. It was a really bad experience.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/881252.html WHO: Lyshastra (Furaffinity), Ann Allen (Facebook) WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/lyshastra https://www.facebook.com/people/Ann-Allen/100009386021687 WHAT: Art trade--A bust of her character for a badge (or two) of mine. WHEN: April 26 -- She asked to do an art trade and we worked out the details May 29 -- I finished and posted my part of the trade June 25--September 12 -- A lot of back and forth trying to reach her and find out progress of badge(s) October 8 -- I finally see pictures of the actual finished badges November 15 (Now) -- Still waiting on scanned versions to be posted PROOF: https://gyazo.com/5ba0e7c507a07c2929f561f3dfccd63d (first asked if I wanted to do a trade) https://gyazo.com/8282531b428e9c5d63c3f3614fa19e32 (working out the details--read from bottom to top) https://gyazo.com/f3b582256793b7b986dbfe8015bd1f11 (working out details part 2) https://gyazo.com/8831e2970df610a0944823025bf277e4 (working out details part 3) https://gyazo.com/1c61398cda4e631861b1d5a4b961eae1 (my finished posting) EXPLAIN: On April 26th she asked if I wanted to do an art trade, to which I replied yes and messaged her for the details. I finished my half on May 29th and sent her a note with the finished picture. Some time later she opened the note, but never responded to it. A month later when she did respond, it was not to the note but on the submission. https://gyazo.com/f1573a3ca5928b8748df3fd50dd16e78 She said she was sorry, she hadn't seen it until she searched for her character, and then told me to PM her on facebook for my final approval on the trade before uploading it. The link to her facebook page was broken so I had to search for her, and when I thought I had found her I messaged her, asking if this was her. A month later she replied that yes it was her. No mention of the art trade. A week later I asked if there was any progress, to which she told me to PM her on her art facebook page since she's never on this one anymore. https://gyazo.com/399f44f5b81f2844ff9cab5515678ba8 I find that one and sent a message saying it was me again, to no response. I notice that she's been posting other artwork she's been doing. A little over a week later I told her that if the trade was too much to do, to just let me know. Almost a month later she replies saying sorry that she didn't see it, it was in her other folder. I told her it didn't matter if it was done or not, some communication was all I was asking for. https://gyazo.com/71e6df3c7d38db184a2589109d4b6975 After that things finally started moving. I gave her a ref of my character again. Things were looking up. https://gyazo.com/5a973dd55b67204b54c1649619540699 About a month later, I finally got pictures of the badges. https://gyazo.com/fd192c898b62f698ca3a38ad13f3a0c3 https://gyazo.com/dbb373c4a4ed6d491a985f251bd3f545 She said if I was pleased then she would scan and post them. I told her I was very happy with them, and have been waiting ever since... https://gyazo.com/6a7a0d29eb5f660910044a972b3d3c0a Now I understand that technically she did finally do the badges, and I can probably still try to contact her for the scanned versions, but honestly I don't want to go through all the time and effort again it took just to get to here. If I had written this artists beware earlier as I had planned to, things would be looking a lot worse. At this point I think it's just best to let people know what they could be getting into if they decide to commission her to do a trade.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/880411.html WHO: candykittycat WHERE: http://toyhou.se/Candykittycat http://www.furaffinity.net/user/candykittycat/ WHAT: Character trade. Two of my characters for one of hers plus some art from her. WHEN: Trade first initiated/finalized July 29th-30th. TH note asking for an update sent October 8th, never opened/responded to. First FA note asking for an update sent October 27th, also never opened/responded to. Left a public shout on her page asking for her to get back to me November 5th. Note requesting the trade cancelled/dropped November 9th. PROOF: Conversation regarding the trade: X(read from the bottom up) First and second FA notes showing they haven't been opened/read: X Details of the notes: X - X Shout on her page: X EXPLAIN: Candy sent me a message on Toyhouse regarding two characters I had up for trade. We agreed to trade my two for one character of hers plus some art of other characters I had. She said she would have it done within a day or two, and after that I never heard anything else about it. I admittedly forgot about it for a while, then noted her on TH to ask about an update in case she too might have forgotten. The note was never opened and I don't believe she's been on TH since. I decided to note her on FA since she was far more active there, but so far none of my messages have been responded to or even read. She was active with favorites, posting and commenting during the time between my two notes, so I'm not sure if somehow they were just 'eaten' or if I'm being blatantly ignored. Update 1-19: Candy has 'returned' and begun completing/posting art again but still has yet to even read my notes regarding the trade. The characters in question have still not been removed from her Toyhouse although they have been sold to a new owner. Update: 1-23: Candy finally answered my note, apologized and removed the characters from her Toyhouse. I consider this resolved for the most part.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/879724.html WHO: Gunmouth on FurAffinity WHERE/WHEN: Dealer's Den, Midwest Furfest 2012 WHAT: one character sketch, paid a little extra due to forced perspective I've been attempting to contact Gunmouth in his streams (but he keeps extremely late hours so this is difficult) and over notes/shouts on his FA page to try and keep up with the sketch, which looked mostly completed at MFF but he was willing to take it home and work on it. I paid cash so unfortunately there's no paper trail. The last note I received from him was over a year ago: http://i.imgur.com/WKih6ej.png have been sending notes since but they're not being read according to FA. Three years is an insanely long wait but I don't know how else to get his attention. I mentioned it in the last stream I saw him in and he said he may have misplaced it. In any event, I'd rather a refund at this point. Further proof (best I could gather): http://i.imgur.com/KXWwPDd.png http://i.imgur.com/QFd43Do.png Last note, unread, 4 months ago http://i.imgur.com/8n9jGaJ.png

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/879013.html I feel like this is a rather unusual beware, but here it is, anyways. All information is under the cut! WHO: Paxerle @ deviantART WHERE: http://www.paxerle.deviantart.com WHAT: Contest Prizes ($8 USD, 1 Chibi, 2 Pixel Icons, 1 Custom Design) - Only the chibi was ever completed and sent to me. WHEN: Paxerle noted me on June 23, 2015 and requested that I enter her contest. The journal with the information has long since been deleted, as well as the results journal, but I believe I was announced the winner on August 2, 2015, as that's when my note to her about prizes is dated. This is still ongoing. PROOF: Screenshots will be linked below. As said above, the original journals with the contest information and results have been deleted, so this proof is based off of what has been said in notes and I hope it's sufficient. EXPLAIN: June 23, 2015: Paxerle contacts me about her contest, the theme of which is to design a character for one of her MYO Sushi Dog Slots. Sushi Dogs are a closed species belonging to another user, which is important because it means she had to have the design approved by the species owner and I can no longer revoke it from her without backlash from the species community. She did pay the species owner for the slot, but, as explained below, she never compensated me, the designer, for the design, which was the original agreement. (I apologize for the confusion of this; I know this is an unorthodox situation that might require additional explanation.) August 2, 2015: I decided to enter because I had no workload at the time and I liked her art, which was also offered as prizes. On August 2nd, the results were posted and I was announced the winner, but this journal, like the one with the contest information, has been deleted. I also provided her with my email address for the small monetary prize. August 21, 2015: Paxerle sends me one of the completed art prizes. I'm including this because I believe it shows that she's acknowledging owing me something, and I don't have much evidence of that, unfortunately. September 10, 2015: I sent a note about the monetary prize because I never received it and, as mentioned in the screenshot, other artists often send payments to me to the wrong email address. (My dA username is Bottled-Rottweiler; my email address has no hyphen.) She claims to have sent it and I let her know that I never received anything. As of this posting, this is the last I ever heard from her. She could have easily responded with a screenshot of the transaction if she actually did send me the money, so I believe she never did and doesn't intend to. Here, she also acknowledges that I'm the designer of the character to the closed species owner, who approves it. This is why I cannot revoke the design from her; it would be viewed as poor etiquette in the community and I could consequently be banned. I was hesitant to post this due to the complexity of the situation, but the general idea of this is, I entered Paxerle's contest and designed her a character, under the belief that I would receive art and monetary prizes in exchange. I never received them, so she now owns a design from me that I was, in a sense, not paid for. I hope I'm not overreacting to this, but the idea that she scammed a free design out of me has left a bad taste in my mouth. Additionally, she has paid people for adoptables and completed personal artwork in this time. EDIT (11/11/25: I want to place emphasis on the fact that this is an issue with an individual artist who failed to compensate me for a character design, not an issue with the closed species community. At the advice of the comments below, I did contact the moderators of the community for assistance, but this is a conflict between two individuals. I have no issues with this community and have always felt welcome there. 🙂

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/876252.html WHO: EciiArisu/Usabuuchu WHERE: usabuuchu.deviantart.com WHAT: fullbody couple, digital art. WHEN: Ordered and paid in March. PROOF: first attempt at contact https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/booksen/76931540/272/272_original.png second attempt at contact, over a month later https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/booksen/76931540/517/517_original.png Finally received a reply, September 7th https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/booksen/76931540/873/873_original.png My reply to hers https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/booksen/76931540/1260/1260_original.png No response to my last reply, sent another message October 7th https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/booksen/76931540/1506/1506_original.png EXPLAIN: In March of this year I purchased a fullbody couple from Usabuuchu (formerly EciiArisu) on deviantart. After paying I waited some months until July when I asked for a update on my commission. I didn’t get a reply so Auguest 30th I sent another note asking the same thing. I finally did recieve a reply for this one on September 7th. The reply had me a little worried as it was worded. To me it made me think ‘i might finish your commission and if I don’t then maybe you get a refund’. I sent a note as soon as I read this asking for clarification but have not heard back since. I have sent another note as of last week, October 7th , and still haven’t heard anything even though the icon on the note says it has been read. They are still active on other sites and on dA (uploading art, commenting, etc). I do not want to cause any trouble or drama but I felt this needed to be put out there. Thank you for your time in reading this. I would also like to apologize for any spelling errors or mistake, this is my first time posting to artist-beware.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/874852.html WHO: Artist: "Jaggy" /furaffinity/deviantart/ http://www.furaffinity.net/user/jaggy/ http://ieatd0gs.deviantart.com/ WHERE/WHAT: Badge trade, through notes on FA/spoke in person a few times. WHEN: Discussed doing a trade at Califur in 2013. Despite getting my half done for them within a month, I have been fed excuses and given nothing despite waiting for two years, along with being ignored the last time I tried to contact them. PROOF: Screencaps of notes will be hosted in the explanation, though I only have one note remaining from them (but most of their correspondence is still in the quotes on my replies thankfully.) I was lucky that FA's outbox notes were kept so long-term as compared to my often cleared inbox. While this means a lot is missing, I think there's enough to clearly support what's gone on here. EXPLAIN: Califur 2013 Jaggy and I spoke, with them telling me they loved my artwork and really wanting a badge, but were short on funds. Trades came up and I agreed that I'd like to do a trade after seeing their work because they had a style I felt would suit my character well. I asked them to contact me after the con to set up details and give each other references. June 2013 I got the initial note from Jaggy asking if I still wanted to trade, and we exchanged references and the like. Here's what I have from the correspondence setting up the trade. First Second Third And I was obviously noted back with their details as I completed their badge shortly after as I stated. July 2013 I contacted Jaggy about the badge being done. I received a response stating the sketch was drafted and I'd for sure get it by the next furmeet (the only note that slipped through my inbox cleaning, thankfully.) Here is a posting of my half of the trade for them, it is the green character at bottom-center. I delivered the badge to them at the furmeet as stated, when I was told again in person it was sketched and would be ready at the next meet for sure. At the end of July 2013 I had something come up, so I informed Jaggy they'd have an extra month to work on their half since I couldn't make it to the next meet. When I saw Jaggy at the furmeet in September 2013, I was given more excuses as to why it wasn't done, told it was sketched out still, and given another "next time" guarantee. I ended up moving out of state for a while and when we spoke at my last meet I attended before that, Jaggy told me they'd be fine shipping it to me because I was so patient. I remained patient, seeing I was on their profile in their commission/trades list. In November 2013, I contacted Jaggy inquiring if they could have the badge completed by my next convention so I could wear it there. They had replied telling me what was up and I replied back being very understanding of things. I was never once shown any of these sketches, however, and starting to doubt any existed. At Further Confusion 2014 in January, Jaggy and their partner came to my table to see me. Again, with no badge. I was fed a sob story about how difficult their lives had been lately and that they were in debt and they had no time to get art done whatsoever. My friend popped into the conversation proposing that I could use the badge as an example for my table until the end of the con to make things fair, to which Jaggy agreed. When Jaggy came back to pick up the badge, it had gone missing. I told Jaggy I had a hi-res scan if we couldn't find it and I could easily print them out a new one with no problem, but kept looking around. I assumed it fell off or someone took it, but still made an effort to find it with no results. A couple weeks after the con, in February 2014, I finally got time to ask Jaggy if they had managed to locate the badge as I hadn't heard back. I do not have their response, but I was told that they hadn't found it through anyone and not to worry about printing a new badge for them until they finished their half because it would only be fair. I started to assume that I was just ripped off after that despite constantly being listed on their profile as an in-progress trade having been sketched out. I found the badge in my air-travel cases for my supplies after my last out-of-state convention, but remained quiet, still seeing that my trade was listed and "sketched" and hoping that it would be done soon. At the two year mark, in June 2015, I decided to check in. I was now just listed as an owed trade, and had noticed Jaggy had been doing plenty of art, inclusive of personal work, and wondered why they hadn't done their half for me yet despite all this time. I sent them a note informing them I had found the original badge in my supplies, asking if they were going to do their half. I received no response despite the note being read for weeks. This was the final red flag for me. Finally, I noted Jaggy months being ignored, now in October 2015, well over two years since setting up and completing my half of the trade and receiving nothing, never being updated, and eventually ignored when it's past the point of excuses. I've decided I'm just done with this. I don't think they intended on doing their half of the work and were dishonest with me about their progress and intentions. I do not recommend trading with this person, and would even exercise caution in commissioning them based on their work ethic. UPDATE: About a day after I sent my note and wrote this posting, on October 5th, 2015I received a response from Jaggy (to my surprise, considering I had been ignored previously.) This note called me rude and was an obvious attempt to guilt trip me with another sob story, accusing me that I was essentially being mean and causing them trouble because I didn't care and keep up with what they'd been through, and some more excuses as to why the work had not been done. As someone who has been through more than plenty myself, I responded quite offended and upset about the ploy, explaining to them why I was offended, and ended up blocking them (of which I notified them) because I absolutely can not handle the stress that getting aggressive guilt-tripping notes puts me through. While they'd insisted on completing the trade someday, despite claiming not caring about it anymore, I told them I absolutely did not want them drawing my character at this point. It took me a lot of willpower to not be baited back in, but I refused to fall for it again. I would rather not share these screencaps of these two notes as I find them of rather personal nature based on the information shared about our experiences, but if absolutely needed, I will share them at a moderator's request. After I'd sent my reply, I had a second note waiting in my inbox already that they must have sent while I'd been writing mine. I did not reply to this as my response I'd written covered how I felt and stated that I was done with things. I currently have Jaggy blocked as I simply cannot handle being sent notes like that just because I finally put my foot down, and they have finally removed me from their queue. I assume this will go no further.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/873487.html WHO: Tortle/ Jay/ Gatorbite WHERE: http://tortle.tumblr.com/ https://www.furaffinity.net/user/gatorbite/ https://www.weasyl.com/~tortle WHAT: Multiple commissions, including an art doll and a customized adoptable WHEN: Art doll was purchased in May of 2013. PROOF: Proof of payment for the art doll and adopt: https://41.media.tumblr.com/5d2465c81301f52d9dee05dc058c5587/tumblr_nvjm8fRnfo1u6i3n1o7_r1_1280.png https://41.media.tumblr.com/e903d972329aa3a623cf7929c0b31176/tumblr_nvjm8fRnfo1u6i3n1o9_r1_1280.png There were other commissions that were not completed, but I don't remember exactly what they were or how much they cost. EXPLAIN: In May 2013, I commissioned Tortle for an art doll. Over the next 2 years I commissioned him for many more things, as well as buying adoptables he put up for sale. While I recieved most of these, the doll and a handful of other commissioned pieces were not completed. In late 2014, Tortle became inactive on Tumblr and FA for several months, all the way up to May of this year. During this time, he would not respond to messages sent by myself or my partner. I have learned since that he did not respond to multiple other commissioners, either. In May of this year, I checked his Tumblr after waiting for a couple months– only to discover that he had been active again for weeks– dispite the fact that he STILL hadn’t replied to the multiple messages my partner and I had sent him. I sent Tortle a message asking for him to get in contact with me reguarding my commissions, which did not get any reply. However, my partner sent Tortle these two asks on Tumblr: https://40.media.tumblr.com/22b485b4e20c76afd639f130133d8013/tumblr_nvjm8fRnfo1u6i3n1o3_1280.png https://41.media.tumblr.com/617c1f179e4b603be035eabdee3b1a5e/tumblr_nvjm8fRnfo1u6i3n1o2_1280.png Tortle's response: https://40.media.tumblr.com/902f1208dc49364191ab6c9618a13937/tumblr_nvjm8fRnfo1u6i3n1o1_1280.png This was the last and only message we’ve recieved from him since. He never got back to us to work anything out. We sent him multiple other messages, as well as messaging his partner in an effort to get into any kind of contact with him, all of which recieved no response. About a month ago, I was browsing the front page of FA when I saw an adoptable posted to a new account: gatorbite, which makes no reference to and does not link to his Tortle accounts. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and hoped that he was making money to pay people back, and that he would get to people eventually. After a month or so of him posting adopts and commissions almost constantly, however, it became clear that this was not the case. Frustrated with Tortle’s unresponsiveness, I decided to note him asking what he planned to do about what he owed me and when – only to find out that he had blocked me on his gatorbite account, despite the fact that I had not watched him, favourited his art or interacted at all with him on that account previously. https://36.media.tumblr.com/e7a1f7e01b4d1df90dd7c11dd2d47db0/tumblr_nvjm8fRnfo1u6i3n1o5_r1_1280.png https://40.media.tumblr.com/0ca6959ffcba7392358b4bd9f567e883/tumblr_nvjm8fRnfo1u6i3n1o4_r1_1280.png This gives me the impression that Tortle created his Gatorbite account to avoid the people he previously owed art and money. At this point, there doesn't seem to be anything I can do except post a beware. Tortle is not trustworthy and I strongly advise against commissioning him. Edit: Fixed a date that I thought I had already fixed, sorry

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/872392.html WHO: Apocalypse ReFurred, Thysyrael WHERE: Facebook Apocalypse ReFurred page and via messages WHAT: A pair of resin/ polymorph pastic clawed hand paws and feet paws with promise of quick turn around by April 4th. WHEN: March 18th 2015. – Commission placed. March 22nd – Fur I supplied arrived at maker’s address. March 24th – Commission paid for in full. April 3rd – Photo of hand paws WIP received, April 4th – Original deadline. April 16th – Photo received of feet paws in ductape wrap, ready for furring. ( Several different life problems occurred for the artist, such as pet passing, theft etc. throughout the months. I can try to give specific dates for these if required) 6th September – After no updates, I ask again for one or for a partial refund and what’s been made to be sent to me so I can complete myself or resell. 7th September – Refunded and items sent to me 11th September – Items recieved PROOF: ( Me in purple, her in green) Facebook messages part 1 Facebook messages part 2 Paypal receipt Message mentioning the polymorph plastic I missed Items themselves; Overall paw shape ( My ref for character, notice the paws are more lizard or simian shaped) Animal hair 1, 2, 3 Unglued edges Hand paws Claws They look like Fimo to me EXPLAIN: Back in March, I was preparing for a convention on April 4th when I found that my fursuit feet and paws where in very rough condition from general use. I asked about on the UK Furry Facebook groups for a maker or someone seller paws and a maker came forward. I looked at their stuff and while they weren’t high end makers, their paws looked fine and they offered to complete it within the admittedly tight deadline. I already had some fur left over from when I tried to make the fursuit and we agreed for a lower price ( £80) if I sent this fur over. A day before the deadline ( April 4th ) I received a phone photo of the hand paws. They looked a little rough, but I assumed it was just the camera quality. I later received a photo of ductape covered feet paws. They looks a little odd and I asked if the tape was pulling the toes apart, giving them a wider look. She assured me they were fine so I continued with the commission a little apprehensive. Then a myriad of personal and family problems for the maker reared up, from a pet passing away, to a parent being very ill and then robbery. There were also problems with the dye not adhering to the resin claws that I’d asked for. She said she would contact the maker and complain. Every so often, I’d ask for updates and get told that there was a problem and she couldn’t send photos. After the April 4th deadline, I’d hoped that the paws would be ready for Confuzzled in May. No such luck, I ended up going suitless which was kinda sad. 7 months later, I was promised an update within 2 weeks. No update came and I was fed up. I asked for a partial refund ( as some of the commission was complete) and for what was made to be sent to me. She agreed and the £5 refund along with the unattached claws and paws where sent to me. The paws arrived quickly but in very poor condition, which I’ll detail in sections; Feet Paws – They are way too wide and off model, looking more like duck feet. There is glue blobs, holes between the fur and the sole, but the worse thing is the smell. They stink badly of dog so much that it’s as if the animal has sat on the foam or fur. I reported this to the maker ( as some of my family suffer from allergies), she explained that the fur and foam was kept away from the animals and the only way they’d smell is if she’d passed it on from petting the animals. However, there is white and brown animal fur on the paws as well as general fluff. This hair cannot be from when I supplied the fur as we have no pets. Hand Paws – very roughly made, though they are incomplete, they too are smelly. They also fit ill. Claws– These are not polymorph plastic, but instead hand sculpted Fimo clay and have finger prints and dirt in the clay. I googled the plastic, which appears to be a shiney, usually white product similar to glue gun glue. In the end, I am very disappointed. I don’t think I can even sell these items without thorough repair and cleaning. She seems to be a young maker and as such, isn’t very professional yet. Edit: Update 2/10/2015 I contacted the maker a couple of days ago about the animal fur with pictures. I asked her again if the animal had been in contact with the paws and she said the fur ( which is clearly animal with colouring and tapering... plus, y know, the stink!) was faux fur from another suit she was making.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/870876.html thesyko / lesyko (FA) - vonwerehog (DA) http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thesyko/ http://www.furaffinity.net/user/lesyko/ http://vonwerehog.deviantart.com/ WHERE: FA/DA WHAT: Egg adoptables http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15463996/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15472989/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15515024/ http://lesyko.deviantart.com/…/2-Dollar-Egg-Adoption-506776… WHEN: 8 months ago PROOF: http://sta.sh/21rmjg9525if?edit=1 EXPLAIN: -Do not buy adoptables o commission her, you may be scammed- This user was selling adoptables (on Fur Affinity) a long time ago, I purchased 3 and waited for their art, but never got it. They were reported on the previous site, but I found her on DA and I asked them for a refund, but they just ignored me, I were insisting to contact with them. They were very rude, and said "I was in the hospital, I cannot give you a refund because I don't have a job, etc..." A few moths later, I asked they again, and their response was "You'll have your refund ond july 2nd" A month has passed and still nothing, so I noted them again, because I REALLY NEED the money right now... They ignored and blocked me... This user stills drawing and taking commissions... By the way, there are more upset customers by her

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/866132.html WHO: Ann Allen on Facebook, unsure of any aliases outside of Facebook WHERE: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009386021687 WHAT: 2 Small (about 1 inch) feral chibis (both rats), laminated & shipped. WHEN: On June 11th, I was tagged into a posting in a Furry-Centered Art Group on Facebook by some personal friends who are moderators there. The reason is irrelevant (and I also cannot remember it), but I decided to commission the OP (Ann Allen) as they were showing off about 10 or so completed chibi pieces they had done for a group of people they were staying with at a con. PROOF & EXPLANATION: All correspondence is/was through Facebook PM, and follows as such, censored parts are her e-mail and my work address-- First Contact (June 11th): http://i.imgur.com/CSvIpsp.png I give her my commission details in PM after arranging for a commission in the original post in the Facebook Group, we chat a bit about our jobs (mostly omitted from screens as it's not pertinent) and I leave her alone to it. I ask later if she has an FA, she ignores me. The conversation picks back up nearly a month later JULY 6th where she asks me AGAIN what styles I want: http://i.imgur.com/vuOnC9v.png I reiterate that I'd like just the regular, simple chibis: http://i.imgur.com/w4GFurp.png The next day (July 7th) she asks me if I'm picking up at AC, when I never mentioned anything about going to AC prior to this nor on Facebook: http://i.imgur.com/rROL5Wn.png I inform her that I haven't been to AC since 2012 since I generally don't have the kind of funds it takes, and I again give her my address to have them shipped: http://i.imgur.com/t0PI0IN.png As you can see, the conversation ends there. I ask her again on the 21st of July and again a week later on the 28th of July for updates. I get silence. At this point it's been over a month I've been waiting for two tiny, very simple chibis that I've been asked for details on more than once despite her being active on her Facebook and posting other commissions/personal art. She had been very talkative at initial contact and then for some days after until I started asking for updates, then I started getting silence. Finally, on the 28th of July I asked for another update and postured a Beware. She sends me a photo of an empty iPhone Box: http://i.imgur.com/43VVXvk.png She claims then that her phone was broken despite never having made mention of this anywhere: http://i.imgur.com/L815Pkf.png I am sympathetic, she AGAIN asks me what I ordered. I tell her, re-send our refs. On August 13th (now it's been a little over two months) I ask her for an update: http://i.imgur.com/RJq5qnF.png Then again today (August 19th) I message her, and despite seeing her posting on her personal Facebook and being active on messenger, she continues to ignore me. I believe I am now out of the range of chargeback, and for $7 I'm not exactly going to kick and scream, but I REALLY did want my art, I genuinely like her work but I'm not the kind of person that likes to be strung along. I browsed her Facebook Wall a bit earlier and saw other people posting, asking for updates and replies to messages so it seems she's doing this to almost all her clientele while posting commissions she got for herself, etc.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/865907.html I'm going to go ahead and post this beware because Echoen has given every indication that he refuses to resolve the issue. Post contains suggestive nudity, but nothing too explicit. WHO: Echoen http://www.furaffinity.net/user/echoen https://echoen.sofurry.com/ https://inkbunny.net/Echoen https://www.weasyl.com/~echoen https://www.patreon.com/Echoen WHERE: My specific issue is with his Patreon. WHAT: Digital commission which he used for commercial purposes without my knowing, much less my approval, despite the fact he agreed to my TOS when he commissioned me. My TOS has always stated that I reserve all rights to my work, conform the law for freelance creatives as opposed to, for example, work for hire. It should be mentioned that this was a €5,- commission and it cannot be reasonably assumed that the cost also covers any rights in addition to the custom artwork, much less commercial rights, nor was there any indication that the work would be used commercially when he commissioned it. WHEN: August 2014 until Juli 2015, which is when I confronted him. EXPLAIN: September 2012 I had a sale on "Itty Bitty Commissions" which is what I call a small, digital, flat-colour, 1 character commission (example). They were so-called "wing-it" commissions, where I would receive payment and a character description and draw it and the customer would receive the finished drawing. Echoen contacted me and told me he needed a badge for a convention. It was rather last minute, but turn around was fast (a few hours to a day usually) and I moved him to the head of the queue to make sure he had it in time, just to be nice. I also gave him several options (1, 2, 3, 4), all at no extra cost. Again, I was just trying to be nice and a good artist and give good customer service. And Echoen seemed really happy with the work, which he uploaded a week later.) I thought that was going to be that; customer was happy, I was happy, end of story. Right? Juli 2015 I find out he's using it as a header for his Patreon, which is receiving almost $300 a month. Now I have a Patreon, and I know I thought carefully about which image to put up as a header to hopefully draw folks in and support me financially. This is definitely commercial use, as it's effectively advertisement, and Pixsy (a site that helps you local potential abuse of your work, they work with legal partners) agrees with me, filing it under commercial matches. I contacted Echoen, telling him I'd license him the image if he wanted to continue the image for his Patreon. He responded by taking it down and.. Nothing. No "oops, sorry!" or anything. That said, he'd still used the image commercially for 11 months, even though he had agreed not to. I told him I still needed to be compensated for that use, and sent him an invoice for a $110, which is entirely fair considering how much he's getting every month. After this is pretty much devolves into him stomping his feet, making up nonsense reasons as to why he shouldn't have to pay and suggesting he received "legal counsel" which agreed with this point of view. The screenshots. Him. Me. Him. Me. I asked him to have his lawyer (typically, legal advisors are lawyers.) contact me instead and then he went silent. Artists beware, Echoen has no respect for you or your rights at all. He'd comment on my work the entire time he had my art up on his Patreon (with my name effectively cropped out of the art!) and we chatted on FA; he had every opportunity to ask me about the work or mention the fact he was using it on his Patreon and never did. He's pleasant to your face, but when confronted with the consequences of his own voluntarily actions he becomes patronizing and will attempt to intimidate you into relenting. To this day he still hasn't even apologized a single time for abusing my work. He takes no responsibility for his own actions at all but instead goes to extreme lengths to avoid it. I ignored some warnings about him and this exact kind of behavior in 2012 after I finished the Itty Bitty Commission, and now I wish I'd heeded them, refunded his 5 bucks and had the work removed. Please don't make the same mistake I made, avoid him. Useful link: List of common but invalid excuses to copyright infringement as written by an attorney.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/865680.html WHO: Boxjelly1 (goes by real name also but for sake of having this posted, omitting) WHERE: http://boxjelly1.deviantart.com/ WHAT: Two full color, 2 character pieces with background. WHEN: March/April 2015 PROOF: Artist did not do correct characters, agreed to refund me, and ceased communications/has not yet refunded me. EXPLAIN: This is my first really bad experience commissioning someone, and first AB post, and most of the details will be here. I have worked with this artist in the past and their works are absolutely amazing. In the prior works I've gotten from them, they met or exceeded what I was looking to get. However, for whatever reason this time, the artist drew not what I wanted, decided to complete the piece after they had specifically asked if I wanted to see a sketch before they colored, and admits they didn't draw what I wanted, but due to their time and effort spent, were still entitled to something. This post is more about principal than a refund because I've nearly exhausted every avenue to get my money back, and I will not silently stand by while someone does this. In March 2015, artist had they were open for commissions on their page. I sent them a PM through DA's notes a while prior, and they messaged me saying they were open. I respond back stating I wanted my character Patches and Steele (from Balto) in some rather cute, mushy gushy poses. I've worked with the artist prior over the years and she has drawn the characters before. Artist states she has 2 commissions ahead of me and will let me know once she's ready to take on mine. In April, artist lets me know she's ready to start. Details are given, artist agrees, and artist asks if I want to see work in progress before she colors. I state I want to see work before she colors, and specify image formats preferred (as this artist has done prior for me), and she agrees. Between last message sent and this one (about a month and a half), artist has many delays for whatever reason. I had sent messages asking what her status was since I had already paid her, and finally on May 29 2015 she's ready to start. ------This is where things go downhill------- I still haven't received any updates so message the artist on June 3rd, and artist replies on June 4th with links to sketches and that she'll start coloring them right away even though this is not what was agreed on. Upon seeing sketches, I see that she has drawn my character Patches with Scar, and I tell her this. (I do like Scar and this artist has drawn them in the past, but I was not looking for that with these commissions). She states I didn't specify Steele, and asks to keep with what's she's done so she doesn't have to redraw. I state that I don't want that and want them how I described. Artist replies back that she completed coloring 1 of the pieces, is sorry that she did the incorrect character and admit to doing so, and offers a partial refund stating that even though it was her fault, she still is entitled to funds for her work done. (This completely blew my mind) It is worth noting that the piece she completed is so obviously hastily completed that I laughed at how horrible it was. Artist used a picture off the Internet for the background, and the coloring is rushed and absolutely horrid. Compared to her other works she's completed of the same type, it's clear that she spent no time at all trying to complete this. With the above in mind, I message the artist back, stating my absolute disappointment with their work, and ask them what would have happened had I not stopped them from completing both pieces, again, only supposed to have been done once sketches were approved? Seller states they will give me a refund, and this is the last time I ever hear from them. I ask 2 times where my refund is, artist reads DA notes, ignores/never responds. I send an ultimatum to artist; it is read and ignored (see above to see that note was read on DA). Dispute is opened with Paypal and ultimately denied due to being "digital goods" which aren't covered prior to 7/1/2015. It's worth noting when their new TOS went into effect on 7/1/2015, they would have been covered. They note I can attempt to get funds outside of Paypal, such as filing a police report. In the Paypal dispute comments, the seller is adamant they are still entitled to funds, and mention commission TOS that do not exist on their page (at least to where I can find them). TOS were also never mentioned in our communications. So with that being said, I've walked away from this feeling like I've been stolen from, and lied to. The artist has done nothing to communicate back to me or refund me, yet ultimately insists that because she did work (even though by her own account was wrong), she deserves to keep my money. And the sad thing of the matter is she's an amazing artist and this was probably some sort of fluke, but being a repeat customer of hers, I feel like I'm somehow been made the bad guy in her mind. Am I crazy? Did I do something wrong here? 😕