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May. 30th, 2011 at 11:37 PM tech_rex WHO: Exodite Dragon, Astralabortion WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/astralabortion (transaction went through email) WHAT: Line art of one character on bristol board WHEN: December 16 2009 was the initial agreement and payment (which can be found in the Proof section). I gave him the choice betwen two characters I'd like to see his take on, and he chose a character named Lazarus. He said the commission would be done at the end of December, and though it was not completed by then, I was not irked. In January I receieved a phonecall from a friend who was visiting Exo, asking a question about my character's breasts (they're prostetics) as a sketch was being worked on with my friend helping, my response was they could be anything, including weapons. I could hear Exo inthe background saying he loved the character design, so still I had no worries. Friend updated me later through AIM saying that I'll really like the finished product. I have yet to see the sketch. From mid to end 2010 I had several RL issues pop up so that commission in paticular was one of the last things on my mind, as well as working on several commissions of my own having difficulties finishing them, I felt it would be hyprocrisy poking Exo. In February 2011 I felt things been straightened out enough, so I emailed Exodite on the 27th with an inquiry seeing if he still remembered my commission. He has since taken commissions in the form of ACEO cards and had a list of people whose commissions he was working on, but I was not included in the list and progess being made on these commissions, but not mine. At this point all I wanted to know was that he had not forgotten about my commission. At the time he appeared to have had steady internet connection (enough to have a livestream on the 4th of March), but I still did not recieve a response. He has mentioned he is slow to respond to emails, so I waited before finally noting him on FA on March 24th wanting to see either the sketch and be placed on his list or recieve a refund. At this point I was a little irked. I realized he had not been active since the 15th of March, checking his LJ (on his FA profile) showed that the last time he was active on LJ was also the 15th of March. So I felt I like jumped the gun, and decided I'll wait, since he has lost connection before but has had people contact his commissioners and the lack of internet may have just been temporary. I was working on a A_B article looking for a way to contact him when Exodite reappeared on FA. As of May 25th my note was read, but was not responded to. I emailed and noted Exodite a second time on May 27th. In both the email and note were effectively the same, except I pasted the paypal receipt (minus my name and address) in the note. I have recieved no response, but he appears to be active on FA. Proof: The Paypal Reciept: 1st email stating when he was aiming to get the commission done: 1st Email I sent him in February: Note sent on the 24th of March, I messed up the dates of the commission. The note was read, but no response. He did post a journal about a live stream and was responding to comments, and faving art so I noted/emailed him a second time. Note/Email2, sent on the 27th of May, the ony different being I included the paypal receipt in the note. I made a grammatical error, he did not respond to the first note, I left out "not". : EXPLAIN: I commissioned Exodite through suggestion of a friend who had done previous business with him, and he needed some help out and was selling lineart. At the time I was looking for a Christmas present for myself in the form of a traditional piece, and I was interested in coloring said lineart . I learned some huge lessons as a result of this. I gave Exodite the same treatment I have given previous artists I have commissioned. I should have spoken up and noted him when he started taking ACEO card commissions and ask to be put on his list then rather than waiting months down the road, reguardless of what I felt emotionally then. I tried contacting him through email since that is where the initial transaction took place, then tried notes, then notes and email. I felt two days was decent enough time for him to respond, especially given he had read one note and knew I was concerned about my commission status. I tried to be straightforward and let him know I wasn't happy. I held off repeatedly writing up an A_B article in some hope this could be settled privately. EDIT: Issue has been sorted out and refund has been recieved :B

May. 26th, 2011 at 10:53 AM shaneharper WHO: This post is about Dust-Bite on DeviantART. WHERE:http://dust-bite.deviantart.com/ WHAT: It was a $16 digital commission picture. WHEN: I first asked for a commission on December 13th. She agreed and I sent the payment over that day. Since then, I'd sent maybe two more messages, one in January and one in March asking about progress and if a refund was needed. I also sent updated reference sheets incase she hadn't started work yet. The last time I contacted her was April 20th. She hasn't responded past the first day when she accepted my c PROOF: Here is a screen cap from the first time we spoke about the commission. She agreed and I sent the money over. I don't have a paypal screen cap cause I didn't know I would need one and Paypal only keeps information for 3 months. This is a screen cap of the last time I messaged her, which was in April. I don't have the other two messages, but she hadn't responded to me in any message since the beginning. Not even about refunding. I've been REALLY patient, but I went to check out her commission "list" and I'm not even on it. **EDIT** I downloaded my paypal history (something I hadn't tried before) and found the payment and ID number. EXPLAIN: In the beginning, December, I had asked her for some digital art that priced up to $16. Neither of us considered it too challenging since it was one of her lesser commissions offered. She was quick to get back to me, and we agreed on the price and I sent the money over that night. I was super excited to have commissioned Dust-Bite because I'd always liked her art! I don't think she's a bad person but it's not acceptable to leave someone who has paid you, hanging. She hasn't been absent from DeviantArt either, because she's been posting a lot of art since December. And on DeviantArt, as some of you may know, you can see if another artist has read a note you sent them. She read my previous notes, but has yet to read the one I sent in April. I don't know if she's having money problems and can't afford a refund, but she can definitely finish my commissions since they weren't challenging and she's been more than able to post loads of art. **UPDATE** on June 8th, I was contacted and given my commission. I'm marking this down as lack of communication on my part versus a busy deviant.

May. 26th, 2011 at 1:08 AM yujoben Who: Tigsie (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/tigsie) Where: Furry Weekend Atlanta 2011 - Artist Alley What: I commissioned a traditional-colored badge and a Pokemon-themed water-color ACEO card. Paid IN FULL with cash, and given a hand-written receipt (ACEO card was done on separate receipt, and beside the matter at hand). When: Furry Weekend Atlanta 2011 (March 19th, 2011) - May 25th, 2011 After commissioning this artist back in March, I waited a bit and was actually prepared to wait for a good solid few months since I thought her art seemed decent enough, and well worth the wait. The problems with her actually started when she posted a list of commissions that she was either working on, or had finished, and she needed the home address' of the people that commissioned them so she could send them out. She put my Pokemon ACEO card on that list. Meaning, that even though she had the address previously, she seemed to have forgotten the ACEO belonged to me, along with the badge of my character. I did what she asked in her public journal, and sent her a private note telling her my home address and reminding her it went along with the badge I ordered. ...No reply... A few weeks went by, she posted a couple more journals, and the ACEO remained on the list (now remember, the problem is actually with the badge, but these details are just to prove her bad communication). I sent her another message, and just left it at that, hoping that she'd get it eventually. Also, she normally posts what she has done for each commission so far, and mine was marked as "inked" for the longest time. Once again, I had no problem with her taking her time on it, since I wanted it to be good. My friends had gone to Elliot's (May 20th - 22nd), which I knew Tigsie would be there because she had mentioned it in her latest journal, but didn't think to ask them to check up on anything for myself. I got a call during the 22nd after the con was over from one of my friends that he had seen Tigsie, and my badge was done, and she was using it as a display piece. Now, I'm sort of sceptical here... What artist doesn't let her customer know she's finished the product and doesn't tell them she's using it as a display/example piece? Either way, I brushed it off. A couple days later (May 25th) she posts her new batch of badges onto her FA account, and mine was included as the third one from the left on the top row. Immediately, I noticed it looked off. She had completely forgotten several important (simple) details that I ALWAYS include on my character (green-tipped mohawk and thick distinctive beard), and I've never had to correct other artists on because they couldn't be blamed on "different styles" (also, it looked nothing like a bear, and more like a weasel or canine). Seeing as she STILL hasn't replied to any of the previous messages I sent her, I posted a comment publicly on the actual submission that she ruined the design, to which she FINALLY replied to me, telling me to note her privately on how she did it wrong. I noted her, as I was asked, and told what she had gotten wrong (but now that I think about it, I also failed to mention other details she missed- including how she drew headphones on him even though at the con I asked her to not include the headphones in one of the three ref pics I sent her). I get a reply back, straight up telling me she will refund the money, without even giving me another option to go by. I honestly just wanted it corrected (even though I know it's a bit difficult, being a traditional piece and not digital), and when I mentioned it she told me she'd be leaving the country soon and wouldn't be able to get to it. Not wanting to go through the same merry-go-round of insecurity, I told her to just issue me a refund as she promised (and even mentioned for her to take the fees since I paid in full with cash at the convention, and not originally through paypal). Her answer to the last message was that she would "trace" the original image to do it over before she left on vacation (meaning she'd rush through it and hope I'd be happy with it), and I simply told her to forget it and just to handle my refund as she offered previously. Totally ignoring my request to not stick me with the paypal fees, she had done it anyway, leaving me missing $1.37. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it's only fair that she take the fees herself since it was HER mistake and I'm not getting anything out of it (she had warned me that if I got the refund I would not receive the badge). When I noted her back, telling her to replace the money missing and pay the additional fee so I'd have the exact $30 paid for the badge, she plain refused me and told me she was making me pay shipping for the ACEO card I commissioned. She NEVER mentioned any additional shipping fees, and even told me when I asked her at the convention that they were covered in the base price. She ended it by telling me that the conversation would go no further, she would ship out my ACEO in the morning, and that she was still keeping my badge to use for examples (though I asked her in a previous note to NOT do that or to at least remove the name since I do not want myself associated with her any further). I have never encountered such unprofessional behavior from an artist, and I hope any who reads this will take caution. SCREENSHOTS: pics.livejournal.com/yujoben/pic/0000h21h NOTES AND COMMENTS pics.livejournal.com/yujoben/pic/0000fb4f RECEIPT References Given: www.furaffinity.net/view/4872393/ www.furaffinity.net/view/5089389/ Finished Badge: pics.livejournal.com/yujoben/pic/0000gchy EDIT: I understand that my messages seemed bitchy. They certainly were not meant that way until she made me pay the fees on paypal for her mistake. I can understand her deducting money for the work done if I cancelled for my own reasons, but it was HER fault, she didn't follow the references and ignored all tips I gave her when I commissioned her originally. Also, because a lot of people seem to be missing this tidbit of info, I paid IN CASH, full $30, so if she was offering me a full refund, there is no reason to stick me with fees. Please remember the problem here that I'm trying to point out is not centered on her inability to follow references, but her horrible customer service because of bad communication and forcing me to lose money (no matter how big or small the amount) when I am not getting anything from it (for those that say I have the scan of the badge- it is tiny, and I don't want it to begin with). It was her idea first to refund me, not mine, and when I told her I wanted it fixed she offered me two other options which did not appeal. Options are meant to be CHOSEN, so don't hate me because I picked one in the end. The first option was for me to wait another few months while she went on vacation, and I really was afraid of dealing with this whole situation again. It is very nerve-wracking to just be completely snubbed by a person you have paid money to for a service. The other option was a tracing (whether it looked professional or not), and she planned on doing a rush job in a couple of days before leaving on yet another vacation, and I don't want something rushed and uncared for. So, I took the refund in the end. Any of you who are tight on money as it is and splurged on ONE thing for yourself at a convention would expect it done right. I was forward with her, and treated her the way I want my commissioners to treat me. I hate it when someone says anything along the lines of "Um...well...it's really neat... There's just a couple details off...but it's fine. I like it!" If done enough, I become upset with them and just tell them to inform me straight-up what I need to fix, because I WILL do my best to correct it. To sum this up, I didn't think of her as a lesser person, an underling, or an art slave. I think being blunt with people is a high form of respect. Anything less, I feel I am doing the person wrong. EDIT (2/09/2012): Tigsie has surprisingly refunded the amount, and I am pretty surprised that she remembered after all of this. With all of this past us, I do wish to apologize to everyone and especially her. I was a grade-a dick, but I had my reasons. Also, at the time I was pretty new to LJ and was replying to a lot of folks that weren't even talking to me.

May. 25th, 2011 at 3:34 PM thepurplemoomoo WHO: furaffinity.net/user/squeedgemonster/ who is also on other sites that are linked on her page WHERE: furaffinity.net/user/squeedgemonster/ who i have also contacted through the email linked on their FA page - SqueedgeMonsterArt[at]gmail.com whose email used to be monsterguts[at]hotmail.com WHAT: Originally it was for a traditional badge for 23$ that I was REALLY looking forward to, i had commissioned it in may in hopes of having it by my birthday June 28. A year and a half later I sent an email asking what was up, and the order was changed to a pinup since i had waited so long. It was also supposed to be traditional, and mailed out to be upon completion like the badge was supposed to be. Here are screen caps of emails between me and her when i first commissioned on may 20th 2009 May 20th 2009, commission approved and payed for Then in November of 2009, i sent this email, to which i got no reply on august 23 2010 i sent this email on august 29 2010 she finally answered back to me. the following screencaps are messages sent back and forth between me and her. the bottom is what she says, and the top bit is what i answer back. they have the dates on them on august 31st she send me the sketch for approval, it looked nice. September 11, 2010 she sends me a photo she took of the colored piece. her scanner wasn't working, so it wasn't a quality picture that i saw. September 12 2010 i answered her email about my address and such 17 days later, September 29, 2010, still hadn't gotten it in the mail, wondering if she had sent it? i got no answer back November 24, 2010 sent another email, no answer back April 1, 2011, getting upset, sent another email, still no answer back April 16, 2011. sent a note on FA, even though she said she doesn't communicate through notes on FA (messed up IMO) FA indicates that note hasn't even be read. WHEN: I provided time line information with the images, but i payed and got the commission OKed on May 20th 2009, got a finished product (though not the one i originally asked for) on September 11, 2010, and still have yet to have it sent to me in the mail as promised. PROOF: my proof is above, in the screen caps EXPLAIN: I had always liked her art, so i had gotten a little bit of money to spend in my paypal and really wanted to buy myself a birthday gift. My birthday was on June 28th. I had commissioned the badge on May 20th, hoping it was enough time to be able to see it by my birthday. I wasn't too upset when my birthday passed and hadn't gotten it yet. Maybe a month wasn't enough time to do a badge? Christmas started to approach and I was like...well hey, X-mas gift to myself instead. Nothing. Then another birthday passed, so I got upset and tried contacted them more and telling them how upset I was with emails. She said she was sorry and upgraded my commission to a pinup instead of a badge, and told me they would still ship it out to me. September 2010 I got a low res photo of the finished image and was told to send my mailing address, which I did. From that point on I sent emails telling them I hadn't gotten it yet and asking if they had sent it. I never got an responses back and still haven't gotten it. I don't even have a good scanned version..They still upload things often, so I know they didn't like...die or anything. I am really upset about all of this, and now I am moving again, so if they send it out now without contacting me or answering my emails, it'll go to a wrong address and I will never get it.

May. 24th, 2011 at 2:43 AM silverfalln I am incredibly sad to have to make this post, I really liked this artist, not just for her art, but because I thought she was pretty cool as a person. However... there's only so much I can take. I hope that this will still be allowed to be posted, even though the monetary part has been settled before I even get to post it, as it seems the artist doesn't even want to change how she does business, which in itself was making me seriously contemplate posting here. WHO: FarelleMoon on FA WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/farellemoon (and 2-3 "other" accounts that I can't recall the names of) WHAT: From/For me: a badge, part of a couple's art piece; from my fiance: the other part of the couple's piece, and she suggested doing a ref sheet for him, since this was for a new character and he did not have one for the character yet. I am (with mod approval) posting for both of us. He purchased the commissions for me as gifts. WHEN: My badge order was originally placed August 22, 2010. The couples piece, and the ref sheet was placed October 3rd, 2010. There was even a completed commission placed after this, and information of that is included. PROOF: You can click on any of these images to go to the Flickr gallery they are hosted on, and look at them in the "original" screenshot size. Lots of screenshots behind the cut. Church's screens are on the dark version of FA, mine are using the light one. *further details are hashed out here, further contact over the next few months* Shortly after this, she blocked him, because they were going back and forth in an argument. He was not refunded at this point. Now, for mine. These are for the completed commission. The commission was finished, and a censored screenshot can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowhawk/5753181533/ (tastefully nude, nipples are blocked out by me for the purposes of this post, sorry I didn't show the date). These are the most recent communications between her and I... Keeping in mind, I had sent NO notes to ask about my commission in the time from that last note for the completed commission, and was beginning to get concerned from the tone of her journals, as well as Church's growing agitation over her lack of communication. I read journals when I notice them/have time. Sometimes can't view FA for most of the day, since I can be pretty busy with my RL job and my family. So, those took place on May 9th... Two weeks later, I've heard nothing. I've grown more and more annoyed over the past two weeks, between the lack of communication, and what I've been hearing of people who are also having issues and afraid to speak up... I'm honestly angry at this point. But I'm trying to stay composed. Obnoxious furry-ism aside... This just pissed me off more, so I begin not only gathering my information for this post, but writing it and replying to her as well. That was the final communication as of my last check of FA, and I did send that note as it is written, I just took the screenshot before doing so. EXPLAIN: To start, I fully admit the screenshots above are not ALL off the communication exchanged, as some was just working out details of the art, and not of deadlines/payments/etc. I first commissioned Farelle in February of 2009, for an ink of my character Fidget. It was completed and posted without incident, and very quickly. Well, she offered a few "orphaned" badges some 9 months ago, and I decided I wanted one of them. I worked out the details, and my fiance, Church, sent the payment. A short time later, he decided to purchase a couples "heart" image she was having a special on, and while working out the details there, she offered to make him a character sheet. She said she would have the heart commission done in 2 hours, and the ref sheet would make it 2 weeks. Somewhere in all this, another digital commission was ordered as a gift to me, a simple piece of my character, tastefully nude. It was, again, completed with no incident. Well, deadlines were missed, obviously. And missed. And she dropped off of FA for a while. And she broke up with her fiance. And she turns into an emotional wreck. And she's having issues with pain. And we are trying to be patient. I live in pretty severe pain daily, too, so we can somewhat empathize. Church's ref sheet commission is supposedly sketched. My badge was changed from the orphaned badge to one of my actual character (at her doing), and has been inked (which I have seen, light bondage warning) and allegedly colored. We contact her, asking for updates, or refunds if it's too much work. My badge needs to be printed and have the ribbon added. But by me contacting her (the few times I have over this), she now refuses to show it to me (so I can, you know, make sure it's colored properly), and won't complete it, and will just refund me "when (she) can." (Edit while working on screencaps: She says she won't complete it becasue she doesn't want it to be destroyed when it gets here. Which I never threatened to have happen, and I never saw Church say that.) She refuses to give refunds, because she's jobless and the commission money has been spent. She expects commissioners to read her journals, and refuses to contact them directly unless she is contacted by them, and then she seems to get very annoyed by the whole deal. She says "I will have everything done by this date, and if I don't you get a refund whether you like it or not!" and the deadlines come and go and refunds don't arrive. In the past 9 months, she has stopped coloring commissions, and hired colorists, again saying this only in journals and expecting anyone that doesn't read them to just be happy with it. She recently admitted she's an "art slave" to another person, and that person will ALWAYS take queue over everyone else in the queue (we never would have bothered had we known this, but it's not, or was not, openly posted anywhere). She constantly drags her personal issues into her "professional" artist life and always has some excuse as to why she can't even show a file. She managed to get enough in donations to purchase a tablet, and not just the little Wacom Bamboo by the price she gave Church, it sounds to be a larger one than my 4x6 Intuos... I've been too angry to read her journals to see what size it was, if it was posted. And, if anyone else remembers, Farelle once tried to improve the relationship between commissioners and artists at cons, by posting helpful things to FA. I would love to link these, but I have lost my bookmarks to them. But this, while it was comforting to see that she valued being a professional, is apparently just smoke and mirrors to hide what's really going to happen. Also, while I was getting my screenshots, and Church was transferring his to my computer, she blocked him from contacting her. And as I have been typing this, and editing screenshots down/removing personal information, she's replied to me, as you will see at the end of the above screenshots. tl;dr: We trusted an artist, in the time it takes to have a child we've been repeatedly let down, now getting sob stories instead of work/refunds. Edit while working: Church just got an email notification from PayPal of a refund. She didn't send it, though, it was sent on her behalf. My last note has yet to be replied to, so I am still posting this as warning. If you want to risk it, go ahead. Neither of us will again, and we're both getting very discouraged over things like this happening. So, resolved as far as money goes, but the beware remains because she can't keep deadlines which -she- sets, likes to flake out and pretend she's doing no wrong, and refuses to actually contact her commissioners. Also, she has apparently posted/is posting about this situation here. I will let it be known, if that post is in the queue and she's not posting under an alt account or refusing to name names (which would still be under an alt or having someone post for her), then this is the situation from my/our side and her post, as of the time I am submitting this, is not viewable. Journal Edit, 2:51 pm, May24, 2011: More screenshots, including the last ones between Church and Farelle, as hamburger requested. The one between her and I are extremely confusing, again, as I am not sure where she is getting the idea I have said some of the things I am being accused of. I have told her to keep the badge, as the screenshots show, as I am tired of this exchange and getting nothing but more excuses. (Notice, I point out at the end she seems to have overpaid us in the refund, but Church can't contact her because she has him blocked.) I am at this point through with her. Any future notes will not be responded to, though I may actually add them if she continues to insist that she is being abused/attacked. I do not deny, in anyway, that I am harsh and abrasive in these notes. Mini edit: I admit I MISSED the line in the last note from her where she says to keep the extra money. For that I apologize and I take responsibility for the screw up. Now, between her and Church, these are the last two notes they exchanged. Church is, as I type, gathering notes where she admits to FORGETTING about the commission, as well as further deadlines she imposed and missed. I will add those when he gives them to me and I have them properly edited. Journal Edit 2, 3:32pm, May24, 2011: These are the screenshots where she admits to forgetting about the commissions, sets a new deadline (Christmas 2010) for herself, and a contact schedual is suggested by Church. Not asking for much, just not to be ignored. Church has also pointed out to me that, in the journal where she announced she was going to go to be hiring colorists, he DID actually express his displeasure. However, I can't remember the time frame of that journal as I think I just skimmed it and never got around to coming back to it (This is why, again, journal only communication is BAD.), so we do not have screenshots of it. Assuming the journal is still there and the comment is not hidden, it does exist.

May. 23rd, 2011 at 10:32 PM undertow26 I probably should have come here much sooner, but I held on to the hope that this person would come through for me. However, after his excuses, I'm fed up and reporting him here. I discourage anyone from commissioning him, he's been nothing but evasive. June of last year, I commissioned Coferosa on DeviantArt for a fifteen dollar sketch of a character design. I have a few links to the transaction here including proof that the payment was transferred to him. Against my better judgment, I used the points system to commission him so I'm not able to file a paypal claim. Proof the transaction was made img855.imageshack.us/img855/2139/blackened.png I edited out my main dA name. The transaction was arranged on my commission account but I paid on my main account. First few notes exchanged, he accepts the commission: img11.imageshack.us/img11/5695/theif2.png img705.imageshack.us/img705/7246/thief3.png Some time goes by. I set a deadline in the job offer post of two weeks. As of right now I don't have the link to the posting anymore. But he overshot the deadline. I politely ask the status of the commission img860.imageshack.us/img860/7734/notez.png But my note is ignored. Feeling somewhat insulted, I send him another note img713.imageshack.us/img713/7401/reply0.png I finally get a reply. He says he finished the commission. imageshack.us/photo/my-images/405/thief1.png/ After that, he goes completely silent. I admit, I should have pushed him more. Eventually it completely slipped my mind. But I decided to go through my inbox sometime in Febuary to clean out some old notes and found his. Remembering that he didn't send me a WIP or a complete picture, I note him again. By now, several months have gone by. img831.imageshack.us/img831/2341/reply1h.png I receive a reply, getting the character's name wrong and I don't buy his excuse. Art has been submitted, infrequently though he has posted new stuff. His most recent deviation was submitted May 2 of this year. img836.imageshack.us/img836/2540/reply2.png That's the last I've heard from him. I've warned him several times and now I make good on my promise. As of now I've given up any hope of him refunding the points to me or sending me the art. I have filed a report with dA's help desk but I highly doubt that they'll do anything about it. This is more of a warning to others that may have been interested in his art. It may be a case of him not having his priorities straight, but communication is awful and he'll only respond if you nudge him. Not once has he noted me to say that his computer failed, etc. Edit: As expected, I recieved a response from the staff basically saying I'm on my own here:http://oi54.tinypic.com/wa0ygk.jpg I'll try contacting the artist again with a stern note and a link to this beware. But lesson has been learned, that will be the last time I commission an artist with points unless they've proven to be a very reliable artist.

May. 23rd, 2011 at 4:22 PM jakejynx It's ridiculous that I have to make this post over something so simple, but this person has stopped responding to my emails, and has ignored the Paypal claim that I filed. On May 5, I posted a journal asking if anyone had some sparkle furs on hand that they would be willing to sell. Evilalcarne responded saying she could sell me some lime green fur. I paid $10 for the half yard of fur and $10 for shipping on May 7. She responded the same day, saying the fur would be shipped out on Monday. On Tuesday, May 10, I sent an email asking for the tracking number. She told me that she had stopped by the post office that day, but that her mother had the tracking number, since she was the one who went to the post office. On May 13, I sent an email asking for the tracking number again so that I could be home to receive the package. I received no response. On Monday, May 16, I sent another email telling her I was getting worried. Shipping from FL to GA takes two days at most. Even parcel post is a quick ship. I once again asked for the tracking number. She responded with "it's around here somewhere." And that was the last message I received from her. I sent a final stern email on Friday, May 20 telling her that I expected either the tracking number or a refund by the end of the day on Saturday, or I would be filing a Paypal claim. I received no response. A Paypal claim was filed late Saturday night, and it was not responded to. Today I escalated it to a claim, and I'm fairly confident that I will receive a refund, given that she is apparently unable to show proof that the fur was shipped. Please avoid transactions with this person. Communication is spotty, and she apparently can't be bothered to give you the tracking code on packages. Update: The fur actually arrived today via UPS. However, according to the tracking number on the package, it wasn't mailed off until May 20. That's 10 days after she claimed it had been mailed. Though I sincerely doubt it was $10 to ship, considering it weighs only 11 ounces, the UPS shipping calculator is apparently down right now, so I'm unable to get a price estimate. As if that weren't bad enough, when I opened the box, I quickly realized that it was not the half yard that I had bought. She sent me an 18x18 piece of fur (a half yard would have been an 18x65" piece). That's something like 1/8 of a yard, not 1/2. I know it was not a misunderstanding, since she included a note in the box saying "here is the 1/2 yard of fur." I can't help but think that she purposely sent me ~1/8 yard, and just assumed I wouldn't know what 1/2 a yard looks like. ? Fur 1 Fur 2 And this may be nitpicky, but on her site she has a picture posted of her dog lying in the exact same fur that she sent to me. Though I'm not allergic to dogs, the fur was going to be used on tails that could be sold to people who are allergic. I don't use furs that have been used as animal beds. Also forgot to add her contact/site information: Furaffinity (Gallery deleted) Deviantart Website Livejournal

May. 12th, 2011 7:41 PM hamburger I am posting this as a user, not a mod. WHO: Pirate-Cashoo WHERE: FA | DA WHAT: Digital art; to be specific a full color bust of my tentacle monster Lola. WHEN: Paid $20 for the bust February 10th. In spite of me KNOWING BETTER, paid for it as a gift at the artist's request. No need to remind me why this was dumb. She has since taken in more commissions and seems to have finished ones that were taken after mine. Which she stated in her rules was possible, so that's not an issue. PROOF: Screencap of the initial purchase and my paypal reciept. Screencap of the note I sent her over a week ago that was read but not replied to. Screencap of the shout I left 3 days ago which has also not been responded to, in spite of her uploading, favoriting, and leaving comments to others. EXPLAIN: Pretty self-explanatory. Saw a new artist, really liked their work and got a commission. It's not the fact it's not done that bothers me at all. It's the fact that both attempts to politely request information were totally ignored. I would've even been fine with a vague reply saying 'Oh it'll take awhile longer, sorry!'. Some acknowledgement. Her rules even state: 4. Please be patient! Sometimes I take longer on some commissions than others, so please don't fret if you see a more recent commission posted before yours. I don't usually do things in the exact order I take them. If I'm taking an unusually long time (3 months+), let me know and kick me in the ass! I never give up on a commission, unless some dire emergency in my life comes up that prevents me from being able to do it for some reason. But that's extremely unlikely to happen. ? Her work is very lovely, but this lack of communication is frustrating. ETA: Artist just now shouted with an apology and said the piece will be uploaded tonight. Will mark as resolved when this happens. Feels good to get a response. ETA 2: Finished piece was sent to me today, and looks great! Marking this as resolved.

teahound May. 1st, 2011 04:29 pm (local) 1. Lolmary/Lolitsmary/Lolautumn 2. http://furaffinity.net/user/lolautumn 3. Many times over the past year! 4. Mary is always SUPER sweet and fun to work with, and really breathes life into the ideas I give her. She's a great communicator, too. <3 Edit- Examples: http://pics.livejournal.com/teahound/pic/0006qdwh http://pics.livejournal.com/teahound/pic/00077zqp http://pics.livejournal.com/teahound/pic/0007hxgx Edited at 2011-05-01 04:31 pm (local) quailbrander May. 1st, 2011 04:53 pm (local) Nanuka 1. Nanuka 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/nanuka/ 3. Quite a few times over the past year and I hoping to continue 4. Nanuka has always been professional and an awesome artist to work with. She's quick with communication and is always available for contact when I have questions. Her art is amazing quality and her turn-out rate is very reasonable. And, she's got a great knack for bringing my characters to life through her style. Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5476864 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5174636/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5528363/ (Could be NSFW because of some nudity. Mine are the first 4 along the top.) teahound May. 1st, 2011 05:52 pm (local) Re: Nanuka Seconding this, I got a bookmark from her recently (as well as other commissions in the past) and service from her is stellar. <3 hellebore May. 1st, 2011 04:54 pm (local) Kobraa 1. Name of the person/company you recommend. Kobraa/Kob 2. Link to their website or art page. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kobraa 3. Approximate time period of when you did business with them. Off and on for about a year. 4. Details (Here's where you tell us why they are so awesome! What made the transaction go so well? Perhaps link to the art or suit you bought/sold if you feel like sharing. Please mark NSFW if the subject matter is adult!!) Kobraa is very efficent and detail oriented in his work. He charges very low for most of his works and keeps up great communications. His anatomy is killer and he's trying his hardest to diligently improve as an artist in general, and I believe his works show this. I would post links but these are commissions that I requested in private. huskie666 May. 1st, 2011 05:07 pm (local) Some of my fave clients include: 1. Kace 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kcravenyote 3. Pretty regularly over the past *thinks...* 8-9 years or so? :3 4. She's easy to please and very patient and really seems to enjoy what i make for her! :D 1. Rein 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/amaterasu1 3. Also a regular for the past year or two. 4. He's really patient and also reallyreally seems to like my stuff :0 Also he gives me a great oppertunity to draw bawkbawks and has some silly ideas X'D 1. Blaze 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/blazelupine 3. Commissioned me pretty regularly for about a year n a half.. tho i do anticipate a return soonish? :3 4. I enjoy that he wants to commission me to draw Balto fanart and such :P~ Plus he also seems REALLY pleased with what i do for him. 1. Casidhe 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/casidhevixen 3. Regular client of mine for the past 3 years or so. 4. Has really cute vixen characters and all around totally nice guy <3 1. Chakat Sunset 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sunstreak 3. Regular client for the past 3 years or so as well. 4. Supremely patient! They also give me a good excuse to draw chakitties! :D 1. Chakat Goldfur 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/goldfur 3. Longtime client and friend for the past... forever it seems o.0 4. Also super patient! And has a whole range of awesome characters - also has helped me get published in zines here n there and uses my art to illustrate his stories :3 1. SilverFoxWolf 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/silverfoxwolf 3. Regular client for the past... 6 years or something like that o.o 4. Has an awesome werewolf character, likes to pair him with my characters/fan characters, very flexible and patient client! <3 And those are my top favorite clients! n.n TREAT THEM NICE <3 sbneko May. 1st, 2011 06:27 pm (local) Ashi/Pawprintstars 1.Ashi/Pawprintstars 2.http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ashi and http://www.furaffinity.net/user/pawprintstars 3.ive been commissioning her for a couple years now, so no real timeframe. 4. I've been a huge fan of Ashi and she's a great artist to work with. Fast and reliable and if she eve does get a little slow, she keeps you in the loop. She's always ready to answer questions, doesn't get annoyed or ignore you. Her work always looks just how you wanted it, sometimes even better! I do recommend giving her artists freedom, I've always gotten the best work that way. A few commissions I've gotten from her: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5605987/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5597389/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5597083/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5560877/ crisis_the_hat May. 1st, 2011 08:59 pm (local) Marcusstratus 1. Marcusstratus 2. http://marcusstratus.deviantart.com/ 3. Recently for a second time within the past couple weeks, and first time last year. 4. Fair prices (and willing to work within a budget), extremely durable results, and good in communication. Haven't been disappointed yet! So far I consider them a go-to for custom steampunk apparel or like stuff. So far this is what I've gotten from them: - http://Marcusstratus.deviantart.com/art/BlazeTBW-Commission-162789650 - http://Marcusstratus.deviantart.com/art/BlazeBTW-Commission-2-206227204 torikonero May. 1st, 2011 09:04 pm (local) LimeCustard 1. LimeCustard 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/limecustard/ 3. Roughly 4/25/11 to 4/29/11 4. I commissioned LimeCustard for a colored sketch of my fursona. After giving her refs she asked for some additional anatomical details, due to my fursona being transgendered. I went into some anatomical detail and she was very accommodating. She worked extremely hard, produced extremely quickly, and was amazingly pleasant to deal with. I'm looking forward to getting more stuff from her in the future. x3 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5638246 Finished product. tech_rex May. 2nd, 2011 12:45 am (local) 1. TrashedBat 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/trashedbat/ 3. Late December, Mid-April 2011 4. I commissioned Trashbat in December for a bug eyed and recently in April for a watercolor sketch and ATC of an old character of mine. I'm currently in the process of revamping the character, so I only had a few refs and a gist of the character in a descript. Trashedbat nailed the character and his attitude perfectly. Pic in question http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5626981 1. Slug 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/slug 3. Spring/Summer 2010 4. I commissioned Slug for a RPG sprite icon, unfortunately her list happened to be full at the time. When Slug finished her current commissions, she took the time to note me ask if I was still interested in an icon (of course I was). I adore the icon (currently I do not have a link to it). She was very professional, I have a unique icon, and I was floored that she contacted me when she was open again for icons. She definately takes her clients into consideration, and I'll be commissioning her agian. nauro_chan May. 2nd, 2011 02:14 am (local) 1. Arito 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/arito 3. Quite often over the last year or less. 4. He is a great guy and super patient. As well he brings new ideas and challenges my way often. He always seems to like what I draw for him and enjoy when I do get to work with him. Plus his main character has an amazing color combo that I love working with. 1. Rosa 2. http://adoredolt.deviantart.com/ 3. She has been getting stuff from me for the past 4-5 years now. 4. Great friends and artist, she always seems to point me in the right direction if something is wrong. Very patient and sweet, always really laid back about what is going on. I always look forward to working with her. 1. Nyth 2. http://aethanyc.deviantart.com/ 3. 2-3 or more times in the past year. 4. Ridiculously patient and no matter what I do for her she seems to love it. Super sweet and an absolute joy to work with. I look forward to working with her in the future more. 1. Fayin 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/fayin 3. 1-2 pieces in the last month or so. 4. Quickly becoming a favorite customer. Really sweet and a lot of fun to talk to during and after the commission process. Has had great ideas every single time I've worked with her as well as adorable characters. I really look forward to future business with her. Some amazing people I've worked with most have been in the last year or two. jennyhusky May. 2nd, 2011 12:31 pm (local) Kashmere 1. Kashmere 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kashmere 3. Several pieces between 2009 and today 4. Kashmere is the nicest artist I've ever worked with. She does incredible traditional work and usually has the finished piece uploaded for you within a week or two. She is always kind or polite and does her best to capture the vision you have in mind. Youll gasp when you receive the original in the mail because the scan never truly does her art justice. She always keeps the commissioner updated on how thier piece is coming along and always always replies to notes in a timely manner. If you want an amazing piece of traditional art, she is definitely the artistto go to! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5608905/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5480041/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3780567/ conigliomannaro May. 3rd, 2011 04:03 pm (local) polymorphicgirl 1. Polymorphicgirl 2. http://polymorphicgirl.deviantart.com/ 3. Around January or something 4. Well, I'm actually friends with her so communication was pretty prompt and smooth, but she's very professional and doesn't ask payment until she delivers the sketch. Once she gives the sketch and you give her the ok, she begins working on the inking and coloring; however, she won't obviously send you the finished piece until she gets her money, which I believe is pretty fair. I asked her two commissions, six characters of mine for characters sheets, no background or anything, and in about one month and a half she had delivered both of them, inked and colored. This is the finished product, the six kids at the bottom of the image. I am commissioning her again because from experience I know she will take a reasonable amount of time, will keep me up to date with the status of my commissions, and will produce a quality drawing for an affordable price. poizenkat May. 3rd, 2011 07:19 pm (local) Ayriea 1. Ayriea 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ayriea 3. last week 4. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5679465 she did an amazing job! its just adorable and she did it very quickly and was VERY willing to correct the few mistakes she made! as usual, a wonderful experience. im excited to commission her again! poizenkat May. 3rd, 2011 07:26 pm (local) 1. mushroom kitty 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/mushroomkitty 3. not too sure, probably a month ago? 4. she charges very little and had me updated right away with sketches for approval. she also was very willing to correct the mistake and they are just ADORABLE! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5684281/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5684292/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5684295/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5684298/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5684301/ poizenkat May. 3rd, 2011 07:28 pm (local) 1. mary mouse 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/marymouse 3. less than a month ago i believe 4. Her badges are simply amazing! she was quick to reply when i asked her for updates and drew the clothes i requested her to draw on Li-Li PERFECTLY! i just cannot wait to receive my badge in the mail and wear it at cons! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5666160/ poizenkat May. 3rd, 2011 07:34 pm (local) 1. corrie/eachom 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/corriezodori http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ eachom 3. about a month ago as well 4. this was her first time drawing babyfurs but she did an excellent job! she even gave me a little discount! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5618278/ i also got an icon from her that was finished in just an hour after i paid! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5652757/ poizenkat May. 3rd, 2011 07:35 pm (local) * http://www.furaffinity.net/user/eachom poizenkat May. 3rd, 2011 07:42 pm (local) 1. uyu 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/uyu 3. about a month ago as well XD 4. just about the cutest style <3 i just ADORE the piece i got from Yu and would love to commission them again! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5591838/ i was even given a gift!! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5625618/ poizenkat May. 3rd, 2011 07:49 pm (local) 1. eittey 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/eittey/ 3. not too sure, about a month as well i believe 4. though theres a bit of a language barrier what i wanted was completely understood and drawn VERY well and they were finished so quickly too! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5598652/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5604094/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5604186/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5604274/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5589965/ poizenkat May. 3rd, 2011 07:56 pm (local) 1. Naoki 2. http://naoki-wolf.deviantart.com/ 3. less then a month ago 4. shes really sweet and great to work with. her chibis are ADORABLE and to be honest she charges too little for something of her work quality. http://naoki-wolf.deviantart.com/art/CA-Li-Li-205067737?q=gallery%3Anaoki-wolf%2F13198750&qo=4 http://naoki-wolf.deviantart.com/art/CA-Foxfairy-205373919?q=gallery%3Anaoki-wolf%2F13198750&qo=3 http://naoki-wolf.deviantart.com/art/CA-DKitty-205692309?q=gallery%3Anaoki-wolf%2F13198750&qo=2 http://naoki-wolf.deviantart.com/art/CA-Yoko-206135419?q=gallery%3Anaoki-wolf%2F13198750&qo=1 casteddreams May. 4th, 2011 04:53 pm (local) Vera 1. Vera 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/vera/ 3. Been about 2 years since I first started working with her. 4. Never had a problem with her, ever. Always does an absolutely wonderful job on all my characters, clearly pays attention to details. I never have to typically very wait long at all for the pieces I commission from her. She's also been very kind and easy to work with! casteddreams May. 4th, 2011 04:57 pm (local) Huskie666 1. Huskie666 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/huskie666 3. For MANY years, LOL. 8-9 years perhaps? 4. I've always ALWAYS loved working with her. Every piece I've ever gotten has been spot on and totally awesome. If there has ever been a wait, it's always been worth it. She's always very kind to me, and an absolute joy to work with. She's managed to make all my characters look wonderful. casteddreams May. 4th, 2011 05:03 pm (local) Fetalstar 1. Fetalstar 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/fetalstar & http://fetalstar.deviantart.com/ 3. Since summer of 2010, I believe. 4. I've commissioned her several times, and she's always been a joy to work with. She provides you with with progress images for each stage, which is lovely. One of the reasons I like her is her ability to draw anthros and humans, in fact I originally commissioned her for some humanoid characters the first time around. She gets things done in a very timely manner, and she's extremely kind and very easy to work with. saelethil May. 15th, 2011 11:45 pm (local) Jojo- (I hope it's alright that I'm posting this for a friend as he isn't a member but really wanted to promote this awesome commissioner) 1. Jojo- 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/jojo- 3. March 31st to now 4. Been commissioned by her several times now and she's amazing to work with. Always responds to notes promptly and she pays upfront and quickly. She gives me artistic freedom with everything (but will happily give help if asked) and doesn't require WIPs. Love her, she's a doll to work with. Most recent commission finished for her: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5749309 saelethil May. 15th, 2011 11:50 pm (local) Re: Jojo- OH, my bad. The finished commission is slightly nsfw (upper nudity) ;~; latiro May. 18th, 2011 10:43 pm (local) Chevi/Shizuworks 1. Chevi/Shizuworks 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/chevi http://www.furaffinity.net/user/shizuworks/ (her commission account) 3. since March 2009 4. I've been an awesome repeat customer to her for a long time and she's a very pleasant person to work with or talk to. She does awesome work with numerous commissions I've paid her for, especially in her Ustream sessions. She deserves all the praise and whatnot the most recent commission I got: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5766807/ (contains some blood)

Apr. 3rd, 2011 at 9:32 PM synchra WHO: Aliases: SophieCabra, Waji "Company": SurfCatCostumes WHERE: http://surfcatcostumes.com/ WHAT: Costume of my character Tokkebi Kesaki done in the same style as Luskwood (with permission from Luskwood. SophieCabra used to work for Luskwood so she had confirmed she could achieve this quality. It was promised to be the same quality.) Art: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/1745-1/tokkebikesakicharactersheet.jpg Product: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7306-1/IMG_5509.jpg (in depth pictures and descriptions of everything below) Screenshots of initial e-mails confirming these facts: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10055-1/Screenshot-AB-1.png (Note: She mentions a non-refundable deposit of $495 but never mentions what it is for. In talking with other makers this is always accepted as a cancellation fee, I never canceled the product while it was in process. The promised product with the promised quality and features was just never delivered so I asked for a refund because it was offered to me.) http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10057-1/Screenshot-AB-2.png http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10059-1/Screenshot-AB-3.png (I never received guidelines or a real contract or a ToS so all agreements were made through e-mail in this fashion.) WHEN: Initial Costume invoice was sent 6/18/09. First Payment of $520 was sent out via paypal Jun. 7, 2009 Second Payment of $545 was sent out via paypal Sep 1, 2009 Final Payment of $600 was sent out via paypal Sep. 2, 2009 Product promised to be done and received by: Halloween 2009, if artist could not get it done in time then sometime in January 2010. Total of all payments as well as price of costume: $1665 Costume received: Feb 6, 2010 Promised refund: Feb 6, 2010 (Promised refund by: August 1st, 2010) Costume confirmed to have been received: Mar 18, 2010 Partial refund of $1,081, $1050 after fees was sent to me via paypal Apr 18, 2010 Current payment owed: $584 Asked for rest of payment initially: 4/19/10 (never got a response) Gave artist a time line to pay me back again on: Feb 15, 2011 (end of march) Artist failed to pay me back by: 03/31/11 (never got a response) Demand Letter to be sent: 4/4/11 Court date if Demand Letter is not responded to: TBA PROOF: Here is a review of the costume I wrote which includes all proof needed of the quality of the product received including pictures, videos and e-mails sent and received throughout the process. http://community.livejournal.com/fursuitreviews/31415.html (I figure it's better to just post that part here as a link because it's just as good as copy-pasting and putting it behind a cut, please tell me if you'd rather have me go about this another way.) Here are some e-mails in which the refund is mentioned: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10077-1/Screenshot-AB-refundmention-4.png http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10075-1/Screenshot-AB-refundmention-5.png (promising refund for suit.) I can provide screenshots of anything asked for if needed. Here are the paypal transactions: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10061-1/Screenshot-AB-5-1stPayment.png http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10063-1/Screenshot-AB-5-2ndPayment.png http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10065-1/Screenshot-AB-5-3rdPayment.png http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10067-1/Screenshot-AB-5-refund.png Note: She mentions that it's $1050 even after fees and isn't including the initial 30% even though I never canceled on her and she had promised me a full refund. However $1665 - $1050 = $615 which was not even the down payment. The down payment was $495 so even if there is some reason that I am not owed the original 30% (which I still have yet to clear up since she has never responded to me about this) she still owes me $120 by her own standards. With fee money included $1665 - $1081 = $584. Which is what I am currently asking for. However if her statement that I do not owe the 30% is true then: $584 - $495 = $89 So, she would still owe me $89. http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10055-1/Screenshot-AB-1.png I was told to cover paypal fees (which is apparently against Paypal's TOS https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/terms-outside ) so I sent her $520 with the first payment to make it even/easier to track how much I still owed. I also paid for her to ship it to me. The receipt she scanned for me: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/10072-1/Receipt-AB-6-shipping.png (I blurred out most of my address, the address of another person she mailed something to, and her card info.) And I paid a lot more than that to ship it back to her with tracking and confirmation which was something she failed to do herself. EXPLAIN: Once again, here is a review of the costume I wrote which includes all proof needed of the quality of the product received including pictures, video and e-mails sent and received throughout the process as of March 23rd. http://community.livejournal.com/fursuitreviews/31415.html Also copy pasted here: ----REVIEW START---- I have given this maker an entire year to come clean and fix the problems with this transaction and they haven't, so unfortunately, this is not a positive review. As a DISCLAIMER, this person may have changed their ways since my commission and I have never seen the produce work of this low quality before or after my commission was made. Name of Artist: Surf Cat Costumes/SophieCabra Website: http://surfcatcostumes.com/ Character/species commissioned (link to photo/concept art): Tokkebi Kesaki, a ghost Korean Jindo dog. Here is the concept art: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/1745-1/tokkebikesakicharactersheet.jpg I also included some snapshots of my SL avatar of her (my by my friend, Luper): http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/6484-2/Snapshot_003.png http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/6472-2/Snapshot_001.png http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/6480-2/Snapshot_002.png (I have more, but you get the idea.) Links to picture(s) of your commissioned item: Currently I have absolutely nothing, and I am down -$584, but this is what I got in the mail last year in February: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7306-1/IMG_5509.jpg Because there is a lot to be said about every other picture I have of it, I'll put them in the appropriate places throughout the review after all the other information has been said. Is the item old or new (if old, how long have you had it/when was it made?) This was made sometime at the end of 2009 but I did not receive it until February 2010. (again this will all be explained below.) --Grade each below aspect on a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best)-- Visual Aspect (does it match the concept art? Is it consistent with other items the maker has produced? Is it visually pleasing overall?): 1 Okay first, let me say, this wasn't my first fursuit commission, this was my 5th or 6th fursuit commission so I had had a lot of experience with this at this point. The product did not match the concept art to the degree I had hoped for (to me it doesn't match at all other than colors really), it's not consistent with the other items this person has made, and it came out looking pretty bad overall. Why? I was promised something I did not receive. This commission was originally going to be made by Luskwood and when they stopped taking commissions and I saw Sophie, who used to work for Luskwood had parted off and started her own company I approached her asking if she could do that quality of work for me. I had seen the work she did at Luskwood and it looked good and I had seen the suits she had made on her own at that point and I thought they looked pretty nice! She promised me this quality, she promised me leg padding, eyes that light up, glowing fur, and that she would match my concept art... you know what? here is that part of the original e-mail, no better way of putting it: First E-mail: Ooh. Awesome character. I can totally play around with some glow in the dark effects. I could hopefully even find some transparent glow airbrush paints I could highlight the fur with. The problem would be finding one that went on completely transparent. But I would love to play around with that and experiment beforehand and to see if I could get it to work for your fur. ? Anyhoo, before Luskwood disbanded, I worked with Arito, so I can do the same leg/foot padding system and whatnot. I think for the whole thing (supplies, labor, shipping) I'm going to say $1650." I was excited to hear that she liked the character because usually that means the maker will make a better product when they like the character as well! I was also excited that she promised me all of these things and that she was going to do the glow in the dark stuff as well! Sounded like a dream right? The price was the highest I had ever had at the time but I was willing to pay that much for the promised quality. (All my previous commissions at this time were a lot cheaper, were much higher quality when received and were from big names like B3/Joecifur, JillCostumes, Midori, and Rose Quoll.) Here is my initial response: "Awe, thank you so much. ? I wouldn't really need the fur to glow, but actually it does on the SL avatar my friend made for me: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/2228-1/Snapshot_483.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/2232-1/Snapshot_480.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/2222-1/Snapshot_485.jpg Hahaha, so that would be really freaking awesome if you could figure it out. I know that paint from that kotaku link is really good for stuff like that, but I can't remember what it's called. I know Beetlecat used it once on some claws. I can do the 30% paypal deposit. Man, thanks for responding so fast, I asked for quotes from a couple other people and it's been months and no one has responded! Then you finished that Roo head recently and I was like OH DUH everything you made with Arito and the stuff you've made alone seemed to be the best work that came out of Luskwood/in the style I want! I was all emo there for a week about loosing my quote. I got a good price on it, but I don't mind paying more if I am still going to get the same quality. (It wasn't THAT far off from yours. :P) I wouldn't "need" the suit until FC 2010 so anywhere you want to put me in is fine, I am patient. XD Just tell me where to send the money and I'll snag my space! ? Thank you so much!" Well pretty much none of these promised things came out right. The bodysuit didn't fit at all (we made a duct tape dummy), most of the claws on the feet had fallen off, I couldn't see out of the head and it flopped around, it didn't look right, the "glow in the dark" fur was yellow, uneven, and atrocious. There was absolutely no body padding, the eyes didn't glow (there is more on this though, I'll explain this in the service section), there were no teeth, there was black eyebrows on it (character does not have eyebrows), the mouth and nose were uneven, the ears were uneven. There was pretty much flaws with every part of the suit. More on this in the workmanship section with pictures. Service Aspect (Deadlines. Communication. Little extras.):0 I have actually been afraid to post this part because it DID start off wonderful and she was a pleasure to talk to for months of this transaction! Everything seemed to be going great but then several major flaws we're made towards the end. She is also a well known person in the furry fandom and has a lot of friends so saying anything negative about her seemed "awful".. but these are facts, and this is what happened to me. This is long, so I am going to put it under a cut. Most of this was typed last year in April as well. Communication/Deadlines/Shipping: The suit was originally supposed to be done for Halloween or in October. I asked to have WIP photos because I am very particular with how my characters are represented and I never got any WIP pictures, then suddenly I got finished pictures of the suit the week of Halloween but it just didn't look right in the picture and the eyes looked awful to me. It looked wall-eyed and she had worn the bodysuit. I had sent her a duct tape dummy so that the suit would fit me and I was aware Sophie is bigger than me, so it made me kind of irked to see that she had worn the suit because she said it was hard to get into and I was hoping she hadn't stretched it or something like that. Here are those photos: http://www.surfcatcostumes.com/v/costumes/kesaki/ I didn't really like the head shapes and some other nit picky things from the photos but the eyes were the main turn off so I asked her to change the eyes because I was thinking maybe the other stuff looked better in person. I remembered from experiences in the past that some fursuits look like shit in photos, but in person they look really nice. I'd rather have a nice suit, than have it by Halloween! She took 2 months to change the eyes and they still didn't look right. She sent me this picture on December 3rd: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7856-1/eyes1.jpg I asked to see them with the lights on in them since it was the point of them and she sent me this: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7858-1/eyes2.jpg Which looked just as wall-eyed as the last pictures. Also.. why not ever show me the whole head at once? ? She told me she'd change them again, maybe the light effect was just not working out right and she'd replace them with glow in the dark painted blue eyes. She also promised me the suit had body padding and that the whole thing "lit up like a light bulb" before I got it. She finally replaced the eyes again by December 31st and sent me blurry cell phone pictures of it after I requested to see photos instead of her just sending it to me. http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/6943-1/s1.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7239-1/s2.JPG I was tired of dealing with it and I wanted the suit by FC so I asked her to send me the suit because maybe they looked better in person, who knows. She told me she sent it and I waited. On January 11th I realized the suit really should have been there at that point so I asked her if she had tracking info. She evaded the question and said the post office said it would be there by Wednesday. I waited. I e-mailed her on the 14th saying it still wasn't here. She said she'd call the post office on the 15th if it still wasn't there. I told her on the 15th it still wasn't there. She never responded so I waited some more. On the 20th I e-mailed her asking if she had ever contacted the post office. She said: "I called them, got the run around, was told to email them with the receipt number. There's not record of damage, insufficient postage costs, etc. They gave me some BS about being slow after the holidays and this past federal holiday weekend, blah blah blah. I'm calling them again. They filed it as missing as transit, so from what I hear that puts a fire in their asses if it's just sitting around in some office somewhere. It really should be there today. God, I hope. If it is lost, I'd say we allow until the end of Feb to come back and after that I can either remake the costume or begin issuing you a full refund. I am terribly sorry and infuriated this is happening. Let me know if I can do anything else." I said thanks for calling and everything she had done and continued to wait for it.. Throughout all these e-mails I had asked her multiple times if she gotten insurance and tracking info on it and she kept evading my question. On the 25th I still did not have the suit so I sent her this: "Yeah I think it's gone. ? I hope you got a large amount of money claimed for insurance on that. ? I'd feel bad getting a full refund now if you didn't, but I think now I need the money more than a suit. I lost my job on the 15th. X.x GUhhhhh stupid mail!!!! I swear this character is bad luck. The badge that ****** made of her got lost too! >.<" I censored out that artist's name just in case! Yes, a badge of this character got lost as well. We both had been completely friendly with each other up to this point and there had been no problems with each other. I already didn't completely like the suit she had made just from the pictures in the first place so getting her to remake it again seemed pointless (I would've rather just had the money at this point and commissioned the suit from another maker at a later date, especially because I had also just lost my job, and on top of that someone had stolen my identity so I couldn't get my unemployment money either.) She responded: "Went to the post office today with my delivery confirmation and receipt and in person they told me that as far as their records say, it's been delivered. o.o What the post man says he believes this means is that either one of your housemates (if any) accepted the package and never told you, or got a package notice (due to you not being home or it being too big to deliver) in the mail and forgot to give it to you, or the package notice may have gotten lost. Their advice was to have you check with anyone in your house, as well as head to your local post office ASAP. If it's been been sitting in the local USPS for a while, then that's why it's just been lost in transit without response. After a few weeks they will sent it back to me, which the post man told me can take quite a while. If you can check any roommates as well as your local post office as soon as you can, that would be the next best course of action. Please let me know!" I sent back this: "Hi ----, I don't have any housemates and nothing has ever gotten lost in the mail here at all in the past. ? I have received numerous LARGE boxes in the past, too. I just live with my boyfriend and we would've seen it if it got here. I will check the post office tomorrow I guess... ? We haven't gotten any notices. You sent it to *****ADDRESSS****** Right? I'll let you know ASAP what I hear from my post office." I wanted to double check my address because people spell it wrong all the time. Sophie responded: "Yeah, I didn't know if you had any, so I was just passing along info. Anyhoo, try the post office and see. That is the address I sent it to, so hopefully the post office was just being stupid and it's sitting with them." This is when I went to the post office on the 29th of January and e-mailed her this: "The post office says they didn't receive anything at all for me. I had them look all over in the back. Are you sure it was confirmed received?? Was it at a different post office? If you got insurance on the package, you should have a tracking number (according to the person at my post office.) I have a feeling it's lost or... at a different post office? My post office definitely doesn't have it. x.x I don't know why it would be confirmed received if it wasn't in ******." I spent a lot of time down there and they had nothing... This is also where I found out that she DID NOT get insurance or tracking on the suit. On the 30th I was upset so I sent her an e-mail explaining to her why I'd rather have the money than another suit because it seemed to me that it was definitely lost. I spilled my guts, I was stupid, I TOLD HER EVERYTHING that had happened to me up to that point because I was stressing out and so that she wouldn't think I was BSing about wanting the full refund that she had promised instead of another suit. I also asked her if she had actually sent it because it was just too weird that the post office had absolutely no record of it and that I was upset with her for not getting insurance and tracking. I was nice about everything I said in the e-mail. I asked to see the receipt so that if there was any tracking at all I could find it from the receipt. I got back an angry e-mail from her... in which she refused to refund me, but she scanned the receipt. She accused me of receiving the package and not telling her. We both basically got unreasonably mad at each other about the stupid USPS losing the package of the suit I was promised was of good quality. These e-mails are really long and tl;dr so I will leave them out and just put these summaries here. x.x I told her that I would wait 2 months for it to show up, but if it didn't I would still expect a refund to be an option if I didn't want her to remake the suit. On the 31st she e-mailed me back and said she could do the refund.. I'll just copy paste that e-mail, I can't summarize it well. "I firstly want to apologize for accusing you of lying. I was on the defense for being accused as well of something I would never do to a customer. I believe we are both just running a bit of a temper due to a regretful situation that is out of our hands. We both don't know each other personally, so it's easy to assume. It's stressful, but I think we both got any suspicions under the bridge and we can work to fix it. I do think you misunderstood me about the refund. Perhaps I worded it poorly, but I meant that I could not offer you a full refund right this minute. Firstly I really believe that we should wait the two months, and I am grateful you agree. But also I meant that I could not offer the full refund all at once. It would have to be paid back in installments, much like how I accept payment for costumes. As for it showing up in the hopeful case it will, I said in my previous email that I would be glad to change the design a bit so you could sell it without selling your character. I have no problem with offering you that at all. I encourage you, should it come to that, to allow me to do so, since I know my own work more than anyone else would. If it's truly just the head that's the problem, I can remake the head if the costume resurfaces. I still believe that I followed the concept to the best of my ability. But I also understand that the way we all see and interpret art can vary. I don't know if this would be a solution for you, but one thing I've done with previous customers is to sketch their character in my own style and render it out as such. It has been a very successful exercise in the past and I think it might work for you. Basically I would email you a bunch of sketches and you can pick and choose what you'd like. Anyways, I believe patience is our biggest ally right now and all we can do is hope it shows up. I am still going to be hawking around on the USPS phonelines until I've gotten an answer. Despite not having on-site tracking, USPS does track all packages in their own system, all I have to do is find someone on the phone that is willing to let me know what their systems are saying. I do not know why they would have told me it's delivered if it was not, but I know that I can find out somehow. It's a government agency and it is a bureaucratic mess to navigate. I will get answers, however, and I will pass them along to you as soon as I have some. Hope you are well and at ease at least a little bit," I explained to her all the things I would want changed if she wanted to remake the suit head (this was before I knew of the actual quality I would receive in the mail.) I thought only the head was a problem at this point, so it all seemed reasonable. Lots of time passed. On February 6th the suit miraculously shows up. The suit was the most terribly crafted suit I have ever had in my own possession. NONE of those things I was promised were on it. The whole suit was crammed into a huge box with no packing material at all as well... I told her my honest opinion on everything including pictures like I have posted here. Her response: "All right, send it back to me. Once I get it in hand I'll start issuing a refund in installments to be completed by Aug 1st. I will sell the costume off myself." On top of this I was told she was writing snarky posts about me on her LJ this whole time! I did not see them myself but people told had me about them. ? I never had any "buyer's remorse" for the suit I EXPECTED to get, the product I received was just NOT WHAT I BOUGHT AT ALL. There was no body padding, the eyes didn't glow, it didn't match my art, it was not Luskwood quality..etc.etc.etc. I'd be perfectly happy if I had gotten what I had commissioned. Anyways, you can see why I was not pleased with the amount of money I paid. Manda did not cost anywhere near that much and is MUCH MUCH higher quality..and she fits me, I also never sent Joe a duct tape dummy either, he just did it right with nothing but measurements and she still fit me. Licorice and Cricket were even cheaper and are just as high of a quality as Manda. Pierah was cheap as hell and much better quality, my "secret" suit is obviously higher quality and extremely cheap, same goes for Sync and none of them cost anywhere near this much. I was expecting the quality I had gotten in the past from other makers but with everything promised. I sent it back to her as soon as I could after getting back and asked her to tell me when she got it. I paid an extra $65 total to ship it and to get tracking and insurance on it (I will never get that back, but I knew that!) I just wanted to send it back to her right. It got back in a timely manor. I expected installments of payment like I was promised because she had said she didn't have the money so I agreed to have it by August 1st. I sent this to her on March 2nd because she hadn't told me she got it yet: "Hi, ----! I am just checking in, did you receive the suit yet? I sent it with insurance and tracking on the 18th, but the USPS website is giving me errors when I put the tracking number in. (Can anything with them ever work right?) Anyways, if you didn't get it yet, I am going to go down to the post office and figure out if they messed up their system or something. Thanks!" She never responded to it. So I sent this on March 18th. "Hey, just checking again since I never got a response back before. I just want to make sure everything gets there. Thanks," She responded: "Hey, I got your box. No worries." I never got any payment installments as promised but I randomly got most of it back on April 18th. This suit or.. lack there of.. THIS EXPERIENCE cost me: $584 + the money I spent to send it back to her.. and whatever I paid to send her a duct tape dummy which I doubt she used. I e-mailed her about this remaining money and she never responded. I e-mailed her again last month giving her an ultimatum, she sends the money back but the end of March or I go to court. I am hoping I won't have to go to court, but what's done is done. TL;DR: She didn't meet the deadline, the eyes never looked right, she promised me she could do something she obviously couldn't (make glowing eyes like my art), it got lost in the mail, she didn't put tracking on it, I asked for a refund when I got a bad product, she refused, she finally paid me back most of it, she still owes me money a year later and has about a week to pay me back before I go to small claims court. Workmanship Aspect (Is the sewing neat? Are things that should be sewn glued or vise versa? Does it fit? Has anything fallen off yet that shouldn’t have):1 Now to explain everything individually... First off, not fitting. I sent her a duct tape dummy so you'd think it fit? I don't know how she made it on it but it seemed to fit her pretty well: http://surfcatcostumes.com/v/costumes/kesaki/IMG_0915.JPG.html Here it is on me: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7306-1/IMG_5509.jpg (ignore my hair popping out.) http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7280-1/IMG_5522.jpg (There was no leg padding.) Here it is with a pair of pants on top to show just how baggy it was on me: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7898-2/IMG_5594.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7882-2/IMG_5592.JPG It had some strange crotch bunching thing going on in the front: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7296-1/IMG_5514.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7290-1/IMG_5517.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7890-2/IMG_5596.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7886-2/IMG_5595.JPG The fur was full of weird stuff that had collected in it: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7870-2/IMG_5591.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7926-2/IMG_5576.JPG (oh look foam!) And loose threads all over on the inside, this is the hole the tail was supposed to go through: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7878-2/IMG_5588.JPG With the belt as tight as possible, this is how the tail help up: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7288-1/IMG_5520.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7286-1/IMG_5519.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7282-1/IMG_5521.jpg Oh yeah.. and for some reason you could see my divesuit through the fur? It must've had thin backing or something I remember it being scratchy, I don't know where it was from though. The glow in the dark paint glowed, not blue, nor white, and it was splattered on unevenly and looked gross glowing, I have a video of this but I am unsure of where to upload it.. (I don't want it on youtube.) Okay so second, not looking right. Why didn't I do something about this before? Well It looked "okay" in the pictures on her. I was "eh" about the eyebrows and some facial shape things but it's white and white never photographs well so I figured I wanted to see it with my own eyes before forming a solid opinion on asking for anymore changes (also, I had already had her replace the eyes 2 times when she showed me the pictures of it all together and it took her and extra 2 or 3 months to change the eyes.) So here are those things, first off the feet: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7308-1/IMG_5510.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7304-1/IMG_5512.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7302-1/IMG_5511.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7298-1/IMG_5513.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7270-1/IMG_5531.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7958-2/IMG_5571.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7966-2/IMG_5569.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7994-2/IMG_5568.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8006-2/IMG_5554.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8014-2/IMG_5553.JPG (mysterious shoe) http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8010-2/IMG_5555.JPG (strange holes in the bottom?) http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8018-2/IMG_5551.JPG (scale, next to a DS Lite, they were huge, I couldn't barely fit through the door wearing them actually.) A lot of the claws had fallen off in the mail, they were painted blue and left unfinished so there was fur, foam and dirt/dust stuck all over them, they were also shaped very elephant like, and not dog like at all. There claws that were left attached were loose and the ones that weren't, I found loose in the box but there was one I never found.. which means it fell off before the suit was sent? I know my concept art has chunky legs but she still has a foot in it and this is definitely not how I imagined, I was thinking more like this suit made by Luskwood (quality I was promised and paid for once again): http://luskwood.org/costume/gallery/canines/nataliecevichelimahusky/1 http://luskwood.org/costume/gallery/canines/keovi/2 http://luskwood.org/gallery/costumes/canines/keovi/keovi3.jpg I already mentioned the claws issues so here are some more pictures of that and the hand paws: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7950-2/IMG_5573.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7962-2/IMG_5572.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7970-2/IMG_5570.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8038-2/IMG_5556.JPG The Nose: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7284-1/IMG_5523.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7274-1/IMG_5525.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7998-2/IMG_5565.JPG (loose hot glue on the felt) http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7978-2/IMG_5564.JPG It was very flat and had an outline around it which is something I personally just don't really like the look of on most suits. Does not look like the art. The Eyes: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7278-1/IMG_5526.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7990-2/IMG_5567.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8002-2/IMG_5566.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8030-2/IMG_5560.JPG Slapped on, falling off at parts, covered in scratches and at this point I had thought they were just glow in the dark (not EL wire anymore like originally promised because the first couple attempts at this had come out looking very wrong), but they weren't even glow in the dark and I could actually look through them because of how the head fit on my head. I had to look through the mouth. The Mouth being un-even and the lack of teeth: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7974-2/IMG_5563.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7986-2/IMG_5562.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7982-2/IMG_5561.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8026-2/IMG_5559.JPG http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7276-1/IMG_5524.jpg http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/7268-1/IMG_5527.jpg The Tail back: http://www.synchrastudios.com/gallery/d/8042-2/IMG_5557.JPG This was just messy, and strange for what it was supposed to be. I feel like I am leaving things out. I don't know, anyone who was at my house when this thing was received knows this was just NOT a top quality suit, it was somehow worse in person. (A lot of friends were over when this came in the mail, my excitement quickly died when I opened the box.) Describe your Experience. Pros, Cons, Comments: Well I pretty much described it all already. This was an extremely negative experience for me. I have waited almost an entire year for this thing to be resolved and she has made no attempt to refund me the remaining money, next month it'd be a year, and I am tired of waiting in silence. By law, because I have absolutely NO PRODUCT, and I DID NOT cancel on her while she was in process, she owes me ALL of my money. On top of this, I have not seen her resell the suit.. so I assume it's still at her house or.. possibly in the trash? I don't know. I have put off posting anything "publicly" about this because I didn't want to start a bunch of e-drama and because I was hoping keeping it out of the light would help to keep a nice neutral relationship between me and Sophie so that we could solve things in a calm and fair fashion but now that she isn't responding to me at all, it's public. Final Grade (out of 5): 0 EDIT: Figured out how to upload videos to youtube so that they can only be seen when linked or something! So, I hope these work. These were filmed last year in February right after getting the suit. This is the "glow". Impossible to photograph, hard to video tape, but this is as good as it gets to convey the issues with it. Show media This one speaks for itself. ----REVIEW END---- An update on what has happened since then: I have received no response whatsoever from her and am in the process of settling this legally now. She has failed to respond to me in any way through all the conventional methods I have tried. Yesterday I noticed she had been active on Furaffinity so I attempted to contact her through the website (which I had never tried before) and received the response that I had been blocked. The fact that she has blocked me on a website where I have never once been rude to her or attempted to contact her before on leads me to believe that she is refusing to cooperate with me instead of just neglecting to check her e-mail addresses. I had a "demand letter" written up which is being sent on Monday. (I waited until Monday because April 1st is well.. April 1st and I wanted this to be taken seriously.) I have been researching and talking to people for the last month or two about small claims suits and finding out everything I need to do. I have asked her to explain her side of the story with no response. If there is something I missed, or am doing wrong, I want to hear it because I will admit my faults if there is some valid reason or something I missed. With nothing work off of on her end, I can only go with what I know and have on my own end. I saved every e-mail and record of transaction with her and have all the evidence I need for court however. Once again, I was never given ToS so I cannot share that with you either, I can just go on what I know.

Apr. 1st, 2011 at 10:50 PM stalgondo Please be forewarned, this was a commission for adult material. Some links on this post refer to NSFW material. Who: TwistedCreations on Hentai-foundry. Where: NSFW link - his hentai-foundry account: http://www.hentai-foundry.com/profile-TwistedCreations.php Communication was mainly over MSN messenger, but I sent several emails attempting to contact him. What: Digital Artwork of a Female Orc with two versions of the same image, paid in two transactions of $100 each ($200 total). When: January 14th 2011 - I first contacted him to commission the artwork. The price and details were agreed upon. January 28th 2011 - First rough sketch was received and I paid the first installment. February 7th 2011 - Second rough sketch was received and I paid the second installment. The last contact I received was on Febuary 7th 2011. I never received the final versions of the artwork. Proof: NSFW text - Chat log of all conversations: http://doujinhunter.totalh.com/twistedchat.txt NSFW - Last image received: http://i.imgur.com/fvJFo.jpg Email 1: http://i.imgur.com/VrZVA.png Email 2: http://i.imgur.com/KU7KW.png Email 3: http://i.imgur.com/V0rjn.png Email 4: http://i.imgur.com/NlnjF.png Paypal Transfer 1: http://i.imgur.com/YDcWn.png Paypal Transfer 2: http://i.imgur.com/EiKkS.png Evading me on MSN: http://i.imgur.com/uBtAk.png Explain: Things went well initially, and the final draft was sent to me on Feb. 7th. I confirmed the final changes and sent the final payment. I have received no contact since, and I have made several attempts to contact him. I have sent him numerous emails asking for any reply or notice that I am not being ignored. He did not appear to be on MSN, but using an alternate MSN account, I determined that he has blocked my main MSN account. Contacting him via the alternate MSN account caused him to block that one as well. I attempted to retract payment via paypal, but they would not allow me to dispute a payment that was categorized as "other". I have submitted a transaction dispute to econsumer.gov in hopes of getting those payments retracted. I would prefer to have the final work, but that seems unlikely at this point. I was referred here by the hentai-foundry forums, and I will also be posting this to hentai-foundry to warn others. Thanks for reading, Stalgondo

hige_kun Apr. 6th, 2011 05:30 pm (local) 1. Riptide on y!gallery. 2. http://remotely-lame.net/ 3. Since 2008 4. She is not always available but is definitely a fine artist with a great attitude. She does not take more than she can handle and has always been able to produce wonderful art in a timely manner. I've never been disappointed. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 keihound Apr. 6th, 2011 06:09 pm (local) Just a few of many commissioners I love to draw for that deserve recognition for their kindness ? 1. Name: Sera 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sera 3. A regular commission-ee since 2009 ? 4. Sera is always super clear with describing what she wants me to draw and is a pleasure to draw for. ? Incredibly kind and thoughtful. I look forward to taking her commissions. 1. Name: Fuzzypaws 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/fuzzypaws/ 3. Has commissioned me both in person at a convention and a few times online since 2009 4. Shiro (Fuzzypaws) has always given me fun scenarios to draw for him, and has tipped me, which I am very grateful for. He was very kind about a perspective-based commission I didn't think I would do well with, and adjusted a commission idea slightly so I was still confident about doing it ? 1. Name: Arinmal 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/arinmal 3. Has commissioned me a few times since 2010 4. So polite and thankful, I am grateful to have had the pleasure of drawing for him. Very considerate and patient guy, wasn't impatient in the least when I had a bit of a delay getting his 8-character commission finished. Super nice guy ? There are so, so many more people I want to mention - I don't think I've ever had a -bad- commission experience. I wish I could name each of them ? These are just a few people that came to mind. Thank you guys ❤️ koisnake Apr. 6th, 2011 06:36 pm (local) 1. Name: A-chan Creations 2. Link: http://chao-fangirl.deviantart.com/ 3. Time Frame: I commissioned her back in October 2009, more or less, and received the plushies I've commissioned on February 15, 2011. However, the reason for the huge gap is explained below ? 4. Details: The plushies I've received (Klonoa, Guntz, Chipple, and Pyramid Head) were all made beautifully and personality. The seams were neat, the details were accurate, and they were the perfect size. I love them to bits! When commissioning her, I got a late with a few payments due to my job giving me less hours (this is the reason for the gap) but she was extremely patient and pushed my plushies to the end of her list to give me enough time to finish paying. She did not need to do this, but I cannot thank her enough for being patient and understanding about the payment troubles. Definitely recommended! latiro Apr. 6th, 2011 06:56 pm (local) Superb artist: fetalstar now THAT is what I've been waiting for! 1. Name: fetalstar 2. Link: her FA her website 3. Time frame: from Feb 22 to Mar 18 (for this second commission I've ordered (see below)) 4. Details: this gorgeous piece (WARNING NSFW CONTENT) come out wonderfully fantastic in a different painting style; transaction went splendidly; I've been very patient with her; she absolutely rocks and some of you may wanna consider commissioning her hige_kun (71.203.136.90) Apr. 6th, 2011 07:30 pm (local) Re: Superb artist: fetalstar Seconding this! Fantastic person to commission and great sales. latiro (72.216.36.168) Apr. 6th, 2011 07:32 pm (local) Re: Superb artist: fetalstar oh yes indeedy! growly (24.30.2.97) Apr. 6th, 2011 07:04 pm (local) Kacey Miyagami 1. Kacey 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kacey/ 3. January 2011 4. She was so prompt and polite! I asked for changes to the original sketch, she did them quickly without any questions, and the finished product is literally one of my favorite commissions I've ever received. It's gorgeous and even better in person. The way it was shipped made it practically indestructible, very above and beyond on the packaging of the original. I also got a badge from her (its not uploaded to her page yet) and it was stunningly beautiful, and came ready-to-wear with clip and everything. She is so professional! Here's the pic I commissioned! ? http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5185054/ growly (24.30.2.97) Apr. 6th, 2011 07:26 pm (local) Re: Kacey Miyagami You should see my badge... yours is what prompted me to commission a cub badge :3 The colors on this are so rich and beautiful *v* http://pics.livejournal.com/growly/pic/004wtt5x latiro (72.216.36.168) Apr. 6th, 2011 07:25 pm (local) Re: Kacey Miyagami Kacey flat-out rocks. I absolutely adore this one commission I got from her oraien Apr. 6th, 2011 07:12 pm (local) Zyden Zyden is a super artist and definitely deserves some recognition for having awesome work and being awesome to work with. Zyden @ DA Commissioned in early March. The work is professional and frankly amazing in its depth and color and how it's all put together. I haven't seen anything quite as breath-taking as her eye-cons, for the price and with the level of professionalism that she puts into her work. A slightly larger version of my eye-con (and icon!) can be found here if you'd like a peek. She's wonderful to work with and has a great manner as well. The commission was quick and painless and I'm still amazed at how gorgeous it turned out! filthy_animal Apr. 6th, 2011 08:46 pm (local) Synchra Synchra synchra, aka "synchra" on FA. n_n Business was done this month, and previously~ I assume it's okay to mention this-- I purchased two of her adoptables and received the larger file for both within about 12-24 hours of payment (bought at separate times). She is really friendly and her quality of work is very professional. I have also had an art trade with her in the past (which I admittedly need to finish my half for, good lord I am slow) and I was more than impressed with the quality she brought me (see my current icon for this comment-- thats her work!). n.n I would totally recommend her-- she does a lot of concept work for characters, ref sheets, and icons. ❤️ jibacoil Apr. 6th, 2011 09:38 pm (local) p3nsive Pensive on FA. I commissioned a couple of icons from Pensive on March 25th. They were done within a couple days and they're super cute! Pensive is definitely on my list of people I would commission again. Icons are here and here. puritikoneko Apr. 7th, 2011 02:45 am (local) Travis Orams AKA Trezhurisland or "Scribbles" 1. Travis Orams or "Trezhurisland". 2. Trezhurisland on FA (http://furaffinity.net/user/trezhurisland) 3. From August of last year (2010) until present. 4. "Scribbles" is a very friendly artist with a wonderful attitude and cute "toony" style. He works quickly and is always easy to get ahold of. He has done commissions for me including my character's reference sheet: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5041828/ He is also the creator of my current avatar on my furaffinity page, which can be found at http://furaffinity.net/user/peppermintkitten pan_h_shiroi Apr. 7th, 2011 04:14 am (local) KaitoFenikkusu 1. KaitoFenikkusu 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kaitofenikkusu/ 3. beginning of March 2011 4. He bought one of my pieces for sale. Payment was really fast and he was very polite. ? hunter_san Apr. 7th, 2011 07:16 pm (local) Re: Lithdragon Hello! What is this Pern forum you speak of? I loved that series when I was younger and I am recently getting into it again ? I'd love to join an active forum ? Cheers kandifurgirl Apr. 7th, 2011 07:48 pm (local) 1. Midori 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/midori8 3. Early this year.Recieved in time for my bowling meet on march 6th 4. I had a commision go wrong and Midori was willing to do a refurb on the head I commished from anouther maker. She agreed to $150 for the refurb but after takeing it apart she realized it was alot more work than expected. Atleast $300 worth of work but she wouldn't take a cent more. She was pleasent to work with,communication was great and she produced a super product for me. She gained a forever customer and a friend. Heres the finished product and I couldn't love it more! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5414145 spiffystuff Apr. 7th, 2011 08:40 pm (local) 1. Bonez 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/bonez 3. March 1 - April 7 4. I couldn't resist Bonez's package set - I commissioned for my demon character and got a lovely grunge bust, WAM sketch, and an icon (currently in use on FA). Turn around was about a month, communications were timely and polite ? latiro Apr. 9th, 2011 12:24 am (local) seconding this I'll consider commissioning this guy sometime since he's got some lovely art poizenkat Apr. 8th, 2011 08:41 am (local) 1. ryunwoofie 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ryunwoofie 3. just yesterday 4. really fast and drew the cutest balloons for me! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5540789 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5540520 poizenkat Apr. 8th, 2011 08:45 am (local) 1. eachom/corriezodori 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/eachom http://www.furaffinity.net/user/corriezodori/ 3. a few days ago 4. very fast and livestreamed as she drew the sketch! shes really fast, draws adorable art, is SUPER cheap, and likes to livestream her works for her customers so that they could tell her what needs to be fixed while shes drawing it! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5528403 poizenkat Apr. 8th, 2011 08:51 am (local) 1. keitelwolf 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/keitelwolf/ 3. perhaps a month ago? cant be sure, sorry! 4. very nice and draws adorably! she even made me a freebie because the other badges she made for me a while back had a broken clip! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5494131 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5453578/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5426321/ poizenkat Apr. 8th, 2011 09:05 am (local) 1. yuchidayena 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/yuchidayena/ 3. mid march 4. she has the CUTEST style and shes just really nice and patient (my paypal had issues then) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5435114 mine is the second down on the right! poizenkat Apr. 8th, 2011 09:39 am (local) 1. ayriea 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ayriea 3. about a week ago 4. such cute art and a favorite of mine! i commissioned her for quick derpy doodles and they're just ADORABLE! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5495266 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5495178 poizenkat Apr. 8th, 2011 09:40 am (local) oh and heres another one XD http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5467957/ poizenkat Apr. 8th, 2011 09:43 am (local) 1. dragonmarkaleb 2. http://dragonmarkaleb.deviantart.com/ 3. probably a month ago or more 4. really cheap cute stuffies! they're new to this, but when i got them they were sewn very nicely! http://dragonmarkaleb.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d3d2984 poizenkat Apr. 8th, 2011 09:47 am (local) 1. bella_coyote 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/bellacoyote 3. about two-three weeks ago 4. just soo cute ;A; ive been wanting to commission this artist for a while and im so glad i finally did! http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5448138 latiro Apr. 8th, 2011 11:52 pm (local) Neolucky/Luckypan 1. Neolucky 2. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/luckypan 3. March 16 to March 23 4. she's very quick with the pic and did an awesome job on it. I'm really happy with how it turned out so far. Check it out http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5450105 (NSFW) latiro Apr. 8th, 2011 11:54 pm (local) Re: Neolucky/Luckypan oh and this too (though it's done in two months ago) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5202986/ latiro Apr. 9th, 2011 12:21 am (local) PurpleKecleon 1. PurpleKecleon 2. her FA her DA page 3. since Feb '09 4. an excellent artist to do business with, PK did some of the greatest artwork I ever see on DA and FA. Here's two of the recent pics I got from her (they're the stream session commissions and they're my personal faves): http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5338160/ (NSFW) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5393982 (again NSFW)

Apr. 16th, 2011 at 12:59 AM eonisalpha WHO: Lionel “Solion” of Lion of the Sun WHERE: http://www.lionofthesun.com/index.php WHAT: A fursuit head of my dragon character Eonis, done ‘realistically.’ Emails showing exactly what I ordered here: http://s1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/ http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/bigorderemailchaincensoredpart1.jpg http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/bigorderemailchaincensoredpart2.jpg WHEN: January 6th, 2009: Contacted Solion about getting a fursuit head. January 7th – January 14th, 2009: Sent info, discussed options for the head. January 14th, 2009: Sent payment. May 24th, 2010: Contacted him asking for status of head. June 4th, 2010: Attempted to continue previous conversation, in a different medium June 24th, 2010: Talked to him at Anthrocon September 27th, 2010: Contacted him again, asking for WIP shots December 7th, 2010: Contacted him, asking for a refund, was promised one. February 18th, 2011: Disappeared when I attempted to talk to him. PROOF: Screenshot from paypal payment: http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/paypalinfocensored.jpg EXPLAIN: On January 6th 2009, a friend of mine got me in contact with Solion while he was on their teamspeak server. After discussion that I wanted a fursuit head, he told me to send him an email with exactly what I wanted, so he could have it on file. He told me in the voice chat that he realistically wouldn’t have time to work on it until October of that year, and told me to send him half of the payment to start work on the head, and half when it was completed. The emails linked previously then occurred, payment was sent. I then did not hear for a while. October came and went with no contact from him. On May 24th 2010, I emailed him, he responded on the 25th, mostly wanting to know what was going on, and why it was so late, seen here http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/secondemailchainconfirmingpayment.jpg . He did not respond to that last email, and I believed he was having email problems, so I attempted to contact him on second life, on June 4th, he responded on the sixth, seen here. http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/thirdchainsecondlife.jpg I then saw him at AC 2010, where I confronted him in person about it. He told me his email was acting up, and said that he sent me a few other emails, which I never received. He then promised me he would find a way to email me work in progress pictures of my head, to prove he was still working on it. On September 27th 2010 I emailed him again, asking for the work in progress pictures, got one response with no pictures, then he went silent again, email here http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/postACquestionchain.jpg Finally, in December, I had enough. I emailed him on the 7th asking for a refund, he responded on the 9th promising he would send me a check for the money I owed him. IF he ever mailed one, I never received it. Email here http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/Finalemailchain.jpg On February 18th, 2011, I was on second life, I saw that Solion logged on. I attempted to talk to him, and he disappeared quickly, log here http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff373/Eonisalpha/finalmessagelog.jpg At this point, I just want the money back. It’s gotten completely ridiculous, it’s been…over two years now, with nothing to show for it. ************** Update 4/18/2011 ****************** Well, took some suggestions from you guys, because you're all awesome...started gathering docs for small claims court, sent him an email saying I posted here, and I got this! https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/B8LEuY1D9_Tg5RkwDYeSMidk50KKAWkhe8CCeTw3TaU?feat=directlink (Hosted by my mate because I fail at photobucket) While I doubt it's going to lead to anything more than the last promise, I'm hoping >.> Thanks for all the support and advice, guys!

Apr. 20th, 2011 at 6:25 PM viothefoxbird This is my first time posting here, and fatkraken expressed interest in there being a general Avsun post, and having other customers post their experiences in the comments, whether they be good or bad experiences. If this is not allowed, I'm sorry :C The OTHER Avsun post: artists-beware.livejournal.com/447483.html WHO: Avsun Mascots WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/avsun WHAT: A body suit for an existing partial of my character. Concept art: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4856848/ WHEN: I first contacted Avsun for a quote late November, 2010. Contact was fairly consistent at first, and they were extremely friendly. I was quoted at $665 for a bodysuit, and sent the downpayment of 30% in early December. A duct tape dummy was made and sent out as well. The last actual email I received from them was 4 days after I sent the payment. In the beginning of February, I got a mass email sent out to their customers explaining they were sick. I've sent them several emails since, asking if they've received my duct tape dummy, and asking other simple questions. I have not received a response since mid December. PROOF: The first contact email: Payment sent: Last personal contact I had with them: Mass explanation email from Avsun: Email sent today from Avsun, undoubtedly after seeing these a_b posts: If any additional proof is needed let me know. EXPLAIN: Usually, for me, this situation would not yet be bad enough to make a post here about it. However, after seeing the previous post about them HERE I became very worried. Fatkraken wanted to have one big post where other people can post their stories about Avsun, good, bad, or ugly. After seeing the other post, I really don't think I will be seeing my $200 or suit from them. I don't quite know what to do. Like I said at the top, I've never posted to artists_beware before, so I apologize if something is off or wrong ? EDIT: Here is their pathetic excuse for a twitter, looks like it was made the same time the other post about them was made here on artists_beware. I think its a coverup saying LOOK WE ARE DOING WORK. But there are no pictures or evidence of any kind that anything is actually being done. http://twitter.com/#!/Avsun_Studios EDIT 2: Added the most recent email to the screenshots and fixed the blurring.

Apr. 23rd, 2011 at 7:50 PM demons_haven101 Who: Avsun Mascots Where: http://avsun.livejournal.com/ http://avsun.deviantart.com/ http://www.furaffinity.net/user/avsun/ What: Foam head base of a toothless look-alike (without the newt features). My side of the story: I had sent a question e-mail about a foam head base on September 14th, got it worked out and a quote for 125$ on the 15th. I sent them a down payment on September 15th 2010, they had confirmed that I had a spot on the list. On September 17th 2010, I sent them the rest of the payment seeing as how communication was still good. They said they would have it done "around next month." So I assume that meant by the end of October to mid November some time, perfectly fine by me. On the 18th, I got a mass e-mail about a new paypal address to send money to, but had already sent my money to the first. They said in the e-mail this would be fine. I heard nothing from them until October 3rd. This was another mass e-mail, only this time about mass e-mails and how we are not to reply to those. I hadn’t heard anything from them until I sent an e-mail asking them about the status on November 8th. Got reply on the 9th with a picture of the head concept and saying they moved on with the project anyhow. They had mentioned getting glass eyes, which would in turn have me send them more money. Turns out this fell through and I did not send them more money, so they were going to stick with the regular toony eyes I opted for in the first place. A few e-mails went back and forth and communication was fair until December 21st, which was only them replying to the LJ comments I posted on one of their posts. This was them giving me their phone number, yet again. I waited patiently, attempted to call them once or twice without being able to connect through. I sent them another e-mail on February 5th 2011, asking them about my commission, it being far past due. I got no reply. I send them another e-mail on March 1st, asking yet again. I have yet to hear from them. I never got any e-mails explaining the delays that others have gotten, so I have been left entirely in the dark. I have filed a dispute through paypal, though it is indeed too late. It still gives them record that this person is not providing product for payment. I also called paypal, asking them what could be done. They have told me that there is an “internal investigation” going on for this person, seeing as others have filed as well. Seeing as others have filed, the gentleman on the phone had told me that it MAY be possible to get my money back due to their track record. I honestly doubt I have much of a chance to get my money back in any way, but I will certainly be trying. Proof: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62066370@N02/ Edit: I broke up the paragraphs to maybe make it easier to read for some people.

Apr. 24th, 2011 at 9:35 PM fayin WHO: SpazzyKoneko. Also known as TequilaPink WHERE: www.furaffinity.com/user/spazzykoneko http://www.furaffinity.net/user/tequilapink/ WHAT: Digital Art. “Blind draw” commission of two characters in a story I'm writing. I still have the original commission information, though it's not very relevant at this point. WHEN: I initially contacted Spazzy on April 11th, 2010. She contacted me with a response on April 20th. All of the following conversations are dated, please check those for more details. I paid for my commission on April 27th, 2010. I have not heard from her since. PROOF: Everything is dated. I did block out my email address and other personal information (artist name, etc.). Because the artist's email address is on her FA profile I did not blank that out. Initial commission inquiry and FA note exchange: http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/2270/fanotes.jpg First email not included (it's just commission information). Spazzy response: http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/1236/spazzy10a.jpg My response, letting her know payment has been sent: http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8310/spazzy15a.jpg After this I didn't get a response. No contact from author. A month and a half later I sent the following email: http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/1589/spazzy12.jpg Sent her a note on FA: http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/310/spazzy16b.jpg Sent this email a month ago: http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/8644/spazzy11.jpg Proof of payment: http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/7920/spazzypayment.jpg Spazzy has updated her FA page in the ensuing months to advertise that she's open for commissions. You can check her page (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/spazzykoneko/ ) for proof of that; it's all in her journals. She has not said anything about old commissions in the past few months. EXPLAIN: Spazzy accepted a commission from me. I paid her on April 27th, 2010. Since I paid I have not heard back from her, though she has continued to post that she is open for commissions. I sent her numerous emails and one FA note inquiring as to the status of my commission; she has refused to respond. Her FA page has complaints from other people that haven't received art, and her journals are also full of dissatisfied commissioners clamoring for refunds or questions as to what happened. EDIT 5/2/11: Spazzy has just posted a journal on FA about finishing her outstanding commissions or giving refunds. I have just sent my email to her with the commission information, and once the issue is resolved I'll be sure to let everyone know. EDIT 5/4/11: I have received my piece of art from SpazzyKoneko. I am more than pleased with it - it's fantastic. Glad to have gotten it.

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: April 27th, 2011 WHAT: two plush dolls WHEN: since 2009 PROOF: I paid her for the plush dolls via checks. I’ve waited patiently for her to work on them almost two years later, I almost forgot that I’m still owed the dolls from her, so I checked on her to-do list and found out my dolls are completed (or are they?) http://i56.tinypic.com/35na5hz.png I pm’d her on DA (but she didn’t checked them) http://i54.tinypic.com/a0f3tx.png http://i53.tinypic.com/e83k04.png I reminded her about it on Twitter http://i55.tinypic.com/5nmzrd.png I’ve read on the disclaimer on her journal that says don’t send her any DA notes; only send her emails (which makes sense). So I went ahead and emailed her, asking her about my dolls http://i52.tinypic.com/e8og81.png (my email) But I got no response so far EXPLAIN: I absolutely adore how she does plush dolls and I respect her craftsmanship, etc. but it’s been almost two years and I hadn’t received photos of my dolls yet whatsoever. I don’t wanna get screwed over by her ‘cause she’s a great doll maker (though I do understand that she’s busy with life issues and RL). She seems to update stuff on her Twitter, but I felt like she's ignoring me for some reason I'm not writing this as a beware or to let her down. All I need is some words of advice of what to do this will be updated as soon as she gets back to me eventually ETA: according to this journal http://curious-nono.livejournal.com/41931.html my dolls are finished! I'm so happy to see them done and they look fantastic. That said, everything's as good as resolved!

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: March 7th, 2011 WHAT: Two digital icons. $3 a piece. The artist was doing a one-night special that got quite a few hits; it wound up taking longer because of this. Fair enough! WHEN: I commissioned them November 17, 2010, for two icons. They had a list of people in their journal, but worked out of order, which is understandable. Inspiration doesn't always work in order! I replied to the journal again December 7, 2010 inquiring about the icons, and was told they had a sketch done for one, and that the second would hopefully be sketched that evening. Caps below the cut will show our interactions. Here's the initial commission journal. Below is the commission agreement, along with my confirming I'd sent payment, and my first 'hey, what's up with these?' comment. You can see the journal (screencap) in its entirety here. Time went by, and I got this PM in response to the comment I'd left on the journal. My reply: About another week or so went by, and I checked in again with a shout, since they'd uploaded quite a few more commissions (all from Furcadia if I'm not mistaken), and I was puzzled since I'd supposedly been pushed to the head of the queue. And then my last shout, left on Feb. 28th. I didn't get any reply, and still haven't. However, I also know they haven't been on FA much, because their last upload was January 23th; their last journal was January 25th, and their last favorite was January 26th. EXPLAIN: Well, the screencaps pretty much explain everything. I noticed their Tumblr account has been kept fairly updated, mostly with personal stuff, so I shot them an Ask there as to the status of my icons. I don't want a refund, but if I don't get a reply in the next week I'll probably try to contact them again asking for one. =C I'm just pretty let down, overall. Edit: They replied on Tumblr! "7th March 2011-Question teahound asked: Hey, this is Teahound from FA. I'm sorry to bother you here; I just noticed your FA wasn't updated and this was. xD I was just checking on my icons! :3 I finished one a bit ago, and the second will be finished next, sorry for the delay ? here’s a link to the finished one: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5126573/" Apparently they posted one of the icons; I didn't see it because I'd wanted the character looking seductive and they drew her reading... They say what's sexier than 'The Life of Pi' which is the book she's reading there, I'm just sort of let down in that regard because it's not what I requested. At this point I just told them I really liked it and was looking forward to the second one. The character depicted does enjoy reading, so it's not a total loss. :T (For clarification - I do like the icon I got, quite a lot! However it's not what I wanted. I'm not attempting to sound mean or anything by not mentioning that it's not what I wanted to them. They mentioned me asking for a seductive icon in the description, so they were aware of what I wanted all along. I don't want to pursue that anymore, and am waiting on the second icon.)

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: March 1st, 2011 Price: $10 Status: unknown, assumed untouched Problem: No status updates or finished icons. Now I'm being ignored. Length: from January 10th 2010 to current date Details: So I commissioned Darkshadow 8181 January 10th 2010. Just for a simple $10 animated icon. At the time he seemed pretty productive. But more and more time passed and icons came and went, but I never saw mine pop up. During this he would make Journals asking for more commissions and work to do. I also never once noticed myself on any kind of "work queue". Actually, the first time I sent him a note regarding this and a refund, he immediately changed his tune. Even offered a 2nd free icon. During this time of my asking about commissions he had a long down time. Turns out he switched accounts and is now known as Fungasm. Of course I followed and still watched for my icon. I've noted him a handful of times during this.(I do not have our earliest transactions, but these are the most recent) part 1. http://pics.livejournal.com/banewulf/pic/000h7rtd part 2. http://pics.livejournal.com/banewulf/pic/000h8yza part 3. http://pics.livejournal.com/banewulf/pic/000h9g8g part 4. http://pics.livejournal.com/banewulf/pic/000hatat So it's been a whole new year, and I shoot off another note to him. http://pics.livejournal.com/banewulf/pic/000h664p Now, what REALLY bothers me about this. I know he read my note. He just chooses not to respond to me. (Furaffinity notes clear of unread status, even sent ones). I am piss. I want my money back, but if I'm being totally ignored, what else can I do? Friends suggested I post here. I don't want anyone else to have to go through this. It's really lame. ? proof of original transaction: http://pics.livejournal.com/banewulf/pic/000hd2bk

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: March 8th, 2011 EXPLAIN: So, as you can see in the link, I commissioned for a custom of their adoptables quite some time ago. I was much rather wanting them to include that one in their next batch, so I could purchase it then when it was actually done, but I went on to commission it as a custom since I doubt they'd do otherwise. Only once since then have I ever received any sort of update, seen here: So, okay, I was cool with that. Sure it'd be a little over a month, but that wasn't too long right? Next day? Nothing. Day after that? Nothing. All the way up 'til today, and I've still received no news. I've sent them a note recently on February 22nd, which has indeed been read, just asking on how it was coming, and I have not received a response. I believe they were out of town or state for a while around Christmas time, but they've been posting their own stuff, and for a custom adoptable that really is only a recolor of old lineart? I really didn't want to have to write anything about anyone on here, but this getting ridiculous, and I'm still waiting of icons from another artist that someone just recently posted. Any suggestions of how I could ask for a refund without coming off as rude or whatnot? I'm rather worried I'll just end up being ignored though, as I already have once. |:

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: March 8th, 2011 WHAT: A furry hoodie of my character, Foxfairy. We set the price at $80 and I paid a deposit to hold my spot, then another payment to secure funding for all the materials. The first payment was put down in September, the second in November, and I agreed to pay the final $30 + shipping on completion. WHEN: From September to November, everything was fine and he was a pleasure to work with, answered everything quickly and was great in helping me pick the fleece color. And I even got a WIP of the foam base for the head! Since then I have heard almost nothing.I sent one note in late December, and got a reply that he was working on it. I asked for updates last month, which is when I started to get concerned. I sent a note on Feb 11, and got a reply on the same day, that he was almost finished and would send me pictures soon. i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/Springmoon/Feb11PromisedPictures.png I sent another note five days later, reminding him that I wanted pictures; it's been sitting unread for a while now. (there message in the note is really short, just saying I would appreciate some WIPs) i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/Springmoon/UnreadNote.png I tried to get ahold of him via email and got a response the next day, i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/Springmoon/Gmailconvo.png but no pictures, and nothing for the last 11 days. PROOF: Paypal stubs: i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/Springmoon/paypalhistory.png EXPLAIN: I've been really patient with this artist. He seems really nice, and I put down my deposits. I though everything was going well but I'm starting to get extremely frustrated. I have been promised pictures for almost a month, and I haven't got any tangible proof that anything has been completed besides the foam head base, and that was done in October. What makes me really, really upset now is that I've found out through some internet stalking that he been really active on twitter and tumblr this whole time, almost every day: serifbalehawk.tumblr.com/ AND twitter.com/#!/MS_Manuscript This makes me feel like I'm being almost completely ignored. If he was having issues on FA, I gave them my email to contact me. If he was having problems with his internet connection and couldn't get anything to me, that would be fine too (as long as I knew). But he obviously has internet. If he is using his phone to access the internet, that's no excuse for no photo updates. Any phone that can access twitter and tumblr can access email fine, and take pictures too. My crap phone from 2008 can send an email with a picture. I know life is complicated, but answering an email and taking a photo (even a crappy WIP one!) isn't hard. It takes literally five minutes, tops. I thought this person was of excellent character and he may well be, but at the very least this should stand that he's not particularly good at updates. RESPONSE FROM ARTIST: msmanuscript Mar. 9th, 2011 12:20 am (local) Hey Fox Fairy. I do want to apologize, I know I've been incredibly bad with communication. And it is entirely my fault. My days have been filled with trying to get ready for my first real-world job. The evenings have been trying to chill out and calm my nerves so I'm ready to KEEP this job. It's made me horribly forgetful. I also tend not to check my emails, which is a very bad habit I need to break. Since it's dark, I'll be taking pictures tomorrow when there's light. I'm afraid my "room" has rather poor light, in the way that all images come out almost black. I have offered my IM, and if you want it the offer for it still stands. I'm going to ask a few people to remind me until I do it to take pictures. If you wish my IM, you can speak to me there to remind me to send you images. You shouldn't HAVE to remind me. I'll admit that no problem. This IS all on my shoulders. Here's what I'll do. Once the jacket is done (Hood sewn onto the jacket itself, at the moment they are two separate pieces for pictures,) I'll ship it out, free. Don't worry about the third payment. I was considering reducing it because of how long you've waited, but with how my behavior has been lately, I'll just knock it out entirely. I have been a poor seller/builder. I will continue to work on NOT leaving my customers in the dark. I am sorry for the delay. If you wish my IM, please let me know and I'll PM it to you, as I'd rather not have it posted here.

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: March 15th, 2011 WHO: Shon Howell / king_cheetah WHERE: Furaffinity / Deviantart WHAT: Commssion work and Retail book (two different things) WHEN: May 2009 and October 2009 till current PROOF: I originally contacted Shon Howell for a commission based on a comic I was working on. and was responded to almost immediately. I sent payment immediately, Shon was known for cranking out work like mad. And let him know EXPLAIN: After a month without hearing anything at all (including receipt of payment), I sent him a note to make sure that he had all the info he needed. And got a "Working on it note" And then nothing. Not for a while. I sent out a couple of pokes (notes and shouts, unfortunately, the shouts aren't available to screencap) just to see where he was on it. This note is still listed as "unread". 2 emails went unanswered. I received a response on Sept 23rd 2010 (almost a year since my commission) saying he had sketches and would be finishing them up soon, but I never heard anything after that. Even a quick note 3 months later resulted in nothing (This too is unread) I like to think that I'm fairly patient with things. I don't mind if artwork is late, but I'd like to be kept informed, especially if I've paid in advance. However, this is not the only problem I've had with Shon Howell/King_Cheetah. One of his comics, done with Phil Gibson (who is an awesome guy, really), had their first book printed back in May of 09, and I ordered a copy. Phil, as a favor, signed it and sent it with postage included to Shon, to be signed and shipped. It's, to my knowledge, never been shipped. (Receipt for the book follows) During this entire time Shon's been posting art on his FA, he's got his up and down times, but he's been posting fairly regularly. Conclusion: Beware. Shon Howell is a lousy communicator, and you'd do much better working with just about _anyone_ else. Getting updates out of him is like pulling teeth, and getting anything you've paid for is exponentially harder. Edited to fix broken image names

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: March 24th, 2011 Artist is LaineNyah. Art can be found at www.furaffinity.net/user/lainenyah Here is both completed badges: www.furaffinity.net/view/4455318 www.furaffinity.net/view/4468593 I do not have a receipt for the animethon badge. I do have one for the other, if you guys want it, I can post it later, I just have to dig through old paypal reciepts. I commissioned her at animethon and a month after animethon. Around sept. 12th, I got a note saying this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40433742@N06/5556568943/ So both should have been sent on the 13th. I waited a long while, and I think at the end of january I emailed her again, asking where my badges were. Her response is at the top. She then proceeds to tell me, she is doing an iron artist, and when she hits 25 commissons, she will do a mass ship. Keep in mind my badges have been done for 5 months! http://www.flickr.com/photos/40433742@N06/5556568875/ As of today, she only has 6 people signed up for her Iron Artist, which pretty much makes me think I will never see them. http://www.flickr.com/photos/40433742@N06/5557153794/ She did send me this note, saying she would have them shipped out by the end of Feb., but that never happened. http://www.flickr.com/photos/40433742@N06/5557153754/ I sent her a note a month ago, still no answer. http://www.flickr.com/photos/40433742@N06/5557153770/ I like the artist, I like her work, but she seriously has her priorities mixed up. She has taken alot of commissions since mine, I did pay for shipping, they SHOULD have been shipped out by now. Now she's posting a journal saying she has booked a room for AC... which I'm sure you have to put some sort of deposit down for. She STILL has no responded to my last note. www.furaffinity.net/journal/2195519/ I am beyond ticked. I do not reccomend Laine for anything anymore. I was planning on ordering a bunch of badges for a bunch of my friends up here, but I doubt I will ever see them.

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: March 28th, 2011 Ok, I'm posting this as a warning so no one else has to go through the hell I did with this artist. She goes by Jailbird on FA. Back in December, I commissioned a 2 character adult piece from her, since she's my girl's favorite artist. I didn't expect it by Christmas, but I had assumed it would make a nice Valentine's Day gift. It took me a while to get ahold of her to confirm the commission, which looking back, should have been a red flag. She asked for the payment in full up front, so I sent off a large sum of money to her for this piece. I then noted her, asking approximately how long it would take, just because I was excited and curious. After about a week and a half, I get a reply from her, stating that it would be done sometime in February. I thank her for replying, and go about my business. Valentine's day comes and goes, and I hear nothing. I let it go, since she said it would be done in that month, but when it gets to be February 26th, I start to wonder. She's been taking and completing iron artist pieces all month, and I haven't heard a word, so I just note her, considering she had said she would send me an approval sketch. She didn't respond, and it took me posting publicly on her page to even get her to read the note. She finally responded, apologizing for the wait and told me she would start my piece that night, and I would have a sketch by the next day. I thank her, still being extremely polite and kind at this point, and go back to my business to wait for this piece. The next day comes and goes, and I get nothing. I note her AGAIN, asking for an update. I tell her I don't mind if it has to take longer than expected, but to please just let me know. If something comes up, I understand, but I would just like to be informed. She tells me my sketch is complete and she just needs to scan it. A week later, and I haven't seen anything. I note her again, asking to see the sketch. She responds fairly quickly and I receive the sketch of my piece. She claims she had a lot of fixing to do with it online, but I approve it, because the sketch looks good. She notes me a few days later, asking what sort of background I want. I tell her whatever looks good for the picture, because I was giving her artistic freedom to begin with. So another week or so goes by, and I hear nothing. She posts a journal, opening for more commissions, so I comment on it asking about my piece. This was the beginning of last week. She tells me my picture will be done Thursday. As expected, Thursday comes and goes, and I hear nothing. So I note her again, just wondering what happened. She sends me my piece on Sunday, telling me she couldn't do a background on it, and would refund me the extra for a background. So hopefully that happens. But it wasn't the lack of background that bothered me. It was the obvious rush job on the coloring of the piece. Not only is there strange shading and lighting, that makes the whole picture look a bit warped, and the light seems out of place, but she completely forgot all facial markings on both characters. I'm not one to nitpick markings, but when you forget my characters patch on her eye, or my girlfriend's distinctive orange star on her face and her raccoon mask, along with her ear tips? That's something I'll nitpick. So this is where it stands currently. Here's some screenshots of the notes and comments I sent and received: Notes inquiring about my piece after it had been due: i53.tinypic.com/10i8n5w.png i56.tinypic.com/13z8k1k.png Notes about my sketch: i53.tinypic.com/bj9uee.png i51.tinypic.com/sfyyx3.png Her telling me my piece would be done last Thursday: i56.tinypic.com/ixtjir.png EDIT: Here's the "finished" piece (NSFW): i54.tinypic.com/o0xev9.png Her FA: www.furaffinity.net/user/jailbird/ EDIT: Ok, so I've spoken to her again, and she has fixed the shading and stuff and made the piece look a lot nicer and a lot less rushed. I'm really happy with it now.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/441638.html#cutid1 Post advertising commissions: http://clazziquai.deviantart.com/journal/36165691/ My embarrassing gushing and setting up the commission: https://imgprx.livejournal.net/9c8a791117bb77ac488c0dc5663981c4ed55ca4d/PXnVUiCt3-I9_rsVr1_ZnW_regCGBgMfpyuk1-5dfrJP6Y7Uttij96K2pxiRdMK6uBlqCIKZ6TBjTtQDfrTZsw https://imgprx.livejournal.net/d4a8d4d863a59b32f7bcf6c0e025d75cb15ef787/PXnVUiCt3-I9_rsVr1_ZnShjwzQRbrkSFdOTRxRNdpmRIRX-PRuDmQUILlZHjZ9yuMNewg5-rwyam1Rgb_orgw Payment received: https://imgprx.livejournal.net/a64bd736661b34255a9194c730f742d6e3b8e0f8/PXnVUiCt3-I9_rsVr1_ZnbBf9KOwK1UWr2ThLi-pSvpmSJ4SyAnnHorPR-n4yhb6iPDZvhY06oVLrnx1PWw0Bg EXPLANATION: A few weeks later a friend mentioned on Twitter that she hadn't responded to his recent note after paying her, I contacted her to check up on the how it was coming(mainly to see if she was still around). The response: https://imgprx.livejournal.net/5856eb58b3969874551c6d57c42e7c8fbf687a32/PXnVUiCt3-I9_rsVr1_ZnW_regCGBgMfpyuk1-5dfrL3YzB4B6C43h9KP_Gyg468X0OqAJFwyQsT4_YQsdpCEQ I replied that it if it was going to be posted by the end of the week there was no need to fuss over posting sketches, yet the end of the week came and went and there was no sign of anything. In fact, this is the last I heard from her. I got a little busy around that time myself, yet when I went to check on her DA later, I found she'd been to a convention: https://imgprx.livejournal.net/ac12777d8762007ccd26443493534b2b86342e96/PXnVUiCt3-I9_rsVr1_ZnbBf9KOwK1UWr2ThLi-pSvrPRDiRI2uHftQMSaccU2QGwIoi09uKXhW9FzjguZZqcg So, I decided to send her a note asking for an update: https://imgprx.livejournal.net/203740896495ddca4ea7c08f8215ffb26e8256c0/PXnVUiCt3-I9_rsVr1_ZnX6AhyhTXy-MAe5UegQwnOhRFuUSc4W1I0_9yuvKF35cCNBFcoImYEIDrYwNGOMrbQ and, in case she didn't respond, left a comment on the original commission post: https://imgprx.livejournal.net/8fc9bbbd394f6f7954fcd179b3195c0e481f063d/PXnVUiCt3-I9_rsVr1_ZnW_regCGBgMfpyuk1-5dfrK6jupj8TRdnMZoRJ-a0M5ZNH7h4hgQ6Gz1d_1VrK2ZEw Still nothing. Waited a bit longer, in case she was just taking awhile to respond as she had in the past, then sent her a final note asking for the piece she said was nearly finished with two months earlier or a refund(given I'd seen nothing to prove she had done anything so far). https://imgprx.livejournal.net/160b0386f3d32327b171a528a5903a2c3fa85044/PXnVUiCt3-I9_rsVr1_ZnShjwzQRbrkSFdOTRxRNdpm52jRrthWMR_470ORmaKL9fhFkcNr5_CQNeppRxHQbaQ Kind of blunt, I admit. Either way it is well past that date, just spent a month working on some papers so I couldn't get around to taking screenshots earlier, so I'm posting here now. Between my having never commissioned someone before(though have taken commissions myself) and her saying this was her first time taking commissions, I'm not sure if I somehow messed up or if she took too much on or what but, personally, I feel this worth a post given she seems to have taken on five commissions, all paid according to the post/talking to the one mentioned as 'unpaid', yet doesn't appear to have produced anything despite claiming she was nearly finished months ago. ETA (2/10/2012): This matter has been resolved