Search the Community

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1004598.html WHO: Otter'n'Daughter (FA) / WaterdogWharf (FA) / Keryu (FA) / KeryuOkami (twitter) WHERE: Initially - https://www.furaffinity.net/user/otter.n.daughter/ Later - http://www.furaffinity.net/user/waterdogwharf Also - http://www.furaffinity.net/user/keryu WHEN: Payment took place from 6/14/2015 to 3/29/2016, the only visual progress was 11/29/2016 (referenced in emails below) EXPLAIN: The overall process started June 2015. Below is the string of emails regarding the quote, details and the agreed upon payments: https://imgur.com/a/6w2ywB1 As of this time, while I had the initial concept art for the sake of the quote, the full turnaround reference wouldn't be available for another five months. However they were made aware of this from the initial quote. (Referenced in the gallery above at 006 with the initial ref below it.) The email with the finished reference would explain that it was layered to view various details (ei. arms, legs and other pieces could be hidden to see the shapes): https://imgur.com/a/LCCwePu The final payment would be sent March 30, 2016: https://imgur.com/a/94JDLy6 Later on in June / July 2016, I would ask about cancellation. https://imgur.com/a/OkYfA45 Fast forward to October 30 and November 29, 2016, these would be the only signs of visual progress for my own suit. https://imgur.com/a/UO1Xk47 The DTD would finally be sent around February / March 2017. Unfortunately, correspondence that took place on Twitter before October 2017 was deleted because I had assumed that things were moving along. However there is a DM referenced in an email for May 15, 2017 whose contact was unanswered until June 15, 2017. https://imgur.com/a/1SEjIY2 October 23, 2017, I bring a proposition regarding the change of the suit design and offer the majority of the fur to be used: https://imgur.com/a/98Ih8Cp After that, I found the most success in contacting them through twitter and would follow up about once a month. https://imgur.com/a/IO8siPx And the last final emails recently sent: https://imgur.com/a/WELE6Ce As of the time of this submission, there has been no reply from the final email on July 4, 2018. However I will correct myself regarding the large July 1st email as the body suit for the previous customer is incorrect, that I’m aware of. This was the rest of a full suit commission, to which they had only recently received the bodysuit for, over two years after the head (and assuming partial of the full) was completed. The following gallery is to show posts documenting visual progress on their commission list in general, as well as public client posts that I’ve been able to search for. The purpose is only for timestamps for the completion of parts or projects altogether, how they correlate with Keryu’s public Trello page, and the time elapsed for the length of the project based on dates. https://imgur.com/a/mrG7Xcs Here is also collection of visual posts regarding from or around November 2016 up until recently. This will be broken down into categories: Auctions and Commission Openings Bases Premades Collaborative Premades Commissions or designs not listed on Trello I've probably missed a few things here and there, my apologies. I won’t deny that progress has been made on their list in general. However, with no way to gauge that other than whatever pops up on a search or the few posts there are, I have no confidence with this transaction any more. It wouldn’t have been so bad if there was some consistency in the queue, updates or progress actually occurring when said instead of just being pushed back further and further. Not to mention premades and unlisted work looking to be on priority. It also seems that they rarely do body suits themselves, if at all nowadays, or has them done by another maker. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong as I’m only aware of the collaborative bodies. This post is not meant to be against the other makers either considering I don’t know how aware they are of Keryu’s workload or practices when agreeing to these collaborative, premade suits. Even more baffling, for a short time, they had a senior seamstress that worked with them on at least one body suit. (Referenced here: https://i.imgur.com/OMCqDGo.png ) More often than not, Keryu only makes heads, tails, hand paws, and at one point feet. However those haven’t been posted in roughly a year. Granted the majority of the commissions they’ve taken on are usually for heads or partials without feet. In the end, if you absolutely wanted a costume piece from this person, you’re likely better off getting a premade or a base and finishing it yourself. ------ Update - August 23, 2018 There has been no reply since the final email. I made a couple attempts to contact there after to request the dtd and fur sent back by email and twitter, including a mailing address and requesting a tracking number. No replies. Not surprisingly, they're open for more commissions: https://imgur.com/a/2EAyd4S I also attempted disputes on the payments. Paypal directed me to speak with the source of the funds for the transactions. Upon attempts between a credit card company and bank, they were too old to dispute, which was expected. However, something I did learn from the credit card company. Based upon what the rep told me, Visa and Mastercard type cards have up to 540 days to dispute transactions of which they have the ability to request funds from the merchant. But again, only if your dispute holds up.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1001804.html WHO: Goes by the name Kurumi, not much other information is available. Her phone number looks to be scammy/no info. WHERE: I met her at ANE 2018 at her table, who had a square and her tablet with some works of art on the table. WHAT: Traditional art, a sketch of my character WHEN: From February 24th to June 2018 EXPLAIN: I met her at one of the artist alley tables at ANE. She looked professional and like most of the other artists there. She was kind and well mannered at first glance. I have her a reference of my character and had paid for the sketch via her square. She said it would be completed for the next day, Sunday. On Sunday I got a text saying she couldn't make it because she took a train up to Boston from RI and she couldn't get there in time, to which she said she would mail me the work and I was fine with that. She promised she would send me the work the next day and, nothing. March 2nd I asked if everything was okay and if stuff has been sent out, and she said it would ship next Monday. Nothing again, I contacted her again March 17th, and didn't get a reply until April 7th saying her phone broke, and she lost addresses presumably? I had filed a claim with the bank at this point and just wanted my money back. She had said she could offer a refund but I have not gotten a message back from her since April 8th. The bank would not refund me as of June 2018 since the money was given "willingly" even though it was for an item that I never received. I'm not sure if the art at the table was even hers with the amount of run arounds I was getting. I tried to remain positive and when I had gotten into contact with her again I felt bad and said once I was refunded my money, if she got her things together I would pay her in hopes she would do it this time. But I was never refunded, and never got the piece. PROOF: https://s33.postimg.cc/yzwlvuo3z/kurumi.png She has no social media that I'm aware of and I have no other way of contacting her. IF YOU SEE HER NAME AT A CONVENTION, PLEASE STAY AWAY.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1004871.html I know that a Character Stealing/Abuse post isn't usually the thing to post here, but i think that this have gone beyond too far that it become a requirement for me to post my issue about it WHO: Lil-Maj, qtr1984, Maj2k2, Maj, Maj-Q WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/lil-maj https://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=1600436 https://twitter.com/maj2k2 https://maj-q.deviantart.com/ https://inkbunny.net/maj WHAT: He has been commissioning pictures involving my character, and claiming ownership of my character as their own, and involving them in NSFW commissions with his Characters, they were posted mainly on Twitter & Pixiv & so far, there is no known if he has commissioned many other artists now, since i didn't see anything other than the ones i saw from pixiv/twitter that was drawn without my consent WHEN: https://imgur.com/a/die0MXg Stolen Character work was posted on 2018 late June I spotted a post on Twitter where the Stolen character was drawn by an artist for the thief, it was also posted on Pixiv by the artist, Solo NSFW, & a NSFW comic involving sexual activities with his other characters I tried to contact the artist & warn them that hey have drawn a stolen character, but they did not understand at first, then said it's not their responsibility (don't blame them since eng isn't their main language, so they probably misunderstood) but for me it's an artist responsibility to stop drawing for the user who is using a stolen character, so i tried to convince them, and they finally understood and promised to stop until problem is solved EXPLAIN: Derrik has been a very long OC of mine for 5 years (before the stealing attempt) & those was the very first submissions i had of him https://www.furaffinity.net/view/9644902/ https://www.furaffinity.net/view/12895269/ https://www.furaffinity.net/view/13491381/ https://www.furaffinity.net/view/14008888/ You can clearly see that he has been mine for many years & most of Derrik submissions are on my gallery, just search on FA Strawberry-fox Derrik or Derrik tiger, and i have never for once credit him to anyone other than me, even the artists who drew him have fully credit him to me & no onc else I have also other submission of him which are 4 years while the thief does not have a submission of him from 4 or 5 years ago, only something like 3-2 years & the recent ones he posted to claim the character as his I would like to make it clear here that NOBODY has permission to commission or use the character Derrik without my given permission other than me The thief have previously threatened to use him by force, along with other Characters of mine https://imgur.com/a/T60hMzS & While he was talking to Mutual Friend, he made clear that he would take not only Derrik but other characters that I own by force if need be, even hinting at logging into my account if he could get my details to take them, this was from a year ago, before the stealing attempt happens in 2018, there is more I can add if needed, though it is more personal and less to do with character theft. PROOF: Character Ownership https://imgur.com/a/JsMrGU6 (NSFW included) However After the stolen character artwork of Derrik he commissioned of in 2018 late June were posted, I caught him started editing the description & changed the credits of the character, so he can claim it as his & make it more recognizable as his so that way the stolen character will be officially as his and get away with it, But he forget to update the older submission description of Derrik that's on his gallery which is a pretty shameful behavior https://imgur.com/a/1yVd8Ng (NSFW included) Little Note & Advice for artists: please do not draw anything for him that involve my Ocs, as i am not longer associated with said the thief, I've known them for a while but cut ties & blocked the communication, so i do not wish to stay in contact with them in any way Anyway i advice you to check character source first, especially if it comes from this guy. I appreciate any help/advice provided here Side note: Just to avoid confusion Banto-kun is an abandoned account of mine

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1004327.html WHO: Canine Kuroki/Kuroki Yami/HoneyspydeR WHERE: https://www.facebook.com/CanineKuroki/ http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kurokiyami/ https://www.deviantart.com/honeyspyder WHAT: Fursuit partial WHEN: Initial contact: July 16th, 2016 First Payment: July 24th, 2016 First Loss of Contact: September 16th, 2016 Second Loss of Contact: December 21st, 2016 EXPLAIN: So, I contacted Yami through Facebook in July to ask for a quote. She responded pretty quickly and all conversation until September was quick, taking no more than a week for replies. She would send occasional WIP photos and I was happy [1]. My first payment via PayPal was on July 24th and the second one was on September 6th [2]. She was fine with how the payment plan was and there were no disputes whatsoever. But then, she just seemed to drop off the face of the Earth. I’d contact her about once a month to try and see what was going on [3]. Her Facebook page never updated and I had no other ways of contacting her. So, I sent a dispute into PayPal in December for both of my payments. She then responded to them fairly quickly, apologizing for her lack of communication. She then offered to give a partial refund, promised to improve her communication, and promised some extra goodies when I got the suit (Unfortunately, I do not have any screenshots of our conversation through PayPal, though I have tried to get them recently). I accepted and she sent a refund [4]. She also recommended I use her email, which she gave me, in order to contact her more efficiently. Unfortunately, I was naïve and dropped both cases, saying they were resolved (because at the time I thought they were). She sent one last set of WIP photos within a week, then disappeared again afterwards [5]. To this day, I’ve contacted her about once a month to try and get her back. I have contacted her through every form of media I could find, including FA and DA. I have threatened, though not followed through with demanding a refund and taking legal action. To be honest, I don’t know how I would go about doing all that, I just wanted to get her attention. I honestly just want my fursuit. I’m hoping that someone out there can help. 1: FB First WIP 3 (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18Rqi1veWRSJZwXyHUa7aaRphusWzxVfe?usp=sharing) 2: InkedPayPal Payment 1_LI and InkedPayPal Payment 2_LI (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lo0tY1x5KwHZ2lMfTKs1tvpOSe5LMUV4?usp=sharing) 3: Everything in the Facebook folder titled “Lost Contact” (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18Rqi1veWRSJZwXyHUa7aaRphusWzxVfe?usp=sharing) 4: InkedPayPal Refund_LI (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lo0tY1x5KwHZ2lMfTKs1tvpOSe5LMUV4?usp=sharing) 5: InkedEmail Sent 12_17_16 - 12_21_16_LI (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16_NkSjpftzPa0etb1Sh2o6YmmF20XKM_?usp=sharing) PROOF: PayPal: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lo0tY1x5KwHZ2lMfTKs1tvpOSe5LMUV4?usp=sharing Emails: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16_NkSjpftzPa0etb1Sh2o6YmmF20XKM_?usp=sharing FurAffinity: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1L8BUFSDmPU8W7CeEsKYiaw561QNEkdde?usp=sharing Facebook: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18Rqi1veWRSJZwXyHUa7aaRphusWzxVfe?usp=sharing DeviantArt: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aza_Pfcm-wV6f2DnOw2rpNcVFi-ldddx?usp=sharing

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1003255.html WHO: Jailbird WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/jailbird/ WHAT: a two-character digital painting with a background WHEN: November 2013 EXPLAIN: Jailbird on furaffinity has promised to refund a commission that she does not plan to complete, but has been avoiding every attempt I have made to contact her on various sites. I paid for my commission in 2013, and was put on a refund list en masse with 100 or so other commissioners. No one on the list has been refunded. Here is the list in question. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-8n-8_u2SMdgYx9LQBy0rL0YYFfE_F7e19nIMYrarH0/edit#gid=0 And the transaction: https://78.media.tumblr.com/91e3ca8dccc6db1ad755e786f04a8386/tumblr_pb1zyfwz0J1rauz49o1_1280.jpg I have emailed Jailbird twice within the past two months, as a response to her apology journal claiming she would clean up her act. She has not responded to any of my emails. I noted her on FA 3 months ago asking about the refund status. She has read the note but has not responded. https://78.media.tumblr.com/cb1d72ccc51f30bbea0956e827e084d9/tumblr_pb6o98S3st1rauz49o1_1280.jpg https://78.media.tumblr.com/bf1d4cd4a6366d78ba50610267350d6d/tumblr_pb6o98S3st1rauz49o2_1280.jpg I post comments on journals and leave shouts but she has not attempted to engage with me anywhere, and everyone else on that refund list is getting the same treatment. PROOF: Paypal transaction: https://78.media.tumblr.com/91e3ca8dccc6db1ad755e786f04a8386/tumblr_pb1zyfwz0J1rauz49o1_1280.jpg refund list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-8n-8_u2SMdgYx9LQBy0rL0YYFfE_F7e19nIMYrarH0/edit#gid=0 furaffinity note: https://78.media.tumblr.com/bf1d4cd4a6366d78ba50610267350d6d/tumblr_pb6o98S3st1rauz49o2_1280.jpg Email: https://78.media.tumblr.com/cb1d72ccc51f30bbea0956e827e084d9/tumblr_pb6o98S3st1rauz49o1_1280.jpg

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1001723.html Who: Codeine Where: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/codeine/ When: January 2018 — Present What: In January of 2018, on the recommendation of several friends, I joined one of Codeine's streams in an effort to get one of her commissions. Day one of the stream, I paid $75 to her for a full color commission and was told she would start it in that stream. However, the stream went late and she asked to work on it the day after. I agreed and tuned in for that stream and the same situation repeated again. So, in an effort to make things easier on her, I approached her and told her I would be okay with her working on it out of stream since I assumed there was a large number that wanted to watch her work on their commissions. About a month went by and I popped into another stream to ask about it and was told she had a draft done but couldn't stop her stream to show me. I said it was okay. Another two months went by after this and I had popped into streams and was ignored when I messaged her. Fast forward to the end of May, I went into a stream and told her I would like to see my commission, she said she hadn't even started it but would gladly stream it just for me on the following Saturday. I reluctantly agreed and Saturday came around with no stream. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of my stream correspondences. It was then I promptly opened a PayPal claim and sent her an email asking for her discord so that I could have an ability to directly speak with her. Proof of our conversation in Discord will be below. But to sum it up, I approached her and told her that I'd rather have the art than have the PayPal claim give me my money back and I worked out with her a 7 piece sketch page that would be equivalent in cost but at a lower amount of work for Codeine. After 8 days out of the 10 that would have resulted in an instant decision, I approached her and she said she had not worked on it and tried to convince me to drop the claim before giving up and saying to let it go and I will have my money back on the date of expiration. I'm VERY disappointed with the outcome of this and I feel her professionalism was horrible and unfitting of someone who wants to be a member of the community. Proof: https://imgur.com/a/3o20yfK I have censored out any NSFW images and conversation but the correspondence is there.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1001020.html Hello! I am going to post artists bewares everywhere now that it is confirmed that they are avoiding all contact even though it was already expected/confirmed this just pushed it. They blocked me on their new deviantART 6/6/2018. If they see this I do apologize for my friend they get very protective of me and I assure you, I did not want them to message you with the creation of my beware. I simply did not want anyone to get scammed by you again. Another thing I thought I would mention is someone else was attempting to contact them as they were going to make this person a fursuit but yet again they ran with the money. If they put out a beware I will link it in the comments. Everything occured on facebook but after mutliple declines due to it I'm just going to leave that out upon request of the moderator! Feel free to contact me for any more information if needed I don't have everything I may need (initial comment for commission) but I do have our conversation which I will include in the folder. Back in 2016 on December 17th he had posted about making felt plush commissions I decided to commission them as I had seen them posting stuff and I had previously bought adopts from them so I assumed they were trust worthy. Since then they have given excuses and no updates. I have had to contact them for any information and even then they would not give a WIP even though they said they had previously worked on it. They later deactivated their facebook and did not notify me of this nor given any form of communication. I had to look through google to find any contact other than their paypal email which may or may not be active still. I have seen they are active (see below) and have been multiple times so they cannot say they were not online. They have not messaged me, replied, or any form of contact since March 26th 2017. Paypal will not help me get my money back so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Who: Shitfacedlion/Behem0th on Furaffinity, DenimLion/theBEHEM0TH on Deviantart, BEHEM0TH on Toyhouse Commissioned: December 17th 2016 https://sta.sh/020cbj2jyyft Conversation: https://sta.sh/0co3hum86z4 https://sta.sh/012v08d59th3 https://sta.sh/0vw07r4phov https://sta.sh/0bd67x3offd https://sta.sh/01x077s0e99 https://sta.sh/01vbka3sbfab Attempts to contact/proof of activity: https://sta.sh/0213sy7grbsq https://sta.sh/04vxy4a9roe https://sta.sh/01fwzzes025i blocked proof: https://sta.sh/08ybxavbjac Link to all of the proof: https://sta.sh/22d3qn05rz9l

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1001259.html Final Edit 7/10: I've received my refund and I can only hope that TEIL continues to make changes in her business for the better and get her workload fixed. Through a few back and forth notes I've given her a few cautionary tips on how to not overwork herself (based on personal anecdata) while still getting what she needs done. She sounds genuinely sorry for letting her queue get so massive and untamed and I think honestly needs someone with good organization skills to be her art manager so this doesn't happen again. I'm hoping her roommates will fill this position. I also noticed a handful of old commissions on the queue are either getting done or are at the very least being updated. Important edit 7/5: Please if you're reading this, do NOT associate TEIL's old partner nor their collab work with her to this beware, or any future one. PebblesRaven has no involvement in any of this anymore and has even replied to the beware explaining her side of the story and how she no longer has access to the work. If you have a collab piece owed, it's all 100% on TEIL to finish. Who: TEIL/Teileafuu/Teileaf (possibly among others?). Used to be a solo account, became a collab account with Teileaf's partner, then solo again, before I think being a joint account with somebody new? I've lost track. Where: FA (NSFW) Twitch (Nsfw? It's used for streaming) Picarto (edited in link on 6/30 because she's using this again instead of twitch, as well as the fact she's taken the twitch link off of her profile. Leaving the twitch link for reference. What: $80 YCH (nsfw, right-side) When: October 29th, 2017 - ongoing Proof: https://imgur.com/a/xdjvBHi (NSFW). This is posted in order of the explanation and can be read alongside for clarification. Explain: I had recently followed TEIL for their work, already impressed with their coloring, poses and scenery (where applicable). I eventually found a YCH from them that interested me enough that I wanted to get of my OC. Details were exchanged, and I was put on the queue. The queue had an expected two month turnaround, which was super understandable because despite how fast they seemed to work from the daily output of art, there was a fair amount of people on the list. During this time they also had outfit chibis that were same day, in stream commissions. I got one of those as well, of the same OC, and got the art the next day (as it was late and I was one of the last on the list. Still super prompt!) Happy with the result, I couldn't wait to see a WIP of the YCH. A little while later, at the very start of November, I noticed there was a slight mixup with mine and another person's spot on TEIL's trello, so I sent them a note about it (I was apologizing for the nudging because I had pointed things about my character out in the outfit chibi stream and I felt bad for coming off as pushy). About two months later I sent a note, asking if there was any progress to my commission. I should point out that, despite the journals having since been deleted, TEIL and her partner had some medical/personal issues and had let people know by means of a journal. The timing of my note was really abysmal because I had pressed send, then noticed that maybe a few minutes ago there was a new journal about a family issue. Of course I apologized for the bad timing and didn't mean to add stress to it, I had just wanted an update. Another month, another note, this time with concern because I noticed YCHs being done out of order. I saw the note read, but not replied to, so I bumped it and got a response. Two months later (no WIP given), there was a Refund list put out. This was something that TEIL and her partner had been talking about, and I had been under the impression that, with no WIP or conversation from TEIL, I'd be on that refund list. I wasn't, but the person who had bought the other YCH in the submission was. Curious, I asked about it. I sort of bungled up my words and confused TEIL, so I clarified what I meant. They replied with a WIP of my character, but...except for the general features, the design was incredibly off. Even after I pointed the mistakes out, they had told me I never mentioned key details when I did and this frustrated me. Needless to say I was not entirely impressed with the lack of reading comprehension, and coupled with the trello mixup I felt like I wasn't being listened to. I should have asked to been put on the refund list at this point, but I was given a revised WIP with (mostly) correct features after and left it alone. When the Paypal's 180 claim was coming up I had decided to send another note, asking about an update. A few weeks earlier, TEIL mentioned the threat of eviction and had been doing emergency commissions to make up the rent they needed. I had specifically waited until things died down to ask them, so as not to create another new year's note incident, but it was implied my asking was stressful. They did promise another WIP would be offered "soon." A month later I ask for a refund. I never mention this to them but between the last note to them and the note asking for a refund, I had lost my job. Outside of the paypal window officially, I wouldn't be able to file a claim and had to rely on faith that they would deliver, especially because things seemed to have turned around for TEIL money-wise and they were earning a lot of clients, both repeat and new, from their in-stream same-day commissions. This is just clarification for where I say previously I would rather wait for the art, then ask for a refund later. After a while, TEIL's journals are all deleted, including the one with the link to the google doc of refunds. I ask about it, and they tell me they didn't see my name on the refund list, but they've added me. This doesn't prove to reassure me about the status of my refund or if I'll ever see it. I didn't respond to it, and even mulled over whether or not I should post this beware, but I'm overall frustrated with everything that's happened so far. I still love TEIL's art but I can't say the same about their work ethic. I don't have record of the advice they were given because of the many journal deletions, but I recall someone suggesting they try to make their debt up through selling bases and adopts, so they aren't constantly adding to their commission queue. The advice, as far as I'm aware, was received positively, but has yet to be (consistently) implemented in favor of same-day/next-day YCHs, illustrations and Chibis. update 7/3: https://i.imgur.com/BIrqjy2.png a message from "The Admins" (not FA's admins, but some of TEIL's friends who are going to handle communication between her and her clients). o...kay. I don't have much faith in this, and it sounds INCREDIBLY sketchy, but if it gets me my refund then great! An art manager sounds like something she needs.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1000834.html Who: Spodur/Spoder/Milkymelty Where: Spodur on DA, Milkymelty on Instagram, Their Online Shop, their Toyhou.se. When: 2016-Present Explain: Spodur opened up holiday customs for their closed species Skullieds on around December 10th, 2016. On that day, I commented with custom details and claimed a slot, and sent the 10USD for the base custom price. Soon after, Spodur's tablet malfunctioned and they were unable to do much for the month of December. In January, Spodur announced they had acquired a Cintiq and would resume work on customs shortly. Eager to see the finished product, I decided to hold off on messaging them for a while. Radio silence ensued with Spodur submitting a few things here and there well into September when they stopped mentioning working on owed art entirely. I finally sent them a note over DA on December 10th of 2017, a full year after I initially ordered. They read the note and did not respond, and have still not responded as of this writing. Spodur made an update on January 14th of this year saying they would be working on owed Skullied but as mentioned before, I have not heard anything about my owed custom. Proof: All proof is here https://sta.sh/22f2jcwcjb03 As of 9/10/18, Spodur and I have reached a resolution!

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/999119.html WHO: Storych WHERE: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/storych/ WHAT: Digital Art (comic) WHEN: Payment was end of december 2016. First page was finished Mar 31st, 2017. No more surfaced. EXPLAIN: Back when it started, co-commissioners and myself bid on this comic ych for a cummulative of $240 ($80 each) After a rather long time, the finished first page (of four) was uploaded with the promise of one additional page each day. None ever came. On June 6 2016, the artist wrote about how it would take a bit longer. That was the last message me or the other customers got. PROOF: Screengrab of the original YCH, now deleted (NSFW) Paypal: First Page finished, notice the comments which were me and the others asking for info: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/23066445/ (Screengrab) Notes were exchanged, but never a "I got it" after the invoice link (neither to me nor the others) so screenshots of them wouldn't be of much worth, but can be supplied.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/999397.html WHO: undeadromance, cosmic paw creations WHERE: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/undeadromance WHAT: Digital Art WHEN: Ych was bought August 29, 2017. A request for info was sent February 6, 2018. No reply was gotten. EXPLAIN: End of August 2017 I got myself the YCH. Everything went well at first, the artist seemed to like my character and couldn't wait to get to drawing him. In the middle of December I asked on the original YCH submission (see proof) for an update, 2 months later I sent a request in a note. I never got a reply. Three days after it a journal was made with many excuses, but the note remained without reply to this day. PROOF: Original YCH submission (Screengrab) (Older screengrab that lacks the newest comment but includes the price) (NSFW) Paypal: Note: "Cosmic Paw Creations" is not stated directly on the userpage, but each journal has a footer with it. Latest note that was never answered and never read:

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/997512.html WHERE: Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToasterKiwi DeviantArt: https://toasterkiwi.deviantart.com/ Tumblr: http://toasterkiwi.tumblr.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toasterkiwi/?hl=en FurAffinity: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/toasterkiwi Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/kiwikuru YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KiwiFlipnote/videos Website: http://toastershop.tictail.com/ Toyhouse: https://toyhou.se/ToasterKiwi WHAT: Digital art piece — x1 custom adopt worth 200 USD. WHEN: October 2017 — present (May 2018) EXPLAIN: I ordered a custom character commission from ToasterKiwi's auction back in October 2017. I didn't receive a WIP until December 2017 and no further visual updates since then. Meanwhile, the artist has output tons of artwork and merchandise for conventions and shop orders and is plenty active on Twitter throughout this duration, yet has no progress update for me about the order. The last communication I had was in March 2018 where she claims to still be working on the order, but provides zero visual updates. I am Tythius on DeviantArt. (I have a Gyazo Pro account so all screenshots saved there are permanent.) General timeline of notes from the artist, sorted in the DA search function which removes any indicator of read or unread status. (Proof 0.) TIMELINE: 18 October 2017: Purchased a custom adopt commission from an auction for 200 USD. Paid, artist confirms commission, and details are exchanged. (Proof 1. Proof 2. Proof 3. Proof 4. Proof 5. Proof 6.) No further communication from artist until December 2017. 6 December 2017: Artist provides a rough sketch of the design plan. I request some changes and the artist agrees. (Proof 7. Proof 8.) No further communication from artist until March 2018. 17 March 2018: After not hearing from the artist for roughly three months now, I request an update. The artist responds and claims she is still working on it, but shows no visual WIP. (Proof 9.) No further communication from artist since. Posts an adoptable on 1 May 2018. 21 May 2018: The artist is incredibly active on Twitter throughout this duration from March to May, responding to tweets, tweeting, retweeting, producing and sending out merchandise, etc. I send a note on 21 May 2018 requesting an update with a visual WIP. Unread. (Proof 10. Proof 11.) After 21 May 2018: The artist tweets very often on Twitter and continues to be extremely active there. No response on DeviantArt. I've sent a Twitter DM on 25 May 2018 and it has yet to be read/responded to despite the artist logging on and retweeting something on the 26th. (Proof 12. Proof 13. Proof 14.) Examples of very frequent Twitter activity including more adoptables on 1 May 2018: (Ex. 1, Ex. 2, Ex. 3) Please check the Twitter account for many more posts during the 7-month period of minimal communication with me. Also took Valentine's Day commissions and finished those: Ex. 4. In short, very, very high levels of activity and art without a single update on my commission that didn't have to be initiated by me. PERSONAL NOTE: The other custom adopt that was purchased from the same auction was finished within two months. I am still waiting on mine with extremely poor and irresponsible communication from this artist and I am so incredibly disappointed with her. She is clearly very active on the internet and extremely active attending cons and yet she can't be bothered notifying me of delays or progress when the wait has now hit 7 months. Even a simple acknowledgement of my messages anywhere would have been acceptable. This is insulting for someone of her caliber and popularity and overwhelmingly unprofessional considering the amount of money at stake. Outrageous. Tired of ads? Upgrade to account with Professional

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/997124.html WHERE: DeviantArt: https://hanabichu.deviantart.com/ Tumblr: http://hanabichu.tumblr.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hanabichu/ FurAffinity: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/lumibug/ Toyhouse: https://toyhou.se/Mellychu WHAT: Digital art piece — x2 pixel chibis. WHEN: December 2017 — present (May 2018) EXPLAIN: I ordered two pixel chibis totaling 44 USD. They have not been delivered. The artist did not show me even a WIP until FIVE MONTHS after I ordered and since then has been silent. Unwilling to let them drag me past the 6-month PayPal deadline, I initiated a chargeback. If the artist is willing to complete the pieces later and sends me the final product, I will close the case, or, if they wait much longer to finish it, they can have the money back. I will even cover the extra $20 USD fee that PayPal fines the seller. I am Tythius on DeviantArt. (I have a Gyazo Pro account so all screenshots saved there are permanent.) TIMELINE: 1 December 2017: Purchased 2 pixel chibis for $22 USD each. (Proof 1.) Artist acknowledges on the same day. Payment is sent from my end through "goods and services." Artist confirms procedure of commission. (Proof 2. Proof 3.) The PayPal invoice might look unusual for some because this is the format that displays if you access the transaction records from the Resolution center. No further communication from artist until May 2018. 10 May 2018: Artist finally updates, but only with sketches. Artist requests correspondence in case I need any changes. (Proof 4.) I respond the same day with changes. That note remains unread at the time of this writing, 30 May 2018. (Proof 5. Proof 6.) 11 May 2018: Realizing that the 6-month protection deadline was ending at the end of May, I message the artist with the warning that I cannot wait past then for my own sake. This note, too, goes unread. (Proof 7.) 28 May 2018: Unwilling to risk any issues with a last-minute dispute opening and willing to close the case in the event the artist responds with a finished product, I open a claim with PayPal. (Proof 8.) 30 May 2018: Referring to Proof 8, there is no response from the artist yet to the PayPal claim. PERSONAL NOTE: Despite turning in a WIP, receiving only sketches after five months is, first of all, absurd. Second, the artist requests a response in regards to potential changes at the sketching stage and yet does not bother reading the response for 3 weeks afterwards. Had there been any significant changes I required, the artist would not have been able to get back to me in a timely manner with the completed pieces regardless. Finally, 6+ months for two chibis is an abysmally slow rate of progress.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/996824.html WHO: Rem~ on FA / Remmyfox on Twitter WHERE: Furaffinity & Twitter WHAT: Art trade where my part was done and he actually refuse to do his part. WHEN: Almost 4 years ago (Aug 7th 2014) EXPLAIN: I asked an art trade with Remmy, but when my part was done, he started to complain i weren't talking to him enough and started to ignore it totally. I asked him again about the art trade next year, but he said he had life issue, but when i started to sent private message on twitter, he ignored those. But at the moment i asked him about the art trade in a more public way, he instanly blocked me. PROOF: Private message about the conversation of the art trade: https://imgur.com/a/IKYr3sx https://twitter.com/Toxicoow/status/1000110854262722562

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/995648.html WHO: FA: Arklionspaw , Glitch- or Glitchworks Eka's Portal: Lumesa WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/glitchworks/ , http://www.furaffinity.net/user/glitch- , www.furaffinity.net/user/arklionspaw/ , https://aryion.com/g4/user/Lumesa WHAT: Was originally to be part of a group commission, but when the artist encountered many personal issues related to the group commission, I agreed to take two separate pictures instead. WHEN: Payment was sent on November 22nd, 2011. Since then, the artist has taken numerous on-demand commissions ahead of the individuals who commissioned them, as well as promise multiple times over the past six years to resume work on the backlog they have accumulated over the past years, with only a minuscule amount of commissions completed. PROOF: Figure 1: http://www.imagebam.com/image/11d019861793094 Figure 2: http://www.imagebam.com/image/4758c9861793104 Figure 3: http://www.imagebam.com/image/1644e3861793114 Figure 4: http://www.imagebam.com/image/96d8f2861794644 Figure 5: http://www.imagebam.com/image/a77ac1860648104 Figure 6: http://www.imagebam.com/image/089223860648134 Figure 7: http://www.imagebam.com/image/12f965860648144 Figure 8: http://www.imagebam.com/image/8e3dd1861801774 Figure 9: http://www.imagebam.com/image/b5b68a861793164 Figure 10: http://www.imagebam.com/image/962484861793134 Figure 11: http://www.imagebam.com/image/904713861793144 Explain: I'm at a loss as to why I did not put this up a long time ago. Back in 2011, this artist advertised a Thanksgiving commission special on their original FA page (Arklionspaw, Figure 1), in which commissioners could buy slots to have their characters featured in a group picture. After about fifteen people, myself included, had paid (Figures 2 and 3), the artist announced a delay due to numerous personal issues. Later on, the artist suggested that people take two pictures each instead of the group picture, as it would be easier to complete without all the real-life drama associated with the group picture (Figure 4). Back in 2016 or 2017, the artist stated that she would be working diligently because she had found a manager, and would stick to working on art according to a strict, full-time schedule. Since the original offer back in 2011, the artist has used numerous life events such as illnesses, family issues, and car crashes as grounds to push back these commissions in addition to asking for more commissions to help cover expenses; very few of these commissions have been delivered. While I do sympathize for events beyond the artist's control, these do not excuse her from delivering. As you can see from the list of blogs by the artist on Eka's Portal, I had to make THREE screencaps (Figures 5-7) to show just how many journals the artist made either taking on more and more commissions, or promising to finish the backlog shortly, all between 2012 and now. As mentioned previously, the commission account (Glitchworks) has not posted a completed commission in at least a few months. I even sent a note to the Eka's Portal account asking for confirmation that I was on the backlog, and that she had indeed received info on what I would like in lieu of the group picture, but I did not get any sort of reply (Figures 8 and 9). Last week I sent an email to their manager asking for either a definite deadline as to when my commissions will be done or a refund, since making people wait over six years for their commissions is beyond ridiculous. I received no reply. I followed up with a PM to their commission account on FA, which is ran by their manager (Figure 10), and as of the time I am writing this, it has not even been read (Figure 11).

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/995190.html WHO: Jinx_In_Boots, jinxsis, Jinxsis Sinatra, K9Jinxsis WHERE: https://tictail.com/naughtydogworks/bad-dog-pin-pre-order WHAT: Bad Dog enamel pin "+extras" WHEN: Preorders ended around 09/30/2017, payment was sent the same day EXPLAIN: I preordered a pin from Jinx_In_Boots in September, in the time, they've had factory problems, then said they needed the backing cards. Before preorders were sent they tweeted about selling them at FWA, with what looked like backing cards. I sent them a DM, they said they still need backing cards. Awhile passes, I notice them in other furry's photos on instagram, I ask and the user said they got the pin as a free gift with a badge. I ask Jinx again, who said they will send them the 2nd, and give a tracking number, the time passed and I have no tracking number. In a DM chat with Jinx they said the pin would arrive on the 6th, the 6th came and went with no pin or tracking number. I have been keeping in contact with other's who have preordered and Jinx. On May 7th, I sent another message, they said they are preparing them, even though their last message said they were sent previously. PROOF: Payment https://i.imgur.com/nbe8WHk.png Email saying there was a manufacture probem https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/289609229948682240/399012964570497034/Screenshot_20180105-193419.png Pins being sold at FWA, preorders still haven't been sent https://web.archive.org/web/20180504183202/https://twitter.com/Jinx_In_Boots/status/961028777534021632 Saying the pins will be shipped on May 1st https://web.archive.org/web/20180504184528/https://twitter.com/Jinx_In_Boots/status/990683255161737216 Instagram user saying they got 2, 1 was a free gift with a badge, preorders still not sent https://www.instagram.com/p/BiI3C5YF86Q/ https://i.imgur.com/XZDnS7y.png Jinx's response to being asked about not getting a track number when it was expected https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/295251611360559114/442025250100609025/unknown.png Price changes on Jan 21st from USPS https://stamps.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1685/~/usps-rate-changes-january-21%2C-2018 Jinx's promise of "lots of goodies" https://twitter.com/Jinx_In_Boots/status/911646003039735808 My personal DMs with Jinx https://i.imgur.com/9XdcjsT.png https://i.imgur.com/DF3Cb7l.png Edit On 8/3/2018 I have gotten a refund from Jinx.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/995528.html This imgur album may be easier to follow, but I will copy the relevant information in the proper template as well. https://imgur.com/a/vqw5xcR WHO: The artist is named Fr0stbit3 on Furaffinity. WHERE: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/fr0stbit3/ https://www.furaffinity.net/view/26222681/ https://www.furaffinity.net/view/27231252/ WHAT: Digital art, solo character NSFW commission, offered by the artist in pre-posed slots. WHEN: Initial contact was February 3rd, 2018 when the commission was accepted. Payment details were provided on February 4th, and payment was also sent on February 4th. On March 19th, email communication began inquiring about the commission, and then a month's deadline for a refund was communicated and accepted. On April 20th, I opened a PayPal dispute to reinitiate contact. The refund was refused, and the dispute was elevated to a claim. On April 24th, the claim was resolved in the Buyer's (mine) favor. On May 1st, the Seller/Artist, Fr0stbit3, reopened the claim to appeal to PayPal. On May 4th, the appeal was denied by PayPal. Fr0stbit3 proceeded to post an unauthorized image of my character, using the title and description to insult and defame me. I decided to create an Artists Beware entry. EXPLAIN: This began when I asked for a pre-posed commission slot Fr0stbit3 was opening in February. The idea was a line of dragon characters in pre-made poses would be completed individually for the buyers and then posted in a group pic at the conclusion. https://imgur.com/m6Yru9V This is my initial comment on the submission page inquiring for a slot. Page is still available as of 5/4/2018. I inquired after a slot for the "Dragon Wall", pre-posed pictures for dragon characters to be lined up in a group picture. [NSFW link] https://www.furaffinity.net/view/26222681/ https://imgur.com/cm67HUZ Here is the note after the comment. I provided references and my paypal information, he replied with the price and his PayPal information. https://imgur.com/Qst1p6l As you can see by the date I paid the same day (with tip!). The payment has since been refunded after I filed a dispute, which the following screenshots will show. https://imgur.com/8Kje8Iz About a month and a half later, I checked Fr0stbit3's Furaffinity page to see if he'd made any progress on the Dragon Wall. When I tried to navigate to the page from my note inbox, I got the error "user has voluntarily disabled access to their userpage", which was a big red flag for me. He has since reactivated his page. Worried that an artist had taken my money and run, I tried using his paypal address to email him, and to my relief he responded the next day. He assured me he would be providing a refund as soon as he could, but couldn't due to issues in his personal life. https://imgur.com/LHNOaEr I expressed my sympathy and asked for a deadline for a refund, and he said it could be up to a month, but he'd try to get it to me earlier. After this, I had no contact with him for a month. https://imgur.com/fF6AtiY This image is read from bottom to top. After a month of no contact and no refund, I reinitiated contact via Paypal by opening a dispute. Paypal's first step of the dispute process is simply the Buyer (me) contacting the Seller (Fr0stbit3). I explained what had already happened and informed him I had opened a dispute for this reason. He responded with "I told you to be patient with me" while simultaneously denying he had received any previous email from me. After that I realized that he was not going to be willingly provide any refund to me, was providing no revised deadlines, so I escalated the dispute to a Claim in order to have the transaction refunded. https://imgur.com/qkgo9uV He proceeded to send me several messages on FA, urging me to check my email. I did, and saw nothing, until I thought to check the email address I use as my Paypal. He also seemed to be confusing me for someone else named "Matt". https://imgur.com/YKjhrvO I checked my alternate email and found this from him, finding out that he'd gone back on his promise of a refund and went ahead and completed the image. I found this surprising, as he'd never even mentioned the possibility of him actually completing the commission, he'd only spoken about refunds. I also found it surprising that rather than actually send me the completed image to complete the commission, he'd chosen to hold it hostage instead. https://imgur.com/yBjpVIW For organization and clarity's sake, I forwarded the email he sent to my own email address, that I'd used to initially contact him, forwarded it again to him and then reopened our email thread, so that he could easily see my prior messages and stop having me confused for whoever Matt is. https://imgur.com/gK4yCmt I used slightly sterner language in response to his decision to hold the image hostage rather than fulfill his end of the transaction. I made it clear that he had communicated to me that the image was not going to be completed, and that I had been waiting for a refund. At this point, I had no interest in the completed image, as this commission had proved to be an extremely frustrating experience. However, I was very much looking forward for this experience to be over, so I made it clear that if he wanted the dispute to be resolved, he could just send me the image and I'd call it even. He responded as you can see above, with a pixelated/censored version, insisted that he could not trust me, and that he would only send me the file after I dropped the dispute, reiterating it with two emails in a row, making sure to mention in both that I could not be trusted. I was honestly surprised to see that he had done the image, but he still had not sent it to me, only a blurred version, so his part of the transaction was still incomplete. https://imgur.com/WnHAltB I did my best to clarify my position and made it clear that the Paypal claim existed because he had failed to provide what I had paid for, and that if he fulfilled the transaction, the claim would be dropped. But he doubled down, refusing to provide the image, and also claiming he never provided refunds. https://imgur.com/qqWOPKn Despite my better judgement, I tried to make the situation crystal clear about how the ball was in his court, and that he could either let PayPal settle the dispute or provide the full image to satisfy the claim. I did not have much hope for the results, and I was tired of arguing, and made it clear that it was my final communication. https://imgur.com/GTO96pO He then proceeded to be far more public, filling my shoutbox with messages. I provided a shout back asking him not to contact me unless it was with the image or a refund, via Paypal or email. I then blocked his Furaffinity account. https://imgur.com/KwZcvIF PayPal resolved the dispute in my favor, and they forced the refund. I was content to drop this particularly frustrating experience and move on, but I then received another email from Fr0stbit3 informing me that he would be appealing the claim and providing screenshots to PayPal, and also threatened to write a Buyer Beware against me. I was not overly concerned, as the screenshots demonstrate several times that he refused to provide the image he was paid for. https://imgur.com/7AfpLsB A few days passed and the PayPal dispute was closed, again, in my favor. Fr0stbit3 responded by posting the image to his FA scrap gallery, which includes a depiction of my character and my character's name, with the title "Scumbag Wall", claiming I had cheated him. I reported him on FA for harassment. At this point, the situation has concluded. I have received my refund and am happy to leave it at that, though I hope the submission he posted is taken down after my ticket is reviewed on FA. I hope this Artist Beware entry will help provide context for this transaction and help warn other commissioners from attempting to do business with this individual. PROOF: All screencaptures are in the following Imgur album, as shown above: https://imgur.com/a/vqw5xcR Update: At this time the submission he was using to defame me has been taken down and his FA has been suspended, along with another user who was posting death threats to my shout page. Their suspensions lasted about two days.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/995064.html Where: OneFurAll Studios - www.onefurall.com What: A full fursuit commission including head, bodysuit, paws and additional set of feetpaws. In addition, a design sketch for the fursuit. When: Payment in May 2014 — issues ongoing Explain: The issues I have experienced with OneFurAll (OFA) are twofold: an inability to manage expectations and meet contractual obligations, and lack of communication. April 2014 saw conversations with OFA regarding a commission, with estimate of an “18-24+ month queue” given. In May, I indicated my willingness to commission, and asked for confirmation of the wait time; I was told that there would be a more concrete “18-24 month wait. Our wait times shift minimally…” (see email 1); this was the final estimate given prior to payment, and with the qualifier of minimal shift, suggested that I could reasonably expect the fursuit to be completed at, or close to, 18-24 months. No further communication was made at this stage regarding the fursuit, only payment. Paid in-full via an invoice from OneFurAll in May 2014 (see Paypal Invoice). On 24th June 2015, in reply to an email from me, OFA restated the timeline to build to be "around the 24 month mark from your deposit" (see email 2). In September 2016, replying to another email from me, they stated it would be "a few more months" before work started, but that it was a good time to take measurements, which I supplied; while the time estimate had run-over, I expected work to start soon so chose not to raise a dispute. In June 2017, following my enquiry as to the expected timeframe, OFA said it would be "later this year when we'd be able to fit your character in" (see email 3). My reply to this stated that I would consider the end of the year to be an “agreement between us that this deadline will be met; if further events beyond your control mean the ‘suit won’t be finished by this estimate, please can you inform me as soon as you become aware of this?” I wished to make clear that I considered the end of 2017 a hard deadline. In January 2018, in reply to my chase email, they stated they still had not reached my position in the queue (see email 4). I therefore began the process of cancelling my commission. I requested a full refund, due to the unreasonable and excessive degree by which the build estimate had been missed (almost 2 years), and the poor communication received. I cited a clause I was sent in their Terms of Service during my preliminary discussions, which stated 30% of the commission price would be forfeit except in “extreme cases” (see TOS). I considered my case “extreme” due to time the process had overshot by, the exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances the studio had claimed to be going through which slowed production, and my communication issues. In response, OFA outlined that they would not offer me a full refund and said that the entire fursuit building industry has adopted a firm non-refundable clause, and also apologized for the communication issues I had experienced. They offered the opportunity to keep my fursuit in the queue (see email 5), with a promise to improve communication, which I refused. When they replied in February, they stated that their policy has “always been that we never contractually promise a start date” and that “we are still technically at 24+ months” (see email 6). They went on to say that their non-refundable clause was "firm" and they would not refund me in full; they said the “extreme circumstances” condition was intended to allow them to be sympathetic to someone who found themselves “in a genuine state of need...” citing customers who had encountered “…dire life circumstances and we helped as we could”. They found it “problematic” that I was referring to this term, and they felt that I had attempted to “reinterpret that outdated phrase against us” (see email 6 cont.). They went on to say in their February email that they would "no longer offer waiving that clause for any reason", and offered to refund my payment beyond the 30% refund penalty in 3 instalments (see email 6 cont.). I did not take this offer as I felt it unjust that they should retain the 30% penalty, and because I paid the entire commission price up-front and would feel more confident receiving a refund as one payment. They also restated that non-refundable percentages are a prevalent feature across the fursuit building industry and cited the TOS of 7 well-known makers (see email 6 cont.). Email discussion continued over refund amount, with little progress. Given the log-jam on both sides, I emailed OFA on 7th February 2018 offering a compromise: OFA get 10% retention on the full commission price (see email 7). Apart from acknowledging receipt of this on 5th March, I have yet to receive a substantial response despite regular chase emails. It now appears the process has broken down, and I am unlikely to receive any refund soon due to our lack of ability to agree over this dispute and the lack of response from OFA. As resolution to this issue, I would like OFA to issue a full refund. I do not believe they have upheld their contractual obligations to me, nor do I feel they have provided the level of service one would expect from a company I have paid almost $3000 to. I feel that attempting to withhold a 30% penalty constitutes an unfair term of contract given they have not indicated that they have spent anything on or worked towards my commission, and are likely to make up the entire amount very quickly in new commissions. In addition, I feel the application of a ‘no full refunds’ policy should have common-sense boundaries with protections for the customer laid out explicitly on the face of the contract. I can understand a refund penalty if a commissioner pulls-out within the given timeframe and simply does not wish to continue the process. However, taking $2950 up-front, providing a timeframe estimate and then missing this by two years should surely warrant the return of the full amount paid, especially when the customer is told that their wait will be 18-24 months with a “minimal” shift of wait times. I do not claim to know how other makers apply their no-refunds clauses, though if it is an industry-wide practice to do this, I feel it’s a sad reflection on how we are doing business with eachother. I regret that it has come to a point where I have needed to post this; as I have outlined to OFA, I sympathise with their position, the studio having been through many unexpected events of some gravity over the past few years. However, I cannot recommend the studio based on my experience, having been left disappointed with ephemeral time estimates and difficult communication on many occasions. Proof: Email 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3a6y8rjuhyjqrjk/Email 1.png?dl=0 Email 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ffjtmxn8jxwsymf/Email 2.png?dl=0 Email 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a54gyehmgmzyopy/Email 3.png?dl=0 Email 4: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ejoyfwq6mmiom08/Email 4.png?dl=0 Email 5: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tgifcsay9ookqo0/Email 5.png?dl=0 Email 6: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jc377vs6b0giksh/Email 6.png?dl=0 Email 6 cont.: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2infyun44507g3t/Email 6 cont..png?dl=0 Email 7: https://www.dropbox.com/s/feokqxqveekxabb/Email 7.png?dl=0 (I typo’d the dates here, writing 2013 instead of 2014) Paypal Invoice: https://www.dropbox.com/s/irjcj3ycagq4hcq/Paypal Invoice.png?dl=0 TOS: https://www.dropbox.com/s/48gmljcjmui210g/TOS.png?dl=0 Tired of ads? Upgrade to account with Professional

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/993878.html WHERE: DeviantArt: (NSFW GALLERY) https://babushkavatman.deviantart.com/ Tumblr: (NSFW GALLERY) https://babushkavatman.tumblr.com/ WHAT: Digital art piece — custom adopt commission. WHEN: July 2017 — present (May 2018) EXPLAIN: I ordered a 270 USD custom with a back view and extras from this artist back in July 2017. It has not been delivered. The artist has been silent for months and inactive on all known social media. I am Tythius on DeviantArt. (I have a Gyazo Pro account so all screenshots saved there are permanent.) TIMELINE: 13 July 2017: Purchased custom adopt commission through an auction for 270 USD. (Proof 1.) 13 July 2017: Artist confirmed order and sent invoice. Invoice paid the same day. Artist acknowledges payment. (Proof 2. Proof 3. Proof 4.) July 2017 - September 2017: I receive no updates despite exchanging more correspondence about the design specifics. Up to 25 July 2017, we made small talk and discussed design details. After that point, nothing until September. (Proof 5.) This screenshot is filtered for notes sent from BabushkaVatman and thus does not show unread or read status. During this period of silence between July and September, the artist continues outputting adopts and YCH sales. 19 September 2017: I update the artist's reference links to a neater folder. (Proof 6.) The artist replies, but there is still no visual WIP update. September 2017 - November 2017: No further updates. Artist continues uploading adopts and YCH sales. 26 November 2017: There is still no update. I request an update or, alternatively, a refund. The artist finally shows a visual WIP, but cannot provide a refund at the moment. (Proof 7. Proof 8. Proof 9.) 27 November 2017 - 1 December 2017: The artist seems genuinely apologetic during our conversation. I relent and agree to wait for the finished product. This is a mistake. (Proof 10. Proof 11. Proof 12.) 12 January 2018: There has been no contact since December. I ask again for an update. (Proof 13.) 22 January 2018: The artist posts another completed adopt. 22 January 2018: The artist replies with an update message. No visual updates. This is the last time this artist has contacted me since. (Proof 14.) 24 January 2018: The artist posts another completed adopt. 4 February 2018: The artist posts another completed adopt. This is the latest activity on the DA page. But not the Tumblr page. Will detail below. 25 February 2018: I ask for another update. (Proof 15.) No response. Unread. (Proof 16. [Bottom note.]) March 2018: While the artist remains inactive and unresponsive on DA, the Tumblr page notes a recently liked post from another user. (Proof 17. [NSFW has been blurred out. Safe to click.]) This recently liked post was made on 3 March 2018. The artist has been able to access the internet sometime after 3 March 2018. (A more thorough search through recent likes on the Tumblr page show liked posts from as recent as 2 April 2018. I did not notice this until recently, but will add it chronologically for easier following. 12 March 2018: I ask for another update. No response. Unread. (Proof 18. Proof 19. [Middle note.]) 29 March 2018: I leave a comment on the original deviation of the custom sale. No response. (Proof 20.) 31 March 2018: I message the artist on DA again. (Proof 21. Proof 22. [Top note.]) Unread. 3 May 2018: I leave the artist a courtesy message on the artist's DA profile stating my intentions to write a PSA on Artists Beware. (Proof 23.) There is still no response. I also have not seen any of the YCH sales completed and posted, but cannot verify that they were never done. Given the circumstances, I am aware that if the artist's main income is through art, then regular output of sales and adopts is to be expected while the artist works on a commission. This was never the problem. The problem was the lack of communication and continued lack of communication. As it stands, I have no finished product and the artist either refuses to get in touch or has neglected to for whatever reason. The real lesson here is to never let an artist drag you past PayPal's 6-month buyer protection period, regardless of their reasoning, unless they have solid communication and steady visual updates. Don't make my mistake. 12 May 2018: I managed to open a dispute with PayPal through their phone line. 17 May 2018: PayPal opens the case and awaits a response from the artist. The artist has 10 days to respond. (Proof 24.) 28 May 2018: The artist never responded to PayPal's resolution center e-mail despite recent activity on DeviantArt and the case is closed in my favor. (Proof 25.) AD Haircuts for Women and Hair Trends select.womanstrong.net AD • 16+ AnyCam – software for viewing IP-cameras. Remote access anycam.io Tired of ads? Upgrade to account with Professional packa

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/994679.html Name: BigBlueDragon Location: This took place during Furrydelphia 2017 Website: http://www.bigblueraptor.com/2017/08/04/furrydelphia/ Commission Type: My commission was a digital headshot led badge of my fursona. Basic Overview: I commissioned BigBlueDragon on August 19th 2017 at Furrydelphia in the Dealers Den. The commission was of an led headshot badge of my fursona and the expected date to be finished was September 4th. My badge was fully completed February 18th 2018, and the last date of contact I had with BigBlueDragon was on March 11th 2018. (Hence this post) The Detailed Answer: August 19th 2017: Commissioned the artist in the dealers den at Furrydelphia and paid $21.20 in cash, upfront. Was informed that the commission wouldn’t take long to finish, and I requested a finish date for September 4th. I was informed that the artist worked from Artnab.net and that all updates and communication could easily be done through that website. Pictures of my fursona were taken from my badge before I left the table. August 21st 2017: Furrydelphia ended and I uploaded a brief description of my fursona as well as corresponding images on Artnab. August 30th 2017: Posted my name and address through Artnab. September 16th 2017: BigBlueDragon responds and has a sketch of my sona after the requested due date of my commission, communication becomes fairly consistent through the month of September and October and then becomes spotty in November. December 2nd, 2017: I reach out to BigBlueDragon using the email provided through Artnab and communication slows down but is still consistent. Progress on the commission continues through email due to difficulties through Artnab. By the middle of January the digital headshot has been finished. February 1st 2018: I reached back out to see the progress on my commission and received an email on the 18th with an image of my completed commission, printed, cut, laminated, and led, all done. I ask when to expect her within the mail, and I receive no response. March 3rd 2018: I email BigBlueDragon about an update about my badge being mailed. I receive a response on March 11th asking for my address again. I respond with my name and address hoping for my badge to arrive in the mail in about a week. March 26th 2018: I reach out again to BigBlueDragon about my badge and express my concern as the badge has been completed, and yet hasn’t been mailed out. At this point in time it has taken over 7 months to complete. April 26th 2018: I sent out another email to BigBlueDragon asking about an update on my badge being sent out. I have yet to receive a response. It has been 8 months and 3 weeks since this badge was commissioned, and it has been 8 weeks since I last had contact with BigBlueDragon. I have even tried to reach out through the website which they and their partner co-run, and haven’t gotten a response to that either. I believe my timeline and images provide a good chunk of information about the main problem, communication issues. In the beginning things were great through Artnab, I was posting stuff, I could see that they were looking at my posts and responding to it. I believe the issue in communication started when my references for my fursona seemed to be overlooked. The process dramatically slowed down as I had to point out issues one at a time and work them out until it met my approval. Once Artnab was giving us trouble, we switched over to email where our communication became slowed down further to hearing from BigBlueDragon after a few weeks at a time. Currently, the main source of frustration is that my badge has been completed, and I have yet to receive it. Artnab Sept 16th update Artnab Sept 21st Artnab Sept 27th Artnab Sept 29th Artnab Oct 4th Artnab Oct 11th Artnab Nov 7th Headshot reference on artnab and Oct 2nd reference reposted Fullbody reference on artnab Reference for the cheek mark on artnab Email 2 Completed Headshot (Scroll down to see it in the email) Email 1 showing what I wanted visually when I couldn't describe it with words alone Email 1 showing what I wanted visually when I couldn't describe it with words alone My finished badge, image received through email Feb 18th

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/994302.html WHO: Guro-Boy https://guro-boy.deviantart.com/ https://josuke-hiigashikata.tumblr.com/ (Abandoned) New: https://gyro-joestar.tumblr.com/ https://twitter.com/j0hnny_joestar (Abandoned) New: https://twitter.com/gyr0zeppeli http://www.furaffinity.net/user/vitreoushumor WHERE: https://toyhou.se/guro-boy (Deactivated account) https://refsheet.net/guroboy (Still trying to trade their dainty) Moved to https://refsheet.net/Wormwood (nsfw art featured here: http://archive.is/mP8Op ) WHAT: 2 longthings (closed species by Glidertoo) WHEN: Jan 31st, 2018 EXPLAIN: I was approached by Guro-boy when I placed a thread seeking Longthings to buy. They messaged me with two that they were selling, one at 150$ and the other at 100$. I thought this was fine and wanted to buy them both. They originally asked me to send as Friends and family, but I said I was uncomfortable with that and offered to pay the fees for them. They sent me an invoice, which I was comfortable with because invoices are more secure. They gave me the image files and all was fine after. About a month in, I was contacted by a user, who I won’t mention, stating that their longthing looked eerily similar to one of mine. I agreed and sent Glider a note about it. (I later learned Glider isn’t as active where I contacted them, so that’s not an issue). I then contacted Guro and they stated it was a custom. I was still very wary, but I accepted it and just kept things quiet while I did some research. Things got busy, IRL, so I dropped the thing to take care of my life. Glider posted a journal to FA today, April 11th, 2018. And stated there was a tracing issue. I asked in the thread, for someone to note me the name of the user. I was noted, by SEVERAL people, that it was guro-boy. This prompted me to message glider, who was active on the site, for confirmation. They confirmed my suspicions and stated I was sold two altered long things. As of currently, I have filed a dispute asking for them to VERIFY the legitimacy of these longthings, but I will be escalating it to an immediate claim. PROOF: Glider’s journal: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8690922 (http://archive.is/utgJN) The Two longthings I was sold: https://sta.sh/21sds6or442j?edit=1 Conversation for original purchase: https://sta.sh/017r9nhrw0el Paypal proof: https://sta.sh/0amkxon9kd9 Second PM asking about legitimacy: https://sta.sh/01jzv5os7nd5 PM to glider: https://sta.sh/01x7uafbrotp Folder with proofs: https://sta.sh/210pqzzkxepp?edit=1 Update: They have contacted me via email, and offered a refund on a payment plan after I escalated the dispute to a claim. https://sta.sh/01kh1arkw3ms My reply and theirs: https://sta.sh/022fhs2g4eou They have NOT refunded me anything yet. Despite this conversation happening this morning Update 4/21/2018: They have contacted me via email and offered me the partial refund via. Together, we have decided that I will deny the refund so the case can be reviewed and the date extended in order to get a full refund of the 258$. I felt this was the best course of action, since the date they originally requested for the second payment was so close. Updated: PayPal closed the case, not in my favor, and now I’m out the 258$. :,) So there’s nothing I can do, except hope that Guro actual refunds me, since I have no ground to stand on anymore. Update (5/1/2018): Paypal has closed the case, again, against my favor. I contacted Guro boy. They replied saying they needed to check if their bank wouldn't frekk out. Then proceed to tell me that they WOULD refund it. Here we are. Almost a week past the actual date they said they'd have the full amount. Nothing. I'm taking this as a loss. I am going to see if my bank will do anything. I am doubtful, but I can at least hope. https://sta.sh/0bnt5rwp6b2 https://sta.sh/0wzpx7cx0gc 5/19/2018 My bank has denied the claim to reverse the charge. Their reason is that paypal stated that I authorized the transaction. They found the payment to be valid. So, I've filed a complaint with the BBB, but at this point, there's nothing I can do. https://sta.sh/0k1iahz5sle https://sta.sh/018o63e5htu8 (BBB case) Guro has been seen trying to commission Glider, despite not refunding me the amount. https://prnt.sc/jmayyx (Archive link: http://archive.is/ynH7z ) 5/26/2018: It looks like Guro-boy has migrated to making off-brands of the closed species he was banned from. https://toyhou.se/~forums/5867.service-reviews/63052.psa-artist-beware-guro-boy-updated-5-24-?page=8#post-1493872 http://archive.is/uruXC Second update: Guro has now blocked me from his social media platforms, which leaves me no way to contact him. It confirms that he was the one that made these fake longthings, and not this "darlingdoq" account he claimed sold him these. https://sta.sh/0hdfdn9kpor Third update: And ladies and gents, I have payment part 1 of 2 from Guro-boy. https://sta.sh/014i8wjqluw5 https://sta.sh/0gbcxkc9wk Update 6/3: New accounts added to the list of accounts. ** 6/20/2018: A rep from paypal called me today. She resolved my claim and issued a credit for thew full 258$ to my account. It turns out, there was a large misunderstanding on paypal's part and my correct channel through the BBB resolved this. I issued a refund to Guro-boy for the 125$ they gave me. I am not interested in keeping money that is not mine. I am considering this resolved. Note: Cleaned up the HTML coding.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/992520.html Time: 2018-04-21 08:47 Subject: Buyer beware: lemonbrat Text: Time: 2018-03-31 05:44 Subject: Buyer beware : lemonbrat Text: Where:Lemonbrat.com What:digital ref sheet When: 2/2/18- 3/30/18 I commissioned lemonbrat to make a ref sheet of a character that was supposed to only take two weeks max. Original contact was a little slow as expected, but he was friendly, and we exchanged several emails with me detailing what i wanted, and him giving me the price, and his paypal. Once i payed him i never heard from hom again about its progress, even after i sent 4 different emails, from two email accounts he never responded. I waited a full month, twice the agreed apon dead line before i went to paypal issuing a charge back, with an paypal message directly too him urging a response. Between the ten day deadline paypal gave him, i finally got a response on my email, with no mention of the chargeback issued, and him giving a baseline ref sheet that looked like a scrap character with minor changes, and was still nothing like what i asked. It was three completely different colors, had horns, and spikes I didn’t ask for, and the color pattern i wanted was nonexistent. I replied saying as much, and never hear from him again, not even after the paypal deadline was up, and i was refunded the money by paypal not him. http://imgur.com/a/iykouR8

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/992137.html WHO: Uriko44 WHERE: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/uriko44/ WHAT: Traditional Badge with Holographic Overlay https://www.dropbox.com/s/g231lznmaj02hfi/pe.png?dl=0 Finished Product before lamination WHEN: March 30th - April 19th EXPLAIN: Around March 30th Uriko44 opened for $20 USD Traditional Chibi Badges with optional holographic overlay. Myself (and a friend of mine) bought the chibi plushie badges. With quick excitement the arrangement was made and everything went fine. Payment: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f449aproox3qhc0/%23payment.png?dl=0 My email is unhidden because it is public knowledge. I do not mind it being there. I do not have the details of the transaction occurring due to a personal issue and deleting everything. However, I did receive a digital copy of my work completed before that and had approved the image as the image itself is not an issue. In fact, I deeply love the image (link 1). Once I received the badge in the mail I was to preoccupied with personal life so it took me a few days to be able to actually look it over. At this time I hadn't been online and disabled my main account to keep myself from going on and stressing myself. I noticed there were two (animal) hairs in the lamination. One near the front-most ear and on her dress (link 2 and link 3). So, I logged into my OLD account and proceeded to message them at my earliest convenience that I have received the badge but displeased with the fact there was two hairs inside my badge that were noticeable to the point of unable to enjoy my badge (link 4). They asked to see the images which I happily obliged. An issue occurred and imgur didn't want to link the two images together to be sent. There I sent them separately for them to be able to see (link 5). They acknowledge the first hair and apologized for it. However, what next threw me for a loop. They only offered a $4 USD refund or a $5 OFF next commission purchase. I was shocked and a bit almost upset as I didn't want a refund or a discount. Just wanted my badge fixed (link 6). I sent another image with the second hair with a zoom (link 7). So, understanding that markers cost money I offered with a bit more of a discount to have them just re-draw the image or if they could re-do the lamination. I wasn't expecting anything free just a bit more in the way of compensation for artist error this can be seen in link 6 of our discussion. Instead they tell me that they cannot offer more and I have the scanned version and just to print it out myself and links of this discussion can be seen in link 6 and link 7 as well. I don't own a printer and if I printed it out I would have to pay for it via a store. I explained to them that not only would it cost me money to print it out but to laminate it. As well I wouldn't be able to get the holographic version as I do not have the means to do so. That a $4 refund was not enough for damages made to my card. As well the quality of a print out version was not what I paid $22 dollars for. I made it a note that I feel this is not fair to me (link 8). Their reply was more that beware worthy on my end. They told me I have the artwork (ruined by animal hair, mind you) and the digital file. That my $22 paid was enough to cover that and to be happy as it was a good deal. As well they just blew me off and says just not to work with them again. They also made a comment of "feel free to do the work I had to do to find the overlay and make the work to your own standards" (link 8). I was devastated and with that attitude I felt they were not going to give me any sort of compensation. Luckily, I was able to go to paypal and force a partial refund of $8 USD as my friend told me I should have pushed for half all I wanted was my picture redone. This was never about the money and in fact I offered more just to have it fixed properly. Their TOS before my commission: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8qhfjdvtpzbo5ds/ToS.jpg?dl=0 Their TOS after my refund: https://www.dropbox.com/s/suq18feeojhlqnv/%235.png?dl=0 However, this is a "resolved" post as the refund was given to me by Uriko44 after filing a dispute. https://www.dropbox.com/s/fi19x0qgua3ldgq/photo_2018-04-19_11-03-03.jpg?dl=0 PROOF: Link 1: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/26943017/ My friend's is the one with a Sesshomaru plushie. Link 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ctcr0xclls562q/4RNbzjJ.jpg?dl=0 Link 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/68uwajc0t2vxltv/pZ2fKFw.jpg?dl=0 Link 4: https://www.dropbox.com/s/97k4l5q0cbyk94i/%231.png?dl=0 Link 5: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wkvaykv2w3d552a/%232.png?dl=0 Link 6: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pwa271t0nl7iqka/%233.png?dl=0 Link 7: https://www.dropbox.com/s/47p9h1nnxy0gwez/vrjd3BW.jpg?dl=0 Link 8: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cwcbxyttsk8yblb/%234.png?dl=0

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/992298.html Who: Lost-Paw Where: FurAffinity and Twitter http://www.furaffinity.net/user/lost-paw https://mobile.twitter.com/lost_paw What: Digital art When: April 2017 to April 2018 Explain: Keeping this short because the screenshots tell the story. I commissioned Lost-Paw on Furaffinity in April of 2017 and have yet to receive my commission. I’ve followed up on its progress numerous times and they’ve told me that the commission is completed but they’ve yet to send it. They even re-did it this year since they were unhappy with the first version and I have seen a WIP of the second version but still no finished piece. Regardless, I’m beginning to doubt that it’s actually finished as they’ve stated. To combat any questions which may arise, no I did not get the partial refund. The point of this beware is on my 1-Year wait and the fact that I have still yet to receive what I paid for. Nothing more, nothing less. Proof: Screenshots here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/grrcvd6vgpb33q0/AABoPausNQFnyXEX5Zhahn8Ja?dl=0 I’ll update the screenshots and the post depending on how things progress.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/991456.html Who: Fuzzworks Fursuits/Darby Deer Where: Facebook. You can view there very packed trello here: https://trello.com/b/c0ua8utY/fursuits What: a pair of fursuit feet When: First payment was September 30th, 2016 and I am still experiencing issues to this day. Explanation: I ordered a pair of feet from Fuzzworks. Its been damn near impossible to get a hold of them. They also jam pack their schedule and do a lot of trades with others and constantly travel to cons. After poking Darby a few times I made a beware on Facebook, which turned into a storm of white knights and Darby asking me to remove the post. I did, hoping I would finally get some process on my feet and nothing. I then asked Darby to make the feet for Furnal Equinox and then I can just pick them up there from her to make things easier on her part. I also ordered a Bandana from her, which she never shipped and I had to pick up from FE as well. I'm still currently waiting on a refund and it's been over 2 weeks since she said she would refund me. Fuzzworks has a history of bad customer service and not giving their clients updates. People were telling me its normal to wait almost a year for products from them or no communication. Do not commission these people. They are constantly asking for trades too, which they don't even have time to do with how stacked they are with commissions. They also made a post once they offered the refund that I "canceled" my slot. Proof: here is the paypal transaction: and here is the conversation I had with Darby along with the post she made regarding the canceled slot. and thats that. I'm still waiting for a refund and she hasn't replied to me yet either.