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January 18th–22nd I was browsing FA and saw that Shinjoui had posted a Valentine's YCH that I liked and wanted to buy as a gift. I placed a bid, and a few days later Shin replied, telling me that they were ending the bidding early and sent me a note. I was busy IRL and didn’t respond right away, so they sent me another message saying, “Hi?” I replied as soon as I was available, paid them through Boosty, and sent them the characters. They responded, saying thank you and that the characters were cute. Note: The bidding was tiered, and because I bid under $80, the finished quality was supposed to be just a sketch in the same style the YCH was already in. I also wouldn’t be getting the NSFW alt. February 19th Valentine’s Day came and went without any word from them. I checked their FA and saw them posting that they were taking sketch commissions with a three-day turnaround. I was a bit peeved but thought that maybe they’d be finishing mine soon, since they were opening for more commissions. February 23rd They had posted a sketch from the batch from the 19th, as well as another post opening for more sketches with an even shorter deadline. So, I decided to message them. I sent a note asking for an ETA and mentioned that I thought the YCH was supposed to be done by Valentine’s Day. They responded, apologized, and said they’d finish it soon. They also offered to draw a gift to make up for the delay. I replied, thanking them for responding. Three weeks went by, and on the 27th they posted a few openings and three finished commissions before going radio silent. March 15th I sent them another message, saying it had been two weeks (I apparently can’t count), and I was checking in again. I said I didn’t mean to be pushy, but it felt like a long wait for just a sketch. I checked today (May 1st) and saw that they have deactivated their page. Also, I don’t have proof of this because I forgot to take screenshots and their page is now deactivated, but I had, at two separate points, left shouts on their page after my note from the 15th went ignored for another two weeks or so. I left one asking them to reply to my note, and another about a week later saying that I felt like I was being scammed. I’m not expecting to see them come back.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/829508.html It's really disheartening to have to come forward with this report, but after having patience and trying to negotiate with the artist, I have begun to feel like I had no choice on this matter, especially after many people have instructed me to come forward. I apologize for this post being very long; I wanted to make sure I included all the details I possibly could. Who/Where: Fursuit Maker: Frostcat-Studio / Ritz_Bitz / Ritz_Tweeting When I originally considered looking into getting my first fursuit, I had only heard of this maker through the recommendation of a mutual friend. From looking at their gallery, they seemed to have very nice work and I was given the impression that they could provide me with similar work. What: One Partial Fursuit ($1200) I had originally contacted Ritz for a fursuit in June of 2014 and on June 27th we agreed to a price of $1200 to make my partial, which included a large tail and also a set of wings. Here you can see Ritz had offered to add a magnetic feature to the wings so they could be worn under a shirt with a harness and I was charged and extra $170 for this addition. ->The email can be viewed here <- (Our conversation is very casual as we had been united through a mutual friend) On September 20th 2014, I confirmed my slot and placed my 50% down payment. -> Link for Proof <- (Ritz real name has been blanked) Then, on November 25th 2014 I paid my remaining $600. (The screen shot shows a total of an additional $1200 as I also paid off the remaining $600 on the mutual friend's balance to help them out. That amount is not related to my entry) -> Link for final Payment Proof <- Explain: At first, Ritz kept very good communication when working on my fursuit and seemed interested in making it "just right". She replied to my inquires often and kept reliable contact with me, even sending me work in progress images from time to time. While I would get pictures, I never really was sure what I was looking at in terms of what she had been doing; I was never given any explanation and was issued vague descriptions, which is possibly my fault for not speaking up on but I had never commissioned a suit before and felt I should place my trust in the maker to do their job. The first red flag that came to me was when she would inquire about my second payment and instead of contacting me directly, she would ask the mutual friend to remind me on her behalf. This really struck me as odd given the mutual friend was not working for Ritz and my contact information was established prior. I ended up ignoring my gut on this issue given the mutual friend was close to both of us and since this was a friendly transaction, I considered it to just be another casual aspect of the entire affair. Ritz proposed the completion date (By Further Confusion 2015) and said that having it complete by this time would be no issue, so I planned to attend this convention so I could have a good time fursuiting for the first time. Overall, the anticipation building for this costume was immense as I would be flying in from Florida to attend the convention in California just to have a chance to wear it for the first time. On January 4th (approximately 10 days before the convention), I was shown images of my completed fursuit via Twitter and Skype. The images were not close ups or anything, so from first appearances I was excited. While it wasn't the quality I had expected, I was still excited to have a costume regardless. I should take responsibility for my qualms with the quality as when browsing her gallery I had not noticed the suits that stood out to me were all built on headbases made by other fursuit makers when mine would be built from scratch; That being said my expectations for what I would receive were not completely accurate and it was my fault for not researching further. Regardless, I told her I was happy with it visually and was eager to wear a fursuit for the first time. Overtime, I ended up coming into a disagreement with the mutual friend who had connected Ritz and I for the commission and we began to grow apart. I didn't think it would effect my commission with Ritz in anyway, but later on I would find it was quite the opposite. (This is only important to note as it will become relevant later on.) Originally, the suit was going to be shipped to the mutual friend and delivered to me at the convention however due to (what I can only assume to be) rising tension, the mutual friend opted not to deliver the costume to me. Given I was flying in from across the country, I asked a friend from Southern California to have it shipped to them instead since they would be driving to the convention. The friends who ended up having the fursuit shipped to them did not open the box in any way until they found me at the convention and I opened it myself. January 15th When I made it to the convention, I met up with my friends from Southern California (I was also rooming with them) and they had my fursuit box in the hotel room waiting for me. At first glace, I was already very upset. The box was very poorly packaged and looked very ragged. I would have thought it could have been mangled by the postal service but it seemed the degrading box was actually taped up in areas where it was falling apart and that tape was laid beneath the original packing where the shipping information was. It was very clear that Ritz reused a battered and trashed box to ship my $1200 product and my concern began to grow before I had even seen the costume. Upon opening the box, the first thing that was staring at me was a foot paw that was falling apart. The box had just been opened and the suit was already damaged in quite visible ways. Thankfully, I had a room full of witnesses that helped me gather pictures of the unboxing. Here is a visual collection of the damages that we discovered. -> The footpaws were separating from the shoes (That I had to purchase myself and ship to her) before they were ever worn. -> The bottom Jaw and horns were crooked and the head was barely foamed so it would lose it's shape when not worn. -> The seam in the fur on the direct center of the muzzle was popped despite never having been worn yet. -> The balaclava was not attached with only a few tiny dabs of hot glue and separated from the foam and also has various holes in it. -> In fact, the Balaclava had MANY holes in it. -> The fur on the hand paws was poorly shaved and some of the claws were upside down. -> The shave job was uneven and jagged. -> And in some places, the fur was shaved all the way down to the backing. Now, as you can imagine, I was not very pleased to open the box and discover the suit was in such a mess after never being worn. Some of the mistakes I saw were very common from beginner suit makers however I was given the impression that Ritz was NOT a new maker and had enough experience to warrant the $1200 price tag (which could buy a partial from many makers who would not have made these mistakes). On top of all these issues, I discovered that the set of wings I had ordered for this costume did not feature any magnetic attachments at all. Instead, the wings were sewn directly into a harness made from elastic straps, making it impossible to wear them without having the harness worn on top of my clothes. This was also very upsetting given Ritz had offered to make this feature for me and charged me an additional $170 for it, yet never once mentioned to me during the construction process that they would no longer be doing the magnet idea. I immediately decided to contact Ritz as she was at the convention and perhaps she could do enough quick fixes so I could at least wear my fursuit; I did fly in from across the country just to wear it around afterall. I didn't mind waiting on fixing the other issues, but I at least wanted some help fixing the shoes. I decided to contact our mutual friend to get in touch with Ritz because I had no other way to reach her at the time. We met up and I explained what the problems were and she agreed to get the feet fixed. We went to Ritz's hotel room and she did a quick hot glue job on the paws with me standing there. It was not very thorough but it seemed like it was enough to keep them together for the time being. I also had the chance to ask about the missing magnets and she explained that there were no magnets strong enough to hold the wings in place (which isn't true since you can order some that can hold up to 75lbs!) so she opted to sew them to the harness without informing me to meet the tight deadline. After Ritz "fixed" the feet, I went back to my hotel room and decided to wear my suit as it was to try and enjoy the convention. The next morning, I went to participate in the fursuit parade and that was when the fur on my foot paws began to separate again; this time on both feet. Additionally, the buckram connected to the plastic to make the eyes began to separate and peel from the plastic. This was also when I noticed that the plastic has been hastily cut and there were strands of of debris going into the space where my actual eyes were. After the parade, I found Ritz again to show her what was happening with my brand new suit and she seemed very disinterested in my issues. When I brought attention to the issue with the eye popping out, both Ritz and the mutual friend (whom was with her the entire con) began to give me sass and snark about not being "too rough" with the costume then walked off without making any attempt to help me with the situation. I was pretty appalled at this reaction given I paid so much money for a costume to wear and was basically being told not to wear it if I didn't want it to fall apart. I had been just wearing the suit like any normal person would, I wasn't jabbing the eyes in with my finger or anything for goodness sake. It was at this point the mutual friend decided to get involved and began sending me text messages that said I was being rude and "mean" to Ritz for contacting her about these issues and the issues in question were not her fault. Why was the suit maker's friend getting involved and handling this situation? This had nothing to do with them so why were they acting as a messenger for Ritz? At this point, I was given the very strong impression that Ritz no longer wanted to provide me with any help for the costume, so in order to make it wearable I asked for the help of my friends (I was rooming with) to help me do minor repairs. I was forced to go out and buy a glue gun and ask a friend to cut time from her convention experience to keep the suit intact. During the time we spent fixing it, we also began to see even more issues with the craftsmanship. -> The zipper on the back of the head was glued to the fur instead of sewn and began to separate. -> The horns were discovered to have no foam to anchor them, explaining why they were crooked. I think the majority of my convention time was spent with a friend trying to repair this costume. We were absolutely sure not to modify anything, just attempt to repair the poor craftsmanship. After a certain point, my friend explained to me that we should stop repairing it all together because the state it was in just couldn't be saved at a convention. I attempted to contact Ritz once more via twitter DMs to try and show her the state of the suit before the end of the convention but she unfortunately decided to start ignoring me. I was polite and kind because I wasn't mad as much desperate to fix these issues. It was such a frustrating experience because I just wanted some resolution for this costume that I spent a large sum of money on and the person who sold it to me made me feel like they had zero concern for the situation now that the money was already in their hands. To make things worse, a few hours later Ritz began tweeting about me to try and detract from my issues, implying that I was picking on them because I had a disagreement with the mutual friend. This was just the end to my willingness to work with this fursuit maker anymore and I ended up sitting in tears while friends comforted me. One of my friends began discussing things with Ritz on twitter because it very strongly felt that she would not be dealing with me beyond this point and Ritz began stating that the problems with the costume were not actually there nor her fault and began to explain that the situation had very much been influenced by my falling out with the mutual friend. My friend then decided to take the conversation with her in private and they discussed the situation because Ritz still would not talk directly to me. During the private conversation with my friend, Ritz admitted to rushing my fursuit and stated that she could not afford to refund the costume but would work out a plan after the convention to make things right. She also stated that it was "shitty" or me to not want repairs at this point and called it unreasonable. I may be unreasonable for not wanting repairs, but I don't trust this individual with my money anyone given these problems would not exist if the care needed was put in to begin with not to mention the constant avoidance with my problems. I did not feel this person wanted to fix things correctly. After Ritz had conversation with my friend, it was decided that after the convention she would absolutely talk to me about the problems with the costume and find a resolution. (I can provide screen shots of this entire conversation if necessary, however I opted to leave them out initially as so my friend would not be dragged into the issue. I firmly believe this should have stayed between Ritz and myself and the constant involvement from third parties has really caused more drama than needed.) January 20th (2015) Two days after the convention, Ritz contacts me on Skype and begins trying to work out a situation from the suit. She begins by offering me two options; One is to send the suit back for repairs or I can send the suit to be stripped and turned into a different character that she can sell. She tells me that I can not be refunded 30% of the fursuit cost as the cost of the materials can not be returned. Despite finding that option to be very unfair (given I would be returning the suit to her so she could recoup her losses and the reason for refund was not a cancellation but rather the product was broken and the fault was hers), I agreed and stated that after all that had happened and the personal involvement of her friend causing tension I did not want it refurbished; I just wanted a refund. She also explains to me that she -can not refund me at all- until I return the suit and she resells it, thus leaving my money weighing on the uncertainty of weather or not the suit sells and if it does, would it sell for the $800 she says I am owed? She insists she will not refund money until I send the suit back, however that was understandable and we agreed. She also mentions at the same time that she will send $200 refund in "good faith" (that I have never since seen). I am kind and understanding with her and even apologetic for the situation that unfolded despite being at no fault myself. I wanted to make things right and I felt bad that she had spent the last few days tweeting about never wanting to make suits again. I felt guilty for the distress I put her through so I even said I would think about letting her repair the suit after she pushed that option on me constantly (despite saying I did not want it). She additionally admits to her friend's presence having effected her business with me and even the way she treated me as a customer, which sent even more red flags to me, but she genuinely seemed like she wanted to make things right so I did my best to return it. Her main concern throughout the entire conversation was her name and reputation, which seemed very off-putting given I felt her main concern should have been to fix the situation with my costume. -> Conversation can be found here <- January 30th (2015) About ten days after our conversation, I gave Ritz my final decision. I took note to how stressed she was over the decision and gave her time to come down from the ordeal. I politely explained to her that I did not feel comfortable sending her the suit and waiting for her to resell it before I would receive any money. I stated that I would gladly return the suit after I was refunded and left it at that. -> Link to Conversation <- The Next day, Ritz replies to me stating that she can not refund me for the amount I am owed until I return the suit in parts for her to resell and asks for a week to figure something out. She explains that she will use her tax refund to pay me the money I am owed and I reassure her that I can wait for a refund as long as it needs to be. My main concern is still that I do not want to return the goods until I am compensated for them. This is when her contact slows to a grinding halt. She openly begins to dodge my communication and puts me on the back burner and does not contact me in any way unless I put an effort into contacting her. February 12th I end up contacting her as it has been nearly two weeks since her last contact with me. Again, I am civil and I calmly ask what the game plan is for the situation. On February 14th I get a reply in which she states that her tax refund was small and she would not be able to refund me from that money. She also goes back on her word in stating that she would refund me and takes an aggressive tone, calling our agreed upon solution to be "unfair" and says that my failure to trust her is preventing me from getting my money back. Now, I'm going to throw some personal opinion in here but...how am I being unfair? She agreed to refund me and suddenly is changing her tune and even going as far as to insinuate that this situation is my fault for "not trusting her". The problem is, I already trusted her with $1200 to deliver a product to me in functioning order. She not only failed to do that, but she also insulted me, ignored me and went as far as to try and claim her faulty craftsmanship (which she admitted to) was -my- fault. Yes, I do not trust her with giving me my money back and I will not relinquish the costume until I am given a refund. I am not asking for both the suit and a refund, I am asking to be compensated -before- I give up the costume. The artist's financial issues are not my concern, what is my concern is the money that she had taken from me and will not return. -> This reply can be viewed here <- She has dodged contact with me and has put me in a situation where I am not sure if I am going to have this situation resolved. On February 17th, I contacted her asking for her to talk to me when I was online as I didn't enjoy playing message tag when the subject was so important. I tried once more on the 18th to reach out and beg for conversation on the topic and reaffirmed my stance about her taking back the product to resell. I even went as far as to offer my phone number to try and resolve the issue but she had left me in the dark, all while spending time on twitter and talking to other people on skype. I am fully aware I am being ignored and it's gotten to the point where I am getting ready to file a charge back on paypal if this doesn't get resolved soon. -> Proof of contact attempts <- (screen shots were taken on 2/18/2015) 2/21 - Ritz contacted me in response to my final message in which I explained that I felt that I didn't believe it was fair to charge me for materials when I would be returning the suit for her to recoup that loss and because the issue with the costume was not due to cancellation or error on my end. I admit that I did change my mind in terms of the refund I was willing to accept though the advice of many friends and other artists swayed my mind. I did agree that taking a partial refund for having zero product on an issue that was no fault of my own felt very wrong, but I may be out of line for having brought that up and changing my stance I take responsibility for that. She responded aggressively, again cursing at me and using profanity. I was given a "final option" in which I was told I will wait until she gets her tax refund after I return the broken merchandise she had given me before I will receive any financial compensation. I don't feel that this is ever a way an artist or suit maker should ever talk to or treat a client, but maybe I am bitter and misinterpreted her reply as more rude than it actually was. I politely asked her to calm down because her abrasive reply felt very flustered and asked her to give me a phone call so we can figure things out. She explains that she can't handle phone calls due to anxiety so despite it being a difficult work around for me (my work generally keeps me very busy) I understand her position and tell her I can easily wait for her to finish helping a friend move out. She asks me if I would "actually want to resolve this civilly" which struck me as rude given I don't feel I have been anything but? - > Conversation <- As of now, it is 2/27/15 and we have not resolved the issue at all. I feel like I am constantly being fed excuses, ignored and just treated very poorly in general and as a customer that paid $1200 for a costume that is barely wearable, I feel like this shouldn't be the case? I just feel like I'm stuck in a run around and I can't help but think I'm not doing the wrong thing? This is the first time I've ever commissioned a fursuit so perhaps my inexperience is what keeps this situation from being resolved? I'd be happy to take fault if I knew what I was doing wrong! I'm hoping that in posting this entry, I can warn people about this maker's shady business practices, lack of professionalism and lack of concern for their customers. I'm also hoping this may be the final nudge needed to get Ritz to acknowledge me and resolve the situation before I file for a charge back on Paypal. $1200 is quite a sum of money to be over drafted and I would absolutely prefer not to financially break this artist. I just want resolution, I want her to give me a game plan and show concern for the situation and give me a refund for the broken product she gave me. EDIT: 3/4/2015 On the day this entry had been posted, Ritz returned from attending an Anime convention and contacted me. She has posted the caps herself below, however just to be sure, here is the gist of what was said: -> Conversation <- While yes, she did offer to refund me $800, she also went on to bring up unexpected bills she mentioned on twitter and debts which made me feel extremely guilty in accepting any money from her when her personal life needed the money so much more. As I have said countless times, I am not out to be a bully in any way; I just want a refund for the broken costume I was given. Later in the day while I was at work, Ritz confronts me on skype with this: I wasn't even aware the entry had been posted at that point as I was on patrol at work (I am a police officer) and she begins getting aggressive on me, stating that she thought this was resolved and saying she was insulted. For one thing, this post was made days prior when I had not yet received any contact, secondly I would never consider this issue to be revolved until the money is in my hands and the fursuit was in hers. At this point, she offers me a NDA Contract because she no longer "trusts" me for having made this entry. Ritz is well aware that I have now requested a full $1200 for my refund because as others have mentioned here, I should not take a material cost loss when the issues with the transaction were not my own. The contract is incredibly damaging for me in which is states that I am unable to speak of the event in public or to third parties and states that Ritz may deduct from my refund if she is unable to sell the broken suit she crafted. I have screen capped the contract issued to me (I had to censor our names) and would like AB's input. -> The NDA/Contract I was offered <- (Ritz is the first party where as I am the second) I do not feel comfortable having to sign a contract to have the money I am owed returned to me; I feel like this is a form of blackmail in order to try and silence me if I want the money I am owed back, furthermore the amount offered is not what I am requesting. I want a full refund and that is what I am standing firm on, especially if Ritz is going to refurbish and sell the broken merchandise I was sold. I do not feel fit signing a binding legal agreement that states I am unable to make "any other online postings about the other party" I am additionally saddened by Ritz response here in the community claiming I have falsified any documentation in this entry and went as far as to accuse me of Libel and Slander within the proposed contract. I have not fabricated any of the content within this journal nor would I have had to should I received a functioning product to begin with. I also asked a few friends to review the contract that was presented to me, to which Ritz stated I should never do unless I approach a lawyer. I am in disbelief I was scolded for asking for input before signing a binding legal contract and that made me feel like Ritz knowingly attempted to shaft me. Additionally, while discussing the public image Ritz has gained from this entryI was suddenly confronted with Ritz's fiance (who could not bother to spell my name correctly). I expressed to him that I have no interest in talking to him about the transaction and want Ritz to be present. She returns and demands I resolve this tonight -> Conversation <- At this phase, I am done playing games with Ritz. I am tired of being treated like a bully or a bad guy when I have done all I can to be agreeable and helpful with this situation. My job requires a very taxing amount of my time and I can't be bothered to jump through hoops anymore. I have issues Ritz a final statement and that is where I am leaving it. I will not be accepting any amount under the original $1200 I have paid and if a resolution is not reached within the week, I will be filing a charge back OR if that fails I will be taking legal action. Ritz has proven to me that her reputation takes precedence above her clients and that is why I can not be bothered to be involved in her personal financial matters or give leniency anymore. -> My final statement to her about the matter <- At this point, this issue is not resolved despite Ritz claiming it to be so on social media. Edit 2: Ritz has now hidden her twitter from public view due to her initiating issues with people discussing this entry and claiming she was harassed. I do not support anyone causing her trouble on social media and I have not encouraged any of that behavior. Edit 3: Approximately one hour after I had amended this entry with the NDA they proposed to me, Ritz contacted me again and negotiated a refund. Her reply was as unprofessional as the rest and was of course not without an attempted guilt trip. She assumed my commentary about conventions and ski trips were about money when in reality it was about her lack of contact with me (in the cases where I was told she was too busy to negotiate with me). After accusing me of harassment and reminding me about her tax refund, I was asked to give her my paypal and complied. Despite constantly being told that she could not afford to refund me in full, I was suddenly sent the full amount of $1200. This left me a bit unsettled, however I wasn't going to ask any more when I got what I had requested. I have informed her that I would alter the entry and mark the situation as resolved. I will also be shipping the fursuit back to her this week and will edit the entry one last time to prove I have made good on my end of the bargain. I want to thank the Artist's Beware community for it's insight and help on dealing with this situation. This community is a valuable resource and I am glad to have been able to use it. As far as this entry goes, while it is now resolved I would still consider it a more than valid beware. I think the entry speaks for itself and down to the very end this maker could not handle a professional attitude. I also want to note that this suit will be refurbished and relisted for sale, so buyer beware in the future. I am very disappointed that things between this maker and I had to come to this. I was very polite and willing to work with them to accommodate their own situations if they would help me with mine and that refusal just made it impossible. Ultimately, it was not the desire to right a wrong that got me my refund, it was the desire to salvage their reputation that finally made a nearly two month long ordeal come to a close. If the maker had just shown the same concern for me as a client as they did for their reputation, this post wouldn't have had to be made. EDIT: 3/6/2015: The fursuit has been shipped to Ritz. I can provide a tracking number to the entry if needed and also visual documentation was taken to provide proof the suit was shipped in the most protective way possible, including the individual parts being bagged to prevent weather damage to eliminate any claims proper care was not taken.

2023 December 13th Kai had posted a reminder for one of their multi-slot YCHs. I liked this one a lot and decided to comment asking for a slot and Kai sent me a note asking for details and gave me a payment link. December 14th I had something happen with power going out at my house so I was unable to answer right away. He sent me another note the next day asking me how I was doing and I replied with my situation from my phone. December 15th When I was able to get to my PC I replied to his first note with the characters, asking if he'd be able to draw them before I sent payment. The character's species has a specific blocky head-shape and aren't supposed to have foreheads/ protruding brow bones so I told him that. He said he'd have no problem drawing their head-shape and to let him know when I sent payment. I went ahead and sent it and mentioned that I forgot to ask him if the cigarette in the piece could be changed into a vape instead and he replied saying he received payment and had no problems with changing it to a vape. I'm going to post the character references I sent him so you can see the head-shape and details on them that become relevant later. 2024 July 19th I hadn't heard anything from Kai but he posted a journal saying he was done with his medical school exams and now had time to work on his queue. He was going to be working in the order of when the YCH's were listed vs bouncing between who ordered what slot first and was doing the YCH's in batches for each month. Mine was set for September. December 3rd I checked in on his journal and saw another person had been asking in November if the deadlines were still accurate as they were waiting for a YCH from October and November. I commented as well, asking if the queue was still accurate as I would have been waiting a year for the piece on the 16th.. 2025 January 5th Kai uploaded his first post since people had been asking for updates and it was a reminder for a YCH and he continued to ignore everyone else. I ended up commenting on the reminder stating: "I don't mean to be rude, but why are you taking on more slots when you haven't finished the ones from over a year ago? Everyone has been patiently waiting and asking you for updates on your "deadline" journal just for you to ignore us for months and come back to take on even more commissions. You need to either finish your queue and/ or begin sending out refunds. Otherwise it looks like you're just trying to run with our money. :/" I also went and copy pasted it onto the YCH he had the reminder for with the same thing. There was someone who commented wanting a slot and I warned them that Kai had a queue of over a year and they removed their comments. A few hours later, Kai ended up responding to me and the other two commenters on the journal with a copy paste message saying: "I'm sorry for the delay. I was not able to use my strength to the full and the three-year burnout has taken its toll. I took a month off in December, which kind of helped, so I will update and make a more accurate list of deadlines soon, but by name. So that each of you can keep track of my work. I'm really sorry for the wait." He hid my comment on the YCH reminder but didn't hide the one on the YCH itself. Eleven hours later got a note from him telling me that he had been burnt out from work and that he actually had finished my YCH with a link to the piece. It mostly looks nice but there are several things off. Kai didn't even try editing the head-shape outside of erasing the nose and adding slit nostrils and missed a few key things that were on the character's references (Horn rings, Nyx's collar and neck fluff), he also didn't change the cigarette.) I feel like given the amount of time it took for him to respond to me that he went and rush did the piece because otherwise I don't know why he wouldn't have just sent it to me beforehand. I messaged him back asking for changes but that note has been left on unread and I sent him another on the 26th which has also been ignored. I'm almost certain that I am not going to get a response anytime soon and he's just running off with several people's money. I really think people should stay clear of him unless he does a major turn around.

Original agreement: I paid 60$ in cash for a digitally illustrated badge that will be laminated and shipped to me after the con (AC24). Proof of payment: It was paid in cash at the time of commission (first day of the con within 20 minutes of them the artist alley opening.) What happened: The art was to be completed within 1-2 weeks, it was completed in 4 weeks (august 2nd, full res provided on trello on august 5th), no complaints there. On the same day of completion, they asked for my address which I provided. Since August 12th, I have had no contact from them on telegram, which was the only social media i was provided at time of purchase. on their trello, they say they ship Friday's, being that mine was completed on a Friday, I figured I'd wait a week. and another week. and another. I never received any update, so I texted on September 2nd. (this jumps ahead showing future messages, but basically them asking my address was the last message I received personally from them.) Through digging around, I found a twitter which they were active on, but I don't have a twitter account. I asked if my SO could contact them as they have a twitter, and he was successful in contacting them on September 19th on my behalf. The reason they claim for not shipping my supposedly printed badge is that they moved and have yet to find a place to laminate my badge. My SO tried to follow up weeks later but further communication was unsuccessful. After more digging I found their email in their trello, and again, had my SO contact them on my behalf (they check their email more than I do). Yet again, unsuccessful. October, November, December, January... no response. On any platform. I have yet to have my badge shipped or a partial refund or anything. (I no longer need the full-res as it was posted on their trello.)

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

On March 21, 2025, I won a collab YCH slot from 0-ruff at the bid of $95. The payment per the auction description was to be done on Boosty or Hipolink, which I have used with other artists in the past and am familiar with the platforms, so I had no issues placing a bid with these conditions. Despite the bid being made in USD and Boosty showing USD amounts, 0-ruff insisted in payment being made in rubles. I informed 0-ruff that I was unable to make the payment in rubles as Boosty would only permit me to do payments in USD and asked if this was acceptable. I have always done business with Russian-based artists on Boosty like this with no issues in the past and saw no reason this time would be any different. To my surprise, 0-ruff tried to make an argument that Boosty has its own currency exchange rate (?) and that I should pay $98 instead of the $95 bid I placed. I was unsure about this since this didn't sound right, but I made the payment for $98 regardless and sent my information. 0-ruff then claimed that they did not receive the full payment amount and insisted I pay them more. I was confused because I had already paid more than my winning bid for the YCH and had the receipt showing it, so I questioned them, repeating that Boosty shows payments in USD and I had made the full payment they asked for. When I went to go check on Boosty again, I noticed 0-ruff had then upped the payment from $98 to $100 after I had paid. I confronted 0-ruff about this and provided screenshots of my completed payment, their updated price, and the Google currency exchange (which they claimed to be using) which showed I had already paid the full amount they asked for. 0-ruff continued to make some claims about currency exchanges not being stable and that each platform has its own currency exchange rate (?) and that they only used Google's exchange, which also showed I had made more than the payment I needed to. At this point, I no longer felt that 0-ruff was following fair exchange rates and business practices and confronted them about it and asked for a refund, as I did not trust them to not continue to ask for more money or hold the artwork hostage in exchange for more money. They had already proven they were just charging whatever they felt they could get, regardless of the initial bid or auction rules and I no longer wished to do business with them. 0-ruff pushed back and refused to refund the paid amount or acknowledge the retraction of my bid. I repeated that I no longer felt this was a trustworthy exchange and did not wish to continue to work with them based on these principles and a lack of trust. I ultimately had to threaten to do a report and chargeback to get a response from them. 0-ruff continued to refuse a refund, called me unstable for calling them out on uncharging my original bid, and then blocked me without further discussion. Following this, 0-ruff then hid my bid on the YCH auction and continued to take bids for the slot despite not refunding me the money I had already paid to them. I am now having to work with my bank and Boosty to get the money charged back as a fraudulent charge. This was my first and last time dealing with 0-ruff. [Item removed by Moderation (Eden) due to unfounded claims that we would have not permitted.]

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1005457.html WHO: Athena The Jackal WHERE: Biggest Little Fur Con 2017 Twitter: http://Twitter.com/athenathejackal Telegram: @athenathejackal FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/~athena~/ WHAT: headshot Perler bead badge WHEN: June 4, 2017 - present EXPLAIN: I realize some of my Twitter photos are out of order and I’m omitting a LOT of our arguing in-between some posts, but feel free to peruse her public Twitter for the full conversation as well as her attitude toward dealing with myself and others. I commissioned Athena for a Perler bead badge on June 4, 2017 at BLFC. I paid somewhere near $130 in cash, so I have zero paper trail. (A stupid move on my part, I know) At this point I have accepted I will not be getting a refund, and at this point I don’t even know when or if I’ll be getting my badge. We never really had good contact, but I’m a relatively patient person. As you can see from my Telegram posts, I let months sometimes slide in-between contact with her before trying to get something from her. On November 16 on Telegram, she said that my badge would be completed by MFF, and then shipped to me after the show. When nothing came about it, I asked again about my badge and on January 11 was told my badge would be done “at the end of next week”. https://drive.google.com/open?id=13RzS3kgroWv8RZOhmepHr4pBYtPpyO_L On January 10 on Twitter, she posted a batch of badges she recently completed — mine was not among them. I still have no clue what the size of her queue is, since she doesn’t have it publicly posted, so naturally I get worried. It takes her another solid TWO MONTHS from the original post to finally come forward about what’s happened to her. On March 15, she starts replying to messages, saying that her PayPal was hacked, and she had a bunch of personal drama going on. I totally get that real life sometimes takes over, and she did show another batch of badges March 31 that were finished. I don’t know how long it takes to make these badges, but I think I have waited long enough. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-oUSM7y4zAeWTC7_hlrwYpTiLavLuaHa Little did I know her queue was over 200 people deep by the time I commissioned her at BLFC’17. My commission is “11th from the bottom.” https://drive.google.com/open?id=1J1h-7LTavLznLvLFpSIXHzML_sYy1mff She told me on Twitter she was doing badges in order of who’s angrier. I’m not good at being angry, and I haven’t been particularly vocal about her until recently, so apparently people on her queue have been shuffled around ahead of me. Of course, no one knows this because she has no public queue visible anywhere. I told her she should stick to her queue in order of who ordered first, and not jump around. Due to the insane wait I’ve already had (uninformed on wait due to no public queue) and her saying that she’s doing the badges out of order, I requested a refund. Instead of offering a solution for her to get my refund, she merely showed me the screenshots of her PayPal and bank statement a second time, telling me how she had bills coming up. In order for me to get my refund, she tells me that I have to find someone to take my spot, essentially advertise for her. I’m sorry, but finding my refund is not my job. I told her this, repeated that I wanted my refund, and said I would be taking my business elsewhere. I do not want the thing I paid for. I do not want to advertise for her. She threatened in a Tweet that she would rather just vanish instead of completing everyone’s commissions. https://drive.google.com/open?id=16xGdffhNCYBhTubJsy8lh8EjKj_G9Kpj She told a friend of mine that she didn’t owe me anything because “I didn’t sign a contract.” https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qXNPGxpGLRCOWAjriz-Q73NeWj3p_yyX https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ENjpL5krhTmkR-VwZGIxliFMRlM_ej-a It has been clear through her dealings that she will never refund me, nor does it seem like she’ll ever return to posting her Perler badges. She made a post back in all this hulaballoo that says she can make 1-2 badges a day https://drive.google.com/open?id=1M0IJ6qpuDbKvMkwnKknRY-Xff5n4Vnli but yet, since March 31, hasn’t posted a single new finished product. A Twitter user pointed me to her Facebook, where I messaged her privately to ask about her queue and my refund. She accepted and saw the message, but didn’t reply, which blatantly told me she’s stealing my money, and probably countless others as well. I am currently in the process of reviewing my county’s laws about a small claims court case. PROOF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-CRMnWk74TjWb1NF7NtTCujDcfI_HMUz

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/851017.html This is something very difficult for me to do, but it needs to be done. This happened over the span of a couple years, so much is undocumented up until issues arose as I did not think it would be a problem. However, I feel there is more than enough after the fact. After much advice, I’ve decided to come forward and make a post here about this, mostly to warn people. I took my time writing this as I know there is no action I can take at this point and am very busy. WHO: Ritz_Bitz / Frostcat-Studio (and FA) / Ritz_Tweeting WHERE: Online, texts, emails, twitter, and at Further Confusion 2015 WHAT: One full fursuit (~$950) WHEN: Discussions starting in 2012, first purchase of materials March 4th, 2013, payment from a sponsor on November 25th, 2014, agreement of $200 of payment finalized with attendance at Further Confusion where the suit was delivered, and serious troubles starting shortly after. PROOF: Many images linked throughout explanation. EXPLAIN: This originally started as one of my best friends offering to build me a fursuit for a “friend” price. I had worn one of her suits once and got hooked on the fun it was. Over the years the details swapped around and much was discussed in person when I had lived nearby. Nothing was really set in stone for a long time and it was purely talk. March 4th, 2013 I purchased an order of fur and fleece for the project at Ritz’s request and had it shipped to her. I can't remember what happened, but she had to backburner the project. The fur sat around for almost 2 years before the project could finally be worked on, so there is a large time gap. (At some point I had also sent her DTDs of my feet for sockpaws, a pair of thick, long socks for the sockpaws, a tracing of my hand for the gloves, and extra fleece I had from a previous project based around my character.) June 2014 After attending Califur 2014 with my good friend (who I will refer to as Bob for this,) he started talking about how much he had wanted a fursuit after trying one of his friends’ suits on at the convention. He was hoping to purchase a fursuit and get it by Further Confusion that next year, and I referred him to Ritz as she was also doing my fursuit. When he found out my suit was on backburner, he offered to sponsor some of the cost for the project so it could be put into her paid queue so we could suit at Further Confusion together. I spoke to Ritz and she agreed to reserve space for Bob’s suit as well as mine and a guarantee for completion by the convention in January. I was happy to be helping her get some bills paid and to be helping Bob get a quality suit. Ritz had always told me steps she took to ensure her suits were durable and of high quality craftsmanship, so I had much trust in her work. June 27th, 2014 Bob contacted Ritz about a quote for his suit, also mentioning to her his intentions to sponsor a portion of my suit’s cost. Everything seemed pretty cut and dry at this point and Ritz waited for the payment so she could start the process of constructing the suit. Ritz confirmed that she can complete the suit by Further Confusion and states she planned to start work on my suit in August. September 20th, 2014 Bob placed a down payment to secure the slots. November 4th, 2014 I text Ritz asking when she will be needing my DTD. She answers asking it be sent the start of December. November 15th, 2014 Ritz has started constructing the head. She sends me a text asking about the eye color and shows me an early WIP of the foam sculpting, followed by more complete WIPs of the sculpt and what she planned for it. I was surprised she got the snout acceptably shaped in her style off the bat as it’s the most often misinterpreted part of my character. I praised her for this and asked one small request to the brow which she said wasn’t difficult to add, and informs me of things most people worry about in case I start to worry about similar things. November 16th, 2014 I receive an image of the progress she made as well as the change to the brow that I had requested. I was very pleased with the shape and happy it worked out so quickly with only that one minor change needed. November 20th, 2014 Ritz texts me asking that I bug Bob about making the second payment. It was weird that it was my job to ask him, but I overlooked this as this was a friendly transaction I had helped to arrange. We discussed the confusion, making jokingly grumbling about it as was custom of us when we spoke. We continued on to negotiate $200 of the suit payment to be taken out of what she would owe me for room and dealer’s table costs at Further Confusion. November 21st, 2014 Ritz texts me asking about the ears for the suit. It’s a little difficult to communicate, but I was happy with the shape and aware she only had two hands so just curious about the final curvature at the top. I jotted on the notepad what I meant and it was understood and she says it’s not hard. (This was laden with a very inappropriate joke and I have censored it out.) She also reminds me to send my DTD within the next two weeks. November 25th, 2014 Ritz contacts me asking about more details for the head. At the end I tell her she has my trust in recreating the mouth due to color limitations of fleece. November 29th, 2014 Ritz contacts me while at the store purchasing fleece for the mouth. We figure it out and even settle on the wings ahead of time to just be white due to the lack of proper shades available. I inform her I’ll be making my DTD the next day and shipping it out soon. November 30th, 2014 I ask her if she needs me to retape the dummy before sending it and inform her the lines were cut a little weird. (They were slightly wobbly in a few areas, but I had no issue matching it all back up for retaping.) December 1st, 2014 After seeing Ritz tweet pictures of the finished head, I contact her to question if it’s too late to add the fur tuft my character always has. I was a little upset that she didn’t offer a solution, but it was just a fur tuft. I wasn’t going to make a big deal about it. It still looked good, which I made sure to communicate to her. I also inform her I’m sending the DTD the next day. December 8th/ 9th, 2014 I ask if she received the DTD in the mail yet. The next day she responds that she has. December 14th, 2014 Ritz texts me during conversation about how big the tail for another suit is, using my head and DTD as comparison. My DTD appears to be partially stuffed and looks fine. December 16th, 2014 Ritz texts me informing my my DTD split at the seams during the stuffing process. She claims every seam that was cut split apart because I didn’t use long enough strips of tape. I felt bad because I knew it would be annoying to retape. She says it can be repaired (it’s just taping seams back together) and she was working on it. This is very important for an issue later, as she tells me she’s going to stuff and pattern one half and mirror the pattern. December 20th, 2014 Ritz texts me asking if I want the feet separate or attached. We’d discussed it previously, but it was so long before I understood many things were forgotten. January 1st, 2015 After seeing tweets of the completed sockpaws, I text her in private to ask her if it’s too late to add larger claws. Again, this is something we’d discussed many times in person down to the shape and how she planned construction, but I understand forgetting. She’s clearly upset at the mere question of the possibility, so I immediately try to reassure her I’m just curious and not trying to upset her. I was very concerned as a friend that my question may have been upsetting to her, but from a client’s standpoint I knew it was very wrong and I began to worry about voicing my opinion on anything being wrong with this very expensive product. January 12th, 2015 After seeing only one WIP of the wings being completed on her twitter since the sockpaws were complete, I am now texted with the completed suit only a few days before the promised deadline. She first informs me that the magnetic wings wouldn’t work and that she had to sew them into the bodysuit. Not a big deal. However, I instantly noticed the padding on the legs looked… odd and lumpy. I also became worried that the bodysuit fit her as I’m a very small person. From the backview you can also tell the ears were not evenly shaven and have bumps in the structure already. It was days before the convention and I knew bringing up the issues would cause a very tense upset, so I kept quiet and informed her I was happy with the suit and we began talking about the fun we’d have at the convention that weekend. January 15th, 2015 The first day of Further Confusion for us, as soon as we set up in the dealer’s den, we went up to the room eager to suit up and go have fun. Ritz begins to help me put the suit on for the first time and issues already arise. The bodysuit is extremely baggy on me, which was odd considering I’d gained a lot of holiday weight since I had made the DTD. When it came time to put the sockpaws on, I noticed there was a hole in the inner sock, but shrugged it off considering it was difficult to get my feet into the paws. I had provided her with DTDs of my feet, so this was also confusing. We discussed it and since she only patterned the right foot and flipped it, it being my smaller foot caused the sizing issue for my left foot. The worst problem came when I tried to put the gloves on. They couldn’t fit past my second knuckles. She immediately became upset and, again, I took the blame upon myself and said it wasn’t her fault and that I probably traced my hand wrong. She gladly accepted this and it became the new “fact” of what went wrong. When putting the head on, I noticed a part of the zipper was separated from the fur of the head. An easy fix. We quickly discussed the issues. She explained she was extremely busy with personal suit projects she wanted to get done for Denver Comic Con and didn’t have the time to do these repairs and make new gloves. I felt bad and said I could probably handle it with the small amount of sewing experience I have. This seemed to clear things up and we went out suiting. I tried not to pay attention to the flaws and just enjoy the con. January 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 2015 We only suited up once more after that, and I wore the suit as a partial a third time out with her because the padding in the thighs of the suit were unsecured and chafed me to no end when I walked. Nothing stayed in place how it was intended because the suit was so baggy. Meanwhile, tensions rose during the con due to Bob’s suit having issues. Ritz was extremely upset by this so I absolutely couldn’t bring myself to say anything negative about my suit. In fact, I rushed to defend her despite having my own issues with my suit. Sunday night when we were going to suit a final time, tensions blew up, drama happened, and we cancelled our plans and stayed in the room. The con ended and I took my entire suit home with me with plans to try to repair it myself and save Ritz the time. January 21st, 2015 After coming home and getting unpacked, I finally had time to look over the suit and prepare myself for the work I had to do. I realized there was far more than I could handle and I was not experienced enough to fix most of it. A list of the issues in full is provided after my next piece of information. February 14th, 2015 The issues in my fursuit worried me. I wasn’t sure what was normal and what wasn’t. I attended the local furmeet this day and brought the head and paws (having issues easier to see in person) and asked some friends with more experience on the issues as well as asking advice on how to handle this delicate situation between my friend and myself. I briefly wore these to demonstrate some of the issues and interact with two young children. I got the advice I needed and confirmation that the flaws in my suit were not acceptable and not my responsibility to fix as she was paid to produce a suit in working condition that I could wear and enjoy. Many told me how clear it was that she rushed it and took shortcuts, which is no surprise given the circumstances. I needed to approach her on the issue and hope for the best. I couldn’t keep pretending it was okay, and I started preparing myself to for this rather difficult step. The Problems - The excess amount of fabric on the bodysuit is around 10-14 inches on the midsection. This can only mean when she patterned the half of the DTD and flipped it, she overshot the middle point. Even overshooting this by a few inches can cause excess (2-4x the length of the overshoot) and wouldn’t have been an issue had she taken the time to fully retape the DTD. The thighs have an excess as well, though not as bad. - I discovered the zipper on the head was glued on instead of sewn. This is why part of it was already separated when I received it. - The shaving on the head was very choppy. I had actually taken time to hand trim the face to smooth it out, but there was little I could do for the ears. - The ears were glued directly to the balaclava with no foam to anchor them or keep them stable. This causes them to flop around pretty badly. - Instead of being sewn to the rest of the fur of the head, the ears were poorly glued on. There are small open gaps at the side of each ear on both sides, as well as at the front of the ears near the fleece. - There are crinkles in the fleece on the ears where it was glued to the inside material. - The ears are anchored off-center. - The balaclava was spottily glued to the inside of the head and was already pulling off bits of foam. It is glued in such a way that it overlaps a portion of the buckram from the inside, unnecessarily limiting the vision further. - The gloves do not fit past the second knuckle of my hand. They’re also not hemmed at the edges so the fleece was left raw cut. - On top of the sizing issues, the sockpaws had a hole in the inner sock when I received them from being cut sloppily. - The sockpaws weren’t hemmed. In fact, the fleece was glued to the sock at the top. It began to fall apart with the small amount of wear they saw at the con. - The magnets she’d promised me and stated she could not get to work were left in the wings and sealed over with giant globs of glue. You can still see them and the gluey mess is left uncovered to get at the wearer’s back. - The wings were glued together and you can see the wire in some spots by peeking into the open spaces in the glue seams. (Originally we were planning on realistic wings with wiring, feathers, and vinyl. I told her “Just do simple plush wings like Telephone’s since it’s easier” later on. While the wings she made are cute and a creative middle-point, they’re going to fall apart because glue doesn’t last very long.) - The elastic loops on the tail were not sewn very securely for such a large, heavy tail and had begun to fall apart at the convention along with a small hole. February 15th, 2015 I have a short, rather comical discussion with another previous client of Ritz’s who also discloses that many parts of their suit are glued together. I feel this is necessary to disclose to help support my discontent with the quality of my suit prior to the next events as I am accused of "retaliation" later on. March 2nd, 2015 Unfortunately, I’d been very busy with life, so I had not yet been able to approach Ritz before this point. I don’t like to bring drama into this discussion of business, but this severely complicated the smooth resolution of things. We had not been speaking much as Ritz had blamed me for the drama at the convention and I was giving her breathing space. On this day, she reacted negatively to a tweet I had made on Twitter (she brings it up later) and the resulting misunderstanding caused her to remove me on social media. I contacted her concerned about her and trying to resolve the issue, only to be ignored. (I can provide screenshots, but would rather not as this is just drama.) In a panic, I discussed parting out the suit as a last resort as I was certain I would now not be given the repairs I deserved. It did not help when I saw photos proving similar quality work on other suits, leaving me more upset at what had been given to me. After speaking to many people and getting advice on this new situation, I removed the comments out of courtesy (despite never once mentioning her specifically) and went forward with their suggestions to attempt getting a rightful refurbish. March 6th, 2015 At the advice of many, I contacted Ritz with my intentions. I tweeted at her asking for an email to discuss repairs with her, being clear it shouldn’t be my responsibility. She replied with the preferred email. At that point I began to write a thorough email to her. This took me about a week to get finished up. March 13th, 2015 I finally sent my email. I noted not only the issues with her craftsmanship, but also with the customer service she gave me that led to increasing problems in the work that had upset me and led me to be quiet for so long. I leave the option open to negotiate a refurbish or simply work out a refund as it seems like it would be easier with her busy schedule that caused the burden of refurbishing to be placed on me in the first place. March 14th, 2015 I woke up to a rather hostile email back from Ritz. She immediately accused me of retaliation, being unreasonable, and picky. Our correspondence is plain to see and everyone I’ve asked said I was very kind. She accuses me of getting a suit “for free” even though she received a $600 payment from Bob, a $200 traded payment from me, as well as my purchasing $160 of materials. She then blames me for all the problems she possibly can, while ignoring half the issues that she can’t try to blame me for. She blamed the bagginess on my DTD, which she now attacks me for. I spoke to numerous suitmakers and they said 10-14 inches is definitely not due to retaping seams. (Also note the 2 day gap between the lightly stuffed DTD image and her telling me it split apart as vs. her story now.) The fact she still continued and even brought up personal drama with other clients as well as further wild accusations that, even if true, have nothing to do with the quality of my suit, is baffling. I’m not sure if she was trying to guilt trip me or try to scare me out of pressing the issue to resolution, but it was absolutely uncalled for. She even accuses me of being the reason someone was bringing up issues on another suit she worked on. The fact she finished it up with blatantly insulting me was the icing on the cake. I was also a little disturbed that, despite our cessation of contact on social media, she had still been checking my accounts. I immediately wrote her a response, on my phone, to address this unbelievable reply she had sent me. Admittedly blunt, but necessary, and deciding at this point I cannot handle a refurbishing process due to her hostility and request a refund. As she showed aggression about Bob having paid in a portion, I made it clear I could contact him to work things out how she’d like. March 17th, 2015 As I’ve yet to receive a response, I sent Ritz an email to remind her and request she handle the situation civilly. I make note that Bob is aware of the situation and we all just want to resolve this. March 29th, 2015 I had to duck out to handle life for a bit and figured giving her time to cool off was good. Sadly, I saw signal boosts that she was selling her leftover furs. I saw some of the very same fur used on my suit and contacted her immediately. It seemed like the 6 yards she told me to purchase was a lot and it was likely some of it was mine. At this point I was notably frazzled by this ordeal. She surprisingly responded, again accusing me of things I am not guilty of and bringing other clients and drama into dealings about a fursuit she did not make properly. She seems to even agree with the fact that the quality is bad and that I should be fine that I only spent $200 on it. Her logic in thinking because I only paid $200 along with $160 in materials means she doesn’t have to give anything back, despite that she took the $600 from Bob, and that is what he would get back, not me, in a refund. She claims it was wrong to take Bob’s money, yet she seems fine keeping it despite not doing her job properly for it. All she has done is avoided owning up and fixing mistakes she made on an expensive product while hiding behind excuses that drama somehow nullifies her responsibility in business. I made a final response to her as well, and that was where it ended between us. Currently: I have been refused repairs or a refund on a suit that was paid for and delivered in poor quality. It’s very clear Ritz has done a good job to avoid everything wrong with the suit she made for me and justify not fixing the issue and attacking me. She blames me for all that she can and resorts to bringing up drama instead of addressing why half my suit is glued together. I feel she has been trying to take advantage of the fact Bob sponsored part of the suit cost and her sudden grudge against me to avoid dealing with resolving the matter. She took a large sum of money for a product of a certain quality and did not deliver, and I’m honestly upset with how she’s treated me in this ordeal. The suit needs entirely new hands and feet, major tailoring of the bodysuit that includes redoing the legs entirely, redoing the tail's backing and elastic loops, completely redoing the ears and refurring the head with a new balaclava. Most suitmakers have told me it's not "refurbishing" so much as making an entirely new suit with some scraps. I basically don't know what to do aside from hope nobody else runs into the same troubles as I have with this suitmaker, but any advice would be welcome if anything can possibly be done at this point. June 16, 2015 Update I just took the head out of the storage box for the first time since photographing everything months ago. I've been getting advice on how to salvage as much as I can from the head to go towards making a new one, so I was needing to take a closer look at some things. A small clatter and objects falling out confused me, until I realized that the teeth have started to fall out with even this small amount of age and absolutely no use. The teeth are sculpey, I believe, and left unfinished. Some bases of the silver molars were unpainted, the rest of the teeth are just straight sculpey or whatever they are made of, no paint, and are all starting to separate from the beds of hot glue. This just adds to the poor quality product I was given and the work I am left to cover out of my pocket to fix. I honestly don't have anymore words to describe how I feel right now. February 2016 Update This disheartens me to have to even add to so long after the fact of this all happening, but I would like to update this to add a further warning to Ritz's poor business behavior if you happen to get on her bad side as I have with this ordeal. I placed an advertisement up on Furaffinity, in which I used a commission she had gotten from me as it was in my top 10 favorited pieces in my gallery and a great example. My Terms of Service states that I am allowed to use the work I create for people for portfolio and other purposes, and thus I had the legal right to use the image in an advertisement as it's a form of portfolio. I assumed this would not be an issue as I have personally gotten over the drama and moved on past this all quite a while ago, and had assumed she had done the same. She, however, saw this as an opportunity to attack me by approaching the advertisement organizer stating that her character was in my advertisement without her permission, essentially wanting it removed. This was orchestrated with a friend of hers whom also had commission work in my advertisement, also demanding the removal of their commission despite them having both agreed to and being bound by my Terms of Service. This alone was a nuisance, but in having to handle the issue, I saw that she had been publicly trash talking me, clearly stating her intention to try to cause a problem for me for the sake of causing a problem. At this point she obviously holds a grudge against me and I am being bullied for having spoken out about her practices, showing also that she has absolutely no respect to my Terms of Service that was agreed to. I am attempting to resolve the issue with the advertising organizer, but will be forced to avoid exercising my legal rights to display the artwork I created involving her characters in the future all because I want to avoid her malicious acts to attempt revenge for speaking up. August 19, 2016 Update After being urged by friends and seeking advice from the community on if I should add further updates, I'm sadly here again. While I'm relatively wary to share due to more fear of retaliation, I don't believe this will ever stop regardless of anything I do. I am urged to warn people the extent of the poor behavior that I have been subjected to for over a year since posting. Occasionally third parties will inform me of things that have been said and I honestly ignore 90% of things, but I had the displeasure seeing one instance myself. I have been ruthlessly slandered since the posting, and at this point been brought aware of possible threats of either legal action against me or potential harm to my person. (If it escalates any further I will contact law enforcement, but at current there is not enough to hold up considering the distance involved.) I have had absolutely ZERO contact with Ritz since the last email shown in the original posting here. Even during her attack on my advertisement, I did not say a word to her, only spoke to the advertising department at FA. I am going to point out ahead of time, it is EXTREMELY easy to figure out who is being spoken about (me) in all of these instances even if names aren't attached cause a simple google search nets you all the info you need. I already know I'm mentioned frequently by name otherwise anyhow. Onto the point, what I saw for myself... Was on Wednesday, June 22 in a Facebook group for Fursuiters and Fursuit Makers. A notification popped up onto my phone for a sale posting that was receiving many comments. I'm going to be 100% honest I was wildly curious as I'd heard she quit suitmaking (I'm only human), and I saw this exchange brewing that had apparently been what sparked it into popularity. I avoided the desire to jump in and say something cause NOPE I have zero desire to speak to her. I just screencapped away cause I couldn't believe what I was reading and figured it'd be taken down, which it was. Color guide for censoring (cause identifying photos/names): Black = Not involved or moderator names Ritz commented to alert Blue = Ritz Red = Some fursuiter who spoke up Yellow = Ritz's IRL friend https://www.dropbox.com/s/7nixak1x72bdqmb/Group1.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/j3j2m8mw22mswoo/2.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/oeibrn7q6amudni/3.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/b189gvqz44ge3r5/4.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/y3527bkjzuev7qx/5.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/voe431whjd9eul3/6.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/feofjf0gk1tkdqy/7.jpg?dl=0 I don't even need to make commentary on how messed up this was. You all can think for yourselves. I avoided updating with it at the time despite people telling me to. I didn't want to deal with it. I didn't think it was that bad. Now here's what broke me on trying to ignore things. I was shown these earlier this week. Despite being from May, it opened my eyes to how serious things really were this whole time as I attempted to ignore it all. This is only HALF of a conversation someone had with Ritz's locked twitter, but it's very clear what's going on. I was shown this for obvious reasons. This was shortly before BLFC, which we both happened to be attending (I avoided her at all costs, and was apparently wise to do so.) Censoring: Blue = Ritz's locked twitter handle, Purple = Ritz's friend (Remember to read bottom to top in each for chronological order cause it's twitter.) https://www.dropbox.com/s/v36ao3uyd8d10r4/21.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/accjt9cl35ieovk/22.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/yf7mwvzbbwgyhc1/23.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/n8hq2cioflujxoz/24.png?dl=0 Let me point this out there. Whatever is being said on the other side of this conversation, her friend thinks I should be scared of her. This is NOT okay, and relatively alarming considering things I know about her that are not for me to share publicly. The suggestion of a restraining order despite that I have not had ANY contact with her whatsoever even despite her attempted harassment, is outlandish. Furthermore, the clear discussion of potential legal action because I caused her loss of income due to this beware posting is even more unsettling. This is bonkers. I don't even care about the disgusting and immature names they casually call me when this other stuff is going on. People are right, they need to know what she's doing because this is, and has been, crazy. Exercise caution when doing business with her, because you never know when you'll end up like me.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/906872.html WHO: Eulerami WHERE: Eulerami.tumblr.com / the-sword-saint.tumblr.com WHAT: Digital art (apologies for some lack of screenshots, an unreliable method of messaging was used (tumblr fan mail) and some chunks on my end are missing) I requested a painting of one of my original Thief fancharacters (a series she was familiar with, which led to our mutual following), in an appropriate forested setting. ** A misunderstanding occurred and she drew a completely different character in a completely different setting than I had requested, and I had not caught the error the first time it came up (I did not make the connection that the image she sent me was part of the commission because it was so radically different than the reference image and setting). WHEN: Contact was initiated in Early May (the original tumblr post appears to be gone) discussing emergency commissions. I messaged them and sent them the upfront payment of $25 on May 21, 2015. Because I used an unreliable messaging system, they never received my reference images and began to draw the wrong character. I mistakenly did not recognize the problem until 26 days later on June 16, 2015. At this point, I corrected the issue and emailed them with the appropriate references. An additional 27 days passed with no mention about the progress of the commission, and around July 13, 2015 is when I began to grow very concerned about the state of the commission. A general statement was made July 27, 2015 stating she was no longer working on commissions. I heard no word back about my commission until she opened up commissions again May 5, 2016 and initiated contact. PROOF: 1 - Original correspondance of the agreement to the commission 2 - Eulerami asking me what I'd like to have completed and agreeing to the transaction 15 - Proof of payment ** Note: reference image of character was sent, however the assumption is that Eulerami never got my message 4 - Aknowledging payment, describing setting for commission and Eulerami stating she would begin work 5 - After messaging them about the length of time it was taking, I got an update from them 6 - Eulerami sent me a link to their progress (June 16th), but I noticed she had the wrong character and messaged them back about the issue 7 - I clearly indicated earlier what type of setting I would like (docks or woods) which were disregarded, and though I assume my reference images never went through, Eulerami also never made any clarification on the matter. However I take responsibility for not catching the issue earlier. 8 - Issue resolved; character being corrected to the right one 9 - July 23, messaged them again about how it was taking a long time and was assured it would be completed shortly 10 - July 27, Eulerami made a general post indicating that she was dropping all requests to work on her project; I received no message on this personally 11 - May 5 the following year, Eulerami opened up commissions again 12 - I messaged them reminding them of my commission and they stated they did not have my payment, despite clearly remembering having worked on it (with the whole misunderstanding) 13 - Emailed them proof of payment and told that it will be completed soon EXPLAIN: Eulerami opened up emergency commissions, and I sent her $25 in payment with the understanding that I would also get a commission. At first it was very good, communications were excellent and we were exchanging information via tumblr. I sent in my reference images, and waited for the commission. From my understanding the message never went through despite me sending it, and Eulerami never received the reference image, and instead assumed I meant a different OC than the reference I tried to send. So when a WIP came into my inbox, I wasn't aware that it was meant to be the commission until much later since the character and setting were completely different than what I had originally requested. I apologized profusely for the misunderstanding, and this time sent the reference images through email to ensure they made it through this time. After that, I stopped hearing word about the commission entirely, except when I was the one initiating contact. Again, after this brief exchange, there was a lot of silence and no word at all about what was going on and when I might be getting it other than "soon". Naturally, I was content to be patient since she was working on multiple projects, and I understand what it's like to have a lot of things to do. On July 27, 2015 (67 days after I commissioned them), Eulerami posted a message: http://eulerami.tumblr.com/post/125203723681/tiny-announcement This message was a general post, and not once did Eulerami communicate directly with me that she would be working on my commission or pausing it. After this point, I had dead silence from them about everything regarding the commission. On May 5, 2016, Eulerami posted a new message opening up commissions: http://the-sword-saint.tumblr.com/post/143919832550 I messaged them again about the status of my commission and she said she didn't remember receiving any payment for the commission, so i had to send them screenshot to remind her that she had the payment As of May 19, 2016, I have still not heard any word back on my commission or any progress yet. UPDATE (6/27/2016): Eulerami has stated she will not be finishing my commission and that she will refund me. I have yet to receive my refund. UPDATE (6/29/2016): I received a refund and the sketch of my commission (to note, Eulerami had stated she'd redone the sketch with the CORRECT character and lined it/that it was ready to color, but it was the same character as before/still incorrect), and would like to mark this as resolved. I also want to apologize, as I had messed up typing her other tumblr username and edited it from the-saint-sword to the-sword-saint to amend my error. I will update with screenshots ASAP. Our last correspondence before I received my refund. (Sorry about the additional update, I'm done now. Thanks guys!

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1008092.html WHO: Wi-Fi The Sergal WHERE: On Furry Amino, their profile: http://aminoapps.com/p/1e02sa WHAT: Filed a false chargeback on a digital art order. WHEN: 4th of August, 2018 EXPLAIN: I was browsing through Furry Amino on my phone and saw Wi-Fi posted a blog entry about looking for commissions. Since I had nothing to do, I posted a comment along with examples, a link to my prices and to my reviews. Since they wanted a badge, we found a compromise, he wanted to order a YCH from me instead, conversation was moved to private messages on the same plattform. Proof of commission ad: https://sta.sh/0u65u1xmtul We talked more on what they wanted, after I was given enough instructions, I started working on their order immediately. When I was done, I showed them my sketches which were promptly approved. I gave him my payment instructions and payment went through, after this, I continued working until I was finished with the flat colors. Proof of conversation: https://sta.sh/21h8etmftqsh?edit=1 After then, I noticed I got a chargeback filed against me, an unauthorized payment claim. I, of course confronted the client (can bee seen in proof above) about it, I got told it was their mother who did this. I immediately stopped working on the pieces all together and blacklisted and blocked the client. Proof of chargeback: https://sta.sh/0jzd63mq1k9 I have contacted Paypal through their Twitter in DM's, they'll look into this. The YCH has been re-sold to two of my friends, so no money was lost. PROOF: https://sta.sh/2vj2q5qj1lz?edit=1 Edited broken HTML code to just links. Sorry about that! UPDATE:The case got reviewed by Paypal and was decided in Wi-Fi's favor, meaning they got their money back. I myself don't mind it as no money was actually taken by me (friends who covered the loss). It's just kind of funny Paypal wanted me to provide proof when I couldn't do so. I got no strike whatsoever, so I'm fine with that. Proof of the closed claim: https://sta.sh/01ujtmqpg41q

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/814455.html WHO: Fossil The Undead Artist (aka Fossil) WHERE: Mostly talked in emails. His FA is: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/fossil WHAT: 4 commissions; the exact amount was removed from evidence for privacy WHEN: Started September 26th 2012 and continued on until now MY SIDE OF THE ISSUE: I had been a longtime supporter and friend to Fossil and well over time I finally was able to commission him first a tattoo for my wife at FurFright and then finally some artwork. Things had been going along smoothly until Hurricane Sandy hit. After this point it seemed things hit the fan for him which was understandable at the time. I had paid in full for four commissions and over time talked to him about it, but mostly was worried about him and seeing if he was alright; then he dropped off the grid. Below are two Dropbox Links that show proof of agreement and then payment: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/tjit34og1tuophr/Payment discussion.png?dl=0 https://dl.dropbox.com/s/a4pnnbjwh6aq2ce/Payment Confirmation.png?dl=0 At this point I naturally did what any friend would do and waited patiently and he did come back for a moment or two and told me things were bad, but getting better. He finally finishes one of the four commissions and had even began work on the second one as far as inking goes with the third already being sketched out too. So I was confident at this point things were finally on the right track. The following links show multiple contacts and finally the first image sent and date it was sent: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/4o0w4l7diatazns/Feb 5th 2013 checkin.png?dl=0 https://dl.dropbox.com/s/o6w9v2ro6dqo74x/Feb 18th to March 29th 2014 checkin.png?dl=0 https://dl.dropbox.com/s/vjls76jrrlqvhxn/April 17th 2014 Checkin.png?dl=0 https://dl.dropbox.com/s/h8g03szw81gvvj4/May 14th Checkin and FIRST picture received.png?dl=0 Next, after two months, he contacts me out of the blue with progress showing two more images. One being completed with the third being sketched out: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/jbhrpgfbifw6ofi/July 21st and SECOND image with THIRD sketch.png?dl=0 He falls off the grid again; this time for good. I go to another con and asked my contacts if they had seen him and come to find out that he had moved to another state and then dropped off the grid to get some affairs in order. Now I had been in contact with him via email up to this point as well and would get the occasional "Still Alive" messages until I tried to email him again to check in on how things had progressed after he had moved, not about my art, but his own situations. This is when I found out he had deleted his email account and I received the lovely return email saying the address is no longer valid. Next shows the email confirming that his email is no longer valid: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/hy2rlzdk3u2bjgd/Email Failure.png?dl=0 Moving forward I had heard and saw he was working with Crowchild as an artist for High Tail Hall and figured that he had dropped out of that part as well given how much of a hermit Fossil had become, but after today, I have recently found out he is still indeed working with the HTH project and completely disregarded anyone else even if they paid $XXX for a set of commissions. Finally below is the screenshot on FA of Crowchild confirming that Fossil is still working with them: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/9ddfuob2um2qf4r/Fossil still at HTH.png?dl=0 Two years have come and gone now; now I am not sure what to do or how to go about it because we all know how Paypal has such a small window of reporting and charging back one's account. So I guess this message is to warn others about what happened as well as getting some advice of how to tackle the sum of money, albeit not a full refund as he has finished one image and worked on two others, and how to get anything from him even if it ends up being a message of "Hey I can't do it; sorry". Also for clarification; there will be some areas that have been removed. This was done to insure the anonymous side of a third person that was involved with this in which I was getting two images as a gift for.

Hello everyone, I would like to comment on the incident that I had a few days ago with a client. not more than 4 weeks ago a user in discord (and inkbunny, himself) asked me for a commission for a cartoon fight (characters hitting each other in a cloud of smoke) with some tv characters and 2 of my ocs, one sfw and nsfw. he sent me a reference from another artist (censored too however my commission list was full at the time, I did tell him it was full but I could put him on a pending waiting list. so the user accepted. then the days passed into weeks, honestly I am very sorry to make my clients wait, and it is my fault that things can be forgotten on me, so I quickly asked for my sincere apologies, the user was somewhat angry and I understand it perfectly even that I feel sad, my art is slow... The user was very kind so it motivated me to draw on a better way. IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not usually ask the money first because I like that the clients are satisfied with the sketch and then I receive the payment. so there is no image of the payment. I sent the first sketch, the user did not like it but I did not hate it either. naturally the user tells me what changes he wants, but not minor changes if not a total change. I personally understand that there are clients who ask for perfection, so in that aspect it does not make me unhappy. but a total change I really did not feel that I could do it, I felt a little nervous since I promised to send several sketches in a single day, and it usually takes 3 hours per sketch and more than this size. how I still thought that he felt angry, I preferred to give up and say that I could not do it and I would not complain at all because he is in all his right, but while the conversation was flowing the client told me things like "I thought you knew what that I wanted "(I want to clarify that English is not my main language so I usually have to make mistakes and misunderstand things) I understand this. another thing he told me "You're hurting your chances" then I felt that the sutuiacion was feeling "heavy" bad so I decided to explain to him why I feel that I cannot make a big change and why it takes me a long time, with the hope NOT that he would accept the sketch, if not that he understood and did not get angry with me. I don't think the user understood at all, maybe it's because of my English or I don't know. until he told me that he could pay me 200 USD which was not very sensible because I felt like a very poor girl. it was like an insult to my person. after that he decided to cancel everything and not talk to me again. What I would have liked is maybe to receive an apology or at least a small payment for the sketch, even though I understand that he is not obliged, i dont will lair i trying ask him a payment, he told me no, then i decided stoped. What can I say is that I be careful with some clients

Zeska Roo/Daze Otterson had made a post on his account saying he needed money, so he discounted his fursuit prices (post was deleted, so I do not have a screenshot of that). I was wanting some indoor paws because I really enjoy the aesthetics of them. I commented on the post and we took it to PMs. Here we are hashing out details of what I wanted. He states that they don't do invoices. It off set me since I just comissioned someone who did do invoices, but I know each artist is different, so I didn't pay any attention to it. Proof of payment I ask if he has a queue of any sort, he claims he is working on a trello. After a month and some days, he gives me a -sorta- deadline, so I don't bother him for a while. November 6th, he asks if anyone is wanting to get a fursuit. I contact him on November 26th, I message and get no reply or even left on read, so I ask for a refund. He sends his friend [redacted] to speak to me (screenshots ahead has his face blocked out because he's not guilty in this and I feel uncomfortable with having his face in this) So I go to telegram to talk to Zeska/Daze (last 4 of number is blocked out) He has posted again on FB saying he's no longer on post block as seen in the screenshot below (but I didn't see it till some days after since I had unfollowed him) So after radio silence, I messaged on Telegram (seen in screenshot 9) and after a little more silence, I messaged on Facebook (screenshot 6) Here, he is seen still posting on Facebook after my message on Telegram. And here he is seen still posting after my message on FB. I have since forced a refund as seen in the screenshot below. I don't know if others have had this issue, so that is why this is under Artist Caution.

I met Finley at AnthroCon while they were running a booth in the Dealer's Den. There were suiters attending the con in suits that Finley had made, and the tails they had on display were of good quality. We talked for a while about pricing a fullsuit, how long delivery dates were, how deep the queue was. At that point, I decided to commission a Full Digitigrade suit from them for $1600. Communication was great until December, at which basically all communication ceased. The only reason that Finley responded here was because I had 2 emails: I am open to marking this Beware as "resolved" if and when the refund has been processed on PayPal. New information as of 7/1/2019. I was promised a refund (partial in June, the rest in July). Finley has not been in contact since those promises were made. I've attached the email conversation below, and you can see comments for more info. At this point I'm forced to raise this to Beware status from it's current Caution status.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/956264.html WHO: Remix Angel Dragon / Nightwolf Costumes WHERE: Facebook –business page apparently deleted; tags/links to business page are broken, did most business through personal page FurAffinity - http://www.furaffinity.net/user/nightwolfcostumes (business, has been cleared out and no submissions are in gallery) Furry Network https://beta.furrynetwork.com/nightwolf/ Twitter https://twitter.com/remix_dragon WHAT: Full digitigrade fursuit valued at over $1800 USD , fleece hat valued at $25 WHEN: Dec. 2014 (when first payment was sent) to present (suit was paid in full May 2015) Read below the cut EXPLAIN: I first commissioned Remix for a fleece hat of my Dutch Angel Dragon character back in September 2014. In December that same year she opened for fullsuit commissions so once again, after seeing her previous work decided to commission her. It was agreed upon that the fleece hat I had previously ordered would be sent along with the suit once it was done (however, I had never seen any shots of a WIP or even a finished hat). We agreed on a payment plan of 25% each month until the suit was paid off. January 2015 I sent her a payment of $450 USD(via Friends and Family to avoid the conversion fee, I was told -strike one on me) then mailed a DTD, a pair of shoes and a hand tracing. As soon as the next month rolled around I was messaged for the next round of payments, but I had to adult (to put it simply) and told her they may have to wait, in which I was then told if I didn’t pay I’d lose my commission spot but that she also wasn’t going to do that. I was able to pay her toward the end of February when things ironed out. Paid her again April 2015 and asked about a possible completion date of Anthrocon 2015. Was told she would start working in May after the last payment was sent. The last payment was sent in May 2015, and work began. We talked back and forth about furs and measurements. It was revealed that the suit would not be completed for AC ’15 but I told her I was fine waiting. September rolls around and we’re still waiting on fur. No other WIPs, such as foam work, were shown. She also asked to keep our conversations between her business page and myself instead of her personal one, but this transition never happened and we continued talking for another year on her personal page. Communication stopped Nov. 2015. After that I’d heard nothing from her again until April 2016. In the meantime she was posting other suit work and finished costumes, as well as sharing excitement over having a character of hers made by a popular maker. April 26 I am finally shown my first WIP picture: the handpaws. In May 2016 I received another WIP photo of the tail. After that I was told she couldn’t finish the bodysuit because my DTD had somehow fallen apart and was full of holes, thus requiring me to send and make another one. I didn’t hear anything for a couple months while the artist went to Eurofurence, despite seeing her post a redo of her own personal suit as well as more work. I messaged them August 20th to ask for updates and was told they were still settling in from the con and wanted another week. I reconfirmed sending a new DTD and was promised extras because of the wait. September 2016 I am notified that they received the DTD, but still no new WIPs. Finally, in October 2016 they send me an invite link to a telegram chat they had created to keep all their customers informed. This is the last time we spoke over Facebook messenger. After the move to Telegram I no longer received any updates regarding my suit, but the artist continued to show off work on other suits, her own suit being made by a popular maker and mention things going on in her home life. She mentions she will have four more hands in the studio to help her with suit work. November she posts another finished head and mentions she will change my sculpt to match that one- keep in mind I have yet to even see any WIP shots of a head at this point. Halfway through November she posts more suit updates but no mention of mine, just alludes that everything they have been working on will be shipped out. There's talk of having everything shipped in time for Christmas, yet still no mention of my commission. Updates in January are sporadic, she's posting that she's sick and disappears for days at a time or even a week. January 23rd she tells us things have gotten worse since she worked instead of bedrest so she's stopping for a while. February she lets us know more about her health, and because of this she is stopping all work, and no refunds are going to be given to anyone. She calls in another person to speak on her behalf and again states there will be no refunds, and to sympathize with her as it is a very difficult time for her, we have options, take them or leave them. I stated my case to this new person, first in the chat then in PM, explaining that while I understand the severity of the situation I can’t just walk away from that kind of money, especially where no other WIPs had been sent since May so I couldn’t even be sure the suit was that close to being finished. I even offered a partials refund of $1200 to cover the material costs and labor already put in and her “spokesperson” stated no, no refunds at all, and “this is the risk you take when commissioning”. They finally do agree on a $1200 refund, as a payment plan, and that they would ship me the parts finished and the remaining fur that I could then take to another maker. I was told I would get a track and trace (tracking number) when it shipped, and the first refund payment was due to start in April 2017. Towards the end of February I reached out to this person again for an update and was told they'd get back to me. I haven't heard from them since. It is now nearing May 2017, and I haven’t received a tracking number, my package, or even a cent of a refund payment. Inquiries to Remix herself are met with “I don’t have the money to refund you, I am ill,” and when asked about the package I am told her father shipped it and she would get it from him as soon as she could. I never have, and my messages are now going on ignored. The Telegram group for her business is now shut down and any business pages relating to Nightwolf Costumes are now wiped clean. Meanwhile, Remix posts actively on Twitter about her upcoming fursuit from a large maker, which as of this writing has been finished and is being shipped to her. She is also very active in a telegram chat for Dutch Angel Dragons, that I am also part of. I warned her about writing an artist’s beware if I wasn’t given the tracking number, and I have yet to get a response from her other than “I’m ill”, so here we go. I know I have a slim to none chance of ever seeing my full refund back, or even the fur. I know I shouldn’t have sent the money without an invoice, or without ticking Goods and Services. I learned the hard way, and I’m hoping others don’t make the same mistake I did. I'm posting this to not only warn people about what happens when invoices and paper trails aren't made, but to also stay away from this person, even if they get back in the business. PROOF: All aforementioned and linked screenshots. ADDING: At the beginning of May Remix reached out to me and asked for my email and phone number – she was referring me to a third party to get this resolved as soon as possible. As of this writing I have heard nothing from her or this third party. I reached out to her May 14th asking if she’d heard anything from that third party and I have heard nothing since. 5/26/2017-ADDING MORE: A rather lengthy response from the maker: here here here here here here here here here here here here I've also been called out on Twitter by Skypro herself, my name isn't used but it's passive agressive enough that I can figure out it;s about me. Note that not once in this entire beware have I ever said I'm insisting Remix finish building my suit. All I've asked for is my refund and the supplies to take my commission to a different maker. Proof is here. 5/27/2017 Woke up this morning to a messge from Remix, with photo proof she has shipped two boxes to me, and a refund via Paypal of $1,080 ($120 was witheld to pay for shipping). I had tried to be reasonable and suggest a payment plan again to make it easier on her but she refunded the full amount. I'd consider this mostly resolved, once I get the boxes in the mail and find what she sent is as she described (all the work she was able to finish, plus the remainder of the materials) I'd say this could be completely resolved. 6/8/17 I came home from work to find that two boxes had been delivered, but they required a signature to be turned over to me (they had been delivered at 9 am, I didn't get home till 6 and I live alone). I was away all weekend so I was only able to pick them up today. Frankly, I'm disappointed. I was told I would be getting handpaws, a tail, feetpaws, and a half sewn bodysuit, plus my fleece hat and materials to finish the suit. Instead I got no hat, handpaws that barely fit my hands despite the hand tracing I sent her, a pair of foamed feetpaws with only one showing the carving process, a tail that isn't even backed and closed up (basically unwearable), and a barely even sewn bodysuit, many pieces still have pins holding them together. I also received both DTDs back (one was cut up to make the fur patterns) and almost all the fur used to make her (I don't have the brown or the green used in the tail). I'm disappointed, largely because I was led to believe more work had been done than this when I agreed to a partial refund but also because any quotes to try to get this finished are going to be through the roof, there's still so much work to do.

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/781113.html WHO: Starrik, StarrikKyrubui, WonderFursStudios WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/wonderfursstudios/ http://www.furaffinity.net/user/starrik Also there was trouble at FWA2014 during our convention. Also at Anthrocon 2014 regarding seams popping and various other things falling off / breaking. Namely pawpads, and the tail zipper being reversed. WHAT: 1400$ for Full digitigrade fursuit, including movable jaw, and 3d follow me toony eyes. WHEN: Starrik showed me Turbowolf's head as an example and the Resin head as well for examples. I also at this time requested fullbody suit examples to which she stated she had no pictures taken but built Turbo's https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/1375132686.awesomepawsome_1374768980.fuchsia_turbohead.jpg and https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/1367806068.awesomepawsome_jcheadwithhandpaws.jpg I liked the style of both heads enough to approve her and give her my details and confirm with her. Initial payment was March 3rd Conversations discussing what I wanted took place shortly after through twitter DMs Suit work didn't begin til later that month. Signs of trouble began to show almost immediately when she refused to provide updates for unknown reasons and stated that I approved of the handpaws claws, pawpads. Along with the fact the paws did not fit properly between my thumb and pointer digit. She later hired several other people and formed a business named "Wonderfursstudios" with herself and several friends. Final payment was sent on June 10th in the amount of 350 as I was told I owed. A rough time line of the situation from initial conversation, to 1st payment (or agreement of trade) to signs of trouble. PROOF: All of her business transactions were done through her boyfriends PayPal account. Sekioh. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/ss (2014-07-08 at 04.45.14).png Statement of how much I owed http://puu.sh/a2Gpb/b4c8f2933e.png https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/ss (2014-07-11 at 07.33.33).png final payment There was also a sewing machine I had to buy for her which was part of the payment valued at 50$ EXPLAIN: Trouble started about half way when I was given an estimation by her that I would have "at least" a partial in time for FWA. Though while we were at FWA she claimed several people had contacted her claiming I was going to "dispute payment" and "chargeback scam" her. One of which being a good friend by the name of Sovy Kurosei upon asking him had he contacted her he stated he did not know her let alone that she was making my suit at the time. When I had also requested her for proof of the notes / DMs containing all of that she magically lost them and claimed FA glitched and deleted them all. After I saw the handpaws in person with the Silicone installed in them I was very displeased and with how things were going so far I just wanted to be done with it all honestly. The center pawpad on the handpaws were rough and looked realistic and not toony as I had requested. Not to mention the handpaw also did not fit on my thumb and index properly. Out of the 1400$ and having to also buy her a sewing machine and her running out of money for parts, eg; the silicone for handpaws, or resin for jawset. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/ss (2014-07-08 at 05.39.39).png Below was her quote of how much a foam based head from her would cost. Along with the none shaving of handpaws. I figured I could get someone else to shave it. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/ss (2014-07-08 at 03.44.09).png Later on I found out that was a good choice after they used a regular hair trimmer, and not a dog grooming trimmer. Likely with the default blade...which broke part way through shaving my head and caused nasty deep cuts on the suit. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brfkc_8IIAAMphS (1).jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brfxb66IQAAozLx.jpg She has been trying to help me fix the suit but the main reason I am doing this is because I have learned now she is in no way the fursuit maker that made the Turbowolf head. Let alone able to produce quality of what she plagiarized as her work to coax me to buy from her. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Screenshot_2014-07-08-21-20-37.png There is a large stress point on the left side of my suit despite her having made a DTD with me and the assistance of Sekioh. The left footpaw does not fit my left foot properly and is loose. Both footpaws the right inner claw was popping out because she had only glued one side. Not to mention the footpaws are completely different sizes..and shapes https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp8gDZIAAA2j7N.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp8hHAIUAAUxht.jpg She used BLACK SEWING STRING for WHITE FELT TEETH.. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140708_170426.jpg She did not properly hatch the silicone for the handpaws and they were popping off at Anthrocon at the lightest touches. Not to mention the fur where they were going to be installed at was not cut but actually melted by the hot glue. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp_mNaIIAA4TyI.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140707_184638.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp9vPGIgAENHRc.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp_iv8IQAAJH34.jpg Not to mention when I told her I was unhappy with the handpaws this was her response. She puts her own likes above mine and feels the need to state she LIKES them herself as if to influence my opinion. I saw the handpaws only with the fur, never with the pawpads or claws. http://puu.sh/a35Da/41efd4de77.png The eyes had exposed glue everywhere, and one spot was not even glued properly and the material used for the eye around it was not a hard material but a foam like one. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/BrqHQ9qIcAAzNOe.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp7UQSIQAEeJQM.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp_poSIQAAOlLn.jpg There was exposed foam in several places on the head along with seams. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140708_165624.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp7kk2IcAAZ-k1.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp7UQSIQAEeJQM.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/Brp71MRIQAAz8WM.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/BrqDF1lIAAAh2Sl.jpg - sewing not tied off properly Pictures of an overall view of the head. Bare in mind I did have it touch up trimmed at Anthrocon, and reglued by another fursuit maker. You can see though the head is clearly off centered by a lot and not to mention my markings as well. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140708_170426.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140708_170420.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140708_170414.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/BrqEX0DIIAAejjL.jpg When I asked her to give me the fur scraps / left over fur from my downpayment I received this. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/ss (2014-07-08 at 10.56.39).png https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/ss (2014-07-08 at 10.56.55).png https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/ss (2014-07-08 at 10.55.19).png I believe she can properly repair the footpaws, and handpaws, or make new ones that are improved. I do not desire a refund for these but rather a proper repair along with these the bodysuit. I do not wish risk having her make another head. So with that I expect a refund in the valuation of the head as she quoted above of a price between "$500 to $600" as it is not possible above examples is the quality of her work. Thus I believe I was wronged by this maker in full about the quality of fursuit heads outcome. Which was a complete scam/forgery on her part to try and claim someone elses work as her own and according to FuchsiaPossum http://puu.sh/a35Wl/37c257838d.png Starrik was only her PR for the most https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/twitterfuchsia.png a statement from the maker stating she NEVER even helped on that head. According to Fuchsia all she assisted with was the stress test. At this point she has zero intention of refunding me but insisting she can repair all of this damage, and has actually requested me if I desired new claws for my fursuit handpaws I would have to pay for them myself. Even if they are a $10 set from DVC and the current set is a set I never approved nor was happy with to begin with. 7/23/2014 UPDATE: We have met an agreement in which the following will take place The fursuit head will be fully refunded - $400 (though was quoted $500-$600 for a head alone without a suit) of which no money has been received yet. Handpaws are to be remade Footpaws are to be remade Bodysuit is to be FULLY repaired to quality standard. Otherwise it will be FULLY refunded. 7/30/2014 Additional pictures/evidence of bodysuit: A lot of handsewing had to be done in the tail to fix the markings by Starrik at Anthrocon. Updates of 12 holes repaired total, and in the tail itself as well. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140719_182436.jpg - Left side stress point, I am unable to raise my arm higher than this. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140719_182443.jpg - Right side lift can go a bit higher https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140719_182536.jpg - Assymetry of markings https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140719_182718.jpg - Suit wants to slip off the left side of my shoulder. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140719_182629.jpg - Example 2 of the shoulder slipping off left side. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140719_182708.jpg - Current tail attachment arrangement. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140709_130111.jpg - The temporary belt attachment fix at AnthroCon https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140731_015756.jpg - Non-sewn area https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140731_015843.jpg - Hole in the center of fur https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140731_015911.jpg - Inside shot of clumped machine sewn fur https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/Starrik/20140731_015930.jpg - Outside shot of clumped machine sewn fur 9/6/2014 UPDATE: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/ss%2B(2014-09-06%2Bat%2B10.10.50).png - Email of agreement, request of when she will pay. Along with statement of handpaws / footpaws would be done "by the first" which is another example of them setting personal deadlines and missing them. 9/21/2014 STATUS UPDATE: 400$ Refund: not yet received New handpaws / footpaws: not yet received 10/20/2014 STATUS UPDATE: As of 11:38PM I have received partial refund of 200$ leaving 200$ to be paid at this time. Handpaws and Footpaws are yet to be received but Starrik has made good gesture on her part with partial repayment thus far. As of this point I am signaling she is showing good gestures towards positively resolving this issue. 11/5/2014 STATUS UPDATE Another 200$ has been repaid. With that the 400$ owed has been repaid but this still leaves the handpaws and footpaws. 8/9/2015 STATUS: Bodysuit has been given to Starrik for repairs. She's also working on newer footpaws and handpaws. 8/23/2015 ADDITIONAL INFO: While randomly searching my name on twitter I found old logs and found out when Starrik sent me reference of FuchsiaPossums work as her own. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19358828/screencapture-www-furaffinity-net-msg-pms-12-45381554-1440381697274.png http://puu.sh/jMhwM/9e5c550862.png and an archive of those tweets https://archive.is/xrXSj

PLEASE NOTE: In any screen cap dated after April 4th 2019 I had moved and there is now a 5 hour time zone difference between she and I. (this means that it may seem like I am messaging very early, but for her it is 5 hours ahead of my time stamp.) I was directed to Tamsin (Tammy) via a friend from whom I was purchasing a fursuit head. I had wanted to commission matching hands/tail/arm sleeves in time for Confuzzled. Tammy and I discussed prices and materials and I agreed to pay once I got paid. (The total was 130 GBP which is about $160 USD). I paid promptly upon getting my pay check: After I sent the payment there was apparently a hold up in paypal where they wouldn't release the money to her until I marked the item as shipped with no tracking needed. I was concerned but did as she asked since I had no reason not to trust her. She specifically stated that she needed the money released so she could order the materials quicker. I had some issues come up and ended up not being able to go to CFZ (Confuzzled). Due to this I expressed that I did not need them finished by the con deadline. I was still under the impression that she had already ordered the materials because that was why she needed me to promptly release the funds into her account. After the con passed I didn't hear from her, so contacted her in order to set up a deadline. She expressed that it was a bit hard to do the deadline I suggested because of work/school. I tried to compromise and just prioritize the most important parts first. By June 14th I was starting to feel a bit ignored, as I would see them online and they would check my messages and not respond. The friend who had originally sent me to them (Cas as mentioned in screen shots) mentioned that there were some issues between the two of them at CFZ, and I became afraid that she wasn't communicating with me because of my friendship with Cas, as I had been told that she was answering other messages. I admit that my behavior was a bit pushy in these screen shots, but I have been burnt several times by fursuit builders and was feeling anxious. We agree here on a Halloween deadline and I express that I will make a new ref with the updates I had previously discussed. I make sure to mention that I absolutely must see some sort of work started in July, since they said they would probably start mid July, due to my paypal protection window. I am still fine with the Halloween completion deadline, but just need to see some sort of progress, or materials to show the project is in the works. They express they are stressed due to personal issues. Concerned that this commission is adding onto their stress, I offer to just take a refund in parts if they are no longer interested or have the motivation/time to work on the parts. At this point she starts to seem a bit aggressive, so I inquire as to her having purchased the materials in case we need to work out her shipping them to me and subtracting the cost of shipping/materials from a refund. I was told by our mutual friend that she didn't actually buy the materials, and so I requested pictures from her in order to just prove that she had bought the items needed, as that was the whole reason she asked me to release the funds, so that she could more swiftly buy the materials. At this point she makes excuses one after another on why she can't provide pictures. I give her a deadline on when I must see materials. I agree to a Wednesday deadline to see the materials that week and reiterate that she said she needed the funds to order materials promptly. At this point SHE offers the refund and expresses when her paydays are. I feel this was done because she had never bought the materials and knew she couldn't provide proof in the time frame requested. At this point I feel I am being scammed and lied to, so I agree to the refund and offer her the option of half and half payments on the 27th of each month. I leave her alone for the rest of the month until the 27th where I then message her and remind her of my email. I see her active all day and get no answer while our mutual friend confirms that she's been answering their messages. They finally respond and claim they were working and then go silent again. I get a bit snippy and let them know that I will just file a dispute if I don't get the half payment on the promised day. She finally makes time to attempt to pay me and then gets upset about paypal fees based on currency differences. I try to remedy this by adding GBP to my paypal options, but it still charges a fee, which I tell her I will cover. She sends the first half of the refund, I confirm I got it and then leave her alone until July 25th, where I just send a reminder of the email for the refund. After contacting on the 25th of July 2019, Tamsin expresses that she needs a bit of an extension on the payment time because she is at a con. I thank her for letting me know and leave her alone until the day that SHE set as the new payment day for the final half of the refund. I decided to send an invoice for the remainder to see if that would keep her from having to pay a fee on her end. She claims she can't pay and cancels the invoice. I express that I am not really wanting to wait longer, as I already extended the deadline to Monday (which was the day SHE asked for). I give in and ask her to give me a definite deadline on when she can pay. She ignores me and I wait till the next day (July 30th ) to message her again asking for a definite deadline again. She says she couldn't pay because she had bills. I express that I am unwilling to wait another month because I feel at this point she is jerking me around. (Our mutual has expressed that she' had been spending money on frivolous things, so I felt I was being jerked around and scammed.) She makes a snippy comment about "not relying on her as a source of income" and it really rubbed me the wrong way. I got extremely upset and rather argumentative, as I felt that her statement was in direct contrast to her own behavior, (taking my money and spending it at an event while not even purchasing my materials). Our conversation deteriorated quickly. She continues to claim she bought fur but cannot provide any proof (pictures, receipts, tracking on shipments, etc), and completely twists the situation to paint herself in a better light. (Claiming I wanted a refund because I was broke, when she was the one who chose a refund over just providing proof of the materials that she swears she has bought.) At this point I feel that I am being jerked around and that she has no intention of paying me at all, so I decide to take things to Paypal and open a dispute. I know due to me changing email addresses between payment to refund, that it will dispute for the full amount paid. My intention was to simply send her back the half she had refunded previously once Paypal handled the transaction if she was unwilling to work something out. She proceeds to completely go ballistic once the claim puts a hold on her account. She claims she was going to pay me aft 8 because she was waiting on our mutual friend to pay her for something. This is information that she NEVER once brought up until I filed a claim. She in fact explicitly stated that she didn't know when she'd be able to pay. I initially refuse to cancel the claim because I don't trust her at this point and know that she is a liar. I attempt to make arrangements for the mutual friend to just pay me directly but he can't, as he is doing a bank transfer to her instead of paypal. They claim they will send the money as soon as I cancel the claim and their account comes out of the negative. I make the mistake of trusting them because I am not out to hurt someone, just want what is owed me. Big mistake. I cancel the claim and she ghosts me completely. I send a couple of reminders and get nothing. Cas (the mutual) confirms later in the week that they already paid her, and I still am getting nothing from her, either messages or money. I decide to try to be nice and just leave her alone except to send a reminder on the 16th asking if I will get pair, then left her alone for the rest of August until the 27th and message her again to see if I can get this finished. As of now she has read the messages and still refuses to respond. She has been active on her Instagram (selling adopts primarily), but has failed to answer or send the money. In summary, she is a liar, a scammer, and a thief and I hope that no one else ever has to deal with her or falls for her lies. The below screen caps show her publicly available information / social media accounts so that hopefully others can avoid her.

Explanation: Commissioned a fursuit tail, commission completed but never shipped??? Lack of contact/lying from maker. Proof of deadline agreement: Proof of payment: Commission was completed 12/03/2020: Communication starts to wane: I never received the tracking number or any proof of postage. Most of the responses from here on out were very short and lacked explanation of any kind. At this point I was starting to get a bit nervous and proposed a refund. They used my tail in another commission opening post on twitter and Instagram. When I looked into their Instagram I found a few comments from commissioners complaining about not receiving their commissions. (I cannot make any statements on these peoples behalf's and have no proof of their transactions. These screenshots are only provided to explain my motivation for filing a Paypal dispute.) [Proxy removed by staff. Submissions may only mention your transaction, and not others] I eventually decided to go through with the chargeback which closed in my favor on Jan 31st 2020. Was a really hard decision for me this time since they had actually completed the tail. I did say that I would be willing to send the money straight back to them if I received a tracking number or proof of postage. But unfortunately I haven't received any messages since.

An artist who traced another artist's work, and when I asked for a redo, I was given low-effort art that does not match her portfolio. December 14th, 2022 I commissioned Arts Studio after she contacted me in my Discord DMs asking for emergency medical aid. I paid her $90 ($120 CAD) for a full-body drawing. I was already commissioning an artist to do my main fursona, but I still wanted to help. I didn't have another OC on hand, so I asked her to turn a spare Roblox shark avatar I had into a character. I knew sharks generally have the same body type, followed by simple tattoo patterns. So, the request was to draw a generic grey shark body that wore the accessories and clothing of the avatar, which included a black tank top, shorts, and a red bag. Because I thought she was in a tight situation, I wanted to be less of a burden and reframed from giving her too many specifics so she could focus on styles and poses she was familiar with. I learned shortly after that she was unfamiliar with shark furries, but she was willing to do it. I explained to her that they generally have the same body type, and I showed her a few examples from other artists so she could get some inspiration and an idea of what they are. January 16, 2023 She sent me the rough sketch and awaited approval. The PNG she sent was intentionally small, blurry, and watermarked, so I couldn't recognize anything wrong with it. I approved it. She then guilt-tripped me into paying another $41.46 ($58 CAD) for a background, as I thought she needed the financial help. January 20, 2023 Arts Studio sent me a larger PNG, and I realized it was a traced copy of art by @notglacier (from Twitter). The art by @notglacier was one of the many examples I showed her, but I never told her to make a copy of it. It was to show her what shark bodies looked like in the fandom. I had already told her before that I just wanted the body type. At that time, I was still new to commissioning artists, and I assumed they had a code of conduct against copying. So, I didn't think I needed to tell her anything explicitly. I thought she knew selling copied art was shameful, and the final copy would be completely different. For now, I only gave her subtle hints: But then she ghosts me from that day until Feb 23rd. February 22, 2023 - February 27, 2023 I tracked down her email and contacted her on Feb 22nd. She responded on the 23rd and agreed to finish it. On Feb 27th, she sent me the "completed" version, but it was the same one from Jan 20th, just bigger and without the watermark. You can see the traced resemblance to @notglacier's but mirrored. It had been clear she had not been working on it since she sent me the approval sketch. overlay March 1, 2023 I emailed her. I told her (very explicitly this time) that the point of those references told was to give her an idea of what shark body types look like and that I wanted her to implement it with my avatar. I asked if she could make a redo with a different pose and style so it isn't a copy. I didn't provide any further instructions after that because, again, I wanted her to have artistic freedom, and it had already been three months. The pose or style didn't matter as long as it wasn't copied. She agreed to make a redo. March 29, 2023 Art Studio submits the redo. She created a random character with none of the attributes I explained from the start. I told her I thought she would draw the same Roblox character, just with a different pose and style. I had never asked for those clothes, glasses or four arms. The quality was also bad, so I showed her an image of her previous work and asked why this one was so low. She acted clueless and ignored my questions. I expressed my frustration, telling her that I gave her $130 (CAD $178) for something I did not want and was not worth the quality. I ask the same question again because she ignored it the first time. She ignored this one as well. This was the expected quality March 31, 2023 - April 3, 2023 I start a new email thread. She abruptly sent me an unwatermarked version of the redo, but I told her I wanted to talk. Here, I'm desperately trying to get an answer as to why the quality is so poor, but she keeps ignoring the question. Here, she is being oblivious and asks me to repeat what I asked in the previous email because she had apparently forgotten. I do just that, and she tells me she "forgot" (again) and never gave me an answer to my question. She thanks me and leaves. But I wasn't done. I stopped holding back my feelings and lay out all the reasons why I was frustrated. She said she started a new job and won't do another redo unless I pay her. Then, I asked for a refund because the redo took no effort and was in no way worth $130. I only asked for 50% to be generous, but she declines. At this point, I knew I've been scammed, but I still wanted to know the questions I asked earlier, along with why she couldn't give me a refund. Again, she ignores. The takeaway is that she traced another artist's work and submitted art that didn't match her portfolio. It gives me reason to believe that the art she posts on Twitter doesn't belong to her.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/870015.html EDIT: solved, I received a full refund. WHO: RaikaDeLaNoche / RawrCreations / AlmaAurora on FA, WHAT: A fursuit mask I didn't receive. WHEN: Contacted her and paid on march. Still waiting on a full refund. PROOF + EXPLAIN: [Note: The RawrCreations fursuit studio is handled by two people; Raika and someone else, but because this was entirely handled by Raika, I've decided not to include the other person.] RawrCreations opened for new projects in march, so I messaged them asking for a quote. [Proof] We agreed to the transaction, I sent $250 and I was supposed to send the rest of the payment next month. Their website (listed on the RawrCreations profile page) is now down, but when it was online, it showed some fursuit examples and a ToS that specified that, if paying in increments, they would send an invoice next month, and it was expected for the buyer to pay when it was due (April, in my case). [Proof] It's after I sent the first payment that communication completely stopped. April passed and I didn't get any updates or the invoice. I tried to be patient so I waited until May to contact them again, but my message was ignored. I messaged them again through on June asking for a reply, again, no answer. [Proof] On July 23 I was now tired of waiting and sent Raika a message on FA, asking for a refund. The message was read, but I got no reply, and her favourites kept being updated, showing that she was indeed ignoring me. (I also sent a message to the other fursuit studio maker, the messages are still unread.) She finally replied to me on July 30, the reason cited for the lack of updates was personal reasons/not wanting to talk, but assured me I'd get photo updates in about a week. I was excited about getting the item again and understood that life sometime gets in the way, so I told her it was completely okay and to take her time, only thing I asked for was updates. [Proof for both messages] Yet August was passing again without not even once being contacted by Raika, so I left a shout on her profile asking for a refund, completely fed up with waiting. [Proof] I was silently 'refunded' a week later. The thing is, because Raika sent this as Payment instead of Gift or Refund, I only received $236 from the $250 I originally paid her. I understand not all countries can send as Gift (mine can't), and it was past the wait period to send as Refund, but I would have expected her to cover the fees so I would have received a full refund. [Proof] I left a shout on her profile asking for the full amount on September 1st, which is still being ignored, even though her account shows activity. There are also other people on her shouts asking for refunds and updates, so I know I'm not the only one. [Proof] So, in short, I paid for a fursuit head, was ignored for six months (and still am), then not refunded in fully, even though I didn't receive anything.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/1012021.html WHO: Tegan AKA CarrionCupcake WHERE: Original transaction was an in-convention commission at Furpocalypse 2017. Notes have been exchanged primarily through Fur Affinity since then. WHAT: Traditional con badge WHEN: October 27, 2017 (day one of Furpocalypse): I commissioned Tegan for a con badge. The base price was $80, but I asked Tegan to charge me $100 instead, with the extra $20 being a tip. Furpocalypse uses a system where the artist fills out the price on an invoice, which the buyer then brings to a central checkout and pays the teller. The teller then stamps the invoice to indicate it has been paid, and the buyer returns the stamped invoice to the artist. I paid the Furpocalypse teller in cash and unfortunately I no longer have my receipt after all this time, though the Furpocalypse staff might if pressed. October 28, 2017 (day two of Furpocalyse): I went to pick up my badge, as Tegan had promised a next-day turnaround. Tegan told me there it wasn't finished yet and to please check back tomorrow. October 29, 2017 (day three of Furpocalypse): I went again to pick up my badge, and Tegan once again said it had not yet been finished. Tegan asked if it could be done as take-home work, and I agreed. November 11, 2017: I sent Tegan a note on Fur Affinity asking for an update. (screenshot) The same day, Tegan replied and said it would be posted "this week." (screenshot) December 26, 2017: I sent Tegan a note asking for an update. (screenshot) Tegan read it but did not respond. February 18, 2018: I sent Tegan a note asking for an update. (screenshot) February 19, 2018: Tegan replied only with "Hey what's your next con?" (screenshot) February 20, 2018: I informed Tegan that I will probably be doing Furpocalypse again this year. (screenshot) Tegan read the note but did not respond. June 3, 2018: I asked Tegan if I'm to understand from that exchange that the badge will be ready before Furpocalypse? (screenshot) June 4, 2018: Tegan replied that it would actually be scanned, posted, and mailed to me "this week" if I could provide my address (screenshot) June 4-8, 2018: I asked Tegan if it would be all right to send my mailing address via email instead of Fur Affinity notes, because I don't particularly trust the latter. Tegan agreed, and I did so. I'm not providing screenshots of the email since it's literally just me providing my mailing address (which is not information that should be posted here anyway), but here (screenshot) is a confirmation note back on Fur Affinity, informing Tegan that the email had been sent. As of when I submitted this post to a_b, I never received anything in the mail. July 10, 2018: I sent Tegan a note asking for an update. (screenshot) July 11, 2018: Tegan replied informing me that the scan would be posted "this week." (screenshot) July 22, 2018: I sent Tegan a note asking for an update. (screenshot) July 11, 2018: Tegan replied informing me that the scan would be posted "today or tomorrow." (screenshot) August 5, 2018: I sent Tegan a note asking for an update. (screenshot) August 6, 2018: Tegan replied informing me that the scan would be posted "tomorrow." (screenshot) August 8, 2018: I sent Tegan a note asking for an update. Though there had been a soft unspoken inferring up to this point that Tegan needed only to scan and post the badge, the lack of updates over this long a time lead me to ask more directly and formally: The badge actually is finished, yes? (screenshot) Tegan read it but did not respond. August 13, 2018: I sent Tegan a note asking for an update. Because of how long it has been and especially the lack of response to my direct question, I started to more overtly show doubts that this badge is indeed finished. I asked for a refund if it was not. (screenshot) Tegan replied after "finally [getting] home" that the scan would be posted by "tomorrow." (screenshot) August 16, 2018: I sent Tegan a note asking for an update. I also asked what is causing all these delays. I repeated my stance that I would like a refund if the badge had not actually been completed, as Tegan still had not directly answered that. (screenshot) Tegan replied complaining about having a lot going on, but promised to get the scan "soon." (screenshot) August 23, 2018: I dropped a sharply-worded ultimatum on Tegan. (screenshot) The main point, to quote a passage from the middle: "You still have yet to answer a simple and direct yes or no question that I've asked several times now: Does my badge actually exist? Have you drawn it yet, in all this time? If so, prove it. It really should not take two and a half months now just to scan something. If you haven't started it yet, then please don't. I will instead take a full refund." Because of the repeated delays promising updates soon/tomorrow/etc. I informed Tegan that I felt the only way to get the matter resolved was to attach a deadline: I expected either the badge or a refund by September 1, or I would take the matter to a_b. August 27, 2018: Tegan replied "now that [Tegan is] home" understanding and thanking me for the warning, and promising to talk to me "soon." (screenshot) August 31, 2018: Tegan sent me another note suggesting it may have to wait until Sunday the 2nd, rather than the 1st as originally promised. Tegan promised to include extra sketches for the trouble, and to pay for shipping with tracking. (screenshot) September 3, 2018: The September 1 deadline came and went, and so did the September 2 deadline, so I wrote and submitted this post here. EXPLAIN: I still have not received anything after almost a full year of "today/tomorrow/this week/soon" promises. I still do not believe this badge ever existed, which leaves me at a loss regarding how to deal with Tegan's offer on August 31. I very specifically and directly, more than once, instructed Tegan not to draw this badge if it had not already been made, because I would rather have a refund at this point. Tegan never did answer the direct yes-or-no question of whether this badge ever existed. If it did not (which I very strongly suspect) but Tegan then threw something together this weekend to meet the deadline, that would directly go against my frequently-repeated wishes. One could argue that receiving the badge+bonus sketches+complimentary shipping with tracking would at least be something, and that was why I was persuaded to give Tegan one more day per the note on the 31st. Even now, a part of me is worried I'm going to click "Submit" on this and then received the finished product half an hour after I posted it, and end up looking silly for that. However, I look back on this entire history and... well, I'm sorry, but I simply can't believe Tegan anymore. Tegan implied I'd be getting the scan any second now, but Tegan has been implying that for months. At this point, I just want the matter resolved. By refund, preferably, but I might just have to take what I can get.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/977067.html Who: Mithacal Creatures - Alaska business license 1052001 Twitter: @Mithacal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mithacalcreatures/ Website: https://www.mithacal.com/ FurBuy username: MithacalCreatures FurAffinity:http://www.furaffinity.net/user/Mitha/ Where: Furbid Auction - https://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1092553.html What: Fursuit head commission, won at auction. The auction was won for $575, and the agreed-upon price after enhancements, modifications, and shipping was $905. Custom features were to include custom eye cuts for better vision, whiskers, and a silicone nose. When: The auction was won on February 14, 2017, and lists a completion time of 5 weeks after full payment is received. Full payment was made on February 17, 2017, after some initial communication difficulties. Delivery of the head was delayed repeatedly. On July 12, after a disagreement about what features were included in the increased price, Mitha offered a full refund, then asked for a legal agreement to be signed as a pre-requisite for the refund. On July 13, Mitha refused to honor that offer, and said that only a 50% refund would be available. On July 17, after I had requested several days to decide what to do (which was also over a weekend), Mitha stated that she would be giving me a 50% refund in 14 days whether I wanted it or not. At that point, I filed a credit card dispute, which was resolved in my favor in September. Explanation & Evidence: The commission got off to a rough start when Mitha didn’t get my emails, but that’s on me. Eventually we made contact via Twitter, which is where we would do all of our subsequent communication. I sent Mitha a long explanation, including a web page with references and desired features. Screenshot 1 Mitha agreed to this, saying that she could “do everything I wanted” on my reference page. Screenshot 2 The features added $280 to the price of the head, which made the total with shipping $905. Screenshot 3 Payment was made immediately via credit card on her website, http://www.mithacal.com. Screenshot 4 Some additional discussion about fur kinds and colors followed, since I wanted to try making a body suit for the head and wanted to coordinate on the fur we were using. At the end of the discussion, I mentioned her move, something that she had been talking about on Twitter. No mention was made of it impacting the deadline. Screenshot 5 One month later, I check in. No progress, and we talk about fur choices, but don’t exit the conversation with an unambiguous decision. Screenshot 6 Another month goes by with no communication. It’s now April 23rd, with no WIPs. I check in again. Apparently Mitha thought that she was still waiting on fur choices, and after getting the go-ahead to use whatever she wanted, says that she’ll finish up the mask and will have updates in a week. Screenshot 7 At the time, she also asks me what color eyes I want. LED eyes weren’t part of my request list, but I had thought they were just something standard she did. Her last message says she needs to wait for them, but had said just before that she’d report progress in a week. Screenshot 7_1 Another month goes by, and it’s now May 30th. I have not yet heard anything from Mitha without me prompting her. She says she’s still waiting on the eyes from DVC. Screenshot 8 Amazingly, the eyes come in the same day! Or so she says. She also now says it will be another few weeks before there’s any progress to see. Screenshot 9 Screenshot 10 June 13th, and I finally get a communication from her asking me to choose eye backgrounds, and to say that the head is still a couple of weeks away from completion. Screenshot 11 June 21st , and I message her again for a status update, and to let her know that I was going to be out of town from July 1 – 10. She indicates that she’ll have the head shipped so that it arrives around July 10th. Screenshot 12 Screenshot 13 July 11th, and I haven’t heard anything from her, so I ping her again. Apparently there’s been a delay due to her wedding and honeymoon, which she didn’t mention anything about. I congratulate her, and ask for some WIPs, especially of the tear duct modifications. This is where things start to go very wrong. Screenshot 14 Mitha claims she never agreed to the modifications. I ask where she said that, because the last message I got from her about it, before I paid, was that it wouldn’t be a problem. She says she sent something saying she wasn’t capable of that kind of modification, and offers a refund if that’s a problem. I ask again to just point me where she said that, and after 24 hours of no response, I’m pretty fed up with the whole deal and agree to the refund. Screenshot 15 Mitha goes off, but agrees to the full refund. Fine, I just want to be done with this; I’ve seen scant evidence that my commission was even being worked on (nothing other than the eye backgrounds), and we’re now 5 months into what was promised in 5 weeks. Screenshot 16 And now things get really weird. Mitha wants me to sign some kind of contract – I was guessing a non-disparagement agreement – as part of the refund. But, instead of sending me something to sign and review, she sends me a contract that she signed, between herself and her dog breeder, over some dispute that they had. Real names redacted below, but they weren't in what she sent me: Screenshot 17 One, sending me this unredacted was probably a violation of her agreement with her breeder. Two, it’s really odd to send somebody a legal agreement that isn’t actually ready to be signed, and is in fact between her and another party, with all of those details. Because I've had some experience with contracts and NDAs, I’m going to get a lawyer to look at any contract I’m being asked to sign. I’m not trying to be aggressive here, and in most business environments when you say you need a lawyer to look at a legal document, that’s a sign of being sane and prudent, not that you're making a legal threat. Screenshot 18 The whole thing has taken a turn for the strange, and I’m asking her for options. I feel she’s had a really poor record of communicating with me, so I’m trying to be proactive about communication and expectations. Asking for a mailing address for legal communications is pretty standard business practice, and signing a non-disparagement clause is a lot different than a regular commercial transaction. As a registered business in the state of Alaska, she has to have a publicly-available mailing address, and it can be found very easily online at the Alaska Chamber of Commerce website (https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/cbp/main), so I'm not sure why it would be a problem. Screenshot 19 And then Mitha changes her mind, says she won’t be giving me a full refund, that only a 50% refund is on the table, and accuses me of threatening legal action, apparently because I uttered the word ‘lawyer’, after she asked me to sign a legally-binding document. Screenshot 20 I want to take some time to think about this, because none of my options here are good: I can lose $450, or I can maybe get a head that doesn’t have the features that I wanted, from a maker that I no longer trust. Since this is already months late, I didn’t think a few extra days would be an issue, especially over a weekend. July 14 was a Friday, July 17 is a Monday. Mitha feels differently, and by Monday evening is saying that she will give me a 50% refund whether I like it or not. Screenshot 21 I’m still not clear on what’s going on – do I still have to sign a document of some kind, even for the 50% refund? I’m not sure, and I don’t want to make a decision until we can hash this out. Mitha doesn’t want to wait though, and just after midnight on Monday she decides she’s going to keep half the money and not send me anything, no matter what I want. After 5 months of me waiting for her, she’s definitely not going to wait for me. Screenshot 22 To me, and to the lawyer that I had review all of this, this is a breach of contract on her part. What she’s saying here, as evidenced by all the previous tweets, is mostly false. She offered the refund first, I just took her up on it. She asked me to sign a legal document, I just wanted to do it safely by having a lawyer look at the contract. At this point, I’m pretty upset. Screenshot 23 Screenshot 24 After her message on July 18th, and blocking me on Twitter, I filed a dispute with the credit card company to get my money back. I’d received nothing, no WIPs beyond the eye backdrop photos, no proof of work done, and no product, and was only going to get half of a refund after waiting 5 months for something that Mitha agreed to do but later decided she couldn't, or wouldn't. Finally, on July 30th, Mitha unblocked me long enough to tell me that she was going to sue me in small claims court. To date, Mitha hasn’t served me with anything for a lawsuit, and the credit card company finalized the chargeback in September, so I have 100% of my money back. As things go, this could have been worse, but I think Mitha is somebody to avoid doing business with.

May 27, 2014 https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/769814.html Who: Porter Corgi aka Little~Bit Where: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/thecorgi/ What: a tradition bust badge When: I commissioned the badge in 2012, was supposed to be done right away (within the week) as it was advertised as an "emergency commission" (couldn't get screen caps of the journal she posted as she deletes them often) then I got excuse after excuse, "I'm so busy" "computer/tablet broken" "I work all day, then train horses and give lessons all day. I'm trying to get your badge to you", I was then sent this link to this unpleasant digital badge, the quality was bad, it looked messy, pixel-y, rushed and not her art style at all, I reminded her I asked for traditional, she apologized and said she'd fix it no problem. The excuses continued. I then had to leave FA for a while because my account was hacked, I looked for her often, and tried to contact her multiple times, for a while she was gone doing stuff in armed forces, and then she was "done with FA forever" as seen on her old account http://www.furaffinity.net/user/little~bit/ I finally joined FA again this year 2014, over 2 years later. Since I joined I've been contacting her, 3 months ago I noted her about the long overdue badge, with the warning I was thinking about posting on artists beware, she apologized a lot and said she'd get it to me asap. It's been 3 months since she's said this. Proof: I don't have screenshots from my old account but these are the conversations we've had since I re joined http://s1352.photobucket.com/user/mlpblah_/media/162C47C0-FCA0-4362-B493-F4B4BCA0D1CD_zps489xrvjh.png.html?sort=3&o=4 http://s1352.photobucket.com/user/mlpblah_/media/469ED320-CB6D-4224-B845-63869D0D2E50_zps7nxziwvl.png.html?sort=3&o=1 http://s1352.photobucket.com/user/mlpblah_/media/D6095F5B-86A1-4E31-B0C9-3DB138AC42A0_zpsn3jcovau.png.html?sort=3&o=2 http://s1352.photobucket.com/user/mlpblah_/media/F35A5704-3FDB-4B3E-97E4-76B24698748C_zpsu6llokgr.png.html?sort=3&o=3 http://s1352.photobucket.com/user/mlpblah_/media/F4C79565-D2A9-4C69-9AD9-B76550D2B744_zpspqvonhli.png.html?sort=3&o=0 Explain: I've been trying to get this badge from her for over 2 years now, I'm so upset because I used to look up to her, I loved her art so much now I just want my badge so I never have to talk to her again. Apparently I'm rude for asking for my overdue art because she's doing charitable things. But I paid her to do this, you need to take your job as an artist seriously. Since I've been complaining she's posted this journal http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5708600/ (sounds like I'm not the only one she's ripped off" saying "I have so much way overdue art I'm never doing commissions again unless I really want to" I hope she doesn't because I don't want someone else going through what I did from someone I used to think was so cool, and used to look up to. I'm very upset about this and I wish she'd see that. I don't think I'm ever going to get this badge, I'm going to talk to her about getting my money back. She's rarely on FA and always takes a few days to respond to me. I can't get screenshots of our notes in 2012 as my account was hacked and the password was changed.