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https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/974901.html Where: Furaffinity.net/user/sharpe19 What: Premade head, to be upgraded with a matching tail. When: September 2016 Explain: Sharpe was taking offers on this premade suit nicknamed at the time Alchemy https://imgur.com/fdz80W1. Sharpe did make it known that a new hood (neck/ears) would be made for the winner which I thought was too cool to pass up. I sent them an email private offer of 1800 with the request of a payment plan on 9/19/2016 https://imgur.com/6n2vueu.This was the highest bid at that time, and the payment plan was welcomed! I also inquired about a design (this is prior to being the “chosen” buyer) which Sharpe seemed intrigued by. She asked if a deposit of 800 would be doable https://imgur.com/BCS4ls6 and that my offer is very interesting to her. At this time, I also asked if at this or a future time she would be willing to make me a tail and maybe hands/feet as well for extra funds of course. She agreed to a tail and to possibly add crystals as well! By this time, I was notified that I WAS the buyer (I’m not sure where that message is... I literally don’t have an email or a FA note so weird) and asked for her Paypal to send the first part of my deposit https://imgur.com/ryQN3in. By now I had made my first deposit payment of 600 and was going to get the remainder the following day. I was waiting on Paypal to clear funds of a sale of mine to finish my deposit to Sharpe https://imgur.com/DyhGIzK and was able to put the remaining 200 down on September 30th Some time passed (about a month) and I had sent another 750 to Sharpe while awaiting my first check from my new job https://imgur.com/HlCaOS3. NOW all was going extremely smoothly Sharpe was very quick to respond and lovely to work with. I had 0 issues with communication. I’m going to switch from email to FA notes as I was assuming photos would be uploaded to FA instead of sent via EMAIL (what my previous makers have done in the past). I let a few months go past, I was off FA for a small break, but decided to send a poke her way to see where we were at with the commission https://imgur.com/Qy5NYzz. Now this is about 6 months after the payments were made. I know sometimes life gets busy and I am VERY flexible when people are up front to me with what’s going on… but this response was honestly a little awkward for me https://imgur.com/opSPYdv it appeared she literally had no idea who I was. NOW that being said our primary form of communication was through email, and I’m not sure how others work but for me I document peoples Emails/FA/DA/FB whatever methods of communication I can just so I can keep in touch. But I brushed it off as just simple confusion as to who I was! It happens. https://imgur.com/r0J7p5B this is just me clearing up which commission I was and getting a few verbal updates. Sounds like the Hood didn’t turn out as well and needed to be redone-reworked before progressing. Sure no problem! Quality over speed in my opinion! https://imgur.com/DaoaH0p first talk of getting some updates. They never came but that’s ok life gets busy I suppose. Now were onto June of 2017 where I again asked if we had any updates https://imgur.com/1SGuIdv to which I was responded with a note that seemed promising and that work was almost complete (unless I’m reading into it wrong, to me it sounded like all it needed was airbrushing) https://imgur.com/JYUUm4S. This got me quite excited so I decided to let her work and try back later if she didn’t get back to me first. Well now were pushing the “Almost a year” mark and I am honestly starting to get antsy as I had conventions I was planning to wear this to and really didn’t expect it to take a full year to complete a hood replacement and a tail. https://imgur.com/mix1MqY I was a little confused by the response as I thought we were almost done with things and apparently it was just a first test run? Of the fur? https://imgur.com/1BtiaAr and at this point I had given up mentally that this project would get done. Sharpe was spending (I follow her on twitter) most of her time working on personal costumes/cosplays/projects and I felt like I was completely tossed on the backburner. This is when I asked a SECOND time (because she either ignored or didn’t read) for an estimated time of completion https://imgur.com/CisL4Jc.She said it would be Most likely August, but for sure before Halloween. Finally, a date set I can stop pestering her! https://imgur.com/Z5F4JO9 Well were officially at/past the one-year mark, august came and went and so I inquired one more time to be sure were on track for Halloween https://imgur.com/tyrNaxi to which they assured me we are https://imgur.com/HH4PmBV.To me, and please let me know if I’m wrong, I was under the assumption my suit would be IN HAND by Halloween when I asked if we were on track… Is that wrong of me to assume? Completed Payments https://imgur.com/AnCPEK6 So the original plan was 1800 but I did not complete my final payment of 250 dollars. I was holding on to it until the product had either photo proof, or completion proof or SOMETHING because I have been burned MORE than a handful of times. Well Halloween is tomorrow. I have 0 progress photos, proof of work, I literally have only her word. She messaged me asking for my address, however when I did ask for photos I was met with a really odd response of “Depending on how late you’re awake” https://imgur.com/wXg9Yilwhat?? What difference does it matter how late it is... why is it SO hard for Sharpe to provide me ANY proof of work?? At this point I just hope I can get my refund as I have ZERO desire for this character anymore. I’m not sure if it’s just my expectations or what but a year of waiting with no progress updates proof or anything really left a sour taste in my mouth. I’m a very patient person but I really feel like my commission was not taken seriously or professionally in the form of timelines/completion. It just seems like my commission didn’t/doesn’t matter and that I was only a quick paycheck for someone to use. As of 10/29/2017 I was relayed it would be shipping out "this weekend" (the weekend before halloween) however it was not, and I still have 0 photographic proof of ANY work. Sharpe is a really nice gal, super communicative and will respond very quickly. I just think her time management is lacking. Personal and new projects took priority over my paid commission. I just hope I can get my refund promptly. Beware is only warranted for lack of time management and prioritizing issues. She makes great work, and she’s very communicative. I missed out on every event I wanted to wear this piece to and actually ordered a new costume in the meantime as backup for Halloween as I had a feeling it again, wouldn’t be completed on time. I hope Sharpe steps up her game on her time management and prioritizing pieces. Update 11/8/2017: At this time Sharpe and I have agreed on a full refund, she will be selling the suit (this is the current listing link https://www.thedealersden.com/listing/alchemy/129915) and the profits will be coming to me. Im glad we could come to an agreement. I will update as soon as refund payments are made. Update: 11/16/2017: I have received the first payment of 450 dollars, with an agreement on a payment plan that will total just over 1300 dollars in a matter of 5 weeks. I am currently at work, and unable to get a screenshot but I will update this post promptly.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/964727.html Artist Beware - QuartzYellow WHO: Pollypolly1323, Babygurlpolly, QuartzYellow, SirenaDiamond WHERE: Pollypolly1323 (Second Life) Hope7614 (Discord) Babygurlpolly (Twitter) picarto.tv/QuartzYellow (Picarto.TV) bugaboosplayhouse.tumblr.com (Tumblr) www.furaffinity.net/user/babygurlpolly (Fur Affinity) https://www.patreon.com/QuartzCreations (Patreon) Kaida#9639 (NEW Discord where shes resuming operation) SirenaDiamond (Deviantart) NiraIshani (InkBunny) WHAT: Scamming of money, lateness on delivering artwork and unfinished commission. WHEN: Timeline: February 1st, 2017 to August 5th 2017 PROOF: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s92p2d73wobf9y5/AACwGV9iTe8KQW8x2VwBEnlNa?dl=0 (For FULL screens) 1-3) Me ordering the commission, asking what I wanted from her, and getting a price, of $30 USD 1, https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ku4qbepjicrkq3/1) asking for com.png?dl=0 2, https://www.dropbox.com/s/9mhtobltvcu6tgl/2) asking for com 2.png?dl=0 3, https://www.dropbox.com/s/5hgbw5z4qnafs9e/3) Pricing the comm.png?dl=0 4) Me asking if I can split the payment up, I had $20 then. She agrees. 4, https://www.dropbox.com/s/f2qpoy7dg4hcllb/4) me explaining if I can send 20 to start.png?dl=0 5-7) Were having issues sending the initial $20, but it goes through. 5, https://www.dropbox.com/s/kdw5jmib1ql81c5/5) Having issues sending first 20.png?dl=0 6, https://www.dropbox.com/s/4glx4mkqv08ne27/6) Having issues sending first 20 2.png?dl=0 7,https://www.dropbox.com/s/8u8x18iyhxrfvbe/7%29%20Having%20issues%20sending%20first%2020%203.png?dl=0 5.5) She states herself she has multiple paypal accounts, 4 in total. https://www.dropbox.com/s/thtdo13hpdb0uc8/8) her showing me she got the 20.png?dl=0 😎 She obtains the first 20, with a confirmation to me. https://www.dropbox.com/s/thtdo13hpdb0uc8/8) her showing me she got the 20.png?dl=0 -A few days pass- 9) She hounds me for the last 10, even-though I've explained when I'm paid. https://www.dropbox.com/s/8c2ycypi1mmiz7l/9) her hounding me for final 10 days later after I told her.png?dl=0 -Little more time- 10-12) I have the final 10 and even reconfirm to her what paypal I need to send it too. in 12 I show the confirmation of it sending to that. 10, https://www.dropbox.com/s/ktj3gypdvbafaib/10) Having last 10 ready.png?dl=0 11, https://www.dropbox.com/s/9p9ml3hybt5467f/11) Having last 10 ready 2.png?dl=0 12, https://www.dropbox.com/s/3v4hv7x8cmbsmwl/12) Having last 10 ready 3.png?dl=0 13 and 14) She claims she never got it. I show the confirmation and transaction ID to show I did, on 13 13, https://www.dropbox.com/s/okzj8qn0cl9p5qw/13) her saying she didnt get it.png?dl=0 14, https://www.dropbox.com/s/5bwuoqqqbg09ddk/14) her saying she didnt get it 2.png?dl=0 15) She introduces the idea of me paying an extra 10, and paying me back so I don't lose money https://www.dropbox.com/s/g9fibm2uncz4us8/15) Her introducing the idea sending an extra 10 and paying me back.png?dl=0 16-21) Waiting on it to go through with no results. I even reconfirm that I sent it to her paypals with a screen on 18 16, https://www.dropbox.com/s/2yu4twizhi83zub/16) Waiting for her to refresh.png?dl=0 17, https://www.dropbox.com/s/yo4ixads7q88rcb/17) showing me nothing sent%2C but without showing me the paypal shes on.png?dl=0 18, https://www.dropbox.com/s/jv5ueud2fyyz10l/18) showing me nothing sent%2C but without showing me the paypal shes on 2.png?dl=0 19, https://www.dropbox.com/s/0gfi4lozt34rb49/19) showing me nothing sent%2C but without showing me the paypal shes on 3.png?dl=0 20, https://www.dropbox.com/s/a6wpj8hbb0bdujo/20) showing me nothing sent%2C but without showing me the paypal shes on 4.png?dl=0 21, https://www.dropbox.com/s/kggoxfy0ka0hkou/21) showing me nothing sent%2C but without showing me the paypal shes on 5.png?dl=0 22-23) I tell her of a plan to wait a few days, then going with the paying extra 10 like she had asked. 22, https://www.dropbox.com/s/y9tnasd6w6ojzte/22) going with her plan.png?dl=0 23, https://www.dropbox.com/s/78q9apmhevfqm64/23) going with her plan 2.png?dl=0 At this point, I was pulled into a group with her Fiance, I sadly no longer have access to this, but in that time she told me to send it to his paypal, (Korokizma, the second invoice states so) She then told me we were golden to start from here. Keeping the "I'll pay you back" talk in mind. By Request, Here is his permission of inclusion to being here. https://www.dropbox.com/s/1t81tt9v6tyrdo7/Permission of Inclusion by Koro.png?dl=0 She apparently forgot about what I wanted and I had to remind her. As pictures 24 and 25 show. 24. https://www.dropbox.com/s/p4rjawhvr2am3xk/24) her forgetting the comm by asking me what it was again.png?dl=0 25, https://www.dropbox.com/s/i8q9j6q65waprdq/25) her forgetting the comm by asking me what it was again 2.png?dl=0 Ever since then, I've asked her twice in a voice call for any updates. Nothing. Her fiance is also an artist, and a friend of mine. He's asked her to do so for my own sake, she seemed to ignore it all when he did or gets flustered with anger. If needed, I have asked if he would make a comment on his behalf to prove my claims. She has now told me her new tablet is broken.. again. While I don't have the original picture of her telling me her tablet broke the first time, since it was part of that group I was pulled into. The last Photo in the dropbox shows of it breaking the second time, sorry for lack of context, again I can have backups to this claim within the comments section if mods permit. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vx1nqce98ljm9xw/tablet broken proof.png?dl=0 of her tablet being broken My two invoices with her First, https://www.dropbox.com/s/qqwy6v9s84yke13/Initial Payment to Polly.png?dl=0 Second, https://www.dropbox.com/s/w5u5xm0rigfhtfu/Secondary Payment.png?dl=0 In all good consciousness, I cannot recommend anyone commission her with this in mind. Due to the constant dodging, waiting, and general lack of interest she has in getting her work done. UPDATE: She has since done my commission and apologized, after we gave her a good kick in the rear to become a better person. She has also thrown in extra art due to me waiting, and her dodging the questions.. That being said, Only time will show if she changes her attitude, and this beware will remain as a reminder of what she -has- done. So that way if someone decides to buy, they can double check her here. UPDATE 2: She may concurrently be resuming her shady actions, due to her once more piling up on her commissions with little work after weeks of getting them. Her ex has commented below with these notions. I would advise to demand work done with a watermark if you're insistent on her work, to pay when complete so she doesn't take money without anything done. UPDATE 3: She now has a new discord, and has resumed scamming others. Due to this, I'm adding it to the top of the page and in the comments below to confirm she has resumed activities I shall link another article as of 8/20/18 Update 4 She as opened a new DA, can confirm this as she admits it's herself in a journal https://www.deviantart.com/sirenadiamond/journal/Confession-760632890 added this to here for reference so she can't hide Update 5 Added a new Inkbunny, since shes trying to change her name. However her information still shows it's her. https://inkbunny.net/NiraIshani

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/956024.html MOD COMMENT mithical has deleted the post therefore we are reposting the screencap we've taken. Screencaps of comments will come shortly after. How/why the post was originally deleted is NOT the topic of this post. Please stay on topic of the Beware itself. Thank you. WHO: Zephyr The Floof (Customer of Mithacal Creatures) WHERE: Initial contact about customer wanting a commission was on Twitter @Mithacal WHAT: A custom made digitgrade fullsuit WHEN: Commission Date 12-24-16. Dispute filed 5-3-17. EXPLAIN: This customer approached us (Mithacal Creatures) on 12-24-16 to inquire about commissioning a realistic style fullsuit of her dragon character. After purchasing materials including a resin base which we had completed work in preparation for furring, she (Zephyr) changed her mind about what she wanted and asked that we change her suit to a toony style one. After some back and forth about the cost of additional materials (which she initially did not want to pay) she agreed to the additional $290 to cover new fur and toony base, eyes etc. Zephyr had been in frequent contact with us regarding the state of her commission as well as general conversation and was well aware of the production timeline and completion state of her commission when she suddenly and without notice filed a fraudulent non-receipt dispute on PayPal. We had initially agreed to a completion time in late 2017, which was pushed back to early 2018 (March at the latest) as a result of the style change. Zephyr made no effort to ask for a refund and had previously showed no complaint nor concern for her commission, in fact she had stated just the day before the dispute that she was looking forward to seeing it done... Following her dispute filing with PayPal, she ignored our attempts to contact her via text and Twitter. When she finally did answer us she said she "had an emergency" come up and said "I knew you wouldn't give me my money back" so filed a non-receipt dispute despite knowing full well that the project was not yet finished. She admits to this in fact, both to us and on her Twitter account. Her dispute had nothing to do with her being dissatisfied in any way with our work or communication, it had everything to do with finding the easiest way to get some fast cash. Knowing that we could not provide tracking numbers to PayPal a decision in her favor was almost guaranteed. She used PayPal's policies to her advantage to scam both us and PayPal, to the point of calling them and declaring that our dispute had "been settled amicably" and cancelling her claim. This effectively shut down the investigation into her account and review of our evidence that we had requested of PayPal. There was nothing "Amicable" about the settlement of the claim at all, as she has in fact stolen our time and labor put into her commission to date as well as the materials cost invested and blocked all attempts at communication. Additionally this buyer after using a "family emergency" as an excuse for needing money, she in fact immediately began commissioning a number of artists for new artwork of her characters as soon as the refund hit her PayPal account. Her behavior has been immature, fraudulent, and extremely disingenuous. Accept commissions at your own risk, especially given that just a month prior to her dispute she said she would never do such a thing and that it was "wrong" to do that to an artist when showing support to us following an issue with an unrelated customer. http://sta.sh/01bjus6wtj1s This is the buyers Twitter account following her blocking us from communicating with her following the dispute filing. http://sta.sh/21iujrp12kky?edit=1 These show the buyer asking for a basic quote and acknowledging the 50% NON-REFUNDABLE deposit required. http://sta.sh/01yob8jv6s4y Here is the buyer agreeing to an early 2018 completion time before sending the deposit of $1900. http://sta.sh/024shatfi0e9 This screenshot shows the buyer texting us the day before the dispute was filed. Everything seemed fine, then she finally answered us and said she was "asking for a refund" (Never asked, if forcing one through a PayPal chargeback is "asking" then someone needs to learn some serious communication skills...) due to a "serious family issue". She later spent this refund on more art. The "slander" she speaks of was simply a beware post on Twitter showing the exact same screenshots as those shown here. http://sta.sh/219jghos82qr?edit=1 This series of screenshots shows us and the buyer discussing the dispute and completion time which after showing her proof she admits was not until next year. http://sta.sh/02a13fp98aji This is the buyer showing support for us a month prior to filing a dispute when we had an unrelated issue with another buyer. She also shows intent to continue with her monthly payments for the remaining balance due, just days after sending her payment for April, the last one we received. http://sta.sh/2mu5glqiy9g?edit=1 Buyer on her Twitter telling someone else that we in fact had not been late completing her commission, this posted days after filing a PayPal dispute. http://sta.sh/21udk4q4y9ay?edit=1 These show Zephyr commissioning art on 5-10-17 following her "family emergency" and claiming a desperate need for money. This happened to be the day a partial refund from PayPal for $211.11 was credited to her account... http://sta.sh/02641usqyh0k Proof of being blocked by her on Twitter Thank you for reading and please beware of this customer. SCREENCAP OF BEWARE: https://www.dropbox.com/s/70z6ztbb4c1isb8/Community_Moderation_-_2017-05-21_16.20.01.png?dl=0 SCREENCAP OF SOME COMMENTS: https://www.awesomescreenshot.com/image/2520217/638739d4042d0d55d34ad144035c5961

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/944483.html WHO: Cuttleb0ne WHERE: twitter.com/cuttleb0ne WHAT: A plantigrade fullbody fursuit WHEN: Quote sent 12/28/15 Down payment sent 01/13/16 PROOF: Proof of all current payment Only wip I've ever recieved EXPLAIN: Cuttlebone quoted me $2,500 for a fursuit of my saber character with a payment plan of a 30% down payment and the remaining 70% due on completion. I was very excited for this commission so I sent the down payment on the 13th and told him that my only deadline was this coming MFF in December, expecting that this would be plenty of time to get things done. For a while things were going smoothly, I sent my DTD and some extra payments because I was nervous about making sure I could pay him all off on time, since I wasn't quite sure when he would be complete. I would ask for updates periodically, as there hadn't been any progress on the suit other than him sending me a picture of fur samples in June. He suddenly stopped responding to my inquiries from September to November link . When I finally got an update (no progress) I told him I didn't mind if just a partial were done by MFF, trying not to cause stress. He did not respond again until the weekend of MFF, telling me he had no progress, but was going to give me a schedule of when the parts would be done, hoping to finish the suit before the end of the year, I never got that schedule link . I asked for another update on January 12th and got no response, noticing that he was active on twitter I got a little flustered and sent a message saying that I was tired of having to fish for updates and that if he didn't want to do business with me anymore to let me know and we would talk about refunding. We agreed to continue the commission , but I stated that I would need weekly updates even if no progress had been made. He complied for about a week until I got no response from Jan 23rd to Feb 12th link and I had to threaten an AB and Paypal chargeback to get him to respond. I have currently been waiting since the 18th for a reply from him link . In conclusion, do not commission this maker if you don't want to have to threaten an AB to get a response. UPDATE 02/28 After letting him know about this AB and a dispute on one of my older payments (since it was the last day I could do it), along with firmly asking for a refund when I had previously asked him to decide whether he wanted to refund or continue, he replied and apologized for the unpleasant experience I had. He said he was unable to work on the suit due to not having access to materials. I confronted him about some suspicions I had that he was making premade suits, and he confirmed, stating that they were to refund other customers (and myself now). Currently I am waiting for a payment plan for the refund.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/942850.html WHO: SugarNSpiceCostumes or as she goes by on social media, Corpse Cat WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sugarnspicecostumes/ WHAT: The product was a full fursuit, $1,918. 2 full bodies, 2 sets of feet paws (indoor/outdoor), 1 set of hand paws and of course a head and tail. The quality of the suit was to be the same as the ones advertised on her FA page WHEN: I made the first payment for the suit in 2015, she claims that she started it in April 4th of 2016. I was the only suit she was working on (so she told me, which I have screenshots of and will display) PROOF: This is a small section of screenshots. To screenshot our ENTIRE chat it would be too many links, but this is times where she's ignored me, times where's she's lied to me, and times where we discussed the product quality, when it would be completed, and the price/payments. I blurred out her paypal and the addresses that are there All payments. The last one was refunded by Paypal but the rest of the purchases are over a year old and I can't refund them http://imgur.com/brixFYe The original advertisement in the Dealer's Den http://imgur.com/4hVMoGx Talking about prices/payment plan http://imgur.com/EeHH6Hg http://imgur.com/ZkHGTX1 The date I finished enough payments for her to start on my suit, she already had all of the materials and she had my DTD http://imgur.com/pqNzufp The first progress update I got, then being ignored for a few days while she comes online and offline of telegram, but still ignoring me http://imgur.com/g02hjo7 http://imgur.com/iHv3vYn A small update she gave me with no pictures, then being ignored again. She's never sent me a picture of the 2 body suits, 2 feet paws or the tails http://imgur.com/OilUrwR Her reading my messages and still ignoring them even after going online and offline repeatedly http://imgur.com/HDg8Ni8 Her finally responding, but with more excuses. She changed her settings on telegram so I couldn't see her last time online so I got a little upset. She was active in her SoCal Furries telegram chat while ignoring me. She got a side job and had even less time for my suit http://imgur.com/h7t93TH http://imgur.com/aPxIUio Her ignoring me again and giving me ridiculous excuses like "Yea sorry I'm out grocery shopping for a week"... http://imgur.com/BDoTuHh http://imgur.com/zxVLIit Gave me a picture of my paws with fur and pads, I came back a week later asking what's new and ignored again. Another case of coming online and offline and being active in other chats during the time http://imgur.com/uib5pY1 For a while she kept giving me the excuse "I put your suit back in my shop and I can't get to my shop right now". Then she said she would go to the shop and instead ignored me the entire day and did nothing http://imgur.com/ELxjWZk After being ignored for a long while I just asked for my money back and got this. This is what I will be using when I open the small claims file because she explicitly says she will give me either my suit or money by a specific date. I of course have neither right now http://imgur.com/HMMbDK2 Still saying she can't get into her shop, but she said she finished it and needed my address to ship it. It was never shipped http://imgur.com/4rcOCB3 The 2 partial suits she made for MFF while ignoring me and telling me that my suit is finished but never sending pictures of the body, or mailing the suit http://imgur.com/Rn9GSw9 http://imgur.com/G0wWW2T Constant struggles to get her attention http://imgur.com/xcaOOk7 Final proof of her ignoring me and blaming it on being "Spacey" http://imgur.com/uke09GA Ignored again even after she told me she won't ignore me anymore, and another fake deadline where she didn't finish it http://imgur.com/QPCAJwR She told me she had the box with the suit in her new apartment after she moved and just needed to "find it" before she could ship it. Apparently it takes a week to find a box http://imgur.com/Pd3NI8r http://imgur.com/P58ZBz4 http://imgur.com/QeoT2do Another excuse. She got a tooth pulled and said she can't ship the box, even though she has a roommate who could do it for her http://imgur.com/u6weqDm I had to bother her roommate in order to get her to respond and stop ignoring me again http://imgur.com/N11eRkI Lying about the suit being shipped and the USPS "losing her package" but the package was never brought into the USPS. She bought a $22 shipping label and never brought the item in http://imgur.com/VwWsT7I The unused shipping label/tracking number http://imgur.com/AN6blhe Her threatening to put a cease and desist on me just for posting about this on twitter http://imgur.com/XfeRG2g http://imgur.com/rPWbWqn Some screenshots look different because they were taken on my computer and not my phone EXPLAIN: I payed her in full and she never delivered the product, but the thing is that she lied to me long enough and gave me enough fake deadlines that I ran out of time with Paypal, my only option now is to go to Small Claims Court. I've threatened with that and she just keeps giving me these lies, and even bought a $22 USPS tracking number and sent it to me saying "I shipped your suit" but never brought the "package" in to USPS, so it's still not in use to this day. There are constant times where I had to threaten to take my money back on Paypal in order to get her to respond. In the end, she's still ignoring me, my only response from her is her telling me on Twitter that she'll give me a cease and desist because I posted about this on my Twitter. After all of this she still swears up and down that she shipped the package and says she has an open claim with USPS about the "lost package" but has no proof of that, and still has no proof of the "$2400 in insurance" she bought on the package, because she sent me a receipt for a $22 shipping label but the insurance alone on a package that large and that heavy is $34. On top of all of this, when she was supposed to be working on my suit, she went off and made 2 partials for MFF (they're in the screenshots) during the same week she said it would be shipped to me. Then she ignored me for another 7 days until I threatened with a refund again. After she started ignoring me I started to get a little more aggressive, as you can see in some of the screenshots. Eventually she told me "I was ignoring you because I'm spacey"... that makes no sense, no one should ignore their customers especially if you owe them money/a product. I took back $440 because that is all I could get back from the payments. The rest is over a year old and Paypal won't touch it. Just getting her to give updates was a pain, and I really do hope that no one has to go through this again like I did, this is the reason I'm making this Artist Beware, not as revenge or in anger. She's still open for commissions and keeps taking on suits while apparently working on mine. It's obvious she's either doing them instead of mine, or stealing other people's money as well. UPDATE: After speaking with Vitai Slade to get her removed from Dealer's Den, she "found" the unshipped package inside of her apartment and took it into USPS once and for all. After all of this mess and drama, the suit is the right quality and there are no missing parts. Glad it's finally all over http://imgur.com/a/wKPpS http://imgur.com/a/3cF4t The suit! http://imgur.com/a/xf2zI http://imgur.com/a/kOYlx

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

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

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

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/827485.html Update - 3/12/2015 - Resolved I have finally been sent a refund by the artist. Proof of refund: This is the first time I've been burnt by an artist and my first beware. I really really don't want to have to post this, but I feel there is no choice left in the matter 6 months after being promised a refund that never came. TL:DR version is I paid for art, artist cancelled 3 months later, another two months went by with me trying to get my refund before they cut off contact. Now I'm posting this because, well, what else can I do? WHO: Avante92 WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/avante92/ WHAT: Basic digital art, $35 commission. Was to be a picture of one of my characters and a person who is dear to me. I of course had the permission of said person to get them included in this art. WHEN: I made the request in July 2014. At first the person contacted me, they were not comfortable drawing one of the characters as a plush, so I said it was ok to make them both normal furs. Months passed and in September 2014, I was contacted to say due to circumstances out of their control, they had to cancel my commission (and implied I wasn't the only one). I was promised a full refund that would be coming "soon". I'm sure you all can guess how it went from there. PROOF: Initial contact So I give the my info and pay my $35. Their acceptance is below: And my proof of payment: ... and then in September.. cancellation. And then the excuses start. I was pretty easy going about this given how long I waited to keep reaching out about it. Ok, so they are having trouble, but I'm starting to lose patience quickly. Its $35, not a whopping amount really. Most people spend that on a gas every week or two. Also there is the whole thing where an artist should not make their problems their customers problems. If it means asking your friends for loans, thats fine, its at least being up front and most artists I've seen who have this problem do just that. But jerking around your customers to get a free loan? That is just bad 😕 Finally I've had enough after antoher two weeks. No more Mr. Nice Fur. EXPLAIN: Pretty much explained it all above in the sceenies. I've seen this person finish many commissions, but I have to wonder how many people also never got art. If you see this person open, and their art is really quite good, I would steer clear because this person cannot be trusted with your money and there is no telling how many other people have been victimized. In the future I will now be paying via paypal using a credit card and having a 6 month limit on waiting so I can do a chargeback if things go south or they don't make the deadline. Sadly bank transfers don't have much more than 90 days of being able to charge back and by the time they cancelled on me, it was already too late to get my money that way. I really hate to adopt such a policy, but its people like this that make it necessary 😕 Oh and I'll also add, I don't know if FA will suspend people who do this crap, but I put in a ticket asking and in true FA style it was never gotten to by an Admin.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/811477.html WHO: Peachschnapps WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/peachschnapps/ WHAT: YCH auction WHEN: Started planning auction February 4th 2014, Auction went live February 12th 2014 So back in early February I had an idea to host a YCH auction with my fursona in it, I needed to find an artist who would be willing to collaberate with me with the idea. My friend referred me to the artist Peachschnapps who was willing and eager to help out for this idea https://www.dropbox.com/s/2c7yiauvkrgy7yv/proof1.jpg?dl=0 We talked about what we wanted for the picture, we came to an agreement and two days later the sketch was made and sent to me https://www.dropbox.com/s/wrbrdd6k44ef20u/proof2.jpg?dl=0 (NSFW) https://www.dropbox.com/s/twzvir8kr01ubu6/xepherych1.png?dl=0 (Sketch of the YCH NSFW) I approved of the idea and chatted about starting bids and such. On February 12th the auction went up live http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12726008/ (NSFW) and ended on February 17th. As you can see from the description, all of the people who bid on the slots had sent payment to the artist (If you want me to ask for receipts of paypal transfers I'll be more than happy to supply) Then suddenly things start to go wrong. The artist ever since recieving the money from the winners, has been missing in action ever since. The last contact I've got to her was back in September 11th saying she's been through a lot with moving & personal problems. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ieirgaj5hepvnyh/proof3.jpg?dl=0 She said that she would send the final refinded sketch the next day. Ever since, she has never responded to either my notes, skype messages, and it's been the same from the slot winners as well. Now I've been told she bought a suit back in August http://www.furaffinity.net/view/14347716/ and have seen pictures of her at other cons this year such as Anthrocon, IFC & most recently MFF http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15177407/ (Which I had no idea that she was attending, if I knew I would had talked to her about this) I've have tried constantly talking to her on Skype whenever she has been on, but the moment I send her a message, she instantly goes offline. I don't know any other contact information for this artist besides FA & Skype. Update: 3/30/15: So after trying a few more times contacting her about the YCH auction and letting her know that she was posted on here, I actually ran into her into Motor City Fur Con this past weekend, she was very apoligetic to me after finding her and said that she will be refunding everyone who paid for the slots. I have contacted all the users who won in the slots to go message her husband about it. I'll make another update once they (hopefully) get all of their money back

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/806042.html G'day, A_B. I only just found out about this community recently. My situation is a few years old, but still on-going. WHO: AlphaSempaiWolvieSyxx WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/alphasempaiwolviesyxx/ WHAT: I commisisioned a pair of black, fur-lined, leather ankle cuffs. WHEN: I sent her payment on August 30, 2012. I checked back in with her in December, 2012; January, 2013; March, 2013; and May, 2013. At least, those are dates I have screenshots of. All my phone records have been lost. I ran into her at RMFC in August, 2014, after which I restored communication to attempt to get a refund. PROOF: EXPLAIN: Wolvie was in town to spend time with her boyfriend, who was my roommate at the time. She showed off some cuffs she made, and offered to make me some for only $40 for a pair. I agreed. She left for home, and I sent money after her. She showed me a design mock-up (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8811669/), but it never got any further than just a drawing in MSPaint. I asked every so often for WIP photos, but never got one. At one point she told me the cuffs were complete, but couldn't send them because ____. She gave so many reasons over the years (or excuses; however you want to look at it), such as, the post office is closed after I get off work, I can't afford postage for Reasons, my car is broken, etc. Fairly believable explanations, but after so many, I could only reason that they were lies, and I wasn't going to get what I paid for. She offered to refund me in the form of Paypal (which I don't have) or in art. I told her I would take check or money order, or the cuffs, but not art; I paid for the cuffs, not art. I dropped out of touch with her after a while, after realizing she used my friendship with my roommate to score some money from me. Recently, after running into her at a local furry convention this year (August 2014), I got back in touch with her at the very beginning of October. She offered to mail a refund AND the cuffs... but, as usual, I got nothing but the same excuses routine I experienced earlier. Beware this artist! RESOLVED: Wolvie contacted me 21 May 2016, offering a full refund on Paypal, which I accepted

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/794623.html My experience with AMWULF: A lack of communication on several commissions and zero updates on said pieces. Worst of all, even the artist forgetting I had commissioned them altogether. Most details about the commission agreements were exchanged verbally and in-person because this artist was living with us as a roommate. However, I do have screenshots of the monetary transactions that took place, detailed emails sent to the artist showing the date, and notes from other third-parties that had paid AMWULF to join me in group-commissions. I recently contacted AMWULF on September 16, 2014 to request a full refund on all pieces owed. I received a series of angry text messages and excuses as well as no concrete dates or payment plans except, and I quote, "will pay it back in chunks”. Overall, his behavior can be summed up as unprofessional, condescending, and immature. The following is a sample of screenshots showing my unfortunate interactions with AMWULF, starting with a typical text conversation, filled with his usual unprofessional, vulgar attitude: ----- WHO: He goes by the name AMWULF on Fur Affinity ----- WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/amwulf/ ----- WHAT: The commission that is the longest overdue was that of a Your-Character-Here featuring my horse character with the bid-winner’s character, which belonged to Maho-Gato (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/maho-gato). The total cost, split between Maho-Gato and myself, was to be fully paid to AMWULF, and I was to include a full backstory for the piece’s description. This all took place on November 23rd, 2012, when I had a verbal agreement with AMWULF. Maho-Gato was satisfied with AMWULF being the artist, but expressed he was very upset over AMWULF'S lack of communication and excuses. I can personally verify AMWULF expressed agitation with Maho's concerns even months after the initial auction closed and funds had been sent to AMWULF's Paypal. Here are the screenshots of me contacting Maho with AMWULF agreeing to taking on our commission: Maho and I eventually requested a refund from AMWULF, which has still not been granted, nor has AMWULF given a time frame for when we can expect to be paid back. On the second commission, I had requested a multi-character picture from AMWULF with a total cost of $80.00 USD, with other characters being added at no additional cost. Due to the length of time that has passed, I cannot pull up the bank or transaction record. However, I do have the date I sent AMWULF the details being May 1st 2013. This piece has not been done and I have received no sketch or updates from him whatsoever. Here is the email and date for verification: On the third commission, I ordered a two character piece by AMWULF of my Husband's fursona and myself totaling $120.00 USD. I was told verbally that, due to bills, AMWULF needed emergency commissions and said he would finish the piece that same day. This was supposed to be a surprise picture for my Husbands new character. All I saw was an unfinished sketch and that was nearly six months ago. Here is the paypal transaction verification image: And here is the detailed email description I sent him on January 21st 2014: ----- WHEN: The first piece was started on November 23rd 2012. Signs of trouble appeared several months after when Maho approached me several times regarding the piece. The second piece was started on May 1st, 2014. Signs of trouble again several months later. Multiple assurances the piece would be done with no progress. The third piece was started on January 21st 2014. Signs of trouble began a week later at no mention or update of art in question. ----- PROOF: Various screenshots listed above. ----- EXPLAIN: AMWULF avoids any talk of art that is owed by him. It creates an air of hostility due to his immense backlog spanning over two years and multiple group and single pieces owed in the hundreds and thousands of dollars to multiple furs who have waited patiently throughout these lengths of time for a product that has yet to manifest itself. I have come to the conclusion that I will not see any art or even a refund in a timely manner. AM's lack of professionalism in dealing with people he owes art, including even personal friends, is unprofessional and the excuses he gives when dealing with other people’s money is poor and unsatisfactory. I would advise any person seeking art by an artist to look elsewhere lest they find themselves in a similar situation. [From the Comments] valmirdraftstud [OP] Jan. 21st, 2015 08:17 pm (UTC) Regarding Refunds Here is the status and history of refunds Amwulf has paid. The amount totals 500 USD which is the total amount owed. The total time for repayment took over 4 months. Oct 15th Amwulf repaid 250 USD. Nov 24 Amwulf repaid 100 USD. Jan 21 Amwulf repaid a final payment of 150 USD AB posted September 20th 2014. So it took a total of 5 months and 1 day from this AB's posting to receive a full and complete repayment.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/775398.html WHO: cicatrizESP/Rabid/makeshiftwings WHERE: www.furaffinity.net/user/cicatrizesp WHAT: It was going to be a simple waist-up, flat-color digital commission that was supposedly going to cost $10. She contacted me personally wanting to draw my character. WHEN: What got me suspicious was that she asked for five dollars more to cover Paypal fees…Off. When it got bad was the ignoring for months on end just for a single update, she has no list if there are other commissions going on or journals telling what is going on except she is trying to get active again but then disappearing AGAIN. I wanted to do a claim, but since I gifted stupidly I cannot get it back, nor can I get a refund with my ignored reply obviously. PROOF: When she first contacted me: November 22, 2013 http://i.imgur.com/CJSNdqC.png Proof of Payment on my part: December 5, 2013 http://i.imgur.com/5H5MuIT.png Internally questioning change of price to pay ridiculous fees: December 5, 2013 Was Naive and gifted it... (Explained below) http://i.imgur.com/XV8Dnp7.png https://i.imgur.com/wFaoixH.png She KNEW it would take it out of her '10' or else she would not have asked for more money! Red Flag there had I known... Getting worried at this point. But I was just being patient, polite and wondering if she okay and maybe if there was an update. I do not how much she is taking on, she has no list or anything. So I was curious. : December 27, 2013 http://i.imgur.com/CcINOfv.png Couple months later after ignoring the note above, the final response from her: February 3, 2014 http://i.imgur.com/8TmlRU9.png My reply... http://i.imgur.com/fQ8WG3Z.png My response left unanswered... http://i.imgur.com/7KN8Pdt.png EXPLAIN: At first she wanted that $10, but suddenly she wanted five more dollars to cover the Paypal fee? Paypal NEVER makes a person pay over $5 worth of fees and I never heard of it! She even said she would add in more art but I did not want it... But I fell for it. As Naive as I was back then, I decided to gift it to her, to pay the fees by gifting to move on about it (knowing earlier that gifting usually makes the person buying to pay the fee instead, but that was it…)…It seemed to work. (Later on it is revealed to me that the fee is there to PROTECT buyers and it is against Paypal's Terms of Service for sellers to ask the buyer to pay the fee FOR THEM.) http://i.imgur.com/3ys76EZ.png Trouble starts What I did not know is that if you ‘gift’ customers can no longer be protected because you cannot issue a claim against the person you ‘gifted’ it too. I learned the hard way. No longer will I be commissioning artist that require people to ‘gift’ the money to them so they do not have to pay the fee. Unless they request adding one more dollar to the original commission to pay for it or tell how much I should pay before hand to cover it, and I WILL CHECK. Asked for an update...http://i.imgur.com/CcINOfv.png Two months later… I finally get a response because I noted her asking for an update… But apparently it is going to take another couple of months for my commission. Nothing was done. Was it okay? No, you do not ignore your commissioners, especially what was the reason why for the delay. You tell them first and people should understand in this circumstance, do not IGNORE them for months! I am a very patient person and commissioned a lot of artists, they would tell you this! I can give a LIST. Is it so hard to inform? A reply...finally http://i.imgur.com/8TmlRU9.png http://i.imgur.com/fQ8WG3Z.png My reply back. I replied back to that final note that it would have been okay if she notified me earlier. No this was not okay and replied that I wanted a refund, but instead of waiting for my reply she disappeared for another two months and counting. I am done and fed up by this. http://i.imgur.com/7KN8Pdt.png Sitting for two months :] Funnily enough...even if I would have asked for a refund…. she might have already spent that money, including others!? This was on a journal 6 months ago (from April 22, 2014) that she was supposed to get ‘active’ again and I sent my “I want a refund note’ two months after until she disappeared again (not a surprise). So I waited even longer for nothing I am going to get back. She has done it before and I would not be surprised., People even asked for a refund there is a bunch of wrong with this... Quite sad. http://i.imgur.com/p3Rn5DV.png Journal comment http://i.imgur.com/8BM7CuY.png Artist Beware comment UPDATES: As of April 22, 2014...Heh. She is on the prowl again using the same tactic on by sending people either a note supposedly selling commissions again or shouting on their page. Where is my supposed commission? My money? Not done? Gone? Go figure. I can only warn so much by leaving this up on my profile and for the most part leaving the site. http://i.imgur.com/IFVXe0z.png Shout on page. June 10, 2014: I have blocked this user on Fur-affinity a long time ago because she ignored me anyway. I do not expect it to ever be resolved at all except I want this to be added to her thread. If she wants this to be resolved, she can resend/gift me my money back... But this will be a warning to others that she has not changed in the slightest. July 3, 2014: (Also added her other name to the title) On June 18, 2014 We have come to a slight agreement. The person is supposedly going to refund me on July 3rd as stated herself and I allowed it with the exception of three conditions; it is all the money I paid for which includes the fees, one of her names is on there so I know, and a message that has saying that she is unable to complete the service that she was paid for and is refunding my money back. I included that she can contact me here or on Furaffinity( as I unblocked her for this reason) that if she wants to make sure the paypal e-mail is correct that I can tell her/give it if anything. http://i.imgur.com/9fkv5xB.png Dead-line I have yet to receive any kind of payment... I will wait until it hits 12 a.m before updating this regarding if it is done or not like said. If it does not happen, I am not going to listen to any more excuses as I have lost patience with this person. July 4, 2014: It is forty past mid-night and have not received anything. She could not even hold up to her own deadline, not a surprise at all. This will stay unresolved until further notice... http://i.imgur.com/WC9tXFE.png No payment received.

In April 2022 I met Kittbites at a party at my college. She said she was open to doing my commission after she took care of some things. I commissioned her because she said she would be able to finish my suit in time for Megaplex 2022, in early August. I took a little while to think about it, and then confirmed that I wanted to buy from her on May 15th. Three days later the invoice was paid. The total price was a fursuit head for $800, handpaws for $200 and a tail for $200. (I should first mention that this post is going to be very long. Kitt strung me along for almost an entire year while holding onto over a thousand dollars, and after finding out she has an extensive history of scamming, I just managed to get under half of that back, as well as a barely finished product, under the threat of legal action.) At first things were fine. But within a couple of weeks Kitt's responses began to become more and more sparse. This would set the precedent for the rest of our interactions, and it only got worse from there. It should be noted that Kitt was up front about some personal issues that she was going through at the time, which I have tried as best I can to leave out of this post. The problem is that over time it became clear she was using these problems as an excuse to not work on my commission. I know this because I was later able to find other examples of her work that were completed around this time. I will do my best to leave these issues out of this post regardless. I was a little upset that she left for two whole weeks at this point, but she eventually got back to me with correspondence. The suit was progressing along pretty well at this point, and Kitt was still responding in a semi-timely manner. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the fur was lost by Fedex. I'm fully aware this isn't Kitt's fault, and I'm including this to give her the benefit of the doubt that she could have gotten my suit finished by August. (Also I hate Fedex) Eventually August rolled around. It became clear Kitt probably wouldn't have the entire suit finished in time. I remained hopeful. On August 1st Kitt gave me this update. "I have most of the fur sewn." This implies that she barely did any work on the suit from this point onwards. Shortly after this Kitt had some stuff happen in her personal life, and wasn't able to finish ANY of the suit on time. A few days later, Kitt completely dissapeared. August 8th was the last I'd heard from her, and I didn't hear from her again until September 12th. Due to the rules of this website I am not allowed to disclose where she went, but suffice it to say that she left the internet for the time. She gave me no warning that this could or might happen, and when she came back she gave a half-hearted apology. At this point I was beginning to get suspicious of her, but I had no recourse in the event that she take my money and run, so I was forced to smile and feign forgiveness. Unfortunately she immediately left again for another two weeks. The upper texts of the first image here are from September 15th. Then another week. Kitt then showed some more progress with the suit, including a fully furred head, but she got sick immediately after. However, she promised she would be able to have the suit delivered by November. I won't provide the screenshot of this mainly because it almost exclusively consists of cities and events Kitt and I are local to. However, I can show that she ghosted me again throughout the month of November: Kitt then promised she would have the suit done by Christmas. After leaving for another 2 weeks, some more "stuff" happened. At this point I was fully convinced that she was making things up, and was about ready to confront her about her making me wait almost seven months at this point. It was 4 days before Christmas and she sent me a picture of the "finished" head. I honestly really didn't like it but at this point I just wanted to get it over with so I said it looked fine. I had a separate friend who edited fursuits and I was planning on just having them finish any changes I didn't like. Kitt then decided to cancel half the order, deciding to refund me less than the original $200 I paid for both the handpaws and tail. Christmas came and went without any kind of correspondence, and I finally put my foot down. On January 7th I brought up the prospect of legal action. Kitt did not address this in any way. Through some investigation I also discovered that she had a commission manager this entire time that she neglected to tell me about. I messaged them and they immediately got her to send the unfinished fursuit head. This was about the best outcome I could have hoped for and at this point I wanted this all to be over with so I didn't contest it. This was also the last straw, and I gave her a final deadline of March 15th, 2023 to BOTH send me the suit and give me a refund of 500 dollars that I could use to pay my other friend, who would finish the suit. Kitt's manager responded much quickly, and was able to almost immediately get Kitt to send me what she had finished. The package arrived a few days later. Here was Kitt's finished product: This all but confirmed my suspicions that Kitt had barely even been working on my fursuit since August-November, and only found time to work on it with repeated pestering. Even at the time that I told her to stop and send me an unfinished version instead, she had over a month to continue from being "almost done." In any case, I now had her legal name and number on the shipping box, and was fully intending to report her in for what technically constituted as a felony. Kitt stopped texting me for almost an entire month before the deadline, but on March 13th, she finally got me my refund. I genuinely wasn't expecting her to. In conclusion, Kitt almost stole $1,200 from me, led me on for almost an entire year by taking advantage of my sympathy, and in the end somehow did the bare minimum in delivering an UNFINISHED product. It took the threat of police action to get her to do anything. Please for the love of god do not commission her. She has a history of this and I only happened to be lucky enough to be local to her and able to contact local authorities. In addition, she has dropped her commission manager and there is now no way of contacting her in a way that will get a reliable response back. Good night.

I originally reached out to Kilwinz through Telegram in July 2022, for a quote on a custom Kigumari commission, that they were advertising for on a Telegram group chat. I gave them my fursona's ref sheet, and they responded with a quote of $370, including $20 for a floor dragger tail, which I agreed to. I saved up for this commission during the next few months, and then in early October 2022, I reached out again, ready to start the process. I had enough saved up to pay in full, which I did. I asked for a deadline- December 10th, which is my birthday- and since they had stated prior that their queue was one and a half months-two months long, I figured it would be a tight squeeze. However, they agreed to fit me in, and that they would "try my best" to get it done on time. At first, the correspondence, which occurred solely through Telegram, was clear and steady. They asked me for measurements and they shopped for fabrics, asking me for my preferences in color matching- which was very appreciated- and started patterning. Around mid-November, almost all correspondence had to be initiated by me. I sold them a pin of my fursona- the character they were making a kigu of- and they finished patterning for the floor dragger tail. It was becoming clear that the original deadline was not going to be met. On December 9th, 2022, I received a set of photos from Kilwinz of them modeling the kigu for me. They stated that it needed to be washed, the tail would be stitched onto the back, and it would be shipped out the next day- the deadline. Even if I didn't receive it for my birthday, it would be something I could wear for Christmas. I was planning on wearing it to Motor City Fur Con in March 2023. All communication with Kilwinz ceased after December 9th. The kigu was never sent out, they never replied to me on Telegram. I tried messaging them on Telegram, Twitter, Tiktok, and Discord (the discord message has been wiped) throughout the past 6 months, to be met with silence. It is now past the window for PayPal to issue a refund for this commission. As of June 7, 2023, I have not received my completed commission, a refund, or any response from Kilwinz. I sent out an email on June 7, voicing my frustrations towards this experience and the lack of communication. I will let the mods know if this issue has any updates or is resolved. Twitter: TikTok: Email:

MOD NOTE: This has been downgraded to a caution during archiving, as the situation was resolved. Originally posted on May. 31st, 2013 by marmalade0997 WHO: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/bambiboo3/ WHAT: a tail in exchange for ~$60 of blind bag MLP figurines and some fur to use for the tail WHEN: August 2012 ongoing EXPLAIN: In August 2012, bambiboo3 posted a journal wanting to trade MLP merchandise for fursuit parts. I had a lot of blindbag ponies, so I decided to take her up (journal asking for trades) After I had gone over all the ponies I had available, we worked out how much the ponies were worth, how much her tails were worth, what I wanted my tail to look like (black and white with some spotty brown fur I would provide), and she said that the trade would be good I got her address, and the next day after verifying her address I shipped the ponies and fur off, with her telling me she'd let me know when everything arrived I didn't hear anything from her for a week, so I double checked she got everything safely with no response (I had done 2-3 day shipping) A few days after that note, I got a response asking what my tail looked like specifically, and I responded Towards the end of September she posted a journal saying that she was packing stuff up and moving, so I figured it would take her a bit to finish and ship my tail In the beginning of December, I shot her a note asking about my tail since I hadn't heard anything from her in a while A week later, I got a note saying it was finished and just needed to be stuffed, and that she would have it out in the next week so I gave her my address (the first time she said she would ship it) I still hadn't received it by the beginning of January, so I sent her a note seeing if she had shipped it A week later I still hadn't heard anything, so I sent her my address again in case something had happened, and got a reply back that she didn't get the first note asking about it, but would ship the tail out that week (the second time she said she would ship it) About two weeks after that note towards the end of January, I sent her another one seeing if she had sent it. She said she would send it out Monday or Tuesday (the third time she said she would ship it) and included a picture of the finished tail (far right) Towards the middle of February I saw she posted a journal saying she had shipped more things (didn't manage to snag a screen cap of it), and asked again if my tail had been shipped, two weeks later I got a reply saying she had sent it out but it got returned, and I sent her my address a third time with her saying she's send it again with tracking this time (the fourth time she said she would ship it) End of March, I still hadn't received anything, so I sent her another note seeing if it got shipped A week later with no response and getting irritated with the lack of communication and saying she had shipped things when she didn't, I sent her yet another note A week later in the beginning of April I sent her another note, irritated with my notes being read but not responded to, and still not having my half of the trade, this time getting a response saying she didn't see my last note, but had shipped it off that day (the fifth time she said she would ship it) When I asked for a tracking number, she said she didn't have one but would find me the receipt ID as proof A week later with no tail and no receipt ID as proof, I sent her another note A few days after that note, I got a reply saying that she wasn't able to get a tracking number because of how it was shipped (shipped through the USPS), and that it would take 2-4 weeks to get to me because of her being in Hawaii Going off of her latest ship date of April 3, it has been more than 8 weeks, plenty of time for it to get to me. I left a shout on her FA page asking what was going on, but she is currently on hiatus. The shout did help me get in contact with another customer of hers though who is having similar issues I don't know what to do about this any more. She has said she's shipped off my half of the trade five times with no proof or anything being received. I see she has a few bewares up here already about her issues with shipping, and this just seems to follow the pattern. Edit: Feel free to mark this as resolved, I received the tail today.

original: https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/647764.html WHO: dreamsandnightmares Dreamsandnightmares (FA). WHERE: www.furaffinity.net/user/dreamsandnightmares WHAT: Rave Fluffles (Feetpaws with leg warmers, giving the illusion of digigrade legs) http://i50.tinypic.com/2psrura.png First contact WHEN: Around beginning of july. As seen above. List of emails sent: http://i48.tinypic.com/vhyp0w.png http://i45.tinypic.com/2m5m3kp.png http://i45.tinypic.com/2dui6ja.png PROOF: http://i46.tinypic.com/2z750dx.png Payments and partial refund (Before the product arrived in it's horrid state) EXPLAIN: I just received my rave fluffies from dreamsandnightmares which should look like this :http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7514152/ but pure black and with paws. I mean they kinda look like that, but looks like they were just thrown together This is the image they sent me http://www.iaza.com/work/121231C/iaza18601984269100.jpg In this picture they do not look too bad, so I thought they were alright, so I agreed to finally have them shipped to me. Upon getting them I noticed the following: The soles of the shoes are already falling apart, so is the foam inside of the arch. They are extremely itchy due to all of the lose fur that is collected on them (which I understand happens, but minor clean up could of solved this.) Glue is very visible on them, as well is a gap where the fur wasn't glued to the shoe. I was very excited to receive them after 5 months, but am very displeased with the condition they are in for how long they have had them (more than double the time given to me). They look as if they were just carelessly put together. They did give me a pair of foam with fur on them (ears) and a pewter wolf necklace along with a partial refund before shipment due to how long it took to have them and the continuous missed deadlines. I Sent them an email explaining my displeasment about the said items and what I have found wrong so far. I have only gotten this morning (20 mins ago, as of Jan 4th) and I am already in tears, and not good ones. :(( http://www.iaza.com/work/121231C/iaza18601984269100.jpg <--- Images of said product These are the sheet shots of some of the most important converstations, if you need more just ask. Agreement to buy: http://i49.tinypic.com/a464n5.png Time line of when they'd be done: http://i45.tinypic.com/1zvsed.png Terms of how I wanted them to look : http://i49.tinypic.com/dzut1u.png Missed Deadline: http://i45.tinypic.com/n20nbm.png Bad communication and missed deadline2: http://i46.tinypic.com/xaxbsy.png Shipment: http://i48.tinypic.com/261yzpx.png Displeasement: http://i47.tinypic.com/14jxpb5.png Issues I found with the items: http://i48.tinypic.com/zjggnb.png Excuses: http://i50.tinypic.com/kccxlg.png Excuses 2 and bad treatment: http://i48.tinypic.com/2e1afd3.png Back peddling and not sure what to do: http://i45.tinypic.com/11vnw94.jpg Proof of payment: http://i46.tinypic.com/2z750dx.jpg and http://i50.tinypic.com/175ybr.png

This beware is about Calima, aka. Storm Shy Arts. I initiated the commission transaction in October 2020 (see attachments; all edited for names, email addresses, or any personal/private information) for a 2-character commission. Details were worked out and payment was sent via Paypal. 2 months later in December 2020 I sent a message to the artist on Fur Affinity asking for an update, but did not receive a reply. I sent another message in January 2021 for an update and again received no reply. I again sent a message on FA in March asking for an update with a notification that I would be filing a complaint on Artists Beware, and received no reply. [Note: I was also sending a copy of the January and March messages to the email associated with the Paypal payment, but that turned out to be an address the artist only ever used for Paypal, not correspondence.] In May 2021 I started the action of filing a complaint on Artists Beware. The moderator was able to find me a valid email address for the artist, so the complaint was put on hold as I reestablished contact. The artist did quickly reply to my email (see attachments), and we got the ball rolling to continue with the commission. Over the next several days and weeks we exchanged several emails that cleared up some details and some WIP updates were sent to me. The last WIP I received was 5-30-21. On 6-13-21 the artist said she was going to "play with the background a bit more" and said it would be ready by July 10th. On 7-23-21 I wrote again asking for an update. The artist replied on 7-31-21 that her laptop had died, and as the replacement was soon to arrive she would have my piece finished very quickly. On 9-29-221 I wrote again asking for an update. The artist replied the same day with the excuse that there were technical problems and they were moving, but she would "aim to finish the five details of this background this week". I never received anything. On 12-30-21 I wrote again asking for an update. The artist replied the same day with health reasons as the excuse for no progress, and promised to send an updated version soon. I wrote back and said I was willing to work around complications and that I just wanted to know the commission hadn't been abandoned. Since then I have never received any update or any other contact from the artist. Calima finally returned to Fur Affinity a few days ago after being away for so long, but when I tried to reply to a journal I found I'd been blocked. That's when I knew it was time to post something here.

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.

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

I contacted Deermoonstudios on Etsy for a fursuit head for $750 (which totalled $804 with taxes). This was paid in full immediately, followed by them stating they had just ordered fur colors needed for the suit after my approval. All on the same day. I waited a little over a month before asking them about progress, to which they said the fur had just arrived and they were waiting on more pieces to arrive in the mail. In Sep I asked for another update, no response, I asked again on the 20th and got told a day later that the head was ready for taping and sorry for the delay. On Nov 2nd 2021 I asked again for a picture, since I never got one. No response, I sent another message on the 14th asking if they saw the previous message, no response. In Dec, I got a little upset and messages them again asking for a picture, still no response. After this I looked for their Twitter, to see if they were busy with life or something. I learned they were pretty active on Twitter and I created an account to message them. Still no response, but they did post a tweet about how they have a hard time responding to messages and complaining that people need to stop guilt tripping them. I'm unsure if this was directed at me, but I took note of it and messaged them on etsy one last time to apologize if I had ever made them uncomfortable, and that I would no longer message them. I've given up and am assuming I'll never get the product I paid for. They had finished one (provable here) fursuit head in the meantime, fairly quickly. As of right now (Jan 6 2022), I still have gotten no response from them. They do not accept refunds on their products. They were polite in messages but have seemingly ghosted me.

Oct. 16th, 2011 at 7:30 PM thaily WHO: Luvythicus WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/luvythicus/ or http://luvythicus.deviantart.com/ WHAT: Art trade, 3 bags of plushies and fur fabric for 1 drawing. WHEN: May 29 2010 Summary: - I offer free stuff, but first come first serve, in order to prevent other people from snatching up 3 trash bags worth of plushies and fur fabric, he offers to trade me art to hold on to them until he can get someone to pick the items up. I agree. - He receives the items and expresses his happiness with them. - He acknowledges multiple times that he owes me work. - Of a certain quality. - Yet he forgets about me 3 times. - Inundates me with angst and lies, such as not having a working computer when uploading digital work or saying he's too busy when uploading gift art. - Lies, i.e. about being threatened to swindle money out of his viewers. - Currently claims he no longer has the items and says I will never get the art he owes me. Once upon a time, I was cleaning up and decided to give away of a pile of plushies and a few meters of fur fabric. The plushies and fur were really nice so I thought some local furries might enjoy them, so rather than give them to a local thrift store like I usually do, I put up a "free to a good home, first come first serve" post here. Enter Luvythicus. He said he knew someone locally who could pick up a large portion of the fur and the plushies the next day, but that didn't work out. Afraid someone else might come for the items before he/his friends could he said "I know you said no reserving, but..." and offered to trade artwork in exchange for me holding on to 13 plushies and several meters of fur fabric. He used this and this image as a sample to show the quality of work he would give me. I agreed and at this point it became a trade; the items for art. June 5 2010 he received the items and let me know how happy he was with them. June 7 2010 I give him the information he needs to draw his half of the trade. The link I sent him was this one, which is fairly clear reference I think. He complains about the complexity, but if you give her clothes you only have to do the stripes on her face, so. *shrug* September 7 2010 I remind him of our agreement. September 22 2010 he forgot who I am. After clarification I send him the reference link again and he says "Imma doodle her today fer sure x3" November 2010 I leave a shout on his FA page (no screenshot as it had since scrolled off) and again, he forgot who I am. November 26 2010 I remind him again, send reference link for third time. Eventually, on November 28 2010, I get a sketch. You might notice a discrepancy between the quality of that and the quality he promised. I hemmed and hawed, already pretty fed up with having to wait half a year for even a preliminary and being inundated with false promises and angst whenever I ask him about it. But I confront him and tell him this is not the quality of work we agreed on. Same day, he agrees and says he'll draw more. which is followed by another note in which he explains, apologizes and promise to "draw something proper". That's the last I heard from him for months. In the meantime he has and continues to take commissions, ask people for ideas to draw, does a lottery, draws gifts, does trades and offers free art and draws numerous pictures of his character doing the horizontal mambo with other people's characters. I understand people having a hard time, and I understand that paying customers come first. But in this case, I have no clue as to what the hold up is supposed to be. If anything I thought the fact he was uploading work would mean he'd definitely get around to mine, but either he has a 1.5 year backlog or he's taken commissions AND trades after mine and just skipped over the work he owes me. March 5 2011, I send him a link to the original LJ post as a reminder, he says I am not a priority and can't even draw for himself. But uploads gift art 10 days later. April 19 2011 rolls around and I'm fed up. I send him a a deadline, provide me with a preliminary within a month or return the items because I don't think he should get something for breaking his promise. Because he lives on the other side of the country and both he and I have spotty transport at best (depending mostly on public, which costs an arm and a leg), I asked (mutual!) friends more local to him and with transport, if they'd be willing to drop by and pick up the items, so it'd be easy for Luvy to bow out of the trade. He responds by saying he feels threatened and anyway his computer is broken so unless I can teach him to draw out of thin air.. He then makes an FA journal about the fact he's being threatened. Notice how, after a year of admitting he promised to make me art of a certain quality and that he was definitely going to get 'round to it, he goes to saying how he just offered a sketch out of the kindness of his heart. At least he's being honest when he says "I don't care if you feel cheated or anything". My response, also explaining that it wasn't a threat because well, it wasn't. I figured that if it was a misunderstanding, he'd delete or at least amend the post. However, in response to my statement that I was not threatening him, he says that the post is just a warning for anyone else who might suddenly demand art from him. So he knew he was not being threatened, but the post is still there, without even amending the information he knew to be false and he got at least 50 dollars out of lying to his viewers! The obvious falsehood of his post also casts a new light on this one: Silly customers. And makes me wonder how many more people he might owe work to. ? I tell him that, while he claims to only be able to use the internet via his phone and not draw digitally, he had uploaded digital work. I'm not angry, I just want what he promised me. May 8 2011 he's suddenly all cutesy and pleasant again, and asks for my real life address for a "surprise". I am suspicious, and ask him for a phone pic of the traditional media doodles. I remember seeing it, but didn't save it, it was the corner of a piece of paper with some doodles. He said there was a second sheet but the cat puked on it or something. By this time I was getting pretty exasperated with and tired of this person. Can you tell? ? Notice how he asks for the character's personal info AFTER I send him the link for the fourth time. Said link has a full bio, which is part of the reason I didn't respond. The other being that unlike him, I was busy-busy (end of the semester, commissions etc.) and didn't feel like telling him about my hobbies. The link I gave him 4 times had plenty of information he needed for some doodles. Needless to say I didn't hear from him after. Sent a note today, asking for an update, he complains he had to wait 5 months for information he already had and apparently couldn't do a single headshot since and he lost the sketches he already had. Despite the fact that I carefully stored my items and they were fine when I gave them to him, the fur was suddenly "riddled with bugs" and he threw it away; good time to mention he claimed the fur was for his then-girlfriend and he just never gave it to her, even though they were still together for at least a month after receiving the fur. He claims to have given the plushies to charity which I sincerely doubt. Considering his track record of lying to me, I heavily suspect he's just trying to brush me off and get me to leave him alone because he supposedly doesn't have the items anymore. And I'm confident that he will never, ever live up to his promise, leaving his post to be forever unresolved. I would definitely recommend people never give him anything again, money or otherwise. Sure he seems to do some commissions and trades, but why chance it?

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

Nov. 7th, 2011 at 9:21 AM crssafox WHO: FuziBuni WHERE: http://fursuitauctions.livejournal.com/2166964.html (original post is screen capped in case of deletion or editing) WHAT: A large remnant of golden coyote faux fur - when received, it had a very heavy distinctly animal smell to it. WHEN: Early October (currently ongoing) PROOF: I got no reply after this email, so I posted a comment in the original LJ post, since I'd seen she'd been active on LJ and FA, hoping she'd get that. I still got no response, so I sent another e-mail. EXPLAIN: I bought a large remnant of faux fur from close to retail price from FuziBuni earlier in October, with the intent of using it to make tails for sale. October is usually incredibly busy for me sales-wise, and I'm always getting asked for wolf tails, so when I saw FuziBuni was selling some fabric I had been eyeballing over at I'm Stuffed, I decided to help her clear out her closet and make a little extra cash. When I received the box, immediately upon opening there was a heavy animal odor. Upon inspection, the odor was coming from the fabric itself. I let the fabric sit outside on my patio table for a while to air out, and later asked both my husband and my roommate if they could detect the odor as well, since I sometimes have a sensitive nose and I wanted to be sure it wasn't something that just I could smell. They agreed there was definitely an animal scent, so I made attempts at cleaning the fur, including washing in a side-loading washing machine (twice), dousing with Nature's Miracle cat formula, air-drying in the dryer, and letting it hang outdoors to try and air out there. It still maintains the smell. I e-mailed FuziBuni after all of my attempts to remove the odor, but didn't receive a reply. The next day I posted a comment in the original fursuit_auctions thread to notify her that I'd sent her an e-mail, and still got no reply. Finally, I sent her a second e-mail and told her that if I heard nothing back, I would be opening a PayPal dispute, and finally heard back from her. She claimed to have no idea how the scent could have gotten onto the fabric, and suggested it may have been sprayed by a cat while in transit. (I had her ship it to my public address, at a shipping store that receives packages for me so they don't sit outside, so unless a cat got into a postal warehouse or onto a truck, I don't see how this would have been possible.) I replied to let her know that, because of the odor, I feel the fabric is not usable for me, since my intent had been to create new-for-sale items with it. I told her I was open to various options to work this out, including sending it back if she'd refund the $40 (the total less what she paid for shipping) so she could try re-selling it, or perhaps a partial refund in which I would keep the fabric but use it on something else that would not be sold, most likely a dog pillow. Truth be told, the fur itself is in nice condition despite the smell, so if someone were to use it on a personal project or for something not being sold as a brand new item, it might be okay. So while I would have preferred the $40 refund, I would have worked something else out, too. In response, I was told that she didn't have the money to do any kind of a refund, and that she would have to sell other items in order to send me any money. She also wondered if the smell could have been from the plastic aging funny. I let her know that the odor was distinctly animal, and that I needed some kind of resolution by November 4 or I would have to open a PayPal dispute due to the time constraints. I never heard from FuziBuni again after that, despite her continuing to be active online. Finally, on the evening of the 4th, I opened a PayPal dispute under the premise that the item received was not as described - there had been no disclosure of the heavy animal smell in the original listing. As of yet, she has not replied via PayPal's resolution center, nor has she sent any e-mails. It would appear my requests for resolution are just being ignored. At this point, the only resolution I want is a full refund, including what I initially paid for shipping, and to return the fabric to FuziBuni for her to deal with as she sees fit. I not only wasted my time during my busiest month in an effort to salvage the fabric, I've also lost revenue I could have earned had I just bought the fabric brand new in the first place, as my biggest window for selling the wolf tails I'd planned to make has passed since Halloween has come and gone. I understand that there was a minor risk involved when buying fur second-hand from someone that states they own animals. However, not only do I own animals, but I've also purchased from others that own animals before, and have never had this kind of a problem. "I own animals" doesn't necessarily mean that the fabric is going to contain an odor - had it been disclosed from the beginning that this fabric had an animal smell to it, I never would have purchased it, most certainly not for the like-new price. I feel I did my best to work things out with her at this point, but I really can't afford to donate money to someone in exchange for a large piece of fabric I can't even use. Edit: As of 2:28, FuziBuni has initiated a refund via PayPal and it is set to clear on the 14th. Once it clears I will send the fur back to her, and edit this post as well as notify the mods of resolution. Edit 11/17/11: The refund cleared via PayPal on Monday. I boxed the fur back up to return to FuziBuni, and it was sent out via postal service with delivery confirmation yesterday morning. Edit 11/22/11: My delivery confirmation reflects that the box was delivered yesterday, so the return is complete and I'm considering this matter to be resolved. I would urge others to use caution when dealing with Fuzibuni; I had absolutely zero direct communication from her from the time that I initiated the dispute, to the time the refund was sent and cleared, save for the comment she made immediately after this post went through. I'm glad that other folks have received furs from her in good condition - I really wish that she'd been open and communicated with me instead of ignoring attempts to work things out outside of a dispute.