Search the Community

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/977213.html I am willing to have a Civil discussion with this Artist and hope we can reach a solution that we are both happy with. Who: Mithacal Creatures Where: www.mithacal.com Twitter:@mithacal What:Fursuit head, Refund. When: May 24th- Present Proof: Mithacal Creatures Beware https://imgur.com/gallery/ukVAP Explain: On May 24th Mithical and I agreed to a trade: I would shop for clothes for her, and in return for my time I would recieve a Custom Half Mask. (See Screen Shot 1) https://i.imgur.com/q2jv2hg.jpg During my part of the trade I inquired about upgrading to a full mask. She told me $200 worth of clothes since she does not need the money right now. (See screen shot 2) https://i.imgur.com/q2jv2hg.jpg My part of trade took roughly 2 weeks; she recieved her box of goodies and loved them. (See Screen shot 3) https://i.imgur.com/q2jv2hg.jpg For Mitha's part of the trade, she told me the completion time would be 1 month for the half mask. I agreed, and she added another 2 months for a full mask. I agreed to this as well. (see Screenshot one and 6) https://i.imgur.com/q2jv2hg.jpg https://i.imgur.com/mr5jBE5.jpg July: I discussed with Mitha on what my mask design would be. Previously, we agreed on a red fox with Antlers. I gave her the concept design. It was verbally agreed that my mask would have some artistic liberty. Those conversations happened in person during a camping trip we had in Homer. (Enter Screen shot here 4) https://i.imgur.com/mr5jBE5.jpg August 3rd-16th: I started to get worried and asked her for an update, or at least a start date for my mask, and never got an answer. (See Screen Shot 5) https://i.imgur.com/mr5jBE5.jpg Late August: I see on Twitter and instagram that she is open for commissions. Being curious and wanting some sort of response from her I asked on her instagram what her turnaround time is. She responded "your mask would be done before these peoples if thats what you are really asking" (See Screen shot 7) https://i.imgur.com/4dlNEYN.jpg I continued sending her messages asking about the start point of my mask as well as asking if I can get some reassurance from her if I was bothering her, and if she does have a start point in mind for my mask. Not once did I ask her "where is my mask". Each message was a couple of weeks apart. I just needed assurance that I hadn't been forgotten. September hits a couple weeks before Senshi con happens. Senshi con was the con we planned on attending with the mask, and the end time Mitha had told me I would have my mask. I start asking about the fur again wanting to match fur. I still have not received a single response from her. When I finally did, it was her sending me her address because I asked for it so I can send a piece of sample fur to her. She got the sample and told me it was wrong. I asked if she can send a picture of the right fur, but received no response. (Screen shot 😎 https://i.imgur.com/4dlNEYN.jpg Then on september 4th she says she is giving me a refund of the $200 extra I spent on her, due to her wanting to close her buisness. (Screen shot 9) https://i.imgur.com/4dlNEYN.jpg I asked for clarification, wondering if we can work something out, and if she will be compensating me for my time I spent shopping for her rather then spending that valuable time elsewhere. I also offered to take a premade artistic liberty head instead, trying to work something out with her. (Screen Shot 9) https://i.imgur.com/4dlNEYN.jpg I don't get I response from her until I post on one of her Facebook posts agreeing with her that being ignored sucks. (Screen Shot 10) https://i.imgur.com/WehJCAs.jpg She takes offense, telling me she doesn't do buisness stuff when she is away with family, then demands that I give her my mailing address so she can send a check since she no longer does Paypal. (Screen shot 11) https://i.imgur.com/WehJCAs.jpg I comply, and ask yet again for my compensation, as well as explaining that I was upset becuase I had asked for clarification about the refund the very same day she told me I was getting one. (Screen shot 11) https://i.imgur.com/WehJCAs.jpg She gets angry and demands my address again saying she has asked 3 times now. (Screen shot 11) https://i.imgur.com/WehJCAs.jpg Ignoring the fact I have already given it to her, I give it to her again and state that I had already done so. I pointed that fact out. Her response was to request when I write a beware that I don't add her actual number. At the time I told her I don't write bewares. (Screen shot 12 and screen shot 17) https://i.imgur.com/WehJCAs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/MkKptPy.jpg I ask on the September 11th, and again on the 25th, about my refund. No answer to either. September 26th she sends me a message stating she is waiting to recoup the money. Screen shot 13 https://i.imgur.com/bju69X6.jpg October 6th: I ask for her plan of action. Still no refund. October 8th: she sends me a message stating she still doesn't have money plus she accuses me of posting snide comments on her Instagram. My snide remarks consisted of the word interesting and that is it. She tells me it takes time to close a buisness. (Screen shot 14) https://i.imgur.com/bju69X6.jpg I ask for a time frame for my refund. At first she ignores me and says that the reason for my refund is because of how I talk to her. My response. (Screen shot 15) https://i.imgur.com/bju69X6.jpg October 31st: I tell Mitha I need the refund by November 15th, and that waiting 3 months for a refund is unacceptable. No response, but the message is marked as read. (Screen shot 16) https://i.imgur.com/Ua10fx6.jpg November 8th: I get told that my check will be sent shortly and that she will be free to talk to me when business slows down. (Screen shot 16) https://i.imgur.com/Ua10fx6.jpg Thats the last I have heard from her. Edit: I am in contact with the Artist and we are working on a resolution. I will update again when I have more information.

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/958083.html WHO: Ignri on FA WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ignri/ WHAT: Digital art. $180 commission with alternate versions and additional background through my moving fundraiser. WHEN: June 14th (6/14/17), and ongoing EXPLAIN: User commissioned me for a commission through my moving fundraiser. After they approved the sketch, they decided to get a partial refund to buy a similar commission elsewhere to “save money.” After the conversation, I told them I would be giving them their refund in 2-3 business days after the money transferred back into my account from my bank, but they filed a dispute against the invoice and refused to let me properly refund them for the commission when the funds became available. The user approached me wanting to get a commission through my moving fundraiser with an alternate version and a background added to the piece. He sent in an order form with all of his information for the commission, and I reviewed it and quoted him the price of the commission on June 14. He agreed to the price and paid it same-day. FA note commission quote and agreement: https://www.dropbox.com/s/scda3kskug1yisl/AB_Ingri_01.png?dl=0 Paid invoice: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k7h6brggzw59aqw/AB_Ingri_003.jpg?dl=0 Commissioner notifying me of paid invoice: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e1c3bv6ci9ofecy/AB_Ignri_02.png?dl=0 Because of a bigger log of commissions I’ve gotten through the fundraiser, I was able to get the sketches done for him to review the next week. The sketches were done and sent to the commissioner on June 20. He responded positively to the work, so I was confident to continue working on the commission to completion within the next couple days. Sketches completed and delivered: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ykdw77beap7zfy4/com_Weavile2_Ignri_v1.jpg?dl=0 - NSFW https://www.dropbox.com/s/ca3qq5pos1bdtvl/com_Weavile2_Ignri_v2.jpg?dl=0 - NSFW Positive response to receiving the sketches: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wg1cv7nae5tu3fx/AB_Ignri_03.png?dl=0 The next morning on June 21 I received another note from the commissioner stating that he wanted me to put a hold on his commission, as he was waiting to hear back from another artist that was doing a similar piece for him and he was considering requesting a partial refund from me to “save some money.” I responded explaining I couldn’t hold the commission, as the commissions through the fundraiser were meant for the fundraiser only (all fundraiser commissions had freebies for the fundraiser ONLY) and it was going to be ending at the end of the month. I asked him in the same response to let me know quickly whether or not he wanted the refund, as I would need to make time to transfer that money back into my PayPal from my bank immediately for him. His note: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8w5oe7r9w5cchtr/AB_Ignri_04.png?dl=0 My response with two of his questions: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nhgpv85hscs9bu8/Screen Shot 2017-06-22 at 3.07.48 PM.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/jb47h7vncmz73n8/AB_Ignri_05.png?dl=0 This led to a series of notes of him asking me questions regarding the commission, and me responding to those questions as concisely and clearly as possible while asking again if he wanted the refund. I explained to him that the partial refund total would be $140, where the original first version sketch would be $25, and the alternative second version would be $15, totalling $40. I also explained that I wouldn’t be able to continue the commission later, because on top of moving at the end of the month I’m starting a new full time job and having a backlog of commissions wouldn’t be timely or ideal for my schedule. I started becoming uncomfortable with the conversation, and thinking back to his original reason for the refund that I found to be rather skeevy, I decided to explain that I would be cancelling the commission and refunding him for his partial refund he told me he was already considering. FA note chain: 1. https://www.dropbox.com/s/lt3ikfpt6u51yxr/AB_Ignri_06.png?dl=0 2. https://www.dropbox.com/s/q0tb67fj7ek3r69/AB_Ignri_07.png?dl=0 3. https://www.dropbox.com/s/t7jo3thortzcjxg/AB_Ignri_08.png?dl=0 The refund being transferred to PayPal from my bank: https://www.dropbox.com/s/63j36vp3i0zi8vs/TRANSFERFROMBANK.png?dl=0 He responded in defense to having his commission cancelled and refunded (linked above as number 3 under the FA note chain). I responded to this by noting him the completed sketch files that were finished for his commission that his $40 expense paid for, and that I would note him as soon as the transfer for his refund completed and the money was sent back to him on PayPal. After some time, he responded to me in defense once again. His note: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lfq407aao4qhizq/AB_Ignri_09.png?dl=0 I responded to his note clearing the air of why he was refunded and my stance on the situation, and that I no longer wished to continue this topic of conversation and the only notice he would get from me was when his refund was available and that I transferred the money back to him. My response: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqk5a1ht5hqs1p4/AB_Ignri_10.png?dl=0 He had read it, but never responded to my note. On June 22nd, I came home to find over $100 in the red in my PayPal account and an unresolved dispute issued by the commissioner, stating it was a precaution for “just in case.” My girlfriend sent me money to get me out of the red. Dispute and bank transfer: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9pa0dywv1t25jpk/AB_INGRI_PAYPAL_02.png?dl=0 I contacted the commissioner on FA regarding the dispute. (At the time I referred to it as a chargeback, as I was mistaken. I realized after the fact this wasn’t a chargeback, but a filed dispute with the commissioner. I got confused since the funds had been taken out of my balance and assumed the taken funds = chargeback.) I explained that because he filed it, all the funds for the FULL amount of the commission ($180) were immediately taken from my account, and that wasn’t the agreed upon refund total of $140. I further explained that, because of the dispute, he would not be receiving his refund when it arrived from my bank because he wasn’t entitled to the full $180 amount. My note regarding the dispute: https://www.dropbox.com/s/crm79s1m8ynlo6u/AB_Ignri_11.png?dl=0 Instead of speaking to me directly, I found that the commissioner was using PayPal’s Resolution Center to relay information, so I chose to respond there. Eventually after a brief back-and-forth, he stopped using the Resolution Center and replied to my note on FA. First Resolution Center conversation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3gcregue1qj2x2r/AB_Ingri_PAYPAL_01.jpg?dl=0 I tried to work with him in resolving the case one-on-one, despite the nature of his replies. I had gotten the refund earlier than expected and explained that I was readily available to issue him his partial refund when the claim was canceled, as I couldn’t refund the agreed partial $140 amount through the invoice if the claim was still open. It was forcing me to refund the full $180 amount. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he was willing to work with me. I couldn’t trust that the commissioner would return $40 to me if I gave him the full amount of $180. Conversation about the dispute (I mistakenly referred to it as a chargeback at the time): https://www.dropbox.com/s/edbs1jf05jrwyt1/chargebacknotes.jpg?dl=0 I updated the Resolution Center messages stating I was ready to refund the commissioner once the dispute was canceled. PayPal Resolution Center conversation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fsagu2pumaqss2z/PayPalResolutionContinued.jpg?dl=0 (The website footer was blocking a portion of the messages, so I had to get snapshots of the comments from my phone and put them to the side of the covered messages.) He never read my last response, so I sent him one final note to give him a chance to comply in the morning (June 23): https://www.dropbox.com/s/hbpv3gmfyvz4tig/finalchargebacknote.jpg?dl=0 On the morning of June 23, the commissioner hadn’t read or responded to any of my notes, so I contacted PayPal over the phone about the matter to see what should be done. The commissioner didn’t seem to want to take the partial refund anymore and seemed to want a full refund (as suggested in this chain of notes https://www.dropbox.com/s/edbs1jf05jrwyt1/chargebacknotes.jpg?dl=0 ). The representative reviewed all of my evidence and information right then and there over the phone, and decided to escalate the dispute as a claim right away on my behalf due to the commissioner’s behavior after I explained the issue with the refund situation. Though I wish it didn’t have to come to that, I did what I was advised to do by the representative and submitted the same evidence to the claim regarding the payment - me canceling the invoice, me stating the agreed-to terms of the partial refund amount and when the refund would be delivered, me delivering the sketches/work done prior to canceling the commission, my notice that the refund was available to the commissioner and him not complying or allowing me to refund him. Basically, every single note exchanged between myself and the commissioner. The representative stated the commissioner could either cancel the claim to accept the $140 refund now, or continue the claim and have to wait up to 30 days for PayPal to review the claim and it would be out of my hands until the investigation was finished and the claim is closed by PayPal. I had hoped he would decide to cancel the claim so that he could receive his refund immediately. He later read my note, but never responded. I looked back at the dispute and found that he had decided to continue the claim for PayPal to review: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dzfciwch5ou0ka8/underreview.jpg?dl=0 I finally did get a response later in the evening, and I responded to let him know of the situation as it stands now: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9wsgn3wuq93spy5/paypalclaimexplain.jpg?dl=0 In hindsight, I believe I was rather defensive myself in my response to his note explaining why I was refunding him. A similar (but much less severe) case happened with this same commissioner in early 2016, which guided my decisions to cancel his commission and my response. I also know now it would have been best to leave the funds in my PayPal account for just such a situation as this. I had been transferring all the funds received from commissions for the fundraiser as soon as the commissioners had approved their sketches, as I was completing these commissions within 1-2 days after the sketches were approved. My thinking on transferring the funds this way was to make sure they were there during the duration of the fundraiser and so that I could organize the funds in preparation for signing a lease and putting down the deposit and first month’s rent on a new home. I’m honestly not sure what to do at this point other than to just… wait? I ultimately only want to be able to give him his $140 partial refund as soon as possible. I’ve been wanting to block him, but I know it would be inappropriate to do so as he’s still - despite this situation - completely entitled to his refund, and I don’t want to cut him off entirely due to that reason. PROOF: Chain of FA notes in order from when the sketches were originally delivered before the commission cancellation to the final note sent to the commissioner regarding the reason for his refund: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fqnxuigtd39b69f/notechain.jpg?dl=0 Chain of FA notes in order regarding the dispute: https://www.dropbox.com/s/edbs1jf05jrwyt1/chargebacknotes.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/9wsgn3wuq93spy5/paypalclaimexplain.jpg?dl=0 Quote agreement and paid invoice: https://www.dropbox.com/s/scda3kskug1yisl/AB_Ingri_01.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/k7h6brggzw59aqw/AB_Ingri_003.jpg?dl=0 Artwork finished before the cancellation of the commission and delivered to the commissioner: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ykdw77beap7zfy4/com_Weavile2_Ignri_v1.jpg?dl=0 - NSFW https://www.dropbox.com/s/ca3qq5pos1bdtvl/com_Weavile2_Ignri_v2.jpg?dl=0 - NSFW Dispute with refund transfer and full Resolution Center conversation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9pa0dywv1t25jpk/AB_INGRI_PAYPAL_02.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fsagu2pumaqss2z/PayPalResolutionContinued.jpg?dl=0 UPDATE: I had called PayPal and spoke to a representative about the case, and they told me there was nothing more I could do on my end until the claim was closed, or PayPal contacted me via e-mail if they needed any more information. This evening (June 28), I received this e-mail from PayPal: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pg8dwwonrc66xi6/claimemail.jpg?dl=0 I responded to the claim: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ug92hs7046qlhec/claimupdate.jpg?dl=0 I received this e-mail in response: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vedz5or60tbav1e/claimemail2.jpg?dl=0 Hopefully the refund is accepted, he can receive his refund and the claim can be closed. UPDATE 2: I received another e-mail response that the commissioner agreed to close the claim by accepting the partial refund of $140, so the claim was closed in my favor. I've since notified the commissioner that the refund was delivered to him and blocked him. E-mails: 1. https://www.dropbox.com/s/43o1q5fzf9428hu/closedclaimemail1.jpg?dl=0 2. https://www.dropbox.com/s/un6qlp07fc4b78o/closedclaimemail2.jpg?dl=0 FA Note: https://www.dropbox.com/s/efoq411k83k6ayz/closedclaimnote.jpg?dl=0 Hopefully this experience helps others who've experienced similar situations with commissioners, and can see how the process worked for me so it gives some insight on what to expect in case an event like this happens with someone else. PayPal was nothing but pleasant with me and had an absolute willingness to work with me on the matter.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/954122.html WHO: Joshain Lucarian WHERE: https://www.facebook.com/joshain.lucarian WHAT: Laminated headshot Badge w/lanyard, Tail badge, and badge clips. WHEN: Commissioned on September 8th, 2016 and still on going. EXPLAIN: I had commissioned Joshain back on September 8th 2016. Although they are very nice and I am a VERY patient person I am very unsatisfied with the updates I recieved. I believe I got one picture showing me the draft of the tail badge I ordered. (I ordered laminated headshot, tail badge, badge clips, lanyard.http://sta.sh/024y1yhi0v75 Please note in the screenshots a friend paid for me. Unfortunely, they paid through paypal friends and family. http://sta.sh/0a27gtna27m) Other than the one WIP picture to my knowledge I recieved nothing else. I would ask for updates every few weeks, (I lost our earlier messages on my other account - due to a Facebook sweep) and even then it was hard to get in contact with them due to their messages not working. http://sta.sh/01g74e4wxrs9 - September 18th, 2016, They had informed me they were beginning their commissions again as they had taken a break. This message had been sent to both this account and the other I was more active on at the time - I had answered on my lost account which is why there is no response here. (Started on last image ) February 15, 2017, I had poked him again since it was a while since I had last heard from him. He told me he had messaged me asking for my address but my account was down. Since they were ready to be shipped I had asked to see them, he told me he wasn't able to send them at that moment and will later but so far hasn't. http://sta.sh/01wzylghjlda / http://sta.sh/019ei49rbdfo - He took down my name and address to remind themselves to send it. http://sta.sh/02ajnw8rm5jw - By February 26th, I had yet to recieve anything in the mail so messaged him again asking, he hadn't as a friend had his sketchbook. After that, I had left him alone. (Same image) March 11th, I asked him when I should expect my items and that was when he told me he had already sent it out through regular mail that Tuesday. He let me know he'd keep an eye out on it, in case it was sent back to him. http://sta.sh/0woep2tb6el - March 19th, I still had yet to get anything in the mail so once again shot them a message, neither of us had gotten anything in the mail. http://sta.sh/028kricc326c - March 23rd, 24th, 29th and April 3rd, I've sent him messages only to be ignored by him. Aside from him telling me he mailed I have no way to prove it as I did not receive a tracking number or other information. So far, I haven't received a thing. I've gotten art from Germany and it didn't take this long. I've tried for the past few days to resolve this by refund or anything really. I have had to resorted to posting to their wall and commenting on posts they've made to get their attention. So far my comments have been deleted and unanswered. So, I've been tagging them in statuses to get them to respond. Their facebook chat log show them online and active often. http://sta.sh/02aakq50ik7c / http://sta.sh/04svxu7c2hl / http://sta.sh/0a8edb27udr / http://sta.sh/0220haaevn1v / http://sta.sh/0xhk7cmxy2w - All the attempts I've made to get in contact with him, the last time I've heard from him was April 19th only to be told he was busy and he would message me back. But, of course he never did. //Also, the beware I speak about was a facebook group I had been apart of. A friend of mine recommended here to me, we are both hoping it helps. On one of my statuses a friend of his came to defend him, http://sta.sh/026jljohd3j7 / http://sta.sh/09m9icukx6j / http://sta.sh/021xhr09zsas - They stated that if their friend was doing this there had to be a reason. So far, I don't see a reason as everything had been going well until they supposedly mailed out my items. PROOF: All images placed in one album - http://sta.sh/21jca6tqdai5?edit=1 At this point, I have to assume they're blatantly ignoring me and I won't be seeing anything from this transaction. If anyone has any ideas on what I can do, that would be great. Thank you for your time and have a good day.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/941240.html [Editor's note, this creator is now operating under names in the linked tweet: WHO: @DalmyDoDat / @SpotmyTots / @FursaceClub > on Twitter WHERE: Email / Twitter / http://www.dalmydodatcreations.com/ http://www.furaffinity.net/user/DalmyDoDatCreations WHAT: Fursuit underwear as a gift for a friend of mine WHEN: Purchased on 03/26/2015 PROOF: All screenshots are located here: http://imgur.com/a/PVbWC EXPLAIN: This happened almost 2 years ago, so some of my memories are a bit fuzzy but I will do my best to recount everything that happened. The most recent issues were recent. This is my first time posting an artists beware. About two years ago Dalmy posted around about this fursuit underwear they had designed made for fursuits. The photos were great, and it seemed to be really going well. I wanted to purchase it for a friend of mine as a gift. So I went and emailed to ask a question about the underwear and they replied very promptly. Everything was set and I recieved and paid for my invoice. 1 It totaled $30 which was very fair. 2 And about 2 months later I recieved an email to charge an additional $10 for shipping costs which I paid soon afterwards. 3 4 After everything was all paid I eagerly awaited the delivery to my friend. But soon, again almost two months later, there was a new email that arrived that said there would be shipping delays due to a convention & illness. 5 Of course, that doesn't bother me, as I understand real life happens. In the email it was stated that orders would get filled after the convention so I didn't mind the extra wait. Soon time passed and it's been another 2 months since the shipping delays email and I find out my friend moved and needed it to be sent to another location. So I emailed Dalmy to try and get it updated and never recieved a response. 6 Then again, 2 months after that I tried once more to see if it was all set, but I again, never recieved a response or confirmation. At this point it's been 8 months since the initial order. I DM'ed their personal twitter to ask what was happening with the order. I got a reply, and was being told they were being worked on. 12 About a month later another new email arrives talking about how people were getting frustrated with their orders not arriving and filing disputes. 7 One thing that struck me right away was that apparently their Paypal is now frozen because of the disputes that got filed. There was also promise of them getting out to the new year. At this point, I was satisfied and assumed that the deadline would get reached this time and everything would work out well. It was at this point, on the same day, I emailed Dalmy on the email that sent the previous message and again let them know that my friend had a new shipping address and I wanted to make sure it got noted/updated. 8 I recieved no reply. On April, in 2016, there was a single twitter post on the Fursace's twitter detailing that there will be promises of a video detailing refunds. 9 Nothing ever got made. After waiting a few more months I started to ask for a refund, due to the lack of results. My friend had not recieved anything, and emails and communication had ceased entirely. At this point it was October 2016, it has been 1 year and 7 months since ordering. 10 But then I started to get mail returns on one of the email addresses. 11 I did not get any response. I continued to ask on their personal twitter what the status of the refund video was, and eventually started to not get any replies at all. 12 Their twitter continued to be active. And I decided to DM their buisness twitter to see if I could get any results. 16 I did not get a response at this point. I sent another email (and a few of the addresses got rejected and mail returned again). At this point I was very frustrated, and it had almost been 2 years at that point. So I mentioned about going to post on Artists_Beware. 13 I did not recieve a response. I ended up publically tweeting at them to see if I could get them to check their DMs, because I saw them active on twitter again and that worked. 17 And I got a reply on their buisness twitter and they told me that they will post information about refunds after ANE. So I thought it would be fine, and waited again. 16 And soon afterwards, after a week or so of again no posts or emails I tweeted at them a few more times to see if there were any updates. 14 15 There has been no further correspondence from Dalmy. I did try at one point to file a dispute on Paypal, but because their paypal was closed from all the other disputes and also it had been about a year and a half since purchase, they rejected my claim. At this point I just want my full $40 refund and to move on. EDITED 5/20/18: Dalmy has changed the name of Fursace to be "Mäul./Maul". The refund video. I was linked the video and applied right away on 05/11/18 (which was confirmed by email on 05/18/18 by Maul/Dalmy/Fursace to get a refund (I had done it previously on 02/22/17). The twitter conversation for the refund: X. The email confirmations for the refund being sent: X. And the refund being recieved: X. The link to apply for refunds for previous Fursace customers was listed on the website. I would like this marked as resolved. The new company name should be added in the tags, maybe, so people seeking refunds can locate them if possible. There are people still seeking refunds.

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/929598.html WHO: Worms & Bones WHERE: Homepage: http://www.wormsandbones.com/ Deviantart: http://wormsandbones.deviantart.com/ WHAT: $600 CAD for a one-of-a-kind art doll based on a werewolf character of mine. WHEN: So arrangements for this commission first started back around late September, 2014, but confirmation happened in November 2015. Details were exchanged from February-March 2015. I paid in two installments. The first installment was March 10, 2015. References were provided on March 21. The second installment was paid on April 8, 2015. Provided below are screen shots of all the email exchanges we've had. What's important to note here is that I've had to email them sometimes two or three times in order to get a response, though to their credit they did always eventually respond. I sent the emails a week, sometimes two weeks, apart (in between months of waiting) as I was trying not to be worrisome. But conversely, I was becoming worried about the lack of communication. The first email I sent asking for an update was on June 3, 2015 with a followup on the 10th. I sent another inquiry on August 15, followed by another follow up on the 29th. I received a reply the following day. This pattern continues for some time, with me checking in every two to three or four months. I was unclear as to how long a commission was actually going to take as no where in their TOS does it state that they can take a year or longer to complete and at no point in the email exchange did they offer an ETA. I eventually became too anxious at their lack of communication and finally sent an email stating as such on December 7th basically expressing this anxiety and the concern over how long it was taking as I had received my previous customs from them in 2-5 months. I assumed that a commission to take maybe 8-9 in between customs and whatever else, especially since Worms & Bones have previously provided great customer care and a superior product. As requested, they did provide me with a rundown on events that was happening/had happened over the past few months to explain why it was taking so long. Up to this point I had only received one WIP (on Sept 1). I received a second Dec. 7, which was included in the response email I got after my inquiry about the length of time it was taking. Needless to say, communication hasn't really improved. It's still taking a week or more for them to respond to my emails. I've received only 3 WIPs emails. I last requested on update on Sept. 13 as well as a possible ETA. Their response was pretty much the same as their last update - still waiting on their caster and were going fur shopping since they didn't have the right kind. It is now Oct. 11 and I haven't heard anything else. Although I just recently noticed they have put up a warning in the Contact section of their website that they maybe slow to respond. So at least they tell you that now. PROOF: November 30-December 1, 2014 - First discussion of taking on the commission. Feb. 27, 2015 - Worms & Bones confirms that they can take on the commission. March 21 - More Details Exchanged. This screenshot also shows me confirming that I paid the invoice. March 10 - First installment paid. March 21 - Details Finalized. April 8 - They sent me the 2nd Invoice. April 8 - Final installment paid. June 3 and June 12- First inquiry emails sent. This screenshot shows their response on the 12. Aug 15, 29, 30 - Second inquiry email sent. This screenshot shows the exchange for that month. Sept. 1 - First WIP. They emailed ME this time. I was sure things were going to be moving forward finally but two months later... November 23 - 3rd Inquiry. Dec. 7th - 3rd Inquiry follow up. This shows the exchange between the two of us during that time. I should point out that their responses are professional and friendly, and they do acknowledge that their commissions take a long time to complete (like, over-a-year-long, I suppose) - information I really wish I had known beforehand. They also provided a 2nd WIP. Dec. 7th - My response to that last email (Couldn't fit all of it on the same screenshot.) Feb 10, 17 2016 - 4th inquiry sent about a detail on the WIPs. So far, so good with their response here. I was pleased that they just responded even if they didn't have a WIP to show me. April 23rd, May 5 - 5th inquiry. This screenshot shows the exchange from that time period. Also 3rd and last visual WIP. July 17, 20 - 6th inquiry and their response. Sept. 13, 19 2016 - Asked for another update and a possible ETA, but no mention of it in their response. I have yet to hear anything about more about the furs and today is Oct. 11. EXPLAIN: I really hesitated to post this beware because Worms & Bones have never been rude to me and do eventually reply to my emails, but their basic customer service could use some improvement. This Beware is mostly in regards to that. So, perhaps it was the fact that I received their customs pretty quickly, and that the previous transactions had been pretty straight forward and the exchange pretty quick. And perhaps that I had mentioned in at least two earlier emails that I would "wait forever" (though I seriously didn't think I'd be waiting for over a year for it). And maybe it feels like I've been waiting longer than I have because details were first set in 2014. I tend to wait a week or more before sending followup emails because I'm aware that people have lives and they apparently make customs for a living. Which brings me to the other part of my complaint; in between all these emails, with very little WIPs to show on my $600 commission, they've produced many more customs for other customers as well as literal armfuls of customs for sale at conventions and at least three personal projects. All of which you can see on their tumblr. Let me just say here that I am NOT upset that they've got personal projects but it's just that on top of all the other work they've done for other customers - even potential customers that haven't even paid them money yet - and I haven't even seen what my werewolf's feet look like with the dew claws attached and it's been over a year. I also don't think I should feel awful every time I send off an email asking them for an update. I feel like I'm harassing them every time I do. Furthermore, there is no mention on their website at how long commissions can take. The only thing it is mentioned is that they seldom accept commissions but no reason as to why. Which I guess isn't important, usually, but if it's a super long wait time, then I think it should be mentioned. So whether or not I receive my doll any time soon, I still think people should be aware of how long it will take to receive their product. At least they do now have a notice in their Contact Me section of their website stating that they are slow to respond to emails. They did not have this notice when I first commissioned them and I'm not sure when it appeared. I also want to point out that, and I'm sure it's easy to see in the screen shots, that they have been nothing but polite when we have communicated and I genuinely believe that they aren't doing this on purpose. I suppose this Beware is more a warning about the lack of information these artists provide regarding the process of their services, at least in regards to commissions. So if you get a custom from them, you probably don't have to worry about this happening to you, but beware if you ever manage to score a commission. Considering it's been almost a month since they went fur shopping, I'm really starting to doubt I'm going to get what I paid for. UPDATE: Worms and Bones has finished the commission, and although I have not received it physically yet, given their previous track record of successfully shipping out items, I have no doubts I will get it eventually. I deem this resolved! UPDATE: I have Autumn firmly in hand. As usual the quality is wonderful and it's very satisfying to finally have it here. As mentioned above, Worms & Bones are overall pretty good to work with. It's mostly just their communication skills that could use some improvement. And be prepared for a long wait - especially if you're commissioning them!

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/928784.html WHO: Sugar and Spice Costumes / SugarNSpiceCostumes / Kittencheshire WHERE: http://www.sugarnspicecostumes.com/ , http://sugarnspicecostumes.tumblr.com , http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sugarnspicecostumes/ WHAT: Artistic Liberty Fursuit, won in auction on FurBuy in late 2013. Proof of Purchase: [Payment Pic 1, 2] WHEN/EXPLAIN: The original due date was around April 2014. I had been a bit late in getting a DTD to them, so I was not pushy at first. They also had some convention orders to address, so it wasn’t until a full year after the initial purchase that I reached out via email. [Email 1] After this came the drought of absolutely no contact. I started looking at their various webpages for other emails and began CC’ing those in with the hopes that that one of them would restart some contact. [Email 2] As one can see, my efforts were not successful. I received advice from a few people to post here or to try reaching out to the makers through Twitter. I attempted the latter and managed to get in contact. [Twitter Post 1] My hopes at this point were rather high, so I went and asked for communication details and an update as to where things were. [Twitter Post 2] However, I found more of the same: no contact for nearly another two months with no end in sight on a commission I paid in full nearly three years ago. I feel as though I have been kind and cordial in my attempted interactions. I feel as though I’ve been a decent customer, but I don’t feel as though I’ve been treated as one. And I have no idea what to do at this point. UPDATE: 2017/09/07 Back in February, I went through my usual endeavor to gain contact. This time, I decided to be far more direct in my statements and chose FA as my route. Well, it's now September, and the message was never even opened! [The Message] Over the summer, I noticed more people getting vocal about this issue, leaving little shouts on their page along the lines of, "Hey, I've been waiting since XXXX" <-- Insert year here. Woo, I'm not alone! Again, I took the opportunity, having waited without an answer to my message from February. Their response is what you see linked below. They closed their FA, claiming abuse. Now, I looked at their Trello and saw that the suit was still in the queue, and it was slated for an August completion. I decided to wait. August is over, so here's what I have to say. [The Response] SnS, I'm not the abuser. I'm the victim. At this point, you've essentially stolen from me. I have literally no power here. FurBuy can't do anything. We're well past PayPal's period of influence, so all I have left is to complain--and complain loud enough until maybe you listen, or until somebody listens who might be able to help me. I paid you promptly in 2013. I sent you everything you asked for, and after four damn years, it is my right as a customer to pursue this problem! I am the one who has been abused here. You have abused my trust, my patience, and my health. UPDATE 2: 2018/11/1 In January of 2018, I did manage to get in contact with SugarNSpice through an email that actually works. I've put my email chain in here again to prove a few points. First, my message had an emotional element. This has been a stressful thing for me other the years, could we please bring it home. I've had so many questions that have just gone unanswered. Second, the response just seems flat. No sincerity at all here. It's been five freakin' years. And there is another promise to have the queue cleared out by June. [2018 Email] The next image shows that once again this time frame has slid. It also shows that I am still being dragged through the queue. I just don't understand how many iterations of action-->excuse-->timeshift can be taken before there are real consequences. [2018 Queue] See you all in another year when I update again.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/926291.html Update Nov-16-2016: rach failed to pay the invoice. When this was pointed out the answer was not acceptable (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByLJuia-w3WYZk9icnZtX0k2bnc). Basically "I've got plenty of people asking, you'll get your turn." And somehow I'm now the bad person (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByLJuia-w3WYdDlkcFdLcHFoV3M) WHO: rachVerity WHERE: (NSFW) http://www.furaffinity.net/user/rachverity/ WHAT: $200 (Split $125 me/$75 Fischer) Art bundle to assist rach when her PC died. Bundle included a reference sheet and three pieces of digital art. WHEN: May 15th, 2014 PROOF: Paypal payment: http://imgur.com/rPhp9wV EXPLAIN: When rach had a computer issue she sold art bundles for $200 each to get out of the hole. Fischer and I went in to help her out and enjoy some art together. We knew this was low priority art (that had been agreed to) but it was art that was going to be done eventually. After a year (which made it too late for us to get paypal refunds) we'd asked about it and was told it was going to be done (http://imgur.com/7AscovM). We gave her the benefit of the doubt and went with it. Somewhere around here Fischer and I did another shared commission and covered my bit so I assumed the whole $200 debt. Eventually I got fed up and asked for a refund and that was agreed to with a payment plan. That seemed reasonable (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByLJuia-w3WYYlZ5VjJsd2xVQW8). Unfortunately the payments never came. At this point I check in monthly so as not to be rude or a pest but it hasn't helped.(https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByLJuia-w3WYNFVTYnBtb3Jjenc) I've finally sent rach an invoice for the full amount but have not received anything payment wise, just words. At this point I have no idea what to do. $200 is a lot of money to just lose. This is, more or less, my last effort. (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByLJuia-w3WYTDFvVl85TGxyN2M)

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/904389.html WHO: Onnanoko WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/onnanoko/ http://onnanokoart.tumblr.com/ Rainfurrest 2015 WHAT: Artist was paid $80 for a three-character digital art piece while at RainFurrest 2015. Commission was agreed upon in person and paid for up-front over Paypal. WHEN: Initial payment was made on September 26th, 2015. First contact email to explain details of the commission sent on September 27th. First email requesting an update on the commission sent on October 9th with no reply. Second email requesting an update of the commission was sent on October 24th with no reply. Third email requesting an update sent on November 29th with no reply. Fourth email requesting an update sent on January 1, 2016 with no reply. Fifth email containing ultimatum of commission update or reporting to Artist Beware and an invoice for the refund by the end of the month sent on April 17th with no reply. Invoice email for refund sent out on May 1. PROOF: Receipt: http://imgur.com/qr4D47t Initial Contact: http://imgur.com/2OnWMnQ First Check-In: http://imgur.com/gW5NRaF Second Check-In: http://imgur.com/Nrkg5vM Third Check-In: http://imgur.com/iPmcJmV Fourth Check-In: http://imgur.com/XapfZnq Final Check-In: http://imgur.com/uOYKY6v Conversing with the FA user (see Explain): http://imgur.com/4561BpW Refund Invoice: http://imgur.com/ZIPi0Kc EXPLAIN: Artist was met at Rainfurrest 2015 and agreed to a three-character commission done digitally and "take home", as the convention was coming to a close and there was insufficient time to have it get done before. The email containing the details of the commission was sent the very next day. Five emails requesting an update on the commission were sent out over the next seven months (from October 2015 to April 2016) with no replies. Refund invoice sent out on May 1. Emails were accompanied by shouts onto the artist's FurAffinity page (listed above), however those shouts and the shouts of other customers who had not been contacted seem to have been removed, though their correspondence to me over notes has been provided under proof.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/899868.html Who: Eroishi Where: http://eroishi.deviantart.com/ What: 2 digital art pieces (1 nsfw and sfw) When: December 6, 2015 - February 12, 2016 Proof: http://imgur.com/a/wRZi4 Expalin: I requested 2 pictures, 1 nsfw and 1 sfw pic. Things went smooth until two weeks later, I messaged him about the payment I sent him. He told me that he never received the amount. I got worried and asked how he resolved the situation before since he told me that something similar happened for his patreon account. However, he simply said that the money was never received, leaving me to figured that he didn’t bother to resolve the solution. During the process, I called PayPal and they told me that the he received my payment. I told him to contact PayPal or find a way so that we can chat together, but he refused to comply, only to agree to talk to PayPal. I messaged him again after 3 days and he didn’t reply. So I waited. Since he never replied within a month, I could only assume the worst, which was that he’s lying to me and I was scammed. So I called him out for being a scammer, and he said that it was because he “had no internet” and had to wait until early February to get it back. So I gave him the benefit of the doubt. After two weeks, I asked him to give me a refund, but he refused. I questioned him again about showing me proof, and he had to wait for the internet to return. So I waited two days. During the process, I showed him my screenshot that I have proof of sending him the money. He said that everything is correct, yet he kept telling me that nothing was received. I asked him politely to the best I can to update me on the information he was trying to tell me. He finally showed me his end of the transaction to see that he “didn’t receive the payment”. So I proceeded to calling PayPal again (for the third time) and informed them of the situation. They refused to check and only said that he indeed received the amount I paid him. I sent him (and it was panic) a few emails to connect on PayPal together to resolve the situation together. Instead, he refused to reply to any of emails. 1 week later had passed, and it came to the drastic solution that he’s not willing to work with me at all. I had to resort to threatening him to contact PayPal immediately on what’s going on. He instead replied, declaring me a liar for the exact same proofs we showed to each other. This confirmed to me that he had scammed me for a simple $36 two picture commission. Since I had paid with friends by mistake, I’m not able to get my money back. This was a mistake on my end. Also, I feel that I learned not to freak out when a situation like this should ever happen again. And I also believe I shouldn’t be sending multiple messages at once out of panic (which may led to this). I also wondered if it was really on PayPal error if he really didn’t receive the payment I made to him. However, he refused to comply with my suggestion of calling PayPal again.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/899593.html WHO: Puppygas/AmyToes WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/puppygas (FA), http://amytoes.deviantart.com/ (DA) -> Has adult content WHAT: 7-version plus bonus mystery art YCH (8 images in total) WHEN: 9/19/2014 (Autobuy) -> 9/22/2014 (Payment) -> Present Day PROOF: (Identifiers and explicit adult details have been redacted to the best of my abilities) The YCH I autobought: http://sta.sh/0hja80pytsq Details of YCH: http://sta.sh/01u6pvchmrej Paypal payment: http://sta.sh/01ri84mz71o Last interaction with Puppygas: http://sta.sh/01nhv3vbk1uu Last journal entry of Puppygas: http://sta.sh/02dh8oem9oxy A note I sent 4 days after that journal was posted: http://sta.sh/01228bx1se1h EXPLAIN: On 9/19/2014, I autobought a YCH piece from Puppygas and sent over the details for it. On 9/22/2014, after reviewing the details, Puppygas gave me a Paypal address to send payment to. I waited a while, but heard nothing back. On 12/10/2015, I got Puppygas' DA name and sent her a note through that site, to which she showed me a few pics and asked me to be patient. Eventually, on 12/14/2015, she gave her last response after I asked her to fix a few things about the pic. After that, no responses to my other notes on DA and FA since then. I really did not want to make this entry, but for a pic series that was to be completed by the end of December 2014 with constant progress updates, only to have to fish out her from the progress sketch showed to me followed by finding out only one sketch (not even a complete picture) was completed in the year and 3 months after I first bought it, I can't stay quiet about it anymore. I do not want my money back at this time, but I do want what I paid for to be completed. Her last entry on DA was on 2/1/2016 and I sent her a DA note a few days after that. Perhaps it was bad luck that I missed her, but it would be even worse luck if this YCH remains unfinished. She should've had at least told me other ways to contact her other than FA and DA. I tried those, the email address I sent my Paypal payment to and I got no response as of today. I want to point out that she's not a bad artist, but her lack of communication with me is the reason why I'm posting this.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/893913.html WHO: Shakespeare @ WHF | http://klngandy.deviantart.com/ WHERE: Originally occured on WHF (Wolfhome forums), but contact eventually had to be moved to their DA since they'd been banned. WHAT: Two minis (a type of commission of mine), and an adopt they purchased. WHEN: Minis were ordered Dec. 3rd, and finished Dec. 6th, adopt was purchased Dec. 7th. PROOF: inquiry about purchases, as well as finished product; http://sta.sh/0197av9imegn http://sta.sh/017ncw7x1mek http://sta.sh/0ihtuh4ly5p messages regarding chargeback; http://sta.sh/01g6lh4aldl0 http://sta.sh/0weoyrifv9e - their only response http://sta.sh/010l6c20zicm http://sta.sh/0wf1mhlsyeg http://sta.sh/033xm3cxm3x http://sta.sh/01nf98k45ajc - was a little more blunt here, because I thought maybe if I mentioned making an A_B they might finally talk to me, and we could start working things out. proof that WHF account & DA are linked; http://sta.sh/075w49tjzvp payments; http://sta.sh/02gk8a6tmvrq http://sta.sh/01cjs6gb6d3l EXPLAIN: They first messaged me on-forum asking for two minis which I happily agreed to, they sent refs and payment and I finished the commission three days later. They seemed very satisfied with the commission, and never asked for any changes to be made or showed any dissatisfaction with the work, I thanked them for commissioning me, life went on. They posted in a thread of mine some days later asking to buy an adopt for an off-site friend of theirs, I said that'd be fine, and they promptly sent the payment with a note attached. Things were great until come January 27th I woke up to two chargebacks issued by them under the reason of "unauthorized payment." I immediately messaged them on-forum to ask why they'd issued the chargebacks, to which they simply responded it was their bank and that it'd be resolved within 48hrs. I said alright, and asked to be kept updated. I was going to wait until Friday (exactly two days later) before I messaged them again but decided to give them until Monday, just in case. In those days, nothing changed and I heard no news from them. I messaged them on Feb. 1st asking for an update since nothing had been solved, and the message is still sitting in my unread folder. I found out a little later they'd been banned from the forum, so I moved to their DA to keep in contact and sent the same message to them there, asking for an update to see if they'd heard anything from their bank. The message had been read but wasn't responded to. I sent them another two days later warning them if they proceeded to ignore my messages that I'd have no choice but to assume everything was intentional and make an A_B on them, but that I didn't want to and would much rather try and work things out between each other if they'd just let me know what was going on. The message sat unread for three days before I sent another, but having checked on their account, they'd logged in since it had been sent. I sent them one final message two days ago, hoping that maybe if I was blunt and they saw the "A_B" warning in the first sentence before DA cuts off the text and you have to click on it to read more, they might want to finally talk to me. They didn't, I guess. The message is still unread, but they've logged on since. As of 2/9/2016, the chargeback issue hasn't been resolved and I've heard nothing further from them. edit: The same day I posted this (2/9/2016) later in the day, the chargebacks disappeared. Shortly after I was negative $40 for the chargeback fee, $20 per chargeback. The dispute had ended in their favor. I contacted paypal and let them know what was going on to try and, at the very least, reverse the $40 charge. They did do it once I explained that the person even said that it was their bank/accidental. They encouraged me to send them all the proof I have, but that it could take up to 80 days to be resolved. The good thing is, it sounded hopeful that this time it'll end in my favor. The bad thing is, of course, I have to wait awhile. edit: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kingandy/ - their fa has been located thanks to thekingtheory & exo_formicidae! proof is that the same character is linked to both galleries; http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18394296/ http://klngandy.deviantart.com/art/Andy-Refrerence-575438216

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/885613.html WHO: Ninjakato http://ninjakato.deviantart.com/ ScarlingRagdoll666 http://www.furaffinity.net/user/scarlingragdoll666/ WHERE: They're mostly active on dA than FA WHAT: A long overdue trade with them that took place on FA. Communications eventually took place on dA through notes WHEN: A trade was agreed upon April 9th 2011. My half was finished relatively quickly, but their half is still unfinished. More info under cute PROOF: First initial trade contact was made on April 9th, 2011 https://www.dropbox.com/s/pluqssxagsbbnyu/proof%201.jpg?dl=0 (my FA here is Charu) My half of the trade was completed May 4th, 2011 http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5691889 Communications on FA were made. Unfortunately my notes on FA have been cleared out since then. They mostly contained information about what I'd like Ninjakato to draw for their half. Eventually I started to note her on dA as it appeared she was becoming less active on FA. Note pointing out I finished my half https://www.dropbox.com/s/wb27h1reywz2gyl/Proof%202.jpg?dl=0 There was a point she posted a journal asking her watchers if she had missed anything owed. However, I cannot find the journal anymore, but I did note her on dA https://www.dropbox.com/s/40volnp6m2yy3l0/proof 3.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/wu3kgjknydfs3cd/proof 4.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/ya85gjdo9qaamg3/proof 5.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/ckrzqijrjo2k7ky/proof 6.jpg?dl=0 After this communication had stopped until 2014 came around. I had stopped asking as Ninjakato seemed pretty busy in real life and I didn't want to be a bother. https://www.dropbox.com/s/f6cslbr0dkabp4m/proof 7.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/a3ax54y49okn5zq/proof 8.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/h5ynncfmdjut8iw/proof 9.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/9onvgxjz5fqg6h6/proof 10.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/at93e8bo9flkknj/proof 11.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/k30co67uueaqqo9/proof 12.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/roal3atboh43vj4/proof 13.jpg?dl=0 August 20, 2014 she had made a journal calling out to the person she owed a trade to (which was me). My ref links did not work so I had noted with fixed links. http://ninjakato.deviantart.com/journal/One-art-trade-477049101#comments https://www.dropbox.com/s/5nrarciibugpru9/proof 14.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/m8i4mljt8dawynv/proof 16.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/mauwqzmx0qii5vo/proof 17.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/woqc5v73w388obn/proof 18.jpg?dl=0 More time passed and I saw no sign of my half of the trade. I gave her another nudge about it. https://www.dropbox.com/s/b7uyt58myn7lyzi/proof 19.jpg?dl=0 I gave one more nudge just recently. The note had been opened but went unresponded. https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ge7uwcew3o6r5y/proof 20.jpg?dl=0 EXPLAIN: In the start of this NinjaKato was opening up for trades on FA. I was one of the ones picked to trade with her. Excited I began to work on my trade and posted to FA in a timely manner. Eagerly, but patiently, I waited for for mine to be finished. I knew very well NinjaKato was really busy with her real life and commissions, so I was in no rush to have it completed. As time passed and weeks turned to months. Months turned into years. We've had some communication throughout the time span, yet I was still mindful not to rush her. She was still posting art on dA of finished commissions and personal art. 2011 had turned to 2014 and I admit I should of poked her more often between those few years. But I was nervous to do so as she was posting frequent journals about difficulties in her life. As a artist I know very well commissions always take priority over trades, thus I didn't pressure her. Eventually I did poke her and communications had picked up once again. I had hope she'd finish it after I did remind her about it. A time of silence started again. NinjaKato was still posting personal art, newly finished YCHs and sometimes trades from others. I had given her one final poke on Nov 11th, 2015 and the note had been read. No response back. She continued to upload new art of personal sketches, redraws, YCHs, and adoptables. At this point I am not expecting to see my half and have accepted it. Primarily posting this beware to give a heads up that this artist may not always finish pieces they promise to do. EDIT: NinjaKato finished their half. This AB can be marked as resolved

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/877086.html Edit 10/30/2015 I received my order as well as an apology from the maker, hoping the same happened with the other costumers too. They were awesome enough to pay for the shipping too. Hope their IRL issues get resolved. (/r/Furry from Reddit suggested I should come here, since this was a bigger issue than I was hoping it would be, here's the Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/furry/comments/3o5puh/looking_for_opinions_and_advice_commission_issues ) WHO: Miss Raptor WHERE: http://missraptor.deviantart.com/ WHAT/WHEN: I commissioned her for a mask over a year ago, finishing my last down payment August 28th 2014 ( making it a year and 3 months) PROOF: The agreement: (April 3rd, 2014) The Final Payment: (August 28th 2014) Journals/Excuses from the artist incoming.. 1 (August 27th 2014)- Telling customers, ironically, to communicate with her payments, but she might not be able to communicate back as fast. 2 (Oct 2014) Pushed back until December 3 (Nov 2014) An issue with the furnace 4 (Dec 2014) It's now December, email goes down 5 (Jan 2015) Sorry, got a puppy now 6 (Jan 2015) Sick Sister 7 (Feb 2015) Sick Artist 8 (March 2015) Too many projects 9 (May 2015) Projects Paused.. again 10 (Aug 2015) 4 Months behind EXPLAIN: I'm concerned about the where-abouts of my said "finished mask" from a 6+ weeks ago. I understand things happen, but she has started to out right ignore her clients that are sending her notes on DeviantArt (and I know she is reading them, dA marks notes as "read" once opened.) We've been very patient and understanding with her but this is starting to become unprofessional. It took her a year to finally post a WIP for us due to the complications in the journals above. I'd honestly rather her post another journal though than ignore me and other clients on DeviantArt. This is happening while she still is taking commissions and taking down payments from other people, while she has had clients waiting for their 100% payed for mask for 15+ months( a year and a half almost). I'm very disappointing with the service I received for my $730 bucks, especially since I payed everything on time and let her push my project back continuously so she can advertise/sell merchandise at Anthrocon, work on her own personal projects, or deal with her real life issues. Sorry for the rant, I'm just so burnt out from this mask commission.. I can not recommend this fursuit maker to anyone anymore unless she works out her communication issues with her clients, and can balance her real life problems with her "professional career that makes her a living" as she called it. There's not excuse for this.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/864661.html WHO: Wyldfire/Wyldfire7/Fr0stbit3 WHERE: http://furaffinity.net/user/wyldfire http://furaffinity.net/user/fr0stbit3 http://weasyl.com/~wyldfire7 WHAT: Traditional 2 character NSFW sketch commission http://i.imgur.com/JCcdnQ0.png (details blurred out for NSFW reasons) There was more notes before this, but they just include me at first wanting a comic, but then not being able to pay, so we decided on a sketch image. WHEN: As you can tell from the timestamps on the notes, the commission was discussed, agreed on, and paid on August 1st, 2014 A rough time line of the situation from initial conversation, to 1st payment (or agreement of trade) to signs of trouble. http://i.imgur.com/tISUOYg.png I've blocked out the end of the email as the first part proves that Wyldfire is Fr0stbit3 PROOF: Discussion of commission: http://i.imgur.com/JCcdnQ0.png Payment: http://i.imgur.com/tISUOYg.png Note that the sketch is too hard, artist wanting to change it, and me asking for a refund instead: http://i.imgur.com/Y1gShFI.png More screenshots regarding the situation can be found in the explain area below. Explain: On August 1st, 2014, I contacted (on Weasyl) Wyldfire7. At first, I wanted a comic commission, but it was changed to a 2 character NSFW sketch commission involving a dragon of mine and one of his. It was paid for that very night. As I waited, I feel deathly ill and was unable to access the internet (nor was I physically able to) as I spent the next 8 months in the hospital. When I was finally able to get online again, I was expecting to see the sketch commission, as it'd been close to a year. Instead, I find a note that had been sent on the 24th of August, 2015, saying that the sketch was too hard, and if I wanted the commission still, I'd have to request a different pose. I was a little disappointed, but at this point in time I'd fallen away from the fandom and my characters, and was more interested in a refund. A refund was agreed on, and I'd sent my paypal information, the amount, and started to wait. About a month later, I poked him about my refund and received this. http://i.imgur.com/uUA9bh8.png I understood where he was coming from, so I resumed my waiting. Though I didn't log on for a while after I sent my last note, as I had a lot going on in my life and just assumed that he'd get to it soon, so I tried to give him space and not badger him about the refund. So when I logged back on about a month later to poke about my refund, and I received a note that contained a personal means of getting me my refund. I shall not repeat what was said here, but I will say that I was rather grossed out by it. A little while passed, and I decided to check my paypal to see if I'd gotten my refund. I, of course, didn't, but on my payment summary, I noticed something strange. The paypal email address that I'd originally sent it to (which was related to his Wyldfire/Wyld name) had been changed to Fr0stbit3works http://i.imgur.com/tISUOYg.png I was confused, as his name was still the same, it was just different. Soon after that, I visited the journal of one of my favorite dragon artist's on Furaffiinty, as I noticed that were opening for commissions and I wanted to see if I could afford one. Well, in the comments, I saw this http://i.imgur.com/2ACVkkX.png They have the same name as what the paypal address had been changed to. So I visited the userpage and saw that they're skype address was the exact same as the paypal address http://i.imgur.com/rfoF11b.png Please note that the Tier 1 commissin slot started at $60 and went up, so it's clear that he has enough to refund me. So I go back onto Weasyl, sent (and received) this http://i.imgur.com/eREiIAo.png I'll admit I was a little frantic as red flags were going up quickly, but I tried to control my emotions regardless. I was frustrated when I read the reply, about how I needed to be 'patient', so I just didn't reply as I'm sure I'd let my emotions get the best of me. About another month passed, and I visited his userpage again, and saw that he'd going to the movies to view Ant-Man, and would only have $15 left until he got paid again http://i.imgur.com/evnKMEA.png Him saying that he had 'nothing he needed to buy' is really frustrating to hear, given that I've been waiting for a while now for my refund. So I finally decided to shoot him a note (7/18/15) asking for a time estimate for my refund. What I got back... http://i.imgur.com/g0ryPTl.png He's claiming that I have him confused for someone else, even when I have all this evidence that he is indeed who I can prove he is. http://i.imgur.com/QUqHeB8.png I confronted him with a screencap of the paypal summary, and this is what he said. I was angered by this, so I didn't reply, as I know, again, my emotions would've gotten the better of me. (as a note, I've moved from Weasyl to FA, given that the note system is easier for me to keep track of) Mere minutes later, I get this note on my Weasyl http://i.imgur.com/NglAIdX.png After everything I've seen, I have the feeling that I'm just getting the run around at his point. As of 8/4/15, I have yet to receive a refund. I don't know what to do at this point. I paid with my paypal balance, so I can't contact a bank at all, and I'm well past the 45/180 days to file a chargeback. And I'm sure that posting this will cause me not to get my refund at all, but the least I can do is try to warn others about him before they get taken advantage of too. Please be very VERY wary of commissioning this artist.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/818941.html WHO: RaveBinx WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ravebinx/ WHAT: Group YCH WHEN: March 11th, 2014 PROOF (all links are SFW): Link to the YCH, posted roughly 10 months ago: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12940006/ A check up on the YCH (June 16th, 2014): http://i.imgur.com/9i4fQzW.png - This was the last time they answered any of my notes/shouts. A note I sent recently (January 16th 2015): http://i.imgur.com/eZazlPo.png - The note title and proof that they read (with no response back to me). http://i.imgur.com/xnHsGK3.png - What the note said, regarding my concerns. An updated version of the YCH (several months later, complete with backgrounds from Google): http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15129235/ - The updated YCH (December 1st 2014). http://i.imgur.com/Fv915rG.png - Proof of backgrounds being found on Google Proof of them being active after reading/ignoring my note regarding the commission: http://i.imgur.com/d42oHiH.png - Discussing a ref sheet commission with a recent customer. http://i.imgur.com/REc6hFw.png - Proof of them working on other work (and take note that it says in their stream to note them regarding a commission). EXPLAIN: I purchased three slots in this plushie YCH on March 11th. I realized it was going to take some time for this YCH to be completed since it is a painted YCH with plenty of characters. So, with this in mind, I decided to not bother asking about any progress for a couple months. As the months passed I checked up on their account only to find that they were taking and completing more commissions, not even touching the YCH. I noted them (link provided above), they replied with a link, and I set the issue aside once more. A few months later when I noticed I haven't heard from them a while, I left a shout simply asking about the progress. I didn't receive an answer to my question for a week or so, but after a while I received a shout with a link pointing me over to the commission work-in-progress (link provided above). I wasn't pleased at all with the progress (not to mention the Google image background); completing nine out of twenty one characters (especially plushie characters) didn't seem like nine months worth of work, especially after their gallery had been filled up with adopts, newer commissions (with faster completion time), and personal works after the YCH was held. I decided not to comment on the image; I expected the image to be done soon since there had finally been a WIP posted. So far I haven't heard from her directly since June 16th 2014 (the last time she answered my note). The image is still not complete and they aren't giving me an update that I've asked for in a note. EDIT (April 21, 2015) Its been just over three months since I posted this, but the YCH is finally done. Going to make this last edit short and sweet. Answering me on January 29th 2015: http://i.imgur.com/1zjPaPo.png During that time through the current date she blocked me. Mind you, BEFORE the commission was completed, so I had no form of communication with her. I noted 5 out of 21 participants to ask if they had heard anything, 3 out of 5 which had forgot and mentioned they'd ask Rave what was up with the YCH. Rave sent me a note saying it was rude to ask others about the progress (even though I was blocked and literally had no other form of communication with Rave): http://i.imgur.com/8PpzNMd.png And when I tried to reply back, I was still blocked: http://i.imgur.com/mHHiBkQ.png On April 21st, 2015, the YCH piece was finally done: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16347065/ The background had changed, as well as the quality of the picture (soft shaded and lined to painted), but it is nothing compared to her current work. The overall image looks half the quality of her usual paintings, as well as a scribble for a background instead of just fixing the image she had before. Overall I am not happy with the result like I imagined I'd be, but I am finally glad the piece was finished for everyone to enjoy.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/817344.html WHO: Sirafurball FA: SiraFurBall Twitter: @SiraFurBall Deviantart: SiraFurBall WHERE: YCH auction piece for $43. Auction (caps) / Finished Piece WHEN: The YCH ended on December 12th, 2014, however I didn't alert the winner (SiraFurBall) of winning until December 13th, 2014. I was paid on the 13th ( x ) for the auction and set to work on the piece. WHAT: This YCH took a little longer than normal due to the holidays, but the buyer (Sira) seemed happy with the progress of the piece. I finished the piece on January 6th and posted it online.Three days later (January 9th) I received an email from PayPal regarding a 'Potentially Unauthorized Funds' notice, which cancelled a transfer of funds to my bank and also held the amount of the YCH of $43. I contacted Sira regarding this and she stated she had no idea how this could have happened as she hadn't been on her PayPal for one week and would fix the problem. I warned her if it was a chargeback I would be making an Artist Beware against her. I also warned her not to repost the image I did until the dispute was figured out. I posted an advice post regarding the issue and discovered that at least four other artists had the same issue with the same buyer. On the 10th of January, funds seemed to be returned to my account and everything was alright. Fast forward to the 13th of January, and I receive another email from PayPal regarding the same issue, and my funds were once again on hold. I contacted Sira about this on Twitter as it turned out to be where I could get the most immediate attention from her. She seemed to not know about what was going on and said she fixed the issue. I have not heard from her since January 13th regarding the issue. Twitter chat is in Proof. PROOF: Proof of Auction: Auction / Finished Image Proof of Payment / Proof of Dispute: X Paypal Notification Emails: First (January 9th) / Second (January 13th) Emails from Sira (from start of transaction): 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Twitter Chat: X Images from Twitter Chat: 1 / 2 / 3 EXPLAIN: It's fairly straight forward why I'm making the Artist Beware. Considering there are at least four artists involved in this and possibly more makes me believe that this is either an issue where the commissioner wanted their art and their money too or parents got wise to their money being used. Sira claims to be 18 (see Twitter Chat in Proof) but there is a chance that she is not being truthful, but I have no proof besides her word one way or the other. Another thing to note is that Sira is Spanish, so English is not her first language. There is definitely frustration from me in the Twitter chat and emails during conversation and waiting for response from her, but my finances and standing with PayPal I feel are in trouble while this is happening. Art commissions are a means to supplement my current income so this chargeback has caused a domino effect of problems. As of writing this AB ( 7:22 PM PST, January 14th, 2015) the dispute has not been resolved. Update: As of today (January 15th, 2015), I have refunded the money that was under the chargeback. I was paid back the full amount by a different Paypal account. I do not want this marked resolved as I don't know how this is going to pan out.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/810690.html WHO: VeilShadepaw WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/veilshadepaw/ WHAT: Fursuit commission payment. WHEN: "June 2014" to now (December 2014) PROOF: Oldest conversation I can find of the suit being discussed, final price is decided: http://www.ezimba.com/work/141212C/ezimba16923696789300.png Cut out message: http://www.ezimba.com/work/141212C/ezimba16923657614100.png One payment to me. He also paid $50 but I can't seem to find it: http://www.ezimba.com/work/141212C/ezimba16923692605000.png Asking in September: http://www.ezimba.com/work/141212C/ezimba16923698707400.png Asking this week, reinforcing how serious I am now: http://www.ezimba.com/work/141212C/ezimba16923633740500.png EXPLAIN: I had made him a fursuit finished in October 2013 and he wanted a new one. We discussed this new one at a few furmeets and on my other Facebook account (can no longer access so no proof) before the screen shots in June. At the time he sent me $100, I was halfway done with his head. Suddenly, he lost his job, but still wanted the suit. I was dumb enough to send it to him regardless because he wanted it in time for AnthroCon, as he had emphasized, and thought it would potentially put me at risk for a bad review. I was dead wrong. So he went to the convention anyways, another one (or two?) in the following months, not to mention trips out-of-state... He got a job at the beginning of this month (December) and had been talking about paying for stuff back in September, where my other screenshot is. I finally had enough and PMed him about it only to find out that he needs to pay off "outstanding bills", which apparently doesn't include this fursuit. -- Now, I know VERY well that I should not have given him this suit. It's now a bold statement in my TOS. But now he owes me money and I don't know if I'm going to be receiving payment for this or not because he's proven to not really care now that it's in his hands. So, beware. As a seller or as a buyer (he does commissions).

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/800956.html WHO: Creating Constellations/Pj Husky/Suits by Paxton WHERE: https://twitter.com/pjhusky; https://twitter.com/SuitsByPaxton WHAT: A commission for a set of white handpaws with black claws and pawpads. Originally advertised on Creating Constellations twitter as a promotion to get the word out about the new business. I was told to email them for further contact. Unfortunately this first Twitter account is now gone, as far as I know. WHEN: First contacted on June 2nd, 2014, paid on June 3rd 2014 in full. PROOF: Proof of relation of "Creating Constellations" to "Suits by Paxton" [screenshot] Proof of relation of "Suits by Paxton" to "PJ Husky" [screenshot] Photo of paw on Twitter account matches photo in email. [screenshot] Emails: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 EXPLAIN:As stated above, I found this promotion through Twitter and contacted them via email. After confirming their PayPal address I sent $66 on June 3rd. I asked for an estimated date of completion and was told end of July. In August after I hadn't heard anything, I emailed to check in, and was told I was scheduled to be completed by the end of August. Mid-September, I emailed again, since I hadn't heard anything again, and it seems there was some personal problems that caused the date to be missed. I was happy as long as I could get them in time for Rainfurrest (September 25-28), and was told they'd be done and shipped by the end of the week, leaving me just enough time to get them before the convention. September 21st, four days to the con, I still hadn't heard anything, so I checked in again. They replied on the 23rd, two days to the con, that they'd ship the paws express to the convention. I gave them the address of the hotel I was staying at. They said they would send me the photos of the paws tonight. September 24th, I emailed to check in, to be sure they were sent, since I hadn't gotten confirmation. The following day, the 25th, I was at the convention. I emailed, if the paws hadn't been shipped by now to just send them to my home address, which I gave again. The 25th and 26th passed without a reply. At this point I assumed I wasn't getting them for the convention. The 27th, I recieved an email letting me know there had been a shipping error, and that they would be sent to my home address today. I got the photos. October 10th, there hadn't been a reply since the 27th, so I emailed again asking for the tracking number, or if it was sent yet. Today, October 15th, there has yet to be a reply. While I believe eventually I will recieve the paws, the experience has been less than pleasant trying to contact them, and the promised due dates falling through is a dissapointment. Had I known there was going to be trouble I would have had time to come up with something for my paw situation at Rainfurrest, but since I assumed I'd get the paws as promised on time, I didn't make a backup plan. To try to figure out what was going on, since they had mentioned both Instagram and Twitter, I searched "PJ" and found "PJHusky", and "SuitsByPaxton". Had I not figured this out myself I would be a lot more upset, since all the information I have to go off of is the email correspondence, and the original Twitter account I had contacted was nuked. I would have thought I was scammed. Added 10/26/14: RESOLUTION: SuitsByPaxton posted on Twitter admitting problems with orders, so I responded on my public account since I hadn't gotten any email responses. You can read the resulting conversation here [screenshot]. Here is a photo of me with the paws once they arrived. CONCLUSION: In the end I recieved the paws, and the paws themselves are exactly what I expected. I hope in the future SuitsByPaxton learns from this experience and will communicate better with their future customers, and keep their deadlines, but be aware for now: if you commission SuitsByPaxton you may be in for a long wait and struggle for communication.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/799570.html WHO: Benji. / Dear. WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/benji./ http://www.furaffinity.net/user/dear./ WHAT: A digital chibi sheet commission of one of my characters. WHEN: 2 and a half months ago. PROOF: Me commenting on journal - http://i.imgur.com/ynVwBrP.png Me sending them a note / them accepting and giving me details - http://imgur.com/ZlMgBit Proof of payment - http://i.imgur.com/1A03jLA.png EXPLAIN: Okay, I contacted Benji. on July 18th asking them if I can get a chibi sheet, seeing they were doing commissions for them, they agreed, and asked me to send them a note, in which I did. They gave me the details, and told me how much I needed to send over, mind you as you can see through the payment proof, I had to spend a bit more then normal, because I use CAD currency instead of USD, so I convert that into USD , so on and so forth. Which I knew, and didn't mind. Now, they told me to send it via Gift, which I have done before with other artists, and did get my commission, so I had no problems with it, what caused the red flag, was seeing a previous AB about their Dear. Account, at the time I didn't know if Benji. Was Dear. BUT I did do my research and found out, they both have the same Dreamy, and Same tumblr account. Their tumblr is posted in their journals, and what not. Dears. Tumblr Journal - http://i.imgur.com/Vn1C4Dr.png Benjis Tumblr Journal - http://i.imgur.com/NvJVl10.png As you can see in the screen shots, they both have the same Tumblr name. So now I knew Benji. was Dear. but I still didn't do anything about it, A month after sending the payment, I asked for an update, in which they did give me an update, Which can be seen here - http://i.imgur.com/jirygNU.png Now I am patient , so I accepted that excuse without worrying about it, I understand people can get rather busy, and what not. So again I paid no attention to it. Another month passes, and it's now September , I send them another note on the 18th of September, and got no word back of an update. Me asking for another update - http://i.imgur.com/QspQvqR.png three weeks pass since I sent that last message, and I found it fishy, seeing they were posting on their Tumblr account, every few days so... yeah.. haha..... So I send them a note asking for an Refund of my money, and telling them if they do not send me the refund , or even look at this message , within a week of me sending it I will put up an AB . And welp, I didn't get my refund, and of course you guessed it, they didn't bother looking at the message... Mind you I might sound a bit rude in the Ab / Refund warning, seeing at this point my paranoia was kicking up my Anxiety attacks, and those were kicking up my panic attacks, so it was hurting me a lot, so haha.. yeah I didnt mean for it to sound so mean, but :c you need to understand, I suffer with severe anxiety / Panic attacks, and things like that really get them going a lot >< and i was tired of it. Lol. Proof they didnt look - http://i.imgur.com/ZC1gdOq.png Me asking for a refund / warning them of an AB - http://i.imgur.com/A1CGzfK.png So now here I am, posting this AB, mind you this may be a bit confusing this is my VERY first AB , and this is the VERY first time something like this has happened to me, as you notice at first I even thought that the commission was 25 dollars or more, but then I went back and looked at my transactions, and boom found out I paid 30 dollars xD so yes there was a bit of confusiong on my end for asking for a refund . It's been awhile since I sent that money so yeah ><;; I do not mind waiting, but please just give me an update of whats going on...dont leave me in the dark, its not fair to the costomer , because we dont know if you just ... ran off with our money, and in this case, this is what had happened, I doubt I will never get that money back but at this point it doesnt matter, What matters now, is getting this out there, and warning people about this artist. 😕 again sorry if this is a bit messy, this is my first AB ever.. ; n ;

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/796376.html WHO: SUGARFACTORY WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sugarfactory WHAT: A box with fursuit accesoires, which was included in our deal about buying a second-hand partial. WHEN: I started contact around April 2013. It's now been 17 months since I didn't get the box she promised she will send. PROOF: Where to start 😉 These are screenshots from skype. She said she would include the extra if I would fo with the buyout deal ($1100) http://i.imgur.com/QtCV0nw.png . 8th May 2013, promising more stuff: http://i.imgur.com/XUg5km9.png & http://i.imgur.com/UtPbn1i.png 19th May 2013: My box arrived but not everything was included (the extra's). Checking with her http://i.imgur.com/xIsrPXo.png 25 June 2013: Promising her a box in return: http://i.imgur.com/uSDOOl7.png 27 June 2013: She wanted to include in the box a set of extra handpaws since the ones I got in the buyout deal weren't in good condition. http://i.imgur.com/rJqIAot.png 11 November 2013: http://i.imgur.com/H4zkB2V.png Telling her to skip the handpaws if must because I really would love my stuff at some point. 13 January 2014: She keeps stating she will send the box and is working on it... http://i.imgur.com/qlbJykT.png 15 March 2014: I've send her my box, with worth over 120$ of stuff. http://i.imgur.com/vpXY2ev.png Also she promises me a tracking even without sending anything. 21 March 2014: She lost the tracking it seems.. http://i.imgur.com/RQF0RGV.png 25 March 2014: Yes she lost it http://i.imgur.com/rMwlRp6.png And I never received the package since. but wait a minute? the fursuitaccesoires weren't included? 9 May 2014: http://i.imgur.com/9ThsE7g.png An excuse for not sending the box. 21 May 2014: http://i.imgur.com/N0XGVzF.png Saying to stop putting anything in the box extra and just send it to me. May 2014: Ignoring me http://i.imgur.com/T7cBgaL.png 5 June 2014: I wrote a message to her that I was despressed with not getting anything http://i.imgur.com/Ohuuz54.png . also http://i61.tinypic.com/1zdma9u.png saying that I would love to pay to get it here 24 July 2014: She's sending a box soon, because she's selling another suit, asking her if she will send mine too.. http://i.imgur.com/aF9XYi5.png 29 August 2014: Her fursuit she sold, has arrived at the new owner. Mine again... not send. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/14401597/ Today (27 September): https://twitter.com/sugarypuppy/status/515870207848374272 First time I ever EVER see a picture of stuff that would been send my way. But where's the bandana's? Jail-Plushie? Only recognizable thing is the tail. I can give you a lot more screenshots if you like. EXPLAIN: Sugarfactory sold her fursuitpartial "Jail" from OneEyedDoe in April 2013. She said if I would get the buyoutdeal instead of bidding, I would get extra's. As you can see in the links, she later promised more and more stuff. I was so exciting and I thought we were really friends. THANK GOD I've received the most important part: the partial. The fursuit is with me and I'm suiting with it over 1,5 years now, I'm really thankful for that. It surprised me that she didn't send everything that was in our deal in that first fursuit box (19th may). Also later suddently, in a second box that never arrived, she said that the fursuitstuff weren't included (25th of March.) One thing that made the package take long was that she commissioned extra handpaws because mine were a bit old now, at Autumnfallings. But they took so long that I said to her to get her money back, leave them out of our deal, and just send me the box. I also though that sending a box back, would help our friendship. I did send a box with Dutch treats and candy and toys, but never got a box from her back. Lost? Never been send? I'm not sure. The problem since the beginning was: - She said she will send it <..insert day here..> - She said it failed <..insert excuse here..>. Really, she gave every excuse possible. No money, sick, floodings, postal office closed, adress lost, busy, ow and when she had no money I offered to pay the shipping, but she refused. I even have PROOF that she send out other boxes and stuff as well.. but why not MINE? (The second fursuit she sells 29 August) The only thing I said over the last YEAR was "Please when will the box be send?" and than the above steps took place. She stated later that, this box she owes me are all GIFTS and she can take the time she needs Update (29-9-2014): Sugarfactory promised to send out the box this Monday. The content is discussed. I will update when I received a working Track&Trace. Update (6-10-2014) Package send 1 oct. Tracking works and it's on its way to Europe About the critique in the comments below: Yes, I used some inmature language and was angry. I read the termes about keeping it polite on this forum but I didn't always keep that in mind and I'm sorry for this.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/791962.html WHO: Yolk @ FA/Weasyl, andcetera @ dA, yiq/ginsengandhoney @ tumblr WHERE: Weasyl WHAT: Icon Commission WHEN: August 11th, Commission journal was made, and both slots were purchased by me. August 19th was indirectly told they would be done. August 23rd, icons were received. PROOF: http://gyazo.com/f6f133809a77679609f9a11cd2657bf7 - initial journal opening 2 commission slots http://gyazo.com/89a1fde200a3bb7ed6351d48e3714edd - Slots asked for by myself http://gyazo.com/7c9a0b67f4582956f349bc16de183d9f - timeline of messages http://gyazo.com/8e02d9512518bf1defdb4f466f3f893b - request for both slots, and character references. http://gyazo.com/82cae77f9c11629bd22862efc0e6f73c - commission agreed to, request for paypal http://i.imgur.com/RBRsOMW.png - proof of payment via invoice http://gyazo.com/f3fad8e314bfce7ebdde32222bab3347 + http://gyazo.com/204795a1745c9d9f477b45d9037793a8 - second commission journal with eta on my commission http://gyazo.com/6e13f4957e9b98f1b2e8a94a1626d2ae - commissions received http://gyazo.com/1df06c1a2b9af87c5dc55f41394bc33c - the commission in question, refs from first inquiry for comparison http://gyazo.com/a612eefcf5e3a99fa70a791dbb062a68 - request for revisions http://gyazo.com/9c8d3b45918d217dbba54a5f61e474c2 - post of theirs regarding an inability to reply to messages. http://gyazo.com/05bb1df24882f7af7857a6337e62b873 - second request for revisions. their contact e-mail is publicly listed. EXPLAIN: On the 11th of August, Yolk opened 2 slots for icon commissions and I excitedly asked for both of them. I waited around 2 weeks for them after my references are sent, they make no further communication after pleasantries and payment has been made for them. Their journal stated that they had some other things to deal with, so I could understand a delay with them. In this time, they are actively posting to both their personal and art blog. I don't usually mind this sort of thing, but the lack of communication from them was something that concerned me from the get-go, but I didn't let it bother me too much as I was the only commissioner in their queue. August 19th they posted a second commimssion journal, with over 10 slots and the header of the journal states that they will have the commissions in their queue (mine) done that day. I was not messaged or updated in any way on the 19th. On the 23rd, after not hearing a peep from them, I receive my icons. The gift for my friend meets my expectations and I am quite happy with it. The icon based off of my fursona just seems to be a bit off. In short, what I saw was lacking or incorrect was the following: The accessory I asked for is not present, they have been given a snout (and they are a flat-faced character), a defining mark on their face is missing, and the hairstyle just doesn't look quite right to me. Unfortunately, I do not see my fursona in this icon, it doesn't click with me like I thought it would. I reflect for a few hours and after asking for advice on how to handle feeling unsatisfied with this part of my commission, I message them requesting revisions, and/or for permission to make the revisions for myself. Yolk has no TOS to speak of, I looked everywhere on every single one of their accounts, but found nothing resembling one. I figured that asking nicely enough for a mutual resolution would go over just fine. It has been ten days since the follow-up message has been sent, and I have gotten 0 acknowledgement that they have received it. Prior to the drafting of this post, on the 26th, I'm about to message their tumblr to see if they even got my message or not, as someone brings one of their other blogs to my attention. This post was made the day that I sent out my message to them asking for revisions, the 23rd: http://powerwild.tumblr.com/post/95613936787/ CAP: http://gyazo.com/dbd9ecd32856449c1f057fbf80796cc1. This blog is a personal blog not directly linked to their main art and personal, but it is claimed by them quite clearly and they link-out to their art blog. This blog is not a secret, as far as I know. Several mutual friends who follow this artist are aware of this blog's existence, I personally do not follow their work on tumblr. To be honest, I was devastated that this is how I was being viewed as a commissioner for simply asking them for help on how to resolve the issue I had with my commission. This is someone I admire greatly and for this to be my first experience with them is highly discouraging. After seeking some advice by the other members of the community, I sent a follow-up message via e-mail on the 30th regarding my requests for revisions and have still heard nothing. They continue to post to their personal blogs and are presumably working away at their current batch 20 odd commssions. I do not know if I will get a response, any revisions or even a refund, seeing as there is no TOS to protect themselves and their commissioners. If they eventually come to contact me, the most I would like to ask for is an apology. And as much as this hurts to bring to the attention of others, I would not be commissioning them again after this experience. edit: fixed up to replace a broken link. edit 2: I have received a response from Yolk at last, via Weasyl. My email remains ignored and my other questions were not addressed. However, they did grant me permission to make the edits myself. http://gyazo.com/165f1d9e0419629af9fca3a40b077b79 This is as good as it's going to get, unfortunately. With how this situation has played out, I don't think edits could turn this commission around for me, so I'll chalk it up as a loss for the time being. Their communication will continue to come off as abysmal, and I hope others who still wish to commission them have a better experience than I did. I want to thank every one who has offered me helpful advice on how to avoid this sort of situation in the future. - 9/7 Current Mood:disappointed

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/785154.html WHO: Sugarfactory/Sugarypuppy/StarfruitStudios WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/starfruitstudios http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sugarfactory https://twitter.com/sugarypuppy WHAT: Premade fursuit partial of DJ the Corgi Shep. WHEN: I first inquired about the partial July 6th of 2013 and made the payment on the same day. It has been about a year and a month now and have not received any type of payment. PROOF: Screencap of payment: http://i.imgur.com/Tw9lU9E.png Screencap of first note of interest: http://i.imgur.com/9TCae4o.png Measurements given and payment confirmed: http://i.imgur.com/Jt0r85z.png EXPLAIN: July 6th of 2013 I inquired Sugar about one of the premade fursuit partials she was offering. This was actually the "first"of the few fursuits she was going. I paid in full the $175 she was asking for. Initial contact and communication went well, telling me as to when she would start working on DJ just 4 days later: http://i.imgur.com/FgVeaMs.png That was the last time I got a personal note from her on her fursuiting account, but progress shots of DJ were submitted until August 17th . (submissions are still on her page) http://i.imgur.com/Qe0QO4z.png http://i.imgur.com/i6INqzH.png http://i.imgur.com/uLDY3oI.png http://i.imgur.com/sdeJkfw.png http://i.imgur.com/lcZ2mP7.png http://i.imgur.com/sr2WU5F.png This is also the day where she posts a journal promising new updates soon, none were made on my suit and the last submissions on her account were made a day later of a few other projects she was working on. September 15th 2013 she is hosting a garage sale with tons of fursuit materials, some including the furs for my suit and a few other suits she had been selling at the time. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11539093/ October 14th of 2013 she makes a journal explaining she was working on another fursuit that was due that month. No pictures were actually posted and that was the last update on her fursuiting account. http://i.imgur.com/H3CDzVv.png Sugar has a history of deleting shouts and journals frequently, but around December - February she posted a journal updating her commission status and that she was offering refunds to all who wanted them. During this time I commented, asking her when I should expect to see my fursuit. She told me that she was no longer doing any of them, and instead offering full refunds for the work as it was taking too much of her time. I was perfectly fine with that and at first I was patient, as I was aware of the depth of the debt she had put herself in. http://i.imgur.com/zPnt8WB.png At one point I had even gotten a letter in the mail and a free chibi from Sugar due to the kindness and patience I had shown regarding my refund. March 2014 she is offering traditional badge commissions for $25 dollars, at this point I'm still playing nice and being patient and as a fan of her art I didn't want to pass this opportunity up. As expected there is an issue in getting the commission and I have to bug and prod her to have it sent out in the mail, I also ask yet again as to where my fursuit refund was and she says her bank account was compromised. http://i.imgur.com/uCRTKlL.png http://i.imgur.com/JPIT9uf.png July 1st she asks for a commissioner roll call, I once again send her a note about the details for my refund. http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5897408/ http://i.imgur.com/dfdnW2M.png July 22nd I inquire again about the refund (you can see I'm getting impatient) and I get the same vague responses. http://i.imgur.com/0rdYckw.png And this is where we are now. I know it has only been about a week and a half since she has last updated me on this, but I find it odd especially since she had just recently sold her expensive ($2700) fursuit that she still cannot come up with the $175 that I have been waiting for. http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5962138/ Not to mention I am the one who has to constantly bug her about a refund instead of keeping her paying customers updated. I feel like I have given Sugar ample time to come up with the refund and given the circumstances, personal or not, this is just inexcusable. While she has been nothing but kind to me in regarding this issue I have heard less than nice things from other people. All in all the experience started out tolerable and now I just want this resolved as soon as possible, and it seems the only way anyone has ever gotten a refund from her was to get this out in the open. tl;dr Am still owed a $175 refund from a year ago. Have received nothing but constant excuses as to why I haven't seen any of the money. Was understanding until I began to realize/see that the "nice guy" front she was using with me was just a charade, as seen as to how she treated another one of her customers. I will let her know about this a_b but I feel that it is necessary to keep this posted as it seems many others are still waiting for their refunds. Payment has been refunded so this can be marked as resolved!