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https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/787838.html WHO + WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/starmony/ WHAT: On March 22nd 2014 I (officially) contacted Starmony via FurAffinity about purchasing two custom 'Bunicorn' designs from her. Her Bunicorn can be seen here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12569526/ WHEN: Initial contact was in March 2014 Agreement to design customs for me was March 9th, 2014. Design ideas sent by me on March 22nd, 2014. Payment sent via PayPal on May 4th, 2014. (*note that I sent this payment just before midnight on May 3rd) Preview for only one of the designs received on May 26th, 2014. Updated preview for the same design received on June 1st, 2014. Contact bump + A_B warning sent on August 2nd, 2014. PROOF: All Notes (sent + received) as well as PayPal's proof of payment shown in this image: http://i.imgur.com/uQdAqrg.png EXPLAIN: I first contacted Starmony to ask if her 'Bunicorn' character was from a closed species or not, because I was interested in making/purchasing one. She replied to me stating that while they were a closed species, she would be happy to make a custom for me. I explained that I was interested in buying a pair of customs, and gave details about inspiration and colour palettes. We exchanged information, payment was sent, and only one of the designs was ever shown to me having been worked on. I have never received proof that the other design was even started. All interaction, discussing payment and design elements of the two designs have been pleasant and fine until June of this year. Once before this point communication had been slow, as seen in the PROOF screenshot, but I too know how it is to just step away from a site for a little while. I was okay with this because communication seemed to be okay after that, and I had been given proof of work. However it has been two months now since I sent a reply to her on June 2nd, and she has (at the time of writing this) not opened that Note. I have sent a 'warning' Note to her on August 2nd, but this Note too has not been opened. I understand taking your time on something, and I also understand that sometimes struggles happen with designs. What I don't appreciate though is a complete lack of communication, especially paired with total inactivity on the site itself. While I would love to have both completed designs still, at this point they have lost their luster to me and I would accept a refund. Since partial work on one of the designs was given to me, I would accept a partial refund, and keep the unfinished design if the artist so chooses. Since it has been months since this transaction began, I am not sure if I can request a refund via PayPal or not, so I am hoping to work this out with the artist herself. I will update this post with any new information when I receive it. EDIT OCTOBER 5TH 2015: I have received a full refund from Starmony with help through a friend of hers, Lunarisse. This issue may be marked as resolved.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/977755.html WHO: SaltedDriftwood / LostSaltSpiral / LostVioletLotus / BraidedBurgundy WHERE: http://twitter.com/salteddriftwood http://salteddriftwood.deviantart.com/ (Account I did business with.) https://lostvioletlotus.deviantart.com/ http://twitter.com/braidedburgundy (Account refund was requested from.) WHAT: Two pre-made adoptables. Requested refund as "item was not as described." WHEN: First pre-made design purchased January 2017. Second purchased August 2017. Refunds on both requested November 2017. EXPLAIN: January 13th of 2017, SaltedDriftwood purchased a pre-made adoptable. They paid, I sent them the file. August 22nd of 2017, they purchased another. They paid, I sent them the file. This involves personal issues which do not relate to the transactions, but lead up to the paypal claims. SaltedDriftwood and one of my friends followed each other on twitter. My friend grew uncomfortable with them because of their own personal issues, and silently softblocked and unfollowed them. When SaltedDriftwood noticed, they messaged me, asking me why. I was not comfortable being put in that position, and declined telling them. They then liked a reply I had made to my friend, which upset him, on top of knowing SaltedDriftwood had tried to contact him through me, an unrelated party. I told them this upset both of us, and the reasons my friend wanted space between them. An argument broke out, SD removed me from discord, and I assumed that was the end of that. Today, I received notices from Paypal that SD wants refunds on the pre-made designs from August and January, citing that the "Items are not as described." I had missed a DM from them on Saturday, Nov 25th (I received the refund request Monday, Nov 27th)-- I do not conduct business on twitter, so I don't have a tab dedicated to my DMs on Tweetdeck, and didn't see the message. It was also filled with responses to the personal issues from the conversation on Discord. They are asking for a refund on items they received in January and August because of the personal disagreements, despite the fact the items were pre-made and they knew full well what they looked like before they bought them. At the time of writing I have responded to the claim offering a full refund provided they do not keep the design. I am waiting to hear back on that. They requested a partial refund on the design they bought from me in January. I told them I would give them a full refund on the condition they do not keep the adoptable, or no refund and let them keep the adoptable. I am waiting to hear back on this as well. I am aware I could refuse the refunds, but I do not feel it's worth it to prove the receipt of digital goods to Paypal, and would rather this be done with. As a note, I do allow for my designs to be traded and resold, and I do not need to be notified of any transfer. PROOF: https://sta.sh/2stt9cjsjhk?edit=1 Initially I thought I was unable to offer a refund on the condition of the item being returned, which was why I had asked them to de-escalate the claim-- I thought I was only able to offer a refund and let them keep the item, which I did not want them to do. I realised I was misreading the error Paypal was giving me, and responded with the Refund+Return offer. EDIT 11/29/17: They have dropped the claim on the design from January and approved my refund offer. However, I have no way of marking that they are returning the item from August, and I am now blocked from any contact with them, so I have no idea how to move the claim forward from here. I assume the ball is in their court to prove the item is returned? Which I'm not sure how to do, given that it's a digital item. Proof of attempt to clear up refund / of being blocked Proof of claim status I'm completely unclear on whether or not they still want the refund or how to proceed at all. EDIT 11/29/17 #2: A friend of theirs got into contact with me. SaltedDriftwood is now refunded in full.

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

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/930964.html WHO: Buttbear/Yuristorm http://yuristorm.deviantart.com/ https://twitter.com/Blazefire_Saber http://toyhou.se/yuristorm http://yuristorm.tumblr.com/ WHERE: http://yuristorm.deviantart.com/ WHAT: Purchase of an character by Yuristorm, with the addition of edits to the design. (The artist allowed the customer to pay extra for edits to be done) WHEN: November 25, 2013 PROOF: http://imgur.com/a/Jvg6Y Contains everything related to this, but I will be linking to some of them in the explanation post. EXPLAIN: Yuristorm (at the time of purchase, known as Buttbear) hosted a journal selling and trading a variety of character designs. I took interest in a centaur and bird gijinka and discussed payment with the artist, along with asking if edits could be done to the centaur to better suit my tastes. (http://imgur.com/vvdd6bP) Payment was sent and the edits were agreed to, with Yuristorm promising to start on the centaur soon. [Read More] In Summary: -In November 2013, I discussed with Yuristorm the purchase of a centaur with additional edits to its design. -Communication was sparse in 2014 due to my respecting Yuristorm's health problems and letting the ball slip on my end concerning dutiful communication with the artist. In the time since then, I have become a more experienced commissioner and hope to do my best in being an excellent customer. -Communication picked up in 2015, with me often having to bump a note every few months to get a reply from Yuristorm, often around the time when the artist grew active on DA again. -Deadlines were broken what felt like many times: + August 2015 - Claimed that the art would be finished by summer's end, and thus the next few months. + November 2015 - Technically speaking this was not a true "claim," the artist only said it would be done soon, but since it took all the way to September 2016 for it to be done, I feel it is perhaps worth mentioning. + May 2016 - I attempted to set a rough deadline of one month beginning May 14th. It was not kept. + June 2016 - Again, claiming to get the art done "soon," while posting a good deal of other art, concerning some commissions and gifts, on Twitter. + July 2016 - Claimed at the end of July to be done within the next few days. + August 2016 - Claimed at the end of August to be done within the weekend. -Artist claimed multiple times to be done soon and would put up deadlines that would get pushed back. -Communication was inconsistent and poor. I will readily admit in 2014 I could have performed better but in 2015 and 2016 I did my best to keep in constant communication with what felt like poor response from the artist's end. -While I appreciate that the extras promised after this long span of time turned out to be a "beefed" up design and two reference busts, turning a beautiful design even more gorgeous, I am unhappy with the lack of communication on what the extras would be. This is a small matter overall of course, however with the additional troubles experienced when communicating with this artist, it adds up, and hence why I felt it may need to be pointed out as further evidence. -I understand the artist suffers from hand and health issues and I feel I have been patient concerning the matter, to the excess of nearly three years. However, they have been rather active with art and frequently post monthly art dumps onto DA. It is true that the art drawn is often sketchy and rough, but when there is such a large, monthly quantity of it while wondering where one's art is and seemingly having to tweet every time to get some sort of update...it does not shed positive light on the artist. I would like to stress that Yuristorm as a person appears to be sweet and nice. In the notes and tweets, the artist is friendly. However, the business side is lacking. There was a long length of time spent waiting for the design, along with what appeared to be poor work ethic (the broken deadlines and claims as an example) and communication. As such, while the matter is finally resolved at last, I am posting this beware to inform people of the artist's behavior with work and timeliness. Essentially, the issue is with the customer service and length of time spent on the matter. Thank you for your time, everyone.

https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/878066.html WHO: Scotty Stripes WHERE: This occured over email, address can be provided if necessary (rules say not to?) However FA accounts are: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/scottystripes (old account: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/staar ) WHAT: Fursuit Concept art through www.NeonSlushie.com WHEN: Commission order was placed October 11th, paid for the 13th, and completed the 25th. Initial contact was all fairly pleasant, but as soon as the commission was completed, things went sour fast. Customer filed for a chargeback even after I made the requested changes to the artwork. PROOF: I have included every email that has been exchanged between us. First Contact/Commission Form: http://i.imgur.com/e9uCjeC.png A few back & forth emails, all pleasant: http://i.imgur.com/qjnEzyh.png Commission Completed: http://i.imgur.com/taCvBtB.png Finished Image: http://i.imgur.com/CN0L6jF.png *Things go Sour... http://i.imgur.com/TeKRT5V.png I fix the mistake: http://i.imgur.com/5kFk0L2.png Customer Files Chargeback: http://i.imgur.com/NiWssCa.png EXPLAIN: Everything is pretty self-explanatory through the screenshots, but for those of you who do not feel like reading it all: Customer, Scotty Stripes, commissions me for a basic reference of their Zebra character. I charge them $80 ($50 base price, +$25 design fee, +$5 extra complexity fee) - they pay several days later, and the commission is completed on schedule. Scotty is very unhappy with the outcome (mainly the stripes) and lets me know that. I say it's not a problem and I'm happy to work with them until they are satisfied with the art. Scotty becomes very hostile and voices that they feel they were scammed. I again tell them I can make the changes so they are happy with it. I go ahead and fix all the stripes to their specifications, only to find that they filed for a chargeback. I have tried multiple times to contact them and request they cancel the chargeback but they have not answered me. I feel very wronged here. I am going to be out $80 and many many many hours of work. I realize that I am not perfect in this situation, they did request more realistic striping than what I initially gave them. However, my job is to make designs that can transfer easily into fursuits and realistic zebra stripes are not something that works well for this. I was more than happy to fix my mistakes, but I feel the treatment I was given in this situation is extremely unfair. What can I do now? What can I say to paypal to get protection, before that chargeback clears? Last time I had a customer file a chargeback, I lost because my products are digital only and not physical items. Is there anything I can do? I really need advice. And I really did feel I needed to warn others of Scotty Stripes and their behavior, so other artists and fursuit makers can avoid having this happen to them. UPDATE: The chargeback did not go through! "The case [customer name] opened regarding a payment to you has automatically closed because it was not escalated before November 16, 2015. Any funds associated with this payment that may have been on hold is now available." So the money has been returned to me. Scotty Stripes has still never contacted me, apologized, or canceled the chargeback, so this beware is still plenty relevant. However I am super happy that my money was not taken from me!

original: https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/658026.html EDIT: I got my designs today, so this can be marked as resolved. c : WHO: Rehmiel WHERE: http://rehmiel.deviantart.com/ WHAT: I ordered a digital art commission of two character designs. I gave the artist a description of what I wanted, and the commission was accepted. I promptly payed for the designs. Here is a screen-cap of the entire transaction. http://i.imgur.com/dXKajc1.png WHEN: I commissioned Rehmiel on July 31st, 2012. I received no contact since then, and have finally decided to contact about my commissions on February 8th. PROOF: Here is the paypal transaction. http://imgur.com/FQm56J7 EXPLAIN: I commissioned Rehmiel for the designs on July 31st, 2012. I also payed on this date. Several months passed and I never heard from Rehmiel concerning my commission. Rehmiel mentioned to some potential customers that they were a little backed up on commissions, so I figured that maybe they simply had a lot of commissions and that it'd take a while before they got to mine. I continued to wait. On February 8th, I noticed that they uploaded a design for sale. By that time, I was no longer interested in the designs, because it'd been so long. I decided that I would send a note asking about a possible refund, or at least status on my commission. http://gyazo.com/51e82b96c7e00749ecdb9a24229563b5 My note was quickly read, but was not replied to. I waited a week before sending another note. http://gyazo.com/fb0ce38cf5a644784ee3975dc8584ca7 (I accidentally put June instead of July.. That was a mistake on my part.) The note went unread. Since then, I have not been able to get in contact with Rehmiel. I would add more screencaps of communication, but the thing is, there wasn't any. I was never contacted once after I sent the payment. I recently found that the artist has been active on Tumblr, including uploading personal art. I'm unsure why my notes have not been read or replied to. But I would really love to resolve this and find a solution that works for both of us. Edit: On March 1st, I was able to get in contact with Rehmiel again after sending an ask on Tumblr. I was informed that my commission would be worked on, and that a refund was not possible. (screen cap: http://gyazo.com/34b534c2670bce397cf412647e3a8d2c ) I replied to the note, but since then, I have received no further contact, and my reply went unread. Will update this with further information if I am contacted again. Hoping to see a resolve soon.

May 20, 2014 https://artists-beware.livejournal.com/767370.html WHO: Kit_tric WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/kittric/ WHAT: Digital art, specifically character designs. WHEN: This week. PROOF: Better off putting it below. EXPLAIN: I put up a bunch of character designs I only used once to try and make a little extra cash. Kit_tric leaves a message that, as far as I can see, can be read as nothing other than a request to buy one of the designs: https://i.imgur.com/0q84nDu.png I PM him with my Paypal address, and not until over 24 hours later do I get this: https://i.imgur.com/lMiBRIm.png Which kind of seems like being flaky to me, but I guess I just wanted this here unless you get any 'offers' from this person on adoptables. I don't know them and haven't spoken to them before this, so it's not as if it's a friendly leg pull.

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

Originally inquired about a commission for dakimakura designs, agreed to the price and splitting it into 2 orders and 2 payments. She never showed me any Terms of Service, I have tried to locate them on her dropbox or FA page but have found nothing. All conversation was in polish, the screenshots contain my translations and the original messages, the dates are in MM/DD/YYYY. The first order was put in on 10th of December 2020, the second was on 2nd January 2021, she did not contact me even once between putting in the first order and the second order. She did not contact me even once between the first and the second order. (admin note, this was the ref the OP supplied the artist with, the reference has since changed but it needs to be added to the post.) After putting in the second order she did not contact me with any updates FOR ALMOST A YEAR, her trello had barely any progress happen on it, she did not make any announcements about any delaying events affecting the commissions. After a brief talk about personal life in December (a year after the order) there was a 4 day silence, she said she will start my order before the year was over however that did not happen. After another week of silence I sent my new ref sheet to her and received the first WiP. After asking for a small change on the sketch she starts arguing to not do it and ignores my input on it. After pointing out a few areas that I wanted a few more spots on (cheetahs have spots) she gave a sarcastic rude response. After another few months of no progress updates I ask for one and get none. After another 5 months I receive a another WiP with minimal progress. It has been 3 months and I have received no further communication or updates, the second order has not even been started by her. She is active and draws but never any commissions from her trello. At this point I have given up on these orders, I know she will never finish them, I have accepted this financial loss. It has been almost 2 years so PayPal wont help me about this.

I apologize ahead of time if this is a very mixed up set of screenshots. I did have to message a lot of different managers to get information. In 2020 I asked in-stream for a design commission of two closed species. They replied yes and I quickly paid. I wasn't very hard up for the designs to be finished quickly. From this old Discord account, this was the last time we spoke about the commission. Much later I found a journal about OCCVLTIST's art manager handling commissions on Trello, so I sent some details. It seemed right to me. (Although when I DM'd about this, I wasn't on the Trello.) I didn't get refunded at all, I started to get pretty worried as very often they posted about trading characters, in-streams, YCHs, etc. I understand that it's very hard to get out of that loop but the lack of transparency is concerning. More recently, a different manager was contacted for help. She helped a bit but she did go quiet after some time. Shortly after these, I noticed this manager wasn't helping OCCVLTIST. So I tried to message two other managers that seemed to be helping at later. After realizing that refunds aren't being sent out I know I probably have to come to terms with never getting a refund. I am fine with that of course, but I caution anyone reading this about this artist. I love their work, but this frustration is not really worth the trouble. I am sorry if I sound mean, but I am very saddened and angry. Also attached is an image of my refund in the queue.

Sep. 8th, 2011 at 8:06 PM thaily I hate writing these things, but I hate people using artists are doormats even more and even though this guy is local to me, he has internet so no-one's safe. It all started with a retweeted message that someone was looking for an artist in the area to design a mascot for a site and create 12 illustrations of said mascot for said site. The tweet came from the guy's intern but she's not the problem here so I won't mention her by name; I want to keep her out of this entirely, I've accidentally interned for people with how do I put this politely diminished moral judgment. I don't blame her, I only hope she doesn't pick up on his sordid (and I use the following word in the most liberal sense) business practices. But I digress, the company in question is called Tenno Media, Peter Bierhuizen is the person this post is about. He appears to be the owner and sole employee, save for the aforementioned unfortunate intern who has since left. The site the designs would be used for is fitness-ferdie.nl Because this happened locally, i.e. in the Netherlands, I will provide translations of our correspondence as well as screenshots for any Dutch speaking person to verify that the translations are accurate. I invited the tweeting intern to look at my site and mail me if she liked my work. First e-mail. "Sending you an e-mail following your tweet. I design websites as a side job and my boss has asked me to design a character. Simply: a frog in an orange shirt with FF on it. A reference to Fitness Ferdi, a web shop where people can buy fitness appliances and goods. Of Ferdi, the frog, he thinks he'll need 12 drawings (illustrations) that will be used in various ways (websites, flyers). I don't know what kind of budget is available. This would kind of depend on the amount of time the designs will take to make. Vaguely said, but if you think you can create Ferdi I would like to receive a message. Kind regards, X" First reply, I explain my process, how many hours I will need and how much I charge; minimum wage is about €9,20 for my age bracket. This will be relevant later. "Hello X, I can definitely design a fitness frog. My hourly wages are €10,- ex. taxes First I will make a few sketches to your specifications, about 6 sketches will take 2 hours, so you can decide what kind of design you'd like or if you'd like to see more sketches. As soon as you pick a design I will customize it until you're satisfied, how that long will take depends on you (plural). From a sketch to a coloured vector (which can be resized to any size) takes about 4 hours x 12. With the cost are also commercial rights, I only retain the right to include the illustrations in my portfolio. - Kind regards, E. Palli (my real name, I use my real and artist name interchangeably)" Second e-mail, with this sketch attached. I sized it down. I told them I can do 6 sketches in 2 hours, they ask for 10 in 3, I comply. "Hello X, Hey E. I've discussed it with my boss and we'd like to get about 10 sketches (3 hours of work) of different kinds of frogs. One illustration we can picture is a frog in a circle, met a happy smile. He's wearing a sleeveless shirt which reads "FF" across his chest in white letters. The plan was that I was going to do the sketches myself, but I think this will cost me too much time, which is why I went looking for an illustrator. I've included the first sketches, so you know what direction we want to take. Once we've received the 10 sketches, we'll see how it goes. We'll have to think of the poses we want. Kind regards, X" I send them these sketches a week later to help them nail down the design they want. "Without shirt, it will be added later. Small: [link] Large: [link] Did you have an address I can bill? Kind regards, Thaily" Get an e-mail a week later, but there's been no mention of a deadline or anything, so I'm not too bothered. "Hey Thaily, I only work Tuesdays at Tenno Media at the moment (the company you drew for). My boss is going to look at the sketches one of these days and as soon as I hear back about it I'll contact you again. You can send your bill to Tenno Media. [blanked address] I really like your sketches, nice style! Greetings, X" Listen to me smalltalk, yap yap. "Hey X, Thank you, I hope your noss (typo) likes them too :P - Kind regards, Thaily" While I asked for a billing address, I hadn't billed them for the first batch of sketches yet. Keep in mind; 10 sketches, 3 hours of work, €10,- an hour = €30,- so far. "Hey Thaily, We had a little meeting and we'd like to see another ten sketches. Some comments: The head can be fairly human, like the middle frog (touching his upper arm). The body can be broader and more muscular. This will be another 3 hours of work. Furthermore we'd like to see sketches of Ferdie: 1 holding weights. 2 spinning on a bike. 3 running on a treadmill 4 flexing his muscles 5 holding a sign 6 pointing left or right 7 in a round logo, like in my sample sketch. Because of my internship I stop working at Tenno Media after next week. You can mail the sketches to my boss at [email protected] en/or [email protected]. The contact will be via Peter. He is my boss. Ferdie will be the mascot of FitnessFerdie.nl. The web shop for it is being perfected and is temporarily placed at this url: [obsolete link]. Maybe the site's lay-out will help you with your sketches. Have a nice and greetings, X" I take a little over a week to respond this time because I suddenly got slammed with unexpected work; friend told me at the last minute he had gotten me an art panel at a convention, so I suddenly had 3 days to prepare for an art show. Augh. "Hey Thaily, How's the frog coming? :) Greetings, X" I managed my art show, then did the second batch of sketches and sent them to both the intern and Peter, the intern's boss whom was now my contact. I explain, for a second time (first being in my first e-mail to them) that they need to settle on a design before I can start on the final illustrations. I've even made it easier for them by putting all the sketches on the same sheet and lettering and numbering the heads and bodies so they can just tell me which body and head they like best so we can combine them and move things along. "Hey X and Peter, Sorry for the delay, I was told at the very last moment that there was an art panel reserved for me at an art show. Here's the second batch of 10 sketches; I added numbers and letters so you can easily indicate which combination of heads&bodies you like, as soon as we decide on a design I can start on the sketches for the illustrations. Small: [link] Large: [link] - Kind regards, Thaily" At this point I decide I'd like to get paid before we go any further, so I send Peter the bill for 20 sketches; 6 hours of work is €60,-, plus taxes the total came to €70,80. Again I remind people this is essentially minimum wage, this will be hilariously relevant in a moment. "Dear Mr Bierhuizen, Here is my bill for the 20 sketches. - Kind regards, Thaily [I attached the 2 specified bills as PDFs, they are from Gear-IT.nl which is my husband's company, because it was easier at the time]" Here's where it took a sudden and sharp turn downhill; the intern gone I was left to deal with Peter who (perhaps after being faced with a bill and the realization that yes, I expect to be paid for my time) suddenly felt all my work was unsatisfactory and unusable. He says he's looking for a specific type of frog, but despite being prompted to tell me which design comes closest to what he wants, he decides he wants to back out of the deal without paying me for the work he has already commissioned and has already been provided. "Dear Thaily, I have looked at the sketches and I'm missing that which X asked for. X gave a whole list with situations and positions that we wanted to see sketches. However I don't see any of these positions. So I can't do anything with your sketches. To be honest I couldn't do anything with the first batch of sketches because I asked for (at least X) what I wanted. So I'm not very happy because you're sending me 2 bills for things I can essentially do nothing with. I'm looking for a particular type frog (see the list of X further down in the mail (was the same list translated further up)) depicted in a number of fitness related poses but I have received none of this. So I'm going to stop because I'm not sure this collaboration is going to be successful. I hope to have informed you sufficiently. Kind regards, P. Bierhuizen Tenno Media]" Assuming the best, that he is merely confused, I explain for a third time that he has to pick a design before I can do the illustrations from the list. I don't wanna do 12 sketches only to have him change his mind about the design before I can finalize. Plus it would cost more, I'm trying to save him money. "Dear Mr Bierhuizen, The sketches are to determine the design of the character, once the design is to your liking (the customer picks a design they like or a combination of designs they like) I will finish the sketches; the 12 sketches of the character on a bicycle/with weights etc. so all the illustrations will be to your liking and consistent. I have only billed you for the 20 sketches at the price we agreed upon beforehand. - Kind regards, Thaily" TL:DR, Peter still fails to understand simple things. 2 notes about that. 1. I was completely bewildered by his failure to understand this simple procedure. First you decide what the mascot looks like before I draw the mascot doing various things. It's not rocket science. And I know it's not me because I've designed numerous characters for various people, if anything people are excited when given choices and the chance to customize the character to suit their personal tastes. I've never had problems with anyone in this matter. 2. He says that if he makes me do the sketches he'll have a spent a fortune before he has anything that looks anything like something he can use; in addition to the procedure I gave him my time estimates and hourly rates beforehand. This only became a problem the moment he actually had to pay for completed work. Allow me to iterate; a fortune. Literally, he uses those words; "Een vermogen". Minimum wage. Aw yeah, I be ballin' with my €10 an hour! "It clearly describes what X wanted to see. I'm sorry but I think your work method is kind of too vague. If I let you make the sketches I'll lose a fortune before I see anything that looks anything like what I want. I don't think that can be the plan. If you included what I wanted to see a la, but this isn't the intention." As a side note I should indicate that he dropped all civilized pretense, as well as his ability to capitalize, punctuate and spell (I'm fixing this in the translation for legibility's sake), giving the impression he can't be bothered with it anymore. I know how he feels, so I give him an ultimatum, pay or lose any claim to the work. "We can do 2 things: - You pay me and you can use the sketches and designs, if anything to give to another designer to finalize the work. - You don't pay and I will sell the designs to a third part to compensate for my financial damages and you cannot use the sketches; so you can't pass them on to another designer without infringing on my copyright." He takes a few days to respond. "go ahead and sell them. i can't use them and will never use them" So, he had all my info ahead of time, knew what he was getting into and is not backing out of payment for work he commissioned and has already been completed; breach of contract. I inform him I will be letting my colleagues (hi guys!) know about him since you know.. Whether or not I manage to mitigate my financial damage, he's still breaking his contract and likely to do it to the next person as well. "Okay, I'll my colleagues know that you break your contracts. Good luck (with your future endeavors)!" This, perhaps predictably, leads to further deterioration in his ability to communicate like a professional. "My god, you are such a vengeful type. I'll tell your colleagues that you (read Gear IT) simply don't deliver what is asked for and that YOU are really (and easily provable) not delivering on your obligations. THAT my dear is actually the real problem. I ask A but get B. Think about that and stop (zeiken, crude Dutch for taking a piss; bitching, moaning, whining, carrying on etc.) pissing on about it, toddler" I iterate, Gear IT is my husband's IT company, we just sent the bill under that name because it was more convenient at the time; I didn't have a PDF and was too busy to make one, but the bill was specified and obviously from me, this is was not in dispute (just that he had to pay it). I correct him since well, Hiryu doesn't do illustration and design, he does hosting (sites, Minecraft servers etc.), security, domain registration and so forth. So if he wants to complain about the right person (i.e. probably lie his pants off) he should complain about Spirit Link Studio. "- Not Gear IT, Spirit Link Studio. - Be sure to present all your "evidence", k? :D" Further breakdown in communication and him not understanding simple things. "So why do you send bills with Gear IT on it. I added it just in case you forgot. Fucking (fokkin = Dutch white trash way of saying "fucking") vague as far as I'm concerned. Read your mails there's enough evidence that you don't deliver on your promises. I've had enough of this stupid pissing on. I'm going to stop replying." I explain simple things with small words. "Because it was easier at the time. Good luck (with your future endeavors)! :D" True to his word, he has yet to reply. But it's only been a day or two and sometimes he takes a week to respond, so there might be more swindling man-child rage to update with later. So uh, in short; don't work for this guy. He only likes your designs until the first bill shows up, then things quickly deteriorate into ignorance, lies and cussing. In a related note, if anyone wants to buy a frog adoptable, I have some available here ? Edit: Thanks for the input guys! Yeah there might have been a miscommunication, the "customer" was vague and told me to draw another 10 sketches "kinda like X". Had he gone "Oh that's not what I meant, I meant Y." the miscommunication could have been dealt with in a civil and mature manner. It wouldn't have been a problem. Unfortunately he immediately broke the contract by pulling out without paying, not to mention the condescending attitude and crass language. I managed to stay civil even after he said he wasn't going to pay for my time, so I don't understand his outbursts at all. In years of doing commissions, he is only the second unhappy customer I've ever had, and it's due to his own lack of patience, understanding and basic manners. I'll probably stay away from similar contracts for the time being, because they cost more time and aggravation than they're worth (especially when you're not being paid) and if I do take a design contract, I'll make them pay part up front like with normal commissions. Lesson learned, I'm moving on to my paying customers ?

Back in July, I ordered a sketchy custom for $75 (USD) from g.hosting (not realizing the username would be very apt!) Here's the link to the auction: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/37221256/. I've attached a screenshot showing my initial win as well as the paypal transaction. Unfortunately, I nuked all of my Furaffinity notes, but Ghosting and I went to Discord for awhile. I have some screencaps of that. The "we" I'm referring to is my now-deceased fiance. As I understand that art can take time to complete and the year has been completely insane, I decided to be patient. Not to mention I had to deal with my fiance's passing in August. You can see in the screenshots that months went by. In the meantime, Ghosting was semi-active on their FA and more active on their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sinscitys/. On November 6, I expressed concern for Ghosting's health as well as how long the commission was taking. I've been ripped off for almost $300 this year, and between Ghosting's active posting and lack of progress, I was afraid that I was dealing with yet another "push things past the dispute window and then disappear forever" artist. It became one of those awful situations where you don't want to yank money out of someone's pocket, but you also can't be a doormat. You'll also notice that Ghosting offered me a refund, which I preferred, but suddenly they weren't able to provide one. Now knowing that Ghosting was more active on Insta and FA, I sent messages to each, which went unread for two days. At this point, I was fed up. I opened a dispute and escalated it. You can see in the Paypal screenshot that there was an active dispute associated with that transaction. A few hours later, I received this: https://sta.sh/02dmz8wjlaf5 And responses to my FA note and IG message. The FA note was just to let me know the IG note was responded to, so I am only including the IG screenshot. The custom's quality is lower than many of Ghosting's other designs. But after some consideration, I decided I did like what I received for the most part and closed the dispute. Juice just needs sprucing up and a clearer ref sheet. Ghosting has offered to draw a little extra art as an apology, but based on my experience overall, I'll consider any extras like a scratch ticket win. In summary? Ghosting's designs have a definite charm to them. They are generally colorful and lively. If you like them and can get your hands on a premade, I wholly suggest it! Ghosting as a person seems to be very friendly. But until this artist can communicate and work more effectively, I would hesitate to commission them.

Dec. 15th, 2012 at 12:06 AM gishkishenh WHO: Legal Name: [censored] Alias: "Beth Brookins", "Ravynwolf", "Southpaw art" Business name: Advanced Deployment WHERE: Dominantly via e-mail and facebook. On-line website: http://www.advanceddeployment.com/ WHAT: Laser cutting services in wood and acrylics. WHEN: Oct 12- Present PROOF: Please see Explanation for full proof. LONG list of e-mails and correspondences. Please see below, Paypal payment on Nov 19th: EXPLAIN: Earliest contact was Jul 8th. I had been inquiring about her Laser services for some time [cost, etc]. I had 2 items done up in August 27th, and told her to open a tab for me [I foresaw more on the way]. Oct12- Nov5 : Everything goes smoothly. Our correspondences contain the usual me sending designs, her cutting them and sending me previews. After I collected the pre-orders, I had sent her an e-mail in regard to how fast we could get the entire sum cut. I was keeping in mind the fact that her schedule would become hectic from Black Friday and onwards. I kept this in account, because I didn't want to stress her out [I know the feeling] and suggested a good compromise; I'd get all the work to her in time for her to cut it all up, and give her 1 week so that she could prepare for the Black Friday [I can post all this correspondence, but it really doesn't imply any wrong doings, and it's 20 e-mails of just us talking technical. If need be, I can easily post it]. Here are the links to the pre-order posts I made with HER photos [so this prooves these thigns were actually made]: Nov 3rd: http://fav.me/d5jwygj Nov 5th: http://fav.me/d5k8wmw Nov 5th: http://fav.me/d5k8xj9 Now this is where things began to become sketchy. On Nov 12-14, we are simply working out the details of the bill- counting cuts etc. It's all good, no conflicts, things are a-ok. A week later, I get billed. Nov 19. I even inquire that she included ALL the previous cuts [when she opened my tab]. I paid the same day, and awaited the package. [Same link as Proof]: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23/Gishkishenh/Artist Beware/proof_zpsf9d35a28.jpg A week later, I had arrived home [I was tending to my sister, so left town for a week] and no sign of the package. On Nov 27th, I sent her the following e-mail, and her response above: 2 days pass, and on Nov 29th, since I hadn't heard a thing from her, I emailed her wondering if there was any movement on the situation... her response above: A little while later, this was the e-mail I got, and my responce: This is where ALL contact stops. Days go by, and on the 4th of Dec I sent her a little reminder: No answer. I waited 2 days [Dec 6th], and sent her another e-mail: Still no word. Now, I'm wondering what is going on. I feared that maybe she had an accident, so I go to facebook to see if she posted anything [we friended one another there]. When I did, I found that I was un-friended, and she had been active on the days I had sent her my e-mails [I can post pics of this, but Facebooks is a little more personal, so I don't know if that oversteps boundaries?] I sent her one last e-mail: Now I was a little upset. The package was overdue by 2 weeks. I live in Vancouver BC, she in Bellingham WA... normally, a week would have sufficed. 2 weeks, if it was considered "international" air mail [even thought we are so close]. I had also been waiting on this package for a seasonal convention that I could sell the merchandise in order to get seasonal funds for myself. The package never came until this day. She did not even contact me, until this day. I opened a Paypal Item Dispute on Dec 11: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23/Gishkishenh/Artist Beware/paypalclaim_zps64bf62f2.jpg Still no answer from her. No movement. My ultimate fear is that this entire ordeal was to trick me for the vector designs of my art. Last year, she had contacted me in regards to selling a similar content and product, and asked me if I would like to contribute the same design content [North West Pacific First Nations style art]. I'll be updating with the Paypal Claim judgements, and any other movements on the subject. If she responds to me [finally] or not. EDIT On Friday Dec 14th, I had received the package. nearly a month after it was supposed to be sent, the date on the package reads "Nov 28th" as the shipping date [pics to come]. So my conclusion was that after the Nov 27th e-mail exchange where she lied about the stepped-on receipt... she put the package into the mail the following day. Rather than come clean about forgotten the package [which would have been a-ok with me- I KNEW she had a hectic Black Friday], she opted to lie and disconnected any communication from me. To this day I still have had no contact from her.

I bought 2 adopts from Hyperiontrash december of 2019. Via discord we had a conversation that if i paid her an additional $70 usd i would get nsfw and SFW full refs of both designs. After payment was sent for both, i received one, this beware is about the second set. we corresponded only on discord the last 9 months. Payment proof: So I approached Hyperion and agreed to pay for both refs as seen here I received the first ref and the first promise of "sometime next week" After 3 months of no wip, no contact, i reached out again after seeing a journal that she couldnt work because of her computer (while still not being listed on her queue): and then after a further 3 months (at this point we are at 6 months wait time I reached out again, as i was still not on her queue and no wips had been sent or contact made) i was told she was "almost done" I waited another 3 months and reached out again. was told she would be done "in the next 2 weeks" I waited a further 25 days and reached out a final time, this time suggesting a refund. I was told she cant refund me. It is now as of posting october 15th, she has still not sent a single WIP, nor the final product, however on october 14th she has created 6 adopts from sketch - to final product and received total bids as of this writing of over 500 dollars, 300 of which has been paid to my knowledge and during a conversation on her server on the 14th the following exchange took place: all adopts finished yesterday are grouped here: at this point i simply no longer believe i will get the refs i paid for. as that is the case I felt it best I leave this beware for the community before attempting to issue a chargeback with paypal, or that possibly i may get the references, though at this point as i have been unable to use the design for a year i no longer want it the way it is so i would rather have the money so i can pay someone else to do the reference with changes.

I commissioned Fen for a Vtuber bust model with Live2D rigging and 4 "emotions." I was originally quoted for $350, but I tipped enough to make it $500 because they'd just raised their prices after my initial sketch and I was impressed. After I paid the $100 deposit, it took more than the one week promised to get a sketch back, but progress was coming along in a relatively timely manner. Fen was initially good at getting back to me on Discord with WIPs and letting me know they were working on my model. The turnaround from sketch to full-color was surprisingly quick, but I was extremely happy with how everything was looking. My commission was essentially ready for Live2D rigging by the end of May, so I figured the whole thing could be ready at some point later that summer. Unfortunately, that quick pace did not carry over to the rest of the commission. After that May 31st WIP, I didn't get a single update for nearly 5 months. I knew they took commissions on other types of art and streaming assets, so I didn't mind at first. Eventually though, things just didn't seem right. I'd check their Trello regularly to see if gears were turning in the commission queue, and while there'd be new sketched here and there, the Finished Rigs list went stagnant through this whole time. The next update I got from Fen was at the end of October. I was afraid to ask for updates through Discord because their status was always Do Not Disturb, but I decided it had been more than long enough and I sucked it up. About a week and a half after I sent my message, I got WIPs back of the expressions I asked for. I actually hadn't noticed that the expression designs hadn't been done yet, but I was still pleased to get an update and know that my commission was still on the table. After that, it was back to radio silence for a month. By then, it had been 6 months since I paid off my invoice and I was still in "Ready to Rig" status. Especially being a Twitch streamer trying to plan overlays et al to fit with the model, I was growing even more impatient. I consulted a few friends on the matter and decided to ask for an estimated completion date. I was told December 15th at the latest. That didn't happen. In the meantime, it was apparent that Fen was doing Live2D work, just on other "quick completion" commissions that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. What added insult to injury was that they were promoting these simpler rigs with very little wait while I was still actively waiting for what I paid off in June. Then, when December 15th rolled around, they tweeted out that they were finishing a rig in just 24 hours. The next day, they were showing off a brand new rig for their partner. I lost my patience and asked to just take their PSD/CSP file so I could get someone else to rig it. No response. What happened after was a sticky situation. On December 21st, Fen's cat suddenly got sick and they had to take him to the emergency vet. The bill was steep and they said they couldn't afford it, so they needed donations and emergency commissions to cover the necessary treatments. Between this and the holidays, I knew I was in no position to ask for a refund, full or partial, even if I was still out $500 with nothing to show on my end. I again offered to just take my file as it was and go, eating my extra cost, but still no reply. Around New Year's, while all this was going on, Fen suddenly announced on Twitter that they'd finished two standard rigs that had been in the queue behind me. If it wasn't already, the writing was on the wall that I was being ghosted, so I gave them an ultimatum. As much as I didn't want to be the villain, if I couldn't get at least a basic reply, I threatened to file a chargeback. Within hours that same day, I finally got the CSP file with a lengthy apology. I thanked them and that was the last contact we've had with each other. I've since been in contact with a different artist who does Live2D rigging and I commissioned them to finish the model. They've been able to work the the Clip Studio file just fine. While I'm still happy with the design Fen was able to make for me, but between the uneven progress, lack of communication, confusing management of the commission queue, broken promises, and uncertainty that I'd get what I paid for, I certainly won't be working with them again and I can't recommend them to another streamer in good faith.

Client was terminated from an Artistic Liberty quote before payment was made since the changes requested by them on the concept provided during the first contact were not interesting for the studio production at the time and the unpaid design created during quote was kept by the studio, as described on the TOS agreed by said client during the application process. Link to our TOS Client tried to continue the application process but we already sent the email terminating it and we didn't felt it was necessary to proceed contact, since no invoices were sent and no further agreements were made - at that stage we already let the client know that the design created for that commission would stay under the studio property. Weeks after said client decided to public harass our studio on our own posts on Instagram and after being blocked on multiple accounts for doing so, started to spread misinformation about our TOS, the commission process and also decided to claim the unpaid design as their own under claims that goes against the TOS agreed on before the design was sent to them. We sent a private message to the third account and by that time it felt like the situation was under control. The harassment continued the next day with another account claiming the studio stole the client OC, tagging other clients and spreading more half truths and accusations. The studio posted a public note via Instagram stories to spread awareness on the information and also decided to share on beware groups what happened. One of our followers let us know the client still insists on spreading false information and we decided to enlighten the situation public posting everything here. These are the accounts that continued harassing us and our clients/followers: @wetsnobblobb < has posted the stories spreading misinformation @foolish.adopts < has harassed us on posts @beesandcubs < first account to start online harassment [Moderator Note: A 4th IG that was harassing OP exists, but the account is held by someone underaged so we have censored it out.] That user is claiming that the art is stolen and that our character sheet bases are also stolen fro] third party, which is a blatant lie since our lead artist has all the files and recipes to prove that all the art was created by us and belong to Alecrim Carmim brand. To clarify any half truths shared by the accounts listed before: - Our art is 100% designed by our lead artist. We have all the files and proof of the authenticity of our creations, designs and production; - We never ghost any client; in that specific case, we simply terminate the commission and sent an email informing the client on said termination and reason (the project was not interesting for production at that time); - No designs were stolen from the client; in fact, our design is being claimed without payment by said client under accusations that "since the mood board and directions were given, the character belongs to them”; said claim goes straight against our TOS (that was agreed on BEFORE the commission process even began by the client); - No invoices were sent to the client before the commission termination. Not the 30% from the commission process nor any amount of money was received from the client by Alecrim Carmim. Preparing / being ready to pay does not mean actually making a payment. We always ask for future clients multiple times to read AND agree with our TOS before moving forward with the commission process. For our sake and for the sake of our current clients and followers, we’re deleting that design made for that specific commission from our social media and premade library. We do not stand for harassment and we do not want to associate with the illegal usage of our intellectual property, no matter the claims. We're a positive brand that try our best to avoid that kind of drama, but sadly some of that might hit our way once or twice in our studio development. For that reason, we decided to expose the situation and upload a client beware so our fellow makers have some feedback on said client for future reference. All the relevant screencaps are attached to this message. The art itself is being used without credit and the Client is claiming the design to be their character. In addition, the Client attempted to sell the design, using the full original, unpaid artwork in the advertisement on May 9th

Undelivered Commission I do realize I have been waiting for 6 and a half years for this suit. I have been trying to be understanding and patient with Clementine about this commission. However, after this long of a time period, her lack of communication, her every changing replies, and numerous excuses I have decided to move forward with this post. Below is a timeline of the communication between myself and Clementine and also her boyfriend the CFO. Back in November 2013 Clementine was having a black Friday (artistic freedom with limits) sale and I decided to buy it. (I believe the original post was on furbuy, but not 100% sure) The commission was for a full suit for $1280, with a deposit of $576 I sent the deposit to her with a money order within a few days (because if i pay with PayPal I need to add 5% according to her TOS....which is a violation of PayPal, however that's not what I'm concerned about) I was under the impression from her ad on furbuy that I would pay the rest once it was completed, so I waited. April 22 2014, I receive an email asking about the rest of the payment, and I replied that I thought I was supposed to pay when it was done and before it shipped. September 13 2014 (yes 5 months later) I receive another email telling me she does not work on anything until the payment is in full. This is when the excuses start, her first reason is work is super slow until they sell their house. We go back and forth for a little bit about paying and I send her money orders in early October for the balance ($704) All during October 2014 she sketches up some designs and sends them over to me and we decide on one Mid October she tells me she hasn't received the money orders and I end up having to call and get them stopped and reversed which took quite a while. During November 2014 I had a huge expense (over $5500) and told her I had to hold off paying the rest until it got sorted out. We went back and forth on emails for a little bit and that's the time she started getting disrespectful to me saying how she has bills that are way past due. She ends up getting angry with me and tells me she may cancel my commission and it is on hold "indefinitely" she also tells me that she has used my whole deposit to buy materials. I ask for a refund at this point, and she tells me that there is no refunds and the deposit is non refundable ( I also would like to point out she has not asked me to sign any contract at this point) She ends up blocking me on facebook in December, so I am no longer able to message her. She instead has her boyfriend (the CFO of her company) emails me and says he will conduct business with me from this point forward. December 24th The CFO tells me that I need to make the remaining checks payable to him personally, and I refuse. I told him that my business is not with him it is with Clementine and i will make the checks payable to either her or make them out to fruitsuit creations. He then tells me I can make them payable to Clementine. December 29th 2014 I sign a contract for the remaining balance Since the contract was signed I mailed the payments as follows Jan 15th 2015 mailed $200 ($100 plus $100 credit) - it was received on Jan 21st -- see below for paid in full email Feb 23rd 2015 mailed $100 - it was received on Feb 28th -- see below for paid in full email March I had a few extra bills and had to use the $100 credit from Jan -- see below for paid in full email April 14th 2015 mailed $200 - received on April 19th -- see below for paid in full email May 1st 2015 mailed $204 (the balance) - received on May 8th 2015 (paid in full) and was told I was moved to the "working queue" Clementine sends a newsletter out 4 months later with her working queue and I am not on it, on the list is 2 heads, one partial, 3 on hold (with the commission names). She tells me there was some confusion and she will update it. She does not. October 14 2016 (yes a year later) She tells me she is finishing up 2 heads and I'm a few spots down the line. Jan 13 2017 she tells me there are six in front of me, 2 of which are just heads **April 2017 more excuses that she has several breakdowns a week and it's hard to concentrate and work on commissions. April of 2017 is when something odd happens.....there is another person commissioning her for a rush suit, I'm not sure if I can mention names, so I won't but there is another artist beware about Clementine from this person. The odd thing is that they paid for this nearly 2 years after mine was paid off, but she was sending WIP pics to this person and I have yet to even be told my true place in line. April 2017 she tells me my place is "one less then last time I told you" **July 2017 more excuses of bad side effects from medication, mobile and cognitive Impairment, horribly depressed , separation anxiety, hysterical crying spells 3-5 times a day [Verified by staff. Lots of medical information.] July 8th 2017 she tells me "i believe there are 3 or 4 in front of you" **September 2017 more excuses of her injuring her shoulder September 2017 She gets mad at me for asking where I am in line saying that I've been waiting for a long time, she tells me that there are people waiting longer, and I signed a contract that has no completion dates. Dec 11th 2018 (another year later) she tells me "trying to get this done so I can move on" **January 2019 more excuses of her cat being sick, and not having a place to live with her workshop May 29th 2019 after 100 excuses from her I am told "Thank you so much for your incredible patience! I do wholeheartedly promise that I will make your wait worth it!" **August 2019 more excuses of her Mom being sick (not posting conversation due to her privacy on her mothers health issues) Dec 15th 2019 after more excuses I am told "I really can't thank you enough for your patience.. and I promise I will go above and beyond to make it up to you, and everyone else I've let down.." May 16th 2020 After asking about my place in line yet again, I am told "i believe you are 6th in line."....I then send her screenshots from 3 years prior of her telling me that there are 3 or 4 in front of me. she tells me she must be looking at the wrong copy and will get back to me. _________________________________________________________________ I feel that I have been beyond patient with her, I can be sympathetic to what people are going through, or if they have things happen in their life that they need to just stop for a little bit (which she did have a few which I did not include in here due to the privacy of her family) However, with whatever you are going though mentally or physically and still traveling to many conventions and fursuiting while injured instead of working on your obligations, or even keeping me informed about anything that is going on in 6 and a half years, doesn't seem like a good way to conduct business. Waiting 6.5 YEARS from ordering or 5 years from it being paid in full with her story ever changing about where I am in her line, and excuse after excuse, (which I found another post with the same issues) has gotten me to this point of frustration where I feel I need to let others know. Especially since she has taken other commissions AFTER mine and has worked on them before mine. Clementine has shown me that she doesn't seem interested in working on my suit by not letting me know anything about it, and the things she has told me she contradicts herself many times. For example, about what she has bought for my suit (she tells me she didn't buy anything, then she tells me she has the fur from a previous project, then she tells me she used all my deposit for supplies) another example is my place in line. I'm not quite sure if there is any bookkeeping in where she works on things, but she doesn't seem organized at all about what she is working on. There should be an exact answer to that question, I am not sure why I can't get a straight answer from her on that. She has not posted any updates on her working queue or anything of that sort in a few years, so I am not even sure she has one. I had asked a few times early on for a refund which was refused, I even had said if she is unable to work on it at all that's fine, I can just get a refund and either do it myself or get it elsewhere, I have asked for a transfer to another person and that was refused, she seems to be banking on the contract saying is does not have any completion dates, however that doesn't give anyone the right to take money and not deliver a product ever, and I think 6 and a half years is way beyond the time limit to wait for something like this. I feel that I have been very lenient with her and tried to compromise but her excuse after excuse has led me to make this post. Along with her lack of communication in her work order. In the 6.5 years there has been a ton of emails and messages so I couldn't put them all so forgive me for such a long post. Please think twice before commissioning anyone, and feel free to reach out to those who have commissioned a person in the past to ask about their experiences. I was willing in the past to work with her in the past on this problem asking her what she needs from me in order to get her working on projects, (I even sent her a link to an industrial sewing machine for a good price because she was complaining about her needing a new one), but her lack of communication and concern about this commission has led me to believe that she does not intend to provide me with a product. I am however still willing to accept a refund and turn this post to resolved, if she is willing to refund my payments.

Back in August of 2019, My partner Lainebrary and I purchased this set of adoptables for their ABs; $125 each. The transaction went incredibly smoothly, and Pepapen was very quick and professional to deliver files; even going so far as creating additional files for us when asked for separate .pngs for the fullbodies / portraits. April 3rd, 2021; I was browsing Pinterest and I came across an art piece that feels oddly similar to my character, Blessing; and when I overlaid them, it became incredibly clear that this wasn’t just a reference, there was a direct trace. I spent the next hour and a half, in tears, tearing through the internet with image searches to try to find which image came first; the adoptable, or this bust piece I found on Pinterest. Spoiler; it was the portrait I’d found, which pre-dates these two adoptables by two years. You can find it here, time-stamped December 26, 2017; two years before the adoptables were created. https://monappy.jp/picture_places/view/22490 I reached out to Pepapen immediately seeking recourse. The emails are as follows; In the emails, my demands to fix the problem where as follows; A public post on your art and social media accounts admitting that you traced. With this, I would like to see you come clean on every piece that was traced or 'heavily referenced'. Track down the people who paid you for these works or adopts, and offer them a full refund or a redraw. Reach out to the artists whose works you've stolen. A full refund on these designs. Within a day, all of my demands were met.

Aug. 18th, 2012 at 8:34 PM negawolfie Edit: Yuuri has finally paid for commission on 10/6/2012 Thank you everyone for the advice I really appreciate it very much! WHO: Yuurikin https://www.furaffinity.net/user/yuurikin/ WHERE: Business of commission was at a collab account in which me and my friend owns. https://www.furaffinity.net/user/mutantfreak/ WHAT: My friend who is the artist opened 2 commission slots. Yuurikin was the first to nab one and ask for a $20 full body commission. This is where I come in because I handle all the transactions and business of the account so we moved our discussion into the notes. WHEN: July 5th, 2012 PROOF: These are all of the notes on July 5th and on the 12th, plus the note that was sent on August 17. They are all in order. http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005772125500.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005735188800.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005715854400.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005777081600.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005783887800.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005763851600.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005774453500.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005732483500.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005793052700.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005720470900.png http://www.iaza.com/work/120819C/iaza17005780461100.png EXPLAIN: Yuurikin has had a small history with us. When we started Yuurikin was an amazing customer to have, she would pay quickly and gaves us a good conversation from time to time. She really enjoyed my friend's artwork a lot. We started out back in January. As months went by things were doing pretty well Yuurikin would always ask for a hold on our adopts which we had no problem in but the thing was she would never buy them even after waiting for a month or more. One day we were selling a huge batch of $5 adopts that had never sold. Yuurikin wanted to do a trade which I agreed on. So I gave her the adopts and waited for her half of the trade but it never came so I brushed it off since it was only a cookie cutter critter. When she took a art commission slot from us everything was going smooth at first till it came to the payment part. I ask for payment up front before my friend starts anything but since Yuurikin was like a friend she told me the payment will be sent in an hour or so because of her father. So I OKed it and the first stage of the commission was started which was a pencil sketch. Yuurikin loved how it looked all that was needed was a expression changed. So while going through this she mentioned to me that she found a friend who will pay for her now, which was fine. As we waited for payment the drawing was being pen inked and colored. After waiting for what I believe was like an hour or more I checked my paypal to see if anything was sent because the commission was completed. I saw no payment and the first thing that went through my mind was hoping that the email of the paypal was correct so I sent her a note about it. I told her she can't get her commission until payment is sent which she understood. After that I heard no word from her untill July 12th when I sent her a pm from my main account telling her that the payment was still never sent so she told me in reply that she will remind her friend. So I waited more and still never gotten a payment. Now my computer crashed from a hard drive failure on the 6th so I had no way to contact some people. It was on the 12th when my mother lend me her laptop so I could send a note from my main to Yuurikin that payment has not been sent. So as of August 17th I sent her a note asking what was her friend's FA so I could explain the situations and that I am still waiting for payment. As the note was read by her I never gotten a reply even as of today (August 18). So she pretty much ignored us. Me and my friend are extremely upset, Yuurikin had our trust and it felt squashed down pretty hard. The ink that is used for the lineart of the drawings is expensive which costs us $14.25. These are $8 bottles of ink which does run out after a lot of use. This is why we sell cookie cutter adopts with a large verity of color designs on them which is the only thing done digitally. Our main goel for this business is to make the customers happy and satisfied. We also have made a simple TOS if that is needed on here for this report. https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3377520/ Also I do apologies if there are any errors my Enlgish is not my stong points and this is the first time I posted on here.