Nobody should commission this artist. He is entirely unreliable. 99% of the time he does not respond to e-mails and it is impossible to get in contact with him. He gives no explanation for his behaviour; in fact, he normally says nothing at all! I paid him for a commission at Anthrocon 2009 and after months of trying to contact him unsucessfully (he had removed his FA and did not respond to e-mails) he finally got in contact with me around Nov/Dec. Last I spoke with him through e-mail in late January where we appared to have reached an understanding regarding commuication--although apparently not. He said he would have my commission done by now. I've been trying to contact him for a status update for the last three weeks and have gotten no reply. He is active online; noticably his DA account but no matter what forum or method I try to use to contact this person he does not reply. I have gone though great lengths to be patient with him and have been very vigorous in trying to contact him and to explain how I was becoming extremely frustrated at his lack of communication. I am convinced now that he is either a crook or grosely incompetent business person, and definately not to be trusted with business. I also happen to know I am not the only one who has been having trouble contacting them. A fellow fur contacted me on FA to ask if I had heard anything from Mekoryuk since they had also paid for a commission and had heard nothing back. Also, I will add that the artist himself has posted his name online (eg. his DA account) so I am not violating his privacy by including it in this post. So, in conclusion: Avoid this person like the plague. Mood regarding artist: Extremely disatissfied and now angry because they stole my money. I hardly ever get angry but after months of being frustrated with trying to contact this person to find out what is happening and getting no reply I am now angry.
[[Edit: Pasting links from comments below:]] Here's some evidence: http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/2500/eJULY 2011--UPDATE:
Please read: http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/31
Given the developments in this thread since the OP, I want to summarize my lastest opinion of the artist:
-- He is curteous when communicating.
-- He normally takes a very very long time to reply but eventualy does. (This is all or mostly due to an unfortunate medical condition that slows him down a lot.) Perhaps he has improved since last year but I don't know. I would advise that in addition to his e-mail new commissioners to ask for his phone# if he is willing to give it since contacting him online is (in my experience) unreliable.
-- He is not a crook.
-- He does very good work.
-- He appears to be well meaning.
-- People looking to commission should probably pay him after the commission is finished or (depending on the cost of the commission) pay him a small depost upfront and the rest upon completion. They should also be prepared to wait well over a year for work to be completed.
In short, it appears that this artist is well meaning and honest but, although I wasn't aware of it at first, is the unfortunate victum of hardship beyond his control. He appears to be dealing with it admirably. People should excercise caution when commissioning him only because he may be very hard to contact and takes a very long time to finish commissions but otherwise people will be happy with his work.
I will update this thread again once I recieve the finished commisison from him.
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Date: 2010-04-08 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:48 am (UTC)I do advise to go by the rest of the commenters as well and gather what proof you have. If commissioned at a con you should have a receipt I believe!
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Date: 2010-04-08 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 04:26 am (UTC)Anyway, seeing as it's past the deadline and you've yet to see your finished product (or have you gotten any progress on the picture at all? A rough sketch, maybe?) it's time to insist on a refund unless the picture is done right at this instant or is very close to being completed.
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Date: 2010-04-08 04:40 am (UTC)Actually, I didn't know you could tell that for sent messages on DA. oO I don't use DA all that regularly. I just checked and it appears that he did read my message from 16 weeks ago. The one I sent 3 days ago is still not read--but it's too tell anything from that yet.
I have gotten no picture sent to me whatsoever.
I am asking for a refund now. I've had it with him. If he does reply, I just want my money back and I'll never speak to him again.
Again, good points! ^^
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Date: 2010-04-08 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:41 am (UTC)http://www.furaffinity.net/user/Mekoryuk
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Date: 2010-04-08 01:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:33 am (UTC)eeeh...
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Date: 2010-04-08 04:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 04:43 am (UTC)No worries ^^
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Date: 2010-04-08 07:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 04:23 am (UTC)Here's some evidence: http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/2500/ev
Going though each and every e-mail and screencaping it is more pain than it's worth for now but this should at least give some legitimacy to my claim. He said at one point that he had been e-mailing me; of course, I hadn't been getting his e-mails since we later found out that he was e-mailing them to the wrong address. I thought it sounded like an excuse to me but I could not be sure so I gave him the benefit of the doubt then although I'm not as forgiving with him this time round. Besides, he could have tried to message me via FA or DA.
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Date: 2010-04-08 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 02:21 am (UTC)what was commissioned? How much? Was it promised for the convention? Were there any due-dates given? What was said in the communication?
Without any of this it's a rather vague warning. Evidence in the forms of screencaps and receipts would be great.
In the future, get a receipt for any transaction done at a convention, it does wonders for adding to the legitimacy of the claim.
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Date: 2010-04-08 04:27 am (UTC)Now granted, $10 is not all that big of a deal in the long run but a little here a little there adds up pretty fast over a year. More importantly, this is about what's right. I paid him in good faith and he's not even communicating his intentions. I can be plenty patient with people so long as they communicate but it gets on my nerves when they are blatantly silent.
Thank you for your advice though :3
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Date: 2010-04-08 05:30 am (UTC)On a different note, I'm pretty sure I did a commission for you as well at AC, wicked crazy late at night though.
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Date: 2010-04-08 02:54 am (UTC):)
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Date: 2010-04-08 04:34 am (UTC)You're a pleasure to work with as well :3 =)
Thankfully, he is in the minority so far. In fact, the first I've complained about. ^^
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Date: 2010-04-08 06:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 07:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 08:05 pm (UTC)I'll give it a shot ^^
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Date: 2010-07-25 09:35 pm (UTC)After numerous attempts to contact the artist by different means (e-mail, FA, phone, DeviantArt) I sent one last ditch attempt e-mail asking for a refund to the artist who surprisingly did reply and issue you me a refund.
Turns out he has a very serious medical problem which has kept him from finishing the commission. Although he had communicated that he had some medical problems before I had not been aware until now how serious they were. While this explains the delay in finished artwork, it's still not clear if this is the reason why he had not replied for several months. In my opinion, he still could have e-mailed me but chose not to until now--but that is just my opinion based on my impression and involvement in the matter.
He did issue me a refund, although not in cash as I had indicated. (As a Canadian citizen, there is no way for me to safely transfer funds from my Paypal account to my bank account. While linking bank accounts to Paypal is common practice, Canadian banks would hold the owner entirely responsible if my bank account was compromised as a result. So, if someone withdrew $30000 from my a account, even if there wasn't that much money in there (which there isn't), I'd still be liable to pay the bank if the money couldn't be recovered.) This severely restricts the manner in which I can use my own money which is why I wanted it issued to me in cash just as I had given it to him. Given the severity of his condition and how remarkable it was to hear from him at all, I chose to overlook this oversight. Luckily, I'll be able to use it eventually as I do buy things from the US.
The artist kindly offered to finish the drawing regardless and send it to me when it's done and he included some in-progress pictures with his e-mail. I told him that it is a very kind offer but given his condition he shouldn't feel obligated to do that. I also said that if he still went ahead and finished it, I would be happy to receive it and would gladly return the money to him.
He knew I was angry and knew why and he apologized which I appreciate. I should also note as well that to the best of my recollection, he has never responded in anger in any e-mails and his replies, when present, sound sincere.
We talked about a few other related things to.
Bottom line: It is my opinion as of this post that he is not a crook as I had thought and is in fact a good and well-intentioned person who unfortunately is a victim of illness. However, anyone thinking to commission him should be leery or very careful to do so. They should fully understand that he is nearly impossible to contact reliably and does not always explain himself fully or clearly, and that it will probably take a very long time for artwork to get finished. Under the circumstances, I would recommend withholding payment until the drawing is finished and received unless he demonstrates an ability to maintain contact with his customers. His art is unquestionably superb though.
I'm happy he gave me a refund and I now consider the matter closed. If he does finish the art, I would, as I mentioned happily receive it as it looks most promising from the pics he just sent.
In the end now that this is settled, I just hope his condition improves and he gets better.
~ Feather ~
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Date: 2011-08-28 06:07 pm (UTC)In July 2011, Mekoryuk/Siskmarek contacted me and showed me a work-in-progress digital drawing he was working on for me and asked me what color my character is. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from him as I never expected to hear from him again (read previous posts for why).
The drawing looks great so far! Very original and imaginative!
Additionally, it should be noted that the original commission (to my recollection) was just supposed to be a quick B&W sketch but he's going all out.
I think it's important to let people know that he's obviously trying hard to fulfill his earlier commitments.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-29 12:47 am (UTC)