Casey Barden (No responses since October 22nd) to date.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

Please Note This seller appears incredibly legitimate and completely honest, I do not expect them to be attempting to be scamming me. However, at most I would love to get contacted more often as soon as they are able to be doing so. This is not meant to be posed as a threat or a warning to you if you find this post at all, I would just love to follow through with the transaction in a much more timely fashion and I hate reporting anything bad about anyone for any reason. I wish to update this as soon as later updates show up but there's no signs of any updates for a long time.

WHO: Casey Barden

WHERE http://fursuitauctions.livejournal.com/2620266.html

WHAT: ursuit Commission (Partial Mienshao OC)

WHEN:
August 1st, 2012 - We contacted on details and eventually contacted through Email.
August 31st, 2012 - call for payment; payment made via Paypal

October 22nd, 2012 - "Hey sweetie! I'm so sorry it's taken a while to get back to you! We're having computer troubles right now & should be getting our computer back soon in about a week. It's over-heating really bad & we had to send it back to get it fixed. I will have tons of pictures for you then! Just dropping a quick note to let you know I'm still here & still working on suit."

No further contact received on their end after sending emails to them and to their Facebook account. It's December 26, 2012 now.
Their facebook account has SOME activity on it https://www.facebook.com/casey.barden?ref=ts&fref=ts
and I cannot tell if their other account does https://www.facebook.com/Fuzztasticfun?ref=ts&fref=ts

Comments

[trunchbull.livejournal.com]

I'm sort of suspicious. they said they'd get their computer fixed in about a week, and yet it's two months now without any progress. did they show any activity on their faceobok account? if so, that means they have a way to get access to messages, and that means that they are ignoring you.

aside from that, it does not take 2 months to figure out what is wrong with a computer, especially for a thing like overheating. even if they can't find a solution, they could have taken the initiative to buy a new computer, or rent a temporary one, to get out all the messages they need regarding commissions.

Also, the journal you linked to has an access forbidden on it. i can't see it .

Also, there is no such thing as August 32nd. You might want to change it to the 31st so it matches with the dates of your transaction log.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

Hi there, thank you for notifying me about my typos I wish to keep as much information as accurate as possible and adding more if it helps. The thread they contacted me on (linked) is a community which requires joining to see I suppose :/ I could screen shot it.

And yes I am suspicious as well. Their facebook account does show updates, but only once in a great while. I linked to those just now and fixed the typo.... I'm quite sad that they have not responded and only have decided to respond during the days I could have possibly done a dispute...

Edit: If a payment was sent as a non-personal gift.

[familliaraver.livejournal.com]

Well here is her FA http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sashasoftpaw/

Looks like she has been on it in at least the past month. I don't think in this day and age not having a working computer is an excuse to not contact a commissioner. Almost every phone has the ability to access the internet one way or another.

Secondly, you sent payment as a gift? Big no-no.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

Wow I didn't find her FA page yet, thank you for showing me!
I agree, I would be very pronto and go to the Library to message on any updates right away or a friend's house or anything I could do if someone paid me for something.

And yeah, I sent it as a gift because she has a website, fursuits, and it looks very professional. She also contacted me a whole lot of the time with many messages (felt like it was every day or more than that) on details and other things about the commission. I didn't think anyone with such a professional website and contact information would stall so badly with a commission before... It doesn't seem like most other ones. I guess I can't trust even professional looking people anymore.

[clockmagic.livejournal.com]

All I can say is you -never- send money for a commission as a gift. It doesn't matter if the person is professional or not. If anything goes wrong you can't get it back.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

Alrighty... Live and learn I guess.

[frostfoot.livejournal.com]

Professionalism should not be rewarded, it should be expected. Especially in a transaction. Your money is as good as gone unless she send you some back or the like.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

Ah, alright :/

[ansitru.livejournal.com]

" I guess I can't trust even professional looking people anymore."

Honestly, on the internet it's always best to treat everything with a healthy suspicion. Even if they look professional, you may want to take into account that artists can screw up.

And while this doesn't mean you should trust no-one, it does mean you need to take steps to insure your own safety, such as not sending money as a gift when you're dealing with sums like $100.

Especially when you don't know this person at all and only have a website to judge them by.

[Edit]: And I forgot to say: a partial fursuit for only $100?
I doubt that would cover the entire material-cost and working time. If it sounds to good (or too cheap) to be true, it probably is.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

$100 was the down payment.

[ansitru.livejournal.com]

Ah, I must have missed that. My apologies for that.

Still, if the price is only $200 as it says on the Livejournal-screenshot, isn't that still really cheap by fursuit-standards? Not that I claim to very knowledgeable about fursuits, since I really am not involved with that business at all, but I would assume the materials already cost quite a lot. o.O

[tealmoonxiv.livejournal.com]

Fur can be $20-$35 a yard, and that's common colors.
Foam is often $30 a yard for just 1/4 inch thickness.

I don't know anything about resin.

[ansitru.livejournal.com]

A yard is almost a meter, right?

Then again, I wouldn't know how much would be needed for a fursuit. I was just wondering if the price for the partial was uncommonly low or not. o.O

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

yard is 3 feet c:

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

A yard is just over a meter. So the prices per meter would be roughly equivalent.

[fyremoon.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the lateness of the response but only noticed it today.

A metre (meter in the US) is 3.28 feet, often rounded to 3 feet 3 inches.

A yard is exactly 3 feet.

[clockmagic.livejournal.com]

I guess that depends where you shop as well. Most foam I see is $11 a yard for 1/2 inch thickness and fur if DF from $10-$22 a yard (but they not be the type they may or may not be using).

[tealmoonxiv.livejournal.com]

Last I looked none of DF's long pile fure was under $18.

And as an added note there are special super long furs that are over $60 a yard.

[taasla.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the biggest mistake was sending it as a gift as others have said. Not only is it against Paypal's ToS, but it also removes your ability to file a dispute.

I'm so sorry that this is happening to you. =\ It's a shame when hindsight is 20/20 and I hope she does get in contact with you.

[tealmoonxiv.livejournal.com]

A "Professional looking" site means nothing.

Anyone can set up a good looking website.

[autumnfrogger72.livejournal.com]

Agreed there.

[autumnfrogger72.livejournal.com]

Others have mentioned already about the money, so I won't repeat. All I can say is that I hope she gets into contact with you and gets her gear together. Sorry this happened to you. D:

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

Yeah D: I know what to do and what not to do based on reviews on sellers. If someone's happy with my work, so am I. Otherwise i'll work something out to a win-win.

$200 sounds cheap but i've done full suit commission for basically $200, since she looks semi-new at it I expected her to have all the same reasons as I had (I like what I do and back then I had free materials and cheaper means of making them, but no experience at all XD). I guess a website don't mean much, that's how I assumed she must be a professional or was more well-known than she truly is. I'm very new with the furry community -.o

-I make my own suits now and sell them, so I don't have much to feel too bad about now that I actually found an income stream I actually enjoy. So, yeah... I might ask for a refund or pics of work but that's the best I can do. XD

[clockmagic.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately she isn't new to this, she's been at it for a while now if you've seen how old her youtube videos are you can get an idea. I just hope she's a slow worker and aimply forgot to get back in contact with you.
$200 isn't cheap to me XD So yea if anything I just hope she refunds you.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

Thank you, it's good to know she's been at it for a while because I haven't found many threads or posts about her so far that looked bad (negative feedback and the like)- my guess is she's a slow worker and always has been my thought- though who knows what may be in store XD

[chesshiress.livejournal.com]

I found this really old thread about our commission fiasco and at the time was too embarrassed to comment.
I wanted to let you know that I finally responded to it, and I am still very sorry when I think about all I put you through to get that suit.
I'm really, really sorry. It was a learning experience I will not soon forget. It was my first time taking a commission from someone I didn't know. I'm never taking commissions from people I don't know ever again. It's just not worth the disappointment it causes the commissioner, plus I couldn't make part of the costume due to my inexperience.
I'd only made 4 fursuits and refurred 1, at the time. None of them have special padding anywhere. Just sandwich style gloves, which I thought I'd be making when I took the commission.

It's been 3 years and I still feel really bad and cringey about it. I've stuck to not taking commissions from people I don't already know; just because I -CAN- make fursuits, doesn't mean I should. I'm not a professional. It's a hobby, so I won't try to do it professionally. I'll stick to keeping it as a hobby for me to do for myself or with a friend. Again, I'm very, very sorry.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

My only main trouble was the loss of contact. Would be totally fine had you been around and asking for some help, I build fursuits and could always help. Even once a week to check in with new work or questions would have been a bit better! I still have the fursuit here, so yes I did receive it from you to prove your truth worthy in that aspect. The loss of contact was just what the trouble here was ^^;

Old thread, I know.

[chesshiress.livejournal.com]

This was my first time doing a commission for someone who was not a friend I already knew. I learned my lesson that just because I -CAN- make fursuits for others, doesn't mean I should. Not when life has potential to get in the way and delay, and not when I am so forgetful about responding. Not when it causes so much disappointment.

I have apologized, and while I finished the head, except for furring the jaw, I sent them everything. I sent the items I had completed, the incomplete gloves, the fur that had been ordered, and extra fursuit props. I also refunded back half of their payment, as the other half had been spent on materials (which, as I had added had all been mailed).
The commissioner was very happy with what had been completed.

I could not make the padded gloves that were requested. I tried and tried, and could not figure out how to make the pattern over them.

For the record, I would like to say that I had only made 5 fursuits at the time and all were personal except for one which was for a friend in Florida.

If I ever get a wild hair to sell fursuits (unless prefabricated), someone slap me, and don't take me up on it.

I have made one fursuit since then for a local friend that lives near me. She was able to be present through the process and assist in making it (she did the machine sewing, I did the hand sewing and made the head).

My sincerest apologies. I won't ever take fursuit comissions from people I don't know ever again. It's not worth the disappointment it causes them.