BEWARE: Fenrir's Child/Mordrude's Monsters fursuit commission

[canilupine.livejournal.com]

WHO: Fenrir's Child/Mordrude's Monsters

WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/fenrirschild/ http://www.furaffinity.net/user/mordrudesmonsters http://fenrirschild.deviantart.com/ http://www.mordrudesmonsters.com/

WHAT: Full fursuit commission

WHEN: First payment May 20, 2011, paid in full July 31, 2011. Fursuit head stolen early December 2012, refund received January 23, 2013.

PROOF: Paypal payments: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/SirFratley/Paypalscreen-1.jpg (Fen's real name blurred, all non-relevant transactions crossed out)
Initial Contact: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/SirFratley/InitialContact.png
Fen's old TOS: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/SirFratley/FensTOS.png
FA notes, kindly provided by Synwolf, showing proof of Fen's accusations that I stole the head:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/811/fenrisnotes1.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/547/fenrisnotes2.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/259/fenrisnotes3.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/829/fenrisnotes4.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/580/fenrisnotes5.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/255/fenrisnotes6.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/812/fenrisnotes7.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/fenrisnotes8.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/163/fenrisnotes9.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/90/fenrisnotes10.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/fenrisnotes11.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/fenrisnotes12.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/705/fenrisnotes13.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/fenrisnotes14.jpg/

EXPLAIN: I commissioned Fenrir's Child/Mordrude's Monsters for a full fursuit in 2011, with the original soft completion date of Rainfurrest 2011. We knew it was an ambitious target, so it wasn't disappointing when it wasn't done yet. Shortly after Rainfurrest 2011, there was some personal drama between myself and my ex best friend, which Fenrir's Child had inadvertently became involved with in other ways. Unknown to me at the time, this caused her to lose motivation to work on my fursuit. Several deadlines were set and missed. The first deadline after the drama was for January 2012, where I would pick up the fursuit for the When Furballs Strike 8 bowling meet in Kenmore, WA. When my wife and I went, the fursuit was not yet completed. The head was finished on the outside, but unwearable due to incomplete interior work.

Because of the delays, Fen had offered free upgrades to make up for the extended wait. I gladly accepted. Unfortunately, upgrades aren't any good unless you actually get the fursuit.

The next date was set for another When Furballs Strike meet in late May 2012. Again, the fursuit was not complete, with several months going by with absolutely no work done. The next completion date was set for Halloween 2012. Needless to say, it wasn't finished either. In November Fen had opened up for more commissions, and one of my closest friends had posted on her journal asking about my fursuit: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/SirFratley/Journalcomment.png Shortly after, Fen had finally come forward with why she had not been working on my fursuit this whole time, and offered a partial refund, which I politely declined because of financial troubles on her end: http://pastebin.com/k2PACa6X We decided to push for December completion.

In early December, it was discovered that my head was missing, believed stolen. We discussed various options, including her remaking a head if I don't dock her in reviews or I pay $300, I get the remainder of the suit plus a partial refund, or, least desireable, a full refund. However, she backed out of any agreements and said she will be refunding me, without any say in the matter, in 45 days from the date of the police report for the claimed theft. Here is the full chatlog from that conversation: http://pastebin.com/q1UbWVix

On the day the refund was due, she paid at 10 PM, without answering my emails or IMs asking what's going on, since it was getting late in the day and I still hadn't received my refund. Thankfully I did eventually find the refund in my paypal account, and our transaction is closed.

Throughout this entire ordeal, I have been as patient as humanly possible, when all my friends were saying I should be making a fuss and have posted her on A_B a long time ago. Before the head was stolen, even Fen agrees I've been extremely patient: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/SirFratley/FensaysImpatient.png This entire commission has been nothing but constant waiting and repeated disappointment. There were many times I had felt absolutely trapped. I wanted to speak up and say she was taking too long, but if I did, I feared she would rush and push out a sub-par product, or give up and refund me without even trying to finish it. When she backed out of our agreement to let me have the rest of the fursuit minus the head, the gloves came off.

While Fen's quality of work is extremely good, she simply lacks professionalism, basic business ethics, and the ability to complete large projects on time, allowing personal drama to interfere with her commissions. For small items such as tails, she would be a great builder to consider, but for anything more, I say Buyer Beware.

Edit: Updated the proof to include initial email and Fen's old TOS. Also fixed a typo that had been driving me nuts.
Edit 2: Added the FA notes between Synwolf and Fen, kindly provided by Synwolf.

Comments

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

I truly agree with you that if Fen wasn't going to refund Cani after the first initial wave of uncomfort (and take a smaller financial hit), that to turn around and just refund him anyway (a bigger hit since Fen claimed to lowball price the commission) and keeping the bodysuit is... odd.

But this whole situation was odd from the start, and just snowballed into something worse when the head vanished.

[lazer-the-hyena.livejournal.com]

Yep, but who knows. I guess if we see the body suit floating around the fandom then we know it got sold, otherwise, I guess only Fen really knows what she decided to do with it.

It's all dramatic and nonsensical to me.

[germanchoclates.livejournal.com]

Even then I have to wonder...if she didn't have money for a full refund, would she have even had the money to make a replacement head? That's assuming the fur magically still existed. On one hand it's better to just full refund to not have to have the commissioner have the problem of finding somebody who'd be willing to dry brush/ dye fur to match, but on the other to do the head means a smaller overall loss. Honestly there really wasn't a win for anyone involved regarding any scenario.

[lazer-the-hyena.livejournal.com]

I think really it should have been up to the customer to decide. If the replacement head wasn't an option I think the customer should decide if they want a full refund or the bodysuit and a partial refund. To me it's not proper business practice to force a full refund if the work has already been done and the customer has not done anything (like violate the TOS or harass the artist) to warrant a full refund

[jakejynx.livejournal.com]

So as an artist, if you had to cancel an image, for any reason, in the middle of drawing it--say it had missing limbs or something--if the customer wanted it, you'd be fine with handing out a subpar piece of art that they would show around in public and to their friends as an example of your work?

[lazer-the-hyena.livejournal.com]

That is not really the same thing. People wear suits with parts made from different makers all of the time. You simply credit the correct maker for the correct parts. I have tail and had paws from Lobita Worls and a pair of feet paws/legs from SavageTurtle studios (You should know XD) and have no issue crediting the proper artist for each piece. So, to me, it's no different to have a suit from one maker and a head from another.

What you are describing is more like someone taking a fursuit before the artist was able to trim the fur or secure the stitching or airbrush it or whatever finishing details, and then behaving as if the product they have is an accurate representation of the quality of work that the artist produces.

[jakejynx.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's hard to find an analogy that works, really. But as it was pointed out below, giving someone a bodysuit that can't possibly match a head is not something most makers would want to do. And Fen is apparently a perfectionist, which makes it understandable that she wouldn't want to put out something that will be subpar if complete. Plus, with all of the drama that came of it, people will see that suit and immediately think "oh, that's that suit..." I know I wouldn't want to give everyone a public reminder of a horrible situation that was surrounding my work. That's negative publicity, really, and I think it's pretty smart to avoid it.

And when you're in public in a suit, you don't really want to say "well, X made the head, and Y made the feet, and Z made the paws and Q made the bodysuit, which doesn't match the head because the fur wasn't available..." Granted, that's the commissioner's thing to deal with, but it's a hassle, and maybe it should just be avoided altogether.

I dunno, I'm just kind of saying that... the work that fursuit makers put out always reflects back on them. I think it's alright that the maker holds the power when it comes to deciding what sort of work they're willing to showcase to the public.

[lazer-the-hyena.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I agree to an extent but I feel it's pretty crappy for the buyer who has waited over a year for a product that they did not get when they could have at least had SOMETHING for all of their patience and time.

I guess I've just been burned by fursuit makers too many times and so I tend to lean towards feeling that a customer who has, in essence, done nothing wrong, should get a product to show for their time.

Ah well, differing opinions and all! =D I think we all see things our own way and I'm fine with that. I mean, I can see some of your points, as a maker, in wanting the best possible representation of your work, but I can also see how Cani probably felt about giving someone 16 months of your time, and endless patience, only to end up with nothing to show for it. (I've been through that situation except I didn't even get my money back.. e_e'')

[jakejynx.livejournal.com]

Yeeeeah, I totally agree with you about that. It really sucks that they waited THAT long and then had nothing to show for it. I think that's the main issue, though, is how long the wait was, rather than the whole refund vs. finish it thing. Even if she had given him the bodysuit, it probably still deserved an AB post just because of the issue with the drama delays and all. That whole situation was unprofessional.

[lazer-the-hyena.livejournal.com]

Very much so.. D=

I think another point someone brought up that I agree on is this: Fen offered to make a 2nd pair of paws as an apology for the extended wait time, so in essence, I believe that Cani should have at least been given the 2nd set of paws, since that was made as an apology for the long wait time which certainly didn't reverse itself once the refund was given.

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

This is something I could actually agree with, since Fenrir seems hellbent on using the amount of upgrades she put into that bodysuit as evidence of her trying to make it up to Cani, but as he only got his money back and no items period, that defense rang terribly hollow.

[lazer-the-hyena.livejournal.com]

Agreed. You can't bring up free upgrades that you made as an apology that the commissioner didn't even get to have, since that makes it a pretty moot point.

[taasla.livejournal.com]

The thing is another builder DID have some of the fur and did offer to give it to her, but I do understand if Fen was frankly tired of the whole situation. Especially if their home area had been invaded like that.

[ninkit.livejournal.com]

IIRC, reading that fursuit head thread on FA Mord agreed to someone suggesting that she kept the bodysuit and preferred to give a refund to avoid being tied to the client for repairs and such. Many artists don't like to have their product 'finished' by someone else (new head made by someone etc). I think the artist is within their right to that. Especially if the fur is not able to be purchased.

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Many artists don't like to have their product 'finished' by someone else (new head made by someone etc).

If Cani were to go to any other maker to get the work finished, the contract for repaired could have been voided. Or instead of throwing out the idea that Cani take a bribe of a free head for positive reviews, she could have asked he not come to her for repair work.

While Fenrir did indeed have ever right to refund, their behavior regarding this whole thing was appalling (the wait time she admitted was her fault, posting suit pictures saying she'd been accused of destroying the whole costume, not stopping the wild assumptions that the OP stole the head, insisting they're in the right due to X amount of money they put into suit upgrades, etc.) and Cani having his money back only is a poor, poor resolution after all she's done.

Its as simple as that, which is why the beware is here.

[ninkit.livejournal.com]

Mm. That's fair, I agree.