BEWARE: Pirate-Cashoo

[radiocatastrophe]

WHO: PirateCashoo (FA)/(DA)







WHERE: Furaffinity/Gmail







WHAT: I ordered a HQ Colored Fullbody of x2 Characters







WHEN: I sent the initial email with details on August 31th 2012

PROOF: Commission Journal - Notes - Emails - Paypal Payment

EXPLAIN: I discovered Cashoo through A_B and decided to give her a go since her past cases were resolved and thought she'd changed, I saw she was looking for some help to raise money for her first months rent and decided to jump on the deal. After discussing details with my boyfriend I went ahead and sent her the email as well as the payment of $185 plus another $20 for the detail background after finally hearing from her on the 9th of September, then on the 13th of October she requested yet another $20 for props (his guitar) I told her if things went well with my other commissions I'd pay it off to her.

After my last email which was sent on the 14th of October I sent another on the 19th of November asking how she was doing and how the commission was coming along (I also sent an email during some down time on FA on 09/10/12) with no response until I sent another email on November 23rd after reading her latest beware here, I let her know how I felt about the emails she was sending and didn't want my commission experience to end up like this and suggested that she try to show her customers that she is working on their commissions through private or public live streams, talk to me about a deadline she could meet (which we never did), or even update me again on any progress on my commission. From her response it felt like she didn't even read or understand my email to her and began to ramble about things that weren't even relevant to the email. She told me she'd give a more thought out and thorough reply, which I never got and I continued to pester her on the same day she sent me the email responding to mine and then on every month since this year started - Jan 7th, Feb 5th, and March 3rd with nothing back from her.

EDIT #1: Corrected a typo and adding a screenshot of my latest email to her after posting on her Deviant Art page stating that I had posted her here and would be emailing her soon.
From Me: Email - 03/22/13

EDIT #2: I'd like to add that I am considering a chargeback or following the flock of those wanting to contact Paypal together to get them to look into what she's doing (or rather not doing) and getting her to either complete our commissions(?) or give us all refunds to the work she has not completed. An Email regarding my previous post to this edit.

Comments

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

You know, it just seems like the second she figures out her sob stories aren't going to work anymore she just drops the client into silence and hopes they'll go away eventually.

Really, I'm surprised no one's gathered a law suit on her.

[ainoko-ironrose.livejournal.com]

Holy...

Is this a record for an artist?

Getting 6 A_B entries that is?

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Starfinder currently has 10 on her tag, but there were more before she pulled the "take down the entry or you won't get your art/ money".

[ainoko-ironrose.livejournal.com]

Ah, and talk about blackmail. Honestly, I would have reposted the beware after I got my art

[thecreativepen.livejournal.com]

It says she has 30 uses of the username when you scroll over the tag.

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

I don't know if Doe posted this but this wall of text was posted to her by Cashoo after requesting a refund:

"I have not been ignoring you, I promise. I apologize that I have not replied to you as soon as either of us would prefer, but believe it or not I have a lot of messages to get back to...especially with the backlog that has built up since January thru February when I had little-to-no Internet connection, and when I did it was extremely weak which made it rather difficult to successfully send messages & e-mails. And we don't have anything like Starbucks here that has free WiFi, sadly.
Up until Thursday night this week I've been bed-riddenly sick -- nothing lame like the cold or flu mind you, this is physically crippling -- while a friend has been briefly checking my incoming messages daily on their phone for me so I have an idea of what's been going on. It's the same sickness I had back in January, and I've come down with it multiple times in the past couple of years. Numerous doctor visits have told me it's anemia of some sort, but it's been inconclusive sadly...I am almost certain it's stress-induced.
In any case, on December 5th 2012 you were happy to work with me and see whatever upcoming progress, and you told me that you were sure the wait will be worth it...plus, I have offered compensation of a free sketch or icon after I complete your current commission. Also, if I've already started your commission I cannot give you a refund (plus I REALLY like the subject matter you gave me -- it's been one I've reeeally brainstormed & sketched upon). I genuinely, deeply apologize for the -embarrassingly- long wait, but I have never said or done anything to imply my intentions are deceptive whatsoever. The past two months of my life have literally been the most challenging, painful, and mentally & physically draining on my entire being that my existence has yet to experience. Regardless, I have been doing my absolute best to reply & send WIPs as fast as my hands can type & draw. I have great difficulty getting to sleep at night these days, but as long as I'm awake I make sure I make productive use of my time no matter what. I understand how important it is that I remain responsive to all of my customers, contrary to what many may think.
It has been only 2 weeks since I got my Internet set up, and so many people are displeased that I have not replied to them fast enough. There's still a decent amount of unread e-mails to get through, and I'm doing my best to stay in chronological order. If someone has e-mailed me and not received a reply, that simply means I have not reached it yet. Up until 2013, I had a pretty bad habit in which I would not reply to a customer unless I had a WIP to show them. I had always felt bad sending a message empty-handed, but late last year I really realized what a detrimental effect that had on both the customer, myself, and my relationship with them.
In any case, I don't have a single dollar in my account and what little I had left went to my rent bill, which was due today by the absolute latest. I was told that if I don't pay my rent in FULL today, my application will be sent to my landlord's attorney and I will be evicted. I only had a couple hundred dollars today, and by some miracle I convinced my landlord I could pay the rest early Monday morning. Otherwise, without question, I WILL be evicted from my home...and I don't have parents to fall back onto or friends to live with temporarily either.

ANYWAY~ I hope I don't sound crazy or too out of line...my intentions are nothing but genuine, and as a pacifist I just want to peacefully compromise with everyone in a way in which we can all win. Conflict can be very contagious and so unnecessary, and on top of that it makes me physically ill. I simply cannot emphasize the magnitude of my apologies for not getting back to you and a decent group of incredibly patient individuals sooner and more efficiently. I haven't slept for 2 days though, so I'm gonna go to bed now... goodnight~"

[deejthistle.livejournal.com]

She needs to accept that she's cried wolf one too many times for anyone to believe and/or sympathize with her.

In any case, on December 5th 2012 you were happy to work with me and see whatever upcoming progress, and you told me that you were sure the wait will be worth it

Her whole tone here. Just...

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Like I said in the last post about her, that line just rubs me especially the wrong way. December 5th wasn't yesterday; it was over three months ago.

[duster.livejournal.com]

What part of her brain translated "how is my commission coming along?" to "write a five paragraph essay about your personal life issues this week."

No wonder she has no time to work on commissions, she's too busy crafting novels of excuses.

[yuki li (from livejournal.com)]

She's working on becoming not only an artist, but a fiction author :D

[kyotosorae.livejournal.com]

She can also be found in bad-dragon, offering commissions...
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag143/Kyotosorae/cashooisalsoinbad-dragonnow_zpsc9247fc9.png?t=1363936570

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

Yeah I saw that on her deviant art (in the comments) and the latest Beware on her before mine. :/

EDIT: http://indram.deviantart.com/art/Pirate-is-right-347555976

Why?

[royal-poet.livejournal.com]

I am so sad to read that this happened. What I don't understand is why you trusted someone that was already on A_B with such a large sum of money. The next time you pay upwards of 150 dollars for a commission insist the payment be split into two parts, one part to be paid upfront and the rest after delivery of the product. That way there is an incentive for the artist to finish the piece.

Usually, by the time you are in this price region for personal commissions almost any artist will agree to that. If they don't and they don't have a good track record, don't place the commission.

Seriously, if Cashoo refused that she can't have needed money that badly. Half the agreed money would have still been a considerable bit of cash in the hand for someone with that kind of problem.

Anyway, I am sorry you made this experience. One thing you can try to do is to send a money order through paypal with the notice you will take legal action against her if it isn't paid til a certain date. However, seeing her state of affairs it seems unlikely she will be able to refund you.

Now, if someone could tell that girl to actually draw and not send her clients textwall apology emails. I'd rather receive a small progress update with "Sorry it's taking forever" than some sob story.

Re: Why?

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

The commission is near completion, the only thing left is for the characters to be colored/detailed @_@;

As I said before I wanted to give her a benefit of a doubt, I even paid off her paypal fees (which I know now is against their policy) so I was really hoping she changed and would stick to her word on this as the only beware I saw on her was the first one. :P

Re: Why?

[anastasia-gg.livejournal.com]

"near completion" So there's only another year to to go then? lol

And you too? I'm so sorry to hear about this... It's just getting worse and won't stop until people stop hiring her.

Bad thing is, I always tip the artists I work with, and I was more than willing to send her a hefty one upon completion, but not after everything that happened. :( And that kind of made me feel bad even though it shouldn't have.

Re: Why?

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vtyfbzk6l2lf4kj/radiocatastropheWIP1.png

x-x That's my last WIP I got from her other than the sketch, all that's left is to clothe my character and color them booth (maybe some added detail to the background) I really just want it done as we were wanting to hang this in our home :(

Re: Why?

[anastasia-gg.livejournal.com]

Oh wow.... I know how frustrating it is to see some work started and never finished, though... I had my "partially colored" sketch for seemingly ever... She even got on livestream, did half and it was another few months before she finished again! It seems like she starts on them and then tosses them aside and works on someone elses instead of just finishing them and getting them off of her plate. :( As a graphic designer myself, I couldn't imagine having this work ethic - my clients would never come back.

Re: Why?

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, I take issue with your blaming of RadCatastrophe on this.

There are many people who are wrongfully posted on A_B or have thoroughly apologized and changed their ways, and the OP hoped that Cashoo was one of them. Additionally an artist shouldn't need "incentive" to finish the piece if they are ethical and any good business person. If the artist doesn't do the half-and-half payment option on large projects, then it's rude (IMO) to try to negotiate for that as well unless they state that they do payment plans.

Re: Why?

[thecreativepen.livejournal.com]

Fact. I'm open to the idea of payment plans IF it is a large project, but other than that, nope. It's okay to ask (since every commission is different), but insisting on it after the fact is rude. Besides, if you aren't comfortable with sending hundreds of dollars up front to an artist you may have doubts on, it might be a good idea to just not commission then.

Also, you're totally right. No one should have to essentially bribe an artist to get them to finish work. A tip is a thank you for a job well done, not bait to get them to bite and finish the work.

Re: Why?

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

I would have been more than willing to ask her about payment plans if I was more intuned to the norms of commissioning art, as this was around the time I was still paying off artists paypal fees before learning I can have my account shut down or investigated for such an action.

I usually ask artists with normal rates like this to do a half and half as I've done this with many after Cashoo, I've also encountered artists who won't take any cash until they complete my commission so they feel more inclined to do work (it's a good strategy for lazy bums!).

Re: Why?

[thecreativepen.livejournal.com]

Well, at least this was a lesson learned, albiet in a tough way. Not blaming you at all for how you handled this, since she appeared to have a grip on things at the time you commissioned her.

At least you're able to do more to protect your money after this! I really hope she's able to buck up and finish your commission (honestly looks like just a few hours more is needed), or by some miracle you're able to get refunded.

Re: Why?

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

I really do hope that she finishes it, it looks lovely and I'd be a bit upset if I had to get another artist to finish it off - as I don't have the money for it atm and it'd make me feel bad for getting another artist to draw over her work.

This commission wasn't only for my boyfriend and I but to help her out with moving and her first months rent, so with all this it makes me wonder what her situation truly is.

Re: Why?

[thecreativepen.livejournal.com]

After reading all her bewares, I really have little faith in her money woes. With what she charges, her monthly rent (she posted about it in a journal), and the amount of interest into her work, I really think she's spending the money in ways she shouldn't be spending it, because she's clearly bringing in a lot.

It really just seems like a bunch of lies and excuses to make a quick buck. She's never provided proof of any of her claims.

Re: Why?

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Legally speaking, you wouldn't be able to pay someone to finish it off anyway, which is a real shame. It looks like it will be lovely once she manages to finish it.

(frozen) Re: Why?

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

Screening this comment as we do not allow users to plug themselves in our community nor do we encourage copyright infringement.

(frozen) Re: Why?

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

I'll give her til my deadline of April 22nd before I take you up on your offer. Thank you ^^

Op.. Nevermind, just noticed mod post

(frozen) Re: Why?

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Again, as Taasla and Shuki have both said, you really can't have another artist go in and finish or rework the commission, as the art is STILL Cashoo's copyright.

Re: Why?

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

As a mod I have to disagree here - They aren't "Wrongfully posted" considering each post has to meet a very specific criteria to even get past the moderators. If the people being posted didn't do anything wrong, they wouldn't be up here or warned about. Just had to throw in my two cents.

But I digress, if there is someone wrongfully posted here, then by all means tell me who it is in private and we can discuss it, but I simply just don't agree with that at all.

Re: Why?

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

Maybe my wording was wrong... I was thinking of the posts where it is spun in favor of the OP, only for the artist/commissioner to come in and say "actually... this is how it went down" and have the case proven to be full of exaggerations, etc.

[sapphistscot.livejournal.com]

I noticed that on her Livestream channel (http://www.livestream.com/zombiebooty) she's disabled the chat function to 'prevent distractions'. Prevent people being informed of her atrocious record is more like it.

(frozen)

[sapphistscot.livejournal.com]

Wait, she's saying whoever has the gmail address is fake and not her? What e-mail address was she contacting you with?

(frozen)

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

A beware'd person's email addresses are censored for a reason, please don't go asking for them.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

Screening this due to it containing her email addresses.

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

Sorry :x
I only remembered the cashoopirate email and not her actual email being in there.

[novemb3r.livejournal.com]

she seems very active in her livestream channel, so perhaps commissioners could attempt to contact her there? she currently doesn't have it set to moderator-only like she did the other day.

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

I have it up but I can never seem to catch it live :P

[novemb3r.livejournal.com]

and it appears she has set her livestream chat back to moderator only.

editing to include a comment she left in the stream:

"ohhh my GOODNESS there is just simply never NOT any messages that need replying. My fingers are on fire today...I swear I see burnmarks on my keyboard."

[mekania.livejournal.com]

I know it is against copyright laws and not legal at all but at this point I couldn't care any less

Uhhh wow. No matter what this artist did to you that is really not cool.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

"I know I've been talking about getting another artist to complete the work lately, and I know it is against copyright laws and not legal at all but at this point I couldn't care any less,..."

This is an inappropriate addition to your post. Please remove it ASAP. Artists_Beware neither condones nor promotes copyright violation, no matter what the artist has done (or failed to complete).

If you still wish to choose this course of action, I urge you to contact Cashoo and request that they officially grant you and your back-up artist permission to complete the work.

[kerstin-orion.livejournal.com]

I apologize; that should have been a new comment, not a reply to you, mekania.

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

Said efforts to get a hold of her even for this would end up fruitless, but I'll do it just to see. I'm not trying to look like a bad guy despite that post (which is now removed) but I'm going to stand by it even if what the artist did/didn't do does not condone it - also please don't assume that I would do this to any artist, if I went ahead and did this without addressing those telling me not to no one would think any differently of me than they did before said post. I just felt the need to tell those warning me that I know and heed their warnings but this was a gift for my boyfriend and I so I would like to see it completed than partially finished with the rest of the money towards it going to waste.

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

I see what you're getting at and what you mean by what this work is suppose to mean to you and your SO, but please try to get a response from Cashoo. Tell her you're dissatisfied and feel as if she will not finish your work in a timely fashion; therefore you've foind an artist willingly to finish what she will not, and you want permission to get it done.

She either gives you A) permission or B) the work and has a week to do so.

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

I've updated my post with an email asking for permission to have another artist complete the work, (as well as a partial refund for what she hasn't done), or having her meet the deadline I gave in the previous email (also listed in the post), I've also let her know about the paypal dispute that some of her commissioners will be participating in to try and get their money back or at least her account investigated.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Wow. But "not cool" on OP for willingly going ahead to say they'd get someone to finish Cashoos prior work despite knowing it's wrong to do so. That's not a smart move. Don't turn this into a beware on yourself.

You're in dangerous territory with that decision. I would absolutely not work with you or anyone else who so willingly commits copyright infringement, and I would hope other artists would steer clear of you, if you disregard such things.

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

FA Admin Bazeel has banned Pirate-Cashoo on FA.

He attempted to contact her and work out an amicable solution, but she did not do what she was asked, and did not respond after a series of communication. She was given more than enough time (over a month actually!) to comply with what she was asked to do, and refused to do so.

She is welcome back on FA after she has had significant progress in finishing artwork, NOT taken on a bunch more to make up for it, and has a public queue.

I'm posting this on her related unresolved posts in case word isn't out about her ban and it's contingency.

[radiocatastrophe (from livejournal.com)]

We've called Paypal today (05/23/13) and they've refunded the second transaction for the detailed background ($20) and told us to call our bank to have the rest refunded!

I'm very glad things worked out so well, better luck with future commissions.

[hrafnsauga.livejournal.com]

great news! I'm happy to hear this!

[bluechinalamp.livejournal.com]

Good to see more people spreading the word about this. I tried commissioning her back in October of a bust and never heard back from her. (I even remember her saying if I "threw in a few extra dollars that'd be great" umm...no?)

There's been a serious outbreak on her and loads of people have been putting in complaints on her (I'm surprised she hasn't gotten an ED article yet seeing she's ripped off over 50 commissioners.) I got lucky since mine was just $20 but I've been tons of people put in over $300 or more and never got anything back. It's just horrible...and even her fans are starting to realize this now...I really hope she grows up and apologizes to everyone and (hopefully) refunds everyones money.)