Beware: Frosted-Starlight

[melissar1.livejournal.com]

WHO: Frosted-Starlight

WHERE: http://frosted-starlight.deviantart.com/

WHAT: Foam fursuit head base.

WHEN: September 2012 and ongoing 'til now.

PROOF:
http://i.imgur.com/P1UsCO2.png - Beginning of notes exchange
http://i.imgur.com/l3vcJ4q.png
http://i.imgur.com/asILquc.png
http://i.imgur.com/Z5xJ5CU.png - End of notes from July 2nd, 2013
http://i.imgur.com/3QuL4bV.png - PayPal transaction
http://sta.sh/21j4gex4xqvv - Fursuit head WIPs

EXPLAIN:

Back in September, 2012, I've contacted Frosted-Starlight to fix up the foam base of my fursuit.  She accepted to fix it up, so I sent her $45.00 through PayPal in October, 2012.  In December, I've sent her a note on deviantArt to check up on the progress, and she's told me that it's going well and she came out of a big family issue and that she will work on it right away.  I asked when it'd be finished and she said it would be finished by within the next week. Some time goes by without any update and I sent her another note, asking for updates on my head and she says it's coming along well (again) and says it's actually ready to be shipped out (it wasn't).  She sent me some WIPs and I wanted her to fix up some things before shipping it out to me.  She accepted the changes and I waited for that to finish.  More time goes by and I am becoming more impatient.  I sent her another note in May, 2013, and she's given me another excuse saying she can't work with sharp objects unattended and asked if she should send back my head.  I told her I would give her more time to work on my head, if she still wanted to.  She accepted to continue working on my head.  More time goes by and I sent her another note, asking for more WIP shots and updates on my head, she said I will receive them on Friday (July 5th, 2013) and I haven't.  I am upset that I've been waiting for almost a year for my fursuit foam head to get fixed up.  I am also upset with the excuses I've been given..

Comments

[piplup.livejournal.com]

They kept offering to send it back to you. It sounds like they're going through some messed up stuff. You should've just asked for it to be returned to you.

[vauvakolibri.livejournal.com]

I agree with piplup, if someone excuses their lack of work with that they aren't allowed to be near sharp objects unattended, no matter whether I'd think it's true or not, I'd take the head back and would have asked for a partial refund, both out of courtesy towards the artist and for the sake of myself.
If the excuse is true, then they are likely going through a serious issue in their life, and if you suspect they're lying then you'd be better off to move your business elsewhere anyway.

Also they mark their age as 14-18 meaning that they're probably underage and generally I wouldn't do business transactions like this with younger kids anyway since they usually may lack the needed professionalism and experience (like, leaving the head to other parent's house).

I'd suggest you just go and ask them to send the head back.

[sableantelope.livejournal.com]

I'm curious, do you think the OP should ask for the original shipping cost, as they still have unfinished foam work at the end of this, to be refunded or do you think the work that the artist did do negates the cost the OP paid to send the head in the first place?

It does sound like a case of buyer beware as the artist is likely underage, or at least their girlfriend is so I'm hoping they are as well. :P and that age range is not something I think a 18+ person would use. I think that'd be the first question I asked when it came to working with a fursuit builder if their age was not obvious- but I guess the lower prices some younger builders charge can be awfully tempting.

Also it's kind of weird that this person is a fursuit builder in NS and don't seem involved in the fandom at all. We are a small population and small province and tend to be a very tight knit group. Our suit builders or even refurbishers are very few.

[vauvakolibri.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not sure if I can give a very good answer to that since I'm not sure exactly how work with foam bases go and what exactly is the situation with the builder, but I'd think that if the builder used the money to buy foam and such supplies, she'd send those along the head and pay the shipping so they can be used by another builder (I'm assuming here since at least I've seen such be done in other fursuit cases so it might apply) or the head and partial refund and shipping since technically this would be the commissioner cancelling (even though the cancelling would be done from a legitimate reason).