do we harras people here?

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

I had made the mistake of not being the blackhearted uber bitch when it came to payment. I had made a stuffed animal for "avalik" Adele Johneson. I had contacted her a few times and I felt bad because she claimed to had been hospitalized from things like Overdosing on medication or cancer. I felt a bit bad for going "yeh ok where is my money" last time I contacted her was possibly 5 months ago and that was "oh i lost your address"

now I find she no longer goes on line and who I thought was her pops up, I assumed I gave a non threatening "oh hay you are back. remember you bought that hippo from me"
then I found out its her girlfriend.

I was nice I wasn't mean I wasn't "if you don't pay up I'm going to crack your kneecaps" I think thats what I shold do from now on.

so now I am being accused of harassment by going "ok well I will send my address so I can reserive payment or she can use paypal" I Possibly cannot even mail a letter because then i'd get a restraining order.

for what? asking to be payed for a stuffed animal I made someone? GO call the cops someone wants free crap from an artist!

email adress should I share? karmachamelleon@hotmail.com

copypaste from today's convo

[17:33] danjhnaiyho: the gil or the girlfriend?
[17:33] Avalik: Adele doesn't come online anymore
[17:33] Avalik: Would you stop harassing her
[17:33] Avalik: Fuck.
[17:33] danjhnaiyho: why dosen't she?
[17:34] Avalik: She just doesn't
[17:34] Avalik: I don't know.
[17:34] danjhnaiyho: fine i guess it was my fault for not being more assertive in payment
[17:35] *** "Avalik" signed off at Fri Feb 15 17:35:12 2008.
[17:35] *** "Avalik" signed on at Fri Feb 15 17:35:36 2008.
[17:36] danjhnaiyho: ok well i wll remind people be assetrive or black list you and her from commsions
[17:37] Avalik: Okay go ahead
[17:38] danjhnaiyho: why do you think asking for payment for a comission is harrasment?
[17:39] danjhnaiyho: its not like I'm hounding he for bieng gay or something. she orderd a stuffd animal for her and I made it then i felt bad because she told me she had cancer or something
[17:39] Avalik: Look up definition of harassment
[17:40] danjhnaiyho: ok then where can i contact anyone else
[17:40] danjhnaiyho: she had lost my address so she couldn't repay me
[17:43] Avalik: I suppose you could send her mail, but if you keep contacting her she could put restraining order on you.
[17:45] danjhnaiyho: fine tell her to put a restrainting order on me
[17:45] Avalik: If you would contact her, I mean, keep doing so.
[17:45] Avalik: Anyways...
[17:45] Avalik: I'm just going to go now
[17:45] Avalik: Cause I'm not on here to talk to you.

Comments

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

I don't think trying to talk to her girlfriend is the way to go. Your business is with Avalik and you shouldn't really try to involve other people in what should just be between you and the customer.

I'm sorry to hear that the person hasn't paid you for your work. But just remember to stay professional about it and do what is reasonable to try to get your payment. I don't think threats about black listing help the situation, for what it's worth.

Goodluck getting a hold of her directly!

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

I was, she 'took over her girlfriends' account. Avalik blocked me on her DA page even

[taasla.livejournal.com]

So you sent her a message on AIM and instead of being her, it was her girlfriend?

I think you should write it off and just warn people about her. In the future, though, I would advise as Sunhawk and not threaten about blacklisting etc until it is your very last option.

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

she dosen't care. I guess I can try some snooping and warn. I guess I should of used warn and not blacklist.

but yeh. I need to find others who have worked with her in the past.

[grygon.livejournal.com]

sell the stuffed animal on furBID. forget about her. at least it wasn't a drawing and you didn't email her a jpg before getting paid.

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

she has it ans has had it sence june she did get it and now trying to duck out of paying

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

Oooouch, never ever send anything before getting at least partial payment -- in this case the art supplies you mention in a reply below. This should be rule one with artists dealing with customers. It's not that I don't have sympathy for your situation, but this should go be obvious for someone who's been doing commissions for a while, like yourself. (I'd heard that you have, anyway.)

Anyway, best of luck. :/

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Are you sure this is even her friend?
Maybe she's just on under another name to avoid having to pay you?

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

maybe. but like i said. i saw her pop up on line after a hiatues from october or longer, then i got the 'this isnt adele what is your problem"?

this makes me want to make a comic about a shoplifter go calls the cops for harrasment :P

[fatkraken.livejournal.com]

haha, she's taking the piss. I'd love to be the policeman/magistrate who gets that request:

"I'd like to take out a restraining order"

"OK, what has the person been doing?"

"I bought a toy hippo from them and they keep politely asking to be PAID, over the internet"

"............."

advice? Well the IM conversation, while not harassment was unnecessarily snarky, especially since it didn't actully involve the person who owed you money. Though I suspect that the "girlfriend" (if it's not just the comissioner hiding under an alias) is being deliberately evasive; who knows SO little about their significant other. In any case, I would wait a week, send a very polite form e-mail to the comissioner, wait another week, and if nothing comes through, talk to this person again.

Write exactly what you want to say before hand, keeping it extremely polite and professional, and copy/paste it in sections into the IM. I would advise something like this:

"Hello (lady), this is (me). I've attempted to contact (comissioner) with no luck. I apologise for bothering you again, but I have no other means of collecting the (money) I'm owed, I have been trying for 2 weeks. If you could pass on my address to (comissioner) I'd really appreciate it, as the iten has already been recieved (if it has) and I need to collect payment for it."

If that leads to nothing, I'd just give up and go ahead and blacklist.

[aaaamory.livejournal.com]

I don't think contacting people who know the person who owes you is very good at all. If you become a 'nuisance' to the people who know the buyer, asking them to do favors for you, that is way out of line. COLLECTION COMPANIES DON'T EVEN DO THIS.

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

uh no shes been on my contact list a bit before may from last year she'd leave the internet for 3 or 4 months at a time, each with a new story, this time its 'i'm her girlfriend adele no longer uses the internet"
anyone want to call her lame for not getting her own account on DA?(yes she is posting messages)

[snapesgirl34.livejournal.com]

If demanding to be paid is "harassment" and you can take out restraining orders against said people I would think that everyone would then have restraining orders against credit card companies and billing agencies. XD

[fix-the-spade.livejournal.com]

Four very important words: Payment in advance only.


If you've still got the furry animal, sell it to someone else and be done with it.
Based on that conversation and the messages you were given about hospitalisations. They were probably out to sccam you from the beginning, or weren't serious about their commision. Either way it sounds unlikely that you'll get your money from this person.

My experience is don't deal with people who won't talk money from the outset.

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

orginanly we were going to trade art supplys for it.long story short "can't find the fabercastells and now i no longer use the internet but my girlfriend now uses my DA account and MSN messanger and email"

[thrivis.livejournal.com]

Does her 'girlfriend' happen draw and talk just like her too? :P

Can't help but wonder if this is one of those fabricated personalities that conveniently inherits everything.

[delphinios.livejournal.com]

Like a lot of people here, I agree with threatening to blacklist being a tactic only after you've written off the commission.

However, in most places there are provisions in the laws allowing for contact during "reasonable attempts to collect a debt". You *can* call her every so often, mail her a bill or invoice, and email/IM her to inquire about payment as long as you don't do so excessively.

A bit of googling should tell you what the law defines as 'reasonable' attempts to contact you, but generally it's one phone call a week and one mailed letter every two weeks (email and IM are still legally grey, so I wouldn't use those if possible). It is highly unlikely for her to prove harassment enough to get a restraining order for that kind of contact.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

I think that if you couldn't have gotten in touch with her at the begining, just sell the plush on furbid.
This is another instance of taking the money first before you do anything on a commissions.

You have to always remember to stay professional, even if these folks piss you off. When money is involved, even if it is less than a 100 you have to remember that civility is a must if you to conduct a good business and have both parties coming away from the transation in a postive light. Even if the commissioner does get rude, or snippy or demanding, grit your teeth and think about the most santized and patient way possible that you would like to discuss the transaction. If this person had said before hand that she didn't want the plush, you should have just said, "Ok then. Thanks, sorry for what ever is keeping you from paying for this. I'll be selling this on furbid to recoup my losses."

[kuwaizair.livejournal.com]

i was stupid and sent before money she wanted it. should of know that if someone wants to commission me then something is very wrong with the situation