Advice : Worth reopenning communications?

[savriti.livejournal.com]

Way back in 2010, one of my friends needed a bit of help and was saying she was unsure if she should open up commissions. I told her if she did, I'd get some art off of her. (Unfortunately, half of those logs went missing). We smoothed out the final details, sent the money on its way, and I saw a half-inked WIP by the end of the month.

And then, nothing. We lost contact, despite having each other's contact information.

I waited, and waited, and was contacted in early 2012 by the artist, apologizing and saying she had meant to send it to me physically, but she never got my address. I didn't remember asking for that, but told her I would be back in touch with her in a while, since I was about to move and didn't know my exact address at the time. She agreed, and I emailed her after a bit when I finally had everything smoothed out and ready to go. Of course, I made it clear that I would be happy with scans if she had done it physically, or just a copy of the final image sent. No response.

I recently found her Tumblr, where she's been posting art and commissions done. A quick skim says that mine hasn't been touched on, even after all this time, though it could be due to it not being recent art.

What complicates this is that she's still friends with someone who used to be a mutual friend (Person C), but that ended in a ball of messy drama. Considering Person C is far more in touch with them, I'm not sure if it's worth going after my commission at this point.

AB, I need help. Money spent is money spent, but should I just keep as I've done and chalk it up as a loss and avoid the potential problems by talking to them again, or poke them again even though it's been another two years, and risk opening a can of worms?

Comments

[mazz.livejournal.com]

I would contact them privately and not even mention the past drama with the 3rd person and ask if you could at least have scans of your completed commissions. It's not a difficult request if the art is actually completed.

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

i second this. and if they give you guff or act strange in response to your inquiry, you may just have to call it a wash and consider the money you gave them an "i know better than that now" tax.

[eveshka.livejournal.com]

Well... what's your $$ amount? $5 is worthy of letting go, but $500 is an entirely different matter. Clearly it is enough to bug you, but perhaps not enough to be a huge painful loss?

I agree that money spent is money spent... but value the potential for drama against the amount of money involved. (Yeah, we're back to that $5 vs $500 issue.) I've walked away from $50 to save myself the hours of drama.

Put this another way: What do you get paid per hour? (If you aren't employed, use minimum wage.) Are the hours of likely drama equal to or greater than the monetary loss? Walk away. If not, well, then you might consider chasing this down.

Personally, though, I'd walk. Two years and a potential for drama are too rich for my blood.

[dinogrrl.livejournal.com]

I second mazz's suggestion. Contact them one more time, leave the 3rd party out of it, and hopefully they'll get some form of the finished art to you. If not, it really comes down to your personal preference. All things considered--the friendship, the art, the money, the principle of the thing--how far do you want to take it? We can't answer that for you.

Edited to fix the user name tag.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

What complicates this is that she's still friends with someone who used to be a mutual friend (Person C), but that ended in a ball of messy drama. Considering Person C is far more in touch with them, I'm not sure if it's worth going after my commission at this point.

Unless Person C is actually involved in your commission, I fail to see the relevance of this. An artist's friends typically should not intimidate you, and if you act professionally, it's on them if they are rude to you.