Artist Beware: LoserDoge/Demonic-Fag

[zielomizu.livejournal.com]

WHO: LoserDoge on DA, Demonic-Fag on FA, lozerdoge on tumblr

WHERE: They seem to do most of their commissions through LoserDoge on DA

WHAT: $8 for a digital flatcolor, and a digital 'journal doll'

WHEN: First note sent + replied to on April 25th 2014, payment sent same day, first sign of trouble May 3rd

PROOF: 1st Note, Payment Date, Personal Work Since Payment, Proof of Personal Work Date, 2nd Note, 3rd Note, 1st Submission Date, 4th Note, Dispute Date

EXPLAIN: I found LoserDoge on DA and had a little extra money, so I decided to commission them. I sent the first note on April 25th which was quickly replied to, and I sent the payment the same day.

I waited around through the week waiting for my commission, while watching them draw and post a lot of personal artwork. I sent my second note on May 3rd to ask why they hadn't worked on either of my commissions yet. They said that they would be gone for the weekend and that they might work on my commissions the next week, saying they were "just a very slow worker". This set off alarm bells for me, considering they obviously weren't slow when it came to drawing for themselves.
(The passive-aggressive comment was me offering to make them free minecraft skins if they finished my commissions, since they posted a journal looking for them. I realized after I posted it how it could have come off, and as seen in the note, promptly apologized.)

I waited for the next week and continued to see them post personal artwork. It was the end of the week they said they'd be working on them, and I was feeling extremely uncomfortable watching them post multiple submissions for themselves every day after they told me they were a slow worker. I sent my third note on May 8th stating this fact, and warning that if both weren't finished that weekend, I'd be sending in a claim.

Finally, after giving warning, they finished ONE of my commissions on May 9th. I had asked for both to be finished by/before the weekend, but gave them the benefit of the doubt. I waited another week, and sent my last note on May 15th.

I would never have had an issue if they had given me a different reason for being slow, or if they had been posting commission work, but 90% of what they had been posting after I had paid them was personal work. They posted multiple flatcolors and other types of works within the same day, so they could have easily finished both of my commissions in a day.
Here is a link to a screenshot showing all of the personal artwork they did between me paying them and the submission date: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ltcr6whxvdncs5c/PersonalWorkSincePayment.PNG
And proof of personal work date: https://www.dropbox.com/s/s95efs4p203uyku/ProofOfPersonalDate.PNG

With no response but continuing activity on their DeviantArt account, I sent in a paypal dispute. I had escalated it to a claim a week or so later after receiving no response there, either. They never responded to the dispute/claim or my last note, and the claim closes tomorrow.

Comments

[zielomizu.livejournal.com]

Please read the comments. Also note that they have been ignoring me.

[zackfig.livejournal.com]

I think I'd be ignoring you after the passive aggressive stuff, just saying.

Still doesnt seem there was a deadline set in stone until after you paid -- that is normally is set before payment so the artist can decline if they feel they cannot meet such deadline.

Just saying.

[zielomizu.livejournal.com]

You're "just saying" a lot!

There wasn't any deadline, no, and I realize I was impatient and I won't be doing that again. I had apologized for the comment, since I wrote it and didn't notice how it would come off until afterwards, it was not my intent for it to come off that way.

No matter, you can't just ignore a customer looking for a refund, even if they hadn't treated you nicely. I'd imagine that'd be incentive to give them a refund, or at least a partial refund for what you hadn't done.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

But the correct response would be to refund and sever contact, not ignore them, not do their commission AND hold onto their money.

We all get it by now. They were impatient. The OP recognizes this, the comm recognizes this. That doesn't make it okay to ignore the customer, and they did have other options to deal with it. They chose not to take them, and that's where the beware on the artist comes in. Having a difficult customer doesn't make it okay to ignore them and keep their money. That's all.

[zackfig.livejournal.com]

Not saying the artist isnt in the wrong. But with such a difficult client, I can see why they would go that route, even if its the WORST possible one to take.

Also, I acknowledge my initial assessment was wrong. BOTH are in the wrong and I'd consider this a warning on BOTH, not just the commissioner, as I originally wrote.

[zielomizu.livejournal.com]

If they had posted about my being impatient as a commissioner, I would have acknowledged that I was, just like I have here. That's a resolution to the problem. There's a resolved tag here for a reason.