Okie/Vashram/Hertial - Deadbeat Commissioner

[zannyvix.livejournal.com]

WHO: Okie/Vashram (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/vashram)

WHERE: Zannah's Tigerdile Stream

WHAT: Okie/Vashram commissioned a colored sketch of a mostly nude human female from me during a Sunday night stream when I was open for commission slots. The piece was hand drawn and colored in Copic marker, and finished during the stream.

WHEN: Unfortunately, I do not have a log of the initial conversation because Tigerdile does not log chat sessions. However, Okie/Vashram sent me a note on FA at the time detailing what he was interested in. That was 7/13/2014 according to the PayPal invoice timestamp. It is now 7/28/2014.

PROOF:
7/13/2014 - Initial note sent to me during the stream (date discrepancy due to timezone differences):

7/19/2014 - Reminder note sent:

7/22/2014 - Second reminder sent:

7/25/2014 - Warning shout posted to commissioner’s FA page:

7/28/2014 - Notice of blacklisting and post to Artists Beware sent:

7/28/2014 - Shout notifying blacklisting and post to Artists Beware posted to commissioner’s page:

PayPal invoice history:


EXPLAIN: Two days a week, I open my Tigerdile stream for while-you-watch commission slots, of work to be completed in stream. As I was raising money to cover a medical bill at the time, Okie/Vashram expressed an interest in getting a commission to help out.

As per my terms of service, streamed commissions are expected to be paid upon completion at the very latest. Because it was getting late while I was working on his piece, Okie/Vashram asked that I invoice him via PayPal, promising he would take care of it the next day. I agreed, and sent an invoice to the address he provided for the agreed upon amount ($35.00). The artwork in question was finished that night, and scanned and posted the next morning. (NSFW: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13985453/)

The invoice has not been paid, despite multiple reminders sent through PayPal. Notes to Okie/Vashram’s FA have also gone unread and ignored, as did a shout on his page. I do not like confrontation and I don’t care to call people out, but I completed the art in good faith, and have not been paid for it. I warned the commissioner in the middle of last week that I would be reporting him here, and blacklisting him from ever commissioning me again if he had not paid me by Sunday July 27th. That deadline has come and gone.

Okie/Vashram is the first person to have ripped me off in years. Do not accept commissions from this person unless they pay you up front.

UPDATE: Okie/Vashram also goes by the name Hertial. To date he has scammed TWO OTHER ARTISTS on Tigerdile with the same method he used on me, and may be active on other streaming sites doing the same thing! I've also had people contact me privately on FA to whom he owes payment. DO NOT TAKE COMMISSIONS FROM HIM!

Comments

[adzuki.livejournal.com]

Not casting blame on you, but this is why I always take payment upfront. On streams I don't start work until I confirm payment has reached my Paypal.

The bare profile this guy has is definitely sketchy and it sucks he bailed out on paying you. Certainly someone to look out for in case this is indeed a scam.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

I've been doing pay upon completion for quite some time. No problems like this yet. Though I do suggest to the artist to watermark the heck out of unpaid work. Basically make it unusable until it's paid!

[adzuki.livejournal.com]

That's a pretty good idea! I hadn't thought of that!

[armaina.livejournal.com]

Yea seconding this, also making it really jpg compressed res isn't a bad idea. You can always replace the image with a much nicer one later.

[zannyvix.livejournal.com]

Normally I wouldn't post it at all until it'd been paid, but I was doing a batch of things and didn't think about it. I left it up afterward because the timestamp shows when I finished my part, heh, but yeah, I probably should have watermarked it. I got complacent because I haven't had trouble with any of my commissioners in years.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

You can leave the submission up and just switch out the image for a watermarked one.

[zannyvix.livejournal.com]

...Sometimes I'm slow. Excellent idea, thank you.

[zannyvix.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to start requesting payment up front for people who aren't regulars. The folks who've usually commissioned me have been great. I took a chance on a one-timer who'd never been in my stream before, and got burned. u.u

[mistresswolf.livejournal.com]

I work like this... at least with my comics. I have two ongoing, long-term webcomics going at the moment. While one guy insists on paying upfront (which I am grateful for) the other pays as soon as I send him the first of two pages I give him per week. His project will be going on for like... 8 more years. He commissioned a comic from me before and paid up front per chapter so I know I can trust him.

New customers can either pay up front (for small amounts definitely) or half before I start and half when I am finished the sketch stage and it is approved.

[zannyvix.livejournal.com]

I tend to be a little looser about stream slot commissions, because for the most part they're taken and done in the same session. Regular commissions, I generally ask for payment up front for small things, and payment after the initial sketch for larger pieces.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Hmm, you may want to update the description of the piece itself to reflect that it is unpaid.

[zannyvix.livejournal.com]

Done. Good idea.

[nakoothetauren.livejournal.com]

Can I ask if they used Okie in stream chat as there name?
Because I am sort of having issues with someone using that name... Not that I'd like to go into it. But I would be interested if this is the same person.

[zannyvix.livejournal.com]

Yes, the name they used on Tigerdile in the chat was Okie. Vashram is the FA account they noted me from.

[meirro.livejournal.com]

I uh...hm..this sounds a lot like something that somebody came in my stream (on furstre.am) to commission. I wonder if it is the same person? I don't recall their name unfortunately, but they were kind of giving off a clearly "I expect you to do this for free" vibe with the way they were talking about it. They basically came in, posted what they wanted, and asked me when I'd do it (and mentioned nothing about payment, was more like "k art now plz kthx" sorta deal)

I also thought it was really weird that they were asking me to draw humans, but never saw an example of what my human art looks like. So I refused the commission based off of that, it was just setting off too many red flags to me. I had a feeling I'd get a chargeback if I accepted the commission and got paid for it ahaha


Sorry you had to deal with this though. I wish you luck in getting a payment out of them

[zannyvix.livejournal.com]

It may very well be the same person. He came into my stream and apparently read the notice that I was putting all my money from art sales towards paying off medical bills (still am, actually) and said he'd like to help out, then asked how good I was at drawing humans. I linked a couple of examples from my FA gallery, and then he started asking how much it would be.

He wanted to know if I would do transformation pics (I do) and how much that would cost. I gave him a quote, and got the impression it was more than he wanted to spend. We went back and forth for a bit, and finally settled on a colored sketch with some TF-like elements.

He asked me to change a couple things while I was working on it (which I did), but never expressed dissatisfaction with the piece or anything like that. Then as it was getting later in the evening, gave me a paypal address and asked me to invoice him. It certainly seemed like he intended to pay me at the time, but here we are close to three weeks later and I still haven't heard back. u.u Stream slots are generally supposed to be same-day things. The only time I tolerate otherwise is when it's friends I trust. I know they'll pay me sooner or later. This guy? Nope.

I'm just kind of glad to hear I'm not the only one he's treated this way.