Advice Post

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

Ok so. Just looking for some advice on an Odd situation. I Went and did some digging to find the chatlogs and messages so i can be a little more specific.

About a year ago[June 2013] i bought an adoptable from an artist for 150$. The Adoptable Submission was already in a Ref-sheet type format. The Refsheet was suppose to be edited to have a custom outfit then the file sent to me. After I claimed the adopt, I was told "Please send payment and note me with an outfit of choice" I told the Artist they had artistic freedom with the outfit because I'm not great out coming up with stuff. After i notified them that i sent payment, They told me "Awesome" "I'll add the outfit and send it to you tomorrow". I didn't Receive anything the next day. Weeks went by and they have been working on other stuff and such. I Bought more art work from them, not really paying attention to the adopt i bought. Eventually, I stopped contact with them because i felt uncomfortable doing any more business with them.

4 months ago, I was digging through my Character Folder, looking for characters i don't use, to sell them. I remembered that i had an adopt i never received the file for or Any thing Relating to that Specific adopt. I contacted them about it They replied with They Claimed to always send the file out when it is bought and i explained that they never sent me anything. That they were suppose to send me the adopt with the ref/custom outfit. They replied back with their work being on their old computer and they are not sure if they can access it. They said they will try and retrieve it from their old computer. Now we are here and no update. I don't know if i should contact the artist for a refund or ask them about my artwork. Mind you, i haven't used the character for anything yet. What should i do? I'm not even sure if i want to use the character at this point as well.

Note: I Haven't Received ANYTHING relating to the adopt from the artist. No Files. Nothing.

Comments

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

You didn't contact the artist to tell them you didn't receive anything before all this time went by? Emails fail, I wouldn't be surprised if they did send it to you but you just never received it, if I were the artist I wouldn't be sure what to do if someone suddenly came much later to tell me they never received it. True, she could have maybe sent you a message asking if you did receive it, but from my experience, people often don't ever reply no matter how many things you send.

I don't have any advice for you, sorry, but I would suggest in the future to ask the person not long after they told you they were sending something so this hopefully doesn't happen again.

[kattotang.livejournal.com]

I second this.

Also, if the artist did truly send the file and it just didn't make it, then I guess OP could ask them to check their Sent email folder? Unless they clear it out regularly, I imagine the original email would still be in there with the file attached, so they could just easily resend it.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

Hopefully! OP, you should suggest this to the artist as she may not have thought about it at all, it happens.

Does sent mail have a limit? I know deleted messages clear out over time.

[kattotang.livejournal.com]

I have no idea. I have sent mail from 2012, so I don't think so? Might depend on which email service a person uses though.

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

I have everything I emailed out in my gmail sent mail folder dating back to August 2008. I've rediscovered some photos that I thought were lost, when my computer 2 hard drives ago died :D

[anuvia.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with this to an extent: I'm not sure if that artist uses gmail, but I've often had issues where I would send emails and files to customers and find out a week later they never receieved them. I'm not sure what Gmail's hang up is because it's random when it decides to do this; I could have had extensive conversation with someone and have one email disappear in the middle of it and it happens on both sides. I think if an artist knows this happens, they are obligated to send an email to confirm that the files were received, but as mentioned by Sbneko, sometimes people never respond after a transaction is complete, even if you send a double check email.

However, I will say that there is a fishy aspect to this because the person is claiming they only have the file on a different computer. While that does happen when artists switch to new set ups, if they sent the email they should still have the file in their outbound emails; the attachment file should still be attached to the email in their outbox and they should still be able to recover it.

While I agree that waiting as long as you did isn't a good idea, I think you should give this artist an ultimatum and offer them a set period of time to send you the file or issue a refund. If they refund you, they can relist the adoptable and get their money back and you won't be left $150 in the negative with nothing to show for it.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

I feel that it's possible the artist didn't think about finding the emails since it's been about a year, my first thought would be able the actual file on my computer as well.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel. I mean, the OP didn't get what they paid for, but at the same time, if the file really is gone the artist is out of work and money that they thought was finalized for about a year. I very much hope they can find the email, even though it's always possible they don't, because otherwise it doesn't seem like there's a way to fix this on both sides.

I feel bad for the OP of course but I can't imagine how it feels to have something brought up suddenly a year later when you thought everything was fine. It's true you can send emails to again ask if they received it, but I think most would think the person did receive it after not hearing from them in such a long time. Most people who didn't receive something would have contacted them as soon as possible. It seems odd to just, let that go for so long.

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

The Artist Had been a Contact on my skype and that's how they send me the Higher Rez files and stuff. When i stopped communicating with them i removed them from all of my handles.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

Well then doesn't that mean you did receive it, you just no longer have it?

Unfortunately, I don't think you can check logs after the person is removed, otherwise you could go back and check if she tried to send something to you. But you should have been notified by skype that something needed approval to send, or that it failed.

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Im looking now and the furthest i can get is August of 2013. I have Received ALL my other commissions and adopts from them. Any time the artist needed to contact me they have. I cant recall a single time where i didn't get a message.(Mobile Skype)
I seriously feel like they never did it.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

Hm, I dunno. The time is a big issue here, I'm sorry I can't give advice on what to do now. It also makes it tough when there's no way for either of you to prove if it was sent or wasn't.

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

Its alright. I Mean it is my fault for not catching it in time. But i have a hard time bugging artists, especially when i know they have a large queue. I waited 3 months for a picture from this same artist without asking about it once. Lesson Learned.

[orangemonsterco.livejournal.com]

You can still see your past conversations on skype even when you remove people, just search their name and check what time frame you need.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if that artist uses gmail, but I've often had issues where I would send emails and files to customers and find out a week later they never receieved them.

Just chiming in that this was a consistent problem for me. To this day I can't send attachments from my primary email. If I attempt to, it goes into a black hole or whatever when it comes to Gmail. All other mail? Fine. I made a new Gmail account for commissions only, and that one sends attachments no problem. It's... odd.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

It is odd, I do get some issues with that once in a while, but it's pretty rare. Yet others have that problem all the time.

[anuvia.livejournal.com]

It's really reassuring to hear I'm not the only one this is happening to!

I've had incoming emails just never make it to me (including the spam box) and it's caused me a bit of trouble with IRL things along with art/commissions. I've had Dr.'s appointments missed, shipping confirmations from online purchases never receieved, and family bulletins go unseen! Thankfully it's not too often but I did notice that it likes to hiccup the most when I try to send attachments on outgoing emails.

I did give google a call a while back to ask what was up, and they suggested checking the security settings on my account, and that did cut down the issue a bit, but it still happens from time to time. Oddly enough, I did try to set up a new gmail account to handle this (I thought that since my account was made in the days when you needed an invite to make it, perhaps making a new one may fix it) but I had the same problem happen again on the new account as well @.@

[ginkaruja.livejournal.com]

I've had issues with my yahoo email account not receiving emails, so the problem isn't just with gmail. I don't know why it happens, but it seemed to happen to me when the emails I've received (from various yahoo groups and such) increased. Stupidly, it seems to only happen with important emails too. -.-

[ljmydayaway.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it's more likely that the recipient's email server dumped the email (either it went in a spam folder, or it was just dumped by the server for looking like spam).

I work for a company where our main mode of contact is via email. I send out emails to customers all the time where they claim they looked everywhere and never received the email, not even in their spam folder. Then when I send it again, it's magically there. @ _@

I'm not sure what makes the email suddenly not-spam and actually get received by the customer, but, eh.

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Im gonna have to take responsibility for this one. I had been getting so much art from the artist that i didn't think about my adoptable. I Stopped communicating with them about 2 months after i bought the adopt.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

Maybe a compromise would work? A refund on the things that were meant to be added, the clothing and such, but still pay for the adoptable itself. She'd still be out of work if she did do the work, but I dunno.

Before giving up though, like I said, suggest she look in sent files to see if it's there first.

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

Well im not sure exactly how much the adoptable was by itself. The Submission was an Adoptable Ref sheet. Like Fully Done ref sheet and the only thing needed was a outfit.

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

I dunno if i should of mentioned it or not but... The Artist is Known for not finishing work when they should and will Lie/Guilt you into waiting/backing down when it comes to mentioning a commission status. They've been good with me which is why i bought so much from them. Things just got complicated in the end.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

I'm not claiming to know all the rules or anything but imo, if you didn't have that kind of problem with the artist it's not relevant to the A_B. I think other people can come say something if they've had their own bad experiences, but it's probably more appropriate on a full beware than an advice post.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Timelapse is correct. This isn't really relevant, nor would it be in an actual beware. Any issues that others have had with the artist need to be brought up with the client involved.

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

ok, thank you. I apologize then.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

While the artist should have been more prompt with sending the image, you didn't ask about it again after the fact. It's likely the artist thought you got it.
In the future make sure to check in with artists about work owed to you. You never know where the "fault" may lie.

[sableantelope.livejournal.com]

Worst come to worst could you perhaps just get the high res of the original ref sheet? It would still be in the artist's gallery, right?

Then perhaps if there was no proof either way you might be able to renegotiate the new outfit? If you can still prove your sent payment still, then they are on the hook to prove they sent the files, although the fact you didn't persue it in a timely way is a ding to your case.
With the time that went by with no contact and no way for them to know there was an issue, they might not have held on to files the way they would have otherwise.

So it might be, just to keep things civil, nice to offer to split whatever the cost of doing the new outfit would be if they can still deliver the original ref sheet.

[intj-reflection.livejournal.com]

Ask the artist if they have been able to locate the file on their other computer. It's okay to check up on issues if there has been a lack of follow up (though I am aware that some artists discourage it).

For the future, maybe keep a detailed list of what you've commissioned/purchased and what you've received? I have an Excel Spreadsheet I used to use to track purchases back when I was more involved in commissioning artwork. When you're ordering a high volume of work (especially with a single artist) I completely understand how some things might slip through the cracks.

[Edited because I assumed gender on the artist in this post too. X.x]

[nakoothetauren.livejournal.com]

I really don't understand why the time is an issue? Documents need to be kept for x years depending on law of your area. For me that ends up at 5 years.
5 years I need to keep the paypal/email/ect if the tax man comes, so why wouldn't I keep the work to? I'll need to show that to the tax man as well.

To me the time thing seems moot. If the artist has lost the files the should just alert you to that fact. Rather than lead you along.

[stickytruffles.livejournal.com]

*Shrugs* this is an Odd situation. I Contacted the artist in question and they said they don't use emails really. I do Thank you all for your inputs so far.I really have no idea what to think/do. I Feel so embarrassed cause i payed 150 dollars for something and i forgotten about it so carelessly.

[intj-reflection.livejournal.com]

Please don't feel embarrassed. You were working with an artist who has treated you well in the past and with whom you've done a large body of commissions/adoptables. I'm sorry that you're having issues with them now, especially on a high price adoptable, but this was someone you, personally, had every reason to 'trust' and no reason to 'micromanage' in delivery.

Am I understanding you correctly that the artist is now refusing to send you anything via email, or are they saying that they wouldn't have sent it that way in the past?

[Edited for gendering someone left neutral.]