Advice: Rushed commission with little-to-no payment?

[laughsatthunder.livejournal.com]

Hello, I've felt conflicted about this situation for months now and really need help.

Around December 2013 I opened up for commissions and my client asked for a fursuit partial done in time for AnthroCon. Although I don't take deadlines, I told him I would still be able to get it done in time for then.
The partial (head, feet, tail and paws) is completed a month before the con, but only because he asked every few days for WIPS and info on the suit. This was his second commission from me and unlike the first, he rushed me along. That did not effect the quality.

My problem is that I told him I would not start until I received most/all payment and he told me he NEEDED the suit done in time for the con. He had a job and then lost it right before the AnthroCon; he still went and took the suit with him.

It's now December 2014 and he's only paid $167, the last payment being in May. He just got a job recently and I asked him in October about payment, when he saw my message and never replied.

What can I do at this point? I feel cheated and incredibly awkward being in this new situation. I don't know how to ask him to finish paying for the suit, or even if I should post about him to here. He's a local and very nice, I'm afraid of being given a bad rep if I mess up with communication.

Thanks.

Comments

[laughsatthunder.livejournal.com]

It's in my TOS, I still can't get over how I decided it was okay to just give it to him but when you're pressured and anxious, you can't say no. He has a better rep with the locals (from my view) than myself so I risked being put down.

I'd love to put him up on here but again, I'm not sure if I can collect old logs or how far back PayPal can go to find the payments he made.

[poprock-grey.livejournal.com]

You can find logs as old as you have had your paypal.

[laughsatthunder.livejournal.com]

Awesome.

Also, you're local; Should I PM you about this individual?

[poprock-grey.livejournal.com]

Yes please so I know who to avoid at all costs.

[laughsatthunder.livejournal.com]

Sent you a PM.

[kazeno-taka.livejournal.com]

For future reference - don't ever feel guilty if someone tries to play the "I HAVE to have it in time for this convention and I won't have the money until after!" card. It is clearly in your TOS, and even if it wasn't, it's outrageous to expect someone to ship something before it's been completely paid for. No online retailer ships anything until they have been paid, and you should be no exception.

You would not be a bad seller for putting your foot down and saying, "I'm sorry, but I cannot ship the suit out until it has been paid in full." It will not damage your reputation, because if he were to publicly complain that you refused to ship before his deadline (when he didn't pay in full), no one with half a brain would take his side. If he gets mad at you for refusing to ship before cash is in hand, then he's the unreasonable one, not you.

That said, there's not much that can be done now :( If he has the suit, there's not much you can do to get your money back, aside from hoping he does the right thing and pays. If it becomes obvious he's not going to pay the balance, I'd recommend making another Beware entry warning others about him by name, because that would be outright stealing.

[laughsatthunder.livejournal.com]

Definitely! I had someone commission me with no deadline, then made me rush and wrote (to me a bad) fursuit critique against me because they pressured me into everything about the suit, then didn't tell me the mistakes. No more deadlines, ever.

[werewolfofwater.livejournal.com]

This. If he wants it before the con, then he should pay before the con. If he can't, that's his problem, not the maker's.