Need advice.... Again

[silverinfinity.livejournal.com]

Goodness me, I seem to have a string of bad luck lately. But I guess when you commission a lot, the odds of something going wrong increase.
Anyway, a month ago I commissioned an artist and paid half up front; the other half to be sent upon completion. They quoted me a 2 week wait. After 3 weeks I had heard nothing, so I dropped them a friendly reminder. They got back to me quickly, saying that they had finished it a week ago and thought they sent it, but upon checking realised they had sent it to the wrong email. They offered to upload it to their DeviantArt account during their break that day. Nothing was uploaded for a few days, so I dropped another note. A week later, they've read it and not responded. I'm very confused, because surely the easiest part of a commission is uploading it. They've been online daily, to boot. I've sent another note and given them a little more time, but I feel like I've been strung along and am planning on requesting a refund soon. So my question is... Is it normal for there to be delay (two weeks in my case) between completing and uploading a commission? Am I worrying over nothing and jumping too fast for a refund, or is it right to be suspicious? And what should I do if the artist continues to ignore me? A Paypal dispute is a last resort, because I'd really like the art and don't want to upset the artist and risk not getting it at all.

Comments

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

It's beyond suspicious. There is no possible way for them to be on line daily and not able to set you a finished image.
Make sure you move quickly to avoid the PayPal deadline for contesting payment.
I can all but promise that they won't voluntarily refund your money.

[silverinfinity.livejournal.com]

I did open a case not long after this post; That got a response out of them funnily enough. If they don't deliver soon though, it's getting escalated.

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

Good. Here's hoping that you actually get what you paid for an not something created in an hour to have something to post.

[silverinfinity.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I'm dreading. If it's clearly below their usual gallery quality, I may just have to escalate it anyway as "item not as described". I even explained to them that if they needed more time, it really wasn't a problem. I don't mind waiting a couple of months for art, but I don't like being strung along with excuses.

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

There should be absolutely no delay in them posting/sending it. The only possible way I could see is if there were on their phone when they answered, but then a simple 'Ill send it when I get home' would be enough.

it sounds like they havent done it.

[cat-flower.livejournal.com]

Seconding this. Like if they're away from their computer for a prolonged amount of time, it's not hard to be like "sorry I'll upload it when I'm home" or something. But if the image is done, there is no reason for it to be unseen for this long, especially after the client requested you so show them. It's probably not finished. If they keep ignoring you, request a refund. If they ignore that, file a chargeback.

[silverinfinity.livejournal.com]

I ended up having to open a case anyway because I was getting sick of being ignored. They responded not long after I did so, saying that they'll upload it tonight. So we'll wait and see what happens! Otherwise yes, it's getting escalated to a claim.

Thanks for everyone's comments - I'm glad it wasn't just me being a worrywort

[aerospiritual.livejournal.com]

yeah, I'm agreeing with everyone else here; sounds like they're just making up excuses for having not done the work. =/

[silverinfinity.livejournal.com]

That's what I was starting to think too :/

[fastbreak333.livejournal.com]

If they have it finished, then sending it shouldn't even be a problem. Either there's something that's preventing him from doing so or he's lying. You're going to have to be more assertive if they still haven't sent it to you after this.

[silverinfinity.livejournal.com]

They've messaged me back since, and claim it's because they do all their art on their friend's phone(???) and he hasn't gotten round to posting it yet. Very weird excuse. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt as they claim they're uploading it tonight. I did end up opening a case on Paypal, if only to light a fire under their butt and get them to respond. I'll be escalating it if the art isn't uploaded tonight.

Thanks for your help :)

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

... on a friend's phone?
That's officially the oddest excuse I've seen yet.

[mpd-84.livejournal.com]

I can understand if that's all they have access to right now. There are a lot of drawing apps for phones now that are decent (but still really limited).
Using a friend's phone to draw commission work seems like an disaster waiting to happen thought.

[silverinfinity.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought it sounded odd, but possible. However they didn't upload it when they said they would (they said they'd borrow their friends phone Friday night to upload it).... So I'm really doubting them at the moment. I will be escalating it with Paypal soon.

[fastbreak333.livejournal.com]

Oh! Well, you're welcome then.