MushyMutt: Why it Took Over Two Years to Get One Simple Badge

[lunawolf92.livejournal.com]

I never thought I'd have to post one of these, but other people should know what they're getting into before involving themselves in the commission process. A while back, I had wanted to commission MushyMutt, so when he opened, I qickly tried to get a slot. I ended up buying one $25 headshot badge from him, of my fiancé’s character, but once I paid him the money, all contact between us pretty much ceased. I didn't a chance get to specify how I wanted the badge to look at all, and even though most of his previous commissions seemed to feature three-quarters views, I could only hope and assume that mine would look similar, as that is what I wanted. That wasn't what I ended up receiving however, (examples linked below) and I felt helpless as I couldn't seem to get in touch with Mushy to make my order more specific. Not knowing what else to do, I just waited.

A couple of months passed, and I sent him a message asking when the commission would be finished. He didn't give me any sort of timeframe, and there was no public commission information to which I could refer. I didn't get a response. A few days later, he posted the this badge, but the tongue ended at the teeth, which did not look to be finished at all. You can actually see the color change if you look closely: the lighter pink was what the original tongue looked like. He, of course, has since deleted that file. I politely asked him in the comments if he could add a tongue poking out. He replied that it would be an easy change and would take about 5 minutes. However, he completely cut off contact again.

I had given up on getting my badge for about two years, but then I noticed he had opened up again, recently, for badge commissions, so I took it as an opportunity to remind him of my badge (I was pretty annoyed with him at this point). I found his reply to be rather rude, and that's the only thing he ever said about it. He later posted a stream announcement and I decided to ask him about my badge there, since I’d get a quick and simple statement as to whether or not he planned on actually fixing and finishing the badge at all. He told me to quit bugging him, this of course started a wave of his watchers telling me to go away and and leave him alone, which he didn't even remotely attempt to stop. I would think he'd treat his customers a little better, considering they're paying for his services.

After that, I ended up leaving the stream. A bit later on that day, I sent him a note. I tried to keep things friendly and on good terms, as I've seen an unfortunate multitude of times what he allows his followers and friends to do to people, as far as harassment is concerned. Then he sent me a WIP of the fixed badge, and later, the finished badge, which he posted on his deviantART, I didn’t have this link until later, because I was never notified it was posted. I kept trying to keep things friendly by returning to his stream and thanking him. He eventually posted the new badge on deviantART, as well an updated version of the old one.

Later, I tried to find said badge again because I wanted to print and laminate it as part of a Valentine’s Day gift for my fiancé, but it had been deleted off his dA. I didn’t ask him why he deleted it, but I did ask him to give me the file so I could at least have my commission in some form. He read the note but did not reply, so I waited. Again. After receiving no response or seeing the badge, I sent him a message on Skype.

For a few days, I received nothing, so I sent him another Skype message, saying something along the lines of I'm not gonna wait for you, told him to forget about the whole thing. He responded with this, and blocked me. I have never had such an unpleasant experience commissioning someone before, and I thank Artists Beware for helping me to avoid another experience like this.

Comments

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

If it was ever on FA, the original might be http://vj5pbopejlhcbz4n.onion.city/fa/mushymutt/

Thanks for the warning about such an unprofessional artist.

[lunawolf92.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'll have a look!

[doggiy.livejournal.com]

I remember calling him and Deni out on overdue commissions. Instead of taking the advice to heart they began to guilt trip me because Mushy's mum was ill. :\

[lunawolf92.livejournal.com]

:/// Did you ever get the commission? Or your money back at least?

[whoop-zi.livejournal.com]

hey mods, just fyi you have this tagged under mishymutt instead of mushymutt!

[lunawolf92.livejournal.com]

Good catch, thanks! Although I don't think I can edit tags. I'll see if there's a work-around.

[arphalia.livejournal.com]

Got it! thanks for letting us know. :)

[doggiy.livejournal.com]

Sad part is, I didn't even commission them! They had made a donation journal, and I pointed out that it was a little irresponsible to ask for more money when they already owed so much in art and refunds.

Instead of taking my comment seriously, they just kind of... flipped out, and had their friend come out and trigger me into actual, vivid flashbacks by continuously making rape jokes in reply to my comments, even after I begged him to stop.

Because apparently that's a mature and professional way to defend your business. I still have caps from this on my old computer, too. I wouldn't recommend anybody do business with them, if only because of their behaviour.

[corghi.livejournal.com]

That's... incredibly, deeply wrong. I'm so sorry they did that to you.

[doggiy.livejournal.com]

It's okay! It was a long time ago and it doesn't bother me so much, these days. I just felt it was important to note that poor behaviour is not an isolated incident with Mushy, and even Deni. : (

[lunawolf92.livejournal.com]

Well I'm glad you're doing better! As yes, I've heard that to be true of them. It was very brave of you to share your story on this thread!

[kattotang.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's some really horrific behavior. I'm so sorry. :\

[doggiy.livejournal.com]

It's alright. The guy who did it is on my block list and has been for a good year now. I've moved on, but it's still atrocious and deserves to be noted.

[lunawolf92.livejournal.com]

You're not the first person to report them for rape jokes and general harassment (http://theoutli3r.tumblr.com/post/110852392803/furries-are-a-okay-with-racism), and I'm so so sorry you had to experience that. While it's none of our business what they do with the money they already have, I think your comment was valid to the situation, and even if they didn't want to hear what you had to say, at no point did that warrant a response of such immature, disgusting behavioral displays. You can link your screen caps here to back up the claims you've already made if you want. So long as you aren't publicizing privet information, you should feel free to share anything helpful. Maybe this post will save a lot of money and bad experiences in future. And thank you so much for your freed back, it's nice to know I'm not alone in this; I hope you're doing better now!

[doggiy.livejournal.com]

I'm doing much better, thanks! I'll track down the caps on my old laptop, tomorrow.

[lunawolf92.livejournal.com]

Sounds good!

[eli-daggertooth.livejournal.com]

Omg... wow. That is just absolutely not ok. Its good of you to mention it though, that is not something that should be left under the radar, that is extremely disgusting behavior.