Beware: LocoSaltInc

[hyndrim.livejournal.com]

Where:
https://www.furaffinity.net/user/locosaltinc
https://twitter.com/LocoSaltInc
http://locosaltinc.tumblr.com/

What: A Taffy Attack commission

When: 02/12/14

Proof:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oso8sdu3w5phf0q/LocoSalt%20email.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ltugdja9p6eslhs/Loco%20Paypal.PNG?dl=0

Explain:
Back on 02/12/14 I took two commissions from LocoSaltInc for a reference sheet and a taffy attack picture with a background and two close-ups. After seven months of no progress on either picture Loco posted a journal on 9/28/14 saying she was going refunding all full render and reference sheets.

Refund Journal: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7lm2aji22832uob/LocoSalt%20Refund.PNG?dl=0

After waiting two months for a refund Loco opened up on taking full render pictures while also offering rescue slots on 11/15/14, I took one for the reference sheet and on 01/12/2015 she finished the reference sheet. Seeing as Loco was finally getting back on track getting full render pictures at a good pace when she opened for more commissions and rescue slots on 01/25/15 I took one for the taffy attack picture since the first journal stated, "These orders are considered old and will not be put 'on hold'."

Rescue Journals:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3r9esmny3ud26f0/Loco%20Rescue.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hy81rik0vivz1bq/Loco%20Second%20Rescue.PNG?dl=0

It's taken till 04/02/15 just to get a sketch of taffy attack picture and so far nothing else from LocoSalt. Her speed on the full render commissions has slowed down to a claw to work on color sketches along with making several journals asking for money to pay unexpected bills most recent one on 05/23/15 but was able to get a two hundred dollar stream commission 05/26/15. This to me comes off to me as someone taking advantage of people good will and is very off-putting she is doing that while still having refunds on her Trello list back from 09/28/14.

Sketch Note: https://www.dropbox.com/s/amtl7cs0s537oam/LocoSalt%20Note1.PNG?dl=0

Links to every journal asking for bill money from newest to oldest.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/foh8479dvi36yxl/Loco%20Begging%2010.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qzrliqchqaellzx/Loco%20Begging%209.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/61k3izd2105yt5s/Loco%20Begging%208.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/75ydklzowetdsrq/Loco%20Begging%207.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7i9zxw1xzyt4u0d/Loco%20Begging%206.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lxl5xvwwkp8xdnn/Loco%20Begging%205.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ogobskllspdb0vy/Loco%20Begging%204.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ba9zx3xrqox5h63/Loco%20Begging%203.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g7ekw5s9gcxdjjm/Loco%20Begging%202.PNG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x6ddk7apla9her9/Loco%20Begging%201.PNG?dl=0

Sating in a journal that has been removed on FA, asking Locosalt "How is my order" is just as pointless due to she will purposely slow down the commission just for asking.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qj4hy2sdy2e4av1/Loco%20My%20Pace.PNG?dl=0

If her to do list is up to date Loco owes one hundred and six full render commissions. She has taken and done over a hundred colored sketches and thirty booty spread recolors also taking seventeen more full render commission and only doing nineteen full rendered commissions since the time after reclaiming the taffy attack picture.

Edit: Received the refund of 85$ as LocoSalt mentioned below she would.

Comments

Resolving this quickly.

[locosaltinc.livejournal.com]

wow didn't expect this from a client who i have really enjoied working with.

Needless to say i am forcing a refund at this point. I was working on the image today, enjoying it, having fun because the character is really pretty! Yet seeing this has told me to refund and not work with you again, i apologize.

I am slow yes, but i do NOT purposely slow down. the wording in the journal was poorly put. Due to my anxiety when people ask about their orders i slow down, it's not because I want to slow down it's because I shut down when stressed.

I have been taking colored sketches to pay bills and not open anymore full renders because i want to get the full renders done and not have too many of them.

That picture i ordered btw, was from my savings from what i could keep left over from bills and yes SURPRISE payments as well. I had been using that to save for 2 years, and to finally get the image out of my own saves, not from incomplete work.

Nice Read though.
-loco

Re: Resolving this quickly.

[locosaltinc.livejournal.com]

Update

I have refunded him.

have a good day

[sableantelope.livejournal.com]

>I am slow yes, but i do NOT purposely slow down. the wording in the journal was poorly put. Due to my anxiety when people ask about their orders i slow down, it's not because I want to slow down it's because I shut down when stressed.



You may want to reconsider running your own business, than.
If something as mandatory as communication with clients is enough to cause to shut down then you health issues are affecting your ability to be a good business person.

Also I'm going to put it bluntly: if you have spent any of the money a commissioner pays you before you complete the work that's basically a debt on your part and any 'savings' are eaten up by that owed money.
Basically until work is delivered that money is not yours to spend. It's part of why it's so important to charge enough to have a cushion of a month's, or better yet three months, of expenses-worth saved without having to take on more work.

Glad you're working on a schedule now to get your backlog tackled, that's awesome but before you start taking new commissions again you need to really think of ways to either manage your anxiety in a way so you can communicate in a timely and business appropriate way[it might help nerves-wise to remember that none of these dealings are personal, it's strictly business- you aren't making friends with clients(though that might happen in one in a hundred deals or something). You can phrase things in a strictly business way which is very clear, concise transfer of information that is also basically emotionless- which means no worries about the personal side of things.] If you aren't able to communicate with clients you may need to hire someone who has business communication skills or consider a different career.
Basic communication is not something you can make excuses- even valid medical ones- to avoid and still run your business successfully and ethically.

Also rework your prices to allow you avoid building up a backlog again. Price things so that you earn enough by the number of pieces you can realistically do in a month to pay that month's expenses with a cushion left over.

Good luck with getting things back on track! It'll take some work, but you can do it.
I hope you'll take to heart working on improving your attitude in communication when deals go sour as well.
There is a legal concept of reasonable delivery time. Clients are allowed to request a refund after excessive waiting- which applies to this case. Remember business language- clear, concises, impersonal. Business isn't personal, it's not a personal attack on you. It's a contract you breached and so you have to make your client whole. Take it in stride, make things right(like you already have with the refund), and move forward knowing now how you can improve your business ethics and skills in the future.

MOD COMMENT

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

After getting confirmation, I have marked this post as resolved.

[corghi.livejournal.com]

Well, their attitude is sure interesting. Happy you got a quick refund tho!

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

I'd avoid the artist based off the attitude here. Glad you got your refund!

[wyla.livejournal.com]

Likewise. A refund is a good way to settle this but their response is... well, rather sour. :x

[locosaltinc.livejournal.com]

i tried to respond as calmly as i could being as they never contacted me after i gave them the sketch ( and asked for simple revisions which i could do during the line stage). They just put me on here instead of talking it out with me. hell i would have had it done same day.

i do apologize for it coming out sour, but being as i was in shock of even being put on here. with no warning btw, i was trying to remain as calm as i could.

we have sense talked it out on FUraffinity and there is no bad blood between us, i still think they are a wonderful person, they have a wonderful character. i am just ashamed i hadn't moved faster for them

[pinstripedtiger.livejournal.com]

https://twitter.com/LocoSaltInc/status/606318728268152832

Apparently A_B is a "drama pit" because four people (now including me) found your attitude sour.

You've owed this person art/refund for almost a year and a half and your response came off as super passive aggressive. They're warning people of just how long you take and how massive your queue is, and that's fair. Even if you'd refunded them today, that's still a massive wait.

[locosaltinc.livejournal.com]

i get that, i do, and creepy you hopped on my twitter ;u;!!

i do, again i am ashamed for the wait. seeing as you went on my twitter you saw the schedule my mate and i have worked out to completely fix the situation. to show the days i work and how i plan to get it all fixed.

i am rather stoked honestly!

[pinstripedtiger.livejournal.com]

I opened your twitter to glance at it (it's linked in the top of the beware) to see if I recognized it, and that was the first tweet.
Your passive aggressiveness isn't helping at all.

[locosaltinc.livejournal.com]

passive...aggressive? no I am genuinely happy!
This seemed to be the spark I needed to get back into motivation. I am extremely happy seriously!! Text is hard to convey emotion but trust me when I actually say I have a smile on my face and super excited to be cranking out work again! :'D

[armaina.livejournal.com]

not really creepy when the twitter account was linked in this post, just FYI.

[locosaltinc.livejournal.com]

they already explained that, I had originally glossed over that. Thank you though ;u;

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

To be fair, when you post things like "I will stop working" when clients ask they're going to be adverse to contacting you at all. It doesn't matter if you aren't doing maliciously, communication is a key part of the job. Especially if they're waiting long time periods for their work. If that part of the job is hard for you, then I sincerely suggest a manager who can work one-on-one with customers on your behalf.

[vauvakolibri.livejournal.com]

"as they never contacted me after i gave them the sketch"
Though I think they should have contacted you in timely manner, if your customer doesn't get back to you in two months (based on the screencap), it's recommended for you to approach them again to find if there is a problem (whether customer has forgotten to reply/didn't get your message/etc). Not doing that only drags the work process and queue longer.

[hyndrim.livejournal.com]

Actually I did contact them after getting the sketch.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mytfpschgwws4fr/Loco%20Note%20Reply.PNG?dl=0
Just never got anything back after sending it. Plus was in her streams quite often and she could have easily poked me there if I didn't reply to the note.

[vauvakolibri.livejournal.com]

Yeaaah her excuse won't fly at all then; and even if she herself had forgotten that you had replied and deleted the PM or such, it still would have been her responsibility to contact you again instead of letting the image sit.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

You said previously that you get anxious and slow down when people ask about the progress of their commissions. That's more than enough reason to not contact you.

The fact that you took commissions and took a very long time to complete them should have been warning enough that someone would be unhappy. Contacting you after the fact that theyve been kept waiting doesn't erase the point of this beware.

as well as that, the guilting in the first thing you posted there was over the line imo.

[sapphistscot.livejournal.com]

Same. The responses here are really offputting.

[vauvakolibri.livejournal.com]

Yeah, really. The OP waits a really long time, artist basically punishes people for asking for progress, OP posts here and wouldn't you know it, conveniently the artist was JUST working on their image today and gets snippy with the OP's reaction.

[tyrano-tiggs.livejournal.com]

It was this part that put me right off
"I was working on the image today, enjoying it, having fun because the character is really pretty! Yet seeing this has told me to refund and not work with you again"

Nice guilt trip there :/

[sapphistscot.livejournal.com]

And it's awfully convenient that the artist just so happened to be working on the commission that's been owed for over a year *right* as this beware gets posted. What are the odds?

[tyrano-tiggs.livejournal.com]

Super super convenient!

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not buying it :/

[tyrano-tiggs.livejournal.com]

Glad this got resolved so fast!
But a year and a half wait and the passive aggressiveness above are not cool at all.

[laughsatthunder.livejournal.com]

Awesome to see the post resolved so fast. I hope the artist can learn from this and pick up their attitude, it's a little off-putting and guilt tripping your clients isn't cool.

[lackoflollies.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this here OP, I now have one less artist i'm willing to work with thanks to bad attitude.

[kadaria.livejournal.com]

I'm glad this got resolved but I'm also glad that this was posted.
Even though the artist says they are slow, a year and a half for a digital painting from start to finish seems excessive, especially in the furry fandom.
The turn around time for commissions is part of the sales pitch. When I see that the artist has a long to do list (106 full rendered digital paintings!!!), is continuing to take commissions with that outstanding list, tells you they need to sell to pay off emergency bills and has a long turn around time? It just looks unprofessional.
The attitude in the comments here just makes bingo.

[amocin.livejournal.com]

Wow, not only is the wait for your artwork horrible, the artist is just super unprofessional in her attitude. Just working on the pic right now? Then finish it up and keep the money, and make a happy customer. Excuses, excuses.

I think a lot of artists fail to realize that their names become 'brands' when they start taking commissions and start treating their art like a business. Part of that business is customer services. When you treat your customers like crap, and pull the pity party and the angry refund the moment they have an issue, you have failed at customer service.

[weirdmisty.livejournal.com]

Refunded or not, the attitude shown by the artist here makes it clear that they're not worth doing business with. Beware well warranted.

[barakun.livejournal.com]

What exactly is a rescue slot? I'm not sure I understand.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

It seems like it's a chance for a client on a artist-dictated refund list to get off of it.

[barakun.livejournal.com]

Got it! Thanks.

[hyndrim.livejournal.com]

It's if the artist owes you a refund you can choose to get a slot to get the picture done rather then the refund.

[barakun.livejournal.com]

Oh I see. Thank you.

[intj-reflection.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this. Another unprofessional artist with a horrible backlog. I'm just glad you got your money back.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

aw man i was watching them so i could commission a nice thing from them some time. really disappointed about their backlog and attitude. i probably wont even think of commissioning them until they improve their attitude and work ethic.

[kestral-kitsune.livejournal.com]

thanks for posting this, sometimes a beware shows the true colors of an artist.
yeaahh.. wouldn't commission the artist either. they did no favors to themselves responding this way.

[timelapsedecay.livejournal.com]

:/ Really disappointed, this was an artist I was in the midst of personal debates about buying from. I really enjoy their art and particularly, how they use color. I guess I'm not making that purchase now. Thanks for the post