Artists Beware: RachVerity

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

8th October Update: I was chatting with some others about Rach today and decided to check her Trello and noticed my Card was moved to a section called Cancelled/Refunding as shown in this screenshot: http://imgur.com/ZHB4psq so having been almost 2 months since I last messaged her I decided I would ask her why and relayed this message: http://imgur.com/vPP8VLV hopefully she will get back.

WHO: RachVerity

WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/rachverity/

https://www.weasyl.com/~rachelleverity | https://inkbunny.net/rachykins
http://rach-verity-sketchbook.tumblr.com/ | https://www.patreon.com/rachVerity?ty=h
Commission List: https://trello.com/b/kDddOtiK/commissions-list

WHAT: 3 x Flat Colour Commissions as detailed in this picture http://imgur.com/IruU17G

WHEN: Paid on 22nd December 2014

PROOF: http://imgur.com/BANmRVV she even posts the details on her Trello she makes later on http://imgur.com/jIGqXOg which is clogged full of so many commissions.

EXPLAIN: Being new to commissioning I wasn't sure if 2 months was a long time for some simple art so I sent a message on February 13th asking whats up: http://imgur.com/sjepU63, she replied with http://imgur.com/r0WdkpY. Okay, she's the artist, who am I to judge I don't draw so I don't know how long it could take.
On April 28th I finally get notified via a shout on my page http://imgur.com/R27RiPh about one piece being done. I'm excited and happy to have some progress done however it was neither done as I requested or to my characters reference. (NSFW Content) Posted Image: http://imgur.com/NReJ8UA, my girls Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11793824/

I'm grateful for getting back to me and I send her a message that same day: http://imgur.com/zm0pgUW to which she replies http://imgur.com/w0WfLnh so its nice to see she is taking responsibility for the mistakes and is happy to fix it.

June 4th, I noted her: http://imgur.com/4rlMcLX, her reply: http://imgur.com/ezuYlR2
July 18th, I noted again: http://imgur.com/gOEG5hC, her reply: http://imgur.com/1oW7VXi

Honestly I don't know what she meant by the last note but now I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of waiting, I'm sick of the excuses and I hate the fact that I have been forced to come here and make a post just to try and get something resolved. If you're not going to do my art Rach then refund my $60, I refuse to accept and use that art drawn as it was neither done to how I asked or to my characters reference.

I'm sorry to have to bring this to A_B but I was left with no choice at this point as I feel like you have taken my money and ran.

Thank you.

Comments

Thats unfortunate

[nogardthedragon.livejournal.com]

Try to comish artist who show you that theyre work load free or keep tabs on their current workload and do work on it from time to time. im sorry this happened to you and i assure you not every artist works this way. Asking to fix somehting wrong with a piece shouldnt take THAT long. Brings to doubt is shes focusin on finishing this kinda stuff. either way i hope this can get resolved quickly, best of luck.

Re: Thats unfortunate

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

At the time of commissioning I wasn't actually aware of her workload or that she had posts on A_B already. It was only like 2 months after I commissioned her that she made that trello page with her list of commissions.

[purpule.livejournal.com]

You're unfortunately not the only one: http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/tag/artist-rachverity

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

I noticed a bit too late after commissioning her unfortunately.

[tyrano-tiggs.livejournal.com]

Was hoping she'd got her act together :/

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

One, you should mark you links as NSFW!

Two, a full refund is, in my opinion, not valid, as she did do most of the work, its just missing a detail. Although the artist is very much in the wrong here, and really should fix it. But going by the other bewares, I doubt it'll happen.

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

She may have done some of the work however the fact is she did not even follow the way I had asked for it to be done. As far as I'm concerned it was sloppy and a waste of both our times as such I consider the piece having not been done at all.

I appreciate a differing opinion but in this case its not something I intend to budge on sorry. She didn't follow our 'contract' I want it done again or my money back, that's how business is.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Can you link to what it is that's NSFW that isn't listed as such? I checked through just now and it looked like what was NSFW was either tagged as such or blacked out, but I might be missing something.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

It seems to be just the ref sheet. You think that'll be fine as is? The beginning of the sentence is tagged, which I figured would be enough.

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

It was the actual art, and the ref. The art has been tagged, but the ref has not!

[houndofloki.livejournal.com]

The artist was paid to draw a specific character, and there's a lot missing or incorrect. She did *a* job, but not the job she was paid for. If she's not willing to fix it, the buyer's due at least partial compensation.

That said, this person apparently has such a "history" that this whole conversation is probably academic, anyway :p

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

Yes, a partial refund, like I said. The artist did most of the work, so a full refund is out of the question.

Mod Comment

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

Howdy OP! Teekchan is correct. Can you please mark your NSFW stuff as NSFW.

Re: Mod Comment

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

"(NSFW Content) Posted Image: http://imgur.com/NReJ8UA, my girls Ref: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11793824/"

If I hadn't have marked it as NSFW already It wouldn't have been approved. In fact my submission had already been rejected once and "Not being marked NSFW" wasn't listed in the reasons it was rejected.

Re: Mod Comment

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

I was one of the approving mods, thank you. Just pop another quick NSFW tag on the second link, please. It's just some bare boobs, but some folks may not be prepared.

[spartanwerewolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, imo you're only justified in asking for a refund for the incomplete work, the two pieces you haven't gotten. Even if you're unsatisfied with the first piece, the artist still did the work and should be compensated for it.

[jane vakarian (from livejournal.com)]

Did she give you a WIP of the sketch she was doing?
If she did, did you tell her what was wrong?

She did it mostly right from what I can see, then again I can't read the whole description of what you wanted so I can't know for sure.
All I can assume is that theres 'mess' missing, which isn't a big detail, the picture is in fact mostly done, and at most you would deserve a partial refund.

It's quite common to have a clean version and a messy version, so in the end you get 2 versions, if she fixes the small mishap. If not, you've still got one version of the picture.

As for the fur pattern, it seems to me that it's been translated correctly for her style, which uses a lot of smooth blending, so I can't fault her for it.

Sorry dude, it's just how I see it.

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

No WIP's were provided during the process of the drawing. It was just, one day, done, here's a link.

And due to NSFW content details have been blacked out as per requested by the community moderators.

[spytdragonfyre.livejournal.com]

With the fur pattern, I'd have to disagree. The character came out looking very little like the ref, regardless of how the artist does fur patterns. The ref shows a bright red fur pattern, with a darker chest and legs, along with a white marking that runs from the face down to near the belly. The final image has a bright chest with darker arms;the white marking stops above the breasts. Even taking into account a difference in doing fur-patterns, the design has half-inverted in terms of where the colors go at all.

[jane vakarian (from livejournal.com)]

Yeah I see what you mean.
I I see the dark reds and stuff being done really blurred into everything else, I thought maybe it was style. But heck, I'm probably wrong.

Either way, I thought the character was recognizable of the character, guess I'm wrong, opps

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

It's baffling that she can't make the repairs in a timely manner. The big patch of red on the chest is clearly missing as well as the details you requested. The "skirt" seems too small for me (which I'm assuming is for you, too, OP?) and is an integral part of the design.

If she refuses to reasonably repair it, then yes, I believe you are due for compensation. Especially something as glaring as a character trait that distinguishes it from a regular fox.

edit: It also appears that most of the deep red markings are missing from the face. That has nothing to do with "style". I have a soft shading style. She just plain didn't color it right.

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

Thanks for understanding. The skirt is what makes my Braixen, that and the ear poofs. I happen to really enjoy fluffy things so its what brought me to adopt her in the first place.

What I find sad is that this would be her first piece of art since adopting her and its looking likely that this won't happen now. And that as she missed out a lot of things on this single piece it makes me wonder just what she may miss on the 2 other commissions I paid for.

[kamilamutt.livejournal.com]

If the artist doesn't fix the first piece, I'd say you're right on asking for a mostly-full refund. Yes, the artist did the work and you received a piece, but you paid for a work of /your/ character, and with so many character traits missing, the character on the piece you received might as well be a completely different one. Along with the long wait, that's really unfair.
I really hope she either fixes it or compensates you for it soon.

[scottalottosay.livejournal.com]

Did you ask for a refund before posting this? I mean, apparently she has a "refund list", which implies she won't refund you for a long time, but I would at least give it a go before posting a beware. That doesn't excuse her behavior, though. It's a bit odd that she says she will fix an image, but doesn't for months. It really wouldn't take that long to fix it. Also, I understand if it takes a while for an artist to finish a drawing, but after at least 6 months with no WIPS, and her very long list of costumers, I would want a refund, too. I hope you at least get your money back from the two drawings she didn't do.

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

This beware was actually in the making for 2 weeks. After speaking to friends I figured out had had dealings with her in the past and were still waiting for a refund a year later. With them having no luck in a refund as of yet I decided to immediately post the beware as this behaviour can't continue. Their current reason for not posting bewares themselves is that they don't wish to register for LJ.

I have also been receiving notes from others after posting this about their dealings with her and their ever so lengthy wait for any kind of refund or response, or hastily scribbled art.

[celestinaketzia.livejournal.com]

You don't have to register with lj to use its services. When you click "login" you can use Twitter, facebook and google+ to login. From there all they have to do is join our comm and do their thing.

[scottalottosay.livejournal.com]

Waiting a year for a refund is unacceptable. Is there any screenshots for this? Or could they make a beware themselves, since they don't have to sign up for Live Journal?

Rach, if you ever see this, I personally don't think you should be spending the money before your customers receive the art. I know you probably have bills to pay, but you would be able to pay them if you raise your prices. I know you're worried about people complaining about charging too much http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/829923.html?thread=30589155#t30589155 but there are going to be a lot more complaints like this beware if you don't.

Your "Commission Prices" link on your FurAffinity profile was posted in February 2014, and the lowest commission price is $10.00! That's pretty much minimum wage, and it's less than minimum wage if you work on it for more than an hour. If you raise the prices, yes there will be less demand for your art, but that's actually a good thing. If there is less people that order from you, but higher prices, you will still get your money, but you will have less people to worry about. You could gain money from this, especially after you finish refunding everybody and actually doing their artwork.

On that note, I really hope you get your refund, crymsonserenity. I feel like she should also fix the mistakes that she said she would. I suggest to try asking her for a refund, and if she doesn't give you one, post some screenshots on this beware. 3 out of the 4 other bewares have been marked as resolved, and I want this one to be, too. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for her other customers or not. It's absurd if they have been waiting a year.

[stolf.livejournal.com]

Rach owes me still over 700 dollars USD for art she now refuses to do. Refund is going on nearly 14 months She is moving to canada according to her and, yes, she spends the money quickly.

Sadly because of rules here, and on FA, no one can tell others about this artist. I have a screen shot of her boasting that she spends 600+ USD a month on SecondLife. Yes... over 600 a month... I have had the evidence for nearly 6 months now.

But again, I can not post it to show others because of these harassment rules of both sites.

[crymsonserenity.livejournal.com]

Thats horrible. Have you posted a beware too? I mean clearly there are tons more problems with this artist than the couple of bewares listed on her tag.

http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/tag/artist-rachverity