Beware

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I don't like doing this, but being out a decent sum of money, for nothing does tend to make one angry. Until now, I have never had a bad experince with artists, they almost always complete my commission in a short amount of time, and I am not picky, and am almost always satasfied with the first sketch, and even more so with the finial product.

Recently, two artists have taken my money and ran

EDIT:  07/10/2008
The post originally pertained to two artists who I felt I was burned by, in all reality it turns out I was more wrong then I was right. I was only a little bit right from the aspect that I had waited to very long, and had nothing to show, for having paid such a large amount of money for a commission.

After talking to Rackun a bit, I have come to discover that it was all a very huge mistake, and mis-communication, messages though Fur Affinity not making it to their destination, ect. We came to an arrangement finally, granted it was not what I wanted it to be, but still proper arrangements were made, and I relise that I was wrong.

He is someone worth doing business with, this was MY OWN STUPIDITY, not his.

I am deeply sorry to both Rackun, and Mark Wulfgar, this was a TERRIBLE misunderstanding.



AlabasterTBSB

I put in a commission with him about 6 months ago now, and when I try to contact him by IM, he ignores me and never responds. I have had him respond a couple times to me on Fur Affinity telling me he's still going to do it, then like usual, nothing. He just ignores me some more. 

I met him at MFF '07, and he told me he would do me a commission, but I was extreamly sick the entire convention so I waited until it was over to catch up to him on FA, and I did, and then I pay him, though paypal, and nothing.

________________________________________________


I'm out that money to them, they'll never complete my commissions, and I think everyone deserved to know that they just burn people, steal their money and run. I could have taken the money I paid them, and commissioned someone better and gotten EXTREAMLY professional results. But no, I commissioned these two for something neat and unique, and they think I was a charity, take my money and run off in to the night. Good job guys. Bravo.

Comments

[digivolution.livejournal.com]

I can't help you with anything, but my friend commissioned Alabaster a while back and never got his commission either :/ I hope you get your commissions. I really hate it when artists are that unprofessional.

[thaily.livejournal.com]

Which Alabaster is this? Because if it's the Spanish one I might be able to contact him via a mutual friend, but no guarantees.

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

He's a blue hyena

[robocoon.livejournal.com]

Don't use the comparion to BlackTeagan here. There are hundreds of other unique, poorly known artists that are VERY professional. Just because BlackTeagan is a big name doesn't mean that they're any more businesslike. Your contrast using that name doesn't fit here-- it makes it seem like you're alluding that all unpopular or nonstandard artists are unprofessional.

Though I'm pretty sure that isn't what you were going for, at least I hope it wasn't. The rest of the post was alright.

[tealizard.livejournal.com]

This. I've also heard people say "oh ____ could have done me a favour by not taking the commission so I could commission _____ instead". First of all, you can't say for sure that you're going to have a good experience with another artist, due to popularity or professionalism. Everyone has their bad experiences. Also, you yourself have chosen to commission who you have. Don't blame them for YOUR descision. If you want to commission BlackTeagan, commission Black Teagan, not Harold J. Fox, or whoever else.

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

Thats not what I ment and I am sorry if it sounded wrong. I don't tend to commission many artists, and so far the best results I have ever had have been with Teagan. I met teagan when he was not a well known artist, which is why I say this.

I only ment it from *my own experinces*, not everyone els.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

How much did you lose incidentally?

Theoretically you could have taken the money and commissioned anyone else and probably got professional results. Many people are professional after all. ;)

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's proper to discuss money, but I am not sure so I'll just not say to cover my own tail

[almightytora.livejournal.com]

Ummmm... Mark Wulfgar is not Rackun Wolf. I know both of them and they are two different people. You should get your facts straightened out before posting stuff like that.

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

eh, I see that, either way I still got fucked.

Excuse me?!

[markwulfgar.livejournal.com]

What's up with all the people who believes I'm Rackun? XD
My art style is totally different, and you can ask to all the people who knows me and/or Rackun.

And, in fact, he's my room mate. Even if you find it hard to believe, he've been my friend since i came into the furry fandom and he was actually here before me.

please change that, and before you burn people, investigate so you will avoid being burned for burning people who doesn't have anything to do with your problem.

Re: Excuse me?!

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I'll edit the post and edit you out of it. It just seemed too suspisious that when I sent payment, it went to YOU, and YOUR PAYPAL.

I do appolgise for mixing you two up, I tend to belive what I see from paypal over anything els.

I made this post because I am sick of bullshit excuses, I didn't pay decent money for nothing, I'm not a charity. I work rather hard for what little money I have, and when I can spend it on something like art, I do expect results in under 7 months!!

Re: Excuse me?!

[markwulfgar.livejournal.com]

since only I got a debit card, the main paypal account is mine, he has an extension of mine.

that could be the reasn of the whole mix up.

Re: Excuse me?!

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I suspect it was. I forgot that paypal could do that. I am attached on mine with my mother, as she does ebay, and didn't want to create a paypal, I let her use mine. I totally forgot about that feature.

heh, shows how much I use paypal. Anyways...Me and him came to an arrangement, and you know what? I really feel like a shithead. I edited the post, so you oughta re-read it.

Re: Excuse me?!

[markwulfgar.livejournal.com]

I believe ya. Don't worry. Just be more careful next time :3

Re: Excuse me?!

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I edited the post, like I said, I appolgise to you for mixing you up, at first glance your styles resemble eachother a little, but looking again I can clearly see they are not.

Please understand, I'm very burned by the fact I have gotten the same run around from him month, after month, after month. He'll tell me something and then it turns out to be a lie.

I'm to the point now, I would shut up if he would fully refund me.

Re: Excuse me?!

[markwulfgar.livejournal.com]

Well... I don't know what business you got with him. We usually sort our commisions separately, but I think I helped him wth the sketch of your fursona the other day some time ago, he probably has an advancement on your commision. Do you keep in touch with him?

Re: Excuse me?!

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I try, but usually never get a responce. Hence what pissed me off..

Re: Excuse me?!

[markwulfgar.livejournal.com]

I'll talk to him. he've been thru a lot lately, and one of his pets just died tonight so... it might not be a good time at this second..., but i'll give it a try ok?

Re: Excuse me?!

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I can understand.

I would rather him just finish the commission when he can and keep the money, I'm sure he needs it more then I do. Try explaining that to him for me if you can.

This has all ended up a terrible mess for everyone involved and I did not mean it that way, it was all a lack of communications.

If you can do that for me, I would be forever grateful..

Re: Excuse me?!

[markwulfgar.livejournal.com]

I'll talk to him.

Cold Blooded

[vinvan333.livejournal.com]

Okay, first of all: Rackun Wolf and Mark Wulfgar are two different people. They DO live together and DO share a PayPal account to cut expenses. Second, do you realize exactly the full extent of what you're saying? Rackun is rather popular because of his low commission costs and quality work, he's really backed up at the moment! He's trying his best to catch up, but like all of us, he doesn't spend all his time doing one thing! He'd never just take your money and rip you off! Also, please keep in mind that he does have a LIFE, meaning that he has to run errands and things like that, don't just assume he's got all the time in the world to just do YOUR work. I can understand that you're upset that it is taking so long, but you know, if you've looked at his FA page, you'd seen he's still doing a lot of other people's commissions. Don't think that just because you haven't gotten yours yet that he's 'run off with your money'. And don't you think it's pretty cold-blooded to call him out like that, AND drag Mark Wulfgar's name through the mud as well? You sir, should feel ashamed of yourself.

Re: Cold Blooded

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

Being busy doesn't excuse not taking five minutes to type up a reply.

Re: Cold Blooded

[vinvan333.livejournal.com]

If you read Rackun's message, you see that he DID talk to the guy. He's just getting too worked up.

Re: Cold Blooded

[vinvan333.livejournal.com]

Now I do agree that lack of communication is the probably, but in this case the artist did indeed have something to present, but the final product needed more time. And yes, I would be just as quick to defend them if it was the other way around, especially if I knew the circumstances as I do in this case. The fact is, this whole thing could have been avoided if he'd talked more to Rackun and explained how he felt. However, bypassing that and going straight to attacking him is in my book, Cold Blooded.

As for pretending to be two people, I do understand it is rather easy to do that. However, knowing both Rackun and Mark myself, as well as knowing the large difference in their art styles, I can say with no doubt Mark and Rackun are two different people. It's actually rather common for roommates to share something like PayPal, it's more convenient after all. And yes, for the record, while they do draw similar subjects matters, the artistic style is very different between the two.

Re: Cold Blooded

[vinvan333.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do understand your points, you have made many good ones. However, I still must call attention to one fact: If the Commissioner was tired of waiting and wanted to just commission someone else as he mentions above, why did he not attempt to get his money back? Not once does he mention ever trying to recollect the money in the above message. I will say that he has had a bad experience, that much is evident. However, can you not agree that trying to recollect his money would have been the best step in this case? I think it's only fair to call someone out like this only once you have truly exhausted everything, and as Rackun has clearly stated below, he DID have contact with the Commissioner, explaining to Rackun that he was tired of waiting and wanted a refund would have been easy.

Re: Cold Blooded

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

Because I don't belive in jumping down an artists throat for my money back if they can't just produce something over night. I'm not a cold heartless person, I'm paying the person for THEIR TALLENT to draw MY CHARACTER, so I don't mind if they take their time.

He's a nice guy, he really is, but the fact I have waited 8 months now, maybe longer, is inexcuseable. I have asked a number of times, he'll give me an excuse, or tell me tomorrow, or whatever, and NOTHING, I wait a bit, contact again and then get ignored.

Nice guy or not, I paid for something, and he has been putting out art, for other people recently, a couple of which were not even commissions, where gifts, and yet, I'M STILL WAITING FOR MY PAID FOR COMMISSION, AND HAVE NOTHING.

Re: Cold Blooded

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I really do feel rather bad about having the post this. I have never had a bad experince with artists before.

I did make a mistake thinking they were the same person, but looking at all the facts closely, paypal address, style, personality, it all pointed at they were the same person.

Alabaster just stole my money and ran, there is nothing I can do about that now, but post here to warn other people not to give him their money. I put in the commission with Rackun last year, in september I think, not 100% sure on that, but too much time has passed, and he has still produced art for other people, some of which were GIFTS! I still have not even been send a sketch for my commission, so I belive, regaurdless of how bad I feel, that I am right in making this post, dispite the drama it has caused.

Re: Cold Blooded

[thrivis.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to believe that it's common for roommates to share paypal.

That would imply they share bank account numbers or credit cards. Or are okay with one using the other's bank/card for finances. It's common for folks in relationships to combine finances, but friends? Roommates? Not common.

I guess there are exceptions to everything, but expecting folks to believe just roommates are sharing confidential and financial information like bank accounts and credit cards is a bit of a burden to put on folks.

Re: Cold Blooded

[vinvan333.livejournal.com]

Okay, in PayPal, you know that you can add more email addresses to have it all collect to a single account right? Considering roommates have to share expenses, PayPal is an ideal choice. Your bank account information remains secure and all transactions are recorded, keeping funds to yourself through it would be near impossible. So two people could share a PayPal account without the other knowing anything about the other's bank account info or credit/debit card info. It does carry certain risks yes, but since you can check all transactions through PayPal, any damage can quickly be found and fixed.

Re: Cold Blooded

[thrivis.livejournal.com]

Looking at Paypal now, you don't need to know the account numbers if you wanted to withdraw from an account already there and put it into another one. :/ Though it wouldn't go unnoticed because of records. I still think it sounds way too dicey, but I can see how others would find it almost "safe."

Depends on the roommates: I've never shared any expenses with my roommates, and it's never been proposed. And I've had several from living in the dorms. Though if it were not in the dorms, it might be different: sharing bills and the like. But even then I don't see why paypal would be useful or safe to use over just using checks for bills or cash to reimburse your 'mate. XD

But anywy, I see your points.

Re: Cold Blooded

[rackunwolf.livejournal.com]

its really easy to say things about something that you dont even know or even care right?

Re: Cold Blooded

[thrivis.livejournal.com]

Just explaining why folks would still find it not likely or a good idea, but also acknowledging it is more likely than I thought that roommates would do that. I wasn't being an ass or anything. O_o; Really didn't mean any harm there.

[rackunwolf.livejournal.com]

OK first of all the last time we chatted I told you that i had an sketch for you that i only needed some time to work on it, and you were really kind i actually thought that we were friends, that was the last time that we chat and you never said a word as a reminder until this, you dont have to act like an ass telling lies and you dont have to say anything about Mark!! specially things that you didnt know you only are a lier now! let me know your paypal address and ill send you the money back

[wyna-hiros.livejournal.com]

I'm just curious....

.... but if it's a commissioner-artist relationship, why would you ever assume you're buddies? (just because they're pleasant to deal with, I'm not sure why you'd assume that from a customer)

Unless I'm completely missing something.

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I'm going to delete the part about you.

The part about Alabaster is staying, because he just flat out fucking ignores me, took my money, and ran. I'm only pissed off because of the fact, it's been over 8 months now. I understand that you have problmes, but jesus christ, 8 months???

That's unfair to me dude. It's a shame this will make you hate me, it is, you're a nice guy.

If you'd just show me *ANYTHING*, I would shut up and you wouldn't need to refund me. You have my IM names, so no excuses.

My paypal address is Polyotnovatskii@charter.net. You decide what you want to do.

[hitchhyena.livejournal.com]

I'll delete it when a descision is reached.** I forgot to add that in

[rackunwolf.livejournal.com]

look is not that i really care about some people think about me its about the right thing to do, a month ago i wrote a journal in FA to all the people who i owned commissions, i needed help because there was a mess with my notes, emails and info about commissions and i ask them to send me an email with a reminder and a short description of the commission as a reminder and plan a new schedule of work, many people sent me their descriptions and it was really helpful but you didnt send me anything, you can check my FA journal if you dont believe me, and for now i think that the better thing is to give you the money back and letting you know that im not hiding or something you know where to find me, and not act like a coward telling lies and bullshit about people

[tentaclejen.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what I can say that could help you. I have posted twice to this community about an artist that I paid in full for a commission and never got so much as a scribble afterwards. There do not seem to be any real answers...except that we are big time suckers. :-(