Advice on waiting for overdue commission?

[rhyn ghye]

So allow me to explain, on April 10th I commissioned a user on DA (I won't disclose their username unless I end up making a beware on them) for a 50 by 50 icon of one of my characters since they had made a journal saying they would be taking a number of slots for 50 by 50s for only 5 points (which amounts to 5 real cents before taxes). Great deal right? I got in the queue and sent my payment out the same day as well as linking them to the character I wanted in the icon. Fast-forward a few days and I see them get a whole bunch of icons done, awesome! Then something a little troubling happens, they get down to the person in queue ahead of me and skip them and me and finish the last person in the queue's icon. I was a little confused by this but I waited a few more days before checking again, still nothing. When they completed the commissions they linked the finished icon next to the buyer's icon in the journal, so I started checking those out and I found out something even more troubling, most if not all of the icons had been done on a free base found somewhere around the site, they hadn't disclosed before that they would be making these icons on bases, this lead me to believe this was why they had halted progress on my commission as my character wasn't a normal animal like a cat, dog, rodent, etc. I have yet to contact them (although I may today as today marks a whole month since I sent payment) because they put at the bottom on their journal, "Please don't rush me, these take time." and I'm a very non-confrontation person. About a week after initially sending payment I commissioned another user and they finished my commission (a 100% original pixelart drawing, no bases) within a couple of days after sending payment. Although I can't say for the user ahead of me in the queue who was also skipped, I have a lurking fear that this problem occurred because I called out a friend of their who was tracing art, the person (who I'm having troubles with now) freaked out that people would accuse their friend of such a thing and made multiple journals cussing out anyone who asked their friend to take down the traced art (Surprise surprise, the art actually WAS traced and was taken down because of it). I was once of these people who asked the friend to take down their art (in a respectful manner, again I'm non-confrontational so I tired to do it in the most pacifist way possible) so I fear the person I'm trying to commission may have a grudge against me.
In the meantime while I waited for the art, I've seen the person post personal art, start a comic, make a journal looking for commissions, and other non-commission-related activities.
A few days ago they posted a journal stating they had finally finished school and were going to be more active with art, I though Great, maybe this is why I waited so long! but then they started the aforementioned comic...

If I could have any advice on how to approach this situation correctly, I'd love to hear, thank you!

Comments

[honeynuggets.livejournal.com]

I think the first step to take here is to contact the artist and ask them for an update on your commission. Try to avoid any speculation, or anything that could be taken as an attack -- in my experience, staying on-topic and concise works best in these situations.

I'd send a PM with something like "Hey, I commissioned you for a 50x50 icon last month, but I haven't heard from you since [last date of contact]. Could I please get an update on my commission?"

While the artist being active and finishing their queue not-in-order is relevant, I'd hold off mentioning any of that until you at least get a response from them for that first note -- you might not need to mention any of it.

I also just want to emphasise that even though this is a 5 DA point commission, it's still a business transaction. I'd pesonally avoid mentioning anything to do with their friend tracing, or the possibility of them having a grudge against you. It could derail the conversation very quickly.

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you I've contacted them and am now waiting a response, I'll be sure to update the post if anything noteworthy happens.

[thekingtheory.livejournal.com]

I tend to work on my commissions out-of-order sometimes, but I also know that I get everyone's commissions done in a reasonable time unless something comes up. I wouldn't be too worried about that unless they have unlimited slots. Simply asking for an update without mentioning anything else is probably the best way to go for now.

BUT if you're uncomfortable with them using a base, since you didn't know when you commissioned them, I honestly would ask for a refund.

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you for the advice!
I have contacted them asking for an update and in the end I'm not too troubled about them using a base, I was just surprised when I found out. Hopefully they just got busy and can get back to me when they have more time.

[jellyfishee.livejournal.com]

It's easy to assume the worst.

Just message the artist and ask how the commission is going. Don't bring up your suspicions or anything about the friend. It very well could be like you said that she could not find a base for your character. Don't be scared to bring that up though, if the base bothers you.

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you for the advice!
I have indeed contacted them asking for an update and checking in, not saying anything more. A base doesn't bother me so I hope you're right that they just couldn't find a right one for the character, although as much as I'm not too bothered by a base in the first place I had just wished they had disclosed that before payment. ^^

[torotix.livejournal.com]

Ask for a refund or wait and don't complain. You paid 5 cents.

[tyrano-tiggs.livejournal.com]

5 cents or $500, the cost is irrelevant and a service was paid for and not provided.

[torotix.livejournal.com]

It is extremely relevant. As the saying goes, you can get work cheap, fast, good but you can only pick 2.
5 cents is an unfair price to be paying an artist and for that much you have no right to boss them around.

[yuki-fox-demon.livejournal.com]

Except the artist was advertising the icons for that price...so no, it's not unfair. The OP could have given more as a tip, out of generosity, but they're not required to. And it wasn't necessarily 5 cents. It was 5 points, which OP simply stated, for those of us who don't use DA, that it was equivalent to 5 cents. If you're a professional artist, it legitimately does not matter how much you charge, you perform the work commissioned in a timely manner and at the quality you advertised. Charging cheap isn't an excuse to not do your job.

[tyrano-tiggs.livejournal.com]

OP paid the artist for a service.
The artist has not fulfilled that service ergo, OP is querying how to proceed next.
Where you're getting the idea that the OP is making demands or "bossing around" is beyond me to be quite honest.
There was no haggling, there was no bargaining for a lower price; the artist chose the cost of points for services rendered and whilst it's low, that was their decision to make and OP is not at fault for that.

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

Hi, I partly agree with you in that in the end I probably won't post a beware and just eat the 5 points if I do get scammed out of my commission in the end, but had the artist requested more pay for the slot another ten or fifteen cents wouldn't have bothered me to pay, I didn't commission the artist because it was cheap, I genuinely liked their artwork and wanted to see one of my characters in their style. It just so happened that they only asked for five points and I was more than happy to pay at their price.

[tyrano-tiggs.livejournal.com]

I'd send a message to the artist as there's a chance it might be a genuine case of the artist forgetting. Not good form but it does happen and generally isn't malicious.
If the artist creates further issue or doesn't acknowledge you, I'd escalate to a Beware. Good luck OP

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you for the advice! Being as it was only a mere 5 points I probably won't go through the trouble to post a beware, but rather caution anyone who approaches me about commissioning the artist in the future for slot or small commission.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

While the tracing and using bases without disclosing that is definitely an issue, waiting a month for a commission doesn't seem excessive to me. Either way I'd definitely say to just send a note asking nicely about it or even asking for a refund if you can't stand the wait or the fact that they use bases. good luck!

[rhyn ghye (from livejournal.com)]

Thanks for the reply!
I was worried after a month because the artist had seemed to quickly finish all the other commissions they received that day and suddenly came to a screeching halt when they reached mine and the other person's.
I've sent them a note requesting an updating and checking in and am currently waiting for a reply.