Warning: BooBooBunnyGirl/Rachel

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

UPDATA: I am updating this journal because the situation has not been resolved, and I'm naming names. This journal regards Rachel, aka BooBooBunnyGirl.

I thought I would never be posting here about a situation, but it seems circumstances are out of my hands at this point. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Last year at Anthrocon, I commissioned a rather popular artist for 2 badges of my characters. She was an acquaintance of my boyfriend, and I kinda liked her at, so I figured, what the hey. I believe I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $25-30 a badge, but again, this was a year ago so I could be wrong. She said she had a lot of other commissions to take care of and would take care of it after the con. Figuring "oh it's 2 badges I can crank that out in a day", I didn't bother giving a deadline of any sort since AC was the last con I'd be attending that year.

Big. Mistake.



By August, I had heard nothing about the badges. I was pretty new to commissioning artists, especially in a case where I didn't get something at the con I bought it from. I, however, knew how I did business and figured she would e-mail me when there was news. Time went by and I heard nothing, so on August 3rd I sent her a note asking about a refund. At that point I didn't really want the badges anymore, and I figured two months had been plenty of time to do two badges.

She replied back with:


I replied back with something along the lines that if she couldn't refund, she couldn't refund, and to just continue work on the badges.

At that point I left her to get to work, and forgot about the badges. Again, I was still operating under the assumption that she would contact me when she finished the badges, which I know was a big mistake on my part looking back on it. In November, I remembered about the badges and sent her another note asking on the progress and if she could give me a refund. Again, I got the same excuse.



I understood how it was to be low on cash, though I've never been in a situation where I couldn't refund a customer. As unprofessional as I thought it was, I couldn't magically make money appear in her wallet to refund me, so I said, once again, to work on the badges. Now, at this point, I was working on the assumption that more work had been done by her saying they were "almost completed", so I figured whatever, work was at least being done.

Lather, rinse, repeat. I forget about the badges until May when I realize that it'll have been almost a year in a little over a month. A year to do 2 badges! So I noted her AGAIN, asking for a refund.

She replied back:


I replied back saying I wasn't going to be at AC but, having learned my lesson, we could plan on having her finish them a week before AC and send them out so she could get them done and out of the way and still have time to prep for the con.

She replied with:


Now I'm sure you're all probably wondering 'Hey, the deadline isn't up yet! Why are you posting about this now?'

Because said artist did something that really made me disgusted with the whole situation.

The artist, who countless times used their low cash flow as an excuse not to refund me, posted a sketch... from their iPad. Yes, somehow, someway, they came into possession of an iPad.

Now, I'm not saying they bought it. For all I know, it could have been a gift. However, I have a nagging suspicion it wasn't.

I'm not holding my breath for the AC deadline. I really don't have any faith that she'll make it. And frankly, I don't care. I don't WANT the badges. This has been such an annoying and frustrating experience that I can't even stand her art anymore. I really just want my money back. That's all I want at this point. I don't even want the sketches, though I'll gladly pay her for the work done.

I just don't know what to do at this point. Do I confront the artist about their money and iPad and make myself look like a total dick? Do you just stick it out for a couple of badges I won't even want? Or do I say 'Hey, stop all work and pay me my refund when you can'?

I'm just at my wits end and I'm not sure how to proceed with the situation.

Comments

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

If you're generally unfamiliar with using <lj-cut>, you might want to just remove the </lj-cut> from you post - that basically says, "Okay, cut stuff is over, display the rest on the Recent Updates and Friends Pages..."

Just trying to help.

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

Is it not cutting? I had one in there. I'll go in and fiddle with it and see if I can get it to cut it.

Sorry about that!

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

There! It cutting now! Thank you for letting me know :)

[taasla.livejournal.com]

Personally, I would have been here posting their name in May. Telling you that they can't give a refund due to low funds is not an excuse. You should not spend commission money until the work itself is completed. That alone is a bad business practice that would have me leery of working with this artist.

However, you two did agree on a deadline, so I do suggest you let it pass. If you haven't received them, note the artist a final time wanting a refund. If they give you the same excuse, then come back.

Frankly, if they live paycheck to paycheck, how are they going to AC in the first place?

Edit: If you do have to come back here and out them, I would link them to the post. It's gotten results from artists in the past.

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

You should not spend commission money until the work itself is completed.

This. I always leave a buffer in my account for the purpose of refunds; money isn't yours until the picture is safely in the client's hand (or on the screen if it's digital), imho.

[girl-ethereal.livejournal.com]

One would think if she's going to AC she could take some money from that fund to give back to this person. But then again what do I know? Hah.

[chronidu.livejournal.com]

Honestly I would link to them now personally :/ This is already far beyond excessive. Also I can never get over this.

NEVER SPEND COMMISSION MONEY BEFORE YOU FINISH THE COMMISSION

I can't even express how incredibly unprofessional that is, and that alone makes me want to avoid them so I never get caught up in a year long cycle of "oh yeah almost done! ...sure I haven't even started but you don't know that!"

The money is NOT yours until the commission is finished. This is my policy as both a commissioned artist, and a commissioner of other artists :/

As for your current situation, I'm not sure. Their obviously dishing out excess cash on stuff for someone living 'paycheck to paycheck', but I guess since you decided on a specific date, I would wait until then before raising hell.

[chronidu.livejournal.com]

This times a million. Should be a freakin' hired artist law or something.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

I'm sad because I'm pretty sure I know who this entry is about, and I'm surprised they would drop the ball like this.

[danzadragon.livejournal.com]

Wait.

So they are "living paycheck to paycheck" for an entire year AND living on student loans [which are often very cosy!!] AND has and Ipad.

What a damn joke, these recent entries over the last few days have really opened my eyes as to why so many people are hesitant to commission artists when people like this screw it all up.

A year for 2 badges, even me with my amateur skill could do that in one day and I would get it done. This is a joke and they are taking you for a ride :/

I assume you didn't make their name public because they are a popular artist? If so screw them, I don't see why others should have the chance to fall into the same trap and the artist getting immunity from having the truth told just because they have xxx + watchers c..c

[danzadragon.livejournal.com]

"NEVER SPEND COMMISSION MONEY BEFORE YOU FINISH THE COMMISSION"

This a thousand times my god.

I never even take the money out my paypal till I've either done the commission OR I am CERTAIN it will be done on the day I take the money out.

[alpharaye.livejournal.com]

Good philosophy on that front! Too bad more artists don't do the same.

[sekhmet.livejournal.com]

eh, honestly. Even if I had spent the money id do everything to pay you back because its not like its a 50-100$+++ commission...I don't think giving back 30$ is going to put her in the street.

Id totally reveal her name if they dont make the deadline. Now, even if you consider Anthrocon is coming up. It would be nice for people to see it prior to going to the convention so they dont get jipped like you did.

[myenia.livejournal.com]

That's pretty awful. Though, I wouldn't make the assumption that someone could crank out two badges in a day, though. Of course that depends on the medium used. I certainly couldn't, and I am usually very fast on my commissions.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

The Ipad could have been a gift from her parents or something, but even still you should post her name. Its been a year, its time for her to own up plus you should warn other people from commissioning her before AC

[tornaderman.livejournal.com]

Wow, spending commission money before finishing the work is awful.
This artist seems kind of like a jerk anyway, I want to know who so I can avoid them at all costs.

[kadaria.livejournal.com]

Agreeing for posting the name.

1) No offense to you other artists out there but it's not like the OP has requested a repainting of the Sistine chapel. Badges should be easy enough to crank out and require a couple of bucks into the printing/painting, laminating and postage. A year is a ridiculous wait.

2) How many times do we say "Never spend money before you have a product in someone's hands" a week? 5? 17?

3) The ipad could have been a gift but we could just as easily speculate that she could sell the ipad to get out of debt with people or ask the person giving the gift (like her parents) for cash since she owes people money. Regardless, it's a poor move to post online about your expensive apple product if you owe people money and complain about being poor.

[tornaderman.livejournal.com]

yeah. HEY GUYS LOOK AT MY FLASHY NEW iWHATEVER

but uhm sorry i cant do refunds i just cant im barely living :c

My old roommate used to do that shit too and it's really irritating. "uh i cant pay rent OR any bills again this month man no hours at work and im STARVING WHAAA i'm so upset at the loss of hours at work im going to go play my new xbox on my new 42inch tv with these awesome speakers and also play wow after im done! also what's the router PW again I need to get my itouch online ASAP!!" This actually happened too. Well, he didn't say that but he got all these things a few days after each other lol. SO STRAPPED FOR CASH Why not sell some of this new shit you got ugh.

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

tyrrlin suggested in another entry related to commissions at AC that you contact the Artist Alley.

Her comment from other thread:
If the artist in question did scam people who have AA receipts from AC last year, yes we want to know about it! You can email Alley-2010 "at" anthrocon.org with your questions. Be prepared to provide proof, if necessary.

If she misses the deadline, again, DO drop them a note so this artist can't get a seat in Artist Alley. Be prepared to provide receipt and the screencaps of the issue. AC probably won't be able to get you a refund, but it may keep other people from commissioning that artist.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I'm going to echo the others and ask you to post the name, if only to add yet another name to the list of people to be avoided. I really hope you can get your money back or have this situation resolved somehow at least.

Also agreeing with those who said don't spend commission money til the owed piece is done x1000

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, she pays for some of it and then uses commission money to pay for the rest. She makes an UNGODLY amount of money, at least she did at the last AC which she told me about.

To be honest, it's one of the reasons why I'm hesitant to send anything to AC's Artist Alley about her because I don't want her to get all the way there and have no way to pay for her trip. I know that's bleeding heart and I don't want people to get screwed over... I guess I'm hoping that I'm the only one she's screwing over and not anyone else.

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

I'm really torn because on one hand I really just want to send her a note saying not to complete the badges and to just refund me with some of the money she makes at Artist Alley or something, but that would mean setting others up for this trap as well, and I don't want to do that.

I'm also torn about posting her name. On one hand, this has been a horrible experience and I'm utterly displeased and want to warn others. On the other hand, I'm hopeful that I'm a fluke and that this doesn't happen often. But I have no way of knowing.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

Well you've already posted on here, and have everyone's attention. There is no way to know for sure if this is a fluke, or indicative of a pattern of behavior unless we know the artist's name. If the artist is responsible, she'll own up to this, post your art so the mods can mark this resolved, and make a greater effort to improve her customer support so that she doesn't ruin her reputation as a commission artist in the fandom.

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

As I said earlier in the comments, I'm really worried about doing that because I know that's the only way she paid for AC last year was by making buckets of money in Artist's Alley. I'd hate for her to get all the way there and then be told she can't sell her stuff. I don't know... I know I'm being a bleeding heart about this but I don't want to get someone stranded at AC.

[silverfalln.livejournal.com]

Honestly, if she does, it's her own damn fault. I am horribly, horribly slow with commissions most of the time, which is why I don't want money until it's done. The last time I took money before the commission was done was at FurFright '08 and I was up all night working on it to make SURE I was done with it for the customer the NEXT day.

My fiance has commissions from that same con he's still waiting on from a couple of well known artists... :/

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

From the post:
"I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $25-30 a badge"

So for two badges, that comes to about $50-60 bucks. :/

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

Even though that's a possibility (the iPad being a gift), I don't see how someone could know a person well enough to spend 1000+ bucks on them and yet not know that they're living paycheck to paycheck. If it were me giving the gift, I'd just give them the money I would have spent on the iPad instead of the iPad itself. :/

[grandioze.livejournal.com]

and derp on me for the inaccurate price. iPads cost between $499-829, but that's still a lot if you're someone used to living paycheck to paycheck.

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

That's still more than what it would take to refund me. :/

[sekhmet.livejournal.com]

oh, sorry about that. I seemed to have missed that bit. But regardless, she can give back bit by bit, no?

[korth-dono.livejournal.com]

Giving a name would be exceptionally helpful :< That way, since she IS going to AC this year, people would know to avoid her.

Unfortunately the best way to get results is to make a public notice about the person.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Well, on the one hand I'm usually a fan of not posting someone's name to A_B until you've at least told them you're unhappy enough that you will do so unless X or Y is done. This might indeed strike the artist as very much "out of the blue" even if they have totally dropped the ball on your commission.

On the other hand, that. They totally dropped the ball on your commission. It's worthy of naming her in an A_B post to see if other people are in the same situation. If they are, she should NOT be going to AC and taking on even more commissions to pay for it!!! D:

[terridelgado.livejournal.com]

I am a believer of the "three strikes and your out" rule when it comes to art.

I do not care how popular someone is. If you have to remind them more than 3 times to do the job you've paid them for, and they have denied you a refund, then by all means CALL THEM OUT on it.

If someone was contracted to put on a roof and all they did was tear off the shingles and lay down the underlayment and then stop at that (the sketch phase, if you will) then you bet I'd be firing them and getting a refund.

An argument might be that she deserves some payment for the work she HAS done, but I am gathering that you haven't even seen proof of that work.

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's the thing, I haven't seen the sketches at all. As far as I know, she hasn't even scanned them yet, so I have no way of knowing if they're even sketched or not. I've just been giving her the benefit of the doubt, which I don't think is a benefit I should be giving her.

My plan right now is to wait until the deadline. If she does the work, I'll let her know that I'll be adding her name but will be amending the post to show that it has been resolved. If she doesn't make the deadline, then I'll add her name as well as e-mail AC's Artist Alley to let them know about this. I'll then e-mail her and let her know of the actions I've taken and will not take anything but a refund after that point.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

Personally I think that if an artist really screws up and loses their ability to work at somewhere like AC because of it? It's their own damn fault, not the fault of anyone who reports their behaviour to the AC staff.

It's like any job, if you want to keep opportunities open, you need to make sure that you are fulfilling all requirements, otherwise you can't really complain if the door slams shut in your face.

[albinowolf.livejournal.com]

So let her take more money from other people and spend it and not give them anything in return?

If anything you should at least want to save people from going through what you're going through. If she did it to you, it's most likely she's doing it to others, but you'll never know unless you post her name.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Anything new on this? Hasn't AC passed?

[onfourwejump.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you for reminding me. I'll make a follow-up post now.

[jamjams.livejournal.com]

AC isn't until June 24-27.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Shows what I know about furry cons. Heh.

[izzy-rae.livejournal.com]

I completely agree. Even though I'm a new artist. I know that badges do NOT take a YEAR. I would've demanded a refund at the first sign of a problem.

The longest a badge should take is a month or two. Maybe even three, but that's even pushin' it a bit. (depending on how busy they are)