Advice on how long to wait :C

[jackalbutt.livejournal.com]

I guess I should leave names out for now, but the situation is really a concern for 'Asking for Refund' Etiquette.

September 23rd 2010 an artist came to me asking if I would like to get a commission to help out their current financial situation, I was happy to oblige as I like to help out. I paid them 20$ (in advance) for two of their "Iron Artist" slots. From now until then I'd rather forgotten about it until I was cleaning up my notes and found the original one that I had sent for the commission. Wonder where that commission stood, I sent the artist this note:

http://i56.tinypic.com/2vtehlf.jpg

to which he replied:

http://i55.tinypic.com/351xs9v.jpg

The last part of which wasn't very comforting, but since he mentioned the journal I went to search for it, and I found it:

http://i52.tinypic.com/2wggdmu.jpg <- My slots are highlighted there in Red, I'm pretty far down... It's my assumption that all of these other people have also paid in advance, since he requested that from me in his initial note.

He doesn't have any ToS that I can find, or it's just hidden very well.

It seems like it's going to be a very, very, very long time before my art is done, really a lot longer than I would like to wait. (I think I've waited long enough, honestly.) I haven't replied to the note that he sent me back yet, I was wondering if anyone here had any advice about what I should do at this point. Any advice would be really appreciated. :c

Comments

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

I'd simply state that since he has so much on his plate, you feel the wait is too long for you and ask for a refund. A customer should be able to request a refund in any case in which the wait exceeds a reasonable one because that's the measure courts use for this sort of transaction. So long as you're polite, there is no reason why he should refuse you one.

To be honest, I wouldn't have commissioned him in the first place since he does say he already has folks waiting on work. If folks from before the iron artist are still waiting a year later for their work, how long is it going to take him to get to you? It's been five months already by your timetable.

Plus I really reccommend against "emergency" commissions with pay up front basis because often once the crisis is past, it's either followed by another one, putting the artist even further behind or the artist's motivation wanes since they've gotten what they needed. We see more 'emergency' commissions and 'need money nao' cases that go sour than any other.

[ciderfox.livejournal.com]

IAWTC :D

[jackalbutt.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think that's what I'm going to try. I just didn't really know if this time frame was still a reasonable time-frame for "Emergency" things. Though according that that list he certainly did get way more than the 60$ that he needed to pay off.

Well at the time I had commissioned him he actually didn't state that there was anyone in front of me at all, I didn't find out about all that part until yesterday :C

That's unfortunate! I would have thought for most people that would be even more motivation in situations like that.

[lilenth.livejournal.com]

Depends on what it is, freebies you can and should wait a while on, paid for work not so much.

I suggest always checking out an artist's list or asking them before parting with money if there are folks in front of you and what their normal turn around time is.

Unfortunately not so, there are some very good people out there who do their emergency commissions quickly and easily but sadly not all are like that and enough scammers have misused false claims to gather money that it's a good idea to avoid those who beg for money because of some 'emergency' unless you know them and have worked with them before.

[dazen-cobalt.livejournal.com]

Lilenth is right. avoid people with "emergency" commissions like the plague. I'm not saying that -everyone- who asks for these sorta things are gonna take your cash and run but it's usually a red flag. Most of the time that emergency money is spent before it's actually earned. I'd politely ask for a refund because simply that is too long to be waiting.

as far as the whole iron artist thing goes.

I really don't understand why people don't just take those things in batches.

[puritikoneko.livejournal.com]

I agree. If someone wants to do 100 pieces, they should really split it up into 5 or 10 slots, depending on the complexity. Some people only open for sketches, while others do more detailed work. I don't understand why artists don't treat them as they would their other commissions. >.>

[jackalbutt.livejournal.com]

I see people that usually do! I think the groups of 10 thing works very well.

I'm really sad to find out about this emergency commissions stigma, I wish I had checked this community out earlier :C

[magusmanx.livejournal.com]

That's what I did. I tool them in batches of 5, worked on one every 2 days, doubled checked them, cleaned them up, and it worked out fine.

I don't see taking everything at once. That's just overwhelming.

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

I'd ask politely for a refund and explain that given the timetable you understand that he has a lot on his plate but that you were not aware of the time it might take before signing up.

Put it as delicately as you can, unfortunately because he's had your money long enough you can't force him to give it back, and if he gets pissy and does your artwork poorly then you also don't have much recourse except to post him here =/

[jackalbutt.livejournal.com]

I'm going to give it my best try ;o;

I really hope I don't end up having to post him up here because that list has a lot of other people on it two who are probably in a similar spot as me :C

[mrst4nkr.livejournal.com]

I like to give people a chance.

Let them know that you are setting a deadline. Set a reasonable deadline. If they don't feel that they can make the deadline, ask them for a refund, or let them know that you're dissatisfied and posting them here.

This is curt, effective way of getting the job done.

[jackalbutt.livejournal.com]

Should I ask him to set a deadline for me? Or do I make one of my own? It seems difficult to try and come up with an amount of time that would take everything going on here into regard that wouldn't in itself be a couple months long.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Personally I would say a month because when you get over the half a year territory things get crazy.
If it hadn't already passed I would have said the paypal 45 day refund period is a good mark too, for future commissions. Then you can dispute if you don't get anything (but warn them that is your hard cutoff ahead of time!!)

[mrst4nkr.livejournal.com]

IMHO, I think 2-3 weeks is pretty fair. It may also give them enough time to come up with the scratch, if they already spent it.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I don't see any harm in politely asking for a refund now. It has been several months and will probably be a lot more before they get around to your commission. It is for reasons like this - people taking on more than they can handle and getting snowed under - that I think IA is a horrible idea (unless they're only taking them in batches or something).

[jackalbutt.livejournal.com]

I would like to get my money back now as it's certainly not doing any work for me where it's at currently, I was just worried that asking for a refund in a situation like this would make me look like a jerk or something haha :c

[dazen-cobalt.livejournal.com]

you wouldn't be a jerk at all. That money hasn't been earned yet by him or her and from the looks of things it won't be for a while