(no subject)

[film.livejournal.com]

Hey guys, I hope I'm doing this right, I just need a little bit of assistance.

In early November (2010), I commissioned an artist (not naming names yet) for a simple, two character chibi drawing. I paid upfront and then let the artist do their work, because I'm a generally patient commissioner. Anyway, real life caught up with me and it was only until recently that I started coming back online regularly and realized, hey, she still owes me art... and it's March.

So, I email her. No reply. I wait, then send her another one. Eventually, I get a response back on April 1st from the artist saying that she doesn't check her email very often and was going through some anxiety about finishing commissions. She also apologized, which was nice, and said that the commission would be finished "by this week". It's the 8th, and by now I'm feeling a little discouraged.

My question is: should I keep waiting? Would it be impolite to send her another email? Should I just go ahead and ask for a refund because I've already waited months? She's probably spent my money by now but I guess it never hurts to ask. :/ Any input would be appreciated.

I'd add a tag, but it's not letting me. Sorry!

Edit: After sending her an email explaining that the deadline hadn't been met, she sent me an reply a few hours later with the finished commission and an apology. So it worked out! Thanks for the advice, guys. ♥ I'll keep it in mind if something like this happens in the future.

Comments

[hamburger.livejournal.com]

Only mods can add tags, so don't worry about that.

[rupertistheone.livejournal.com]

I would ask one more time first, I mean if you want the commission....it seems that she didn't really think of the commission until you just reminded her so it might really be planning on it, just that it didn't make it in the week deadline like she projected. I would try again, but I don't know of course who it is and if she works fast or has been posting other stuff besides yours etc.

[film.livejournal.com]

She admitted that she was acting irresponsibly and was in the middle of working on the picture for awhile, so I guess it fell by the wayside. I just don't want it to happen again, so I'll probably end up nudging her as you suggested. I just didn't want to be the commissioner that pops up asking "IS IT DONE YET? IS IT DONE YET"?!

She's been posting plenty of things to her dA, but since my experience with commissioning artists has been minimal, I was wondering how long is too long to wait for something like this when the artist active and drawing. Hence the post here.

[uozlulu.livejournal.com]

There's nothing wrong in sending her polite e-mails reminding her of your commission as long as it's not like multiple e-mails in a day or rude e-mails. Just touch base with her say once a week or so if you really want to see it come to fruition.

If she's planning to finish her commissions, then you might eventually see it, but it sounds like she's trying to do too much and let it get to her. Then again she might not get it done due to the pressure, so you need to figure out can you write the amount you paid her off as a loss or do you want to ask for a refund? If you paid via Paypal, it's too late to file a dispute since they only allow about 45 days to do that.

[film.livejournal.com]

Ahh, okay. As I said to the commenter above, that's probably what I'll end up doing. Just wanted to make sure that sounded alright since I've never had to remind an artist like this before (at least, not in a really long time and I don't remember how it panned out) and didn't want to come off as a nag.

I told her not to rush because I didn't want to pressure her (I also assumed that she'd keep her word about finishing it within the week), but I probably should have been a little more direct in retrospect, because it looks like I may have been forgotten about (again).

I'd ask for a refund if it came to that, but hopefully she'll just finish the commission if she's able to. :/ Here's to hoping that she responds to my email.

[uozlulu.livejournal.com]

Do you have an alternate way to contact her? If she's not checking her e-mail but you can talk to her through say DA or FA then maybe you should send her a note instead of an e-mail.

[aggro-badger.livejournal.com]

One thing to maybe consider is asking if she has a list/queue and where you are on it. Let her know that you're okay with waiting for your turn in line, even if it means continuing to wait. This might give you a more realistic view of her work load and how long it will actually be. She may have said a week with the best of intentions, but have said the same to others. Well, that is, if you want the art more than you mind the wait or want your money back. Everyone has thresholds for what is reasonable to them.

[film.livejournal.com]

Lasted I checked, I was the final person on her commission queue, however I think the last time it was updated was in, well, November. @_@ That's on her journal, though; I'll ask for an update when I email her, because that really makes sense. Thanks!

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

She said a week - so it's fine after a week to ask where things are at.
If you are okay with waiting then keep waiting I guess, but I think it'd be important to prompt her for another deadline if it's not done and just keep checking on her when the deadline comes...

[techno4tomcats.livejournal.com]

Glad it got resolved for you! Personally, I don't mind if customers drop a line every two or three days to ask how it's going, I just get annoyed if it's rudely worded or every couple of hours. Most people (who aren't posted about on this website) are usually okay with this as well. XD