Need some advice on a late pic

[yaminekohyousai.livejournal.com]

I need a bit of advice:

Last October, I commissioned a two-person ink pic from a rather well-known artist in the fandom (don’t want to name names yet). I paid by money order, and confirmed that they had received payment.

In the following months, though, they have been really hard to contact, with notes and emails often going unanswered. On a couple occasions I have gotten very rough estimates, like “I’ll try to have a rough sketch uploaded for you before I head to such-and-such con next week”, but then the deadline goes by with no word from them.

As of yet, I have only seen one wip sketch, and that was an extremely rough sketch back in mid-March, which is also the last time I have heard from the artist.

They have been somewhat active on FA, however, and have posted journals about going to various cons, and also uploading older commissions of theirs (mostly holiday pics from 2007-2009 range).

*EDIT* It's not that the artist has a 3-year unfinished queue. They hadn't been posting on FA in a long time before that, and a lot of them were pics they had in other galleries on other sites.

In the past I’ve been sending notes about once a month; should I try more often?

I’m not sure if I want to step this up to a full fledged name-naming Beware, though, especially not without warning them and giving them a chance to respond. A friend says he had a similar long wait for his pic, but it eventually was completed.

I'm just a little irked.

Comments

[chrdoesscience.livejournal.com]

Wait, this person has a queue from 2007 and they're taking new commissions?! That is ridiculous!
I would not be willing to wait four years for an image unless it were a traditionally painted mural or sculpture or something else that would actually take four years to finish! Were I you, I'd request a refund, because it sounds like you'll be waiting a loooong time. And if communication has already failed (one inquiry a month is perfectly reasonable and should receive a quick reply in most cases) this person probably isn't too dependable.

[yaminekohyousai.livejournal.com]

It's not that the queue is that long, necessarily. They hadn't been posting on FA in a long time before that, and a lot of them were pics they had in other galleries on other sites.

*editing entry to reflect that*

[skanrashke.livejournal.com]

Ask them if they're almost done with your picture, if so may you please see it. If not, either ask for an estimated date of completion, or a refund. Waiting that long for a picture is ridiculous.

[gizagiza.livejournal.com]

This sounds familiar to someone I had to deal with. After 6 months of waiting for my 1-character sketch (and sending them notes about it every month or so), I kept getting the same story: "I'll get it done soon", "I've been really busy, but I'll try for this weekend", "I'll do it after such and such con" etc. Only until did I warn them that if I did not have it by a certain date (10 days after I sent that notice) I would post about them on AB, did they churn out my sketch in no time.

They were supposed to send me the original, but I didn't want to deal with them any more so I left it there. I just wanted to make sure they did the work that I paid for. So even though it worked out, let's just say they won't be getting my money again :P

[gizagiza.livejournal.com]

Argh, forgot this:

So, my suggestion is to set a deadline for either the finished product or a refund, otherwise tell them it's going in AB. It worked for me!