Beware of Artist: Coferosa

[undertow26.livejournal.com]

I probably should have come here much sooner, but I held on to the hope that this person would come through for me. However, after his excuses, I'm fed up and reporting him here. I discourage anyone from commissioning him, he's been nothing but evasive.

June of last year, I commissioned Coferosa on DeviantArt for a fifteen dollar sketch of a character design. I have a few links to the transaction here including proof that the payment was transferred to him. Against my better judgment, I used the points system to commission him so I'm not able to file a paypal claim.

Proof the transaction was made img855.imageshack.us/img855/2139/blackened.png I edited out my main dA name. The transaction was arranged on my commission account but I paid on my main account.

First few notes exchanged, he accepts the commission:

img11.imageshack.us/img11/5695/theif2.png
img705.imageshack.us/img705/7246/thief3.png 

 

Some time goes by. I set a deadline in the job offer post of two weeks. As of right now I don't have the link to the posting anymore. But he overshot the deadline. I politely ask the status of the commission
img860.imageshack.us/img860/7734/notez.png

 

But my note is ignored. Feeling somewhat insulted, I send him another note

img713.imageshack.us/img713/7401/reply0.png

I finally get a reply. He says he finished the commission. 

imageshack.us/photo/my-images/405/thief1.png/
 

After that, he goes completely silent. I admit, I should have pushed him more. Eventually it completely slipped my mind. But I decided to go through my inbox sometime in Febuary to clean out some old notes and found his. Remembering that he didn't send me a WIP or a complete picture, I note him again. By now, several months have gone by.

 

img831.imageshack.us/img831/2341/reply1h.png

 

I receive a reply, getting the character's name wrong and I don't buy his excuse. Art has been submitted, infrequently though he has posted new stuff. His most recent deviation was submitted May 2 of this year.

img836.imageshack.us/img836/2540/reply2.png

That's the last I've heard from him. I've warned him several times and now I make good on my promise. As of now I've given up any hope of him refunding the points to me or sending me the art. I have filed a report with dA's help desk but I highly doubt that they'll do anything about it. This is more of a warning to others that may have been interested in his art. It may be a case of him not having his priorities straight, but communication is awful and he'll only respond if you nudge him. Not once has he noted me to say that his computer failed, etc.



Edit: As expected, I recieved a response from the staff basically saying I'm on my own here:http://oi54.tinypic.com/wa0ygk.jpg   I'll try contacting the artist again with a stern note and a link to this beware. But lesson has been learned, that will be the last time I commission an artist with points unless they've proven to be a very reliable artist.

 

Comments

[uozlulu.livejournal.com]

DA won't be able to do anything about it because they can't control buying/selling things on their site outside of their own shop and the DA prints system. However, reporting him here is a good thing and I hope that something good comes of this.

[undertow26.livejournal.com]

This is why I'll probably never use the points system again for things like this. =/ I hope so too, if it can spare one person from commissioning him, I'd be happy :D

[thaily.livejournal.com]

That's sucky. I agree that DA probably won't do anything, despite the fact you're using their currency and their system to pay for the commission?! I hope they prove me wrong and do something for you.

What's the character in question that's apparently impossible to draw within the span of a year? :/

(frozen)

[undertow26.livejournal.com]

I always found that ridiculous. I did hold onto some hope, someone who was a victim of donation fraud got their points refunded last year. I just filed the report with some hope but I wouldn't be surprised if they tell me there's nothing they can do about it.

The character was a cowboy with a fairly simple design, imo he wasn't very complicated to draw D:

[holydust.livejournal.com]

This guy (possibly because he obviously doesn't speak good English) was kind of rude to you from the beginning.

He's like, "Okay, you've paid"; not a single "Thanks"... he just wasn't terribly professional. I'm afraid I would have gotten scared a lot sooner, but I also might be pretty jaded. :P

Honestly, an artist not having a PayPal or an AlertPay account is often a reason for me to be wary of them. I understand that there are fringe reasons why one couldn't, but it often means they're too young/disorganized/irresponsible to have a bank account, the PP account has already been cancelled for fraud or trouble, or they know it WOULD be because they PLAN on causing trouble. If an artist tries to arrange any method where it'd be impossible to get your payment back, best to keep on walking.

I'm sure you already knew that, now, but I thought it warranted saying. :( I honestly don't think he's going to do your picture, but it doesn't hurt to nudge him again. You need to get angrier this time.

[undertow26.livejournal.com]

I noticed that too, I attributed that to his poor English in the beginning.

Usually I wouldn't bother with points but at the time, I was so eager to get the character designed that I didn't really stop and think of the potential consequences of paying through the points system. I won't be doing it again any time soon, that's for sure.

I'm planning on linking him to this post. Hopefully that will get him to either give me a refund or the art but I'm doubting it at this point unfortunately :(

[holydust.livejournal.com]

Well, a major point of making a beware post is to light a fire under the backside of the person it's aimed at -- it works best when they know the post exists. Either a friend spots it and warns them, or you do it yourself, letting them know you're taking action. I highly recommend you DO let him know. Be polite, but link him. It will let him know you're serious. Inform him that you only put up the post because you felt you had no other choice, and let him know you'll be happy to mark it as resolved and update it with his decision to make things right if he chooses to go ahead and get the situation taken care of.

A good artist will respond with an apology and make things right ASAP, but sadly, those are few and far between. Expect some lashing out, otherwise.