Probably not getting the rest of commission refund, caution!

[kuperfox.livejournal.com]

Artist's_Beware Template:
WHO: Marc Leonhardt
WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/marcleonhardt
WHAT: See below
WHEN: Over the last few days
PROOF: Posting full chatlogs and screenshots
tags: artist-marcleonhardt, beware

This is a follow up to my earlier post: http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/473934.html



I know his tactics now, he has no negative feedback anywhere because he squashes it, disallowing customers from conversing outside of his chatstreams, and threatening to not follow through on agreed terms if silence isn't upheld.

If a system such as ebay's ratings, or amazon's customer feedback was in place for fA commissions, then that is where I would make this information available. As there is no system, I'm posting this here.

Updates:

Tuesday 6/21/11	Original post submitted to "Artists Beware!"
Thursday 6/23/11	Session Start: Thu Jun 23 19:33:55 2011 -0400 [16:43] marcleonhardt: really.... [19:34] kuperfox: hmm? [19:50] kuperfox: dinner, back in a bit [19:54] marcleonhardt: just gimme your email so I can start sending you some payments and we'll never talk again [20:18] kuperfox: back, and REDACTED@yahoo.com Session Close: Thu Jun 23 21:47:40 2011 -0400
Soon after, via email	(Which I find interesting, because I can't recall him being friendly or conversant since soon after the commission started)
Saturday 6/25/11	After that response, curious to see if others had had longer queue times and just been more patient, and to see if his cheerful bedside manner was universal, I queried a few of customers that recently received full color/shaded commissions posted to FA via FA Notes as to how long ago they commissioned the pieces. The response of 2-5 weeks and "why, your seems late?" was replied to with a link to the prior Artists Beware post.
A few hours later	Session Start: Sat Jun 25 16:04:05 2011 -0400 [10:27] marcleonhardt: I will give you this one warning stop approaching my other buyers and tell folks that you been burnt before, I already started sending payments to you, and yet you still decided to talk about it with others. Yeah I know about the artist beware page. If you continue you this I will refuse you rest of the payment because you would be hurting me by even getting others to stop buying. So I suggest you stop and be patient, I am sending you payments. [16:08] kuperfox: And i am telling you now, the entirety of this transaction, including the message you sent to me during the first transaction are EXTREMELY unprofessional, on top of the fact that we never spoke other than about business and never were friends, so your threat falls on deaf ears. Furthermore, my inquiry was as to how long their transactions took, as I was interesting in seeing if you'd matured and developed a business ethic, as it seemd you had from their responses of 2-4 weeks. The link came after I was asked specifically if i'd been waiting on one. The artists beware page was never a secret, and also does not lie. Regardless, no further communication will occur regarding you, and you using the word patience on me is irony defined. [16:11] marcleonhardt: Then with that statement you want to burn me, and I owe you nothing [16:12] marcleonhardt: with that comment makes it seem your not happy unless you burn somebody, yes Setsuki told me. [LJ Users, see http://pics.livejournal.com/kuperfox/pic/0000er0p for the entirety of my conversation with setsuki, I'm curious to what they told marc] And all I wish is just allow me to make my payments and nothing els will happen [16:24] marcleonhardt: please let me know what road you wanna take Session Close: Sat Jun 25 16:09:07 2011 -0400
Update: Friday 7/1/11	Received 2nd payment, $15 (50% paid so far).
Update: Sunday 7/3/11	Received 3nd payment, $30 (100% paid).

At this point I removed him my 'buddy' list, as I have no further intention of talking to him, seeing as how I agreed to his terms "Regardless, no further communication will occur regarding you", and he threatens me AGAIN with not returning the rest of our money.

I'm considering that money gone at this point, which I'd gladly pay in exchange for being able to post an accurate account of a transaction / review of an artist and not get muted. I cannot stress how unprofessional he was every step of the way after the commission began, and must note that EVERY communication had to be initiated from my end.

To Marc: A business is built on trust and reputation, both of which have to be earned. Also, this is a public forum. My posting here was never an attempt to do so without the chance of you seeing it, much as a seller can see the reviews of their own products/services on a sales page.

In the interest of fairness, I'm posting our unedited chatlogs relating to this from the past few years, so there is no confusion that I'm omitting details to support my claim. (WARNING: NSFW descriptions in chatlogs)

Comments

[agoutirex.livejournal.com]

Sounds pretty typical from all I've heard about this guy.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Yuck!!!

Sorry you had to go through that - glad you're getting the word out. On principle I'd like to see you get the full refund though...

[kuperfox.livejournal.com]

I'm looking into what would need to be done small-claims-court-wise, if the full refund isn't sent.

[maryseif.livejournal.com]

Wow what an attitude.

[thanatoast.livejournal.com]

Wow. That guy's attitude is REALLY foul. Not even just unprofessional; he's straight up rude.

[sharpecostumes.livejournal.com]

One, I must say I'm loving how you post your journals... now onto the actual topic.

There surely must be some way as he has crossed legal bounds. Threats such as that tread upon the toes of blackmail, a definite legal offense that can be prosecuted in a federal court. I say if he doesn't give you your money back within a certain time frame (and make time frame known) you will pursue actions further. If that doesn't get his tail into gear and give him a wake up call, then perhaps an actual letter from some local authorities may bring him up to speed.

Withholding a commission is one thing, but holding money YOU paid over your head to keep silent is one line you just don't cross...

I wish you luck hun in getting all of your money back and thank you about telling us about this fella... I hope a lot of folks read this and avoid such a shady character...

[almightytora.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Marc Leonhardt is a complete douchebag. He has an attitude that will get himself hurt someday.

If you're not on his good side, expect to be bashed very often. (I should know. I've been on his bad side for a long time now.) He also loves to lie, as you experienced first hand.

Unless the art is already made beforehand, don't EVER commission this guy.

It's also funny that he does live streams for $5 sketches, knowing full well he still owes people artwork from months and years ago. And even then, if you do get a sketch slot and it's not his "normal" way of drawing, he'll complain about it and then make a half-assed attempt at what you asked for.

Good thing you got your refund. You're one of the lucky few.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Please do not namecall here, it's against our rules.

[kuperfox.livejournal.com]

This, and the previous article ( http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/473934.html ) can have the 'resolved' tag added at your convenience. Thank you!

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Done! Glad it was all worked out.