Avsun Mascots

[kium.livejournal.com]

Who: Avsun Mascots

What: Fursuit Head Commission

Where: www.furaffinity.net/user/avsun/

I am sure some of you have been hearing about the new fursuit makers who have been having an increase in a bad reputation. 

Around November I was looking for somebody to commission a fursuit head by and Prefur pointed me to them on a thread on the FA forums. At that time they seemed professional and I did not see anything bad on their profile and such so I decided to go with them. We corresponded over E-mail about the options and costs and they seemed like very nice people. I commissioned them for a head with resin eyes and resin moving jaw which came out to $550. The down payment was $167 and the monthly payments were $77. I asked for completion in May to be in time for a upcoming convention in June that I would like to have the fursuit in time for. They said they could make it in time. 

 

Whenever I sent money over I would first send them an email, saying it is on the way soon and after I sent it I would send another email making them aware that I had already sent it. I kept every email and recorded the date of the payments sent. 

 

Everything was going fine for a while with regular emails with questions and other things but then in January when I was asking them about when they would ask for measurements they said they would do that when it gets closer to construction. I thought this was a bit strange because usually the down payment is used to buy for the basic supplies to begin construction. 

 

When April came I noticed that most of my emails were going unanswered and then saw that other people were starting to have other problems with them too. Some of them were past their due dates by weeks, some even a few months. They said something about how they moved and their internet was not up yet. I posted a journal on FurAffinity about the situation and how I was getting nervous and some other stuff.

 

The journal is here: 

www.furaffinity.net/journal/2263774/

 

As you can see in the comments section Blarmajin had made me aware that there had been postings on Artists_Beware. She sent me the link but for some unknown reason I could not view it at the time so she sent it to me via note. After reading the article I started to get even more nervous and tried to contact them again but I kind of gave them the benefit of the doubt and thought about how every artist goes through a time when keeping up with commissions due to personal events happens some time. 

 

They uploaded a few journals about what was going on and some of them were surprisingly personal. A lot of people it was strange to spill out that much information to commissions for excuses. The last journal they posted was about how they moved their studio and were trying to settle in. I congratulated them, hoping that now that they are moved in they would finally reply to emails but as the time went on comments started to appear on the same journal of people looking for their WIP pictures and updates. 

 

By this time I was getting spooked and emailed them about getting a refund. Nothing. I then emailed Prefur since I know she knew them personally and she gave me their number. I was a little wary about calling them as it is hard to keep a record of the conversation like email but I figured if it is the only way I can contact them I might as well. When i first called I got the answering machine but Esh, one of the owners of avsun, called me back. I told him I was considering getting a refund due to recent events and he told me if I wanted to I could get a 100% refund since no labor had gone into my commission yet. He then went on (for a long time, a very talkative guy) about if I still wanted to go on with the commission they could also make me free handpaws and make sure that it comes in time for the convention. I thought that maybe the free handpaws thing was a way to try to get me to stay with them and I probably should of gone with the refund but I figured with the time left to the convention even if I did get my refund it would be impossible to find another fursuit maker who is open willing to do an order in that amount of time. 

 

After that we communicated over text (since the internet was still out apparently ) and he said that they were going to order my jaw for the head. On the first Saturday of May they ordered it. I checked in a few times and Esh said that the jaw was going to come in on the 13th and he would text me as soon as they get it and would keep in touch.

 

I have heard nothing since. I sent them texts, called them, sent e-mails and notes and still nothing. The calls seemed to go straight to the answering machine or get the lady saying the number you are calling is unavailable at this time, so it is a possibility that their phone line could be down. Yesterday (May 29th) I sent an e-mail to their quotes email, Esh's email, Sarlune's email, and Prefur's email pretty much demanding for a reply and updates. I was patient with them at first but this is getting absurd and I am starting to get aggravated. The convention is in 19 days and I am starting to pull my hair out with stress. They better clean up their act soon. I should of just gone with the refund when I could of. 

 

Just do not commission them.


EDIT (May 31st)
I finally got a reply from prefur of a note I sent her a few days ago. She said they were changing phone numbers recently and that was probably why my calls did not get through. I told her I wanted a refund minus the cost of the jaw they ordered of course and her exact words were:

"If you'd like a refund I will be happy to tell him. But currently he does not have the funds to give a refund, so you would have to wait until funds are available to him again :( "

So basically they spent my money...which is completely messed up. I told her that when he can send me my refund as soon as possible to [my paypal] and such. Kinda makes me more upset though that they spent it, probably not even on fursuit supplies. Well, hopefully they send it now that she knows I want it and I gave her my paypal.

 

EDIT (July 10th)

Been meaning to update this but I kept forgetting. Esh finally started posting stuff up on his Facebook. On June 1st he said that on May 1st  (a month earlier and now we are hearing about it?) that Avsun dissolved. He said that they got a divorce and is trying to continue on all the commissions. You can clearly see that people are looking for updates but he is not responding directly which is a little frustrating. I even heard news that he finished a body suit, said he was going to send it but never ended up doing it. I contacted Prefur and she said she could not do much since she was miles away. In a certain wall post he said "Flicker is next in cue" when the owner of flicker was asking for a reply so it seems he must be ignoring her. I have no clue what is going on with him, but at least we are hearing something about him instead of just completely running off. If you want to get in touch with him, I advise trying to get to him through his facebook. I understand he must be going through a hard time with his marriage ending and all but if he at least stayed in clear contact people would be a lot more understanding. 

EDIT (July 31st) 

I think by now I have lost all respect and patience for them. Just a few days ago, Esh Avsun had deleted his facebook which was the ONLY hope in contacting him. A lot of people are mad. They completely abandoned their FA, DA, and LiveJournal account and I think also their emails. I sent a note to Prefur asking her about why he deleted his FB and if there is a chance of contacting him. It seems she is now our only way in getting some news from them. I am almost mad that she is not taking responsibility, they were HER assitance, SHE told me to commission them on the FA forums on a thread I created and SHE advertised them, bringing in the majority of the customers. I would not be in this mess if it was for her, and I have been hearing that she is also creating some problems with her commissioners. 

Comments

[tanginello.livejournal.com]

You should probably just cut your losses, get a refund, and go to the con sans suit. I don't think you're going to be getting your suit any time soon; unfortunately these guys kind of dug themselves a hole and it doesn't look like it's going to get better for a looong while.

Anyways, I hope you get some kind of resolution at some point. Fursuits aren't cheap ):

[kium.livejournal.com]

Yeah, If I ever get in contact with them I am going to ask for a refund. I will just have to wear one of my old cosplays to the convention instead.

[phoenixsrequiem.livejournal.com]

That sucks! They looked extremely promising when they first started and then it all started going seriously downhill :/

[kium.livejournal.com]

I thought the same thing. They looked so professional before

[phoenixsrequiem.livejournal.com]

:/ Yeah. Just goes to show you that even if you are affiliated with an up and coming name, doesn't mean you automatically have as good customer service :/ Super lame. I hope they learn that all of these AB posts do not reflect well on them.

[viothefoxbird.livejournal.com]

I commissioned them too, and have given up on even getting a refund. Best of luck to you, and let us know if you ever get a hold of them :C

[kium.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I will definitely tell some peeps when I finally get word. Hope you get your refund though.

[ducttapeninja.livejournal.com]

That's heartbreaking. :/ I'd started watching their gallery when they were first starting out... The stuff they had up looked fantastic and I'd even thought about someday commissioning them.

And then they disappeared, taking a lot of peoples' money with them. If I recall, I think someone's actually getting close to being a year overdue on their suit/partial/head/whatever?

I really wish they'd just... Put more effort into cleaning up their act. :/ At this point it looks like they're taking peoples' money and spending it on everything but the suits they're supposed to be working on, and then just dragging their commissioners along to get away with it for as long as possible. It's really disappointing.

At the very least, I really hope you can get a refund. At this point, I'd take anymore offers by them to get your suit done with a grain of salt-- If they were interested in getting it done, it would have bloody well been done when it was supposed to.

[kium.livejournal.com]

Some people were suspecting that they were using the money that commissioners sent them for their new studio instead of the fursuit supplies. I actually would not be too surprised it they actually did.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

Just checked out their gallery for the first time. I'm pretty picking on fursuites and they have really nice ones. It's a shame about how they do business.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

Goodness gracious. :/ I realize they just made a newbie mistake in taking on too much work at once and I feel sorry for them, but... I almost think it's time for a lawsuit to get people their money back.

[baddakutachi.livejournal.com]

They last posted on Twitter on May 12th: http://twitter.com/Avsun_Studios
May 9th (Wall): http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002128582482&sk=wall
My 21st (Wall): http://www.facebook.com/people/Avsun-Mascots/100002095414930?sk=wall

[borderdog.livejournal.com]

They remind me of those companies where when you call them to cancel your service they try to talk you out of it with offers like "an extra free month!"

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

That's a really bad move on their end, too, since it creates MORE of a workload for them, but they're probably rationalizing it as good customer service...

[ime2667.livejournal.com]

I contacted them as well, but thankfully they didn't reply at all. I'm glad I saw all this stuff about them. I'm sorry you got into this with them. They seem like good people and I'm sure you'll get something. It just might be a long while.

(On another note, I hope I see you at Metrocon! )

[viothefoxbird.livejournal.com]

I'm not so sure they seem like "good people"
http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/447483.html

[ime2667.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know about all of the "bewares."

You can be a good person and make increasingly and decisions. Though, that is opinionated, but I believe the concept of whether they're good people or not is also an opinion.

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

In my opinion, canceling someone's commission after poor communication and missed deadlines, and refusing to refund any, would make someone not a good person.

[ime2667.livejournal.com]

Yes, bad business decisions. I don't think they see how bad they really are.

But, they might also just be con artists artist as far as I know.

[holydust.livejournal.com]

Whether they intend to or not, right now they look like HUUUUUUUGE con artists.

-Trying to avoid giving any kind of refund when no work has been done and it isn't the fault of the client.
-Outsourcing parts without the client's consent, possibly outsourcing a GREAT DEAL of parts... if this is the case, is it any wonder their turnaround dates have been proven to be BS time and time again?
-On that note, missing people's con dates (having not even BEGUN the project by then after giving a finished date beforehand!) and not even offering so much as a "we're sorry"...
-Doing business over the phone and refusing to conduct it over e-mail (you can live on very little and still afford internet, particularly when you need the internet to conduct business... ESPECIALLY when you're taking in clients who pay $500-$1000 a pop)

I could go on, but these guys have seriously screwed over a lot of people already, and I really hope they get shut down. I don't care if they're just really bad at conducting business... that they aren't trying to fix it AT ALL says a hell of a lot.

And this may get me some angry responses, but I don't know this Prefur, and while she does great work, being connected to these guys AT ALL much less trying to help them pick up their slack is not, not looking good on her.

[keaalu.livejournal.com]

All this, and changing their phone number, apparently without telling anyone except their "business partner"? The telephone number which they have in the past insisted is the ONLY means their clients should use to get in contact?

I notice their FA page now says "trained by and now partnering with PreFur." Seeing some of her posts on FA, she doesn't come across to me as a scammer (just doesn't really know what her "partners" are doing), but she's really not doing herself any favours at the moment.

[holydust.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I missed the part about the changing phone number, but while people in a transitional phase may have issues like that, not making a point to share that info with clients is sketchy, obvs.

And yeah, I wouldn't call Prefur a scammer either, at all. But I think she's making a very poor business decision by not cutting herself off from these people right now. I'm sure they're friends, but you are the company you keep, and I sincerely doubt her ability to single-handledly drag them up out of the muck they've gotten themselves buried in at this point.

[springmoone.livejournal.com]

:/ prefur is very nice but she's not perfect. She bought fur from me once and asked for it to be shipped to arrive quickly... I sent it priority and it got lost in the epic snow of doom that hit shortly thereafter. But she neglected to inform me that this was the case until 3 weeks after the package was due to arrive, and used it as an excuse for missing a deadline (instead of contacting me right away).

Still, I agree that she's doing herself a real disservice by partnering with them :/

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Well certainly I imagine folks who know about this will be a LOT more hesitant to trust her referrals in the future D:
But I think it's good she's trying to help get people their stuff since she apparently sent a lot of them that way and vouched for these guys.

[holydust.livejournal.com]

Ah, I guess she kind of has to if she was referring them. Hopefully she can help clean up the mess or make it right for others. You can't be right 100% of the time, but I guess you can try to fix it when you aren't.

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

I would agree with this opinion.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

I agree too. Sometimes I know the nicest people, who you should never commission, then some horrible people that are great commission wise.

Then of course you have the bad who are bad and the good who are good.

[ime2667.livejournal.com]

Well, see that's what I mean. (I did not state it well though.)

Business sense does not go into the question of "goodness." I don't think they know that they're getting into and how bad it's getting.

Going into the rose quoll post. They state that the don't have any other bad costumers. I also see that in the argument both sides are annoyed. It seems as though Esh feels as though they are being attack by a bad costumer, even though they are in fault.

and just for the record, I'm not defending these people. I don't think they're doing the right thing at all and their actions are not called for. Just being he devils advocate.

[ime2667.livejournal.com]

This was just an added comment, not directed at you :)

[kium.livejournal.com]

xD you are going to metrocon too? cool!

[ime2667.livejournal.com]

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/128/9/b/damn_gurl_by_shikakaka-d3fx8x6.jpg

Hopefully you can pick me out of a crowd! (Little bit of language in the picture)

[kium.livejournal.com]

Aw you are so fluffy! I have to hug you! Well it seems I might not be in my own fursuit so I might have to wear my umbreom costly again. I am actually hosting a roleplaying panel at 1pm on Saturday ;)

[ime2667.livejournal.com]

I hope that when I see you you'll remind me because I wouldn't want to miss it! :)

[kium.livejournal.com]

Yeah definitely, :) I am working on a cosplay to wear right now

[puritikoneko.livejournal.com]

I was wondering how long it'd be before they started popping up here again.

Best of luck to you on obtaining... Anything. >.>

[blackkrystal.livejournal.com]

Lol WOW. So they took money from over 30 commissioners, but they still don't have money to refund you? What the hell have they been spending it on?!

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

Just checking up on this. I noticed that their Facebook page was updated yesterday with this note: http://www.facebook.com/notes/avsun-mascots/update/127490503997463

Really not sure what's going on now, but it definitely doesn't bode well for their commissioners. :/

[sarla23.livejournal.com]

Here is a link to a non-deleted facebook page for Avsun http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002095414930