artists_beware | Artist/Builder Beware!!!

EXPLAIN: Ok, so what had happened here was I commissioned Poprock back in December for some crow wings. I was having a different builder make a head for me, so I thought it’d be a good idea to make a collaboration of multiple builders for a partial suit. Poprock was saying, at the time, that she was really desperate for commissions, so I thought I could help her out by hiring her. I was talking with her on Second Life about the commission I had in mind, and even modeling it after a different builders design. When I asked for a price quote, she said that it would cost me $125, which I thought was a reasonable price. Afterwards, I asked Poprock how long it would take to make them, and she said that it would only take a couple of months to do. So, from there I sent her a duct tape dummy of my arm, and an envelope containing the down payment for my wings. ($50) In about 2 weeks she began working on the wings and had a livestream video of her working on the wings. In a couple of days she sent me a picture of the progress of the wings. They looked pretty rough so I hoped that they’d look better over time, and in all honesty I was just happy that I was getting the commission made. Periodically, I would check in to see if any progress was made on the wings. At first I was asking once a week because I was really excited having this commission done. Poprock told me, whenever I asked, that no progress had been made on them since the livestream video. I started asking less often because I wanted to give her some space and not put any pressure on her.

A month passes and I ask about the progress of my wings. She again says that no progress has been made. When the next month passes, she asks on Facebook for some money so that she could buy something. Out of generosity, I gave her that money and we both agreed that it would be put towards paying off my wings. ($35) I was hoping that by paying her a little more to what I owed, that it would motivate her to work on my wings. To my disappointment, another month passes and zero progress has been made. Yet again, she asks for money for another thing (which I don’t know what it was) so I gladly obliged and paid her the remainder of the money on my wings. ($40) Of course I was hoping that some progress was made on my wings by now...she tells me that barely anything had been done. I was remaining patient as possible with her because I knew that if I said the wrong thing, she’d probably get mad at me and take even longer on making them. It’s around April 2011 this time, and I ask her if she could give me a deadline on when the wings might be finished. At first she tells me that she’ll have them done by the end of the month. As April came to a close, I asked if she was almost done, and Poprock told me that only one wing was done, but I would have to wait a bit longer. Also, to state, there were multiple times when she was guilt tripping me by explaining why the wings were taking so long, and she even offered me a full refund in May because she was feeling really upset about some stuff. Being a nice guy, I told her that I was willing to wait for the wings instead. (I fell for her guilt trip)

Eventually, she told me that the new deadline would be at Anthrocon 2011. Even as the days drew closer to Anthrocon, I still asked if any progress had been made on the wings. She dodged the question by saying they’d be done by Anthrocon. So, Anthrocon arrives and I eagerly wait to finally pick up my wings at Poprock’s booth. When I get there, she tells me that they aren’t done. She goes on to say that she has a bunch of commissions in progress, that she was booked until Christmas, and that she’d fit my wing commission “in there, somewhere”. In other words, it wasn’t a priority to her. Let it be noted that she constantly was asking for more commissions as each month went by, while my wings remained untouched. Nearly a month after Anthrocon goes by and I asked if she had done anything with my wings. Wonder of wonders, nothing had been done at all. So, what did I do? I spent 2 hours online talking to her trying to motivate her to work on my wings and other people’s commissions. She agreed to that, and I was glad that some progress was about to be made. One more month goes by, and I ask...she tells me nothing’s been done.

In this 8 month timespan, only one wing was finished and the other one hadn’t even been started on. At this point, my patience ran thin and I had to ask for a refund. She was highly confused by this and didn’t understand why. I explained to her that I was tired of waiting for them. Poprock flips out on me and begins asking all of these questions of why I didn’t say anything. I told her that I was trying to be a nice guy, but in all honesty, I was being too lenient with her. So she tells me that she’s only going to give me 30% back of what I paid once she sells the wings to someone else. First off, how many crows are out there who have the exact same arm size as me, and want the wings? Secondly, only 30%?! I paid her to do a service and she didn’t provide the service at all!

Eventually, I found out that she’s been manipulating other furs as well. Apparently, all of the commissions she was asking people to take from her, were just excuses so she could take the money from them and run off with it. There have been multiple reports from people who commissioned her, where they’ve been waiting up to two years for a commission. Not only that, some people didn’t even get a refund or any kind of update from her. She would often get pissed at them when they asked for an update and she would even go as far as to block them from all form of contact. 14 other people have reported cases similar to mine. In addition to that, some people who actually got the commissions from her were highly disappointed. One of the suits she made at a con even fell apart. The stitching was bad and it couldn’t even hold itself up for a second.

Sorry that this is so long, but all of this had to be explained in explicit detail so I could warn others of this horrible experience I had with this builder. I really worked hard to try and be her friend, but she was just using me the entire time. On one final note, I found out from a friend that Poprock was taking about me behind my back at Otakon and she told him that I hadn’t paid for my wings in full and that I was being extremely rude to her and pressuring her for the wings. Both of these statements are completely false! So that’s my experience here. Please, PLEASE, beware of her!

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From:

fuzzwolfie.livejournal.com

Hey there! Just popping in quick and saying I've seen poprock receive harsh trolling on FB before from another builder and her "fans." I did screenshot and partially get involved at the time, but this took place quite a few months ago, and I'm unsure if I still have the shots. (But I will check! =) )

I know without the screenie readily available, it's simply more hearsay, but I never knew of poprock before that incident, and I have to say it really disturbed me how she was attacked, so I really would give more credit to her claims of harassment.

Still, hearsay without proof, but hopefully it gives a little food for thought.

From:

breakspire.livejournal.com

oh man what a headache. what's bothering me:

if these wings are 85% done like poprock claims (they're at least half done http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5108833/), why not just finish them and you can both put this behind you

poprock focusing on tails/dealer stock for AC instead of promised commissions. it seems like the wings could have been finished by sacrificing a few dealer items, and since the wings were already paid for I would think they take first priority

From:

frazzled-niya.livejournal.com

Massive mess....:( and really it doesn't look good for either side. I can understand poprock's side and I know when you are trying to deal with some messed up emotions motivation becomes nil....

But the OP blocking pop from being able to contact them through the means they were before doesn't help the OP at all especially when they want answers.

The screens that are provided by the OP seem to be bits and pieces and not the whole story.

From:

oceandezignz.livejournal.com

I have to say, OP if you are truly ignoring the maker (Poprock), who is attempting to contact you in order to resolve this beware so that you can get either product or return - you need to unblock her and communicate with her.

The point of this community is to not only describe a bad situation in regards to a commission or a buyer, but to get a resolution when possible by interacting with the artist/commissioner.

I see a possible resolution, but if you're going to cut off your nose to spite your face, and continue to ignore her... pardon my French but you're just shit up a creek.

From:

fiztheancient.livejournal.com

This is such a mess.

I have heard that poprock has been unreliable though, but not with commissions. I know that my friend bought a pokemon plush from them on pkmncollectors back in late April and the doll hasn't made it to her house yet. Said friend has apparently asked poprock-grey about shipping updates and later on for a possible refund (I believe), but she hasn't gotten a reply :/

Anyways I hope this issue is settled.

From:

minimalismo.livejournal.com

Would have been nice if you had put this long-ass thing under a cut. Just saying.

From:

stormslegacy.livejournal.com

Because the artist kept in communication (even the OP's piecemeal evidence demonstrates this), I feel that the blame lay more on the OP who could have been more honest. This does not remove blame entirely from the artist of course, but the root of the problem is communication. Because the artist mentioned a full-refund 4 months in and the commissioner said to continue and gave no indication as to having a problem I don't feel that the artist is entirely unreasonable. While missing deadlines is unprofessional, there was certainly contact throughout the process, and the OP was aware of where progress stood. The artist is also relatively new and part-time--this is not to say all bad behavior is excusable but it's a lot more acceptable then say, from a full-time, professional maker. I also don't think a few extra months is unreasonable for a project of that scale--I personally think the artist bit off more than they could chew and didn't have the experience to know when to quit and refund.

Honestly, I'm bothered both by the hear-say in the OP's post and the fact that there is no evidence that they told PoprockGrey that they were unhappy at all until the demand of a refund. I also think that what the OP describes in how he kept in contact could easily be construed as stressful from the other side, especially in combination with the apparent harassment that was going on from third parties. If what the OP says about the 14 people is true I would like names/screen shots/etc

I do think if the OP had been up-front about his feelings then things may not have worked out poorly. It's a real shame that the OP felt the need to post here before working it out with artist. Since there's not a response after the last piece of evidence, it looks like the OP was unwilling to work with the artist.

I see nothing here that indicates that this is any more than a miscommunication. The slander (and yes, until proven otherwise, that's what the hear-say in the original post is) and also the misrepresentation is not ok. I'm hoping that this sentence from the original post:

"So she tells me that she’s only going to give me 30% back of what I paid once she sells the wings to someone else."

Is him misunderstanding what was said because I strongly feel that's a misrepresentation of what is posted in this screenshot
http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k541/AvianMaverick/Screenshot2011-08-17at103718PM.png
And yet seems to be the sentence many of the commenters here are caught up on when commenting to the artist.

I don't believe that 30% outright is unreasonable IF it is also sent with the materials that were bought for the commission, the WIP, etc. That also wasn't the only option offered, the others are all three fairly reasonable and options that have OFTEN been suggested on A_B before. Because the commissioner was the one to cancel AFTER having been offered a full refund before, I don't think they are entitled to 100% of the money back, I can't imagine putting hours of work into such an endeavor and getting nothing back.

EDIT: to make it easier to read

Edited Date: 2011-08-24 09:06 pm (UTC)

From:

lukesilvertail.livejournal.com

Okay now can we get this beware removed?

Obviously OP is not being truthful in his statements, has been here at least one other time and has not done what the mods have asked (the lj-cut) nor has he offered anything further as proof for his claims. Also what he offers as proof is just little snips of facebook messages and is not posting them in full (which shows me that OP has something to hide and does not want it to come out.) so we are not getting the full story here nor is he providing any solid proof about the claims he is making about the work of Poprock (at this point I do not believe these 14 people even exist). I also do not understand him saying he needed the money for him losing his job but goes to another builder and is getting a new commission for the wings.

These are just some of the points that I have seen on here that, to me, discredits this beware and OP. Unless he comes back and address the cut and the above reasons I have pointed out (and what others have pointed out) then I do not see the purpose of this beware. If one of the mods want to point something out that they need to see before the removal of the beware, I would like to know about it this way not only does OP know but so does the artist in question know what it is going to take to get this resolved and taken down.

From:

sbneko.livejournal.com

Bit of an off topic question.

In the screenshots, to me she doesn't really give a deadline, just an estimate on how long it would take. People are really upset she missed those "deadlines". Is an estimate really considered that much of a deadline?

I ask because I do the same thing and don't really want people to start getting mad at me for it. They'll ask for a time turnaround but because it really depends on lots of things (Whos ahead of them, how fast I get those done, if they reply to me fast etc) I could say a week which could turn into 4 easily. Course, I do make sure they know it's a rough estimate.

From:

familliaraver.livejournal.com

http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k541/AvianMaverick/NinthStage.png

Reading every single comment, opinion, screencap and snark this is the only thing that needed to be said.

The commissioned should have made it a priority regardless of the commissioners seemingly okay-ness with being brushed aside over and over again. Do what you say you are going to do. Making things to sell at your booth is not more important than something that has already been paid for.

OP should not have gone behind the commission's back and commissioned someone else. Grow a pair and be up front about how you're feeling about it. It seems to me OP has a real ignore it and it's not happening attitude.

Fin.

From:

poprock-grey.livejournal.com

I have tried to contact you any way I can to issues your refund, however I am STILL blocked everywhere. That being so, I will wait ONE MORE MONTH until the refund is forfeited because it has been over a two months.

From:

poprock-grey.livejournal.com

All refunds have been given, but unsure if Aves will be willing to revisit this and mark it resolved. Can admins do that as long as I supply the refund proof?