(RESOLVED!) Need Advice: Feeling Held Hostage

[velux.livejournal.com]

EDIT 4/6/12: After contacting the maker privately, we have come to a compromise and an agreement on how to handle this. Thank you everyone for your help!

(Reposted because of derp while editing to add the LJ Cut requested along with a link to pics of the faults >.<  If you posted advice on the original, please post again! Thank you so much!)

I need some advice in a situation where I've felt held hostage by a very well-known fursuit maker I commissioned. Unfortunately, hope seems very bleak at this point, despite everyone I've mentioned the situation to (friends and new, curious acquaintances alike) feeling as though I'm in the clear here.





I commissioned them for a partial fursuit, the deal made official on January 23, 2011.  I paid the down payment immediately, and completed payment on time.  The partial was to be done and in my hands for Anthrocon 2011, June 23-26.  She contacted me on June 7, noting she may not be on track to have the wings completed in time for the convention, as was legally contracted. She promised she would have them done within a month or two after the convention.  They were never started to this day.

She sent out the rest of it though, and it arrived on time.  I wore the costume a total of 7 times: 1 time for literally a couple of minutes when I first got it, 3 outings at Anthrocon, 1 bowling outing, 1 time for smaller meet, and 1 time for Halloween. Over those few times, many issues came to light, starting from the first time I pulled it on - when one of the armsleeves' hems pulled apart with minimal force.  Aside from that, the tail was made on 1 belt loop, preventing me from using the rear belt loop on any pants, the back of the space between thumb and index finger on the right glove wore through largely, she failed to hem the ends of either the gloves or arms (the latter of which frayed badly until I had to pull another friend away from last minute suit work at the con hotel to fix for me), she used black thread on non-fur yellow fabric, the beak was left unsealed which caused the fur to stick tot he bare paint with even minimal, non-excessive heat, and most dumbfounding of all, she built both footpaws on the same side shoe/slipper.

I tried rolling with it, trying to convince myself that it was okay and I could live with it, especially with the hefty investment, but the buildup of surprising mistakes and lack of quality forced me to contact her about it on November 1, 2011.  After a few emails negotiating a course of action, including first being apologetic, then surprisingly lashing out at me several times, before we both came to an agreement for me to send the costume back to her (from the U.S. to New Zealand), at which time she would provide me a full refund minus the deposit. This agreement was reached on November 26, 2011, to which I got the reply "Okay sure, I'll pay it back as the money comes into my Paypal account."

I sent the package on December 12, 2011 following a small delay due to college finals, providing a photo of my receipt and customs form.  Only then did she inform me she was leaving the country for a month.  The package did not make it in time, and the package was lost in the mail while I waited for a response of her return and confirmation whether or not it arrived while she was gone.  I had to contact her on February 6, 2012 to find out, the result being no package there, and no return to me.  I waited a few days to see if it was taking some time to arrive back here, until I contacted USPS and opened an official inquiry with USPS and the new Zealand Post at the end of February.  I received the package back here on March 17, 2012, and opened the package to confirm its condition (the box had been minorly squished), and took photos of the aforementioned damages, as well as for verification that there were no additional damages.  I repackaged the suit as I did the last time (which survived technically 2 trips - there AND back), and sent the suit a second time (following confirmation she would be around this time) on March 22, 2012, again providing a photo of the receipt and customs form.

I Proceeded to warn her the day before and the day of the beginning of the range USPS guaranteed its delivery.  She didn't respond to my emails, so I noted her on FurAffinity of she had received my emails. She responded on March 31, 2012 that she had, and that the package had arrived.  She said it was her birthday so she was taking the day off, and would respond the next day or the day after  that "I'll let you know what's up in my email."

This morning, April 3, I got her email with this reply:

Dear Velux,

I received the suit, and I cannot issue a refund.  The wear, damage, and smell on this suit show that you've used it heavily.  I will gladly refund the cost of making the wings ($200), since they have not been completed.  I'll also be happy to fix the mistake with the feet.  That said, I cannot offer any further compensation for what is clearly a very used suit.  You've raised some concerns about the quality of the suit, but this is only after extensive usage.  You raved about it when it you got it on FA.  If it was as bad as you've since claimed, you should have brought it up before wearing it.  It would be like asking for a refund for a car that you've driven all around the country.  I'd be glad to do repairs, but it will carry a cost.

Furthermore, I have images posted of you smoking in the suit.  No matter what produces the smoke, it will always damage garments.  This alone is reason for me to not issue a refund.  I cannot turn around and sell this suit.  It would be impossible to remove the smells.  Also, the method you used to package the suit and send it to me was far from ideal and resulted in what I assume is additional damage.  Regardless of the poor packaging, the wear of the suit alone is enough to make it so it cannot be sold.

I'll make photos of the damage so we can have a record.  I'll repair the feet and ship it back to you.  Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,
~[Maker]

The problems with her logic, however are this:
"You've raised some concerns about the quality of the suit, but this is only after extensive usage ... It would be like asking for a refund for a car that you've driven all around the country."
If a suit isn't made correctly in the first place, what would normally not wear, or wear very minorly will look 10x worse than on a quality costume.  And with how much I've worn the suit, it's like I got the car for a test drive for half a day (if that).

"Furthermore, I have images posted of you smoking in the suit.  No matter what produces the smoke, it will always damage garments."
Yes, I smoked in the suit.  However, the only thing I have been pictured smoking in it, and have smoked in it strictly, is hookah.  Hookah smoke is produced by a coal cooking tobacco or tea herbs in a bowl that is then vigorously filtered through water - it is 95% or more water vapor, and the scent left by it (if any) is perfumey due to the flavorings used. There's nothing damaging about it.  I know there are a large amount of suiters out there who've smoked hookah in their fursuits, and they can confirm what I'm saying.  As for the scent she complained about, the only scent left on it was that of the dryer sheets I kept in the costume - which both leave their own scent, as well as absorb moisture and smells that could damage the suit.  What she smells is actually form PREVENTING foul scent and damage to the costume.

"Also, the method you used to package the suit and send it to me was far from ideal and resulted in what I assume is additional damage."
The method I used to package the costume was the exact same way I sent it the first time, and it was 100% fine the first trip halfway around the world, as well as the trip back. I find it hard to believe there would be a drastic difference the third time suddenly.  I have photos from when it was returned and I checked its condition, so I'd love to see if anything's changed.

"Regardless of the poor packaging, the wear of the suit alone is enough to make it so it cannot be sold."
A-ha.  So her motivation was to resell it.  It's funny, because I have an email from her here where she denied that was why she wanted the costume back:
  >On Nov 8, 2011, at 7:04 PM, [Maker] wrote:
    >The materials will not be coming back to me to be used

So she lied to my face to get it into her possession. That sounds really fishy and bothers the heck out of me. It makes me wonder if she was planning to deny the refund the entire time. [OP Edit: It appears as if this part was a misunderstanding/miscommunication in wording or something]

In either event, despite her shoddy logic, she's holding me up for my $1200 refund on my $1700 unfinished suit that she already agreed to, knowing the damages (mind you, following nearly $200 of shipping I had to shell out, bringing me to losing nearly $2K).  I honestly don't want repairs. With the quality this maker has shown, it will only fall apart again, and I'll be stuck once again with a suit I've invested two thousand dollars in that I won't be able to wear.

I've been very reluctant to make this public (which is why I'm doing my best to not name names), but I'm at a loss as to what to do at this point.  I can't draw worth a crap, and fursuiting is really the only thing I have to actively participate in and give to the fandom - something that frankly means a lot to me.  The past half year without one has been incredibly difficult for me, wanting to participate in and do something for the fandom, but not being able to. I hoped to inspire other suiters out there to boost their performance, thanks to my prior experience as a nationally-ranking college mascot (I definitely know a thing or two about costumed performance, as well as the suits).  But now I'm left with nothing.  What do I do? What can I do?

EDIT: Here's a gallery of the damages. Again, this is after only 7 times wearing the costume.
EDIT 2: Here are additional caps to show there's nothing in the maker's TOS that forbids smoking in her costumes or renders them unusable/unrefundable

Comments

[syrusb.livejournal.com]

Having watched this situation over the past few days, seems like this is going to be one of those situations where both parties will come to a compromise in resolution. Neither will be fully happy with it but the end result will be fair to both.

It sounds like a series of miscommunications and bad judgements on both sides. The suit should have had better construction, finished on time with all parts delivered. When issues with the suit were noticed the buyer should have informed the maker immediately and not created more wear on the suit while they hammered out a resolution. Communication from both sides should have been clear and regular.

That the maker is still willing to fix the issues and return the suit at no additional cost speaks well of them and probably the best way to resolve the situation. The wings' cost should be refunded if it hasn't been already.

With the way this has played out I don't believe a 100% or 70% refund is fair. The maker should be given the chance to fix the problems. Both parties should make a list of issues to fix so it's clear what is expected in regard to repairs. Take before and after pictures to document what was done, have the buyer inspect photos, give them a chance to ask questions about the repairs before return shipping. If there are still major issues with the suit upon return after repair then negotiations for a partial refund could be in order.

Good luck to both parties.

[velux.livejournal.com]

My issue with just having it fixed is that after the product already came to me with such poor craftsmanship, I don't want it to happen a second time. And if that does happen, THEN return it again for the refund, it'd be another 100 bucks to get it there. It just doesn't feel worth the risk to me, on top of this whole situation leaving a bad taste in my mouth, unfortunately. I hope this can be resolved and that taste removed.

[velux.livejournal.com]

That said, with the cost of the suit after non-refundable deposit being 1200, 200 being returned for the wings brings us to 1000 more to be handled. Would it sound fair to you to split that last 1000 50/50, making a $700 total refund?

[ikirouta-fox.livejournal.com]

This sounds fair at least to me.

[syrusb.livejournal.com]

I understand your position, but based on that you are unwilling to let the maker repair the damages I don't believe you are entitled to a 50% refund of the final $1000. Perhaps 35-40%. That's just my take. I see you are now in private negotiations and hope you and the maker can come to a fair solution.

[velux.livejournal.com]

Taking a 50% cut mainly because of the maker's quality is way more than I really should be taking, why even less than that?

[taasla.livejournal.com]

Considering the original construction of the item, the OP should not be punished for not wanting to possibly run into the same issues. The maker didn't even address the issues, instead flat out denies them.

[houndofloki.livejournal.com]

This is an almost $2,000 costume. The maker put two left feet on it and gave it eyes made of paper. It's literally falling apart after a handful of normal wearings. 50% is pretty generous on the buyer's part.

Why would anyone think repairs done by someone who produced such poor craftsmanship in the first place would hold up at all? It's expensive to ship a fursuit back and forth for repeated repairs.

[syrusb.livejournal.com]

Again, this was just how I felt when I read on the situation at hand. Given that the maker was willing to do repairs and front the cost of shipping I thought they deserved that chance. However, what's most important is you opened a dialog and came to a solution you both feel is fair.

[ikirouta-fox.livejournal.com]

I agree.