Beware: DariusKoopa

[wilhawk.livejournal.com]

Last iFC, I wanted to get a badge from him. Something simple. He was doing sketches and badges of characters dressed up in Video Game attire. During my huge kick with Tales of Vesperia, I wanted my character dressed as Karol Kapel from Tales of Vesperia.



WHO: Dariuskoopa or DMK

WHERE: iFC 2011.

WHAT: I commissioned him to make a badge of my character in person.

WHEN: Ever since August of 2011 at last years iFC. I've noted him various times in regards to the progress an at least getting an email of the completed product. I saw him at MFF as well, and he told me that he would bring it, provided I noted him, which I did, and something else that I forgot to do. He doesn't send anything in the mail, due to past bad experiences. I've noted him countless times and he said that he has and would email it again, but I have yet to get any emails on it.

PROOF: http://tinypic.com/r/eb1l5y/6
http://tinypic.com/r/r26a9y/6
http://tinypic.com/r/3539khv/6
http://tinypic.com/r/2cr2b9t/6

EXPLAIN: He's a friend of mine and I wanted to give him some business at the con, so I got a badge and heard he doesn't send stuff over the mail. Bad experiences and I can dig that. I mean, if something sucks enough, you find work arounds. I've been noting him since August of 2011 and I have been getting responces on it, and notes stating that it was emailed to me, yet I still haven't received it. He did a journal of people he still has to email stuff out to and to note him, which I did, and I still haven't gotten anything on it. Granted, it's been a couple months since I've last noted him because I'm getting tired, but still. The transactions were in person, so there is no receipt or anything of the like, sadly. I'd just like to see my work that I commissioned for.

Comments

[wuvvumsoc.livejournal.com]

Off topic, but this in his ToS concerns me:

Attitude and Disrespect

I have Patience. I have plenty of it. But like everyone else, I can lose it. So to keep attitudes in check, I will be doing what is called a Point System. Avoid Points like the plauge in this case. I will not tolerate Disrespectful people, Slanderous people, or Snotty people. With that said, these are the following that gets you points

-Negative Attitude. (1 Warning >> 1 Point)
I hate people with Negative attitude. I.E. People that rush, pester, minorly irritate. That kind of thing. Please remember the very top of my TOS. I DO have a life, and I DO have a Disability.
I will give you a Fair Warning.. then a Point if continued.

-Demeaning comments (.5 Points to 3 Points)
Calling me cuss words, and hurtful words will NOT be tolerated. I will not stand to have you insult me. If you have a problem with me, then please Say so to me Directly in a Private message, or Email. And Be professional about it. Demeaning words are not needed. Doing so will give you Half a Point. If you continue the points build. if you Do it openly in pubilc, You will earn 3 Points.

-Slandering, Defacing, or Belittling me. (2 points to 4 points)
This is strictly unprofessional, and it is NOT needed. if i see that you are speaking neagtively about me, teling slanderous lies, or belittling me in journals, streams, or comments, I will confront you. and this WILL earn you 2 Points. If someone sends me a message saying that you are slandering me in secret, I.E In IMs or Notes, and I am informed, you WILL get the maximum of 4 points.

-Threatening, using Fear, or Full Fledged Harrassment (5 Points)
THIS...will NOT be Tolerated. If You Decide to threaten me with legal, or Illegal Action. If you try to instill fear in me, Or you Harass me for NO reason AT ALL. ESPECIALLY when i have done nothing wrong, You will be Punished Severly with the Maximum Point Penalty. 5 Points.

Once you have reached 5 Points, Your commission will be cancelled. Your Payment will NO LONGER be Refunded, and you WILL be blacklisted, meaning you will be barred from commissioning me in the future.

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Point systems are for grades and teaching little children to do their chores. Not commissions.

His 'no refund' policy wouldn't hold water in any court, its laughable to even have it, unless he wanted people to PASS HIM UP instead of giving him money.

[xenafox.livejournal.com]

... O_O WOW. I don't think I'd commission anyone who had that in their ToS. Lotta alarm bells there.

[rtydmartel.livejournal.com]

In the OP's defense, it's possible that he never saw his TOS before the transaction, or at all, what with the transaction being done in real life. He might not have known that he had a TOS at all (or about the drama mentioned in the comments below), if they're more real life friends than internet friends.

[copper-curls.livejournal.com]

Oh boy... that's serious "Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!" right there.

[taasla.livejournal.com]

Wow. The first two are actually valid, but then it just kind of jumps off into the deep end. I'd avoid the artist on their ToS alone.

Edit: Oops, responded in the wrong spot!

[wuvvumsoc.livejournal.com]

He had been featured in a drama and trainwreck community before. In short, he was complaining that his customers were asking for him to fix mistakes like color pallet and breasts or whatever. I forget the entire gist of it, but he took any "slander" as criticism and calling him out on his poor behavior. The guy has issues.

[dodger-greywing.livejournal.com]

This is now the third artist who attended iFC who has failed to deliver.

Judging by the comments here, artists really should have a copy of their ToS handy at cons. You can't hold customers to your terms of service if you don't even have a way for them to read it. (Internet at the iFC hotel--where wilhawk and I stayed--wasn't free.)

[ladysnakebite.livejournal.com]

Or have a separate TOS that applies to the work you do at cons. (My TOS is fairly tailored to my digital work and I generally do traditional work at cons.)

Correct place this time!

[crazeetyger.livejournal.com]

I've been getting the run around with him as well. We did a trade this past November and I had mine done in a couple of days. I wasn't working at the time so I could sit and get my half done quickly. I didn't expect him to do the same. I figured it'd take a couple of weeks. About a month afterwards, I found out about his reputation, mostly through FD_2. I send him a note once a month and I keep getting one of two responses: "I've been busy with work," or, "It's sketched, just need to add a few details."

I've been contemplating making a beware on him myself, but with a trade and it only been 6 months, I wasn't sure if enough time had passed to do it. Most bewares I see on here are a year or more due.

I'm in the same boat as you and honestly, for both of us, I think we're SOL on art. =/

Re: Correct place this time!

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

A trade is just like a commission in many people's eyes. You pay with art instead of money. In my opinion, 6 months is way too long a wait. I would think that it's a good idea for you to post a beware.

[tunavoice.livejournal.com]

A_B posts like this make me terrified of buying and selling at cons. (Then again, I'm scared of going to cons period. Social anxiety.)

So sorry you had to go through this, OP.

[pinstripedtiger.livejournal.com]

Cons are only enjoyable if you have someone to meet up with and hang around!
Someone you trust and enjoy, obviously.

Get a small group you can hang with, and cons are pretty awesome!

[fastbreak333.livejournal.com]

Oh dear... I've seen this guy before, yes. I wish you a lot of luck on getting that badge back because he's very volatile on anything negative.

[tunavoice.livejournal.com]

If he's volatile on people bugging him for just updates on owed commissions I can't imagine how he'll react to this post...

[pinstripedtiger.livejournal.com]

Probably off topic, but. Can't really vouch for his business practices, but had some issues with him in Artists' Alley at Megaplex last year.

There were several artists sitting at each of the tables since it was the free version of Dealer's Den. Obviously we were all trying to pick up a few commissions.

He was very loud and obnoxious, he kept distracting everyone, going on about his work and how great it was. Whenever people did walk by, which was rare, he would either yell for them to come over and basically broadcast the fact he was doing commissions as loudly as he could. He'd try to get people looking at another artist's work to look at his instead. Even when people would try to tell him they're not interested in his work, he'd just keep going.

He drove a lot of people away from our table.

[kohaku-chimaera.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I remember that. I was so caught up in the con that I just thought it was amusing, though. Looking back on it he was reaaaally obnoxious. :T

He said he was going to do a free commission for me since it was my birthday and never did, too. Still bummed about that honestly. |l'orz

[tril-latel.livejournal.com]

Personally, I knew him a few years back, not that great of a guy in general. So, when my BF commissioned him for 3 or 4 pics, I was baffled. I warned my bf that Darius wasn't a reliable artist and had a bad reputation. Its been about a year, maybe year and a half, and he's still not received his commissions, but Darius keeps taking on new ones, and finishing those instead.

-5 points to Darius. Do not Commission.

[mgsfriedchicken.livejournal.com]

Whut?
....Yeah no. The ToS screams, "I'M A JERK. DON'T COMMISSION ME."

[taasla.livejournal.com]

The artist has made a response.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3451953/

I am floored by the terrible, entitled attitude. Apparently people voicing out about his bad business = haters. At least there are reasonable people in the comments.

The journal itself has been saved just in case he nukes it.

[kadaria.livejournal.com]

I know it's only the first few comments but I'm really impressed that people are calling him on his BS. I guess I'm too used to people taking the a_b is soooooo meeeeeeaaan route and getting ass pats for it regardless of whether they are in the right or wrong.
And that pic of stacks of supposed commissions to work on as a progress shot? So unprofessional and scary.

[lichdog.livejournal.com]

One of my best friends commissioned him at ESG. I hope he delivers ;__; I passed by his work and personally loved it and recommended his style/ability to draw beefy hunky furry dudes and my friend got 2 pieces from him .____.

he has appologised

[alessandro robson (from livejournal.com)]

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3453096/

i notice no one even bother to see if he had or not just multiple people posting the journal he made after people had been threating him in IM's

Re: he has appologised

[marus-puppy.livejournal.com]

Who are you and how do you know all these things? I'm being completely serious because unless you have proof of what's going on on his end, it kinda just sounds like you're blowing smoke.

[xerxesotter.livejournal.com]

Well, I commissioned him 9+ months ago, and I am still waiting. 60-80 dollars worth of commissions, and this doesn't bode well for me, seeing that others have had the waiting problem as well.
I am usually a patient person, but with a wait this ling, it makes me want to ask for a refund.
However, I did read his journal and want to at least hope that he is going to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time. His art is pretty good, and he seems to be a good guy, but... I don't know how long I, or other people will wait to get what we paid for. I suppose I MAY be one of the lucky ones, so I can message him directly over yahoo, and I have left him a message there.
Now, I won't complain if he doesn't, but if/when the awaited art is finally produced, I think he should do something to make up for the long wait.
Here's to hoping.

[mel-the-hybrid.livejournal.com]

Oh lol. I knew the moment he posted that insane policy about pissing him off, he refused to do the commission afterward and keep the money a while back, I knew he'd end up with a beware sooner or later. That point system is good for SCHOOL, NOT for business transactions that deals with a customer's funds. Beware well deserved, will be warning peeps that I know about him too.

[puritikoneko.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine commissioned him a while back and had recently been saying how they've been waiting for a long time to see their commission.

I sent them this way, so let's hope that he keeps his word to work on that backlog.

Hopefully he decides to have a look at that atrocious attitude and TOS and work on those as well.

Mod Note

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Stop it with the calling of Darius things like rude amd obnoxious. Now. It is against our rules to make commentary like that.

[alpharaye.livejournal.com]

Best of luck. I wondered when he'd make it up here.

I had a similar issue with a trade from iFC 2010. He approached me for the trade and I completed my half while sitting in AA with nothing else to do.

I got the run around for a year about my badge, which was supposedly done and suppose to be delivered at MFF 2010 to the hands of a mutual friend.
Never saw that.
In person last year at iFC 2011 he wouldn't even mail out my work with a self addressed stamped envelope I was willing to provide.
Very fishy.

I finally got my half of the trade after giving him a deadline of Halloween [after the threat of A_B]

Needless to say, I have found him most unprofessional to do any sort of business with. I hope you have some luck in this issue and that he resolves it in a timely manner.

[halfshell.livejournal.com]

Darius owes quite a bit of artwork to a lot of people.

[halfshell.livejournal.com]

In fact I believe he posted a journal with a 5 point system, and if you loose all points, he will not draw you anything regardless what you bought or how much you spent, he will not refund you and he will block you.

One his all 5 point removal was slander or telling anyone not to commission him, that would be a 5 point off right there.

My friend has had problems with Darius been over a year and still waiting on 80 bucks worth of art. So if you not allow to ask him a time frame or ask for updates to loose points, my only suggestion would be if you plan on commissioning him, better wait in line and wait a life time (it may be that long of a wait) and sit back and totally forget you're waiting on a commission.

Or better words you commission him, you might as well count it as a donation.

[xerxesotter.livejournal.com]

I am fairly certain that it has been over a year now, since I commissioned Darius Koopa, and I am beginning to fear that the journal he posted may have been a lie. Might not have been intended to be at the time, but...
June 23rd, he was telling me that he was ready to do my pics. Said that they needed to be redone since his art style has improved. I was fine with that, but then, he said that he'd need to possibly reschedule because he was presently working on others... Alright.
"Unless you are planning on being up all night." Until 5am. So, we agreed that it would be done, or at least started that evening.
But it never was. And now, he has been taking commissions for things such as a car. Understandable, but I can't help but wonder how much longer I will be kept waiting.
So, taking a look, it has, in fact, been about a year since I commissioned him.
The fact that I have waited this long and am STILL waiting is kind of... Driving me away from the idea of commissioning him again. Nothing against him.
But if I have to wait this long for art...
I think I'll just hold off for a while until he gets everything in line and can get images out in a more reasonable amount of time.

Still owed

[metalxwolf.livejournal.com]

I commissioned him last minute at ESG 2012 as I had been debating getting art from him and the agreed payment was 20$ which I also took a card and watched him on FA when I'd gotten home. I'd told him I'd been the last minute commission and he agreed to what we had decided on for a commission. Now maybe a month or so later I had decided to commission him again during his stream in which I had explained that I didn't have the money in my paypal but would happily commission him if he was ok with being owed money. We agreed in stream and he finished a sketch for me. Now in agreement I paid him exactly when I said I would and have the exact date on my paypal. I sent him a note saying I'd sent payment and was waiting for him to send me the drawing. After a few weeks, I sent him another note which he replied to asked for the date I'd paid him, I told him the date and never got a reply. I've sent him repeated notes, which have all been read and ignored while he still owes me the drawing from ESG which I've yet to receive as well. I'm considering sending him one final note in a week or so asking him to send the sketch and give me a definitive answer on the drawing from ESG or I will try to get my money back through paypal.

[wilhawk.livejournal.com]

At MFF this year, I met up with him and he provided the badge I had paid for. I'm not sure how to close this thing after the art in question has been received, but I'm just updating!

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

If you received the badge, we can mark this resolved in the tags. So I'll do that now!