I need some advice. Refund or wait?

[thatonejackal.livejournal.com]

Hello there, I've been a lurker of Artist Beware for quite awhile to help me warn about who to do business and such. Now I'm looking for a little bit of advice from the community. This is my first time posting on here so bare with me.

On March 5,  I've commissioned a certain artist (not saying names yet until if I should make an A_B on them) for a $30 colored sketch. I sent them the payment on the same day we talked about it. I knew it was going to be awhile since other people had slots and such, but then the artist decided to take on more slots of different projects like icons, sketches, pictures, etc. So this started to concern me a bit, so I noted them about it and got the usual message "I'm working on it, just busy" then another month later I noted them again with no response to it whatsoever until I had to leave a comment about my commission in another journal of them taking commissions again, same response as before. So I started to look at previous journals and found out there's a huge list of people the person still owes art from.

So I've been wondering about it for awhile and don't know what to do. Should I just wait on it and hope the person does it or just ask for a refund?

Comments

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

You do have options beyond asking for a refund or twiddling your thumbs and waiting. In this sort of situation you can ask if there has been any progress and if they say yes, ask to see it.

If they have not started, bring up the subject of establishing a deadline for progress. Should the artist miss the deadlines, then ask for a refund and if they meet it then problem solved!

Ultimately though, the question of "refund or wait" is one only you can answer yourself because everyone's level of patience varies.

[copper-season.livejournal.com]

Did you and the artist agree on a deadline for when the art needed to be completed? If so, you might need to remind them of the deadline. If not, then you may want to ask the artist what a reasonable date for completion would be. If it turns out that the wait time is too much for you, then you would have to ask yourself if you want to pursue a refund or not.

[taasla.livejournal.com]

I personally would have asked for a refund. The max I'll wait on a sketch commission is 2 months before I'll ask for one.

[leahtaur.livejournal.com]

Asking for a refund is not such a big deal. :) I think for you to even ask this question means you are unhappy about the wait as it is, and if after asking the artist so many pointed questions about progress they still haven't shown you anything, asking for a refund will likely make you the happiest.

The artist would probably issue it to you soon if not immediately (if your coloured sketch was inexpensive like I assume it to be) and if you had hoped to still get art from them in the future, I don't see why asking them for a refund would have to change that. Your request for a refund might give them a polite hint that their turnaround time is falling behind and get them to buckle under for the rest of their list and you can easily commission them later.

Anyway, I just mean to say that if you feel trepidation about asking for one because you want to avoid drama or hurting the artist's feelings, it doesn't need to be that big of a deal, just a way to politely end the transaction (assuming your artist is mature and reasonable.)

[qzurr.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear it bro : (

[catwithpen.livejournal.com]

I think it's already been too long. I might be willing to wait longer if the artist was at least communicating with me and I had some idea what was going on, but if she's not even talking to you, ask for a refund.