beware - ribbun

[staple-gunner.livejournal.com]

EDIT #2: ribbun has finally sent me my refund, so this can be marked as resolved! finally..

who: ribbun
 
where: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ribbun / http://www.anipan.com/#!326

what: a mock 'sticker set' commission like this. they were only open for a limited time, so i snagged myself another one later in the day. later on, i had bad feelings about getting another, knowing she'd burn out on them eventually... but i resisted on changing my mind, knowing she needed the money for a reason i can't remember atm.

when: 4-5 months ago, in may, after i received mozaik's sticker set.


proof/explain: after having received mozaik's piece, i immediately wanted another so i told her i'd note her and had sent the note with the details and told i was put on the commission list.

i promptly sent the payment (that was the basic rule, to send it when you were added to the list) on may 6th, the same day she had posted my previous commission.

she knew it was from me, when she saw it in her paypal- because i always title my paypal payments with my username, and what it's for.

i was getting tired of waiting throughout june. i was busy on vacation, and didn't really mind how long she was taking. later on in the beginning of july, i instantly regretted getting another, knowing she of course, must have just lost the inspiration to get them done. at first, i sent a note on july 13th, but it remained unread. i gave it time, knowing she must've been busy...

so i emailed her instead, asking about a refund, on august 4th. i included my friend, ange, thinking it was easier to just let her know we both wanted one; ange is in the same situation as me, waiting on a sticker commission.

she replied the next day, on the 5th telling me how she had just moved, had no internet, and it would be a few more weeks until i could get a refund. that's okay, so i waited until august 30th. that should be enough time, right? so i sent another email. she gave me another excuse.

i emailed again, on september 17th. no reply.

i emailed AGAIN on OCTOBER 4TH. no reply.

my main problem is, after sending various emails asking for the status, is that after telling me she'd pay me back 'in a few weeks', she had stopped replying. i figured, you know, she has things going on, i'm fine with waiting. until i discovered she's been active on both of her tumblrs and on anipan, uploading art and... ignoring me possibly?

i've had issues before on waiting for a while for art (it was a commissioned design), as have my other friends who have commissioned her. she is somewhat slow when she's not motivated, which is understandable.. but i assume if she's using these sites, she probably actively checks her email, a listed contact on her fa page?? so why am i not getting a reply while she's on other sites??

so.. at this point, i don't know. i really would like my refund without these redundant excuses popping up- $12 isn't that hard to make with her skills. i shouldn't have to have waited 5 months, playing tag over email for weeks.


EDIT #1: since it took this post so long to be approved, i have to mention i sent ribbun a message over tumblr a few days before posting here which she replied to... and then i replied to her. no refunds still, after giving her our emails within that day.

so then i sent this message, screencapped it on tumblr in case she doesn't reply/get to it or whatever and we have yet to see any money in our paypal accounts from her. so, yeah, i guess i'll have to continue playing the waiting game.

Comments

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

You are certainly entitled to your refund but I do have one tip:

You should not be speaking for your friend in matters of refund. Let them contact the artist privately and not through you, as that can really stress an artist out and pressure them into not replying. It's a form of dog-piling when you name drop, so it's best not to do it. I know I personally would be irritated if one of my customers were doing so.

Also in the future, your notes would be a lot easier to read if they were devoid of emoticons and clearly stated what it is your wanted. Your caps are hard to gauge one how serious you are, given the amount of emoticons you use - it softens the entire message and makes it hard to take a client seriously.

Otherwise the artist needs to contact you and refund your $12. It would probably have been smart to trust your gut and not commission them a second time.

[lazer-the-hyena.livejournal.com]

I agree, the emoticons make it seem very passive and makes the OP look like a push over who is scared to say what they want or scared to put their foot down.

[staple-gunner.livejournal.com]

i try to not be a rudeass when pushing people to get my commissions done, because it often just keeps them from doing work and gives them reason to avoid me 'because i'm mad' or something.

and due to the fact she was having moving issues, i was trying to be sympathetic, knowing that situation takes time away and whatnot. it doesn't make me a pushover.

[10thdoktor.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Learned the hard way that emoticons are a no-go. I almost always have problems with an artist if I use emoticons because they seem to think they can yank me around.

Not that you can't be polite but emotes like "uwu" give off a very quiet, stuttering vibe. "Y-Yknow...if you want...that's okay..." for example. Funny how just three letters next to each other can convey attitude.

[staple-gunner.livejournal.com]

yeah, perhaps that is true and i'll try to keep that in mind...

however, about the notes thing, i'm constantly using emoticons when i'm excited about something, so i don't see how that's entirely relevant as just because i type that way, it didn't stop her from doing mozaik's piece, or any other artist i've commissioned.

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

Neolucky's advice was simply a matter of professionalism. Ordering and doing commissions is serious business and ought to be treated as such. Constant use of emotis makes it less professional in a way. I can under stand excitement, trust me, but simply going "I'm so excited to work with you." goes a lot farther with many an artist rather than a chat room shower of :) XD and ^u^.

[staple-gunner.livejournal.com]

oh, now i can understand that a little better thank you~ and i'll try to keep that in mind for the future as well, though i will admit, that's just how i react to everything and it's a habit now haha.

[teekchan.livejournal.com]

I know she was extremely active on GaiaOnline when I was there. I'm sure she still goes by 'ribbun' too, so you could see if she is active there and trying to get in contact with her.

[staple-gunner.livejournal.com]

the problem isn't her activity though.. she's active on tumblr and i've been messaging her on there, i know she's using other sites..

the problems are with her actually responding. i've given her my paypal like.. 3 times now, she apparently has the money, i don't see why it would be so difficult to just send it..

if she takes longer, i'll try on gaia though, thank you!!

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

You may want to direct her here, and let her know you've posted a beware on her. It could make her want to discuss her side of things, or at least get in contact with you.

[staple-gunner.livejournal.com]

i did send her that message in my post letting her know i've posted to artists-beware about her, so i hope she sees it and will comply. if not, she's just hurting herself!

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

I don't think your post took very long to approve, considering it was about a week. Some posts take longer, some shorter. A lot can happen between the time of submitting and approving.

I hope she replies to you or refunds you. In the future, I'd make sure and only mention your refund, not your friends. Your friend (Ange) can make a post here, if they would like. Just stating this a second time, in case you have further contact. It's just bad form to mention your friend in every single note/message/email.

[staple-gunner.livejournal.com]

when typing it up i considered it long, unsure of what constituted as a 'long time' when waiting for a post to be approved. before seeing your replies telling me the normal wait time.

i only mention ange because she apparently doesn't have a problem with it enough to tell me she wants to deal with her separately, and asked for our paypals when i asked. i assume she doesn't mind if only because she isn't saying anything aside from 'i have both of your refunds' which leads me to think she's okay with me asking, so.. my bad. if she does mind, she can speak up, but it appears it's just easier than two people tracking her down and hassling her for a reply.

at this rate, it's not like ribbun is planning to respond to either of us, so i honestly don't see how suddenly not mentioning ange is going to change anything! but as i mentioned, in the future, i will try and remember to not mention someone else. i suppose since that doesn't bother me i didn't think much of it, but that's where our opinions differ on this situation... at the time we just figured it was easier and was a faster method without thinking.

[ribbonsundae.livejournal.com]

Really sorry for the trouble!
I was avoiding checking back on this because I felt a bit pressured about the whole situation and before i knew it, months has passed. I'm not really good at dealing with situations like these and i did dealt with it rather horribly so I'll apologize again for the inconvenience I've caused you.

[staple-gunner.livejournal.com]

thank you for finally replying and understanding you handled it badly.. and i apologize for putting the pressure on you in any way.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Glad it was worked out! I tagged this as resolved. :)