I'm back again, with another unresolved update concerning Hollenheist Aka Cassie

[paradiseforlorn.livejournal.com]

[Note. At the bottom is links to the 2 past journals regarding this. And one link to the fursuit head. And link to her Fa page. ]

Yanno, I really wasn't expecting to have to use my account here so often. Sadly though this is the case.

A few months ago, I had made a journal about Hollenheist aka Cassie. I had hoped things would be resolved.

Well, I'm back again, with the same complaint as before.

HollenHeist aka Cassie has as far as I'm concerned broken her agreement with me once to often.
After being in brief contact with her, and hearing yet again excuse after excuse, I gave her one more chance.
And I did warn her that if she couldn't follow through, I would take the necessary steps needed to get my money back.

Well, as you see, I'm writing this here. Which means, I got nothing from her. So in short I paid for a fitting of leggings, and a bad dark photo of a fursuit head that honestly I'm not sure if it's anything like what we had discussed.

A certified letter had been sent off to her. We got no response. An email telling her that I just want my money back. And no response. A shout out on her page, no response. I get nothing but her voice mail. Now, please understand I've not been calling her, noting her, e-mailing her every day, every moment or anything like that. The last thing I wish to be is harassing.

However this lack of communication has left me believing one thing. And that is that she has stolen six hundred dollars from me. And that she has no idea on how to do any sort of bussiness transaction, even one that is as informal as this is.

So six dates of promised delivery has been missed, my last communication with her was about 4 months ago give or take. I'm at my wits end.

I've said this before and I'll repeat myself again.. I don't want trouble or drama...But what can I do?

Any advice? Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do at this point? How do I get results from someone who won't correspond with you, and who lives to far away?

I've been as patient as I can be. All I want now, is to get my money back and be done with this with as little pain to each other as possible.

Kat

[Links]
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/hollenheist/ Fa page

http://community.livejournal.com/artists_beware/235207.html Artist beware journal

http://community.livejournal.com/artists_beware/238033.html Artist beware journal

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2216089/ Fursuit head

Comments

[blondefoxy.livejournal.com]

:( That really stinks. I really had no idea she "made" suits either :P

[maddogairpirate.livejournal.com]

Stuff does happen, yes, but stuff seems to happen far, far too much to trust her to follow through at this point. Stuff's happened for over a year that's quadrupled the production time? And when stuff happens, it's a simple phone call or e-mail to at least negotiate things. She's blowing you off, be it out of fear or just lack of courtesy.

If she's done some work on the thing I'd think partial compensation would work along with sending the items... but again, if she's not talking to you, what can you do?

And if you end up getting nothing at all out of this, as least it'll serve as a big, BIG red flag to everyone out there not to deal with her.

She'll have to decide which she wants: the money for incompete work, or a tarnished reputation.

[maddogairpirate.livejournal.com]

I do need to note one discrepancy I see, though. According to Furaffinity's info on the head, it says the posting and your comment was 1 month ago. Which could border on upwards of 2, with how the timestamp works.

That seems like it was the last contact on this fursuit.

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

That fursuit head that she posted is kind of ... not that good. I hope that wasn't what she is trying to sell you for the 600 you paid. I know a lot better suit makers who would have made you a really nice comfortable half suit for that range. Did you do research on her and look at any of her previous work?

I think you do have the ...possible option of small claim court at this point but it might be a lot of bullshit on your part.

[ex-pollute654.livejournal.com]

she's very active on a website i moderate, which leads me to believe that, yes, she is blowing you off. i'm really sorry to hear this, since we've always had pleasant transactions in the past.

as maddogairpirate said, you did talk to her a month ago. i'd be inclined to say "give it more time", if not for the fact that she's been ignoring all attempts to contact her. she is active, and as far as i'm concerned there should be no excuse.

[paradiseforlorn.livejournal.com]

I also wish to point out this. She never told me that she posted the picture of the fursuit head. I found it completely by accident. Nor did she ever respond to me.

She tossed it up, and went back into hiding. There's nothing else for her to do but to send it. But she refuses to. And..well not to be rude, but posting a picture does not constitute communication.

At this point now, since she is active elsewhere, then it is proven that she is avoiding me.
If she is active on another forum, then I would very much like for her to contact me. I'm not happy that she's avoiding me. I'm not a hard customer by any means.

At this point now, I just wish for her to contact me so we can resolve getting my money back. And leave this behind us.

[obsidianwolfess.livejournal.com]

I would do everything I could to take it to small claims court. You may be able to at LEAST get half of your money back. (I don't imagine you'd get the full refund though since she's proven that some of the work was already done.)

I'm really sorry that happened to you though. I'll definitely be remembering this incident. Completely unacceptable business dealing on her part. =\

The world needs more patient people like you, just to not be screwed over.

Best of luck.
Obsidianwolfess (@furaffinity).

[xodiac.livejournal.com]

At this point you pretty much have two choices. Well, three:

1. Keep doing what you're doing. Email her, call her, etc. This is the option I tacked on, because I don't think anything will come of it. But it's an option.

2. Blow off the money. Decide she's not worth the hassle, you can afford to let it go, and forget about it.

3. Take her to court. For this you'll need to speak to a lawyer for advice as to your chances — if you're not likely to win then you might want to reconsider option 2, after all. Lawyers don't usually bother representing people in small claims court, from what I've heard, though I could be wrong or someone could make an exception. Still, talk to a lawyer first. Initial consultations are usually free, and if they choose not to represent you you can ask for advice on how to go about pressing your claim, at the very least.

[fuchsiapossum.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness.. There is no doubt in my mind that she has been blowing you off, and it upsets me so much that someone like her would do that. People like her can make other beginners look bad (like myself). I'm just starting to accept fursuit commissions as well, and I already have three paying customers. I keep my FA journal updated with my price information, requirements, EXAMPLES and fursuit status. Also, I am NOT impressed with her work especially for $600. I hope you can take legal action and get as much money back as you can. But if not.. I really hope you can live without the lost money.

I truly wish you the best of luck. <3
I'm Fuchsia on FA. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/fuchsia/ :3

[jtigerclaw.livejournal.com]

At this point, me and Kat have given up hope of getting the suit, and actually, now that we've seen what we would be getting for all our hassle (you guys said what we were thinking, but didn't want to say outright) we don't want it. It's not even worth $600 if it were done FAST, much less the outrageous amount of time it's taken to this point, the headache and frustration, the letdowns from month to month, etc etc.

I mean, like you said, Fuchsia, fursuit makers have to start SOMEWHERE! Most beginning suit makers at least try their best to accommodate the customer and charge a very fair price, but this is one time that really does make it seem a lot more dangerous to commission beginning makers without previous experience. And that's not fair to those who WOULD do a good job!

We've already commissioned another fursuit maker (a reputable one who keeps in contact with customers, produces quality products and meets deadlines). The completion date is scheduled for April 2010, and I wouldn't be surprised if that were done before we get anything from Cassie.

Truth be told, the $600 could REALLY help out on paying for this new fursuit commission, and not to mention the mere principle of having $600 stolen from you in such a manner.... I really do want to fight this and get Kat's money back... small claims court or whatever it takes.

But we really just do not know what to do at this point. :( Her reputation is already shot, so there isn't much incentive to live up to her promise or show any honor in refunding our money. :(

It's been a very hard experience, a very frustrating experience, for both Katalina and myself. I just hope that even if we can't get our money back, no one else gives her a chance to dupe them out of more money and get away with it. T_T