AluminemSiren

[kaliamberscale.livejournal.com]

WHO: Aluminemsiren, a.k.a. Orion

WHERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/aluminemsiren

WHAT:  One $25 character bust

WHEN: October 27th - Present

PROOF:  I don't think this needs much explaining.  Artist was commissioned in late October.  I didn't bug them about the commission until months had already passed.  Bugged them 2 or 3 more times between December 2011 and May of this year.  One of my emails even went ignored completely (probably because they were getting hounded by so many disgruntled commissioners).  May 12th, 2012 I requested a refund.  The email was read but never replied to.  I then sent another email asking for a refund, this time with more "srs bzns" verbiage.

I was told I would have to wait until Friday May 18th and will receive only a partial refund because the sketch had already been done. It is now 3 days after the 18th and my Paypal account is still at $0.  Aluminum, if you're reading this... I understand it's your business and you make the rules, but at this point in the game, a partial refund is only adding insult to injury.

http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o605/kalipython/AS01.jpg

http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o605/kalipython/as02.jpg

http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o605/kalipython/as03.jpg

EXPLAIN: Not much else to tell here.  The screenshots speak for themselves.  *shrug* 

EDIT: I have received a full refund in my paypal account from the artist.  Aluminum, I sincerely thank you for refunding me and I hope you are able to get your commission queue under control.  Good luck and thanks again.

Comments

[growly.livejournal.com]

Did the artist even show you the sketch?

[chronidu.livejournal.com]

Pretty much this, have you received the sketch?

If so then a partial refund is reasonable. Also have you contacted them these last few days about getting what of the refund you are still owed?

[selunca.livejournal.com]

If you have not actually received the sketch, you deserve the full $25..

[aluminemsiren.livejournal.com]

A partial refund is only fair because I gave you a sketch. I apologize for not giving it to you right away, I overestimated how much money I actually have in the bank, and I had to use pretty much most of that paycheck towards school.

I literally have 11$ in my bank account, as we speak.

[yarbro.livejournal.com]

I disagree.

It is like giving something is unfinished. Unless it is in your TOS, this is poor business practice.

She did not want a sketch. She wanted what you two agreed on from the begging and you failed to provide that service.

[copper-season.livejournal.com]

It's unprofessional to ignore your customers when you are contacted. You should have let the customer know what was going on so they could make the decision if they wanted you to continue or get their money refunded. You took that decision from them by giving them a sketch and not fulfilling your part of the deal.

Why did it take you six months to complete just a sketch? Why didn't you let your customer know what was going on? You were contacted twice and ignored that communication.

[carristo.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you're having trouble with him, but really, if you got the sketch, it's not uncommon to get only a partial refund. He *did* fulfill at least part of the deal- and if he's willing to refund, what did you really lose? Just time, and you did get some art.

Although he definitely should get better about communication, but I'm sure he knows that.

[skittlewolf.livejournal.com]

Please put this under a cut, it's stretching the hell outta my friends page.

[xenafox.livejournal.com]

Same x.x

[millislim.livejournal.com]

I'm on the fence about a partial or even full refund in this situation. I don't think it's necessarily fair to charge the OP for the sketch when they paid for finished work. However, I'm not really seeing that there was an agreed to deadline so if work had been done...like a sketch for example...the artist should be compensated... Really hard to say on this one

[jamesalesto.livejournal.com]

Going to have to agree with a partial refund. If the sketch has been delivered, then the refund should be minus the time already put in. Yes, it is aggravating that you are six months into waiting for a bust. It would be good customer service to issue a full refund at this point, but the artist isn't obligated to.

[kaliamberscale.livejournal.com]

I suppose it is fair that I receive the partial since I did get a sketch, and especially since the Artist is down on their luck financially. If I never see the refund it's $25 lost, not $200. Meh, it could be worse.

[ladysnakebite.livejournal.com]

That's how most artists work, anyway; if somebody cancels a commission it's only fair that the artist receive payment for the work the client has seen so far. :)

[pinkpuppybelly.livejournal.com]

If you have the sketch, you are not entitled to a full refund.

I hope you get your partial refund back soon, though!

[thaily.livejournal.com]

They did work, you saw the work, you pay them for the work they did and get money back for the work they didn't do.

And your image is huge, echoing the desire for an LJ-cut.
Here's how you make one: http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=75

[claviarm.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just that people are focused entirely on the question of a partial refund and not addressing the big picture, but the tone of a lot of comments seems to be surprisingly... lenient.

I guess I'm just feeling a lack of the following statement, so I'll make it myself: We have here an artist who ignores contact, and who can't follow through on refunds in a timely manner because they spend the customer's money before doing the work to earn it. This is not the sort of person I'd choose to do business with, and I appreciate being warned about them.

[conigliomannaro.livejournal.com]

This.

[kadaria.livejournal.com]

This. I'm not impressed with the artist's own comments here.

[conigliomannaro.livejournal.com]

Idk about this, I get that the artist would have worked for free, but OP cancelled the commission because of the artist's bad business ways, not because they changed their mind. I wouldn't probably press the matter, but I would be as pissed as OP if not more, if I was dragged along so much by someone I paid, got a sketch only out of it, and then was offered a partial after I sent a slightly aggravated note. OP didn't cancel the commission on a whim, they did because the artist dragged them along with little to no progress for months. Having waited for commissions even years on my end (not even getting the art I was promised at all in the end) I can tell you it's very infuriating to be ignored like that.

I personally feel that the full refund isn't necessary, but it would show an apologetic note to the situation that the artist should have probably bothered to give out. All I see here is 'fine okay I'll give you back the money', but I read no 'I'm sorry I took so long.' The artist is not supposed to give a full refund, but a bit of an apologetic attitude would really have looked better, on them. Even the tone of their comments on this entry is rather entitled, when really, they are on the wrong side of this transaction.

I understand why you think so, but as the person that actually did the sketch, I'm not going to do a full refund while she gets a free sketch and I get nothing out of it.

Regardless, I don't actually have the money to refund her right now anyway, so she'll still have to wait for it. She's already contacted me about it, so that's that.

Really, guys? Really?

In my book, this is a beware well earned.

[puritikoneko.livejournal.com]

Couldn't have said it better myself, and believe me, I thought several times on how to say exactly this but it never sounded right.

So yes, I'd have to agree with this very much.

[kaliamberscale.livejournal.com]

Added links to the screenshots. Sorry gaiz >w>

New to this LJ thingy.

[kobweb.livejournal.com]

I commissioned Orion/AluminemSiren beginning of October and received my commission within the next few days of order. A_B stresses too much on the negatives of 3-4 commissions without viewing the artist's majority work load.

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

It's great that you got your commission in a timely manner but that does not negate the OP's experience.

[rainbowcabbit.livejournal.com]

It's a shame cause he is a really good artist but beware well warned after 3 times...

[rainbowcabbit.livejournal.com]

Sorry double post somehow

[dorne.livejournal.com]

Unsettling that this has exploded over their FA page... instead of leaving his friends alone it became a bicker fight which then turned into an accusation of "you should control your friends better."
Through no fault of his own it's counting against him. Some people can't keep it civil.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

It's human nature to judge people by the company they keep, that's not AB specific.

It just looks bad when someone makes no attempt to tell their friends to knock it off. It's seen as basically saying 'I agree with what you're doing', and that can rub people the wrong way, especially compounded with how they've said they aren't even apologetic about how poorly they've handled these particular commissions. It comes off like they hold contempt for their commissioners for merely wanting the art they paid for in a timely manner and enjoy their friends harassing them. I'm not saying this is how it is, merely this is how it might look to passerbys.

That said, as someone who's been quietly watching this post, I'm honestly pretty sure everyone would have moved on by now if Aluminem's friends didn't keep coming in here to pick fights and the like. Sometimes no matter how much you want to defend someone, it really is best to leave it alone. I'm sure Aluminem can handle his/herself.

Just trying to shed a little light on why some people are reacting as they are.