http://kayla-na.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] kayla-na.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] artistsbeware2_archive2016-06-26 03:40 pm

HornedFreak

WHO: HornedFreak

WHERE: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/hornedfreak/

WHAT: Digital Art, $30 commission

WHEN: Initial transaction was on March 22, 2016. I haven't seen any progress on my commission, or my name added onto HornedFreak's trello for two months. Only after I poked her about it did she add my name to the que.

PROOF:

http://imgur.com/oKmnQ9D - Original Journal Advertisement

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/13012988/ - Ref Link 1
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/16875996/ - Ref Link 2 (NSFW)
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17174232/ - Ref Link 3 (NSFW)

Aforementioned ref links were directly linked in the journal.

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/12777499/ - Ref Link 4 (NSFW)

Said link above was linked in the transaction note.

http://imgur.com/biFXnh1 - Note conversation involving money transaction.

http://imgur.com/3i73reI - Me asking for an update on my commission in May.

http://imgur.com/z1hN9Wg - My second attempt in trying to contact the artist

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vyqjdqpz91rxm82/User_control_panel_--_Fur_Affinity_%5Bdot%5D_net_-_2016-06-26_14.49.05.png?dl=0

http://imgur.com/0vRsX2h - Journal of her new commission advertising a few days after I spoke to her asking for an update.

http://imgur.com/QAsbwJR - Trello que updated a few days after I spoke to her asking for an update.

http://imgur.com/oD4YmSu - My note on June 24th asking for a refund.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hlyfujzgbwfwmvo/User_control_panel_--_Fur_Affinity_%5Bdot%5D_net_-_2016-06-26_15.24.33.png?dl=0 - Proof that she had read my note in my note outbox.

http://imgur.com/EJ7e46e - Finished commission posted two days after I asked for a refund. (NSFW)
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/20389722/ - NSFW


EXPLAIN:

She opened commissions on March 22nd, 2016, and she took mine. I asked her what I wanted, and let her do her thing. I haven't received an update on my commission in a while, and my name wasn't in her trello que, so on May 12, I sent her a note. My note was read, and I didn't receive a response. So I tried again a week later.

I received a response on May 19 that my commission is in progress, and my name got added on her trello que. I was content for the time being, so I gave her space. A few days later on May 23rd, she opens up a new batch of commissions, which left me a little confused because at the very least, my commission in the batch I was in wasn't finished.

I waited another month to receive my art, and I was getting a bit flustered by the lack of communication, and I don't know when she'd get to my commission since the progress seemed a bit slow with no update at all. I didn't see any art.

So on June 24, I send her another note asking for a refund, since I saw no artwork of any kind sent to me. The note was read, and I received no response. However, two days later (today), I saw that she posted my commission; didn't notify me about it either. x_x.

At this point I'm really miffed because I wanted my money back from the lack of communication, I didn't want the art anymore. So from my standpoint, it felt like she hurried to do my commission, and posted it to prevent me from getting a refund that I had already asked for two days prior, and she was aware that I had asked for it as the note was marked read in my outbox.


Edit:

http://imgur.com/Ku2tgKu - Conversation about the refund.
As of 6/27/2016, she has refunded my money. So I consider this matter resolved.

mod comment

[identity profile] jamesalesto.livejournal.com 2016-06-27 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Howdy! I believe Dani already spoke to you about censoring the caps of the notes. Feel free to change those out!

[identity profile] sirmeo.livejournal.com 2016-06-27 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, that behavior is highly suspect; even if your artwork WAS finished when you sent your refund request, the right way of handling this would've been "Sorry I've been bad at communicating, your artwork has actually been finished and I just haven't had the time to get back at you. I think we should try and negotiate a compromise of some sort!" or something like that, and NOT ignoring you for a few days and stealth-uploading the suddenly finished art. This behavior makes her look sort of dishonest, even if you are willing to believe the artwork was finished all along and not rushed to avoid "having to" refund someone :/

I'm also waiting a commission from her... I commissioned her Feb 1st and I've seen zero evidence my commission has ever been worked on, and this kind of behavior is making me a bit nervous. I'm currently 50/50 whether I want the art or a refund, and I was willing to wait 6 months myself before starting to ask for my art or a refund. The idea that she would rather rush my art out than negotiate a refund with me makes me extremely uncomfortable and I honestly don't know what to think now.

I understand she's going through a lot in her personal life? But she has a long queue, is bad at keeping her commission queue up to date, and keeps taking more and more commissions while people have waited for 5+ months for their artwork to be completed, and even if I end up getting my art/refund, I would probably not be commissioning her again, at least not until she's been "on track" with her commissions for a significant amount of time and shows me she can be professional.

So I definitely feel you and think this is something people need to be aware of when thinking of commissioning her.
Edited 2016-06-27 20:21 (UTC)

[identity profile] poizenkat.livejournal.com 2016-06-27 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
oh man ive been watching them and wanting to commission them for quite some time but stuff like this just doesnt make me comfortable at all. ignoring notes and then finishing art after seeing that someone wanted a refund is really not okay. The adding on more work while still owing a lot and taking a while to update the queue makes me nervous enough as it is.

thanks for taking your time to post this!

[identity profile] bearprince.livejournal.com 2016-06-27 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Looking at her queue, she has 50+ pieces waiting just in sketch commissions alone. I got anxiety spikes just LOOKING at that long of a list...and looking at her profile, it seems like you might not be the only one looking for contact about their commission.

Really hoping some sort of resolution comes out of this.

[identity profile] zogrosh.livejournal.com 2016-06-27 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
A number of friends who've commissioned her have reported similar issues. Some have been waiting much longer as well.

I think she bites waaaay more than she can chew.

She's a talented artist, and honestly a really sweet person, but I wish she wouldn't overwhelm herself like this because it's going to hurt her chances of future commissions when she's called out for poor communication and such.

It's really too bad. I like her and her art, but she's shooting herself in the foot.

[identity profile] kupoming.livejournal.com 2016-06-28 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
I already shared my opinion on the previous entry, but now that everything has been confirmed, yeah, I'm never going to commission this artist. Horrible business practice and honestly, I lost a lot of respect for her. I can only hope she learns from this and tries to get her act together.

Sorry again that you had to deal with this :/ it must be incredibly frustrating.

[identity profile] latiro.livejournal.com 2016-06-28 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm... I've been following this artist and commissioned her one time for one of those flat-colored sketch commissions without any problem whatsoever.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17603014/

Her art is absolutely amazing, but it's a shame that she keeps piling up more and more commissions on her plate. I hope she reads this entry and consider about slowing down on taking new commissions while completing super-overdue commissions that she owes for a long time.

[identity profile] bourbon. (from livejournal.com) 2016-06-28 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
I commissioned her during the same batch, while I don't mind waiting long periods of time for art (I'm a really slow artist, myself), this has me a little worried because I don't want the picture I ordered to end up being pornographic (I stated multiple times to make him clothed).

Seeing that they drew yours nude when that wasn't what you ordered, this does have me hoping they don't do the same with mine. ;m;

[identity profile] blaze-ignitus.livejournal.com 2016-06-28 12:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Not gonna lie, that attitude in the refund note conversation is really not impressive.

"Good lord. I didn't choose to do it immediately. I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain myself like that, excuse me for sounding rude."

Sorry, but that is not okay. If it's where the commission had been completed "for a while" then give the commissioner an update saying as such, but also stating that you'd like to post it as part of a batch and ask the commissioner if that's okay. Barring that, when it's done, send the finished piece to the commissioner by something like, say, an email or something so they're not kept waiting with no update/communication.

When you have established a history of not communicating or updating, and suddenly the piece appears after you've been asked for a refund, it's going to look really sketchy. It is a reasonable and natural thought to have.

[identity profile] hunty belmnt (from livejournal.com) 2016-06-28 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Good artists with shitty work ethic always upsets me in the commission business and makes the actually good ones look bad.

[identity profile] kontonakuma.livejournal.com 2016-06-28 04:34 pm (UTC)(link)
If it was already done, why didn't she just send it to you in a private message instead of ignoring you and putting it out after you requested a refund? I'm sensing a lot of dishonesty. And that reply to you clarifying you didn't want the art anymore was rude af. Beware well warranted.

[identity profile] allcometoruin.livejournal.com 2016-06-28 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I used to be friends with her, and it wasn't uncommon for her to talk to me/her friend group about her long commission queue + how she was just putting it off/how she didn't want to do it. x: English is her second language, which is probably why she comes off as rude, but it's still not a good attitude towards a commissioner. Yikes. I'm glad you got your money back, though!

[identity profile] kayla-la.livejournal.com 2016-06-28 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Whoa, I'm glad you included the refund conversation. The way she replied to you is absolutely unacceptable. "I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain myself like that"? What??

[identity profile] timelapsedecay.livejournal.com 2016-06-28 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"Good lord. I didn't choose to do it immediately. I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain myself like that"

Uhh, yeah, you do, artist. Beware well warranted, that is a really inappropriate attitude

[identity profile] talentedfool.livejournal.com 2016-06-29 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, what a poor way to treat your customers! I hope she starts making an effort to communicate better with her customers.

Even if you wanted to upload commissions in large batches to your gallery, I don't really understand why that precludes you from communicating with your customer to a) send it to them privately or at least b) tell them you'll be uploading it in a batch of others and they'll c) send you a message to let you know when it's up, instead of just taking it on faith you'll see it without notification. Even if the art was done, the way you were treated was so disrespectful. There's just something so... dismissive about just deciding that uploading the art and not even bothering to reach out to the customer to let them know it's done/it's uploaded is good enough.

[identity profile] laughsatthunder.livejournal.com 2016-06-29 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh dear, that attitude when you asked for the refund was a bit uncalled for.

It makes me sad because I've never heard of this artist; I went onto their FA page, looked at their newest journals and there's people asking about commissions and communication issues. :[

[identity profile] danlion.livejournal.com 2016-06-30 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
I've always gotten a weird vibe from this person, so I'm not too surprised by this... I like their art though so this is sad. :/