Toradoshi/Thatdangcat

[arinaca.livejournal.com]

WHO: Thatdangcat / Toradoshi

WHERE: They have heaps of places to contact them, these are all the ones they have listed on their Furaffinity. All contact we had was via emails or FA notes.
https://www.furaffinity.net/user/thatdangcat
https://www.furaffinity.net/user/toradoshi/
https://beta.furrynetwork.com/toradoshi/
http://thatdangcat.deviantart.com/
https://inkbunny.net/Toradoshi
https://www.weasyl.com/~toradoshi
https://toradoshi.sofurry.com/
https://e621.net/post/index?tags=toradoshi
https://twitter.com/thatdangcat
https://www.facebook.com/ThatDangCat
https://payhip.com/thatdangcat

WHAT: Premade partial on Furbuy to be made into a digitigrade fullsuit. Purchased by myself and my partner as a joint commission with him doing the majority of the contact for ease of commission.

WHEN: Premade was bought around 4/4/15 and stopped responding after 7/25/15


Premade partial was bought from Furbuy around the 4/4/15th, the furbuy page has long gone so not sure on exact date.
3/6/15 - Picture of the suit from the makers account, same image used on FB auction - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/16108694/ / http://sta.sh/024rc3ccl2xt

4/17/15 -7/25/15 - A list of all the payments sent - http://sta.sh/0s05lkb1rkh

4/8/15 - 4/11/15 - Details worked out with payment plan and details for suit http://sta.sh/011ulmr8x6gw
Some progress was made towards making it into a fullsuit
5/15/15 - Hands and claws were started https://www.furaffinity.net/view/16558995/ / http://sta.sh/01hr2nqi3a14
6/12/15 - Padding was made https://www.furaffinity.net/view/16815559/ / http://sta.sh/01w4ocx52yro

A full list of the emails + content http://sta.sh/2d1uiynbyjz?edit=1

7/25/15 - Where emails start going unresponded to http://sta.sh/09t98px9sjc
Repeated unread notes on both their FA accounts http://sta.sh/013qhfpa8g9v
2/4/16 - 6/5/16 More unresponded emails http://sta.sh/01qcb3sj803y / http://sta.sh/0n78pdoevi

7/27/16 - After repeated ignored/unpened notes and emails I sent them a note from my FA account asking about a commission enquiry on the 7/27/16 which was replied to on the same day. I sent them a note saying they obviously weren't having any issues getting notes and to either update us, or refund us. http://sta.sh/0ukeca1eaq1 That note was read, and I have yet to recieve a reply but they have been uploading art to their Toradoshi account since then. http://sta.sh/010e0yogvhvy

Obviously this has gone on way too long and we should have followed it up over a year ago. The suit was intended for my partner and myself to be able to wear. He was the one organizing and doing the transaction itself along with the details for it so the artist wasn't communicating with both of us, but the commission was for the two of us. Most of the details were run by me to agree with as well, but all emails and payments were sent by him. Unfortunately he's pretty new to the commissioning game and while I'd have bailed out and followed this up a year ago, he kept going in the hopes this would actually get completed. In putting together this AB I saw (He actually probably told me at the time but I forgot) that this suit had a timeframe of 2-4 months :/

We're in the process of trying to contact paypal and his bank to do a chargeback on Toradoshi in an attempt to get our money back. I'm not holding out hope on a refund seeing my last note has gone unresponded to and going by their Trello https://trello.com/b/pQoLLQU4/tdc-commissions they have other people waiting on refunds (See Blue/white wolf head card) and no suit work done since November 2015, but with two new suits added this year.


EXPLAIN: Bought a premade partial from Thatdangcat/Toradoshi on 4/4/15 and they stopped updating us after the 7/25/15. At first chalked it up to emails not getting through, so I bugged my partner to send them a note on their FA to their fursuiting account (Thatdangcat) and their main account (Toradoshi) which was being updated almost daily. Repeated unread notes and unreplied to emails I sent them a note from my own account, which they promptly responded to then stopped replying to once I asked about our suit.

ADDED: Since writing this the artist has contacted us again http://sta.sh/0b7tpy16bg4 At the moment still deciding how best to proceed.

*edited to fix spelling and unfilled dates*

Update: so Toradoshi has been replying since all this, and we've decided to continue with the commission but with a 3 month deadline with weekly updates. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly now!

Comments

[bornesb.livejournal.com]

At the added bit about the maker contacting you, if it were me I'd say I'm no longer interested and I wanted a a full refund, or the stuff that was finished mailed and a partial refund for what wasn't finished.

Obviously it is up to you, but I would personally want to wash my hands of the whole thing as quickly as possible.

Sorry this happened to you.

[sillygosling.livejournal.com]

Regarding the reply- there really isnt any excuse to drop contact completely regardless of life events. I undertsand it's embarassing and nerve wracking due to not knowing how commissioners would respond to bumps in the road such as a broken down sewing machine, but not keeping in touch entirely and not giving an explaination at all is even worse and does not inspire faith from clients. Professionalism is keeping in touch with clients about delays (which happen in ANY business and there is no shame in admitting that), not staying silent over bumps in the road business-wise and personally. Most people understand and can wait as long as they are informed. I hope the artist in question learns from this and will be more proactive about contact in the future, and understand how sketchy it looks to avoid important correspondence but continue to show a strong presence in other areas.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

This very much. If they didn't reply to you asking about commissions, then maybe. But there's something fishy going on if all this is happening yet they have time to talk about/take on new commissions.

MOD COMMENT

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

If you have solid evidence of this, we can add it.

Without it we cannot do anything, therefore I'm screening this comment.

[jellyfishee.livejournal.com]

Do you still want the suit? If so, I would give the artist a strict deadline, with mini-deadlines of picture updates on the work being done.

If not, insist on the refund, don't give up on the chargeback if it comes down to that.

[arinaca.livejournal.com]

The potential inability to get a refund is my biggest fear at the moment.

Me and my partner are pondering our options for the next day or two. He was super excited about this suit and I think is still holding out hope. I'm more in the bail and run boat haha.

She seems to stay on top of artwork? But none of the suits have been updated for a long time going by Trello :/ plus the two new ones added.

[lugiacollector.livejournal.com]

I'd get your money back ASAP or a deadline on photos and shipping for sure.
That design is very cute/interesting ^^ i'd love to make that character. I can't see EVER not contacting someone especially if a life event turns up that is tragic, i'd warn someone what happened and would still be around to contact. I always contact my customers every time for a WIP photo and stay logged in on skype 12 hours a day, constantly avaible to chat with - especially for business..... That's a shame people don't take contacting customers seriously.. That type of thing bothers me greatly.

[talentedfool.livejournal.com]

This whole thing leaves me more baffled than anything. According to the dates, they basically ignored you for an entire year (started ignoring you around July last year, finally responded to a message in late July this year?), and it makes me deeply uncomfortable that you had to reach out under the guise of implicitly inquiring about getting a new commission before they would even acknowledge you (to be clear, it's not your ruse that makes me uncomfortable, it's their ignoring actual clients but responding promptly to potential new ones). I really try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but man. An actual literal year of radio silence is just beyond comment. It makes me so sad.

If I were in your shoes, I'd ask about a refund, given in installments if necessary. It would be so difficult for me to work with an artist who seemed to care so little about me as a paying client that they ignore all my attempts to reach out to them for an actual full year until I have to do something vaguely deceitful to gain their attention.

[arinaca.livejournal.com]

Yep, going by dates it was pretty much a full year :/

I actually felt kinda bad about being deliberately deceitful, but I did want to solidly confirm if they were able to get notes or not. Especially considering just how active they'd been on their main account during that whole year. I definitely agree, how fast they responded with me seeming to be a new commissioner was... Disheartening.

Thank you very much for your input. Still pondering over what to do because my partner was so excited about this suit and design.

[talentedfool.livejournal.com]

I agree! Again, reiterating I'm not judging or condemning your need to be deceitful toward the artist - I probably would have done the same in your shoes, tbh. It's just so sad it was forced to come to that. :( No matter what curve balls life throws at you (and I've definitely dealt with and am currently dealing with my share), there's a point where that lack of communication, no matter what grief you're dealing with, becomes unacceptable. Radio silence for a year and yet so promptly responding to potential new clients is that point. It really makes you feel invisible and unimportant (imo :( ).

It's definitely a more complicated decision to make since it was a joint purchase, and even more so since your partner is new to commissioning and starting off on such a poor experience must be dreadful. I'd respond to the artist first and tell them honestly that you and your partner are still discussing and finding a resolution to this you're both happy with, and will reach out to them when you do.

It's a longshot at this point, but I honestly do hope you find a way to resolve this that leaves you satisfied, especially for your partner's sake! Commissioning can be such a fun experience.

[arinaca.livejournal.com]

We've already contacted them with pretty much that exact message :D I hope it all works out in the end, will see over the next few days I guess?
Only thing I'm not 100% sure on at the moment is if its a polite thing to link the artist to their own beware? Just so they have a chance to voice opinions here, absolutely not looking to make it a negative thing, just, a heads up?? But I can see how it'd be taken in a bad way.

[talentedfool.livejournal.com]

Fingers crossed for you then!

I can see how it'd get taken in a bad way too. I know you as the poster are ALLOWED to send a link to the artist. I think it's great that you want to let them know to give them the opportunity to speak for themselves on the situation! If it were me, I'd probably send them a message like,
"Hello, while I regret it came to this, I felt the need to make a post about the situation on Artists_Beware (link). I felt it fair that you knew and heard directly from me, and wanted to give you the opportunity to express your opinions, and your side of things. I still hope we can reach a mutually amicable resolution to this situation, and that you understand why I felt that, given the lack of communication for the past year, it was necessary to make the post.
Sincerely, etc."

However, I tend to come across as abrasive and have little ability to gauge my own textual tone, so I have no idea if that conveys the right politeness. :P I think the key is just letting them know you're telling them out of a genuine desire to let them be aware, instead of having to hear it through the grapevine, and that you honestly want to let them add their voice to the public discussion (if they want to), considering it concerns them.

[arinaca.livejournal.com]

Ooops! I meant to update this a week ago xD going well, we've set a deadline with strict weekly updates and going from there :D toradoshi has been replying promptly to emails now.