[PSA] Ghosted/Scammed?? [617th]

Everoesea Hi! I first would like to say thank you for taking the time to respond to my post! I appreciate the feedback alot! I completely understand if artists need to take more time on a piece/commission or if they take awhile to finish one.

 Like you said we are in a tough time, motivation can be low or life can get in the way. Especially now with the pandemic going on, I completely understand if someone has to push commissions to the side. As long as it was stated that it might take awhile in the original post or if they had given an update when I asked them the first time I would have been much more understanding. On twitter they had originally stated that the chibis only took them about an hour to complete however, so I do believe waiting 6 weeks for something this small is a bit of a stretch especially without updates. I’ve been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, especially since they stated that they have chronic wrist pain. I’m not trying to pressure them at all, but updates would have been really helpful!

Thank you for your suggestion as well! I will try that, and hopefully they will respond to me and we can work it out. I completely understand where you are coming from and I appreciate your response alot. Thank you!

How long exactly has it been that you've waited for a response...because if that screenshot from twitter was just not getting a reply within 24 hours you might want to wait a bit longer, especially before making a PSA. As well, the fact that there's a pandemic going on -- there's a lot going on in people's lives that aren't usual so it's reasonable that people might not be checking things as frequently. I think it's rude to say to simply 'be patient' (the post they made is extremely rude and I might ask for a refund too over it) but 6 weeks is not overly long for a commission, even a smaller one. But 6 weeks wait (with an update, as kinda garbo as it is, saying things are taking longer) and not replying in (I'm guessing) a couple days isn't really something that should be a full PSA.

It'd probably be good to keep in mind that people often take commissions in bulk and/or don't start them immediately upon getting them. While that might not be ideal for everyone, it'd be good to make a point to only commission artists who don't do this if it's something that's going to cause such concern in the future.

Titheling @ Keko Thank you both for responding to my post! I’ll admit I am jumping the gun a little bit. They still have not responded today, and it has been 6 weeks since I last heard from them. The last time I contacted them was in th(screenshot below) on April 11th, so roughly 2 1/2 weeks ago.

I also completely understand if someone can’t finish a piece of art immediately especially during this time. Life takes precedence over art and I completely respect that. It’s totally reasonable! I don’t know exactly what may be happening in their life right now, for all I know it could be really hectic. I sympathize with that entirely. All I ask is that they let me know that it may take longer than it was intended to be! There was no disclaimer stating how long the art may take them, and when we originally discussed it they said I would have my piece by that weekend. I understand that things come up but they should have been transparent about how long it may take, or at least let their commissioners know something is up.

I would like to point out that their TOS state that refunds are case by case, so I believe since they haven’t started my piece(as far as I’m aware) I should be able to get refunded.

Here is the screenshot of my last message to them:

Hey! Sorry to hear about this - I’ve been waiting since 2019 for a commission from this user so it’s not even just a pandemic thing. And yes my comm was more than 20 :( Contacted them on twitter a while ago and was ignored as well... been considering making my own post too... On mobile, but I can grab stuff if you want to add to this?

Lightlaurein Oh no!! I’m so sorry to hear that!!! I still haven’t gotten a reply either. It seems like a trend for 617th to do this? If you can grab any screenshots/share your story I will definately add it to the post!

I will say definitely start forcing a chargeback through Paypal if someone else has been waiting since 2019. You don't want to fall out of the limit for that and then be left high and dry.

Datfluffypillow Hey uh, as someone who's gotten behind on commissions before for much of the same reasons this person has let me be one to tell you: There is No excuse for lack of communication. I keep in contact with my commissioners, and respond immediately to their concerns as soon as they come up. The very least anyone can do after taking someone's money is to send them 2 second text so they know they haven't been scammed. There is no excuse to not do so.

It seems tough but I have no patience or tolerance for those kinds of excuses, as someone who's had to deal with chronic pain, 2 jobs, full-time schoolwork, deaths, health concerns, a full family of both people and pets alike, yeah no. 

Art takes a while, and I can certainly see it taking longer than 6 weeks, I've taken a full year on some commissions, but the point is to always respond to your commissioners, they are owed that much. $2, $20, or $200, once you take someone's money you are in debt to them, and if you can't provide them with the service they paid you then at the very least they deserve a minimum of 3 words to let them know you're still there. The mindset of "You can wait for your '$X amount of money' commission" is horribly unprofessional and toxic when combined with the fact that they've basically ignored you.

I'd say if you haven't already, go ahead and file a chargeback. If you'd like to give them a few more chances to respond that's fine, but I'd advise against working with people that treat their clients like this.

Hey Datfluffypillow - not sure if you've heard from them at all, but I really do hope this is resolved for you soon. I also have to second @Xen's suggestion to not work with people who treat their clients like this in the future, although that may be hard to determine at first glance. I'd personally message them and give them some warning that you're considering filing a chargeback and giving them some time to respond before doing it, but keep that 190 day window in mind. And again, I'm sorry this has happened to you too :(

I will preface this by saying that I am also a very busy college student with a history of long term pain who does commissions when I have the time. I am not perfect and have forgotten to update people before, but I always respond when a commissioner asks me for an update, and the lack of communication is really the biggest issue I'm having. Also, I am a little salty over the unprofessional attitude displayed by their tweet on Twitter. As @Xen puts it, it's deeply unprofessional, and I'm sorry, but my comm was more than 20 dollars, and which is not a small amount of money for a college student.

So I stumbled upon 617th's commissions thread back in 2019. I really liked their sketches so I inquired about a sketchpage comm. They respond with the price, I put in the actual form, and things seem great. They make a post with a list of to-do's in a loose order, update us that they took the weekend off to play some videogames, and then nothing. I DM them on twitter a month or so later to see what's up (my message and their response here: x, x, x). A little while later, they post to TH that they've made their commissions tracking spreadsheet. That helped ease my mind a bit, so I didn't message them for a while.

Quite frankly, I have some anxiety when it comes to reaching out to people concerning commissions. As a result, I didn't really message them until April, when I saw that they took on new commissions. I thought they added a few more to the sheet back in February or so, but I wasn't sure, so I didn't really want to say anything. This time, I receive no response, and they post their tweet a week later asking for sympathy. In my eyes, I have been nothing but polite and sympathetic to them, without seeing any of their alleged updates (I do not follow them on Twitter, and only checked it once in a while).

As of today, I've messaged them one more time saying that it's fine if they have nothing to show me and that I just want to know how they're doing and that I'd just really like some communication, but I don't really have any high hopes.

Beatrys I definately will thank you!

Xen I completely agree! As an artist myself I have back issues and I completely understand if life gets in the way of art or other things. I’m not going to be constantly doing art 24/7 and I don’t expect that of the people I commission, but like you said there is no real excuse for a lack of communication. I’m pretty understanding, and like if something major in your life is going on at that moment then I’m not going to pressure you to do art at that time. All I ask is that you let me know what’s up. If I knew that this was how this artist treated their clients I wouldn’t have commissioned them in the first place. I’ll definately be filing a chargeback soon, thank you for responding to the post!!

Lightlaurein Thank you so much, honestly I definately will. I recently tried to contact them again and if I don’t get a response by tomorrow I’m gonna let them know I’m planning on charging back. And thank you for sharing your story! I’m so so sorry this happened to you too. It’s unfair that the artist never finished your piece. :(

BOY WHAT THE HELL GHEUAHFEFHUEFIFHEAUI CHILL OUT and also @ me when you make a post abt me lol. just because i have a straight up wrist brace on and unable to move my drawing hand doesnt mean i dont have eyes

here let me give you a little list

1. i have chronic wrist pain, i work slow! edit: developing carpal tunnel*
2. if i haven't pm'd you, it's because i posted a public update and the contents of the pm asking for update were in the public pm. i'm sorry, but i've communicated. i'm not going to continuously give the update of "you're on the queue!" for both a) it's anxiety enducing bc, i have anxiety, b) who wants to have an update of "i don't have a wip yet because i work slow"
3. i've stopped replying to pms totally because it is everyone telling me "sorry i dont mean to bother you and i know you have medical issues but wheres my 15 dollar commission???? my luxury item, that i don't need to survive?" 
4. i'm scraping the bottom of the barrel financially, so i can't give out refunds right now. i have to feed myself. but hey, i'll put you on the refund list!! 

617th If your inbox is full of PMs asking where commissions are, that's a good indicator that you've got way too many commissions on your plate and you likely won't be able to deliver anything to anyone in a manner that will make them feel satisfied unless that wait time is communicated at the time of the sale, so it's within their right to be upset about it, especially if you're not replying, queue or otherwise. They paid for a service, and would like an update on the progress, even if 'I haven't started it yet but I didn't forget about you, sorry" is all you have to say, it's something, it makes them feel valued and lets them know their concerns have been heard. I am also a freelance artist with carpal tunnel, if you'd like I'd be more than happy to PM you some resources and tips that I use to alleviate some of the wrist pain, as it really can be a huge hindrance. Sometimes even just a few lines with a pen will feel excruciating (for those who don't know what it feels like)

Nobody needs artwork to survive, but you do likely need money, so it's best not to reply in this unprofessional manner and burn bridges with clients and potential clients. In the future you may wish to look for some easier method of making money using art, maybe YCH stuff, adopts, or merchandise- stuff you don't have to draw from scratch each time. Recognizing your own limits, be it with communication or with artwork itself, is important.

617th Nobody needs artwork to survive but just like you need the money to survive, even when it's 15 dollars and JUST 15 dollars, someone else can use that money during a pandemic to survive. You need to reach out to let people know what's going on beyond simply making a post on twitter telling people off for their concern over money. If you're struggling with money I would think you could sympathize with people being concerned over this situation and even such a small amount.

As someone who is also chronically very sick I understand the difficulty of uncertain health conditions, but treating people like they're being cruel or stupid because they are concerned over the state of something they spent money on and haven't heard about puts you in a very bad light. I would suggest in the future getting a pre-typed message and sending it individually via copy-pasting out to everyone who is DMing you rather than posting things on social media. If you're having difficulty typing then try to use voice apps to text or have a friend aid you.