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

617th honestly it sounds like you shouldn't be taking as many commissions as you are. I understand needing money but if you're unable to do the work/work slow you should limit yourself. Don't give yourself a queue of 30 people. limit yourself to like 5 and only accept new clients when these 5 are done. If people ask for coms while your queue is full, add them to a ping list for when your reopen commissions.

a public post about update on everyone is not 'the best of your ability, to inform others' those are easy to miss since not only people follow a lot of people and cant see everything posted/might scroll past post that don't have art but a lot of social media site now work with algorithms that aren't simple 'post in chronological order' and might hide post that they don't consider being good enough for the viewer.

You probably shouldn't have replied in such an unprofessional tone. Clients may get pissed at you (some might already be with the lack of communication) and file chargeback because of it.

617th

Okay, as someone who has severe anxiety issues...you need to make sure to communicate with your customers. Which means needing to PM or at least ping them. I know how gosh-darn difficult to build up the courage to DM someone. But sadly, it's the only way to ensure your customers know what is going on.

And as someone who has a large to-do list themselves(My laptop is busted and it's mostly all for one person), if you can't do the work, don't take on so much. I know the feeling of being unable to get to art due to a physical illness. For a few years, my sleep apnea was left untreated. And I got to the point where I had no energy to do anything but sleep. You need to privately let people know what is going on if your medical issue affects you that badly or you end up with a lot of unhappy customers.

I personally don't follow a lot of the artists I've commissioned. So I miss any public posts about delays. And it's on your shoulders to communicate. Yes, it's a luxury item...but once someone pays for something, you are obligated to finish it. It's things that this that makes me not want to pay up-front unless I know the artist will complete their work.

Screenshot of 617th's comment: https://imgur.com/LRFBwID
Archive with 617th's comment: https://archive.vn/d9y5C

Maybe I'm paranoid but I've seen too many PSAs have the artist/customer comment in the thread and then delete their comments later to not save this.

617th Well, everyone has added their two cents on this predicament and, I agree, this is a problem of management than anything else. Most of the artists I see advertising usually have a queue list of five to ten. Once those are filled it is closed until the artist has finished. They don't reopen immediately rather a few months later in order to decompress. An important practice. As one of these customers patiently awaiting news of progress it is disheartening to know what has occured behind the scenes. You have my sympathies. Things are steadily getting worse in the world and on top of these issues shared I scarcely imagine what you are going through. So please understand that if I ask for a refund it is not out of anger, insensitivity, or spite. It is to remove my load from the pile that is burdening you. I'll try again once you are fully recovered both bodily and mentally. For now I think it is best to contact those in waiting if they will continue to or not, compensate those who won't in some manner then withdraw for a time. You can contact them in a bulletin via ping list instead of PM one by one. Quick and simplified.

EDIT: grammar error

I saw the post they made and i wonder if they took the advice and told their clients that they would be gone for 6 weeks.
if not then they probably weren't listening when it came to the advice on giving good customer service.

i guess we'll have to see but this overall situation has just made them look like a very unpleasant person to work with.

They did not, in fact, ping their customers to that bulletin, as this is the first time I’m hearing about it. I also do not follow them on twitter and frankly, do not have the time to constantly check their profile and twitter to see if they’ve happened to post something.

While it sucks that they’re stressed over this whole situation and are struggling with underlying medical problems, as many people have already stated, it’s the bare minimum of professionalism to at least respond to inquiries or put out a blanket statement while notifying everyone. Additionally, stating they’re mad at their entire clientele base makes me doubt they’ve taken everyone’s advice to heart and just dumps the blame on everyone else.

I would also like to say that their framing of the situation is deeply disingenuous. Another commissioner and I who have commented here are waiting on larger pieces than “a $15 chibi”. It is not an apology if you continue to berate your client base and continue the behaviour you’re supposedly apologising for.

Lightlaurein
yeah that's what i was afraid of, while i do think it's good that they are taking a break to heal their wrist i think back to your comment before on how you've been waiting since 2019 for your comm and that just really sucks that you're having to wait longer and not even getting basic updates on your commission.

If they wanted to show growth they should have at least done the bare minimum instead of just go offline outright. At most it might take like 30min to DM everyone with a copy paste of text explaining the situation? idk how many people commissioned them so that's just a guess.

I'm not sure when they edited their bulletin but it now includes the line: "as a side and even more personal note, i do have a personal twitter and tumblr. they are fridolovemail and screamkern. these are where i am most active and i say this for transparency, to let you all know that i am alive and not running away, but please do not contact me on them. i don't want to be anxiety jumpstarted into working again before i'm healed. please."

They have been very active on their twitter. Mostly retweeting, from the quick look I took.

Edit to say that @ Lightlaurein's username was misspelled which is why they didn't receive a ping.

i have the funds to refund those who rightfully are upset with me and my etiquette, and will be refunding whose who affirm they do in fact want it. i will be asking for paypal addresses and all that business stuff tonight. i reply here again to once again apologize for my outburst and incredibly disproportional expectations of my clients. in the moment i lashed out and ran away, and i have now read everyones rightful critique of my actions. it will be a while until i do commissions again, and when i do i will not be such... well, a total bitch!

i won't ping anyone here because i'm unsure if anyone would want this apology crammed down their throats, and i suppose is here for those who want to look for it. 

EDIT: i've put out a formal apology for my behavior, and once again i'm so sorry for the terrible way i acted.