PSA - Flanibun (Scamming/Ghosting) [7/14 update]

Updates will be added to the bottom!


At the advice of others, I'm moving this PSA from a bulletin to the forums. 
*  11/16/2022 - Bulletin removed because I'm tired of people making excuses for Flani on it and/or commenting things irrelevant to the situation. 
From now on, if you have anything to add to this situation you can read and comment here while abiding to the PSA forum rules. Thank you.

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Who - flanibun , lanicore, letspartygras , iheartmofu , purinpurin , laniii , kissy, callmebunny [tiktok] [artfight]
[new TH] [new artfight]

Report link to their main
What - Scamming & Ghosting

Owed List
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My experience:
On July 18, 2022 I saw a (now deleted) bulletin by Flani. They stated they were in a bad household and needed money to get out their situation. I contacted them about a commission to help them out. They wanted me to pay via friends & family, which I didn't feel safe doing but did because they had a lot of other buyers/support. I paid and had heard nothing from them afterwards.
Flani-1 - D0UGHY's Sta.sh

The bulletin is gone [link] , but I do have a link to some comments to show it's existence. [Comment 1] [Comment 2]
While I am blocking out Flani's paypal, they have kept their comments linking to it public as seen above and in other bulletins.


I checked out their profile later on and on August 8th, saw they had posted a bulletin about how they've deleted their situation bulletin and are taking a semi-hiatus. They stated they had all the usernames of those who've commissioned them on their trello, but didn't link to it. I sent them a DM that was never replied to.
Flani-2 - D0UGHY's Sta.sh

By August 19th, I still hadn't heard anything from Flani. I had reached out to a couple of other commissioners/buyers from them and they all stated they had not heard from Flani either. So, I commented on the general PSA thread if anyone knew what was going on with Flani. I also stayed in touch with one of Flani's customers, they last updated me on October 8th on their situation with Flani.
Sta.sh Uploads 3220 - d0ughy's Sta.sh | Toyhouse - PSA Thread | October 8 - D0UGHY's Sta.sh

On September 5, Flani finally got back to me. They had posted their Trello and stated they'd be getting back into the swing of things. Relieved they were finally getting back to me, I asked to change the character of my commission since it wasn't started. I even offered to pay more for complexity, which I'll be honest I only offered because I thought that might prompt them to actually hurry up and do my commission if I offered more $.  They never replied and this was actually the last I heard from Flani.
Flani-5 - D0UGHY's Sta.sh


On October 8th, I saw Flani posted a new bulletin. They stated they'd be in contact with customers, and it seemed like they were finally ditching their account. You can see many users who've commented have paid for adopts that are still sitting on Flani's accounts and not being transferred to their new, rightful owners.
flanibun on Toyhouse | Screenshot just in case
At this point, I was very frustrated with Flani. Every update I've heard on them was either by me seeking them out or other customers asking around for updates. I left a comment on their bulletin to which they never replied and sent them a discord friend request as well that same day. Link 2 Comment


On October 16th, I called Paypal to ask if anything could be done about a refund. They told me that, because I paid through friends & family, nothing could be done on their part but I could try my bank. I decided to not call my bank right away and give Flani more time. 


On October 23rd, I was fed up with the situation and sent Flani a final DM stating I wanted my money back. My message is still unread.
Flani-chargeback - D0UGHY's Sta.sh

Since then, my friend request has been untouched despite them being online enough to swap their profile picture 3 times. My comments caught the attention of another customer of Flani's and they reached out to me. They linked Flani's S/O's public Twitter. I did reach out to Flani's S/O on October 26th and explained the situation. They stated it was a misunderstanding and said they'd tell Flani to get in touch with me.
Customer DM | SO DMs

I have heard nothing ever since. My Discord request is untouched, my refund DM is unopened, and there are still no updates from Flani like they said there would be in their bulletin. I called by bank today (11/1/2022) and they told me nothing could be done but I could report Flani's Paypal and report them to better business. I'm not reporting them to better business, but I'm debating reporting their paypal for taking commissions through friends & family. I reached out to Flani's S/O again to let them know that I hadn't heard anything and would be writing a PSA.
SO - 3 - D0UGHY's Sta.sh


Sta.sh Uploads 3214 - d0ughy's Sta.sh Whole stash if needed.
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snoozefuze 's experience:
Snoozefuze has allowed me to share their experiences with Flani as well.

on July 17th i purchased an adopt from flanibun
https://toyhou.se/~comments/17318160 (i have ss's too just in case it gets deleted, im shocked it hasnt been tbh)
it technically started on july 14th but paypal was giving me hell for a few days so i couldnt pay till the 17th
it had been a bit and seeing they were still uploading things, i was wondering when the lines to the adopt i paid for would be done so i could color
(the was the "AB #1" option, they would finish the lines, and i could color it!)

i never received the lines! and the adopt had a TH watermark on it , which i was scared to upload, cause even though I PAID FOR IT, i was scared of people accusing me of stealing
i had asked for an updated to which i got ghosted. then i waited a bit longer (till beginning of september) and personally dm-ed them this time
to which i got told i couldnt get a refund, but they could do a chibi instead, since i lost connection to the originally paid adopt.
(READ BOTTOM TO TOP)

it has not been almost two full months (in just a few days) since that was promised, i have not recived the art, nor a refund, paypal HAS a case open but i doubt it will go anywhere sadly.
so between the start of all this (July 17th 2022) and the time im writing this (November 1st 2022) its has been 107 days. I know its not worth it for $5 anymore, and i stupidly put "friends and family" because i figured i could trust flani but! oh well!
Im just sharing ths now so people can be aware not to buy from them now, or in the future. im tired of getting scammed, especially considering this aint my first " being scammed " rodeo this year :/

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Anon 's experience:

(11/3/2022) - An anonymous user has come forward with more about Flanibun. They've asked to be unnamed so I will only be sharing what they're OK with. The experiences listed are that of the anonymous user, their friends, and other unfortunate victims of Flani. I've snipped personal information out and moved their screenshots to my stash.   Please let me know if I've missed censoring any usernames.

"Previous aliases: @svftmlk , LVCKYLXNI , fairybby , bingo , @psmdraws

Access to da accounts: 

https://www.deviantart.com/psm-drawz/gallery
https://www.deviantart.com/eclipseiss/gallery
https://www.deviantart.com/biingobongo/gallery 

https://www.deviantart.com/peperooo
https://www.deviantart.com/svftmlk/gallery 

https://www.deviantart.com/lvckylxni/posts
https://www.deviantart.com/fairybby/favourites
https://www.deviantart.com/lanicore

My mutuals and I have mostly had poor experiences with Lani on a drawing app called Drawcast (made by the same developer that made Framecast, Daniel cota.) The community part of the app has been lost to time since 2020, but I tried to retrieve as much information I could through screenshots that have survived.

Scamming / Ghosting 

The thing I wanted to start with first was scamming / ghosting, since that was what the thread was initially made for.
Lani is very well known for this, and has been doing such that has been recorded since 2018.

Stash screenshots of every comment I could find that had also had to worry about scamming / ghosting from this specific account : 2018 Censored - D0UGHY's Sta.sh

After Lani moves accounts, opens up commissions : https://www.deviantart.com/heybingo/journal/3-SLOTS-OPEN-COMMISSIONS-738735202 

Person stating Lani opened commissions when they haven’t even started on ones that people have waited on since November : Owed-custom-censored - D0UGHY's Sta.sh

Lanis part of a design trade that wasn’t finished: More Ghosting - D0UGHY's Sta.sh 

Experience with user 2, screenshots: Ghosted 1 n 2 - D0UGHY's Sta.sh
(The video briefly describes the situation. User 2 gets commissioned to draw Lani’s characters, Lani claims they can send User 2 deviant points for their service. User 2 gets the icons done in short time as they were not given a time limit. Once User 2 finishes said icons, Lani doesn’t want to pay with points anymore, so User 2 offers on characters for the icons instead. The college thread comes around and the designs with the icons are sold/traded away, and User 2 does not receive payment or characters despite finishing all the payments required to.)

Screenshots of a custom I had paid for they never finished: Finished Custom - D0UGHY's Sta.sh (4/24 was the last time they had brought up the customs I had bought all along.) 

And while they are ghosting these people, I’ve heard multiple times before that lani doesn’t do commissions when they don’t want to  

Consuming / Producing Nsfw As a Minor: 

Lani has also produced adult related images and designs, though they are/were a minor. 

Saying at a time where they are most definitely a minor that they are okay with drawing vanilla nsfw and some kinks: NSFW - ok with stuff - D0UGHY's Sta.sh

Suggestive characters in question:
https://toyhou.se/7226003.fish  

https://toyhou.se/3294992.bingo/8545005.----sketches 

https://toyhou.se/7452310.hold 

https://toyhou.se/12261433.-100 

https://toyhou.se/iheartmofu/art?page=2#50456230 (uncensored content also, only using a sensitive course warning when there are not only nipples showing in the drawing but other common sensitive things like needles and drug use)

https://toyhou.se/iheartmofu/art?page=1#51944750 More uncensored nipples (pink haired rat with green/blue eyes)

With a photo from 2017 claiming they're 12, this year they would be 17-18.  As stated on the flanibun account, Lani is still a minor at the time most of these suggestive drawings are made. And even if they are a let us adult as of today; it doesn’t mean they are unable to censor suggestive content.

Copying/Design Inspiration

Lani has also had issues with referencing other peoples characters a little too much, example from user 3 below:  Copying - D0UGHY'sSta.sh I will be looking to find more examples of this as if it’s happened twice, it has to of happened a third time!

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Takeaway:
Never pay through friends and family for products or services, even if many others are doing it. You could end up in a situation like this where nothing can be done and you're out art and money.
When it comes to refunds via your bank, even if it's through Paypal you don't have the same time window to file it. I thought I had 6 months (like Paypal would for protection) but my bank told me 60 days.
Flanibun has made a bulletin in the past, now deleted, that they were going to make a new and private main account. I don't know what the username is, but please beware of this user.


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Updates:
(11/2/2022) I contacted Paypal last night to report Flani for taking commissions via friends & family and woke up this morning to this message from Paypal. Hopefully their account is penalized or removed or something, that way they stop taking money from people.
20221102 062303 - D0UGHY's Sta.sh

(11/3/2022) Someone came forward anonymously to reveal more information about Flani's bad business practices. They've been scamming since 2018. Their experience and information are listed below snooze's experience, right above the updates section. 

(7/14/2023) It appears Flani might be back on Toyhouse under the username @666fruitz, the same username they've changed their tiktok and artfight to. The tiktok account is using the same name, "Lani", so I'm 99.99% certain it's them.