WARNING!
Actually, I didn't want to say anything about this, and to be honest, it annoys me myself, because I hate beef and arguments. I also thought: "Okay, got the money back, so that's the end of it."
(although I paid EUR 67,80 and got back EUR 57,46, so technically this person still owes me money...)
But after this person made fun of me and blocked me, I now feel it's necessary to warn others so nobody else has to go through the same experience.
I paid for a commission (almost 70 euros, which is a lot of money).
After that: months of silence. No updates, no sketches, no progress on Trello, even though they claimed to have updated it. But I kept checking and for half a year absolutely nothing changed. It always said I paid, and now and then some other people were added, marked as “awaiting payment.” That's it.
Instead, they posted about being busy with mobile games and kept begging for money in public...
So I dared to ask what's going on and was ignored (person deleted it but I have a screenshot). When I finally got a bit pissed, I sent a DM and asked again what's going on, and said that this takes way too long and if it is not possible to finish it until the end of the month, I want my money back. Because I said that, I was accused of “not respecting their work,” which is pure bullshit. If I didn't respect them, why would I have commissioned them in the first place? And seriously, what work? The one they never did?
That's not only unprofessional but downright disrespectful to paying customers. And yes, I am a customer. We didn't know each other and we weren't friends. And even if we had been friends, I would still be pissed, because it's just not okay to stay silent for half a year without even a simple “sorry, I forgot.” Everyone can forget something, but then be honest!
If you take money for a service, you carry responsibility. Period. But instead of taking responsibility and addressing the issue professionally, this person chose to share a sob story... perhaps assuming that sympathy would make me overlook the fact that this was a paid commission and not a personal favour.
Since I've often seen this tactic with private sellers, I react very strongly to it. People make up all sorts of excuses , like “I couldn't ship it, because my mother died,” instead of just admitting they were too lazy or disorganized to get things done. Sadly, this seems to be common practice and it's incredibly frustrating. I know I'm not the only one who's experienced this kind of behaviour, and I find it disturbing that people would rather spin tragic tales than take responsibility.
And if their story was true, I wonder why they didn't say anything back when it supposedly happened. Especially considering their posts are usually cheerful, funny or horny... nothing ever suggested something was wrong! When something happens in my life, I always say so in a post, even though I don't earn any money with what I do (like my AMVs). I just think people deserve honesty.
And yes, it makes me even more angry, because I am someone who's really been marked by fate all my life and who still gives everything every day despite pain, despite a full-time job, and who has never taken money for creative work (though I'm slowly considering it if people like this can suck money like parasites and not even deliver). So no, I'm not interested in hearing sad stories (especially when there's time for mobile games and other stuff…).
I just think, this person should do this as a hobby, instead of taking money. And I know this isn't normal behaviour for paid artists, because I've (thankfully!) never experienced anything like this before with any paid artist. Even when I commissioned @trivia-sea at Christmas time (which would've been an understandable time to delay) he finished it in under a month. He even showed me sketches beforehand and communicated clearly, that he is stressed. He didn't just lead me to a website that never updated for a half year. He even charged less and it looked amazing! That's how it should be. ♥
And if you are really mentally or physically unwell: say it openly! Close commissions finally! Communicate! But don't use it as an excuse to leave paying clients in the dark while publicly begging for more money! And don't make fun of people who – after half a year – finally want to know what's going on!
And to make this clear: I don't want to cancel or witch-hunt anyone. But I also don't want others to experience the same disappointment. That's why I'm posting this. I was fooled by a nice-looking online presence (and because this person seems to get enough love, so I thought they will do their work) and now want to warn others so they don't fall for the same.
So: Person is @/shrimpkini which offers commissions but doesn't care about actually finishing them. And if you ask about it, you'll get mocked and blocked!
Still: don't go to them and insult them or anything like that! No need to lower yourself to that level! This is just a warning so you don't commission something that will never be finished, because sadly, they have other priorities in life…
With that said: I want to leave it at that. Everything that needed to be said has been said, and I don't want to keep dwelling on it. I've already been upset enough and I don't want to let people like this keep ruining my peace. As I said, I would've preferred not to make this post at all, but if I stayed silent, I'd feel partly responsible if someone else ends up like me in that case.
p.s.: this was hard to write neutral (english is weird xD) and only write in the plural because I know this person does not want to be called she/her and I don't want to be disrespectful. (In German you use for "a person" she/her which makes it even more confusing for me *.*)
p.p.s.: I will save the money for a sotoba I want to buy for Mori's grave I want to visit again in two years, but if someone I trust (maybe you @ochitsubaki ^^) would do this (under 6 months...) I would pay this person. ;)