I'm going to avoid using the artist's name for now, as I don't intend this to be a public call-out. But I'm getting less and less patient, and I need some advice from people who've been here.
At FurFright (last October) I commissioned (and paid for) a pair of badges from an artist -- one for myself, and one for my mate. She unfortunately took on a little more work than she could complete during the con (it happens, and I totally understand), but she did at least have the sketchwork done. The mate and I approved of what had been done so far, so we traded contact info with the artist and traveled back home.
The timeline inbetween then and now, in a nutshell, looks like this:
What do I do now?
At FurFright (last October) I commissioned (and paid for) a pair of badges from an artist -- one for myself, and one for my mate. She unfortunately took on a little more work than she could complete during the con (it happens, and I totally understand), but she did at least have the sketchwork done. The mate and I approved of what had been done so far, so we traded contact info with the artist and traveled back home.
The timeline inbetween then and now, in a nutshell, looks like this:
- December 4th -- Artist finally gives me an update. Says they have been "extremely busy" and apologizes for the delay, adding the badges shoud be "done soon, within the next week or so." I thank them, and confirm the address to ship the badges to.
- January 2nd -- I write to the artist saying my mate would like his money back, but I still hope to get my badge. After a short discussion, my mate agrees that he's willing to wait another two weeks. The artist says "Two weeks will not be a problem" and asks me to send her our character descriptions again, as she cannot find them.
- January 18th -- The artist scans in the completed badges and posts the picture. They look great. I confirm our address again.
- January 30th -- No word from the artist, and no badges yet. I send another email, and get a reply saying "I will likely be sending them out tomorrow via priority mail, so you should have them by the end of the week, if not sooner."
- February 11th -- Still no badges. I send another email asking for an update.
- February 20th -- Still no badges, and no reply to my last email. I send another. If you're wondering, yes, I was polite about it. "I haven't seen them yet, so I wanted to check in with you and make sure everything's OK. I hope they didn't get lost in the mail."
- February 26th -- Still no badges. Still no reply. I send one more email, and CC two other addresses the artist gave me.
What do I do now?
- Current Mood:impatient
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Oh, I know something's wrong. Something's been wrong for at least two months. My patience is running out, and that's how I know. I tend not to run out of that very often.
That's what I was hoping to hear, as it's what I had planned to do anyway. I'm just reluctant to do so unless I'm sure the situation warrants it. If members of this community agree, then I know I'm within my rights to do so.
Also, I know the artist in question reads this group, and I'm certain they'll recognize the situation if they see this post. My LJ icon is cropped from the scan they sent me in January.
However, from what I have heard, only mere snippets from people who know the artist better, that person has been very busy as of late. I'm not sure with what, I just know there's problems. Problems like possible no internet access. I don't know for certain, but that's what it sounds like from what I've caught. This behavior isn't like that artist. Though I don't know them personally, they've generally been friendly and responsible. So give it some time, or maybe release the name- perhaps some friends of the artist could give you some answer's on their wherabouts.
I certainly respect that a new job is always stressful and time-consuming, especially for an artist. And I'm glad to hear this isn't typical, at least. But the artwork was completed a month and a half ago, and was supposed to have been sent priority mail at that time.
It doesn't take a month and a half to drop off a box at the post office. Oh, and I'm relatively certain that "no internet access" isn't the problem -- as I mentioned, she's updated her LJ four times in the last month. The latest was Sunday.
Honestly? I still have nothing against her, personally. Sh*t happens. I just want a reply to my emails. I don't care if it's "Oops, I forget to send it", or "I sent it, I don't know why it hasn't arrived yet." I just want to know what's going on.
I think pushing her is just going to stress her out and not get you very good art. She has become really popular and her art is taking off so if you are just a little more patient with her, it will do you a lot of good and she will do better work for you. I definitely think she needs to respond to you, but I think if you want a good badge, you should be willing to wait a little longer for it.
I paid Nevar for a button almost 4 months ago now and I'm still waiting for it. I don't mind waiting because I know when she does it it will be awesome. And this artist happens to be about on that calibar, so if you give her a little patience I promise it will pay off
I'm sorry, I can't come up with a polite way to ask this... did you read my post, or just skim it?
Not only is the artwork done, but she sent me a scan of it a month and a half ago. As I pointed out, I'm using it as my LJ icon. I'm totally not concerned about her rushing on the artwork -- it's already done, and it already looks good. That was a month and a half ago.
The only thing left to do is drop it in a mailbox.
Eitherway I just wanted to let you know she was very busy right now, so don't fly off on a triad and start smearing her name yet.
Neither of those was ever my intent. It's just not in me to start a smear campaign, even if I wanted to. Honestly, she's been very apologetic about the whole thing, and was quite amenable to the idea of a refund when I brought it up. But I wanted the badge more =P
It's just frustrating knowing that it's been complete for a month, and I want to find out what's going on. If I do post with her name, it won't be in a mean or accusatory way.
It doesn't take a month to pop the badges in an envelope and drop by the post office :/
Were they mailed out five weeks ago? Two? One? Not at all? I don't care what the answer is, I just want the answer. If she mailed them back in January and the USPS just hasn't gotten them here, then I know to stop bugging her. If she hasn't mailed them yet, then... um... mail them already =P
Hope you get your badges soon, g'luck