sfaosttrack20 (sfaosttrack20) wrote in artists_beware,
sfaosttrack20
sfaosttrack20
artists_beware
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Beware: Jirashi

 On Nov. 30th, I contacted Jirashi (furaffinity.net/user/jirashi) about a potential commission and asking if he was open.  He said he was, and asked about details.  After giving him the details, he told me that he'd work on a rough sketch of the whole thing for our approval (the commission was actually a buddy's for the two of us) when he got the chance, and would continue pending approval.  I agreed.  About four or five days later, he told me that his school's exams were consuming all of his time and that he wouldn't be able to work on anything after Dec. 15th.  After checking with my buddy, we decided we were okay with waiting.  The 15th passed, and a few days after it I asked about progress.  He told me he'd managed to start something, but nothing near worth showing yet.  The next few weeks after that it was the same deal every time I asked, absolutely 0 progress.  After about the first week in January, he started avoiding me altogether.  I contacted him on AIM, Skype, Steam, he has not said a single word in response since the 14th of January (and the week previous, he had only said one or two things to me at all).  I sent him a note on FA, but he didn't even bother to read it.  A little over a week ago, I was fed up with him avoiding me.  I sent him an IM/message on every means of contact I had with him telling him that he had one week to just contact me, not even show any progress on the image, but just discuss it with me and stop avoiding me, or I would post my story here and to my FA journal, as well as spread the word to those I know not to do business with him.  I frequently reminded him through the week, but no dice.  Sometime in the last week, he finally got around to reading that note on FA, but he had not when I delivered the Ultimatum a week ago.
There's a couple things I would like to note here.  The first is that, previous to my ultimatum, I have been very patient with the guy.  I didn't constantly nag him about progress, I didn't harass him on his FA profile (I posted one comment referencing the image, but it was in jest), and I wasn't even asking that much.  In my ultimatum, I didn't even ask to see progress on the picture, I just wanted him to stop avoiding me and actually talk to me about the image.  The second thing I'd like to note is that I know for a fact that the guy had plenty of opportunities to make progress on the image.  He wasted away his entire break following his exams playing WoW (of which he admitted to), and since the 15th of December, he's taken and completed several badge commissions and streamed himself starting and completing another piece of art on WatchTail.

I would avoid Jirashi unless you like having the artist you're commissioning showing you absolutely no respect and pulling stunts like this.  This is no way to treat anyone, let alone a customer.

EDIT: Guys, you misunderstand me.  I'm not trying to make a case against Jirashi, I'm trying to warn others against doing business with him.  Did he get money from me?  No.  The agreement was that he would get payment following the approval of the sketch.  It may seem silly to you, but the fact of the matter is, he agreed to do something.  Conversations over IM constitute as much an obligation as a conversation via email or notes on FA.  I just happened to chose IMs as a means of contact because I had known the guy prior to this ordeal and (usually), Instant Messaging is a faster way of getting in contact with someone and having an open discussion.  Not only did he continually not deliver, he never bothered to just come out and tell me he wasn't going to do it, he just made me keep on waiting.  I don't mind waiting if I'm going to see something out of it, but making me wait around and jump through hoops to try and get in contact with the guy, only for him to just avoid me is a really cruddy way to treat someone you're doing business with.  All he had to do was assure me that I'd eventually get my art or tell me he wasn't going to do it, but he couldn't even offer me that much.  I don't think saying "Hey, not gonna do it kthxbai" is all that hard.

I very much think this belongs here.  While the issue may not be as pressing as some of the other entries, the bottom line is, an artist I tried to do business with mistreated me.  I'm not out any money, but I am out over two months of time waiting around for someone who not only backed out of something they agreed to do, but couldn't even offer me the courtesy of telling me he was going to back out, and keeping me waiting longer.  I'm not trying to get anything out of the guy, I'm just sharing a very frustrating experience with an artist and trying to warn others away before they receive similar treatment, which is really the whole purpose of putting a "Beware" entry up, is it not?  I've seen several entries up here (several ones about paid transactions, mind you) that mention after a while, it's not about the money, it's about the principal of the thing.  Well, that pretty much fits how I feel about the whole situation, and why I decided to post it up here.  Take from it what you will.

2ND EDIT: Someone requested screencaps of the discussion in question.  I replied in a comment, but someone suggest I post them to the entry itself, so here you are:

Unfortunately, some of the discussions (including the initial agreement) were done over steam IM, which doesn't log chats. I know that doesn't do much for my credibility, but here are snipits from the logs I do have:

This is from the 5th of December, which would be five days following the agreement. This is when he informed me that he wouldn't be able to work until after the 15th:
http://tinypic.com/r/2qx0ug9/7

This is from the 20th of December, the only time he ever claimed any progress on a the pre-approval sketch:
http://tinypic.com/r/2hyukcp/7

This is from the 30th of December, admitting to 0 progress and being absorbed in WoW:
http://tinypic.com/r/1zohml1/7

This last one is from the 6th of January, again further admitting to no progress whatsoever:
http://tinypic.com/r/65ww1d/7

Following that, he said very little to me and would always either change the subject or flat-out ignore me any time I brought up the picture. After the 14th, he has not said a single thing back to me.

I'm sorry I cut the snipits so short, but Jirashi and I used to be friends, so the conversations tend to veer a little on the personal side. Nothing that couldn't be discussed in polite conversation, I just don't like to post my conversations with my friends to the public.

Tags: artist-jirashi, beware, lost contact
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