Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Mid May the artist (DC artist from the 80's, I refuse to name him as to take the high road) and I discussed having a commission worked on and that it would be received in time for Father's day June 17th. This was a gift from my four young children to me (with my money ). The artist requested half of the payment upfront and I told him I would pay him in full if he could expedite the order. He said he had the time and would get to work on it. The very first day we spoke I paid him in full $350 using PayPal for the commission. The date kept getting pushed back beyond the date it was needed. I asked for some pics to see how it was coming. He would never respond with the pics. He finally gave me an excuse, valid or not, that the airlines lost all of the commissions he was working. I informed the artist that I had made other arrangements for a Father's day gift after he missed the agreed upon date by several weeks and I asked for a refund. He agreed to the refund my PayPal three weeks ago but each week I am being told to wait another week. My gut is telling me that he is taking funds from other people to pay off other refunds. This is wrong and unethical, he has worn me down and I am out $350. This sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeGiant Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Did you pay with Friends & Family? If not, get a refund. If so, I am sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 I escalated it up through PayPal and they informed me that he has not made any effort to address my refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipB2k17 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 2 minutes ago, Blastaar said: I escalated it up through PayPal and they informed me that he has not made any effort to address my refund. Isn't PayPal supposed to make you whole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 7 minutes ago, PhilipB2k17 said: Isn't PayPal supposed to make you whole? He still has to have a payment method attached to his account in order for them to extract the funds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeGiant Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 This makes no sense. Did he invoice you for the commission? How was the transaction executed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) No invoice. He asked me to send the funds directly to his PayPal account (email address). I did day one. This is my first request for a refund, apologize if I am lacking knowledge in the process. Edited August 3, 2018 by Blastaar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 I found my way to him by googling artist excepting commissions. Made my way down the rabbit hole, ended up getting his direct email address and started a correspondence. We talked for a good 30 minutes on the phone and he was pumped to get started on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironmandrd Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 This is confusing on several levels--maybe because there are not enough facts here. If this is a merchant transaction (even if there were no invoice), why isn't Paypal's own insurance protection covering the amount (and they either then later get it from him or suspend his paypal account if they cannot)? They have to wait some time for him to give his defense and side of the story before they act to make a final determination but once that time passes, whether he's responded or not, they can settle it in your favor. After that presumably they suspend his paypal account and/or maybe freeze his existing paypal balance (from the other commissions you thought he was getting paid for) and could get the refund from that paypal balance. And if they never recover it from him presumably they suspend him and he cannot use Paypal until he clears the amount he owes. Conjecture on my part as I don't know paypal's current rules but it seems that you should bed coming out of this better than you appear to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comix4fun Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 1 hour ago, Blastaar said: Mid May the artist (DC artist from the 80's, I refuse to name him as to take the high road) He's not from Georgia, is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIL0S Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 And once again a deadbeat artist gets a pass. Instead of "taking the high road" people need to share these experiences and name names so that the community knows the risk of dealing with certain artists. alxjhnsn and dirtymartini1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 45 minutes ago, Ironmandrd said: This is confusing on several levels--maybe because there are not enough facts here. If this is a merchant transaction (even if there were no invoice), why isn't Paypal's own insurance protection covering the amount (and they either then later get it from him or suspend his paypal account if they cannot)? They have to wait some time for him to give his defense and side of the story before they act to make a final determination but once that time passes, whether he's responded or not, they can settle it in your favor. After that presumably they suspend his paypal account and/or maybe freeze his existing paypal balance (from the other commissions you thought he was getting paid for) and could get the refund from that paypal balance. And if they never recover it from him presumably they suspend him and he cannot use Paypal until he clears the amount he owes. Conjecture on my part as I don't know paypal's current rules but it seems that you should bed coming out of this better than you appear to be. I did speak with PayPal and they said they would give him 10 days to respond. My question is....if he has no funds or no CC tied to his account...how do they get the funds to pay me back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) On 8/1/2018 at 3:00 PM, MIL0S said: And once again a deadbeat artist gets a pass. Instead of "taking the high road" people need to share these experiences and name names so that the community knows the risk of dealing with certain artists. Nicest guy in the world on the phone when we first talked. You would most likely know his name, steady artist in the 80's and then dropped off. He created a character or two, and the commission would have been a solid addition. After the first call his correspondence took a nosedive. And I can almost bet he was excited to take my money to pay off the last sucker...my guess is he is really behind on his work. I should have asked for a recommendation. Right now I would be happy with a Mrs Argobast sketch, at least I would have something to show for the money that was given. Also, as the title states, I think I was scammed, I wanted to get the opinion of the forum. Edited August 3, 2018 by Blastaar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirate Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 (edited) Just list his name jesus. Why would you want others to get ripped off? PM it to me and i'll post it. Edited August 1, 2018 by Pirate Kohei, cloud cloddie, pemart1966 and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 22 minutes ago, Blastaar said: I did speak with PayPal and they said they would give him 10 days to respond. My question is....if he has no funds or no CC tied to his account...how do they get the funds to pay me back? They lock his account and deduct the money, even if it leaves him with a negative balance. Wait the 10 days and you should get a refund. Kohei 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 4 minutes ago, Pirate said: Just list his name jesus. Why would you want others to get ripped off? PM it to me and i'll post it. I'm not going to torch the guy, karma can do that. And again.....maybe he is down on his luck.....maybe he did lose all his commissions....and if the guy doesn't have $350 in his pocket to pay me back he must be in a bad way. It's just messed up that's all, came to vent. At one point I even said can you send me a splash or a panel that you might have.....he sold them all to Anthonys I think, he has nothing. He knew the deadline ahead of time, I even extended it a couple weeks, but as time and excuses passed I didn't even want to look at his work if I had it. Most cases you hand funds over to an artist and know that he will get to it when he can...and that's fine. But this was different because he knew the tight deadline and excepted the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirate Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 1 minute ago, Blastaar said: I'm not going to torch the guy, karma can do that. And again.....maybe he is down on his luck.....maybe he did lose all his commissions....and if the guy doesn't have $350 in his pocket to pay me back he must be in a bad way. It's just messed up that's all, came to vent. At one point I even said can you send me a splash or a panel that you might have.....he sold them all to Anthonys I think, he has nothing. He knew the deadline ahead of time, I even extended it a couple weeks, but as time and excuses passed I didn't even want to look at his work if I had it. Most cases you hand funds over to an artist and know that he will get to it when he can...and that's fine. But this was different because he knew the tight deadline and excepted the money. So why post the drama if you're not going to actually be helpful? Paypal is on the case. Makes no sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohei Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Paypal will likely have your back on this. If he's done it to others-which we won't know unless you name him-they'll revoke his ability to use Paypal. Honestly, how do you know he doesn't have the $350? Because he told you? He told you other things too that haven't panned out. Most artists take time for home commissions. It's like kickstarters, you have to measure time metricly-double it and add thirty. If it's Avi you're not the first and likely not the last. He had to have the law on him to start giving refunds. Most reputable artists won't ask for money up front. For further info there's a facebook group that is out there just so fellow collectors can keep score of dogs like this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1037885522982765/ Blastaar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastaar Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 7 minutes ago, Pirate said: So why post the drama if you're not going to actually be helpful? Paypal is on the case. Makes no sense to me. Just sharing my experience my man...sorry I can't be more helpful. I guess if your looking for a point or a teachable moment from me it is I should have asked for recommendations from the board or gotten a referral. That and artist that are open and willing to do commissions with a two week turnaround are available for a reason. SquareChaos and Kohei 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sooners151 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 9 minutes ago, Kohei said: Paypal will likely have your back on this. If he's done it to others-which we won't know unless you name him-they'll revoke his ability to use Paypal. Honestly, how do you know he doesn't have the $350? Because he told you? He told you other things too that haven't panned out. Most artists take time for home commissions. It's like kickstarters, you have to measure time metricly-double it and add thirty. If it's Avi you're not the first and likely not the last. He had to have the law on him to start giving refunds. Most reputable artists won't ask for money up front. For further info there's a facebook group that is out there just so fellow collectors can keep score of dogs like this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1037885522982765/ Just clicked on that facebook group. I never realized how many commission horror stories there are. I've done 4 in the past two years and only one was finished anywhere near the quoted time (Geraldo Sandavol FTW!). It's actually turned me off commissions completely and sticking to published or finished work only. Hope your issue gets resolved Blastaar. Kohei and Blastaar 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
