1st, old work should not be judged today with new work if it has a reasonable change of quality.
2nd, a customer should not bad mouthing an artist if the said artist did the service that way requested
EXAMPLE : http://www.greenbookblog.org/wp-con.....st-service.jpg
3rd, if you are anxious of your reputation, start to improve it imediately.

I have no other advices, but i wish you the best luck

my grammar just died...why cannot correct comments @_@

correction
2nd, a customer should not bad mouthing an artist if the said artist did the service that was requested

It's okay, I understood what you were saying, haha. Well it's only like 4-6 months old I reckon, so it's still fairly 'new' in the scheme of things. I completed all (50+) changes and alterations that they requested, which is what's really making me irritable about the whole thing. If I had blown them off and NOT done anything they asked, I'd understand why they're upset.

I'm working on always improving my standard of work, but I'm open to suggestions for further improvement.

This is why this should be in Terms of Service "after the work is completed, no changes can be made. (unless to fix the fursuit seams and fitting head with padding, etc. Bigger fix requires a fee". Something like that
And work can improve no matter the time, some people improve faster some slower or never, it depends on each individual.
But I understand your frustration, i've got few customers like that in visual art commission.

I think I'm going to change my ToS to reflect actual work and not perception. The person gave me a stylized reference and so a lot was left up to personal perception, so things I would normally have considered an alteration, I either ignored or backed down on.

TY for the suggestion

I actually really agree with the 3rd bit. Every time I've had complaints my response is to instantly outclass myself and make it so that will never happen again.

its a good practice, I think.

I think they don't deserve the art you give them

I love your work. I still want to get a suit from u to match circuit cat :3c

It's like deja vü reading this. I know you're fully aware of what happened to me and I couldn't have been happier with my decision to post on AB about my former client. You can't let someone stomp all over your reputation just because you want to stay professional. You can still defend yourself in a professional manor. Just post the facts and try not to get angry while typing all the details.

When I posted my defence on AB, it was the best thing I could have done because word in this fandom travels fast so if you don't meet it head on, you'll regret it later :(

I think I'm afraid to post on AB because I think somehow theres something i could have done to make it not happen and I'll get jumped on.

I suggest not to doupt about it, the mistake had been done, and it barely can be fixed, but you did the work, so you cannot back it down. Like Rafiki from TLK said: "You either run from it or learn from it." If you learn the mistake, genuinely apologise to the customer, start to improve your work and professionalism, it will get better.

Only a furry would quote a wise old baboon XDDD (very true though)

Well, in my case, I did make mistakes, we all do and I owned up to it, I offered to fix them but it was turned down so what more can you do at that point? It's a matter that you were fully cooperative and they are doing this out of spite. Your not really posting to clear yourself of any guilt, it's more to show the truth of the whole matter so people can make their own decisions when choosing you as an artist.

Honestly I think posting on AB would be best because the only time I've ever seen people jump on others there was when they were way out of line. It's always seemed to me a great and helpful community if you honestly listen and take advice IF it's needed - just back up your post with screenshots of notes/emails etc and you will be fine :3

Yep! Pretty much this, stand your ground and use your brain, not mindless screaming or fear :3
A long, detailed and professional ToS are a good way to win such cases when crappy customers attack you.

If I were to post an AB, would you be kind enough to proofread it for me? I'm a nervous nelly about public criticism.

I would be more then happy to~

I dunno. This all feels like a scam to get free stuff from you.

I know this feeling... True, we have to grin and bear it for difficult clients but when they say things that are completely based on what they want to hear and not the truth, it's impossible for get around it... I wish there were an easier way but I think addressing the issue professionally does indicate making changes available, if requested, never doing business with that person again, and continuing to do great work.
Good results outweigh bad gossip.

Ignore them. Your reputation speaks for itself. Just 'cuz one assclown is particularly loud doesn't make their opinion respected; they won't be your undoing.

AHhh gosh, this same thing happened to me! I just ignored them, they weren't much of a threat anyways, and like helvetica said your work speaks for itself, I've seen it in real life and it's awesome. I know there's the fear that you'll get less traffic or a bad rep over it but most likely nothing will come of it, if it does (again) your work speaks for itself.

Then there's always AB. I'd only do that if you think it gets out of hand.

Maybe you could post them on AB?
Sounds like someone I wouldn't want to work with.

They can blow it out their ass... I actually referred a friend to you recently. She may wait to contact you when she has money.
You've always been super nice to me and your stuff improves with every suit you make! Everyone that I've see with a suit from you has been happy. I agree with Bahn, it sounds like a scam, that or the guys has no clue what he is doing. I mean your heads are for fitting, so no need for straps...and what jack wagon is going to want rubber bands for their jaw with will dry rot and deteriorate far quicker than elastic???
If you say anything at all in a public response I would just say something along the lines of 'Please message me about any problems you may have with the suit and I will be happy to work with you are correcting the matter.' Correcting them publicly may feel gratifying, but it could also make you look like an ass hat.
Don't let the guy get to you Art. You are fantabulous! <3

Gah!! All the typos! I hope you read fluent typonese...

"Before posting anything about their suit, they're all "Don't commission this person". And I mean everywhere."
Just saw this happen to a newbie maker and unfortunately for them it's probably going to destroy any chance of them being trusted again.

Thankfully you have years of experience on your side and more than enough examples to prove even if there was something the customer was not satisfied with (no matter how silly their reasoning was) it's not anything constant and can be taken as a one off. What baffles me though is why folks don't speak to the artist if they feel something isn't wright? I don't understand why this doesn't happen?

see, what i hate about this is, they're commissioning someone who can do these things well, they can't do it themselves so stfu and accept what you got, i mean its no problem when its little things like "oh this piece is coming off could you please fix it?" but people who are rude about it deserve no refund and no fixes.

Actually in their scathing review, they specifically put not to commission ME and that they could do it better- because they made one head(Two, now). Sooo that's not suspicious at all>.> Sadly the review was taken down before I could screencap it.

loool if they could do it why would they pay someone else to do it xD, all your work is fantastic and you shouldnt listen to shit heads like that :I i would commission you, and i'd leave an amazing review, only because it'd be true =w=~

Haha damn, whoever is complaining abotu your work, I'd gladly take their "crap" off their hands, no problem for me!
They don't know how good they got it clearly hahaha.

who is this windbag? I have one of your suits (second hand), but I love it and while I made alterations of my own, I don't blame you for them or demand you fix it for me. In fact, I got a quote for some changes, but I made them on my own. I still can't wait for the talons you are going to make for me, and i eagerly await them.

While I understand that you want to stay professional and not jump on them, but you need to defend yourself if they are trying to ruin your reputation!! If they are being vague and unhelpful and unwilling to work with you to fix these issues you need to let others know your side of the story or else it's gonna get ugly!!
post a public entry about this, you don't have to name names unless you really need to (like if you need to make an AB about this). but you have to stand up for your reputation, it's incredibly important :)
i'm really sorry you're having this experience.

I would defend myself with a professionally worded counterargument. I would ALSO make sure to post link to screencaps of any communication you've had with the buyer, including you working with them as well as their lame complaints at you. It is not unprofessional to defend yourself and offer proof that someone is lying/whining/crazy. At all. Just let the messages speak for themselves as much as possible.

Elastic instead of rubber bands??? The frick? I don't think you have anything to worry about

I don't think it's horribly unprofessional to defend yourself. I wouldn't resort to name calling but yeaaah

Do I need to contact Governor Ventura to have him pay them a visit? They are -obviously- a reptillian.

Sounds like a sabotage attempt to be quite honest. Defend yourself professionally but your reputation should hold you very stsble.

Defend yourself woman! You have so many satisfied customers with the creations you have made that your reputation proceeds you. Any extras I wanted I knew had to be stated up front. It is honestly common sense that dictates such things. You took care of my concerns after my suits completion and you kept me informed on any concerns I had in its creation process. Outlandish demands and criticism hold no weight if you offered to fix the problems which you have shown you do. Professional responses to the statements against you is the key.

Btw: wanna make me another suit? *grins*

Always ;)

I envy your abilities and find it hard to believe a reasonable person would not be more than satisfied with your work. I certainly understand your concern for your reputation. This same concern is what drives you to produce such awesome creations. Shake it off and keep doing what you do!

Ugh, I'm really sorry this is happening to you. Your work is inspiring and they sound like an absolute nightmare. An AB on them I'm sure would be greatly appreciated, as I'm sure a lot of people would love to know not to risk working for them. *coughoratleastnotemetheirnamecough*

Some people are just dicks. They want their pound of flesh, and offers to correct a problem is seen as taking power away f/ the person. They get off on it. There is a segment of the population exactly like this, and it was my unfortunate job description to deal w/ them. An ugly side of human nature. They are annoying.

All in all, good comments here. I'd say go to AB, for sure. If someone is making your life miserable and burning away potential customers, it's really the most professional thing to do. Just remember to keep calm and neutral through it all (easier said than done), you know, be the 'bigger man' and all that. No artist deserves that nonsense, regardless of the medium...

I'm fortunate enough that Keryu offered to review my AB submission for me, so hopefully I can get a second opinion before posting it just to make sure I include everything I need without looking like I'm an angry monster on a tirade or something. Thanks for the advice!

I noticed that when I scrolled through the comments. Good for Keryu! I wish you the best of luck!

Oh, and also: a curse on this person. Where will they be when diarrhea strikes?

Just use the facts. If you have something, like a commissions page or a digital form, that mentions how a customer can request fixes to things they don't think is right (like pictures from time to time, if you handle resends back to adjust certain things, etc), and use it to your advantage. If the person wants to play leader of the DeedeDee club, everyone else is going to have to realize he had every opportunity to get it fixed and he turned every one of them down. That then brings up the question of after all this, would you even consider upholding all that with the mess he/she/shi started?

Sadly though, my concern is that if people seriously have to live by AB, chances are they aren't even going to look for at the reasons. If the name is up there, then people just look at it and immediately assume no good, which is a huge shame with those kind of communities. What should be a helpful tool ends up being a drama magnet that dare I say competes with FA at times...

People who go out of their way to make complaints, such as these, usually have something going on in their life that affects the way they treat others. This is not an excuse in any way. Their complaints sound unwarranted, especially since you offered to not only fix the issues, but to refund the entire price. Do not listen to this asshole. Your work is beautiful and your talent still growing. Continue being awesome and hopefully your future customers won't be as difficult as this one was. <3

There's always that one douchebag that makes the rest of us look like gaping assholes.

I've seen your work; quality is not an issue. If someone gave you a stylized reference and didn't further clarify it, then any issues are wholly their own mistake. Given your already significant reputation, I doubt this is going to put much of a dent in it. You've done all you can. Let it go, and if you're still anxious about it, make sure that next time you do a commission, you and the commissioner are wholly on the same page before you ship it out. That way you can make last minute fixes while it's still in your possession.

Good luck, and don't sweat it.
~Shino Puppy

Crazy clients happen to all artists. They seem to be a little crazier inside the furry fandom, outside of it the crazy usually is "we can't pay you/this project will look great in your portfolio!" That said, rubber bands? Seriously? Ouch, that would hurt your hair and scalp! Ah!

Ignore the idiot, your work stands for itself. And your reputation should be just fine. If scummy crazy people avoid you because they believe someone who is also scummy and crazy good riddance. I am sure you will have plenty of potential customers no matter what smear campaign these assholes decide to put on.

Maybe consider posting to AB, I know some clients are just clients from hell so it helps to do an AB scan to make sure a new client won't shit on your life for accepting a commission for them.

Late to the party, but I agree with the others, AB is the place to go with this.

You're in a good position in that you have an impressive foundation to your reputation. Five years with minimal trouble and a substantive work base that's high quality. Sometimes you will see people that simply do not appreciate freelance work.

I'd use this to look at your practices, just review your TOS to be sure it covers everything you want (I know you don't know me well but I write these often and would be happy to look it over for you)

Look at your communication. with 5 years and 2 problem cases there probably isn't a lot there, you actively stream which allows buyers to review the process and have an idea of what's to come. Still if you think there's something you could add to add to buyer/builder communication then it couldn't hurt.

The rest is history really.
there's always that one bad customer. I know plenty of stories where someone buys a fursuit then complains about things like "it doesn't have a hard nose" when such a feature was never requested, is not offered by the builder, and was never made by the builder before in the first place.

Groups in general, but the fandom in particular, have a very small attention span. Of those that are conscientious buyers you have a positive history, clear practices, and solid quality.
When you put out more suits people will see them and want what you offer. Unless it's a suit literally falling apart at the seams, or you constantly mess up, you should be fine.

Heck there's one popular fursuit builder that for a very long time had abysmal quality and practices (you probably know who am thinking) and yet they remained popular and in business.

You'll be fine, AB post is the way to go :3

This is the second time something like this has happened, but to be fair- 2 out of over 200 customers is a pretty fair number.

The offending party sent me an apology in note form, which makes it even harder to commit to an AB, I'm a fucking softie(Don't tell anyone).

Thanks for the empathy, unhappy customers who don't want to work with you are always so confusing and frustrating to deal with.

Yeah, it's pretty permanently damaging, which is why I didn't post the last unreasonable client there years ago and why I'm having trouble posting this one. I know the comm and mods think it isn't? But yeah, it totally is. Nobody looks at resolved tags, lmao. Just look at leelee, all her tags are resolved, but people point out how many ABs she has and that's enough for most people.

I'm all over the idea of posting an A_B dear.
I wish you luck and I hope this issue gets resolved soon. Seems to me like the customer had a case of "I know all" and just decided that their odd "knowledge" on fursuit making was better then, well, a professionals.
Again, good luck, and I do hope you will get that A_B up soon.
And no worries because the ONLY thing you could have done to prevent this would have been to NOT sell to this person, but they weren't a butt-hole before they commissioned you, so really, there's nothing you could have done.

repeat after me: "Tumma! Sick balls!"

Yeah, it was me. You wanted me to post the details, so here goes.

First off, I was supposed to be an adorable blue fox, but you waited until you had my money then told me "JAYKAY YOU'RE GOING TO BE A MONSTER!" All I wanted was a fluffy tail and cartoony eyes and a strategically placed hole in the no-no spot, and you couldn't even do that. YOU, ma'am, are the monster, here. My tail has NO fluff. No fluff! I specifically asked for fluff. You can see it very clearly on the 18th page of my favorites of someone else's character I didn't tell you about.

I came to you because all of your work would lead me to believe that you create cute foxes, but what I got just gives me nightmares. Also, it wasn't even properly built! You made my stitches out of some crummy thread when I SPECIFICALLY asked you to use dental floss so that I'd be minty fresh all the time. And yeah, I think rubber bands would have been much better than this crummy elastic. You also wasted all kinds of time using hot glue when you should have just stapled the elastic down. I swear, you're terrible at this.

Furthermore, your punctuality was a real problem. I told you that I needed it done before Anthrocon and you waited until a WEEK BEFORE AC before finishing it. The stress of not knowing what was going on with my suit was almost too much for me. I got put on suicide watch at school because I was crying too much in class. And my running eyeliner ruined my favorite shirt! I'm going to send you a bill for that. Really, you should consider streaming so that people know what's going on.

Well that's all I'm going to talk about, but THERES A LOT MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM! Please PM me and I'll give you the worst stuff.

I hope you get no business ever again. Clearly, my experience matters and people need to know the truth about how terrible you are.

Sincerely,

Adorable_Blue_Fox (JK IM A FUCKING MONSTER)

Ok, on a serious note, it doesn't matter one way or another. Here's what's going to happen. He's going to run his mouth all over the place, and chances are, people are going to look at his account submissions and find some really creepy shit and/or nothing. Then, they're going to come to your page, which frankly is a victory, to see this horrible person they've heard so much about. Then, they're going to see your work. Any small amount of research will show that your customers are predominantly happy with what they've received and that this guy was full of it.

As a prospective customer, I knew roughly what style I wanted, hadn't even settled on a creature, but I knew I wanted to adapt the subject to the artist so that I'd get the best possible outcome. Your work is an outlier in the fandom, with only a handful of people doing monsters at all. I looked at your work, I looked at your comments, and I looked at how you handled yourself when talking with people. I messaged a few of your clients, all who had nothing but good things to say, and locked down a coveted space in your schedule.

If you do respond, keep it short. Just because someone is wrong on the internet doesn't mean that you need to set them straight, because chances are, that isn't going to happen. So say something along the lines of you're sorry that he's unhappy with what he's received, and that you've offered to address his concerns, but regret that he hasn't given you that opportunity. And really, you don't need to at all. He'll show everyone how silly he is all on his own.

-Nexu (AKA Adorable_Fluffy_Tailed_Fox)