I think the people at AB gives better answers - maybe more an advice post than a full beware? (though they deserve that for blocking you)

The onlu thing that is not refundable is if they have a clause that say; "30% deposit is non-refundable" If they had bought materials - wich is seems they haven't in your case, then they need to send the extra money + the materials to you (or if they want to keep the materials they can offer to buy them off you + the extra money for work not done). Yes the artist can pretty much say "fuck you~ " at any given point - but they still need to refund you, minus the initial deposit (again if it's in the tos) and maybe minus the shipping cost it takes to get the materials too you.

as to why It happens I have no clue *shrug* maybe you are to patient/nice, or maybe you treat it more like a friendship after a while rather than a strict bussiness transaction - it's easier to take advantage of people if they think you are their friend afterall.

I sadly think you are right. The guy would always come to me when he was having relationship issues. Nothing more it seemed like...

I think I am just going to stop commissioning people. Just do everything myself I guess.

I cant. That is harasment.

I already have two strikes against me for that artist beware journal I did :/

Yeah with proof you may also be able to get a refund from paypal or take him to court for a your loss in money but time and effort trying to contact them since you got a suit from em you have his address and can have the court notice sent. I mean it's only buisness. No refunds after taking the updated comission.

I think you can contact paypal about it and still dispute it. Its not a typical refund, you contact them saying you never received what was purchased

I can try. I looked at it online and it said I was not able to since it has been months.

Paypal's TOS also has a clause that no payment should be taken on items that can't be delivered within 30 days, so technically, the fursuit maker shouldn't have taken the payment in the first place.

I'd call Paypal customer service, and see if they can help you at all. If you're someone that spends a lot of money through Paypal, they can be surprisingly helpful.

exactly what Lycanthris, Paypal has a decent costumer service. If you just explain how it works/is then they can see how everything is legally. Maybe they can inform you on what to do and indeed take this to court or something alike. Anyhow goodluck! update us on how it goes! :D

My only recommendation I can give (and this isn't full proof now) but what I try to do when commissioning people is I try to find people with a decent amount of commission history (preferably that covers a decent amount of time .... like at least six months, preferably a few years) that includes recent work. I do my best to do research before commissioning people (whether it be art or suits but more for suits because they tend to be much more spendy) and a big thing to look for is how many completed commissions they have. Be observant as to whether or not it looks like things are moving. As mentioned, life happens, but in general (at least in my opinion) you want to find people that have a record of taking and completing work (and also have said person do work you like).

Now, doing it this way has it's pros and cons. The con is you're cutting out newer people that have less experience (that MAY be honest they just don't have a lot of work to show yet) but .....I guess it just depends on how much you want to risk. I will say (and hopefully I don't jinx myself here hahah) that researching builders this way has always worked for me. I have once or twice gotten things a bit slower than I would have liked, but I've never been straight up ripped off, and I've always been pleased with the stuff I've commissioned because I spend a lot of time figuring out who I want to have do it. That being said, everyone has their own preferences, and yadda yadda....you need to find what works for you. Making your own stuff can be super rewarding (if you have the time, money, patience all that stuff that goes into it) but sometimes, you gotta commission someone.

It's kind of scary because I find the cost of fursuits falls into a scary category, where I think it's easy for people to get ripped off because depending on how you pay, what kind of documentation people keep, contracts, all that stuff, you can be out hundreds/thousands of dollars, and to my knowledge outside of like...Paypal Ebay protective services, not sure what kind of legal recourse people really have if someone up and takes their money. Sorry for the long winded answer, not sure how helpful it is, just trying to share a bit of insight.

Paypal's dispute policy recently changed from 45 days to 180. So depending on time-frame, it may still be disputable with them. Other than that, I can only recommend a post to Artists Beware. Since you can't call people out directly here, that's probably the only recourse.

In any case, I'm sorry this had to happen to you. =(

Any idea what is going on with him in Alaska? He just stopped talking to everyone in the last month.

I can't say as far as the last month specifically, I haven't been in contact with him and he's stopped talking to me pretty much since December.
For the last six months overall.... well, it's probably not my place to say. >.> At least not publicly. Especially as an outsider with far more of one side of the story than the other.

Is this the second or THIRD time??

Sorry Mr. Stolf I wish I had advice. I can only be glad I've been burned twice, possibly three times and not for more than a twenty. (except a recent one but I have hopes still. Been a few months only for an artist that sometimes takes months just to start)

I think you need to work with people closer to home hun

If I was a better fursuit maker id help :P but I'm still too new

I would love that. I am making my suit now.

I got a sewing machine and an apartment, any time, I'm there!

Please note me. I would love to do work days with you!

Have you tried going thru your bank directly to get the money spent on that artist disputed?

Other then that the only recourse would to do a AB and just hope many people see it:(

This problem seems to be becoming larger in recent months, Neox has had same issues and has made a similar journal just yesterday outright quitting commissions. This fandom honestly is in need of a widespread crackdown on bad business practices...

PS: Some form of refund must be given by law, this clause "any money put forward to a suit is unrefundable" would not stand under any court of law regardless if its in a TOS if nothing has been delivered.