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I'm drunk and I'm angry as hell
7 years ago
So two weeks in a row I've had people demand refunds because I'm taking too long on their commissions.
Yeah, I get it. I'm fuckin slow. I'm a disappointment and I keep fucking up. All because life has decided to kick me in the groin repeatedly this year. Is that an excuse? Fuck no! Is it a good enough reason to have let so many people down? Unlikely.
With so many people now screaming for money that I simply don't have to give and willing to attack my paypal account directly to get their way I think it may just be time to retire. I'm currently facing the last major hurtle for bills and they're almost under control but that's a moot point when I have people demanding refunds because I'm taking too long.
Was I not clear when I said they were emergency commissions? Was I not open enough for everyone to know that I'm struggling on the hair of absolute failure to keep the lights on? Have I dropped the ball and not been on a high enough mountain to scream to the heavens that my life is utterly fucked by the constant onslaught of expenses that I can't foretell?
My health has taken a nose dive and I might be forced to give up the very thing that has sustained me for years and then I have people who care only about their smut who want me to pull money out of my ass that I don't have. I can't anymore. I think it's time to take a job, any job, that can pay me enough to keep our bills paid and just give up on making anything more of my life. I'll have to work until I die as it is anyway.
My computer is in desperate need of maintenance today so hopefully I can reach some friends who will help this evening. Once that's done I'll begin the process of finding a new job since this one just isn't going to pan out after all.
Thank you for everyone who has been so patient and understanding. To those who aren't paying attention and just put me in a desperately bad spot...well, I can only blame myself so I'll turn my anger inwards.
Have a good day
Yeah, I get it. I'm fuckin slow. I'm a disappointment and I keep fucking up. All because life has decided to kick me in the groin repeatedly this year. Is that an excuse? Fuck no! Is it a good enough reason to have let so many people down? Unlikely.
With so many people now screaming for money that I simply don't have to give and willing to attack my paypal account directly to get their way I think it may just be time to retire. I'm currently facing the last major hurtle for bills and they're almost under control but that's a moot point when I have people demanding refunds because I'm taking too long.
Was I not clear when I said they were emergency commissions? Was I not open enough for everyone to know that I'm struggling on the hair of absolute failure to keep the lights on? Have I dropped the ball and not been on a high enough mountain to scream to the heavens that my life is utterly fucked by the constant onslaught of expenses that I can't foretell?
My health has taken a nose dive and I might be forced to give up the very thing that has sustained me for years and then I have people who care only about their smut who want me to pull money out of my ass that I don't have. I can't anymore. I think it's time to take a job, any job, that can pay me enough to keep our bills paid and just give up on making anything more of my life. I'll have to work until I die as it is anyway.
My computer is in desperate need of maintenance today so hopefully I can reach some friends who will help this evening. Once that's done I'll begin the process of finding a new job since this one just isn't going to pan out after all.
Thank you for everyone who has been so patient and understanding. To those who aren't paying attention and just put me in a desperately bad spot...well, I can only blame myself so I'll turn my anger inwards.
Have a good day
I mean if I recall it took Da Vinci 3 years to finish the Last Supper~
Don't beat yourself up because a group of asshole customers don't know how to treat the person they commissioned.
That's fucking ridiculous. And also unacceptable.
Hopefully things turn out well for you, best of luck, keep your head held up high and push through this.
Having done 8 years of retail and customer service, being treated like a tool rather than a person by your customers can be dehumanising.You are a person though, with needs, and you shouldn't be afraid of disappointing people if you have to in order to focus on yourself and your own betterment.
Whatever decision you make about your future and your livelihood, make it for yourself. Not for anyone else. And don't despair. Life's too short dude.
You stick to your guns and do what you love, that's the only thing worth living for. *^^*
It's liberating.
I ask, because I noticed that's a rather bad habit a lot of artists have. They put aside their older clients to work on the newer ones, when in fact, it's the newer ones that should be put on the bottom, not the older clients. Did you do this at all? I doubt trying to change a bad habit, if you even did it, would change your mind, but it didn't hurt to try.
Another thing I noticed with some artists is that they don't keep in contact with their clients, and so often times the client will start to grow restless after awhile if they're not kept up to date. Ultimately, it also depends on how patient a client is as well. When you get down to it, taking commissions requires both the artist and client to properly work together, otherwise things just fall apart.
Again though, sorry you're struggling with all of this.
I have work split into two categories; Standard commissions and Stream commissions. Stream commissions are done nightly, almost exclusively sketches, so that I can quickly produce pictures to bring in a source of income. Standard commissions are done during the day on a more traditional 9 to 5 style of work week.
This is done because standard commissions takes a lot of time to finish, often stretching to above 50 hours of work. While working on these images all income stops until said work is complete. Normally this wouldn't be an issue since I wouldn't take in more than I can complete in a rapid manner. In fact I had no backlog to speak of as of October 2017, but then came the holidays that set me behind. Again this wouldn't have been an issue since I could just focus on those until the work was complete.
What threw things into chaos was the unexpected move we had to make in March. I had to take in whatever I could to get the finances needed to make the move or we would have wound up homeless. I took that bullet because it was the right thing to do at the time.
So I'm having to dedicate myself to more time on Stream commissions instead of standard ones due to the need of constant inflow of finances. We were so close to having the breathing room needed for me to slow down on streams and focus heavily on getting backlogged artwork out to people. Whenever someone asks for a refund it pushes everyone else back. Which makes more people ask for refunds. See where this is going?
I specifically did not set a date on when these pictures would be complete and even let people know that I'm on major delays whenever they buy the work or something unexpected happens.
My issue is not with you Nate. My issue is the fact you have people badgering you for refunds. How far behind are you? A month, maybe two?
I've waited for a comm from an artist before for almost a YEAR before and I NEVER asked for any sort of recompense. I recognized they had alot on their plate and gave them the space to work it out. I did give them a soft reminder every two weeks or so after the first two months, but I always had faith they WOULD get it done, and they DID.
Maybe that could be put down to me being a bit of a doormat, or maybe having a naive viewpoint to believe the best in people. I really don't know what I'd do if I genuinely thought someone was taking advantage of me, but I do know that is not the sort of person YOU are.
Don't get me wrong, if I were to be 100% honest wit you, you do have issues. An angry Nate is something I NEVER wish to be on the opposite end of ever again, but I also know you're a funny, well-intention, slightly neurotic, perfectionist that I'm both happy and terrified to be around. :D
I will never understand why these people are even allowed to exist, they have to know that their commission is NOT the only one you've taken and that it takes a while for perfection. Needless to say, they will always be around and there's no avoiding them so, as sad as it is to see another great artist retire, I think you might be doing a good thing. Wish I could have had one from you but it's honestly too much to filter through patient and retarded commissioners. Hope ya find a good job and keep us informed, okay? <3
To impatient morons,
Crayola, construction paper and there you go... instant art. Seriously, the really good pieces will not grow on trees and the fact you've forced Paypal to return money because "it's taking too long" is NOT cool. You should be ashamed of yourselves and never allowed to purchase another piece by any decent artists out there.. YOU are why the fandom loses so many good artists. </rant> >=/
Drunk sure, I'm drunk too right now. That kind of attitude is like JessicaElwood. Be better than a thief...
At that point, there is nothing that stops a seller from just walking away with the money and offering nothing to show for it, save for the possibility that they might somehow get listed on "buyer beware" sites, which may or may not affect their business, depending on their reputation.
It's the only tangible grievance option that commissioners have, and it is extraordinarily easy to screw up.
Personally, I would not begrudge a single commissioner that took this route between months 5 and 6. I've done it twice. Once, it got me the picture I commissioned in 24 hours, and the other time it got me a 95% refund. I would strongly recommend any commissioner use it as an option if an artist is taking too long.
What is too long? What qualifies as an appropriate time frame? Two weeks? Two months? More than a day? That's quite ambiguous don't you think? If there was a timeline set with a due date listed that is an understandable response. When there are unexpected delays on work that has no deadline how do you justify calling it "too long" and use that as a reasonable motive to pressure someone into compliance?
Context is important.
Personally, I feel like 3 months is a sufficient enough time to wait without pestering the artist. After three months (90 days), if the commissioner has not had any kind of status update, they should feel free to inquire and get a response. It opens up an opportunity for a dialogue to happen between customer and artist. If things turn sour right away, the customer can enter a dispute right then and there and seek a refund. If the artist does not respond, the commissioner can try again in 30 days time from that. If the artist still does not respond, then after 30 more days (up to 150 now) the commissioner is well within the right to enter into a paypal dispute and seek a refund, even though they still have 30 days before a deadline.
Bottom line is that 180 day deadline. Once it's past, a malevolent artist will just walk away and get away with it. So a commissioner ought to be patient, but also vigilant, and not allow themselves to be taken advantage of.
Two weeks is not an appropriate time frame. Neither is two months.
I wish you luck and hopefully it's just an aberration.