So, I'm not going to name names here, because I don't send people to harass others, however, I'm not going to be belittled without knowing my side of the story. I will admit this is on me, as I should have calculated rent, insurance, and car payments more accurately. But I also feel like I'm being taken advantage of being new to Vtubing and semi-new to buying art online. A few weeks ago, I originally made a payment for a 2d Live model for 700. Albeit it felt rushed.
I told the artist I wasn't able to make that payment and the artist confirmed that I can pay partial and then pay the remainder when I get paid (which I was still honoring then) It was here I was the artist pushed on adding a 1k rigging installments and against my better judgment and calculations, I agreed (adding to the instalments for the model). I paid 200 upfront Wednesday and then sent reference pictures Thursday, and I haven't received any WIP/updates until Saturday where I was given Line-art and no sketch work beforehand. And since then, I haven't received any updates or WIP, only asked Monday when I get paid. Throughout the process, I'm being reached out by other artists in my DM's and I have to politely turn them down. And this all started shortly after I paid for my commission. The more times I'm turning artists away, the more I'm thinking I'm just giving hundreds to someone, who just wants my money. And it was just recently my landlords raised the rent and I was unaware how much the bank was taking out of my account for the insurance on my car, leaving me virtually unable to pay for the 1k.
I told the artist multiple times that I'm not financially able to make the rigging purchases and want to cancel the rigging process. I was willing to pay the rest for the just the 2D model, however they keep insisting I keep the rigging and they'll take the money slowly, saying the model won't be complete without it. They also said they were adding a pfp, banner, VTuber ID, and overlays for free on top of it, which I'm not interested in and I can look to the friends I know to do it for me anyway.
I'm aware that what I'm doing may look scummy, but I've been taken advantage of in a similar way a few years back, and giving someone this amount of money, just to be constantly spammed in DM's by other artists, it just is too much.
They sent me more line art of the model, still no sketch work, and I noticed many faults in the line art that was not worth the $200.
I was hoping we could resolve it by DM's and I requested a refund. I had to repeat myself multiple times that I was uncomfortable with continuing, and this was supposedly the “sketch phase”. They reacted to my last push for the refund with a “❤️”, acknowledging what I said. Then the next morning, they sent me the “colored model” and “final edits” then made a post about me saying I called them a “bot”. Going behind my back and in my opinion, behaving very unprofessionally.
I have never said that in our conversations at all. At this stage, I was upset and took the matter to PayPal to settle it. Me and the Artist both sent information back and fourth, PayPal made the final verdict in my favor. I immediately cut ties with the Artist soon after, in which I had believed that was the end of it.
The Artist made multiple posts about me, before taking them down quickly, probably to hopefully hide it from me. I'm not going to say their name, because I don't believe in revenge and sending people after others. The matter is solved and only involves me and the Artist.
Again, I'm aware that what happened doesn't paint a nice picture, but I've been taken advantage of years ago, just like this. I'm new to the community and to streaming, and I don't think it's fair that I'm being witch hunted before I can say my side of the story and my experience. I know I'll lose followers, and I'm okay with that. If people still choose to say, “You're a bad person, you don't deserve a platform”, or something along those lines, that's fine. I've said my piece, and I believe I ranted enough for one night. To everyone else, I hope you have a wonderful rest of July!