I'm Still Here, Happer...

[the_gneech]

Back in 2000, I commissioned a fellow by the name of David Pirkle (who operated under the business name of Pirkleations) to make me a fursuit for my anthro alter-ego, RumblePurr Lion. We e-mailed back and forth and he told me he'd charge me $500, half payable up front, half on delivery, and I sent him a check.

And then ... nothing.

Sometime in 2001, in response to a "Hey!" note I sent, I was contacted by someone who claimed to be acting on his behalf, who said that Mr. Pirkle was ailing some way or another, and that she would send me a refund.

And then ... nothing.

Then, earlier this year, my buddy Fastclaw informed me that Mr. Pirkle was up and running again, and accepting new commissions. Now, while I have little room to talk in the "take commissions and sit on them for months" department, at the same time, I am also not taking $250 and vanishing into the aether.

So I've sent yet another note to the most current address I have for Mr. Pirkle, and I'm going to poke around to see what, if anything, else I can find. It doesn't reflect well on him to leave this issue outstanding, it doesn't reflect well on tygercowboy, upon whose recommendation I gave Mr. Pirkle my business to begin with, and it doesn't reflect well on me to just roll over and let it go, either.

Professionalism, people! Respect! Either fulfill your obligations, or make restitution.

-The Gneech

Comments

[the-lizard-rat.livejournal.com]

Go Gneech Go! :) Here's hoping you get a refund or at least the suit!

I'm the exact opposite --- I once spent $500 for a month's stay in a motel (yes, $500), panicked after one day of being truly alone out in the middle of the Vegas desert, and hit the next plane home the next day. 500 GP, down the drain. Didn't even bother to ask for a refund policy.

Lizard Rat out.
500 GP Poorer in Renesselaer

[snapcat.livejournal.com]

ah yes.. I remember seeing various heads of his for sale on ebay. It looks like he was selling them through a 3rd party. Snakeskurt one the black tiger head (a perfect clone of the head I got from Pirkle in 2000) and Dia won a white tiger head. This guy does make nice heads.. I think he got himself into trouble because he charges WAY less than he should and maybe got over his head.
How come the most talented people are also the flakiest people around ;)

3 years? GET YOUR MONEY BACK...

[mammallamadevil.livejournal.com]

probably wouldn't be worth small claims court, though..what makes the difference (from a CS perspective) between your commission situation and this is that you also keep the lines of communication open with those you "owe"...

Re: 3 years? GET YOUR MONEY BACK...

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

Yeah. You're constantly saying, in not quite as many words "I'm getting to it! I'm getting to it!" -Frisk <- who almost forgot you were doing something like that until he read the post. Then he thought "oh, yeah, Gneech mentioned that once. A long time ago"

[camstone.livejournal.com]

Well, unfortunately good artists are sometimes a pain in the tail like that. While I know some that have had a rough time making ends meet, and I've given up on a few commissions in my time - my suggestion would be to just pester the fellow every day with the same email, just mailing it over and over and over again asking for a refund.

And of course, you could have had my "bad-suit" experience of "Yeah, everyting will be so great, you'll love it!" and then find out that it just sucked so bad that you'd rather wait to get a better suit in the first place, from someone who is trustworthy.

Of course how hard would it be for you to do a couple of commissions and replace the $250 deposit you got, and get a nicer suit in return? There will be a time to put things behind you, because otherwise it's just a waste of time based on someone else's principals - that you can never change.

*gah* When I start to sound like that... please slap me!