sevensix wrote:Not sure that this is relevant to the thread, but I didn't see a designated thread to ask about the rules; and there's a pinned thread saying to not open new threads unless necessary. Makes a bit of a dilemma when combined with the rule against necroposting.
Regardless: What should a commissioner do when an artist or writer cancels a paid-for project, and the payment was sent through a processor that doesn't offer chargebacks, or the chargeback deadline has expired? Rule 8 says that "Private conversations are only allowed to be posted publicly if mutually agreed by all parties involved in such dialogue". Does that mean that you can't report them or warn others, if all your of interactions were through private channels?
Edit: Relatedly, does silence count as a conversation, or is publicly reporting ghostings fine?
This is something you're kind of screwed for I think. You can only learn for the future. I have a whole blog post about this from a while back but I'll summarize.
1.
Never use payment services that offer no way of disputing the payment if the product was not delivered.
2. Do not neglect the time limit of these services. Pay attention to how long it has been since you paid for something. Ask the artist wtf is going on if you are getting within 2 months of the deadline. If you're down to 1 month and still don't have a finished product, it's possibly time to start the dispute process. For Paypal, you can do this up to 6 months after your purchase, last I checked. If the artist hasn't finished something by 6 months and I already paid for it, I'm beginning the chargeback process.
No exceptions.
3. Once the chargeback process is started, do
not stop it under any circumstance unless the product is delivered, and it is done to your expectations. Do
not agree to anything unless you are either refunded, or the product is delivered. If the artist says they are only being delayed, and that they only need like another month or whatever, then the honest thing for the artist to do is for them to refund you and then have you immediately pay them again under a new transaction. This effectively re-sets the clock. Check the terms of service for your individual payment system, but this is what I do on Paypal. However, it's up to you at this point if you do this, because some artists are just straight up unreliable and never actually finish their work unless they are threatened to because you put their Paypal account into the negatives. Frankly, that's not your problem anymore, and you shouldn't feel bad no matter how much they try to guilt trip you for it.
3. Once the chargeback dispute is begun,
do not talk to the artist in any medium except for through the chargeback system assuming there is a means of messaging them.
4.
NEVER use the option of sending money to "friends and family" to avoid Paypal fees, as you will forfeit any right to dispute the payments!! If the artist is pissed about losing a few dollars to a fee just pay a little extra to cover the damn fee. It's like a couple dollars. Just suck it up if they won't. If the payment isn't what they were expecting, have them refund the original payment and pay a new payment.
Don't just send another payment. That'll fuck things up later.