Update and Master List for custom work from DarkArtist

[devilof76]

Please don't leave.

 

[The Craw]

this place leaves a bad taste in my mouth. no one would notice i'm gone anyway.

 

[devilof76]

Did somebody say something?

 

[abstractharmony]

Wow, lot of angry posts this past week.

Look folks, whilst I'm in the boat with you that he has done something wrong it's a bunch of BS to band together in a kind of legal lynch mob.

The dude is about to have a kid. That is THE single biggest defining event in anyone's life. Do not, for the sake of the kid, have his dad's life and career ruined because of toys.

I posted a long time ago in the other thread that we should all just write off the cash and move on.

I still believe that.

Are people angry? You bet but all the negativity being harboured and focused on this issue is just messing up your own enjoyment of this hobby and your life in general.

Let go of the anger and move on. It really will be better for all concerned that way.

 

[rayrockguitar]

Wow, lot of angry posts this past week.

Look folks, whilst I'm in the boat with you that he has done something wrong it's a bunch of BS to band together in a kind of legal lynch mob.

The dude is about to have a kid. That is THE single biggest defining event in anyone's life. Do not, for the sake of the kid, have his dad's life and career ruined because of toys.

I posted a long time ago in the other thread that we should all just write off the cash and move on.
I still believe that.

Are people angry? You bet but all the negativity being harboured and focused on this issue is just messing up your own enjoyment of this hobby and your life in general.

Let go of the anger and move on. It really will be better for all concerned that way.

I'm not going to speak for anyone else, but I am fully capable of deciding all of this for myself. I'm not angry too much really, life goes on. I also am not messing up my own enjoyment of this hobby; I still am enjoying it very much; I will just be more leary/careful of who I choose to do business with. Though it is people like him that do put a negative stamp/vibes in this wonderful hobby. But, I did send him money for a service he has not provided; so he did not fulfill his end of the agreement. This does happen in life's business transactions and you can usually complain and get some compensation, and if not report or file complaints. Since it looks like no compensation from Josh/Darkartist81, I made an online complaint which took a few minutes and was very easy to do. It will probably be about as easy to contact his local county law office and do the same thing. So you can rest easy, I'm not too angry and I know what I'm doing - thanks for your help though. BTW, lots of people have children and DON'T take others money/steal. It doesn't look like he's in too much hard time to me. If he is, too bad - not my problem (I usually don't fund other people that are in hard times so why him; if you want to, that is your business); it doesn't give him or anyone the right to steal my hard earned money just because they are in hard times, which is certainly doesn't look like he is. You call being able to buy a $500 myers mask and driving to GA to pick it up (when he couldn't drop a pre-paid postage box off at the post office BTW or do a thing with any of his outstanding orders) and buying a $200 Captain America comic being in hard times.....................wow. If that is the case, consider me poorer and in dire straits. Send me some money...............yeah. right.

 

[MicroJow]

abstractharmony - I understand what you're saying, and was willing to let it all go. Until I heard about the expensive items he was buying. If he has money for a Michael Myers mask, he's got money to refund one or two people here. This is no longer about being nice to someone who has fallen on hard times, it's about treating someone the way he is treating us.

Which brings me to this piece of Darklord Dave-approved dialogue:

"If interested in an attempt to get your money back, please e-mail me at [email protected]. I will let you know more off-board."

- J

 

[karamazov80]

I will just be more leary/careful of who I choose to do business with.

This is one thing I'm usually pretty careful about. And at the time I sent DA money, he had 100% positive reviews on this forum and was listed as amongst the "Pantheon of the Worthy."

Guess what? He still is!!

Feedback process doesn't work unless people use it and are honest. But it becomes more difficult when folks just drag their feet. It takes a while for that to transition to essentially "stealing with no intention of repaying or finishing what you were paid to do."

When I sent money to DA (late 2008), there wasn't much that I saw about folks complaining of having already waited a year for a custom or repaint. In fact, there was only praise for this guy in his thread, so I got suckered in. Now, we know a lot more. But at the time, based on the info. available, I thought I was making a reasonable move.

Well, time to practice what I'm preaching. Guess I'll go leave a negative feedback for him now.

 

[pixletwin]

To be fair, pre 2008 customs taking 6 months to a year plus was the norm. It was the influx of new members with higher expectations and less patience which began to change things here.

 

[karamazov80]

It was the influx of new members with higher expectations and less patience which began to change things here.

Not sure I understand. Are you saying that new members with higher expectations and less patience are the cause for DA's actions?

 

[pixletwin]

Josh got himself into the situation he is in. The factors are far more complex than "A caused B which resulted in C". I do believe the pressure these new folk were putting on him (and many other customizers) was a contributing factor to a degree, yes.

 

[karamazov80]

Well, I became a member just shortly before commissioning my custom, so admittedly, I didn't know the guy or his tendencies. But he explicitly told me it would be done within a month or whatever, as he has told many others.

Hard to accuse the customers of having unrealistic expectations when the person you are buying from tells you to expect such things. I guess we were supposed to know that DA couldn't be relied on for his timelines?

I guess the ultimate pressure contributed to him just up and quitting, but I personally wouldn't place the fault on the customers for that. He took all those commissions on, and gave unrealistic expectations to people. For folks to then try to hold him accountable seems fair to me.

 

[pixletwin]

Well, I became a member just shortly before commissioning my custom, so admittedly, I didn't know the guy or his tendencies. But he explicitly told me it would be done within a month or whatever, as he has told many others.

Hard to accuse the customers of having unrealistic expectations when the person you are buying from tells you to expect such things. I guess we were supposed to know that DA couldn't be relied on for his timelines?

I guess the ultimate pressure contributed to him just up and quitting, but I personally wouldn't place the fault on the customers for that. He took all those commissions on, and gave unrealistic expectations to people. For folks to then try to hold him accountable seems fair to me.

Are we arguing here? I haven't contradicted anything you have written.

 

[devilof76]

For folks to then try to hold him accountable seems fair to me.

I'm not sure that it is.

I mean, accountable, yes. At no point was it not fair to hold him accountable. But you can only hold him accountable for what he did.

I do not believe based on any of the testimony in this thread (including the aggregate loss, and including the purchases he made after he stated he would not be providing refunds) that it's clear what he did.

 

[karamazov80]

Are we arguing here?

Not really. I'm just not sure that I would say "It was the influx of new members with higher expectations and less patience which began to change things here."

So much as "It was the influx of new commissions that DA took on without realistic expectations for his own abilities which began to change things here." Because he created the unrealistic expectations, IMO.

I'm not sure that it is.

Devil, I'm not sure what you are saying here

 

[devilof76]

I don't think he robbed anyone.

 

[pixletwin]

Not really. I'm just not sure that I would say A "It was the influx of new members with higher expectations and less patience which began to change things here."

So much as B "It was the influx of new commissions that DA took on without realistic expectations for his own abilities which began to change things here." Because he created the unrealistic expectations, IMO.

This is where you are misunderstanding me. I am not saying it either A or B. I am saying it was a combination of the two plus other factors.

 

[DarkArtist81]

First off... you guys are A-holes. I didn't buy that Cap comic with ANY of your money. I got it for a freakin DOLLAR at my local comic shop, I got lucky because the owner is a buddy of mine and gave me first swing at a batch of comics a guy had brought in to trade. Is that really so bad?

I've sold my car, I am RIGHT NOW in the middle of a bankrupcy. I have a baby coming, and am saving money to take care of him while I am out of work come summer time. I'm not rolling in dough, nor do I have a lot of time on my hands to work out refunds. I was trying my damn best to do this deal with Carl, in an effort to try and get this stuff back to you all. I'm not in a financial situation to go and refund people or mail back a mass amount of stuff myself. I'm truly sorry for that, but please know what the Hell you guys are _____ing about before posting here and ripping me a new one.

If any of you guys live locally, I will gladly give you your stuff... Hell.. I will give you what's left of mine. I just want this to be over. I'm not rich. I didn't use your ____ing money to buy stuff.. I used it to pay bills and keep my family alive. I didn't ever mean to rip anyone off nor did I intend for things to get to this point. I just wanted to do work for people and have some fun at the same time. It was never even about money, I honestly made so little at it it's almost criminal how much I gave up for it. Money was primarily spent on parts... which I still have and am going to give back.

I honestly don't know what to do anymore. I have what comics I have, but mostly as a back up just in case I need money during the summer for Drake's care. And 99% of them I got at my local shop for a buck. I guess I can't even do that anymore.

You guys can call me a crook all you want, you can blow me up here until I look like ____ing Al Capone... but the truth is that I am simply a guy who very stupidly got into a business without ANY preparation and it blew up in my face. I'm not Bernie Madoff running a Ponzie scheme, I'm just an idiot who screwed up ROYALLY. So screw you all for continuing to come in here and poke the dead guy while he is down, I really appreciate that.

I am still holding out hope that eventually Carl and I can get the rest of this stuff out to you guys. I know that I will be sending more stuff next week too. So go ahead, call me a criminal... I don't care anymore. I know who and what I am.

I've sold damn near everything of value, and since this crisis... have not gone on to buy anything of significantly high value. So you guys can go ahead and talk about crap I bought YEARS ago all you want. Whatever....

 

[MaulFan]

Josh got himself into the situation he is in. The factors are far more complex than "A caused B which resulted in C". I do believe the pressure these new folk were putting on him (and many other customizers) was a contributing factor to a degree, yes.

Indeed, prior to that, custom comissions were more like buying a work of art, but since then, custom sales have become more and more commercial and almost truned this place into an e-store.

The guys who offered work before then were faced with trying to keep up with the new wave or throw in the towel, naturally they tried to keep up and it didn't work out, but even some who came along post change have had struggles and failures.

Ultimately, the demand and short patience of many is too much to keep up with, the successful selleres learned to drive the work by what they can handle and no outstretch thenselves trying to keep up with demand.

Before 2ppi, there wasn't really a competitive quality to comissions here either, all the artists had a niche and you went to whoever served your purpose. Now there's a sense that if you don't offer it someone else will and you have to do it better or offer more units or get them out faster.

As a pre-2008 member, I miss the old days.

 

[devilof76]

Jibbus crizzmus Josh, thank you for opening your mouth before I had to make a complete ass of myself.

 

[pixletwin]

Jibbus crizzmus Josh, thank you for opening your mouth before I had to make a complete ass of myself.

Ditto that.

And that was well said MaulFan.