Dark asylum
Active Member
So I'm not sure how to even start to adress this situation so I'll just get right to it, it's more or less what I feel is a serious topic to address serious issues when it comes to work with props but more importantly serious seller buyer issues and details of the spectrum.
And I guess this all will begin with a little back story with this year and events and issues I've had in the passed months that are the motivation behind this tread and not to so it is at all pleasant either. Before the summer hit there were a few things in the works and a few projects I got involved in that need less to say were very bad investment choices things that fell through and not only huge wast of money but a huge set back and waste of time that had me months behind which I can only try to avoid these type of mistakles in the future as best I can.
The first bad investment was a full scale movie Green lantern suit I invested alot of hours on something that was in good faith actually with no deposit or funding it was on good faith as a favor I was expecting to be reimbursed for the investment just to be cancled which from my understanding if any one saw the movie they know why I haven't but regardless that's one issue I'm sure I'm not the only one that's ever took the leap of faith head first just to smack face first into a empty pool metaphorically speaking.
I can live with that mistake some time loss easy enough to make up it's worse if you put out alot of personal money out on the materials which I was lucky enough to of had extra on hand at the time but it's still a frustrating experience and I basically have molds and GL stuff just taking up room I have no idea what I'll even do with at this point.
Now after that flop up things seemed to be better but things took a serious turn for the worse in the end and this is were all the real issues come to a head and the main basis of this thread cause I want every Prop builder avoid this type of situation and I want every invester or collector of props and costumes to understand exactly what guys like us have to put up with maybe get a little more undstanding and respect.
Basically back when I first built the MARK 3 which most people that would recall me or my work brought to this form that would be it, and around that time I got a message about doing a project similar to a full Ironman suit but things came up and it never went through but then this year just about the time the GL stuff was flopping I got a PM about picking up this project which after burning out no a few Ironman suit kits and the disappointing GL fall through I figure a different project could help mend to wounds stimulate other projects in the works.
Now I'm going to drop a name here because I think it's fair put to the spot light on some people especially ones that pose a serious problem and others need to be aware about especially when they are fellow RPF memebers.
So getting to the point I was contacted by a guy named Chase Lawless and the project was to be a full Lex Luthor battle suit which I guess it was just under about 2 years ago when I was first asked about doing it before there's issues on his end, now from my understanding to would be going towards a few good causes and was something to make him happy as well and I gave him a ridiculously low price that barley would cover materials cause it seemed more about the project then the money.
Now the original plan was to work at getting this done by dragon con if possible but there was no official deadline but that would of been a great release date, and into the first few months narrowing down ideas and collecting working out parts to get the right design or base form ended to being a redesign we decided to start at ground zero and I would just building a full suit scratch all new molds and the works rather then trying to junk up a ironman suit or half ass a project I'm all about higher standards and originality so I hate cutting corners and aim for quality.
Now after investing time into building parts based off Molds I already had just to start over from scratch of course forced things extenting passed Dragon con which Chase said he was ok with he just wanted something really cool and that's what I was especting to build and over that time he said he liked all the ideas the changes the turn out never once asked me to change anything and seemed fine with out any complaints up until 85% completeion I emailed him the last update on progress to get a final ok on things then I hadn't heard back in maybe a week to about a week and a half with out a reply then he finally replies with a bum ass e-mail claiming he's lost interest in the project or he was hoping to get it quicker and it's not what he wants basically the reason changed every sentence which means he couldn't even be hionest enough to tell me really why it was more or less a list of excuses then demanded a full refund of his deposit even after all the hours and materials I invested even redesigned with out charging more and I even invested money out of my own pocket to do this project to have this guy just bail on me and espect me the spill more blood.
Now the way I see it I focused on creating something great the highest quality possible as fast as I could with the green light to every idea redesign and then out of the blue he just decided to stab me in the back, now as frustrating as it was to put so much time energy and materials into something to have someone say they dont want it and then have the nerve to ask for a refunding not to give a damn about the work and investment I put in is pretty cold hearted first off and just a sick person, anyways regardless I replied back and I told him ok I'm unhappy with the situation that he oked everything acted happy with everything and then drops this crap load of BS on me but I told him I'll be fair and make him a fair deal that we can finish the project and just sell it to a new buyer weather it was a Lex suit or not, and that way I could get something back for my time and work and he can get a refund cause his deposit was invest in materials.
But now this is were it got really messed up cause he refused answer my phone call or my email let alone my very fair offer keeping either of us from being out after not getting a reply or word from him for a few weeks I get a email from PayPal About Damon Chase Lawless filed a charge back through his card company under the claim he never recieved a shippment from me which is complete fraud cause it was never paid off first of all and it was a commissioned project to begin with so that makes him not only a liar, conartist, but now a thief as dealing through PayPal there's a loop hole based on no shipping were all seller's get screwed over so this is a huge scandal and I've been screwed over setback on alot of stuff and I've heard from a few others this is a common issue.
Now I have to bring this to light on the RPF not only cause Chase Lawless a member of the RPF but every one needs to know exactly what type of back stabbing under handed criminal he really is and how he steals from and screws over disrespects dedicated artist like our time and work doesn't mean crap, hell he may even have a history of doing this type of stuff to others and I hope to god no one else ever deals with or gets screwed over like have, cause this guy had a great deal going at every end and was still will to illegally screw me over with out any good reason.
So now I need to make some serious points for those other hard working prop builders out there learning from my mistakes I say if you do any business custom or premade selling of any kind you must always contract and keep track of all messages or E-mails and make your friends and clients completely aware of your code of ethics and process I personally have been honest and true to every one I've done any work for no matter howlong it took or how difficult I've made good on anything and everything but messes like this have a huge toll on time and the whole process can screw up other things in the works as well and no one trying to keep up on things and keep all clients happy can afford these set backs.
Now I will also suggest to any prop builders to not ever invest time into something just on good faith that is a huge mistake and you have to realize for guys like us time is money I'm sorry but any one investing in a project needs to seriously understand no amount of money on a commission can cover the cost of the time and energy put into a project that's why 90% of all artist wont even offer refunds cause they spent so much into the work then you are even paying for and you want to tell me it's fair to screw over some one making such a huge sacrifice just for you.
I guess there's just no honor honesty or morality or atleast very little, I've had the opportunity to have worked for some good people that's 1 of the main reasons I got on the RPF to be in a community were the work could be shared and appreciated, respected and there's no regrets there, but then situations like this can smack you back to reality and in most cases the bad can out way the good that's freaking reality I don't expect me or every one else to be saints but doesn't hurt to hope there's going to be some moral code honesty and respect in a trade like this.
Now one big point I will make for seller protection is dont use paypal with all the new TOS there's almost no seller protection which means there's a ridiculous amount of loop holes leaving you to be completely screwed over by any buyer or conartist, now do to TOS changes they are just as crooked and stupid as a big bank.
Now any one buying props I think there needs to be some do's and dont's number one issue with anyone buying custom work partners 9 out of 10 times get involved and cause serious a problem it's always the same old story were a girlfriend or wife starts screwing up the buyer seller relationship so seriously any guy with a nosey nagging girl on your case needs to think twice about investing in commission work cause guys like me dont need to hear about the pressure or the wife thinks it's a scam and all that other drama involved I know some of you are laughing about it but only cause you know it's true or you've delt with it and we don't need that hassle and pressure.
And the main point I want buyers investing in art especially commission work needs to follow through with that investment it's not only immoral and illegal but aslo what I see as a crime to just steal all that time and energy of the process and even not expect to give compensation for the time and effort any one like that is a real scum bag in my opinion, I'm sure I could spend hours making more points and breaking down more Q and A in a sense but I'm putting this out there hoping it will be useful and informative in the least.
And now I have some other catching up to do aside from the disasters here.
And I guess this all will begin with a little back story with this year and events and issues I've had in the passed months that are the motivation behind this tread and not to so it is at all pleasant either. Before the summer hit there were a few things in the works and a few projects I got involved in that need less to say were very bad investment choices things that fell through and not only huge wast of money but a huge set back and waste of time that had me months behind which I can only try to avoid these type of mistakles in the future as best I can.
The first bad investment was a full scale movie Green lantern suit I invested alot of hours on something that was in good faith actually with no deposit or funding it was on good faith as a favor I was expecting to be reimbursed for the investment just to be cancled which from my understanding if any one saw the movie they know why I haven't but regardless that's one issue I'm sure I'm not the only one that's ever took the leap of faith head first just to smack face first into a empty pool metaphorically speaking.
I can live with that mistake some time loss easy enough to make up it's worse if you put out alot of personal money out on the materials which I was lucky enough to of had extra on hand at the time but it's still a frustrating experience and I basically have molds and GL stuff just taking up room I have no idea what I'll even do with at this point.
Now after that flop up things seemed to be better but things took a serious turn for the worse in the end and this is were all the real issues come to a head and the main basis of this thread cause I want every Prop builder avoid this type of situation and I want every invester or collector of props and costumes to understand exactly what guys like us have to put up with maybe get a little more undstanding and respect.
Basically back when I first built the MARK 3 which most people that would recall me or my work brought to this form that would be it, and around that time I got a message about doing a project similar to a full Ironman suit but things came up and it never went through but then this year just about the time the GL stuff was flopping I got a PM about picking up this project which after burning out no a few Ironman suit kits and the disappointing GL fall through I figure a different project could help mend to wounds stimulate other projects in the works.
Now I'm going to drop a name here because I think it's fair put to the spot light on some people especially ones that pose a serious problem and others need to be aware about especially when they are fellow RPF memebers.
So getting to the point I was contacted by a guy named Chase Lawless and the project was to be a full Lex Luthor battle suit which I guess it was just under about 2 years ago when I was first asked about doing it before there's issues on his end, now from my understanding to would be going towards a few good causes and was something to make him happy as well and I gave him a ridiculously low price that barley would cover materials cause it seemed more about the project then the money.
Now the original plan was to work at getting this done by dragon con if possible but there was no official deadline but that would of been a great release date, and into the first few months narrowing down ideas and collecting working out parts to get the right design or base form ended to being a redesign we decided to start at ground zero and I would just building a full suit scratch all new molds and the works rather then trying to junk up a ironman suit or half ass a project I'm all about higher standards and originality so I hate cutting corners and aim for quality.
Now after investing time into building parts based off Molds I already had just to start over from scratch of course forced things extenting passed Dragon con which Chase said he was ok with he just wanted something really cool and that's what I was especting to build and over that time he said he liked all the ideas the changes the turn out never once asked me to change anything and seemed fine with out any complaints up until 85% completeion I emailed him the last update on progress to get a final ok on things then I hadn't heard back in maybe a week to about a week and a half with out a reply then he finally replies with a bum ass e-mail claiming he's lost interest in the project or he was hoping to get it quicker and it's not what he wants basically the reason changed every sentence which means he couldn't even be hionest enough to tell me really why it was more or less a list of excuses then demanded a full refund of his deposit even after all the hours and materials I invested even redesigned with out charging more and I even invested money out of my own pocket to do this project to have this guy just bail on me and espect me the spill more blood.
Now the way I see it I focused on creating something great the highest quality possible as fast as I could with the green light to every idea redesign and then out of the blue he just decided to stab me in the back, now as frustrating as it was to put so much time energy and materials into something to have someone say they dont want it and then have the nerve to ask for a refunding not to give a damn about the work and investment I put in is pretty cold hearted first off and just a sick person, anyways regardless I replied back and I told him ok I'm unhappy with the situation that he oked everything acted happy with everything and then drops this crap load of BS on me but I told him I'll be fair and make him a fair deal that we can finish the project and just sell it to a new buyer weather it was a Lex suit or not, and that way I could get something back for my time and work and he can get a refund cause his deposit was invest in materials.
But now this is were it got really messed up cause he refused answer my phone call or my email let alone my very fair offer keeping either of us from being out after not getting a reply or word from him for a few weeks I get a email from PayPal About Damon Chase Lawless filed a charge back through his card company under the claim he never recieved a shippment from me which is complete fraud cause it was never paid off first of all and it was a commissioned project to begin with so that makes him not only a liar, conartist, but now a thief as dealing through PayPal there's a loop hole based on no shipping were all seller's get screwed over so this is a huge scandal and I've been screwed over setback on alot of stuff and I've heard from a few others this is a common issue.
Now I have to bring this to light on the RPF not only cause Chase Lawless a member of the RPF but every one needs to know exactly what type of back stabbing under handed criminal he really is and how he steals from and screws over disrespects dedicated artist like our time and work doesn't mean crap, hell he may even have a history of doing this type of stuff to others and I hope to god no one else ever deals with or gets screwed over like have, cause this guy had a great deal going at every end and was still will to illegally screw me over with out any good reason.
So now I need to make some serious points for those other hard working prop builders out there learning from my mistakes I say if you do any business custom or premade selling of any kind you must always contract and keep track of all messages or E-mails and make your friends and clients completely aware of your code of ethics and process I personally have been honest and true to every one I've done any work for no matter howlong it took or how difficult I've made good on anything and everything but messes like this have a huge toll on time and the whole process can screw up other things in the works as well and no one trying to keep up on things and keep all clients happy can afford these set backs.
Now I will also suggest to any prop builders to not ever invest time into something just on good faith that is a huge mistake and you have to realize for guys like us time is money I'm sorry but any one investing in a project needs to seriously understand no amount of money on a commission can cover the cost of the time and energy put into a project that's why 90% of all artist wont even offer refunds cause they spent so much into the work then you are even paying for and you want to tell me it's fair to screw over some one making such a huge sacrifice just for you.
I guess there's just no honor honesty or morality or atleast very little, I've had the opportunity to have worked for some good people that's 1 of the main reasons I got on the RPF to be in a community were the work could be shared and appreciated, respected and there's no regrets there, but then situations like this can smack you back to reality and in most cases the bad can out way the good that's freaking reality I don't expect me or every one else to be saints but doesn't hurt to hope there's going to be some moral code honesty and respect in a trade like this.
Now one big point I will make for seller protection is dont use paypal with all the new TOS there's almost no seller protection which means there's a ridiculous amount of loop holes leaving you to be completely screwed over by any buyer or conartist, now do to TOS changes they are just as crooked and stupid as a big bank.
Now any one buying props I think there needs to be some do's and dont's number one issue with anyone buying custom work partners 9 out of 10 times get involved and cause serious a problem it's always the same old story were a girlfriend or wife starts screwing up the buyer seller relationship so seriously any guy with a nosey nagging girl on your case needs to think twice about investing in commission work cause guys like me dont need to hear about the pressure or the wife thinks it's a scam and all that other drama involved I know some of you are laughing about it but only cause you know it's true or you've delt with it and we don't need that hassle and pressure.
And the main point I want buyers investing in art especially commission work needs to follow through with that investment it's not only immoral and illegal but aslo what I see as a crime to just steal all that time and energy of the process and even not expect to give compensation for the time and effort any one like that is a real scum bag in my opinion, I'm sure I could spend hours making more points and breaking down more Q and A in a sense but I'm putting this out there hoping it will be useful and informative in the least.
And now I have some other catching up to do aside from the disasters here.
