The princess peach predicament - interested in your perspective.

[nbr3bagshotrow]

Also, instead of a thread with the title as it is, perhaps a title like "Recently purchased art question, what are your thoughts?".

[comiconart]

Originally Posted by carlito1978

glad the ebay piece went down. one of the issues that i had with the situation was that taking down the piece wasn't the initial solution taken and was one that had to be haggled for (the initial version of the above message had a different outcome).

TRUE! Since you brought it up, I think it only fair to share the initial version of the above message.

In the initial response sent to Carlos, THIS:

"That being said, customer satisfaction is very important to me. So...I have ended the offending listing, and will encourage Ed Nardo not to recreate his own work in the future."

was replaced with THIS:

"That being said, customer satisfaction is very important to me. So...I have added a note to the current item description to make it clear that this is not the only version of this image that exists. Furthermore, if you somehow feel cheated now that you know a second smaller version exists, then I invite you to please return the piece you purchased, and I will happily refund your purchase price of $85.99."

So...not only did I fully comply with his INITIAL request to modify the eBay listing so that it clearly states that the artwork is a recreation (you can still see this modification in the ended eBay listing), I ALSO offered him the opportunity to return the offending artwork for a full refund (which he did *NOT* request).

He responded to this by accepting the refund if and only if I also agreed to reimburse his return shipping!

Now, I am all about customer service, but I do NOT like feeling taken advantage of. So, to agree to his proposed solution, and then to also offer a refund that was not requested, only to have that offer met with a demand for return shipping...well, let's just say that it wasn't the first time I was disappointed by the customer's handling of the situation.

The saying, "the customer is always right" should not be mistaken as license to make unreasonable requests, or to threaten someone's reputation in a public forum if they don't meet your full list of demands. Customers have just as much responsibility as sellers to handle themselves appropriately in a transaction, and unfortunately it seems rather common these days to look at sellers as the "bad guys". This is a fine line that seems to be crossed more and more frequently nowadays, as message boards are easily (and all too quickly) used as leverage for a customer to try to get exactly what they want, regardless of whether or not the request is reasonable. IMO, using a message board to call out a seller and accusing them of unethical business practices should *ONLY* be used as a last resort, when every other avenue has already been exhausted. Otherwise, when it is used simply as leverage to get something you want, this behavior can come dangerously close to blackmail.

Just my two cents.

Court Gebeau
www.comiconart.com

[JadeGiant]

Do we even know which piece was drawn first?

[comiconart]

Yes, the larger one was drawn first.

[Demona]

Uh oh. Gentlemen, please, to your respective corners

I think this is case of Carlos having honest concern but IMO worded it a short, and frustration fueled, email.

Carlos says didn't like the response he received is a bit shocking seeing as he used the term "tricked" in his initial email. I can only speak for my transactions with Court, but I have never been "tricked" and I don't believe that is his practice to do so. So maybe that verbage lead to the response Court provided.

And I thought Court did the stand-up thing by giving a through response and following up with the sale being taken down from EBay.

Now it's just getting really ugly.

Just sayin. Can't we all just get along??

And Court, seriously, is Ed Benes ever going to open up a commission list again? I got a sketch cover years ago, but something a little bigger would be nice

[JadeGiant]

Originally Posted by comiconart

Yes, the larger one was drawn first.

Thanks for the reply and welcome to the forum Court. I think you make some salient points and I commend you for coming on to present your side of the interaction. I think this was probably a case of carlito needing to “look before he leaped” and agree that he could have handled the situation with more tact and patience. The thread title is not appropriate to what happened and I would be happy to change it if you feel it does damage to your brand. You make a good point about customer’s leveraging public forums to deal with art deals that are not to their liking. In this case it is obvious that you were willing to make the customer happy and we thank you for that. While this is not a case of a customer being taken advantage of, it is all too common for that to in fact happen and public forums like this are sometimes the only recourse to shine some light on some bad art practices. Maybe carlito thought he had found himself in one of those situations and before panicking, he should have done some homework. We have established a good group of commissioners here and we tend to look out for each other (collectors, artists, and reps alike). I think if you decide to stay, you will find this to be true. As a collector myself, I think your idea to suggest to your artists that they not replicate art that is/will be for sale is a good one as the primary draw to our art in part is the exclusivity of the piece – a fact I am sure you are aware of.

[comiconart]

Hey Lindsay.

We would love to open Ed's commission list again! Only problem is that his DC deadlines keep him so busy that he only has time for a few requests each year, and he still has a number of names to work through on his current list. The best opportunity for a commission would probably be at his next convention appearance, as he takes a separate list for the cons (and he did 10 or 15 pieces at SDCC in 2011). We are hoping to have him back in the US for a con later this year, but his wife is also expecting a baby in the spring, so we aren't sure if his schedule is still up in the air, and it might be 2014 before he can return to the US.

Best, Court

[comiconart]

Hi Dave, thanks for the welcome! I was not aware of this forum before, but now that I am here I will have to look around a bit. You might be seeing more of me!

And if you care to change the title of the thread, then I won't object to that either. ;-)

Thanks, Court

[carlito1978]

i'm good with the title being changed. as far as i'm concerned, the outcome was what it should be so no hard feelings are harboured on my side.

the reasons that i came to the boards was that i was shocked that i was saw the piece on ebay (of all the pieces that i have on caf i would have never guessed that that one would be recreated ), that i didn't think the initial response was appropriate and thought my follow-up messages were being ignored. i wanted to make sure that there was a resolution on the matter before the auction ended, which was to happen in a day or so.

i didn't realize that court was not checking emails over the weekend until i found her email filtered in my junk email and my message to her bounced back with an out of office (unfortunately i was working throughout the holidays and assumed everyone else was as well).

i still stand by my prior statements that i had always found the comicart crew to provide a good service at a good price point - which is why this princess peach predicament really threw me for a loop.

[Demona]

Originally Posted by comiconart

Hey Lindsay.

We would love to open Ed's commission list again! Only problem is that his DC deadlines keep him so busy that he only has time for a few requests each year, and he still has a number of names to work through on his current list. The best opportunity for a commission would probably be at his next convention appearance, as he takes a separate list for the cons (and he did 10 or 15 pieces at SDCC in 2011). We are hoping to have him back in the US for a con later this year, but his wife is also expecting a baby in the spring, so we aren't sure if his schedule is still up in the air, and it might be 2014 before he can return to the US.

Best, Court

Pesky babies are always fouling things up Kiddin. That’s great for him and his wife, and being bombarded with work is never a bad thing in the comic world.

If you have any luck coaxing him back up here in the next year, or two, have him come to the East Coast. I can't make it out West and it is all afterall, it’s all about me scoring a bigger commission

Hope this whole thing between you and Carlos gets straightened out. Seems like a communication breakdown amongst two decent guys.