Scammed by commissioner

[traffic in the sky]

On March I went on the forums on cosplay.com. I found a person who had a signature that said I do comissions so I went on dA and pmed her if she could comission a South Park costume for me.

She agree and we met up in a March Convention. She told me that she would send me a little sketch of the costume a week later and she would also measure me and finish the costume by the end of June.

When i got to the con, and I saw her she immediately demanded for the money. She said money please and stook out her hands
when i gave her the money she said measure yourself and send me the measurements online. I said sure and I gave her the money and 2 packets of pocky ( 1 for her and the other for her friend) and i asked for a hug

Later on she said that she'll draw the sketch next month, then i waited and waited, I never got the sketch

at first she was really friendly, nice and answered all my questions. She told me she will answer my questions or concerns ( something like that)

later on she ignored my pms, she gave me an excuse saying shes too busy to read or she uses them as a reminder. So she told me to text them to her, she also ignores some of my texts.

when we were planing when to meet up she asked me if I could go all the way to where she lives ( it will take me hours to get there) or i could take the subway to a station also really near where she lives.

I told my parents to drive me and my parents got sort of mad and told me to tell her to come to a subway station near where I live because it's too far. Then she texted me really nearly in the morning telling me that it is too far for her.

then she told me to go a station in the middle. When I was on the subway she told me to go to the station that is abit closer to me.

When i got there I texted her asking where she is. She sended me back a text saying that she's busy shopping and she wants me to go to the shop and be there in 15 minutes. I text her back saying I am not leaving the station because if I leave I will have to pay money to get back in and I only have money for the comission. I never got a reply so I called her and she is in the other side of the station so I walked all the way there.

When i got back from the ride I noticed that the coat has holes around the arm areas, the coat was very poorly sown together, it looks like she randomly sowed fabric together. The pockets are uneven, 1 pocket is bigger and taller then the other and the hat has a hole on it too.

My whole family keeps on yelling at me and I feel really sad and depressed. My grandma's foot got swollen from the whole ride and I feel really bad about it.

I texted her thanks and all the problems. I never got a reply back from her.

I am not saying i want her to make the whole thing back again or to fix it up or i want a refund. I just want her apologize for her crap service and horrible communication.

sorry that this post is really long and I know i'm really stupid. But I'm 14, all I can do is just learn from that Huge mistake. But I dont know what should I do with the costume. It's a huge mess. It's big and I can't cosplay as Kyle  

[ll dell Orso ll]

The best thing to do is learn to sew ^w^
When I started wearing costumes, cosplays were VERY expensive so my grandmother sat me down in front of a sewing machine that was three times as old as I was and had me practice sewing.
Also, by making your costumes you can compete in the cosplay contests for prizes.

If you do buy, buy local.
Many community theaters and high schools have people in charge of costuming that do commissions as side work. These people, you know, have experience in costume making.

As for trying to cosplay as Kyle, your best bet right now is searching ebay and buying clothes that look similar or if you're lucky, a costume.  

[Spartan1024]

Yes, Charmful does bring up some good points. Knowing how to sew saves you money, and in some ways, yes, I would think it saves you time. So that you just get to it, instead of having to wait for someone to send you your commission.
If you are buying from someone, though, I would suggest to do a little background check. Ask them to show some past work or pry into little things like that. Depending on the way they answer could be your decision to buy or not.

 

[cuvier]

She doesn't sound like a nice person.
Never pay the full price up front. Safe when it's half and half after done. Always ask for progress pictures, and go through paypal.  

[Veretix]

That sounds like a horrible experience.
Like others have said, learn to sew. I'm doing that myself at the moment, and will hopefully be sewing my own costumes later.
If you can't sew, maybe you know someone who does. I asked a friend to make a simple dress for my Seychelles cosplay. It also helps if you buy the materials, for your friend to use. That way they don't need to spend their own money on it unless you reimburse them.