Does anyone know Jim Kyle? (Commission Problem)

[Jakecg11]

Originally Posted by HiltonL

Unfortunately, both Jim Kyle and Gary Kezele have long histories of this non-delivery and lying to cover up nonsense.

We could fill the internet with tales of woe. Unfilled commissions, years-long delays, flat-out scams (Ray Dillon, hoo-boy), undelivered Kickstarters.

Frustrated Sketch Card Fanatics group on FB is my go-to today.

Can I get a link to that FB group? I just did some searching and any of the links I find seem to indicate that the group no longer exists.

[aggie4ever]

Originally Posted by Jakecg11

*UPDATE*

Jim responded to me very quickly after I demanded a refund last night. He sent me scans of 3 out of 4 of my art commissions penciled and ready to be inked. I am assuming he just banged them out yesterday so he had something to send me, but there seems to be hope on getting these from him. I am going to have to hound him until I get them. I told him that he can expect weekly messages from me until I get them in hand.

As for Gary Kezele, nothing new. My friend last heard from him a few days ago, where Gary apologized and said his whole family was sick and all this other stuff causing delays. I hope he isn't pulling the same stuff with us as he did with you all. I have read his emails, and he is always so nice and well spoken. It is surprising that he is not a trustworthy artist. If my buddy doesn't get updated scans showing that he has made progress by this weekend, he is going to try demanding a refund as I just did with Jim Kyle. Hopefully that will work, but I am not optimistic.

Glad it sounds like this will work out with Jim Kyle, even if it takes longer than expected.

For your friend, you mentioned it was a recent commission, right? Assuming he paid by paypal, then there is nothing to worry about (assuming he paid using a goods payment and not friends and family), you can make a paypal claim if you don't get anything. Just don't go past the time period to file a claim.

[HiltonL]

Originally Posted by Jakecg11

Can I get a link to that FB group? I just did some searching and any of the links I find seem to indicate that the group no longer exists.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...4389&ref=br_rs

[Jakecg11]

Originally Posted by HiltonL

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...4389&ref=br_rs

Thanks

[jjsmallvillelvr]

Originally Posted by Jakecg11

Just asked for a refund. We will see what Jim says.

And I can not believe Gary Kezele is another bad artist. My good friend JUST paid him for some star wars artist proofs sketches. This is a nightmare. With the Jim Kyle BS, I even checked the sketch card commissions thread you mentioned beforehand and Gary had all positive signs, so I had no reason to assume he was untrustworthy. That thread must be out of date or something.

We NEED to put together a thread of artists to avoid (with reasons why). To start it could include Jim Kyle, the people you mentioned, and that Hepner guy/people that were caught printing sketches.

I'm sure I posted about gary in that thread. I was super annoyed. But the front page may not have been updated. Luckily he didn't ask for money upfront. But that's also why I knew he was lying thru his teeth. No artist is going to ship a sketch, that you haven't seen any progress on, and haven't paid for. Lol. It was crazy. I wasn't the only one who got a fake tracking number. However, it's been...3 years maybe, so maybe your friend will get lucky and he has gotten his crap together. I can't even buy any of his sketches tho because the work is definitely soured when you have a really bad experience. I've of had 3 bad experiences out of the dozens and dozens I've commissioned tho. So don't let it scare you off. Honestly all 3 were with big name artists. At some point, some of them either get in over their head or think they are too good for deadlines, or just get lazy. I don't know, but I stick to artists I know or ones who are not generally as 'popular' and have had great results. That's not to say that there aren't big name's who aren't fantastic, because there are, and I do use them too occasionally if feedback looks good. I hope you can get your stuff resolved, even if it's just a refund.

[jjsmallvillelvr]

Originally Posted by aggie4ever

Glad it sounds like this will work out with Jim Kyle, even if it takes longer than expected.

For your friend, you mentioned it was a recent commission, right? Assuming he paid by paypal, then there is nothing to worry about (assuming he paid using a goods payment and not friends and family), you can make a paypal claim if you don't get anything. Just don't go past the time period to file a claim.

Definitely keep on him tho as he might only do enough each time to prove he's working on it.

Gary was always nice to talk to. But it was all lies. He's a smooth talker and his art is nice so you think he'll do it. It sounds like you're already getting excuses tho, so be careful. I'm not sure why he even bothered lying to me. He didn't didn't take my money up front. Thankfully. But I got jerked around for like 8 months and finally had to start over with someone new.

[Steve J]

I have had commissions done with both jim Kyle and Gary Kezele over the years but not recently. I never had issues with Gary, but i did have an issue with Jim. I put an open complaint on Scoundrel, and it got all nasty, but not by Jim, as he supported me, and he eventually came through. This is my experience. On the whole commissions are great experiences and i wouldnt advise against them.

[Kingofkings1281]

Kyle is a thief. It’s been 5 years since I paid him over $300 for multiple Game of Thrones commissions. One sob story and excuse after another while he continued to draw random cards/pieces and sell them on eBay. Turned me off of that particular side of the hobby for good.

[sketchopolix]

Periodically I post these suggestions and inevitably an artist will come in and say they can't a) afford art supplies w/o getting paid first or b) trust the people they are commissioning to complete the deal, so look forward to those responses here.

To solve this problem:

1) never pay everything in advance.
1a) If you do prepay, pay only via PayPal (never family and friends) and give them a deadline that falls before the PayPal refund request expires. If they don't meet the deadline, open a case with PayPal and get your money back.

[Spider-Fan]

Originally Posted by sketchopolix

Periodically I post these suggestions and inevitably an artist will come in and say they can't a) afford art supplies w/o getting paid first or b) trust the people they are commissioning to complete the deal, so look forward to those responses here.

To solve this problem:

1) never pay everything in advance.
1a) If you do prepay, pay only via PayPal (never family and friends) and give them a deadline that falls before the PayPal refund request expires. If they don't meet the deadline, open a case with PayPal and get your money back.

Savvy advice. There is no reason anybody needs to be paid 3, 6, 12, 24, etc months in advance.

If artists can't agree to collect payment no earlier than when they are ready to start with a commitment to finish and ship the piece within 30 days of said start, they have some problems I don't want to be part of.

[jjsmallvillelvr]

Originally Posted by Kingofkings1281

Kyle is a thief. It’s been 5 years since I paid him over $300 for multiple Game of Thrones commissions. One sob story and excuse after another while he continued to draw random cards/pieces and sell them on eBay. Turned me off of that particular side of the hobby for good.

Yea, but you shouldn't allow one person or even a few, to ruin something you enjoy. You're doing a disservice to yourself and to honest artists. Obviously don't go back to the offender, but getting new stuff from other artists shouldn't be ruined.

[jamesr]

Originally Posted by jjsmallvillelvr

Yea, but you shouldn't allow one person or even a few, to ruin something you enjoy. You're doing a disservice to yourself and to honest artists. Obviously don't go back to the offender, but getting new stuff from other artists shouldn't be ruined.

Quite agree - I've had commissions from various artists, all bar one have gone smoothly (the one that didn't was a real pain, but I got a full refund via PayPal). The one that went bad just means I'll never deal with that particular one again.

What it did make me realise was (a) always use PayPal Goods - cover the fee if you have to; and (b) keep in touch regularly, and if the 6 month PayPal timeline nears, communicate to the artist that you will escalate to PayPal within that time period - no excuses!

E-mail trails are always good secondary evidence if required - when I opened my case in PayPal I stated I had a full history of communications if required. It wasn't, as I got refunded very quickly, but it's good backup to have.

[NonSportsCardForum]

Jim Kyle is straight trash.

He'll dick you around an when it all goes to hell because he doesnt keep his word, he'll blast you on his fb page while telling half of the story...the half that makes him look good...not the half that caused the issue in the first place.

[Jakecg11]

I wanted to post an update on here since it is all finally over. After almost 16 months and lots of messages from Jim Kyle saying “they will be shipped out next week” I finally have all of my 9x12 commissions I paid for on eBay. I really appreciate everyone on here who gave me the suggestion to “stay on him” because that is the only time I got results from him. The quality of the artwork is great, but the hassle was NOT worth it. I would highly caution anyone to commission any art from Jim Kyle. I honestly don’t think he is a bad person, but over commits on commissions that he does not have time to finish.

Also, special MEGA thanks to jjsmallvillvr for bringing up that Gary Kezele was a bad person too. Once you said that, me and my friend immediately came up with a plan to get him to complete my friend’s $600+ in star wars artist proofs. It is a VERY LONG story that I kept forgetting to post, but here is a brief synopsis:

Since my friend paid with paypal gift (a lesson we both have now learned) we had to play it just right. We waited months after his promised deadline to give him a chance to complete the work, and then I messaged him pretending that I had no idea he was a bad artist. I said that my friend recommended him to me and that I had 1500-2000 dollars saved up for a large commission piece. He of course quoted me the exact maximum budget I mentioned and wanted payment as paypal gift (so he planned on overcharging me AND steal my money). I said ok and agreed to everything, BUT I then told him that I did not want to move forward with the commission until he completed my friend’s artist proof sketches.….and just like that…..my buddy got every single artist proof sketch he was owed within a couple weeks.

I have never in my life dealt with such a terrible dishonest person. I hate that I had to be dishonest myself to help a friend get his sketch cards that he paid hard earned money for, but I am happy it worked. It is my honest opinion that Gary Kezele is scum, and I am glad we were able to give him a taste of his own medicine. I implore you all to never commission any work from him.

Once again, a sincere thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who took time to post in this thread to give their advice and input. It truly helped.

Jake

And sorry for the long post

[Zeldafanatic15]

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Spider-Fan]

Awesomempost. Congrats on getting everything!

[Ty Hope]

Jim I can agree with. Used to buy a lot from him until a huge falling out. Never again.

Gary though has always been great. Just recently had another commission done with no problems.

[Jakecg11]

Originally Posted by Ty Hope

Gary though has always been great. Just recently had another commission done with no problems.

I am glad you have had positive experiences with him. It’s just a shame then that so many other people have been treated poorly when he is capable of being a professional. I still stand by my opinion of the man, but that opinion is only based on my experience with him in 2017/2018.

[Miss Lizzy]

Originally Posted by Ty Hope

Jim I can agree with. Used to buy a lot from him until a huge falling out. Never again.

Gary though has always been great. Just recently had another commission done with no problems.

Watch out with Gary - I had a few positive experiences with him too, then he decided to string me along and ended up giving me a fake tracking number. I was able to get most of my money back from him (he kept my $50 deposit that I had sent with a payment for a previous commission).

[Ty Hope]

Originally Posted by Jakecg11

I am glad you have had positive experiences with him. It’s just a shame then that so many other people have been treated poorly when he is capable of being a professional. I still stand by my opinion of the man, but that opinion is only based on my experience with him in 2017/2018.

Fair enough. Just wanted to share my experiences.

[pendragon]

It's been almost 3 years since I commissioned Jim for 2 sketch cards. It's been the same old sad story, I'm working on them, I've just started them, blah...blah...blah. Now he totally ignores my queries. It just chaps my hide to see his postings on Facebook of his latest commissions and all the while I get NOTHING! Buyer beware!