Does anyone know Jim Kyle? (Commission Problem)

[Jakecg11]

Hopefully someone will have some insight, but I am assuming I made some kind of rookie mistake and got scammed/robbed of my money.

On May 28th last year, I bought 4 9x12 commissions on ebay from Jim Kyle (user id: jkyleart) for 50 USD each, 200 total (I paid with paypal balance money from selling some of my stuff). He said it would take months because it was a Memorial day sale bargain and he got swamped with commissions. I was totally cool with this because I thought it was an unbelievable sale, and his ebay feedback is 100% positive. I then messaged him for an update in November of last year and he said they were started and would be done in a week or so. I never heard from him again, and I messaged him again today asking for an update, and he sent me almost word for word the same thing he said in November. I asked for pictures of the "started artwork", but haven't heard back yet. So I am now thinking I got scammed.

Has anyone had problems with this artist before? Do I have any recourse to get my money back? I did some googling and it looks like ebay or paypal won't do anything because I am way past "item not received" deadlines.

This is the first time I have ever had a problem with an artist. 200 dollars is a lot of money to me. Any honest feedback would be much appreciated, even if it is to let me know what I did wrong. I am already somewhat settled into the fact that I am most likely never going to see that art or money, so I would at least like to learn from this.

Thanks in advance to anyone who has some feedback for me.
-Jake

[Chuck Bartowski]

I've heard of people having trouble with Jim in the past. I think I have a commission from him, but it took a while.

[ra4420]

I'm still waiting for a Marvel 70th Anniversary Artist Proof I purchased from him on eBay back in 2010. I have heard many excuses over the years. I hope I'll see it some day.

[moistpaper]

Wow 2010?! Marvel has been able to make quite a few movies since then. I guess it must be quite an epic sketch he’s working haha!

[Cujobyte]

Would never deal with him again, and would steer anyone clear of giving him $$. Good luck to you, but don't think you'll ever get your art work.

[cmixer]

My only advice is to check his convention schedule, and have someone deliver a face-to-face note. That has worked for me in the past. Have him draw it while at the convention.

[Sharard]

Ya think the limit is 6 months to file a claim, but call PayPal and explain. You’ll be no worse off if they can’t help you ...it’s still technically a non delivered item and maybe the 6 months doesn’t start till it’s delivered.. I’d try if was me.

[Ty Hope]

Oh boy... I used to commission Jim for lots of work. He always came through until I had him design the cover of my novel I wrote. The deadline came and nothing. He said "I promise by next week" every week for damn near a year. It held up the entire publishing process until I finally completely lost it and posted a long scathing message on facebook for the world to see. Basically told him to shove the money up his a$$.
After that he apologized profusely and actually did come through. Cover came out great and we made up, but yeah... he is notoriously VERY slow unless you get on him.

His work is killer, but get ready for lots of waiting and being ignored or lied to. Just speaking from experience.

[jrosales]

Why would anyone want to deal with someone who, above all things, lies?

[Zahadum]

I did a couple commissions with Jim and they went fine but the last commission i did with him started in mid 2010 and I finally got the finished AP in mid 2013. I will not go into any detail as my last dealings with him was 5 years ago as eventually I did receive the commission as promised.
Sadly, it tainted his art in my eyes so I have not bought another piece of his work since and no longer have any of his art in my PC.

[Ty Hope]

Originally Posted by jrosales

Why would anyone want to deal with someone who, above all things, lies?

He used to be great. Somewhere along the road he changed.

I would never pay him up front for anything again though.

[coreywt]

Bought some already-completed PSCs from him on eBay years ago, he apparently forgot to ship them. I opened a case, and making his PayPal account go negative got him to ship my cards quickly. Heard too many similar stories to ever deal with him again.

[Jakecg11]

Thanks for all the comments everybody. Sounds like I’m in for a doozy on this one, and will probably never get anything. He actually messaged me back today and said he was at work but would send me scans after work and that he would never rip off a client, but I haven’t received anything. Very frustrating. I’ll probably contact PayPal to see if they would do anything as sharard mentioned, but I’m not holding my breath.

[Spider-Fan]

FYI he is a member here https://www.blowoutforums.com/member.php?u=29878

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by Spider-Fan

FYI he is a member here https://www.blowoutforums.com/member.php?u=29878

But per that link...

Last Activity: 03-01-2014 10:51 PM

[mtedenajimenez]

He's one of the tough situations I've encountered with sketch commissions. Unfortunately he needs to be followed up with constantly. Another collector (who I talk to now and then) commissioned him a handful of months after me, and he finished the other guy's commission first (without much wait). I was so upset, because I knew for a fact when the other collector commissioned in comparison to me. I called him out in a big private message, telling him I knew the other guy and I know without a doubt he skipped my commission for his, and it was for the same type of set AP blank. So it wasn't like he was on a roll with a certain subject and didn't want to switch to something different. Then the other collector put down his art and made him mad, haha, so I used that anger to push him into doing my commissions. "Show him how good you can finish my cards, he'll be totally jealous of your next ones." Haha.

Got mine after that, but it's been one of too many times where I've gotten the "be done in the next week" (or insert whatever promised time), and have continued to wait without update after that. Things I've learned are always pay Paypal goods, add the fees if you have to, worth it for the peace of mind, and get a promise from the artist that they can finish within the 6 months (should the artist be taking commissions if they can't finish a card in 6 months?). If I don't get a good feeling, it's easier just to move on than to deal with the stress of chasing someone down again, there are many artists out there doing awesome work. I have way more leeway if it's no money down (had no problem waiting over a year this way), but I understand artists can get burned too, so I got no problem putting money down at the start but at least give the strong assurance that it'll be less than 6 months. Also, if I look at an artist profile on FB and there are posts (especially multiple) of "sorry to everyone, I'm so back logged with commissions, I promise everyone will get their commission," I've learned that I just have to look at a different artist for my commission. It can work out, but not smart to step into one of those situations.

[jjsmallvillelvr]

You can try asking him for the refund. All the complaints I've heard are that it took forever, or they still haven't received it, but I don't think he intentionally steals. He needs to stop taking on new work, clearly. But maybe he will just refund it. Could always ask him too. I doubt PayPal will do anything since the time is up. I would suggest not commissioning Gary Kezele either. Went as far as sending out a fake tracking number, without ever showing me anything either, mind you. Luckily I haven't seen him on any new sets or anything so hopefully he just went away. Lol. Those 2 on bleeding cool...Renae De Liz I think or something like that, and her husband...Ray Dillion. Don't use them either. That's a travesty.

There's a commission review thread where you can look at reviews of artists, but I don't know if it's used still. I do think there should be a list of artists who scam or lie tho. Because new people keep getting sucked in because they don't know. It's frustrating.

I hope you are able to get your money back.

[Jakecg11]

Originally Posted by jjsmallvillelvr

You can try asking him for the refund. All the complaints I've heard are that it took forever, or they still haven't received it, but I don't think he intentionally steals. He needs to stop taking on new work, clearly. But maybe he will just refund it. Could always ask him too. I doubt PayPal will do anything since the time is up. I would suggest not commissioning Gary Kezele either. Went as far as sending out a fake tracking number, without ever showing me anything either, mind you. Luckily I haven't seen him on any new sets or anything so hopefully he just went away. Lol. Those 2 on bleeding cool...Renae De Liz I think or something like that, and her husband...Ray Dillion. Don't use them either. That's a travesty.

There's a commission review thread where you can look at reviews of artists, but I don't know if it's used still. I do think there should be a list of artists who scam or lie tho. Because new people keep getting sucked in because they don't know. It's frustrating.

I hope you are able to get your money back.

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.

[Chuck Bartowski]

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 have not commissioned Gary in a long time, but he was always good with me...but I did commission him a lot so that could be why.

[Miss Lizzy]

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.

What Gary did to Jordyne is the same exact thing he did to me. I'd had a few positive experiences with him beforehand (I bought a finished AP and commissioned a few more for American Horror Story) - and those ones went off without a hitch. Then I paid him for one more AP, he took the money, kept telling me that it was done and he was sending it to me (he never sent me one pic of the finished sketch, btw), and then ended up sending me a fake tracking number. Luckily it was just before the 6 months window on PayPal and I got most of my money back (the original charge was $200, $50 deposit then $150 when he was ready to begin the work - I got back the $150).
I don't know what happened with him, maybe he was just having a bad year... hopefully your friend gets what he paid for.

[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.

[Ty Hope]

Gary has always been great with me. Never had a bad experience in over 10 commissions.

[Zahadum]

Originally Posted by Ty Hope

Gary has always been great with me. Never had a bad experience in over 10 commissions.

I as well have been treated well by Gary with multiple pieces over the past years. I then commissioned a larger piece over a year and a half ago and got everything set and do to the size he asked for a deposit so sent $700 for supplies and to get it rolling. last correspondence i had was he moved and will be working on the piece shortly and never heard nothing since.

So I know I am out the money and art...

After this last experience I have stopped doing commissions all together unfortunately as they say gun shy now...

[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.

[Jakecg11]

Originally Posted by Ty Hope

Gary has always been great with me. Never had a bad experience in over 10 commissions.

What is the most recent you have commissioned him? Did you have to pay in full up front, or how did you go about it?