Possibly Scammed

About almost 2 months ago (on August 3rd), an artist by the name of SKVLL came out of the blue and messaged me if I would like him to draw me. In the excitement of it, I said yes, and he asked what was my budget for this drawing. I said 50 (just to throw in a number), but I wanted another character, and I told him that I didn't mind paying extra for that other character. He said the price would be 75 bucks for the whole thing, I agreed, paid him in FULL, and told him what I wanted, and I provided photo references to make his life easier. Essentially, what I wanted was 2 characters hugging each other.

After chatting about what I wanted, and sending him a screenshot of the payment, he said "Perfect! I'm on it." I reminded him that he didn't need to rush it because I know how annoying it is for people to give you really tight deadlines, and I didn't need this drawing "right the hell NOW."

Three days later, on August 9th, I reached out to him and asked how was the drawing coming along. He said "it will be done by the end of the week. Coming out great." < This is important because HE gave me a time in which the drawing will be done. So I was expecting the drawing by the end of the week.

Five days later, on August 14th, he messaged me and said "I had some technical difficulties. Please reach out in a few days."

Things happen, I get it, so instead of reaching out to him "in a few days" like he said, I gave him a week. Which brings us to August 21st, I messaged him, but he left me on "seen" till August 31st, I messaged him again cuz he ghosted me, and that's where he replied with "Almost ready!"

It really bugged me because I don't like being that annoying client that is constantly messaging you every second, but he wasn't communicating with me properly, so I was forced to message him multiple times, though, the messages were a week apart from each other, I still felt bad and apologized to him for that.

On September 3rd, he said "Sorry for the fright." And I told him "No worries. I appreciate you taking your time to do this. I just didn't hear from you and freaked out for a moment" (Understandibly so with all the scamming bs going on).

Anyway, that was the last time I heard from him. I haven't sent him a message (or him to me) until September 22. I sent him a message to see if there were any more updates, and he has left me on "seen" since then.

Keep in mind that HE came to ME first asking for work. I made sure he was "THE" Skvllified, he even had the checkmark, and I was happy to give him said work, but he let me down, and I walked away with -82 dollars, and no drawing, which is a massive bummer.

People, this is not how you do business. It makes you look bad. Make sure you communicate with your client throughout the whole process. And if you CAN'T do the job, don't be ashamed to reach out to said client, and tell them that something came up and you won't be able to finish the job.

P.S Is it too late for me to ask for a refund? Payment was made through Stripe. Is there any way I can get my money back?

Thanks for reading.