On Saturday, February 15th, 2014, at an anime convention called Katsucon at the Gaylord National Harbor in National Harbor, MD, I went over to Artist Alley and requested that an artist do a commission for me. The artist in question, Lisha Lee, accepted my request, but asked that I pay her in advance. I then gave her the amount of money for the commission, as well as my e-mail address and cell phone number if she needed to contact me.
Once the convention ended, I waited to be contacted by Lisha Lee, either by phone or e-mail, notifying me once the commission was completed. One month later, I heard nothing from her, so I sent her an e-mail, asking about the whereabouts of my commission. She sent a reply that same day (March 19th), informing me that she was busy with schoolwork and finals, and that it would be done over the weekend. Fair enough, so I sent a reply and waited for the completed commission to be mailed my way. Three months and six attempts to contact her later, I finally got a reply from her on June 15th, informing me that she was studying overseas and would not be able to complete the commission until she got home. Again, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but two months and five attempts to contact her later, I started having my doubts. The last reply I got from her said that she was up in Canada with no Wi-Fi, and would work on my commission once she got home. Seven months and eight attempts to contact her later, I still haven't received a single reply, let alone any messages notifying me of her progress on my commission.
I have reason to suspect Lisha Lee is still active on the Internet. Despite the fact that her Deviantart account hasn't been updated in more than two years, her Tumblr account was updated last week. Until I hear back from her (which I increasingly doubt will happen), I am out a fairly sizable amount of money and still have no commission to show for it. On top of that, outside of her Tumblr and LinkedIn accounts, I have no other leads to go on. Thus, I have no choice but to warn anyone who does business with her not to trust her and take their money elsewhere.