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Josef Rubinstein - Bad Commission Experience Warning!!!
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128 posts in this topic

I'm posting the below on behalf of a friend who isn't a board member, but we agreed that it was a horror story/warning that needed to be put out there as much as possible. Read on....

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I just wanted to email everyone and warn people against

commissioning Josef Rubinstein. I’m sure

that you’ve probably heard all this before, but I just wanted to put it out

there just in case there was anyone thinking about commissioning him OR if he’s

contacted anyone trying to set up a commission through CAF.

 

Back in May 2009, Josef Rubinstein contacted me through CAF saying

that he liked my gallery and really wanted to do something for it. At the time I was saving for Comic Con and so

I couldn’t afford anything and so I asked him to email me back a

few months later and we would try to arrange something. In August he emailed me again asking if I was

ready to work out the commission and once again I told him that I wasn’t ready

and to contact me again in October. Toward the end of October Josef emailed me again and I felt that his

persistence was a very positive thing and so I decided to go ahead and

commission him.

 

I gave him a few options of what I would like and he picked one

and before I even sent my payment he had drawn up a rough sketch and emailed me

a scan.

 

On November 9th, 2009, I paid him and he told me that the

painting would be finished by the end of the year, which I felt was a bit fast,

but who am I to say how he works.

 

In March 2010 I emailed Josef and asked about the status of the

commission. He emailed me back promptly

and said that he was working on inking some book and that he had to put the

commission to the side, but that once he was finished he would finish it up and

email him in a few weeks, which I felt was more than reasonable. I mean, artists, do have day jobs and commissions cannot be their top responsibility.

 

In June 2010 I emailed again asking about the status and he said

that he was working on it and it should be done soon and I should email him in

a few weeks.

 

I emailed in September and he explained that he had to go out of

town and he wasn’t able to finish it, but he would be returning soon and he

would finish it when he got back.

 

I emailed again in December…twice actually, and never got a

response to either email.

 

In January, February and March 2011 I emailed and asked for an

update and never received responses.

 

In April I contacted Spencer Beck (his art rep) and asked if he

could be assistance in getting in contact with Josef since I was not having any luck at all with contacting him, and because Spencer is awesome and helpful he said that he would try. I got a

response from Josef, after several months of silence, and he said he was working on a deadline and that he had “a color sketch to OK” and that he would be finishing the

deadline the following Monday and would finish it at that point. I did not hear from him after that.

 

Beginning in May and for the remainder of the year, I emailed him once a month asking for the

status and didn’t receive a single email back.

 

On February 16th, 2012 I emailed him, after

finding out that he had been using CAF to solicit other collectors to get

commissions from him over the past 6 months, and explained my disappointment

about all this and told him that I either wanted my money refunded or I wanted

the art by March 16th. I felt

that after waiting more than 2 years, I could wait another month. I told him that if I did not receive either a

refund or the art I would be filing a Mail Fraud report, an Internet Fraud

report and posting my experience with him on various art forums and mailing

lists.

I heard back from him within minutes of sending the

email.

 

He didn’t make any excuses and said that he would get to it and have it done by March 16th…and

asked me to remind him exactly what I had commissioned from him. This sort of irritated me simply because he

had told me that it was in progress for the past two years, when in actuality

it wasn’t. I sent him the scan he had sent me and mentioned that if he was

starting from scratch there was a little change I would like him to make if he

was willing. Once again he responded immediately

with an adjusted scan.

 

On March 14th, having not received the art or

heard from him I emailed him again asking about the status and he responded saying

that he had put down an ink wash and would be finishing it up that weekend. I asked for a scan and I did not hear from

him again.

 

Now I was giving him the benefit of the doubt thinking

that MAYBE he really was working on it and that it would arrive within the

following few weeks, but it’s been nearly two months since my deadline where he

promised me the art and it still hasn’t arrived…a full two years and six months

since the commission was arranged and paid for. He refuses to refund my payment and has not

yet sent the art...and he probably hasn't even started it based on his track record (although I would hope that I'm wrong).

 

Today I called the United States Postal Inspections

Service and filed a Mail Fraud report and the Inspector person told me that I

should also file an Internet Fraud report, a Wire Fraud report (through the

FBI) since my payment was made through Paypal and file police reports both here

and in Valencia, California where Josef lives.

 

So, over the next few days I need to gather all the

email to and from Josef in order to file the reports. I hate to do this but really he hasn’t really

left me much of a choice.

 

Really, the whole reason for me sending this email out

to the group is to warn everyone from commissioning Josef Rubinstein AND if you

have an outstanding commission from him and feel that you are in the same

situation as I am, please do something about it. I have been waiting for two and a half years

and I have tried to resolve the situation every way possible and unfortunately

it’s come to this. Please be warned

that, if you commission Josef Rubinstein, there is a really good chance you may

never get your art…or at the very least have an incredibly long wait ahead of

you.

 

If things progress I will definitely keep the group

updated.

 

Rob

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On November 9th, 2009, I paid him...

There's the problem. Don't pay for your commissions up front.

 

Artist fail. Should be ashamed to take someone's money and string him along for two years.

Of course he should! But you gotta protect yourself nonetheless.

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On November 9th, 2009, I paid him...

There's the problem. Don't pay for your commissions up front.

 

Artist fail. Should be ashamed to take someone's money and string him along for two years.

Of course he should! But you gotta protect yourself nonetheless.

 

Or pay half up front, half on completion. Either way Im exhausted from that story

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On November 9th, 2009, I paid him...

There's the problem. Don't pay for your commissions up front.

 

Artist fail. Should be ashamed to take someone's money and string him along for two years.

Of course he should! But you gotta protect yourself nonetheless.

 

Or pay half up front, half on completion. Either way Im exhausted from that story

I guess, try to pay as little as you can up front? I figure, with a story like this, if nothing had been paid up front, the buyer would be much less pissed. Instead of feeling ripped off (and justifiably so), he'd just be chuckling to himself at what a flake Rubenstein can be. Of course, had payment not been made up front, Rubenstein may well not have flaked! :shrug:

 

At any rate, I'm not trying to blame the poster. Just pointing out the obvious, cuz that's how I roll.

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On November 9th, 2009, I paid him...

There's the problem. Don't pay for your commissions up front.

 

Artist fail. Should be ashamed to take someone's money and string him along for two years.

Of course he should! But you gotta protect yourself nonetheless.

 

Or pay half up front, half on completion. Either way Im exhausted from that story

I guess, try to pay as little as you can up front? I figure, with a story like this, if nothing had been paid up front, the buyer would be much less pissed. Instead of feeling ripped off (and justifiably so), he'd just be chuckling to himself at what a flake Rubenstein can be. Of course, had payment not been made up front, Rubenstein may well not have flaked! :shrug:

 

At any rate, I'm not trying to blame the poster. Just pointing out the obvious, cuz that's how I roll.

 

Would anyone consider using a 3rd party escrow service to avoid situations like this in the future? hm

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On November 9th, 2009, I paid him...

There's the problem. Don't pay for your commissions up front.

 

Artist fail. Should be ashamed to take someone's money and string him along for two years.

Of course he should! But you gotta protect yourself nonetheless.

 

Or pay half up front, half on completion. Either way Im exhausted from that story

I guess, try to pay as little as you can up front? I figure, with a story like this, if nothing had been paid up front, the buyer would be much less pissed. Instead of feeling ripped off (and justifiably so), he'd just be chuckling to himself at what a flake Rubenstein can be. Of course, had payment not been made up front, Rubenstein may well not have flaked! :shrug:

 

At any rate, I'm not trying to blame the poster. Just pointing out the obvious, cuz that's how I roll.

 

Would anyone consider using a 3rd party escrow service to avoid situations like this in the future? hm

I've never used one. Is it expensive? How do you set up rules around definitions of completion, etc?

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I have gotten two commissions from Joe and never had a lick of problem so I am confounded by posts like this. But then again I've had problems with artists that no one else has had problems with so there you go. I'm not here to defend him or anything but I've found him to be an up-front guy who always insisted on me paying the bulk after he finished. I hit up Mr Rubinstein and copied the original post and he asked me if I would post this:

 

Can you post that I don t know exactly who he is and to write me directly to get a resolution.

 

His direct email address is jjr6658@aol.com. I hope you get a good resolution.

Edited by joel mangrum
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Well Regarding my Rubinstein killer commission purchased ( that is ... payed upfront ) I don't even remeber when ( maybe 5 years now ...maybe 6 ?)

I NEVER got it ....worse I don't get Joe's reply anymore and I do use the same direct email he lousily provided through J Mangrum .....

 

He constantly offers his commission through CAF but don't do what he owes ...

 

I thought I would leave it, forget it as my collection has gone beyond my wildest dreams so the cover recreations I asked for back then don't excite me anymore ...also since then I had the infinite pleasure to talk to Jim Starlin himself so the fanboy I am is also a lot less impressed as he was to speak to Mr Joe Rubinstein !!!

 

I felt I should allow him one last chance after speaking to my good friend YM who convinced me artists aren't the same as us non artist simple mortals and sent him an email no less than a week ago and guess what ?? NO reply !!!

 

Now to see this new and latest thread I had to speak again on this particular matter ...I know lot of things are said on the yahoo comicart group ...just joined in to learn a bit more !!!

 

So my advice is if you do commission Joe don't pay upfront ...but more important if you do you must know that doing it will prevent many good fellow collectors to get their problem fixed so in the end you will share some of the moral responsability to this huge artist crisis :preach:

 

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I have had good experiences with Joe.

 

I bought a Colon/Rubinstein collaboration from him and a Netzer/Rubinstein. Both took time (too much, but not awful) and follow-up, but he did deliver and he didn't vanish. In one case, he provided an extra because of the delay.

 

That of course does not excuse Rob's or Romain's experience. I'm just trying to point out that you should not give up hope. Keep on him.

 

I also know that he's made an effort to clean up his act, but it's very likely that he missed some people. Joe needs an assistant to keep him organized at the least.

 

Amethyst - Colon / Rubinstein - http://cafurl.com?i=16982 and http://cafurl.com?i=16992

Legion - Netzer / Rubinstein - http://cafurl.com?i=16671

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Hi,

 

I am the person that GotSuperPowers posted this message for...

 

Anyway, I do appreciate everyone's feedback ad comments.

 

Typically most artists will accept the half up front deal, which is awesome...most even suggest it, but Josef would not AND due to his persistence I assumed that he was going to follow through...since he followed through emailing me to get the job. Unfortunately I was wrong.

 

As for Joel Mangrum's response from Rubinstein...well, it's a bit frustrating since I emailed him yesterday without a response and every month for the past year. I think he's probably playing some game to deflect the blame. Nothing would surprise me at this point. I am currently compiling all the emails into pdf for the Internet fraud and police reports and I will gladly share those emails if someone would like to see them. Joel, since he responds to your emails, if you want, you can tell him it's the Sandman commission guy.

 

Really, my money is gone. I've given up on the art and honestly even if I got it at this point I sort of feel like it would be a little tainted with this whole issue since Josef has been leading me on for two and a half years. I want people to know that Josef Rubinstein does this sort of thing and I want to warn people so they can avoid him. Don't buy his art on ebay. Don't commission him. If you have outstanding commissions and are in the same position I am...file Mail Fraud and Internet Fraud and Wire Fraud (if you used Paypal) and file police reports. Show him that this business practice is not acceptable. It's not fun and I don't enjoy it. I've been collecting art for 19 years and I've never had to deal with this sort of situation and it's not pleasant, but I do not want other people to be taken advantage of and I want Josef to know that this is not acceptable.

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I'll add a few facts ..

Actually everything described by Rob is what I experienced !! The same excuses for delays, the same way of replying only to threat, the same way he asked for the funds to be able to "begin" the work and so on ...and of course he was the one who asked first since I never did any commission but was trying to get infos on Jim Starlin to get me a Starlin commission he offered me his skills !!!

I'd say there is a pattern of fraudulent activity ...

That's for all of you reading and still wondering what to think between the great commission pieces posted regularly on CAF and what we have to live with ...

 

BTW he did me the '" please remind me what was this commission about ?" as well !

 

And I'll add for my own that I didn't have any luck through Spencer Beck who prefered to judge my tone ( unfortunatly I always input my humor in my writings ..well I'm french !!! ) rather than the acts and the facts !

 

After a lot of arguing on this board I ended up with a weird offer to send me Starlin OA but it is not about the money is it ? I feel robbed and worse I feel insulted by someone I truely had respect for ....The Starlin art I want I buy and I don't expect it as a second hand opportunity I have too much respect for it !

 

Artists are what they are, can act the weirdest way or work the slowest but still they should be able to respect their commissioner if not their fans !!!

 

Joe you're more than welcome to write to me !!! :headbang:

Anytime !!!

 

 

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Keep hounding his rep for a refund - tell him about the Mail and Wire Fraud report that you filed. That should help.

 

Spencer will help if he can, but if the commission did not go through him, I don't see what hounding him will do. Heck, I don't see what responsibility he has, beyond the fact that one of his artist's reputation will be affected.

 

The analogy isn't quite right, but its like someone buying a "broken" comic direct from DC and then going to your local comic store to ask them to "fix" it even though you didn't buy it there.

 

Malvin

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Keep hounding his rep for a refund - tell him about the Mail and Wire Fraud report that you filed. That should help.

 

Spencer will help if he can, but if the commission did not go through him, I don't see what hounding him will do. Heck, I don't see what responsibility he has, beyond the fact that one of his artist's reputation will be affected.

 

The analogy isn't quite right, but its like someone buying a "broken" comic direct from DC and then going to your local comic store to ask them to "fix" it even though you didn't buy it there.

 

Malvin

 

If I'm in a business relationship with someone who is actively ripping off my potential clients, I wouldn't have a problem asking them to make things right. I definitely think it's in his best interests to help out if possible.

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I just want to say I belong to the other side of the fence.

 

I have commissioned Joe in the past and have gotten good results. His communication has been good and also his responses to my comments or requests for revisions after he sends me work-in-progress scans. These were all done in the last year with no problems:

 

Batman Inked over Frank Miller bluelines Convention Sketch

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=890570&GSub=122145

 

Flash 254 Recreation

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=890565&GSub=122143

 

X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga Commission

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=845107&GSub=129595

 

I am in no way defending him or condemning him. I am just sharing my own personal experiences which have been good.

 

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Keep hounding his rep for a refund - tell him about the Mail and Wire Fraud report that you filed. That should help.

 

Spencer will help if he can, but if the commission did not go through him, I don't see what hounding him will do. Heck, I don't see what responsibility he has, beyond the fact that one of his artist's reputation will be affected.

 

The analogy isn't quite right, but its like someone buying a "broken" comic direct from DC and then going to your local comic store to ask them to "fix" it even though you didn't buy it there.

 

Malvin

 

If I'm in a business relationship with someone who is actively ripping off my potential clients, I wouldn't have a problem asking them to make things right. I definitely think it's in his best interests to help out if possible.

 

I agree that its in his best interest to do so, especially if sales of Joe's art dry up as a result of this. However, at the end of the day, he wasn't involved in the original transaction. If you ask him he will try to help, but if you hound him, that goes too far.

 

Malvin

Edited by malvin
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