Posted on 03.9.2008 13:56 PM #

Dan
Hi Danny,

Did you have any issues with communication with fasticon? I have been trying to contact the for over a week and have had no response. Wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience. Their services look great but it's getting to the point I am wondering if they are still going.

Cheers,

Dan

Posted on 03.10.2008 17:32 PM #

Adrian | Rubiqube
I placed my order almost a month ago. I received no email for about a week, then someone finally apologized and said they would send the sketch the next day. It's been 2 more weeks since then, and no sign from them. Sure, caricatures look cool, their people skills suck.

Posted on 03.11.2008 03:43 AM #

Adrian | Rubiqube
I just sent another email yesterday. Hope I get the "mini me" after all.

Posted on 03.12.2008 09:12 AM #

Dan
Hi again,

Sort of concerned that you are having similar problems Adrian. I know of someone who placed an order about 2 weeks ago and has had nothing since, not even an acknowledgment. When they claim 2 business days turnaround I would have to agree with your point about their people skills sucking.

Cheers for the feedback both,

Dan

Posted on 03.14.2008 11:06 AM #

Phillip Butcher
People// i think this issue might be a recurring problem across the board.
I placed an order for my icon about a week ago and still have had no response.

Waiting .. waiting.. and waiting..
I have sent several follow up emails but no response.
I did not even receive feedback from fasticon.com that my payment had been received and they were working in my order. <only feedback from paypal that the payment had been sent.

Even an auto response feature would have made me fell better.

Good graphics.. good business,,, but customer service is going to kill this business.

Phillip

Posted on 03.17.2008 10:21 AM #

Dirceu Veiga
Dear Friends,

Our Caricature Service was released in January, it's extremely new and we didn't imagine that would have so much success. We have dozens of very satisfied customer that indicated our service in blogs and websites ( like Danny Douglas ) and for that reason we got overload of work.

We are making the possible to solve the delays ( hiring new artists ) and making an extra effort to maintain the cheap price.
We asked for a more little of patience in that phase, and we will do everything to compensate any frustration that the delays have caused.

My sincere apologies, and thank you for the explanation space

Thank you again.

Dirceu Veiga
www.fasticon.com

Posted on 03.18.2008 16:16 PM #

Gustavo Hernando
At least email back saying you'll send me my caricature. Ive been waiting 2 weeks also. It only takes 5 seconds to send an autoresponse.

Posted on 03.18.2008 21:52 PM #

Bob
I'm another victim. No icon. No replies to emails. The very least they could do is change their website info... they promise an icon in 2 days when it really should read 1 month. This must be a scam. Has anyone tried getting their money back?

Posted on 03.19.2008 04:48 AM #

Free icons
Nice icons, I like this style

Posted on 03.26.2008 07:01 AM #

seiho
Great! thanks

Posted on 04.30.2008 06:36 AM #

Daniel Vaughan
Me too, paid for a full face and body over a month ago and heard absolutely nothing. I just hoping he will get round to it eventually otherwise it is the pain of trying to get my money back.

Posted on 05.5.2008 12:37 PM #

John Jackson
AVOID THIS COMPANY!!

I submitted an order over a month ago and they won't respond to any emails or contact requests on their website. If anyone has a phone number contact for this company it would be appreciated. I am having trouble getting a refund as well so my advice for anyone else is to avoid this scam like the plague.

Posted on 05.9.2008 05:23 AM #

Daniel Vaughan
Well it is not a scam. I wrote a polite e-mail to the company not a "where is my picture I want my money back one" and got a response in a couple of hours. The next day I got my sketch and it looks good. I am looking forward to the final thing now. He is just stupidly busy I think.

Posted on 05.20.2008 14:35 PM #

John Jackson
I am glad that you were able to get a response. I am still trying to get my money back or my caricature. I have not gotten a single email from the company since giving them my money. I am probably going to have to fight this through Master Card now...

Posted on 06.19.2008 21:14 PM #

Adam Wallace
I'm pleased i found this post as i was being to think it was a scam. I requested mine on Jun 02 2008 and I've writing a nice email asking when i can expect my first draft but heard nothing back.

Dirceu, it's great that your service is in hot demand however your are damaging your company's reputation by not even responding to emails. You could even set up an auto responder advising that there will be an X week delay which would be better than nothing. It's all about managing expectations.

I will try another 'nice' email today and see if anything is improving.

Posted on 06.27.2008 07:22 AM #

Daniel Vaughan
I got mine and I am very please with it. It took about 2 months though.

Posted on 06.28.2008 11:48 AM #

crclee
Having the same experience here. It's now 50+ days since I was told "12 days" to design some caricatures. Almost every email I send gets no response. The guy is ignoring my requests for a refund. It cost me over $300 (CDN), so I'm getting very angry.

I understand being busy, but I agree with everyone else here that ignoring customers is not a good way to run a business. If he's got that many customers, he can probably afford to hire an administrator to handle things, no?

BTW, has anyone else checked out the designer's personal website? http://www.dirceuveiga.com.br/
I can't understand Brazilian Portuguese very well, but for someone who claims to be super busy, this guy sure spends a lot of time in cafes drawing caricatures of cute women.

Posted on 06.28.2008 18:57 PM #

anothercustomer
Another one waiting for responses from emails sent long after payment and photo sent. No response. No drawing. Nothing. Infact, the only communication available is right here on this very blog.

Maybe everyone should post to http://www.dirceuveiga.com.br/ in the comments. Maybe then we'd get a response.

Another solution would be to contact 2Checkout.com and let be aware of the situation. sales@2co.com webmaster@2co.com https://support.2co.com/deskpro/newticket.php

Posted on 06.29.2008 14:00 PM #

crclee
Update

After sending the designer several angry messages (including one to his Orkut account, which is an IM program popular in Brazil) I got a refund today. No message. No apology. No explanation. Just a refund.

It's better than nothing, of course, but I'm still very angry about the way this has been handled. And very disappointed that I couldn't get the icons. I'm doing some research now into alternative sources for caricature icons. If I find anywhere, I'll post it here. If anyone else finds a good source, please share.

Posted on 07.1.2008 10:17 AM #

crclee
Update 2

I have found an alternative site for caricature icons: http://www.caricatureking.com/

This one is based in Australia, it seems, and is a co-operative of a number of different designers rather than just one. One of the artists produces icons that are similar to the Fast Icon designer's work. The others offer more traditional caricatures and a variety of other styles. Promised delivery time is 6-12 days. The price for me was $4 per icon more expensive than the Fast Icon designer, but this is with a commercial license surcharge. If I had needed the icons just for private use, they would have been cheaper.

My first impressions are positive. I received a detailed response to my initial enquiry within 12 hours. Based on this I decided to order, and got a confirmation that my payment had been received within 2 minutes! On a negative note, the site and emails I have received all contain spelling errors, which makes me worry a little about attention to detail, but if the service continues to be this snappy, and the icons look good, who really cares?

I will update again when I have more information / when I receive the finished icons.

Posted on 07.1.2008 18:36 PM #

fasticon customer
Still no response! This is ridiculous! It's been several weeks.

I don't know whether or not to request a refund now or wait months later, like others, in hopes that my order will be processed.

Danny, what do you suggest?

Posted on 07.1.2008 18:43 PM #

Adam Wallace
I think I'm going to request a refund and go to http://www.caricatureking.com/ like crclee suggested. This artist http://www.caricatureking.com/brian-samples.php looks like they have a similar clean style.

I just hope that Dirceu Veiga doesn't make me resort to having to send multiple angry messages/comments etc before he acknowledges i exist and processes a refund. This is a great lesson in how to take a potentially good business and flush it down the toilet...

Posted on 07.1.2008 18:55 PM #

fasticon customer
On a side note:
I contacted 2Checkout to check their refund policy just to protect myself incase my order is not fulfilled. They assured me that they have a great fraud department...and they said they would contact FastIcon for me and ask FastIcon to respond. I have not heard from FastIcon yet and this was days ago. I really don't want to request a refund because I'd like my caricature, but I will if I don't hear from this guy soon (soon meaning days, NOT months!). It's aggravating! And now today I discover this guy's new website caricaturascafe.com.br! He's obviously available...just not responding to his email nor fulfilling his orders from what it seems. I've even directed him to this blog post to see our concerns. He could atleast respond to ease everyone's minds.

Contact Information For Those In Need Of A Response. GOOD LUCK!

Email Addresses:
caricatures@fasticon.com
client@fasticon.com
quotes@fasticon.com
contato@caricaturascomcafe.com.br

Phone Number:
+ 55 41 36537985

Website Addresses:
http://www.fasticon.com
http://www.caricaturascomcafe.com.br
http://www.dirceuveiga.com.br

Posted on 07.4.2008 22:25 PM #

Thank you!
Thank you everyone who took the time to post in this thread! I just recently was considering having a charactiture created. After reading all of the above, it would seem some Brazilians are just lazy.

Posted on 07.5.2008 01:03 AM #

fasticon customer
Fasticon finally contacted me and said he would have my order this week. I'll let you know when it arrives.

Posted on 07.5.2008 01:11 AM #

Adam Wallace
Yes i received a positive response as well so things could be improving. Stay tuned...

Posted on 07.5.2008 01:41 AM #

Thank you!
Thanks for the update fasticon customer and [Adam Wallace[/b]. The guy really does neat work, I'll admit. But nothing is worth wild if the service is not available. It's possible that the owner has gotten 'lazy' due to the overwhelming success. Not inclined to 'grow' with the success, perhaps relaxing after making a small fortune rather quickly.

I'd probably do the same, though I'd be more prepared for the potential 'growth' beforehand. Depending upon your future updates, I might be somewhat more inclined to actually give him some business.

Posted on 07.6.2008 13:25 PM #

fasticon customer
Just an update that I'm still waiting.

Posted on 07.7.2008 06:37 AM #

Adam Wallace
Ok happy days, my caricature turned up today and what's more Dirceu has turned around the no response into two great responses, offered a sincere apology and assures me he is working through the backlog. So i wouldn't give up on this business and he sounds like he is genuinely working hard to make good on the outstanding orders. My advice if you can wait a little longer - stay the course.

Posted on 07.7.2008 13:59 PM #

fasticon customer
I received a sketch and loved it. The guy does awesome work! It looks like he is trying hard to fill his orders. Now I am waiting on the final caricature.

Posted on 07.11.2008 02:15 AM #

Thank you!
That's good news Adam Wallace and fasticon customer- so the (current) average wait time is about one month +?

Posted on 07.11.2008 04:01 AM #

fasticon customer
I'm still waiting for the caricature. Just leaving an update here.

Posted on 07.15.2008 08:03 AM #

crclee
Update 3

I have just received my first icon from Caricature King. In total, the process took about 7 business days. I am pretty pleased with the results, and very pleased with the speed of the service. After 53 days all I had received from the FastIcon guy were many empty promises and one set of very bad sketches that looked as if he had done them in about 5 minutes.

On a negative note, anyone who needs caricature icons for commercial reasons should make that abundantly clear if contacting Caricature King. They have several levels of policy on commercial usage and do not make this clear anywhere on the site.

Posted on 07.17.2008 05:43 AM #

fasticon customer
I'm still waiting for the files.

Posted on 07.22.2008 02:30 AM #

Thank you
fasticon customer, are you still waiting? crclee, your caricature looks nice! It has a 3D look.

Posted on 08.22.2008 18:57 PM #

Matt - Caricature King
re the comment on Caricature King and commercial use attracting a higher fee. There is a statement on the <a href="www.caricatureking.com/...estions.php">FAQ page</a> that says an additional charge may apply. This depends on circumstances.

Posted on 09.24.2008 12:51 PM #

Adam Hegedus
well.. i guess they're not through the backlog yet... I ordered about a week ago, and have emailed questions 3 times with no response. Kind of annoying, but I'm still excited to get my caricature...

A

Posted on 11.1.2008 03:53 AM #

Joseph DeCarlo
I am glad to have found this post. I sent my order in on Oct 18, 2008 and, like many others, have received zero responses to my several emails. I really like the quality from this place and am pleased to hear that some of you, who have stayed the course, did eventually receive your caricature. One concern that I have is that none of you seem to mention the site I went to: http://caricatureicons.com, but it seems to be the same person. I hope I didn't find a site that is leveraging the non-responsiveness and spawned a truly fraudulent site.

I will definitely update this thread as it has been beneficial for me to read other people's updates.

Joe

Posted on 11.2.2008 12:08 PM #

Paul Montgomery
I ordered a face icon over two months ago. There was no correspondence from their end, not even a notification of payment.

I emailed several times asking if they still planned on fulfilling my order, still no response. I then called 2CO, the company that handles the credit card processing for caricatureicon.

Normal procedure to get your money back is as follows:

1. Call 2 Check Out at Customer Service:
1-877-294-0273 toll-free in U.S. & Canada
1-614-921-2450 international callers
0871-871-8283 local from UK & Northern Ireland

2. They'll need to send caricatureicons two emails. One will request some sort of response that acknowledges their lack of communication. Once they don't respond to that they will send another email requesting a refund. Once that is ignored, they will issue a refund. Each email is allowed 48 hours for a response.

This guy is taking money and not communicating at all with his paying customers. I doubt I would've ever received my icon.

Posted on 11.20.2008 09:23 AM #

Site ekle
t looks like he is trying hard to fill his orders.

Posted on 11.20.2008 10:11 AM #

Oyun indir
It's possible that the owner has gotten 'lazy' due to the overwhelming success.

Posted on 11.22.2008 19:42 PM #

Oyun download
There was no correspondence from their end, not even a notification of payment.

Posted on 11.22.2008 19:43 PM #

Program download
The guy does awesome work! It looks like he is trying hard to fill his orders. Now I am waiting on the final caricature

Posted on 11.22.2008 20:51 PM #

Seo Teknikleri
I emailed several times asking if they still planned on fulfilling my order, still no response. I then called 2CO, the company that handles the credit card processing for caricatureicon.