I found this artist after my boyfriend sent me one of her TikToks advertising $100 car engravings in LA. I reached out asking if she'd be interested in doing a Japanese-style dragon across my rear window. She was super enthusiastic, saying she'd been wanting to create a piece like that for her portfolio, and offered to do it for $100. We finalized the design, scheduled a two-day appointment, and I sent the required 50% deposit.
Unfortunately, things went downhill on the day of the appointment. After many delays, her assistant ended up letting us into the building, it was very cool in there.
We left the keys with him and told him we would be back later .After waiting most of the day (about 9 hours), I came back to find that my car hadn't even been started because she had taken on a walk-in client during the time I'd reserved. She apologized, explaining she needed the money, and while I understood, it was frustrating since I'd booked in advance, paid a deposit, and planned my entire day around the appointment. I ended up taking the train home because I could no longer drive my car back that evening.
Rain delayed the second day, so we agreed to reschedule. I picked up my car and absolutely loved what she had completed, and she even told me a scouting agency had stopped to photograph it. She thanked me for the opportunity, and even called us friends. We scheduled the final session for the following Friday. She also posted my car all over her social media, even used it as her profile picture, used it for a contest, and I even voted for her.
When Friday came, she never showed up. She stopped responding to my texts and calls entirely. I reached out multiple times, even offering to come to her instead if that was easier. She had previously told me the final session would be free, so I also let her know I had always planned to tip her generously if payment was the concern. I never received any explanation.
To this day, the piece remains unfinished, and I've been completely ghosted, even though she continues to promote photos of my car online. That's the part that hurts the most. The work she did was genuinely talented, but reliability and communication matter just as much. I wish she had simply told me if something had changed instead of disappearing, because I would have understood. read more