UNBOXING of Mertailor Silicone Tail

You're a kind soul to try to give him a second chance, but he completely betrayed your faith and offered you the worst customer service I have EVER heard of! I can understand that there is a certain margin of error when it comes to art/artistic license, but for you to tell him that he put the wrong model dorsal fin on and he flipped the design, and for him to respond that he WILL NOT fix it (not cannot, because he can, he just won't) is absolutely unacceptable. Unacceptable.

You should really make this official and make is a Better Business Bureau complaint.
http://www.bbb.org/central-florida/b...er-fl-90007136

I've shared this on my Facebook wall, hoping others will learn from this experience. I hope you can find some kind of financial recourse. You paid (very handsomely) for a product that you did not receive. Too many errors for that kind of money. I really hope you report him or something!

I agree 100%. If I'm shelling out a ton of money for a dream tail, it doesn't need to be OMG SO PERFECT THE ANGELS SHINE ON IT, but I would at least hope the colour scheme, style of fins, and general patterning was correct. It's your DREAM tail for a reason; when you get it, it's supposed to be what you envisioned.

I just saw your tail on Ebay, was figuring it was something like this why it was being sold new.

It's a beautiful tail, I really admire it, but it's not what you ordered.

That would be like ordering a burger at a restaurant and getting a cheeseburger pizza... I wouldn't just say the chef has "artistic license", I'd say that's not what I ordered.

Well, hopefully someone who wants a (actually pretty, but not what you wanted) tail without the wait will buy it from you on Ebay...

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Originally Posted by Mermaid Myu

You're a kind soul to try to give him a second chance, but he completely betrayed your faith and offered you the worst customer service I have EVER heard of! I can understand that there is a certain margin of error when it comes to art/artistic license, but for you to tell him that he put the wrong model dorsal fin on and he flipped the design, and for him to respond that he WILL NOT fix it (not cannot, because he can, he just won't) is absolutely unacceptable. Unacceptable.

You should really make this official and make is a Better Business Bureau complaint.
http://www.bbb.org/central-florida/b...er-fl-90007136

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I agree to 100%.

That's so unfortunate that you weren't able to get the tail of your dreams. I remember back when I was little, maybe around 11, I found the mertailor and I've seen him grow from making fabric and spandex, to neoprene then to silicone, but I've noticed he only seems to give his best foot forward when it's a tail for promotion, for celebrities, or for extremely well-known mers such as Mermaid Melissa. I do hope things get better from here on out for you.

You might want to talk with Oceana and see how she was able to get a full refund from him since her tail was not what she ordered.

Really?

When my mertailor tail came, and was basically falling apart, too big, too short, and the paint was flaking off I told him I was going to talk to a lawyer over it to see what I could do. Within minutes I had a full refund. Though if you are going to tell him that you will be talking to a lawyer, actually do it. Because empty threats of legal action I beleive is considered illegal.

Wow it's a shame that you didn't get exactly what you wanted. That sucks and I feel for you. :/ I can't imagine having my dream tail not turn out exactly how I want): Id want every detail to be perfect!!

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Originally Posted by Krystal Patrick

Anyone interested in trading tails---I'm open to offers!!

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Sweetheart, If i had a tail of equal or greater value i would definitely trade with you just so you could have something you actually want and like.
I'm sorry you had to go through this.

Everyone, check Eric's latest post on Facebook. He's bashing Krystal publicly. :(

oh wow I just read Mr Ducharme is giving his side of the story.:
"Good morning facebook! I have been sleeping on something and thinking about it quite some time. I was just not sure how defend my company or myself publicly but it has to be done and many of my facts were finally confirmed. This may be petty but my voice needs to be heard. There is too much negativity spreading on the Internet about this situation and it needs to be put to rest. PLEASE NOTE: I would typically not do this, but untruthful statements need to be corrected for the better!

Recently I created a custom silicone mermaid tail for a young woman who I ended up giving a very generous discount for due to her sob story. She wanted a full silicone mermaid tail with extra fins but could not afford the entire price of the tail. Because I wanted to be a nice guy, I decided to discount the entire tail for her. The original price of the mermaid tail was approximately $3,500.00 and the sale price was approximately $1,900.00.

The design and color concept was chosen at the very beginning of the purchase in May 2013. When I attempted to run the credit card payment when the order was received, it was declined. I tried running a few more times and still declined. Evidently the customer was having complications with her credit card. I ended up having to take small payments over the course of a short period of time. Keep in mind that I do not accept payments. Payment is required in full before I begin working on any products. Final payment was made on May 17th 2013.

From the very beginning of my correspondence with the customer, I felt I was nothing but respectful and understanding with her. I kept her updated with the mermaid tail’s production to the best of my abilities and replied to her Email correspondence within a timely fashion every time.

I had sent the customer a few photos when the tail was completely assembled and put together before it was going to be painted. I wanted to make completely sure that the customer liked the tail and placement of the extra fins. It turns out the customer was extremely happy as she had reposted the photos on her facebook page stating how excited she was and that all that needed to be completed was the paint job.

When I received was I thought was the clear I began confirming the paint job and color concepts with the customer. She confirmed what she was looking for and told me to use the colors as follows: Black, Yellow, and White. Maybe some orange and pink and a few other colors deepening on which way I decided to go with the design. The design the customer wanted me to replicate could have come out looking like a cow. She stated she wanted to make sure I did not make her look like a cow and that I needed to make sure to do what I did with paint jobs and make it special. Each artistic has their particular style. That is what makes each artist unique. The customer knew from the beginning when she purchased the tail from me that I was going to put a twist on the design to fit my artistic style.

The customer could not settle on one specific color concept and I told her she needed to send me ONE color sketch of EXACTLY what she wanted me to recreate to the best of my abilities. So she finally ended up sending me a color concept from that she had another tail maker create for her. I was a little skeptical about replicating a tail that another tail maker had originally designed for her. She assured me that it would be ok since the design was made specifically for her. I told her that it was not going to look exactly what she sent to me. I was going to put a little twist on it to make it a little more differently. Nothing major, just making it my own work. The customer specifically told me to do what would look best. It was up to me to decide how to arrange any additional colors to make it look good.


I spent one week painting this customer’s mermaid tail. I rarely spend that long painting a tail, but I did this to make sure I took my time and focused on the small details.

From the beginning the customer wanted me to use iridescent and pearly colors. Thankfully the color concept she sent to me had a purple, blue, and, silver, and white iridescent look to the fluke. I used these colors in the fluke (as it showed in the drawing) and throughout the extra fins on the tail as I thought it would look best.

I posted photos of the tail being painted on my facebook page as well as sending the progress photos to the customer. She liked it. She never said she didn’t like it. All she asked was if I was going to add more color to certain areas. I explained to her that I was completed with the design. I had worked on this enough and I thought it would be in the customer’s best interest not to add any more colors, as it would not work well with the design. I know from experience putting the type of color and placing the color where she wanted would not look good and would asked to be removed. She was mainly concerned about the iridescent blue and purple on the tail. She said she did not want or approve on those colors. However, those colors were located Cleary on the final color concept she sent to me. So I painted the tail to resemble the final color concept she sent to me.

After denying the customers alterations after I was completed with the paint job, she took the liberty of spamming my facebook page with posting the same comment. Something along the lines of “This is not what I ordered. This is unacceptable. I do not approve of this. This needs to be changed”. At this point I was very aggravated. I spend the last 13 weeks creating this mermaid tail and spent a week painting it. Not to forget the very hefty discount that I had given to the customer.

Once the customer accepted the fact that I was not altering the paint job, she threatened the idea of selling the tail on Ebay before she even received the tail. I told her I would rather her sell the tail on Ebay to someone who would appreciate the tail for what it was. I thought it was extremely questionable that she had already thought about selling the tail on Ebay before she even got to see the tail in person.

Before the customer received the tail, within a short time she started to post comments and form the beginnings or a review on a Mermaid Forum, which in no time formed into a huge drama fest. The customer started to tell lies and untruthful statements about the mermaid tail and ordering process. The customer stated a few things that were not correct with the tail. She did not approve of the color design. She said the tail was made to the wrong measurements (without trying it on first). She stated the fins were not correct (she saw and approved the placement and style of the fins when I sent the first assembly photo for her to approve weeks back). She stated that I was nothing but rude and ungrateful to her (generous discount of nearly 50% off and nothing but understanding throughout the ordering process). She said that tail was 6 (six) months over due (the tail was created within 14 weeks and knew it would take that long). She claimed the dorsal fin was not the one she chose (It was the dorsal fin she chose because that is ALL SHE COULD AFFORD). She stated the hip fins on the side of the tail were not what she wanted (She approved the original photo of the tail assembly with the placement of the fins).

I had seen all of the customer’s comments and post. I was extremely hurt. Most of what she said was untruthful. She even got a “friend” who was a member on the Mermaid Forum involved who continued to flare the customer’s untruthful statements. At this point it was nothing but drama.

I was over it. I wanted to send the tail out to the customer immediately. I shipped out the tail UPS Ground. The customer expected me to pay for overnight shipping, which she did not pay for. She even had the audacity to contact me to ask if I would send her a FREE matching scale top and a DISCOUNTED smaller version of the tail for her new born baby. I told her no, absolutely not!

So I sent out the tail UPS Ground as originally planned. When the tail was finally received, the customer created a “Review Video” on Youtube. This was not an honest review. It was a video with nothing but untruthful statements and comments. The drama continued and the customer had gotten many people to believe her false statements. Many of the untruthful statements she made had already been posted on the Mermaid Forum and on my facebook page.

When the tail was received the customer admitted to trying on the tail, letting me know if fit correctly. After this Email message I found out that she had listed the mermaid tail on Ebay for the starting auction price of $2,000.00 or a “Buy Now” price of $2,700.00. I could not believe what I was seeing!

I had exchanged a few last Emails with the customer. I let her know how I felt and I let her know I thought this was a setup from the very beginning. She did not respond.

According to some of her friends who had recently contacted me for my side of the story state that she has done this before. She has purchased a mermaid tail from at least two other companies, slandered their name, and resold the tail for twice as much as she originally paid for it.

This woman is a liar. She is ungrateful. She is a very miserable person who I feel very sorry for. I will never undersell myself for a customer, never again. None of you have to believe me, but I know what I did was right. I am not the one that has to go to bed every night knowing I told lies to make myself feel like a better person.

Thank you for hearing my side of the story!"
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:thinks: hmmmm...

WOW.
Now I'm really confused.

me too. To me it looks like the original design....

So confused right now. A couple of the details are vastly different, or omitted, in both sides of the story....

Well fuck.

It looks like the design, but isn't that a merbella template?

It's a gorgeous tail either way.

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what she wanted me to recreate to the best of my abilities. So she finally ended up sending me a color concept from that she had another tail maker create for her. I was a little skeptical about replicating a tail that another tail maker had originally designed for her. She assured me that it would be ok since the design was made specifically for her.

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He admits it was a design from another tailmaker who made the design for her. So maybe its a merbella template but by the sender, not Recreated by mertailor.

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Originally Posted by A French Merman

Everyone, check Eric's latest post on Facebook. He's bashing Krystal publicly. :(

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"Bashing" and presenting FACTS and EVIDENCE are not the same thing.... :/

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Originally Posted by Mermaid Melusinah

"Bashing" and presenting FACTS and EVIDENCE are not the same thing.... :/

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You might be right. I apologize for the wrong choice of word. :$