The MerNation Thread

Its easy to reply to every email when you don't have many orders... Not everything is a big contest.

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Originally Posted by AniaR

Its easy to reply to every email when you don't have many orders... Not everything is a big contest.

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Just because they answer all emails quickly doesn't mean it's because they have no customers. They have 3 people working and it's easy for them to have 1 person stop and take time to answer emails and speak with customers while the other 2 continue working. That's another reason why they finish so fast. Not all their customers post reviews or have pictures plastered on the internet. I know several who haven't made themselves known out there in the social media world who have tails by them and love them. Just because they're not all over YouTube or Facebook doesn't mean they don't exist. Some choose to stay under the radar and have just bought the tail for their own personal enjoyment not entertainment of others. I'm only defending them as much as others defend other tail makers. They do wonderful work and deserve to be treated as such. It's amazing how when anyone talks about getting finfolk tails or merbellas tails not one person says a negative thing about them but instead that person considering that tail maker gets congratulated and welcomed. I shared my personal experience and opinions about them to someone who is considering them to encourage her decision and I get attacked for encouraging someone all because it's mernation. If I said the same thing about finfolk or merbellas to someone considering them I would have had people backing me up and saying I was right and they are awesome yada yada but since it's mernation we speak of that doesn't happen. It's best to just leave it alone. If someone considers mernation there's nothing wrong with that and there's nothing wrong with someone else encouraging that decision. They aren't doing people like what mertailor did or fishbutts did so there's no reason why they shouldn't be supported.

Where were you attacked? Providing other opinions isn't an attacking and I don't recall that happening. You are very defensive of them as a tailmaker and I don't really understand why. Most people here like MerNation, there have been a few issues along the way but I don't have a problem with them and from the extent of my knowledge most people don't mind either.

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Originally Posted by MerEmma

Where were you attacked? Providing other opinions isn't an attacking and I don't recall that happening. You are very defensive of them as a tailmaker and I don't really understand why. Most people here like MerNation, there have been a few issues along the way but I don't have a problem with them and from the extent of my knowledge most people don't mind either.

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I always seem to feel like I'm backed into a corner when I speak of them or show support. Nobody can simply say "yeah they are a great company or that's awesome" people always come at me with something negative about them like "they have no customers or thicker comes with problems or whatever"

All I did was simply try to provide facts, backing this up with as much proof as I could find and put one personal opinion at the end. I also provided many point FOR Mernation, putting them up comparatively to other tail makers even agreeing that they were the best tail makers in terms of customer service. I was just trying to provide Princess Pearl with a lot of unbiased facts that mainly compared Mernation to other tail makers since this is their thread. ALL Tail making companies have flaws, pointing them out is not a crime, no one is perfect. I never intended for you to feel personally attacked and whilst I don't feel like I did if this is the way I made you feel then I'm sorry.

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Originally Posted by SeaVixen

I always seem to feel like I'm backed into a corner when I speak of them or show support. Nobody can simply say "yeah they are a great company or that's awesome" people always come at me with something negative about them like "they have no customers or thicker comes with problems or whatever"

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Being unbiased doesn't mean bashing necessarily. There's nothing wrong with showing support! I think they're a great company, but that doesn't defeat the farce that has happened so far. It just comes off really strong with the way you post about them and you haven't even received a tail from them. I understand what you mean about how MerNation's "faults" seem to come up more often than MerBellas' and FinFolk.

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Originally Posted by Mermaid Selene

All I did was simply try to provide facts, backing this up with as much proof as I could find and put one personal opinion at the end. I also provided many point FOR Mernation, putting them up comparatively to other tail makers even agreeing that they were the best tail makers in terms of customer service. I was just trying to provide Princess Pearl with a lot of unbiased facts that mainly compared Mernation to other tail makers since this is their thread. ALL Tail making companies have flaws, pointing them out is not a crime, no one is perfect. I never intended for you to feel personally attacked and whilst I don't feel like I did if this is the way I made you feel then I'm sorry.

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It wasn't necessarily you selene. Thank you for the apology though. This is mernations thread and that's why I'm on here because I support them and this was made to give them kudos. I'm not going to merbellas or Finfolks threads and telling anyone there to go with mernation. If I was choosing to buy from finfolk or merbellas I would be on their thread and encouraging whoever to buy from them but I'm going with mernation so I'm on mernations thread encouraging people here. I'm staying in the appropriate thread. I just shared the price difference based on my tail which is pretty blinged out and not basic.

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Originally Posted by MerEmma

Being unbiased doesn't mean bashing necessarily. There's nothing wrong with showing support! I think they're a great company, but that doesn't defeat the farce that has happened so far. It just comes off really strong with the way you post about them and you haven't even received a tail from them. I understand what you mean about how MerNation's "faults" seem to come up more often than MerBellas' and FinFolk.

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I didn't mean for this to be a price war. I was basically comparing strength of the tail (thicker silicone and reinforced seams) and quick replies and customer service. Then I get pushed back with they have very little customers which is so not true and thicker silicone comes with its own set of issues and no one has had a mernation tail long enough or not enough hours in a tail. What about mermaid cydney who was their first customer over a year ago who swims in the ocean and other environments other than aquariums or the Denver mermaids who has more hours than most in those tails. They have several shows a day everyday and yet they've told me they love theirs and never had a problem. From actual customers the positive out weighs the negative. I feel confident in my choice to go with them. I was also only comparing to makers I actually considered buying from. My top three were mernation, finfolk, and merbellas. I have good reason to not mention mertailor and mermaid creations isn't my style. But anytime someone mentions they are considering mernation or thinking about going with mernation I back them up on that decision. Just because I don't have a tail personally yet doesn't mean I don't have information. I am friends with many mernation tail owners and they tell me what they think about quality and also from what I observe in videos. The customer service is my experience because I've been speaking with them since March quite often.

I think Raina was just trying to offer her side of the story since she's experienced both a super thin tail and a pretty thick tail. Like I said, I'm all about MerNation. WavyMermaidy has a gorgeous tail by them (and I STILL haven't gone swimming with her yet! We live like 20 minutes away from each other??).

It can just be difficult to really provide facts or information without a tail quite in hand yet, I feel. You just come off kind of persistent and it seems a little off putting that way, but I totally understand where you're coming from.

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Originally Posted by MerEmma

I think Raina was just trying to offer her side of the story since she's experienced both a super thin tail and a pretty thick tail. Like I said, I'm all about MerNation. WavyMermaidy has a gorgeous tail by them (and I STILL haven't gone swimming with her yet! We live like 20 minutes away from each other??).

It can just be difficult to really provide facts or information without a tail quite in hand yet, I feel. You just come off kind of persistent and it seems a little off putting that way, but I totally understand where you're coming from.

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Lucky!!! Wish I lived close to someone I could swim with. No one lives near me. Kinda in the middle of no where lol. Maybe I will when I move near Galveston Texas. Not a whole lot to pick from as far as swimming meet up spots either here

Yeah one sentence doesn't require a great big defensive paragraph. You keep making a lot of assumptions and just being defensive off the bat. In finfolk and merbellas people do compare tails. Because people talk about their own experiences with their own tails and how they apply to the thread. Compared to the other tail makers who have months long wait lists before you can even pay, they do have little customers. Even Jesse had such a wait list he had to stop taking orders. It's not an insult, it's context. You're suggesting they're better than others because they're answering emails and communicating, but all tail makers who do well and last a while eventually get to a point where they have more clients and can't instantly answer people. it doesnt mean a tail maker is good or bad one way the or the other. It's just unfair of you to compare them to tail makers in a positive or negative way who have been around much longer and have had tails going longer. I think in a year, after people have used their tails a while, and mernation builds up more of a client base, there will be a more accurate example of what they're capable of.

In the tail making world everyone starts out the same. People don't have as many clients so they can bend over backwards to make the tails perfect. They can charge less. But over time, more clients, it becomes more work, there's the pressure to improve, and material costs go up. EVERYONE starts off all bright eyed scaley tailed, and then the rubber hits the road so to speak as things pick up. If you're going to go on and on about a company you have yet to get a tail from and keep comparing them to all the existing people, I am going to point out the context that hey, it's not like they're working the same work load, the same conditions, juggling the same amount of clients, or putting out the same type of materials.
You basically took one person's comment of "I wasn't sure, but now I am!" and turned into paragraphs and paragraphs of defending. It also bothered me the suggestion that other tail makers are doing it all for money. Raven does more free upgrades, free exchanged, and refunds while there's been a very public issue with mernation not doing that for a client. I don't think it needed to be said that they do it for the love and suggest others don't because they charge more. They deserve to charge for the amount of work, time, energy, and materials they put into their product. I love the community a hell of a lot, I demonstrate it all the time with all the free hard work I put in. But I'm sure as hell gonna charge for my book and workshops because I deserve to be paid for my skill and knowledge. Tail makers are no different.

I *own* a mermaid creations tail, and I'm pretty open about the struggles I've had with that being thick so I think it's worth people considering. I also am really candid about my experience having a tail cast thinner which is also something I don't recommend to people based on my experience. Tails are one of those things, people want to sway to an extreme but in reality it requires a balance to get the best use out of it. Raven's tails and Jesse's tails both have their fault. I don't argue that it takes Raven forever and she doesn't talk enough, or defend that Jesse still uses permawet and desnt glue the fluke down. Every different tail maker has their pros and cons for why you should go with them. I just think there needs to be a bit more time and a bit more product before people can comment in the manner you're trying to, about mernation. At least wait til you get your tail and use it.

For the record, as I already said, I think it's great they're making reinforcement upgrades. I think more people want middle ground tail prices too- so that's great. Too many price gaps from somewhere in the 100's to all of a sudden 2000+ we need more middle ground priced tails. Mernation DESERVES to make money and not just break even. It's meant to be more than a hobby, it is a job. There's NOTHING wrong with doing something you love and making money at it. I mean, by that line of thinking mermaids should charge less for our services because we love doing what we do or making kids happy. See what I'm trying to say there?

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Originally Posted by AniaR

Yeah one sentence doesn't require a great big defensive paragraph. You keep making a lot of assumptions and just being defensive off the bat. In finfolk and merbellas people do compare tails. Because people talk about their own experiences with their own tails and how they apply to the thread. Compared to the other tail makers who have months long wait lists before you can even pay, they do have little customers. Even Jesse had such a wait list he had to stop taking orders. It's not an insult, it's context. You're suggesting they're better than others because they're answering emails and communicating, but all tail makers who do well and last a while eventually get to a point where they have more clients and can't instantly answer people. it doesnt mean a tail maker is good or bad one way the or the other. It's just unfair of you to compare them to tail makers in a positive or negative way who have been around much longer and have had tails going longer. I think in a year, after people have used their tails a while, and mernation builds up more of a client base, there will be a more accurate example of what they're capable of.

In the tail making world everyone starts out the same. People don't have as many clients so they can bend over backwards to make the tails perfect. They can charge less. But over time, more clients, it becomes more work, there's the pressure to improve, and material costs go up. EVERYONE starts off all bright eyed scaley tailed, and then the rubber hits the road so to speak as things pick up. If you're going to go on and on about a company you have yet to get a tail from and keep comparing them to all the existing people, I am going to point out the context that hey, it's not like they're working the same work load, the same conditions, juggling the same amount of clients, or putting out the same type of materials.
You basically took one person's comment of "I wasn't sure, but now I am!" and turned into paragraphs and paragraphs of defending. It also bothered me the suggestion that other tail makers are doing it all for money. Raven does more free upgrades, free exchanged, and refunds while there's been a very public issue with mernation not doing that for a client. I don't think it needed to be said that they do it for the love and suggest others don't because they charge more. They deserve to charge for the amount of work, time, energy, and materials they put into their product. I love the community a hell of a lot, I demonstrate it all the time with all the free hard work I put in. But I'm sure as hell gonna charge for my book and workshops because I deserve to be paid for my skill and knowledge. Tail makers are no different.

I *own* a mermaid creations tail, and I'm pretty open about the struggles I've had with that being thick so I think it's worth people considering. I also am really candid about my experience having a tail cast thinner which is also something I don't recommend to people based on my experience. Tails are one of those things, people want to sway to an extreme but in reality it requires a balance to get the best use out of it. Raven's tails and Jesse's tails both have their fault. I don't argue that it takes Raven forever and she doesn't talk enough, or defend that Jesse still uses permawet and desnt glue the fluke down. Every different tail maker has their pros and cons for why you should go with them. I just think there needs to be a bit more time and a bit more product before people can comment in the manner you're trying to, about mernation. At least wait til you get your tail and use it.

For the record, as I already said, I think it's great they're making reinforcement upgrades. I think more people want middle ground tail prices too- so that's great. Too many price gaps from somewhere in the 100's to all of a sudden 2000+ we need more middle ground priced tails. Mernation DESERVES to make money and not just break even. It's meant to be more than a hobby, it is a job. There's NOTHING wrong with doing something you love and making money at it. I mean, by that line of thinking mermaids should charge less for our services because we love doing what we do or making kids happy. See what I'm trying to say there?

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I think what they are trying to do is make it affordable to those who can't afford to pay 3000+. They make their tails in a few weeks rather than 7 to 8 months so they don't have to have a wait list. They are able to keep up with their clients. They've been making silicone tails for over a year and a half now. February 2013 was their first announcement of silicone tails. They have enough clients that they stay constantly busy and rarely seem to get any down time.

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Originally Posted by LittleBlue222

seavixen: do you have a pic of the design you are going with or are you going to wait until it's done for the reveal? ^___^

(hey, another Texas Mer going for mernation ^^ that makes 4 I know ^^ including myself :) I have requested a very custom fluke and they didn't hesitate to come up with a reasonable estimate and compliments ///^^/// they are such a delight to chat with. I'll hopefully be ordering from them around january/feburary <3 )

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Hey blue! I'm actually ordering in December so you'll possibly be after me yay!!! I do have the design done and on paper but I was going to wait for the reveal once it's in production. I have a fb page and I was going to share updates there (the page is unpublished right now but it will be published again when I order) and I have an instagram just search SeaVixen you should find me. I also will have a YouTube going if I'm brave enough to do an unboxing video since I am the camera shy type. That's so exciting that you're going with them as well and yes they are an absolute delight! I'm super excited for you!!!! :D I had no idea there were several Texas mernation mers! Where are their locations in texas. I'm in the south about an hour and a half from corpus. I'm moving in a few years near Galveston in lake jackson so not far from the beach.

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Originally Posted by SeaVixen

Hey blue! I'm actually ordering in December so you'll possibly be after me yay!!! I do have the design done and on paper but I was going to wait for the reveal once it's in production. I have a fb page and I was going to share updates there (the page is unpublished right now but it will be published again when I order) and I have an instagram just search SeaVixen you should find me. I also will have a YouTube going if I'm brave enough to do an unboxing video since I am the camera shy type. That's so exciting that you're going with them as well and yes they are an absolute delight! I'm super excited for you!!!! :D I had no idea there were several Texas mernation mers! Where are their locations in texas. I'm in the south about an hour and a half from corpus. I'm moving in a few years near Galveston in lake jackson so not far from the beach.

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Edit: it's Mermaid _ SeaVixen for instagram

I have a Mernation fabric tail and I'm about to talk with them about a custom top. Also...Texas Mer here!

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Originally Posted by Aurelia

I have a Mernation fabric tail and I'm about to talk with them about a custom top. Also...Texas Mer here!

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Awesome!

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Originally Posted by LittleBlue222

the other two Texas mers I know considering MerNation are Lotus_blooming and I believe Andariele ^^ although I am not sure if they want me giving away their location so if they want they can just pop in and tell you themselves ^__^ I live in the arlington area ^_^ I also have the same plan to keep my design to myself until it's in production ^^ in fact Lotus_blooming was the one whom drew it for me because I lack artistic ability. I am very excited :)

I'll keep an eye out for your facebook and youtube, don't have an instagram though.

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Dang everybody is in the Dallas area while I'm stuck 6 hours away. I've been to Dallas twice in my almost 25 years of life. I went to south fork ranch once several years ago and then was stranded at the airport during a layover to San Antonio the other time. When I move to lake jackson I'll still be a good 4 1/2 hours away. I was hoping some were in the Houston area since I'll be 45 minutes from there and we could have meet ups at mammoth lake or something.

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Originally Posted by LittleBlue222

aw, I'm sorry :/ yea, I just got lucky to have a couple of mers near by. Ya never know though, maybe meet ups could happen at half way points or whatever ^^ although that kind of discussion would belong in a texas pod thread ^_^

so, back on track, I sent Mernation an email last night (late last night) and am hoping to hear from them soon :) I haven't talked to them in a few months, since I have been busy saving, so I am very eager to hear from them once again :D

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I've been talking to them on Facebook! I can't wait to get to send the official I'm Ready message. They send me messages occasionally. They are very good about keeping in touch and remembering you! Been talking with them off and on since March and they've been a delight to speak to and they were more than happy to speak to me and send me templates even though it was going to be 9 months before I could order. I'll actually have the money a week from tomorrow but I'm losing weight right now and need another month to get where I wanna be before doing my duct tape dummy. I'm just a few inches away from my goal. I'm not as concerned with weight just the inches. I definitely know the feeling you're having. I can't wait to see your design! I met a lady on instagram who's from Spain who recently got a tail like a few weeks ago. She loves hers but she's very secretive about it. She only has like 3 or 4 pix of it on her instagram. Her account is mainly nail art. Haven't seen her in it yet but I think she's camera shy

I'm in Cypress, near Houston.

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Originally Posted by Aurelia

I'm in Cypress, near Houston.

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Sweet you will only be 1 1/2 hours from where I'll be moving to. Rosenberg will be about the halfway point. I'll be about an hour from Galveston too. Surfside beach will be like 20 minutes or so away from me over by Freeport. Mammoth lake is that large man made diving lake in lake jackson too. Right now I'm stuck in Victoria for the next 2 years at least then I'll be in lake jackson.