Mertailor

[MermaidNami]

Situation:
I was offered a gig at the Michigan Renaissance Festival as a Guest Mermaid, and needed a realistic tail quick. I have always admired Erics work, and knew he rented full silicone tails. I knew I didnt have enough time to order a custom tail, so I figured I would rent one. little did I know that Eric sold lightly used silicone tails at discount
I currently own a used full silicone tail. I emailed Eric and he gave me my options of tails that were within my color preference and size range, I just feel in love with this one

Communication
When I initially contacted Eric, he was prompt to respond and incredibly helpful. he provided photos and often replied within minutes of receiving my emails. There was a slight problem with payment (it was initially declined by my bank as a suspected fraud purchase) and he called me immidiately to let me know about the issue. Similarly, he was happy to provide information and advice about which lubricant to use, cleaning advice and repair tips.


Shipping
I needed the tail immidiately, and Mertailor was happy to overnight the tail to me. He provided a picture of the box with the shipment sticker and sent me the link to the UPS site with a tracking number so that I could track the package. When I recieved the tail it was in an enormous box filled with packing peanuts. the tail was wrapped in plastic and in perfect condition. Eric provides a tail care sheet with the purchase.

Quality of Tail
I could not be happier about the quality of the tail. because I bought a used tail, there are some superficial flaws on it. Eric made me aware of these before I bought the tail. he also gave me advice on how to fix the small flaws myself. the silicone is very tough and reinforced. the paint is BEAUTIFUL!! although the colors are not something I would have picked myself, I'm thrilled with it! I'm almost happier I didnt design it, because I am in love with the paint job. Eric is truely an artist. the tail fits like a second skin with no gapping and does not cut of my circulation. There was a learning curve on how to put it on, took me an hour the first time, now it only takes about 15 minutes. it swims wonderfully and looks very natural in the water. It is almost so tight that it keeps water out!

Summary
I could not be happier with my decision to purchase a tail from the Mertailor. It is stunning, kids think its real and I have recieved so many compliments on it! I cannot wait to have the money for tail number 2! I am currently looking into purchasing a silicone top from Mertailor!

PICS

[MermaidCecelia]

now i know it may seem very unpopular to see a GOOD review on here but SURPRISE its here
so i discided that i should post a review on my tail and what i think about it im going to go through the tail by
*paint job
*sewing on the tail
*fit
*how it swims
*final impression
i ordered my" silicone neoprene" mertailor model. people have always been wary about mertailor, but sense ive seen lots of good reviews as well from other places, and also id rather find out myself if it would really be as bad as it seems, i discided to go for it
i ordered the tail may 14th and it arrived september 7th
eric had actually been good with emailing both my dad updates AND replying to me when i had questions , usually within the same day
i recieved my tail 4-5 days after it was promised to be shipped out , so thats a thumbs up

first impression:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxCaP4XIQAA4OGI.jpg
inside the box the tail was wrapped in a bag with about a hundred or so packing peanuts
the tail stuck a little bit to a fold , but it wasnt bad, so it didnt appear it traveled in bad conditions
the colour of the tail with in " reflex violet" as ordered https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxMgJxdIMAAGGyJ.jpg:large
all the paint was intact, the neoprene lining inside the tail had a bit of glue inside it , but i dont mind it

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxMgLenIQAAOWVj.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxMgIbmIgAAbRve.jpg:large
the seams of the tail itself are sewn on tight , the glue may have been put because of the neoprene to stick maybe that or to put some glue into the seams
whatever it was, the glue was doing a good job as it didnt appear anything was loose or falling apart
the diamond shaped scale pattern looks good, and the texture of the fluke looks neat, theres one small blob that looks like excess paint, but its small enough for me to not take mind to it
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxMgLXyIUAAuqdp.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxMgJ2aIcAAysfI.jpg:large
putting the tail on was scary, my one fear was that my tail wouldnt be its exact measurement
i was relieved that it was my exact measurements
it feels very comfortable and hugs my body enough to be a second skin but not too tight.
the monofin took time to put on as it was the first time i wore a tail made with silicone , took me a few minutes to get the straps behind my heels but the monofin was the right fit

after my first few swims nothing really changed about the tail, paint still intact, same with seams and such ,

what i think about the tail itself? i love it
would i buy from mertailor again ? i would
was it worth it ? im pretty satisfied with it so yes

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxMgHpPIAAAJiMb.jpg:large

[Mermaid Morgann]

Since I purchased, received, and own the tail I will be reviewing it, even though I am not the mermaid who swims in it.

Made By- The Mertailor
Cost- $3,953.70
Purchased- One custom silicone tail and two custom silicone scale tops.
Features- Dragonskin silicone, leaf fluke, leaf dorsal, side fins, calf fins (sort of).

Customer Service- He was not the most courteous of persons, and tried to add a lot of extra fees for odd things. He was fairly quick to reply but not the most polite tailmaker I have communicated with. I wonder if he has so much business that he no longer has time for politeness and understanding at all times. However, they did apologize for the unfinished paint job and offered to repaint for us, which should be standard for all companies, but we do not have time to send it back and fear if we did we might not see it finished for a long time, so we will be doing our own repainting and repairing.

Tail Arrival- The tail arrived a month later than we were told it would, which lost us a valuable opportunity in a short film. The total amount of time we spent waiting for it was about twelve weeks. While we do understand that he suffered a family loss, he is still running a business, and four weeks later than he had initially told us is not right. His excuse was that no one could predict how long a tail would take, but with my experiences ordering from another tailmaker (who made and followed a day-by-day calendar near flawlessly) I knew that this was not true. It wasn't impossible, just not something he could accomplish.

Craftsmanship- The tail arrived and I was excited to unbox it but, to my surprise, there were a lot of faults. I was not initially going to create a tail unboxing video but I was finding so many issues that I made a quick one to document my findings. After I turned the camera off and went to move it, I found even more problems and photographed them. Later showing it to a friend, I found more flaws, but did not get to documenting them with photography. The list is as follows:
-poorly attached fins, see below for details
-dorsal was already falling off when unboxed
-inside seams melted and gunky, made tail one inch smaller dimensions and much harder to put on
-inside of tail melted together in places (had to cut them open)
-hole in scale on front
-unfinished paint job, sides of fins and fluke were not painted and left white silicone
-tail was dirty with pieces of wood particles, dust, hairs, and black stuff I could not determine
-hairs and fibers painted onto the tail, had to be pulled out carefully
-ugly, protruding (and somewhat sharp) seams
-uneven fluke paint job
-random spots of white paint on the tail
-paint melting off in ugly colors on one top
-back of tops don't meet and exposed bra is not painted on one
-used hot pink bra for one top which is visible through parts of the silicone
-bras not proper size and do not fit our girls
-one bra was ripped slightly down the middle
-bra in one top peeling out of silicone scales
-side fins were not the same shape, one is jagged and one is smooth

And all of these things were discovered as I unboxed and examined the tail, without any wear or tear involved.

Here is a private link to my unboxing video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9GA...FeGvolmftsFvug

The following are photos of some of the issues I found as well:


Photos of the unpainted fins and fluke.






Photos of the inside which melted together.




Photos of the tops which have bad paint jobs and are ripping.




Photos of the side fins which have different edge shapes.



First Swim- Our two mermaids who share this tail were ecstatic to be swimming in it for the first time. The mermaid whose tail this unofficially is, Lorelie, tried it on first. We used lube and tried to put it on in the water for the silicone was so stuck together and melted that she could not get an arm or leg in when it was slicked up on land. It took us twice as long to get her tail on as it has ever taken me. She got in and was about to swim when I saw one of her calf fins floating away in the pool. What a shock! We had not been pulling anywhere near that fin or any of the fins because we were afraid that they might rip off. When examined we noticed that it had come off cleanly and we realized that it was most likely just a bad job at attaching the fin. However, the remaining gunky seam did make an unusual-looking scar, and so we decided that we would use the fin for another purpose and that we would repaint the white silicone to look like a scar. So glad my mermaids go with the flow! Creativity does help in the face of shocking tail malfunctions. Once inside the tail, she swam quite well, though there is odd fabric in the ends of the foot pockets which do bunch around her toes in a strange way. We took her out and switched our other mermaid into it, and she also swam well. However, by the end of the night the dorsal had come off more than how it had arrived ripping off, and one of the side fins was also starting to tear. I have come to the conclusion that Mertailor fins and dorsals do not stay on after a gentle swim to get used to moving in the tail. We will either have more unfortunate scars to worry about in the future, or we will need a lot of Sil-Poxy to fix them. Most likely the latter. I also noticed that paint was chipping off on parts of the fluke, but not enough to notice (especially since most of the random white paint spots are on the fluke anyway). The tail oddly enough didn't fit on our drying rack so we had to improvise, and now we will need to find a new way to dry it.

Final Thoughts- We were extremely disappointed by the tail and will not be ordering from him again. There are simply too many repairs that need to be done and that coupled with poor customer service does not make us repeat customers.

[26494926bdgqifkwb]

I ordered my Partial Silicone tail about 7 or 8 weeks before an event at which I wanted to have it photographed. I hoped to get it on time, but as the site said 5-10 weeks, I did not get my hopes too high. (However, the photographer invested in an underwater housing). I was definitely starting to get nervous when the week of the event came around and I still didn't have my tail, but I was delighted to receive it two days before! It came in a large, unassuming box. It was packaged well, with plenty of packing peanuts to make a mess of my living room and keep it safe on its journey from Florida to Missouri. When I opened the tail, I wanted to cry. The colors were EXACTLY what I'd been hoping for, and it fit like a GLOVE. A very tight glove. An hour later, I got it in the water and swam for an hour and a half. The skin is very comfortable, but I recommend wearing tights so that it's easier to put on. Cleaning is SO easy, as the skin can be removed from the fin and reversed (I don't have to worry about mold). Make sure to put a towel through so that the silicone doesn't stay wet! Even after drying and reversing it, I had wet scales after my third swim. Overall, I love swimming in my tail and would recommend this to anyone who isn't sure if they should make the $2,500 leap from fabric to silicone. With custom colors, I paid a total of $1,056 for my tail.

[Mermaid Olivia!]

Before placing my order, I called Mertailor with a few questions regarding sizing and color selection, and the lady I spoke with was very nice and knowledgeable. When I inquired about how long it would take to make my tail and top, she said that wait times are normally 5 to 10 weeks, but they were currently on the very low end of that time frame, so I could expect to receive my order sooner rather than later. I placed my order that evening and included my concept art and special instructions to adjust the 38C top to fit a 32C (I had talked with the lady on the phone about this and she said that they could size the top down). Then came the fun part... WAITING! :) After about 3 weeks I sent an email inquiring about the status of my order, and received a response within an hour stating that both my tail and top were currently in production!!! About a week later, exactly 4 weeks to the day that I placed my order, I got an email stating that both the top and tail had shipped! When I opened the box, it was love at first sight! The tail matched my concept art exactly, other than the fact that the colors were a little earthier and darker than the colors on my drawing, which were more vibrant. This was something I asked about when I called, and they told me that they don't offer colors that bright, but rather more realistic, metallic colors. I told them it was fine to just use those colors as a guideline and mix the paint as close as they could, while using their judgment on what looked best. In all honesty, I ended up liking the colors they chose better than the bright colors I had originally asked for! The tail has a much more realistic look to it! I was pleasantly surprised that the top had been done to match my tail exactly- the website allows you to enter two colors, and I chose orange and yellow. The top was painted with the exact same color scheme as my tail, including the red and black shading, and the most adorable tiny black spots along the sides to match my fluke! All of the paint work was done very well, and the blending from color to color is seamless! I also chose to have the scales near my waist painted nude for a "blended waist" effect, and the color they used is an exact match to my skin tone! Fit-wise, everything is perfect. The tail fits tightly, which is good! It took me a while to put on the first time because it is so tight, but I'm starting to figure it out now. The only part of the tail that didn't fit properly at first was the foot pockets on the fluke, but I was prepared for this and knew I would have to find a way to fix it because I have very tiny feet (I wear a size 5 shoe in women's). I ended up fixing this by purchasing short dive boots to wear with the fin, so now it stays securely on my feet! The top is a perfect fit and they cut it down to a 32C like I requested. I was honestly surprised at how well the top fit- it is so comfortable but also modest, and I don't feel like I have to worry about it falling off or slipping down. The tail swims very well and isn't too heavy or too light in the water. The fluke is very flexible and agile, which is not only pretty but also makes flips and turns much easier than a more rigid monofin. Out of the water, it is HEAVY! I feel like I get a great upper body workout every time I carry it! I had a fantastic experience with Mertailor and I'm so glad I chose them for my first silicone (partial silicone, that is LOL) tail! Great communication, short wait time, and a BEAUTIFUL tail and top! :D

[Mermaid Corinna]

My experience ordering from the Mertailor (Eric Ducharme)
was unpleasant – like pulling teeth.

First of all, like most of you, ordering a mermaid tail is the actualization of a life-long held childhood dream. In my case over 100 friends collected the money for me for my 40th birthday. I waited 1 year to order because of medical problems and traumatic life events, before I felt comfortable and ready to order the tail. For me the mermaid tail and the realization of this childhood dream is what kept me going in the hard times. It was my beacon of light.

My favorite tails are from Merbella studios, but I could not wait another 9 months or so to finally become a mermaid. I also noticed the new tails by Mermation. They looked beautiful, good craftsmanship, seemed very competent and friendly but at the time of my order I would have had to paint the tail myself and I just don’t have the facility here to do that (I think in the meantime this has changed). So I chose the Mertailor. I liked his example tails and metallic colors.

I was so nervous designing the tail. It took me two weeks to come up with the color scheme and I had myself measured 5 times.
It was exhilarating to finally place my order. It was more exciting than buying a car (and the cost is comparable to a used car after all!).

I sent several examples of what I had in mind, photos of the colors I wanted , photos of myself to show my body shape and my coloring, and sketches and photoshop mock ups of my dream tail.

I sent detailed explanations of what I had in mind. I wanted a tail that was metallic and shimmery, fantasy like such as the tail worn in these Chris Crumley photographs of Model Kristi Sherk (see photos).








I placed my order and “let go”. I was told “I would love it and it would look great”. Unfortunately the fluke that I wanted (as in the example photos) wasn’t available any longer. So I decided on the Aztec fluke instead.
(I was always a bit confused by his grandiose and very short dismissive email statements of how much I would love my tail – this over the top self confidence, but I thought he’s young, he’s an artist and maybe this is a positive sign of enthusiasm for his work?).

Anyway about 6 weeks later, a photo appeared in my newsfeed of this pile of tails (See photo).




My initial reaction was of confusion. I recognized the sketch as being mine but the tail was ugly. It was in bold yellow and orange and absolutely not what I had in mind. I was horrified. This was a Sunday and I immediately sent him an email asking if this was my tail and that it wasn’t very much like the examples I had sent. I was polite and I even offered him an out asking if maybe the lighting was bad and the colors were indeed metallic and shimmery? The next day I received a short, dismissive, curt, flippant response stating:” They were following my sketches, this was what I had ordered and that I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, the tail isn’t finished yet”. I realized that in order to deal with him further I would need to tread on eggshells. I no longer trusted him. I realized that in his mind he is the mermaid tail superstar and I should count myself lucky that he is making me a tail.

Anyway, in retrospect, after reading about other people’s orders from other suppliers I find it very unprofessional that he didn’t send me emails with progress photos to see if we were going in the right direction (like other mermaid tail creators do) but instead I just happened on a photo on Facebook which at that point was already posted 5 days earlier! I'm so lucky he hadn't just shipped it like that and that I caught it in time!

The tail that he posted after this was red instead of copper. I was still confused. I liked it but it certainly was not what I had in mind. It almost seemed like he just printed out my sketch and gave it for someone else to paint (like in an assembly line) but whoever did it actually did not read the description or look at the example photos I sent. I had the intuitive feeling that like in a factory things were just haphazardly slapped together with no real interest in the client’s dreams and expectations. My husband is an artist, as well as many of our friends and in the world of serious art (Lucasfilm etc.) this is a no go. One needs to have open communication every step of the way. Messages with pictures: “Is this what you had in mind” etc. Never did I receive any form of such communication…which however seems to be the norm amongst other mermaid tail creators and is a sign of good customer service.

I took a close look at the dream tail photos again and realized that what I assumed was copper , was in fact gold. On my tail he painted, it was bright red. If he had paid close attention to my example photos and sketches, or the colors I described I wanted he would have caught that and explained that to me before he started painting the tail. It’s just little details like these, that make a good customer – artist working relationship. However, this was missing all along.

However in the end he made the corrections…and the tail is very pretty although the colors are not as metallic or shimmery as they appear in the photos.

Size: I have a big butt and a small waist. I sent the Mertailor photos showing this extreme size difference. However, the tail is a few inches too short now in the back. I don't understand how someone who calls himself the mer-"tailor" can make the front and back the same length? I sew costumes as a hobby, and even I know that patterns for sewing pants for example, have more inches in the back to accomodate your behind. The tail is too short in the back...by a few inches.

Seams: The side seams are thick and fat and sloppy. They are quite obvious. One side sticks up about half an inch. It's not smooth.

I don't have the energy to deal with him anymore so I've decided to look for a belt or a scarf that will camouflage these problems. It's really a shame after spending that much money...

I have mixed feelings about the tail now because the process of getting it was emotionally draining and it makes my stomach burn that my future photo-shoots will be an inadvertent advertisement for him. I hope that in time I can forget about how this all began, and just enjoy my new mermaid experiences.

I live in Vienna, Austria and he quoted a shipping fee of $500. Instead I had it shipped to my Mom in Virginia and she shipped it to me via registered mail for $114 so in total about 200$...a savings of over $300!

When it arrived at my mom’s house she noticed that the bra was covered in holes where the silicone was poured sloppily and took these photos for me. (See photo)






I immediately looked at his website again, at the two example photos of the bras he had posted. There were no holes (and if you want to be picky about it, they were also of a totally different silicone mold – looks hand crafted and softer than the newer poured mold one gets….but I didn’t mind that). I sent him a polite email stating my concern that this bra really did have excessive holes and could we find a solution together? My email was ignored for 2 days. 2 days later I looked again at his website. He added 6 new photos!!! of mermaid silicone bras – all with many holes. These photos were not there the day before. This is not what I ordered.

This is when I had had enough. I sent him another email stating the above and that any decent IT professional can tell when new photos are added and when changes are made to a website. I told him that his was deceitful, cowardice and dishonest. After this he no longer responded to me, but had his mom “Candy” communicate with me (who agreed that they had added the new photos with holes after my emails). Just the fact that his mother has to take over communicating with customers if there is any type of conflict or critique speaks volumes!

I was told that like in nature the bras were all different, like in nature the scales would have different shapes, that these were artistic differences, that I signed a waiver and that the bra would not be replaced since it was not DEFECTIVE (her emails contain a lot of caps, which I assume means she’s yelling at me?). So I responded that indeed it wasn’t defective, it was a completely different product than the one originally advertised on their website (this is called “false advertising”). After several rude emails back and forth, I was finally offered a refund…however stating that this was a huge exception to their rules! (You have to sign all sorts of waivers, pretty much giving up any rights regarding the products you are ordering for $3000)!

I was in a bind. The reason I chose the Mertailor was because of the metallic colors. I ordered the tail and top as a matching set and if I sent the top back and ordered another from a competitor they wouldn’t match in the end. Besides, I already had several projects lined up for late spring as a mermaid and didn’t have time to deal with another supplier.

I suggested we meet halfway. I believe in fairness and win-win situations. I suggested a refund of 50% since it’s A) not the product I ordered B) if I order from another supplier the colors won’t match and I had spent nearly $3000 on his products (the bra is $160).

(In the real world decent customer service would equate to – not sending out such a sloppy product in the first place, then trying to defend it with ridiculous statements, responding to emails before posting new pictures on his website, dealing with issues yourself instead of delegating this to your mom, offering an immediate refund or offering to try again and sending a replacement. But really if he took any pride in his work he shouldn’t have sent such a sloppy product in the first place).
Just 2 weeks later he posted 2 new bras on his facebook page, that in his words "came out amazing". Indeed there were far less holes in them and it seemed they were covered in a glossy substance that mine didn't have. I was told a replacement was impossible 2 weeks before.

So in summary, in dealing with Eric Ducharme I had the disconcerting feeling I was throwing $3000 to a volatile teenager with a fragile ego. I tried all sorts of polite communications but received short, flippant, unprofessional, dismissive and quite frankly disrespectful emails in return. I was apprehensive the entire time about trusting someone like this with so much money to fulfil a childhood dream. I feel after reading several other reviews and talking to other mermaids, that ordering from him is just “the luck of the draw”. You might get a great product or you might get a really sloppy one. It’s inconsistent and not dependable. And in the end, it’s your problem because you signed all your rights away when you ordered and when you transferred him the money.

As a business person with an MBA and an employee of an International Organization here is some insight and suggestions I would make for him to improve his business.

To me it seems that he luckily fell into a business at a young age (he is only 26) that was originally his passion. In the meantime mermaiding has exploded into a trend. He is sitting on a gold mine business opportunity, but he is “resting on his laurels”. This will only last for a short period of time however, since there are many competitors popping up offering the package of mermaid tail with bra for at least $1000 less, clean craftsmanship
and good customer relations (Mernation for example). Also, unfortunately for him many of us (his potential customers) are Cosplayers and LARPERS and either make our own costumes, or are around costume makers…and understand the complexities of pouring silicone for example. It’s unprofessional to defend just plain sloppy haphazard (and expensive) work with excuses, instead of fessing up and offering to rectify the situation. This is just plain reputation damaging – it damages trust (an important factor when dealing with this much money) and creates a reputation of a SLOPPY, INCONSISTENT CRAFTSMAN with extremely poor customer relations skills.

As mentioned before, over 100 friends collected the money for me in order to surprise me for my birthday. They have been excitedly following my story every step of the way and I have been sharing every step of this journey with them all along since they were invested in this, this was their gift. For some I have infused a new passion for mermaids and many of them now want to get tails as well – it is now an exploding trend in Europe. However they have also lived through every single disappointment with me…and often suggested what I should write to the Mertailor, telling me that the holes in the bra for example are unacceptable etc. All have
said they would order from somewhere else.
I'm a kind person. It takes a lot to get me angry. I am surrounded by all sorts of artists and my tolerance level for artistic liberties and people's personal quirks is extremely high...
All of this would have been "forgivable" and quickly forgotten if there hadn't been such snarky, dismissive rudeness all along the way. That is really what got to me...not so much the holes, or the wrong colors, poor sizing etc. but just the unbelievable dismissive, flippant, immaturity.

It’s really too bad. When one is blessed creatively and has the opportunity to really create an amazing empire, but it blocked not by outside forces (like most people) but blocked by their own pride/fragile ego issues…that’s a real tragedy.

UPDATE: After swimming in the bra 4 times it already has a hole. Some parts of the silicon are thin like skin while others are half an inch thick. Again, totally sloppy craftsmanship.
[IMG]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...7&l=dabac4289a[/IMG]
[IMG]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...7&l=06808dfc49[/IMG]

Me in the tail and top as requested by Mernetwork policy:

[Merenneito Nerissa]

EDITED! Don't know how to change stars, correct amount of them is 3 from 5! Reason is at the end of the text.

I write this review of both my tails now, even though I had my first one already last november. Overall rating is five stars cause there weren't between options, but it's definitely closer to 5 than 4. There has also been some problems but you can read more about them from the text.


My Partial Silicone tail With custom paint job

Ordering of the tail was very simple, Eric was very informative from the beginning. Only thing which started to frustrate me afterwards was the fact that in the ordering page didn't have any info of the choices of custom paint being so much more free of choice than what there was mentioned on the page. So I sen e-mails afterwards that I actually had wanted to have a design of my own as tail's painting, but I was told that it wasn't possible to do anymore since the design was already decided. Of course I was disappointed but tried to understand, Mertailor's prices are lower cause they are doing lots of tails with mass productive style and I was aware of that from the beginning.

However, Eric sent me a pic of my tail and I just couldn't believe my eyes - he had done so different and even more beautiful paint job I could have even hoped. The tail had a beautiful darker and lighter turwuoise colored skin and the fluke had a variety of lighter green, turquoise and blue stripes and the base was darker blue. The fluke looked like it had northern lights on it, that's how my tail got it's nickname - Aurora (from aurora borealis). Perfect for me as the arctic mermaid I am :)

Shipping took a bit longer than I had hoped but well, I live in the middle of nowhere so... :D First the tail travelled trough US for almost a week, then it came to Europe, where on the road for few days and after two weeks I got my darling home. Fluke was sooooo much heavier than I had thought but I was thinking it'd feel different underwater. Also I was bit amazed that there was only one strap going behind heels and kinda shallow foot pockets.

When I first dived under the surface in my tail the feeling was sensational.. I felt like I got back something I didn't even know I had lost. It felt amazing. Fluke felt very heavy underwater too, but I didn't mind. I was finally a mermaid with a tail.

There also appeared problems with the tail. Fluke is so heavy that it's very difficult for me to keep my pose steady underwater when posing for example sideways in the mid water or next to a wall, or on a surface which slides down a bit. Also it's almost impossible to pose on a land sideways and keep your fin one side up, cause it's so heavy. On last photoshoot we actually put behind the fluke all kinds of boxes and stuff to keep it up :D

But these were only problems I had with the tail, also I didn't like the fact that if someone wanted they could get their finger under the part separating the fluke from tail's skin, cause yeah, they are separated as it's also told on the website. It was still a bit different than I had thought. I was a bit in a hurry though to het my first tail so I think that also played it's part with the thing, didn't had enough patience to find out aaall the info which would have maybe been somewhere.

But from those problems we get to the next part, cause I still love everything else on the tail, it's scales, the feeling and especially the paint job. So, I decided to message to Eric and ask if we could maybe figure out something. Luckily he then responded that I could get a tail, which is made as the basic silicone tails are made, but with custom fluke. I also wanted to have same scales as I had on the partial. And all this worked out.

My Basic Silicone Tail with custom fluke and paint

Well, I got this darling just yesterday. Ordering process was easy and now I also knew I could give my own color sketch. Tail was ready within 8 weeks as promised, the color wasn't quite right on the first pic I got, but in the next one I liked it. Now when I have the tail here in front of me the color is also different, but it's painted with pearl paints and stuff so of course it looks different in different photos. Any how I love it.

With the first tail my measurements were taken with someone else, and she took them as she would have done with normal clothes. I was a bit skeptic then but then didn't speak up, and the first tail came out to be a bit too big so I got it taken in (also awesome with these tails made of spacer and silicone, they are soooo easy to fix). With this tail I took the measurements by myself. I have experience from the measurements thing so I did trust myself taking these by myself but I would not recommend it to anyone who's insicure! With these things I still recommend always follow your instincts. But yeah, this tail fits perfectly. :)

I still haven't tried this tail in water and just can't wait to get to do so. I'll then edit this post to tell how it flows.



But overall when it some day comes the time to order my full silicone tail, I think I'll order it from Mertailor. I don't have any reason why I wouldn't.
( sorry about all the mistakes I made, Finnish gal here... :) )



Correction for the situation:

I don't know how to change stars on the review, but I'd like to change them to 3 stars (3 because I still like my partial, otherwise it would be 2 for my basic tail). My basic silicone is lovely tail, swims very well but has this very frustrating feature: if I lay it on a surface which is not stone or ceramic tile the tail leaves permanent, ink-blue stains. It is very hard to be aware of this feature everywhere and it has already caused problems at gigs. The tail has already left permanent stains to out bathroom floor and sauna, and we're living in rental apartment. Mertailor claimed I had done something wrong with the tail f.ex. swam in different water or something, and only offered to examine the tail if I'd send it to him with my own expense. I had just spend almost 2000 usd for a tail, so I didn't have any funds for 500 usd shipping, and because of the nature of the situation I didn't trust him at all so things would have most likely went the way that he'd had fixed the tail quietly somehow or "examine" it and say that nothing was wrong, and either way I'd have needed to pay to get it shipped back, another 500usd. So now I'm just stuck with this tail, trying to be as careful as possible when using it ( carrying ridiculous amounts of towels and fabrics with me on gigs and everywhere, trying to avoid those permanent stains) and trying to earn funds for a proper, full silicone tail which I'm definitely NOT GOING TO ORDER FROM THIS GUY.

[Havanargila]

I have to say that Eric makes BEAUTIFUL Tails. And he made mine beautiful too, as you may see by my profile picture. It looked like exactly what I wanted, so I'll give some major praise there where it's due. However...

My feet were incredibly painful and bruised and I could not manage to swim properly because of the horrible way my feet were fitting. At first I thought he must have gotten the size wrong and I can't actually see my feet in the tail but I was curling up my toes and still getting bruises all over my feet. It was unbearable unless I let my heels out of the pockets and still it was incredibly painful and impossible to swim properly. I finally figured out by sticking arms down in there and shining a flashlight to see that there is NO monofin in the tail. It is a "custom made" monofin which is not a monofin. If it ever was a monofin, they cut it in half, put a huge (like 6 inches by 6 inches by 3 inches) block in there between the feet which wedges the feet out in a V shape. Being a health care provider I don't want want to bore everyone with the harmful effects of straight legs with wedged out feet expected to lift a heavy fluke and swim with it. If my feet ever adapted to that, it would be terrible in the longterm for them and I wouldn't want to have disorders with my feet now or later in life. Aside from that, the bruises and pain were just not doable.

In any case I emailed many times over the course of 5 months and asked if there was a way to modify the tail that he could do to take out all that hardware in the tail and just let my feet be in the silicone tail or if he could let me know instructions and what tools I would need. I received finally no response. I can't imagine that he's not capable of modifying it. 1) I paid for a functional tail and 2) he could have asked me for a bit more $ and then he would modify it but he is just ignoring me at this point.

I feel like my communication to him was was very polite and courteous especially considering the money I spent and the pain in my feet. I emailed him to let him know the problem within a week of receiving the tail. I kept emailing for months expecting a response from him to help solve the problem until he just started ignoring my emails and not responding. I didn't complain, I simply asked for a solution to the problem which I think was reasonable.

So :
Pro's - BEAUTIFUL TAIL, wonderful artist, fit my legs and waist well
Con's - No monofin, custom fin excruciatingly painful, no response to my requests to have it modified either as a part of my order or asking for an additional charge. I respected his time, but I got no respect for my time + money.

He is a great artist, but functionality and customer service need some improvement.
I gave 2 stars instead of 1 because it's a truly beautiful work of art but it's not for hanging on my wall, it's for using. I can't actually swim in it without major bruising and he didn't respond to my requests to remove the hardware in the fluke for me (that I never asked for in the first place). If he emails me later and tells me his server crashed for the last couple months and he hasn't gotten my emails but now wishes to fix my tail, I will update the review and the rating, but as things stand for now, 2 stars is the best I can give.

[MermaidVictory]

So this last year (2014) I told my family that I wanted a mermaid tail for Christmas, when I've never even worn a monofin before in my life! I poked around on the internet for a long time trying to figure out what I was searching for when I stumbled upon the mertailor's website. I created an account once I figured out what tail I wanted and had my room mate measure me a couple of times. After she measured me I put in my measurements, selected the color I wanted for the partial silicone and saved it to my wish list.

The Ordering Process:

After I was out of school for Fall break (around Thanksgiving), I went home and my mom and I got to ordering my tail. I logged into my account and found my tail in my wish list. After clicking it in my wish list though, everything was set to the default and not what I had put in like I thought it would when I'd clicked the "add to wish list" button. I was very upset because then we had to take my measurements a couple more times and start from scratch. I also wanted the silicone scale bra so we added that to our cart (it brought the total close to $1500 without shipping). We placed the order and got a conformation email and that was all we heard, we didn't get an email that informed us the tail had been shipped at all.

The Un-Boxing:
Both my mom and I knew that I wasn't going to have my tail by Christmas, which I was fine with but we expected it a week after Christmas at the latest. My tail didn't arrive until the second week of January, and the box was really banged up when we got it, almost open even! I was excited, and quickly opened up the box. ***This next part is just a pet peeve of mine, take it with a grain of salt*** After opening the box I saw... packing peanuts! I hate packing peanuts because they stick to everything and aren't as great for protecting shipped products, plus they're bad for the environment. Thankfully my tail was in a plastic bag so I didn't have to wash packing peanut foam off of it before trying it on but I did have to wash the bra because it wasn't wrapped in plastic.

Trying the Scale Bra On:
I ordered the bra to be the same color as the tale with a silver fade to the top, as you can see in the 4th photo, the colors aren’t as bright as I’d have hoped. While looking at the bra more closely, I noticed lots of little holes in the scales on the front that looked like air bubbles or a bad mold, and the fabric cups that looked to be glued or molded in weren't glued/molded in very well. The first image is the left side, the second image the right, and the third image is the bra cup. In the fourth image, I tried the bra on. I was very surprised at how loose the bra was when I got the biggest size, I'd originally been worried it would be too tight since I was on the highest end of the Mertailor's sizing. I was happy that it was loose at first but had to have it on the last hook to even remotely get the bra to stay on, and it was still loose. This is coming from a big boned woman who doesn’t have big boobs but needs the extra length on bra backs because of her ribs.











Trying the Tail On:

I was glad that the mertailor had included an instructions and care information packet since I’ve never had a tail before. These were in a plastic envelope and easy to find, but a little confusing to understand. The first time I tried the tail on was right after I got it and it wasn’t an easy task to get it on! I had a gap at the bottom and it felt a little short in the back but I thought that gap was because of where I was trying it on and that I wasn’t feeling good. After I got out of the tail skin, I tried on just the monofin. Separating the monofin from the skin is really hard, and putting the monofin back takes a good 10 minutes, even now when I’ve had 6 months with it. There’s a thread that holds the monofin to the tail, and I’m always afraid of breaking it because you have to put the monofin through that and then into the tail. While not damaging either one, and making sure that the monofin and skin line-up right to swim in. Below is the tail itself and then me in it with the bra on for the first time.









My First Swim:


I went and did my first swim when I wasn’t feeling good so the tail felt super heavy. I’ve retried it now that I’m feeling better, and the tail isn’t as heavy as I thought. It’s still pretty heavy in the water, but easier to swim with than I thought it would be. Getting into my tail for my first swim was tricky and I’ve had to come up with some creative ways to get into it in order to remove the bump and wrinkles at the bottom where the monofin and tail attach. Usually I have to have help and then adjust/smooth/pull the tail up in the water. Once I was in the tail, I felt that it’s a little short in the back but thought that was normal, I began swimming. I tried it with the bra and the bra kept slipping down and I had to hold it up so my boobs weren’t exposed to the world! I was not happy with that and there are NO straps included to stop this. I tried just the monofin as well once and had my boyfriend try out the monofin too. We both feel that the strap could use some work, it’s just velcro with some padding so it doesn’t rub against your skin. I’ve had to mess around with that strap a lot in order to make sure that the fin doesn’t slip off while I’m swimming. A couple of times the velcro has scrapped up the back of my ankles and made it so I couldn’t use it for a while. Below are videos of these swims (with just the monofin and the tail + bra).

1900446_1028318760530807_454358786_n.mp4 - Boyfriend monofin swim
11027412_1028317527197597_1790344084_n.mp4 - Me trying the monofin
10990977_1028315540531129_1782799373_n.mp4 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYavfMaLNaQ -full tail swim






My Adjustments:

Because I couldn’t use the scale bra without flashing the world, I had to go and make some adjustments to I could wear it. I added netting to make a cover for the front of my body that is sewn onto the bra, straps (also made of netting) that can either be tied together or held with a clasp that I made from Wonderflex, and added a belly dance coin in the middle to distract people from the holes in the front. Here are some images of it:


My Thoughts on my Tail & Bra Now:


Now that I’ve gotten some more experience with my tail, I think I can say that if I was to get another tail, I’d shop around a little more. This is a great beginner tail and I will definitely be using it for a while to get more experience before getting my dream tail, but I probably won’t be buying my full silicone tail from the mertailor. I do love my monofin when I swim with out the skin, and even with the skin I have fun. However, I’ve had to do a lot of work to make it so I can swim in this tail comfortably.


Here’s why I wouldn’t be buying another tail from the Mertailor:

• I think the seams are way too thick inside the tail, they rub against my skin wrong and are easily seen.
• The back is too short (it’s the same as the front) making it so it rides really low and I have to keep pulling it up so my butt isn’t hanging out. I’ll probably be buying either a new skin from him or just using it as is until I can get a completely new tail.
• Poorly made Scale Bra really didn’t help.
• The colors weren’t what I was shown.
• There wasn’t much communication.
• The sizing on the bra was off and it was off where the monofin and skin come together.
• Wish list saving means nothing!

Here’s Why I would buy another tail from the Mertailor:

• The monofin is great and I like some of the styles of fins that there are on the full silicones.
• The website looks great and there are lots of photos.
• It was what I wanted and needed at the time.
• High quality tail skin (other than the back and seam issue)
• Moderately easy to put on once you know how to.

Overall, I think these tails are good for getting started in mermaiding, but I’d shop around a little more if you’re more experienced and looking for a high-quality long term tail.

[The Harlem Mermaid]

Mertailor Basic Silicone Tail ReviewCOOKIE RAMIREZ·SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 201651 Readshttps://www.facebook.com/mertailor/?fref=nf http://www.themertailor.com/info@themertailor.com Basic Silicone Mertailor Tail Review: I ordered my tail on Nov 30, 2015 and to my delight I received it way ahead of schedule which was for Dec 24th, I received her on Dec 18th, total of 7 weeks to arrival. Packaging of tail was very professionally done, very secure. Customer Service to and from Eric was outstanding, he answered my emails promptly and courteous and took personal care of my all inquires, he also inboxed me on FB to send him emails to his personal ATTN: which was appreciated, he continue to update me, and asked if I needed any other information not to hesitate to ask, at any time. Response time between messages and emails were a day apart, or usually same day. Great Service all around.Im So in love with my Golden Tail her name is #GoldenBeauty #Beast she is a perfect fit, This is Exactly how I wanted my tail to be and look like.. the gold color is gorgeous, she glimmer's in and out of the water, my Gold fish thinks im her mom. That is how realistic my tail looks and the feel is AWESOME! Great quality great texture, the scales are lined up beautifully and evenly. The Fluke which is his new #sweetheart shape is lovely, I originally had wanted the #pirate shape fluke, which he was so gracious to accommodate me with, even though it clearly states on his website that option is not available he was willing to do for me, but when i saw his new Basic Tail fluke i fell in love, so ask if i could change it and he said no problem "I want you to have the tail of your dreams" and I do!!! My First Swim in her was at this year's NCMania Event 2016. I was so proud when i put her on with the help of my MerWrangler husband, and my mersister's and merbrothers all came over to see her and were in awe of her, and said how lovely I looked in her, they all agreed that my Mertailor tail is not only gorgeous but the craft man ship is outstanding and a great job.I swam in her as if she was really part of my own body, guess that's why they called it a skin smile emoticon Putting her on was not as hard as i thought it would be, Only a bit on my left foot, which Eric recommended using Coconut Oil, worked like a charm. As for swimming view, she was truly graceful and so lightweight in the water. Thank you Mertailor for indeed making The Tail of My Dreams.If you wish to the how amazing my tail really is come check out all the photos on my page, wish i could add them all here: https://www.facebook.com/HarlemMermaid/

Package nice and secure

How to Care for Booklet & Card from http://themertailor.com/

Like how each Customer's Name is on the Inside of Tail

New Sweetheart Shape Fluke Design by http://themertailor.com/ My Golden Beauty

So Realistic even my Gold fish thinks im his mommy <3

My First Swim with #MermaidKariel in my http://themertailor.com/ tail at #NCMania 2016 She glided so smoothly and gracefully true beauty

A Perfect Fit from top to fin! So lightweight in water and looks gorgeous and shinny in and out of the water I love my http://themertailor.com/ Tail! Thank you Eric for making the Tail of my Dreams

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[Acqua Luna]

I searched long and hard trying to find a review on the eco tail, finding nothing I wanted to give just a short summary. This is getting two stars because for the price I do like the scale pattern.

This is the link to the tail I bought.
https://www.themertailor.com/adult-m...l-With-Monofin

Yes, my tail arrived over two weeks late. Which is confusing because this is a "Pre-Made Ready to Ship" tail. I over looked this as I had no time line I was trying to stick to and I was so over joyed to finally have a tail. However, I would like to start off by saying I am very disappointed in the quality of the tail. While I love the color and the scales are beautiful the fact that the tail did not function more than an hour really pissed me off.

My First Swim:
It took me approximately 5 minutes to wiggle/pull and roll myself into this but once I was in it felt like a dream. It fit like a second skin (with the exception of the top 10 inches, which was expected). There was some drag which just took adjusting on my part to fix. Unfortunately, after about an hour the strap on the fin started to come undone. I have never owned a tail before and I did not realize how big of a deal that is on a fabric tail. I spent two more hours tightening the strap again every half length (I wish I was kidding) of a Jr. Olympic pool. I started off fast but after two or three dolphin kicks the strap was loose again. At one point I made it across the entire length of the pool but the strap came completely out and I lost the little plastic bit on the strap. I was a human, with my legs tied together and a fin dangling past my toes. I can tell you nothing kicks you out of your happy place like constantly fighting with a fin strap and worrying the seam on your tail with rip open. None of this I anticipated as the site said The Mertailor worked with Finis to design this specifically for these tails.

I fully expected this to be one piece of fabric from waist to fin tip but was sorely disappointed to find this was not the case. The original pictures on the site when I purchased my tail over a year ago showed one piece of fabric and I thought nothing of this until the issues with the fin started. The weight of the wet fin that basically dragged the material has made the seam highly visible. I have yet to figure out how to fix this other than to have it pulled apart and resewn. The tail has since had new pictures posted showing the seam on the Mertailors site.

Note of Caution:
If you are a curvy Mer, it is best not to purchase this tail. I understand these are pre-made set sizes, and I know shopping is difficult to get a good fit no matter what you are purchasing. My scales are a normal 0.5 inches wide till it gets to my hips were they are almost 2.5 inches and the seams look like they are going to burst. Being 5 ft tall I was afraid the medium would be way to big, turns out the small is also too big (ankles and waist). I was expecting there to be extra material at the top and boy was I right. I am currently having my friend take in the waist and cut the excess off. For reference my measurements are below

29 inch waist
42 inch bum
37 inch thighs
13 inch ankles

Overall:
Was it shipped on time? No.
Was the product as advertised? No, the ankle seam and fin are a serious issue.
Where the colors as expected? Yes, it is the exact shade I expected and the pattern is pretty.
Would I purchase another fabric tail from The Mertailor? No, I feel like I wasted 150 carefully and painstakingly saved dollars.

[MermaidMysti]

First ill start off by saying I really do like my tail! I bought this one specifically so it could be versatile for my company and so far it has worked great!

Texture of the scales was rough but the texture of the fluke is pretty decent. I didnt expect full silicone quality because I didnt pay a full silicone price so the rough scales dont bother me an awful lot.

I HATE the way the monofin strap is held on by th is chunky metal ring clips and was scared I would accidentally hit a child with one so i took them off and threaded the velcro straight through the hole in the monofin instead.

I love the color even though now i wish id spent more to get it custom painted. The color has held up well aside from some scraping because I did a mermaid NO-NO and hopped in it on stone (oops! lol)

[AniaR]

I finally had a chance to put together my entire review for the new line of eco-tails, with the whale shark being the one I tested.

I gave it a 4/5 because I love everything about the actual tail- the product mertailor makes. I just hate the finis aquarius monofin.

Video reviews:

I finally had a chance to put together my part 2 of my review the Mertailor Eco tail. Overall I like the actual tail enough that I am planning on picking up another for my company so we can use them for some dry gigs, have them as options for mermaid school, and if some of my girls wanna swim they can. For me, the monofin was a real struggle, but I think with some practice I could probably get it down.

[AniaR]

I did my review in video format:




I find these to be the best kid's tail skins on the market! They use one of the best monofins on the market for kids as well. Very durable material, looks amazing and not see through.

[AniaR]

I think it's easier to just watch my detailed videos on these whimsys!

Fantasea 1 monofin review:



Fantasea 1 skin review:





Fantases Too monofin and tail reviews and unboxing:











Comparison video between the 1 and 2




Fantasea Three reviews and unboxing