MerrowFins

[Mermaid Cataleya]

2.5/3 -5

REVIEW PORTION

Made by: Matthew aka MerrowFins

Cost: 600 for a Basic Silicone tail I payed an extra 250 for a rush fee. We will get into that later….
I am most enraged about the next part. I payed another 165.17 for shipping to get it to me on a date he insured he would make intake. So ONTOP OF everything onto of a shipping cost I already payed for, I dished out another almost 200 for shipping because of a mistake he made, a mistake he did in not getting my tail done intime ...so in total my basic tail cost about as much as a second or mid grade lvl tail.....



Features: Its made of 100% dragonskin Silicone backed with a double layered thermal scuba knit with a custom sized and snapped mono fin to your specific needs. The tail closely resembles human skin, its very soft, stretchy, and allows for a translucent effect when swimming which allows for a realistic silhouette and the translucent effect that a real fish has. All colors and paints used in the making are UV resistant and will not fade from exposure in the sun. All products offered by MerrowFins are safe for skin and water.

what i ordered: My tail as a blended waist line, colors I picked Copper, white, Orange and Gold. I ordered a Basic Silicone tail

What i got: My Tail Waistline is Not blended. The back and the front looks the same where he should have done the back a solid color then blended it into the sides into the front to make it look like a real fish belly and backside. I think my tail is to small i cant fit into it.... tried it dry will try again wet...

Used For: This tail is being used for Dry events and Water events, in salt , fresh and chlorinated water.
Now I was informed, By both other reviews and the site that they would give me updates on how the tail was doing throughout the whole process. However Because I told him I didn’t want him to post pictures of my tail On his FB page I wanted to be surprised when I opened the Box. *I gave him the colors and told him to run with it.* I Messaged him half a month out from the devilry date asking how my tail was going….I got a rather nasty response back from that On his fb page.

Craftsmanship: Choppy, sloppy. He rushed and I feel like he didnt give a shit.




Exsperence with Ordering:
Matthew was amazing with helping me with problems of my measurements. he was even willing to go on the phone or video chat to help me with measuring problems. He was very friendly and I felt like I was his number one his most important customer no matter if I was buying the cheapest tail he had or not.



After Ordering, and durning the procice of my tail being Made:


However though my experience while ordering the tail was amazing. After I gave him the payment his Communication skills dropped off to Nothing.

Now I was informed, By both other reviews that they would give me updates on how the tail was doing throughout the whole process. However Because I told him I didn’t want him to post pictures of my tail On his FB page I wanted to be surprised when I opened the Box. *which he ended up posting the last day anyways after I asked him Not to…..* *I gave him the colors and told him to run with it.* I Messaged him half a month out from the devilry date asking how my tail was going….I got a rather unexpected response back from that On his fb page. Keep in mind I didn’t just order it i ordered it two months from the time I posted and asked him how it was going. I only asked because the tail was to be delivered to me 20 days from the date of that message, and I have yet to hear anything from him.

{this is the post} Hello everyone!
I know it's exciting to order a mermaid tail and it's exciting to know your dream is coming true! I'm excited too! But I get extremely anxious when people ask about how long until they get their tail, especially if you just ordered it! Please have patience as I am a one man army! But I am working extremely fast all while trying to maintain the highest product quality! So bear with me please!

I love you all!


Tail Fit: Unknown , cant get into the tail dry might be to small


Tail swimming and Flow: unknown cant get into the tail


Over all, Notes of exsperence:
-I was told I would get a paper with my tail on how to keep up maintenance and care for the tail. I got Nothing but the tail In the box.

-I asked him How to do care and maintenance and he gave me a half ass answer.

-I feel that this tail maker shouldn't be a tail maker due to lack of people skills and WEll Over all care of your experiences with them. I was informed that I would be notified throughout the whole process on how my tail was doing. If you dont wish pictures to be posted Online about your tail then this isnt the place for you.

-When I asked for info about my tail he snapped at me. I only asked about how my tail was doing because I heard Nothing and it was three weeks until my date of arrival or expected due date would be upon me. When it was all said and done my tail got made , put together and painted five days Out from the due date..... So IF something is wrong with the tail Or if I cant fit into the tail I am fucked...and now well over 1000 for a tail I cant use.

-throughout my whole experience my excitement in getting a professional tail went from happy and excited, to worried and scared, to angry and furious with this guy. HIs professionalism is a 0 after he gets payed he doesnt care about you or care about informing you on how things are going.

-I am basally On my own learning how to care for the tail to assure a long life....

-When and if I find someone to repaint my tail if i cant get it to fit, it will be repainted..

-would I recommend them to someone? HELL NO , and I will NOT be getting any other products or items from them IF i can fit into my tail i will send you better pictures and a first swim video and post it on here... thanks for taking the time to read this review.















This is the Tear I got during the first swim, and first time I was ever actually able to get into the tail......I was told to take it to a seamstress and get a lock stitch put it...it would be fine...no offer to help or fix it was made.....


At the top you can see the silicone is starting to tear apart from itself just like it did on the oppsite side during my first swim....this happened on my second swim.....

Here you can see the stitching....it was pointed out to be my a child...durning a gig...they could see the purple running down both sides of my body...I made up a story why I had it...on further inspection i noticed i could actually see the stiching...all the way down. I wanted to cry...this is only my second time IN the tail. This shouldnt be happening.....the tail was made to small...and all he remarked to it...is the tail will be snug it needs to stretch to your body....this shouldnt be happening.

[VanoraSirene]

Hi everyone! I decided to finally post a review of my MerrowFins tail! I originally was going to post a video but unfortunately I ran into some complications with that so I figured I'd do a written review for now!

Tail type: Silicone
Tail price: $3,500
Ordered: October 2015 and asked for it to be done by May 2016.

I give MerrowFins a 4 out of 5 because overall I had a great experience working with Matty!

Customer service: I talked with Matty through e-mail, phone, text, Skype, and Facebook. He was really good at getting back to me and answering every question I had thoroughly and giving me as much information as he could about anything that I was concerned with. I was really worried about getting a tail though wouldn't fit so he invited me down to his home in Florida and he measured me himself and made a template of my body right in front of me. We also sat down and drew up a concept for what I wanted my tail to look like, from the fluke, to the fins, to the colors, and the size of everything. Once the tail making process actually started he sent me updates throughout the entire time starting from the plywood he used to sculpt on, to the last fin he attached!

The tail itself/Pros: The complete product is everything I could imagine and more! It's absolutely stunning in photos but is a billion times more beautiful in person! The colors are super vibrant but still have that dark edgey feel to it that I wanted. And the whole thing is ENORMOUS! The full length of the tail is 100 inches (8 feet 4 inches) which is bigger than I am! (I'm 5 feet 6 inches.) The fluke is 42 inches by 42 inches. And my extra fins (hip/pectoral fins and dorsal fin) are 30 inches long by 15 inches wide. The scales are awesome, they're detailed and look nice up close and from a distance. I've used it in the water a few times now and it has really incredible flow but it still has a ton of power behind it too so it gives gorgeous and natural looking underwater photos! Matty also took it a step forward and made my tail glow-in-the-dark!













Cons: I've had a few minor issues with my tail but nothing that wasn't an easy fix. The first is, because of the huge size and weight of the fins, I've had the edge lift like an inch or so, which I easily fixed with some black silicone. I'm the first person to actually have these fins, so I was the guinea pig. And the last was that I have a belly roll so when I put my tail on the first time it was uncomfortable because it liked the do the "roll" some of you may have experienced before. So I told Matty and he offered to attach a nude colored extension at the waist which basically is like a nude colored silicone corset that just makes the tail go up way past my waist and sucks everything in and holds everything up!

Side notes: This tail is very heavy and very large so it's difficult to carry so be prepared to endure that. The size of the fluke alone is massive so you will NOT be able to do the mermaid tail flip over the head thing! Matty did tell me this before he made my tail and I was okay with it so it isn't an issue for me. The picture above where my tail is up behind me, I have it up against a rock to give it that awesome flop! But if that is something you want to do this fluke shape probably is not for you! He does offer multiple other flukes that are smaller than mine, so you can always choose from those! Also I have yet to a night time shoot so when I do I will post pictures of how the glow in the dark looks on camera! I know he offers that feature in a bunch of different colors!

[Prince Calypso]

So My mermaid tail came in this morning.
It took me a minute to realize what the UPS man was handling me cause I had just woken up and when I did I was omg!!!
Attachment 38392

I really do love this tail and Matt was such a sweetheart throughout the entire process, from design to completions.
He even added a dorsal fin free of charge and paid the shipping in handling for it which was such a big favor because most of my cash is tried up in my wedding right now.
though the design is not exactly what I originally wanted it grew on me from the moment Matt sent me the concept design
though I do wish it was a bit more purple but that's not that big of a deal.
the tail has a few imperfections however.
The tail is tight lol. not so tight that i can't fit into it but still tight.
its kinda my fault lol
I measured for the tail to be tight before knowing that Matt makes his tails to be tight
so now it double tight lol
it took me almost 5 minute to get in and out of the tail
The scales are very rough in some places and there are also small globs of silicone here and there that make sit look like the tail has skin-tags
Attachment 38393


Attachment 38394


Attachment 38395



Another issue is the fluke. Firstly its not asymmetrical. One side looks similar to the flukes from the mermaids in Pirates of The Caribbean, and the other half looks a little like Ariel's fluke lol
secondly there is a spot on the fluke where it looks like a glob of silicone that was painted came off leaving a black spot.
Attachment 38396


I also would have preferred a bit more purple in the color scheme for the tail but all and all its still beatiful in it sown way.
Overall I am extremely Happy with my tail. Yeah it has a few flaws but honestly it just matches its owner lol
even with its imperfections. I paid around 550$ for a basic silicone tail and I feel like I got exactly what I paid for.
Alot of the time I feel people order tails that are under 1000 bucks and expect over 100 quality and then get upset over it
I would happily order from Matt again.

[Dolphin Man]

At long last, even though I haven't had a chance yet to swim in the tail, Matt deserves a positive review. Matt showed enthusiasm throughout planning and making my tail. He would respond immediately to my emails. This also came through in chatting about merfolking in general. Matt clearly has a passion.

He was flexible. While offering creative ideas for my dolphin self, Matt put fulfilling my vision of the tail above all.

Now, onto the tail itself. It came packed in a huge box with styrofoam peanuts. I'm still looking forward to being able to swim with it, but I have put it on a couple of times. The tail fin is definitely heavy. It's tricky to get all the way into the tail, specifically to get your feet into the foot pockets. To be honest, what I envisioned would be a smooth dolphin-like extremity color-matched as best as possible to my skin. So, this means no scales added, which might otherwise cover up certain points inevitable when you're putting together a tail. He said he did his best to paint it in such a way as to hide those points. You can see the photos here. There were areas with tiny bumps. It's not purely smooth.

Overall, it feels very sturdy... again with a very heavy mono fin.

[Tasha Nicole]

My experience with MerrowFins: (written as a letter to him which is why it says "you" a lot. he replied basically blaming me and my pod for misuse but stated that the holes are from air bubbles because he didn't cure the silicone properly but because i already accepted the package he won't refund me or fix it or anything)

I am very dissatisfied with my MerrowFins Basic Silicone Tail. I paid money for a professional grade tail, yet it hasn’t lasted three months. There are holes throughout the tail and the dorsal is falling off, as shown in the attached photographs. This is extremely unacceptable and unprofessional. I am a professional mermaid with the Circus Siren Pod, and I need a high quality mermaid tail that can withstand the pressures professional tails go through. Due to your work with the Gasparilla mermaids, I thought you could provide such work, yet I have been misled and disappointed on that front.
I purchased the tail in June 16, 2017 and was quoted a 5 to 12 week production time. I was also told that the price would be $750, then a 15% discount would be applied due to the before summer sale. This would make the total $637.50 plus shipping, yet I was charged and paid $705. That would mean I was charged $67.50 for shipping, yet I have proof that shipping did not cost nearly that much, thanks to the shipping label on the box. I have made peace with the difference in the prices, but I cannot get past the fact that I paid for a professional quality tail and have not received that quality.
The 5 to 12 week timeframe came and went, and my messages were unanswered. I was getting extremely worried and anxious as I tried to contact you via social media and email. It was very unprofessional of you to not answer my messages. Finally, on October 30, 2017 (19.5 weeks after the tail was ordered and paid for in full), I received an unfinished tail. The tail that I had received was not fully painted as we had discussed. In this instance, you were very considerate and offered to add on a dorsal fin at no extra cost to myself to make up for the mistake. I thought this was very generous of you, but then you required me to pay $26.21 for shipping to return the tail to you so you could finish the job I had already paid you to do. Because you were adding on a dorsal for me, I wasn’t too upset about having to pay for the shipping, but the dorsal was of such low quality, and the dorsal broke a few days after I had it, that I question whether I should have accepted the proposal of adding the dorsal at all.
Adding the dorsal added additional time onto when I would receive it, and I finally got it back around December 9, 2017 (25 weeks since the original order date). This means that it was unavailable for me to use for about 13 weeks longer than I was quoted. For a hobbyist, this is not an issue, but you were well aware of the fact that I am a professional who performs in a professional pod that requires a professional costume. As someone who makes a career out of preforming, authenticity is very important to me and my pod and I was unable to meet these standards for my customers, my pod, and my career because of your miscommunication, negligent dealing of the situation and plain apathy of the finished product. It is really unprofessional to give one time and then not update me when that timeframe has been pushed back. Thankfully, Morgana Alba had an extra tail that she allowed me to use while I waited for my MerrowFins to come in.
Once I received the tail, I found it difficult to get into as I was not used to tails with dorsal fins. I asked for help on the MerrowFins Facebook Group, and other people commented, but you did not. On December 18, 2017, I noticed that my dorsal had ripped. I had only used it once, for a birthday party, and I was extremely careful when putting it on and storing it. I messaged you about my distress, and you replied “thats the most common place of tearing, usually due to the first few times of putting the tail on or from sliding in your tail”, then went on to tell me how you recommend I put on the tail. Your recommendation would have been more helpful had you posted it as a comment on my post in the Facebook group, where it would have benefited other mermaids as well. Also, if most people tear their dorsal the first few times they put it on, something should be done on the tail maker’s end to ensure it doesn’t keep happening. If the product keeps tearing the first few times it is put on, it is not a professional grade product.
On January 26, 2017, my pod helped me fix the dorsal with Sil-Poxy. The dorsal stayed together throughout my aquarium gig and mermaid FaceTimes. Then on February 8, 2017 I had a photoshoot. After the photoshoot, I noticed the dorsal had torn again. Once again, I had treated the tail with exceptional care, especially after the original tear. I did not want any more issues with this tail. However, on February 18, 2017, my podmates noticed holes covering the tail, due to how thin the tail is. A tail that thin cannot be put through the strenuous activities of a professional mermaid, yet you advertise your tails to be of professional quality by promoting the fact that the Gasparilla mermaids use all types of your tails, including the Basic Silicone tail.
I entrusted you to create a durable, authentic, life-like tail and at every turn of this experience and you have let me down. You knew that I was a professional, as I had mentioned the possibility of my pod coming to you for our official company tails if you did a solid job on my tail. Yet, you still delivered a tail not fit for a professional mermaid. I’ve been able to use this tail for less than three months, and it is already falling apart. This is not a professional quality and you should be ashamed of giving out such low-quality work and calling it professional.
I cannot keep sending it back for you to fix. It should not need to be sent back to be fixed. Members of my pod have had their tail for years without any incidents and very minimal wear and tear. I have barely had mine for months and it is already breaking (for lack of a better word). It is very unprofessional, and very heartbreaking. Sending it back to you to be fixed leaves me without a tail for the time you have it, and therefore out of work for that time. Not only am I losing money for the work I am missing while you have the tail, I am also spending money on the shipping to send it back to you. Therefore, I understand that you give all of your customers the ability to send it back to be fixed once, but that is an unreasonable response when the tail should be made well enough to not need to be sent back for a while.
Your apathetic and dismissive approach to this entire situation is extremely disheartening, and, quite frankly, insulting. As a professional performer whose tail is very important to the role, the realism and quality of my costume reflects directly to my compensation; the tail you have provided me can now only serve as a practice tail for my pods routines, and a tail of the standards acceptable by the professional mermaid community must now be purchased. Seeing as I went to you with the trust and understanding that you would build me a durable, custom fit tail that I could depend on when I could have taken my money to another tail maker, and you failed in delivering me a product of sound quality, I feel that it is more than fair to ask for my money back in full for the tail plus the shipping expenses. As a professional in this career field, tails are extremely expensive and I cannot, in good faith, continue to perform in a tail that is falling to pieces at every turn.

[FloridaSiren]

I just wanted to share a bad experience that I recently had with Matt at Merrowfins. I purchased multiple tails from him for my team. His communication is terrible! He fails to respond to any messages in a timely manner, ignores the other mermaids on my team when they reach out for status updates, constantly missed deadlines, and gave me several final products that were not the color scheme/design of the renderings. Two were cut too low, and one was completely sized incorrectly which he blamed on his seamstress messing up.

I took one of tails to him to be altered a couple of weeks ago, and have had trouble getting it back. I even drove up to Orlando and was told it was at the seamstress and she was closed for the day so I couldn't retrieve it. Meanwhile, a few days later, I saw photos of ANOTHER mermaid that I didn't even know wearing it and posting photos in it for multiple gigs without my permission or knowledge. He allowed her to use it while simultaneously telling me it was at the seamstress. I cannot imagine a tailmaker telling a client their tail is being altered and then renting it out to someone else behind their back like that. This was my paid for personal property. So very unethical and I would never purchase another tail from him nor do business with him again. Please beware!

[Prince Calypso]

So I'm not a happy fish right now.
I ordered my second mermaid tail from Merrowfins and it ran My husband and me just a little over a thousand dollars. We waited for almost half a year if not longer for it to be finished and what I got is completely upsetting.


Now, I want to preface my tail review with one simple thing. This is not gonna be me Bashing Matt or his company over my tail, or painting him as the villain, as normally happens in the mermaid community when someone gets a badly made tail. I'm not gonna jump on the hate train and bad mouth the man. now that being said... I am not happy with my tail. not in the slightest.
and this will most likely be the last tail I order from Merrowfins

For the complete review along with Pictures check out my Facebook Post
https://www.facebook.com/OfTheFairie...37191883006165

[Prince Calypso]

So I'm not a happy fish right now.
I ordered my second mermaid tail from Merrowfins and it ran my husband and I, just a little over a thousand dollars. I ordered my tail in August of last year and just got it yesterday evening.
Now I want to preface my tail review with one simple thing. This is not gonna be me bashing Matt., or painting him as the villain, as normally happens int he mermaid community when someone gets a badly made tail. I'm not gonna jump on the hate train and bad mouth the man over shoddy craftsmanship. now that being said... I am not happy with my tail. not in the slightest and this will more than likely be my final dealing with MerrowFins.


when I first contacted Matt, all the way back in August of 2017, about making me a second tail, he seemed really excited with the original design I sent him. which, was a tail that as supposed to have been based on the mermaid tails from Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I had initially asked if he could make the fins on the tail out of fabric instead of silicone so I could have the flowy ethereal look that the mermaids in POTC had.
At first, he agreed, then later he suggested that we do silicone anyway, something having to do with hygiene and wet fabric getting moldy. I went along with his idea as he was the tail maker, not me and I believed he knew what he was talking about.
we discussed the tail on and off for a few more months till My husband could get him paid. Matt seemed really excited about the tail was enthusiastic in going over it with me. Now I have numerous reference photos for the tail. all of which I offered to send him as references for how the tail was supposed to look.
[IMG ] [/ IMG] [IMG ][/ IMG]


So a couple of months go by and I don't really say anything to Matt, not wanting to be "That" mer and bug constantly for updates over my tail, but as the month's tick down I don't hear anything from him. emails go sparsely answered then completely unanswered. I let it be for a few more months, enjoy the holidays and college and the like.
Finally, after messaging Merrowfins through their Instagram I get a reply. my tail is almost done. just needs to be painted. a few more months go by and a finally get a picture of the tail.
the fins are bit bigger and bulkier than I was expecting but I assume the tail is still in its early stages and will look better once it's complete. I also didn't really notice the seams of the fins where they attach to the tail casue all this is being viewed through my Instagram account on my phone. The months drag one and my messages for updates go unanswered once again.

[IMG ] [/ IMG]

At one point Matt assures me again that my tail is close to being finished but that he would like to give me a tail with his new scale design and offers to sell my original tail to make a new one. At this point, however, I had already waited pretty long and was starting to grow antsy. As much as I liked the new look of his scales I just wanted my tail. I stated just as much and didn't get a reply for nearly another month. finally about... two or three months ago I get some updates.
Matt has Hired a new assistance to help with the social media side of things so I interact with her more than anything else. replies are still slow as hell but at least I'm getting somewhere.
Finally, I get a picture of the complete tail, or more over the back of the tail. which should have sent up red flags that he clearly didn't want me to see the front, but I was still hopeful. The tail is completely purple which is not the color scheme I wanted. I let Matt's assistant know and she gets back to him. He says he'll correct it. I'm told the tail is done and is just waiting for my approval. I get the pictures of the complete tail a few weeks later.
from the angle of the photos, I couldn't really see the seams of the fins but I was more focused on the look of the tail due to tot he size of the fins. I wanted On Stranger Tides and what I got, in my opinion, was Betta Fish. This made me extremely apprehensive about the tail but we had already paid and waited this long, I just wanted it in my possession at least. t so I took a deep breath and gave it my approval.
mind you once again, I'm viewing all this fro the small screen of my phone, since Instagram is the only way to reach and communicate with Merrowfins at that time. so I'm not getting a really true look at the tail.

[IMG ] [/ IMG]

Looks pretty from the back right?

[IMG ] [/ IMG] [IMG ] [/ IMG]

I'm told the tail is being shipped out that day. I expected to be sent the tracking number on the tail that same day. it took me asking Matt's assistant to get me the tracking number and it took her two whole days to get it to me.
My tail finally arrived yesterday evening and what little excitement I had for it was immediately crushed upon opening the box. I'm so disappointed and underwhelmed that I'm trying not to cry.
seeing the seams of the fins up close reveals that they look horrible. They literally look thrown on the tail shoddily attached. Not seamless, the extra silicone spills over the scales tot he point, that they might as well not be there.
I'm not even upset with the imperfections in the scale mold of the tail. that I could have overlooked honestly. even the rubbed off color on the fluke and the odd hairs in the silicone, but the fins... I just can not believe this.
my prior tail from Matt which was far cheaper than this one looks better but I've put on weight and can't fit into that tail which was already a little snug to begin with, which is why I ordered another tail.
after the nearly a year of waiting, putting up with inconsistent emails and messages, this is what I end up with?
I am not going to drag or vilify Merrowfins over this but is my belief that Matt knew the tail was shoddily made, or at least that the fins were not done properly, which was why he offered to make me another one and sell this one but when he couldn't find a buyer for it, due to the fact that I am "rather petite" (his words not mine), he rushed through this one to get it out to me.
If that had been the case, all that needed to be said was that the tail was not coming out as expected and would need to be scrapped and redone. I wouldn't have been happy but I would have agreed. As is stands, whatever the case is I am completely and utterly disappointed int this tail. It is not what I envisioned or paid for and I'm honestly just so... disappointed isn't even the right word.

I will be emailing Merrowfins to let them know I am sending the tail back and expect either a complete refund or a new tail