Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: What do you do when you receive an awful tail from a maker?

  1. #1

    What do you do when you receive an awful tail from a maker?

    I Commissioned a Mermaid Tail from Purple Mermaid Studios on September 7th 2018. I received it January 25th 2019 and it was not up to par as per their advertisements. I mailed the maker my own mono fin to be put into the tail. I just don't know what to do with this thing. It's not usable, and looks absolutely awful. I'd like to cut out my mahina mono fin from it, but I'm not sure what to do with the body part? I could probably just throw it in the Garbage, but for $400+ dollars I feel super cheated. I wish I could have gotten a refund or at least an acknowledgement of her mistakes.

    I tried to go through PayPal, but since it is under "Custom" product, they cannot side with me even though they acknowledge all the issues with both the product and the seller. Is there any other ways to get a refund? The "shop" will not respond to me. I will be out of work all summer from this disaster, as well as missing out on having my mermaid tail which i've been looking forward to a long time





    The Tail is currently unusable to me and I will list all the issues below:

    - Sloppy work : The tail looks very rushed with globs of Silicone and seams all over it. Not all scales are even or straight.


    - The fin/fluke is not centred and features a Black seam all around it which is very messy and was not brought to attention pre-purchase. It was also cut in a very jagged edge across the sides for a very unfinished look.


    -The fit. I had my measurements taken twice. once by a professional seamstress and once at home to ensure it would be a perfect fit. The tail is a bit large in the waist, too tight at the knee, and wrinkles at the foot.


    - The "V" shape I requested be cut into the waistline was not done.


    - There is 3 separate spots of RED paint or dirt that was made into the tail (under the silicone)


    - The thread on the side seams are beginning to stretch and pull out on the left side only. they are ready to snap which would make the entire tail come undone. The threads used were also not a color match and can be easily seen on the outline. (white on left, black on right)

    - The shipping package was not well taped, and was busted open on top

    - Seller communication. It was poor throughout, but as soon as I
    received my tail it's been radio silence, until she answered ignoring all of the above, and saying she should have looked over her employees work before it was sent out shifting all blame (which still doesn't fix anything)


    I don't believe the work I received is professional or up to standard. It looks very rushed even though it had a long wait time (after the advertised 1 month production). This is not something I can use. I am now out of both a tail, and the money I paid for it.


    I am extremely disappointed in this tail.


    https://photos.app.goo.gl/c6BfGapJTJJT1DhS9 (link to google photo album)


  2. #2
    Senior Member Pod of Oceania Mermaid Jaffa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Silverwater, NSW Australia
    Posts
    4,806
    Add Mermaid Jaffa on Facebook
    Visit Mermaid Jaffa's Youtube Channel
    Yikes! Terrible work on it.

    Though it looks baggy enough to be fixable by someone with real skills. Is it neoprene?
    Formerly known as ireneho

  3. #3
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod Trade Winds's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    942
    In regards to your money, you may be out of luck. You could always complain to the BBB (it does work, just look at how Swimtails got blasted down to an F rating) but if the tailmaker has a strong ToS, they will use that against you. That's something you agreed to, so if they have no refunds/no returns, unless they make an exception, too bad. At this point I would either sell the tail to someone who would be interested in it as a fixer-upper, or pay someone to fix it for you. Did you buy from her on etsy? I'd leave a review there to, to go along with the other bad reviews. You're not the only one with this problem.



  4. #4
    I've typed and erased and rewritten replies to this so many times, because I really do want to approach this in the best way possible.

    Ideally, I'd love to make this right.

    Feel free to call this shifting blame, but I want it to be understood that from June-December I had a friend working for me. We tried to split the work evenly, and sometimes that meant I worked on one tail exclusively, and she worked on another tail exclusively. She worked on this tail exclusively, I figured she could do a simple Ariel tail and I was wrong. I know that if I had worked on this tail it would look much better than it does. I take full responsibility for making a bad call on that.

    I was hit really hard financially in the last few months and have been struggling to even pay my rent. So, my emergency funds that I usually keep for refunds were depleted. Does that make me a bad business owner? Probably, but there was nothing that I could do. I'm still working on getting back on my feet.

    Anyway, sob story aside, I would really like to make this right, so if you'd like to work something out please feel free to contact me. And I apologise if any of this comes across as unprofessional, I've been really unsure as to the best way to approach this situation.

    Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    Senior Member North Pacific Pod
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
    Location
    Wa state usa
    Posts
    205
    I hope you guys work this out. However myself having had a business ruined by a good friend, not overseeing every final product you put out is a very very bad idea.

    The adage "if you want it done right, do it yourself" is extra true in a business where you make things. :/
    -Siren Gita
    Blue ocean "siren"
    -rulesNazi

    User formerly known as derBears

  6. #6
    Hey yeah I have reached out but haven't heard anything back. I wouldn't have to be posting any of this if you would have just responded and listened to me rather than ignoring me and the points I brought up about it.

    The worst part of the tail by far is the Fluke and the black edge around the sides, but the messiness all around is pretty bad too.

    I feel commissioners should be completely transparent in their products, and if they have any additional help. I wouldn't have bought this in the first place if I knew it was going to come looking like this.

    Without this tail, I'm now missing out on a full season of work, so yes I completely understand the struggle and that is now what i'm going to face as I was counting on this for work. If you would have communicated this with me, I would have been understanding and willing to wait for a refund. I'm a patient girl. But I was met with no responses.

    If you want the tail back I'll send it back. again, it's not something that will be used by me.

    Please contact me if you actually do want to work this out. I'm wiling to listen

  7. #7
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod Trade Winds's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    942
    Did you get this resolved?

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Trade Winds View Post
    Did you get this resolved?
    Yes, I'll be refunding her once I have the funds.

    Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

  9. #9
    I'll update here when/if I get the refund

  10. #10
    Issue still not resolved. Please be cautious when commissioning online.
    I am still currently out of a tail for this season and will be out of work because of this mess

  11. #11
    I am beyond upset at Purple Mermaid Studios. I have been shown nothing but unprofessionalism in this exchange. I have been told I would get a refund, and I have not received it, but have been blocked by her.
    Not having this tail has put me out of an ENTIRE season of work. I figured i'd sell it to another mer for practise fixing it up (I charged the cost of packing it up and shipping from Canada) and nothing more.

    DO NOT COMMISSION PURPLE MERMAID STUDIOS. BUYER BEWARE.

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •