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Thread: Swimtails is out of business for good

  1. #1

    Swimtails is out of business for good

    People started posting that they got notices they were getting refunds, then the Swimtails IG sight was taken down now one of their ambassadors posted this on FB
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  2. #2
    Senior Member Pod of The South MidsummerMermaid's Avatar
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    Oh my god that's insane. Not terribly surprising but still, they're one of the major tail makers

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  3. #3
    Very interesting. I only started reading about all this drama yesterday, when I got an email notifying me that an order I had placed a week prior was refunded but given no information on why. I emailed support, but in the meantime did some googling and read what's been going on with the company the past year or so and found this forum in the process. In any case, I received the following email from them today in response:

    "Hello Katy,Your Current Order has been canceled and refunded, due to a shortage of necessary materials to complete production.
    A full Refund has been processed, please allow up to 3-10 business days to see that credit on your account, depending on your bank or financial institution.
    If you have any questions regarding the refund, please let us know.


    The cart is closed for the foreseeable future, however if and when it does reopen, we will notify you and provide a special discount code if you wish to place your order at a future time. We apologize sincerely for the inconvenience.


    Fincerely,
    Ryan Newman"


    So they clearly aren't telling their customers if they are, in fact, shutting down for good. I can't say I have a strong opinion on them closing down, just some disappointment because I really like their tails (I have 2 already) but I'm definitely not on board with their use of images they didn't have permission to profit off of OR the issues with failing to honor orders or ensure refunds were successful in the past.

    Guess I will have to try and take in my current tail, since I like the Mahina and don't like any of the other options using that fin currently.
    Last edited by chickcasa; 09-21-2019 at 09:13 PM. Reason: formatting

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by chickcasa View Post
    Very interesting. I only started reading about all this drama yesterday, when I got an email notifying me that an order I had placed a week prior was refunded but given no information on why. I emailed support, but in the meantime did some googling and read what's been going on with the company the past year or so and found this forum in the process. In any case, I received the following email from them today in response:

    "Hello Katy,Your Current Order has been canceled and refunded, due to a shortage of necessary materials to complete production.
    A full Refund has been processed, please allow up to 3-10 business days to see that credit on your account, depending on your bank or financial institution.
    If you have any questions regarding the refund, please let us know.


    The cart is closed for the foreseeable future, however if and when it does reopen, we will notify you and provide a special discount code if you wish to place your order at a future time. We apologize sincerely for the inconvenience.


    Fincerely,
    Ryan Newman"


    So they clearly aren't telling their customers if they are, in fact, shutting down for good. I can't say I have a strong opinion on them closing down, just some disappointment because I really like their tails (I have 2 already) but I'm definitely not on board with their use of images they didn't have permission to profit off of OR the issues with failing to honor orders or ensure refunds were successful in the past.

    Guess I will have to try and take in my current tail, since I like the Mahina and don't like any of the other options using that fin currently.
    At least this time Vs last time (2018) they are sending out notices and (hopefully) refunds (though no one has gotten one yet, but the notices have only just gone out and it does take a few days to process those). Honestly without putting out a PA of some kind first (after the last time they nose dived) I really don't see how they could make a 3rd comeback.

  5. #5
    Administrator MerNetworkMod's Avatar
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    So I have background checked this and seen screen shots of multiple emails that people have reported. So here are the facts as I can confirm them:

    Swimtails started to refund people without any warning. However none of these people have actually gotten their refunds yet, just the notification on their invoices. If you are impacted by this, keep an eye on your credit card to see if you are refunded. A few people reported that Swimtails did this in the past and all they did was mark the invoices refunded. They didn't actually get any money, which according to the people who posted, Swimtails tried to blame it on their banks but it was proven they didn't actually refund people. So be sure to keep an eye on it, and file a claim with your credit card company if the refund doesn't come through. You can use the cancelled invoice as proof.

    People might want to use this thread for keeping track.

    I haven't got all the back end of the site figured out yet, but I'll speak to Iona about adding swimtails to the tail maker black list.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Mermoviemedic View Post
    At least this time Vs last time (2018) they are sending out notices and (hopefully) refunds (though no one has gotten one yet, but the notices have only just gone out and it does take a few days to process those). Honestly without putting out a PA of some kind first (after the last time they nose dived) I really don't see how they could make a 3rd comeback.
    Yep this was my thoughts, at least they just cancelled the orders relatively quickly instead of waiting for people to start hunting them down, but I'm still going to keep my eyes peeled to make sure the refund actually comes through.

    They clearly don't understand the concept of paying attention to how many orders are coming through and shutting off orders BEFORE they are too low on materials (if that is even the actual reason this happened this time.) And yes, they turned of checkout but NOWHERE on their website does it state they aren't taking orders and you are still able to add items to the cart. It's not like it's unusual for growing tail makers to have to stop taking orders because demand outpaces supply. That's totally normal. What's NOT normal is not being transparent about everything.

    I also noticed that their IG was first empty then completely gone yesterday, but is back up today though the profile info says CLOSED. Again, you'd expect they put up a post on there and Facebook saying "hey we're closed for orders due to high volume" or "sorry we are no longer open for business." They may have learned some things last year but clearly not enough.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Pod of Oceania Mermaid Jaffa's Avatar
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    What a shame. *SIGH* They do have nice tails.
    But their website is still open.
    Last edited by Mermaid Jaffa; 09-23-2019 at 06:03 AM.
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  8. #8
    Administrator MerNetworkMod's Avatar
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    It's very odd they've kept the website open. There's the potential for people to still go an order.

  9. #9
    My first tgought was that they closed jist the cart because Shopify left them.

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  10. #10
    Senior Member Pod of The South Slim's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MerNetworkMod View Post
    It's very odd they've kept the website open. There's the potential for people to still go an order.
    You’ll get an error message when you go to checkout


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  11. #11
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod Trade Winds's Avatar
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    I've seen them claim they are closing due to knock offs being produced and stealing their business. They are to release a statement later this week according to some FB posts I've seen from others. That reasoning is a cover up even tho I have seen knock offs of betta tails on amazon.



  12. #12
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    So this whole thing just reeks.

    How can people be stealing from them when their designs are made FROM STOCK that is mostly royalty free? ANYONE can access it. Yes knock offs happen for sure, but when you're using content that is legally and publicly available, yeah others are gonna use it.

    Some of the posts I have seen from Ryan contradict himself and it seems like he's throwing shade at his wife IMO. Some passive aggressive replies in emails about tails nearly being done but management choosing to cancel. Like that doesn't seem appropriate to me at all but he gaslights so much on FB posts I am of the opinion there's an abusive personality going on there, personally.

    It seems a bit of karma if they indeed go under due to theft, considering they have stolen designs from at least 3 with a possible 4th that I know of (documented in the other threads here).

    I hope if they do try to stage a come back people never buy from this company again. So many shady deals, people who years later still haven't gotten tails or been refunded, his behaviour online towards clients (calling one mentally ill!) it's unacceptable.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Trade Winds View Post
    I've seen them claim they are closing due to knock offs being produced and stealing their business. They are to release a statement later this week according to some FB posts I've seen from others. That reasoning is a cover up even tho I have seen knock offs of betta tails on amazon.


    I call bullshit, in the SEA of knockoff tails on Ali or Wish or any of the others, probably less than a percent of them are swimtails. IMHO it's a "valid" enough reason to pass the blame of their disgusting behavior over the past year (at least) instead of admitting fault for their actions and their attempts at art theft
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  14. #14
    Ok so something no one has mentioned that is also possible! Last year swim tails blew up and the wife I’m not sure what her name is posted on Instagram about she was very sad swimtails would be closing because her husband couldn’t keep it in his pants with an employee! And was upset because the store was her baby! Then it all got pulled cause Ryan prob got access to it all!

    What I am wondering is if they have been in the process of getting a divorce and determining who has rights to the business to make business decisions! And maybe it got settled and the person probably the wife chose to shut it down especially if a investor had pulled out!

    I bet this played some part in the blow up just not sure how much!


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  15. #15
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
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    Oh yeah that's what I am eluding to with him seemingly passing the buck to his wife. I KNOW that happened despite them changing their story afterwards, because I messaged his wife!

  16. #16
    UPDATE- I received my refund. So at least there's that? Will probably be ordering a mertailor though I really didn't want to spend the money on an additional fin.

    I'm not convinced they are closed for good, considering their website is still up and the Instagram has a new post today. They have comments turned off on IG, probably to avoid drama in the comments from the current situation. Seriously though if they wanted to handle this thing right they would have a big banner on their site saying NOT TAKING ORDERS and it wouldn't be possible to add items to the cart. I don't think simply getting an error when you're ready to check out is enough. All that does is avoid them having to issue more refunds, which is clearly about making things easier on THEM and not considering the customer experience. Even just marking everything as out of stock would be better.

  17. #17
    From what they told me, they said that they will be having one big final sale before shutting down

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  18. #18
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sirenea View Post
    From what they told me, they said that they will be having one big final sale before shutting down

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    After cancelling a bunch of people's orders? LOL that's not gonna go over well

  19. #19
    I mean if I can re order the exact tail I was just refunded for cheaper I am not going to complain. Or if I can afford a fancier tail with the sale price. Since I actually did get a refund if they legitimately have a going out of business sale I may take full advantage.

  20. #20
    I just got a mertailor fantasea fin three and skin and it's amazing. I know they are expensive but trust me when I say you will "NOT" be sorry. I'm taking Beryl (that's what I've named my tail) to my local pool tomorrow to really open her up, but it's by far the best tail ive ever bought

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