She posted about the circumstances frequently on her FB page, right after her surge of summer orders, the silicone distributors went on back order and they didn't even notify the people who had placed orders. So they waited a while for the silicone and then when they finally called found out they were back ordered and had NO IDEA when they'd be able to send them new stuff. Then, her partner got a new job which left her to do the entire job by herself, and she wasn't even home in her studio to do it- she was staying with an extended family member. So when she was able to make the tails finally when things came through she literally pulled all nighters doing them in order from when they were ordered as silicone came in. When all this happened, they had stopped taking orders, and all the silicone didn't come at once. Then she got sick @_@. I couldn't exactly fly over and help so I tried to give some suggestions for managing the emails. You gotta realize, she'd have the email that were just questions, the emails of people who wanted to buy and hadn't read that she wasn't taking orders, the emails that were just fans,people who wanted to book her or book her mermaids, then every person who ordered a tail wanted multiple updates. She could sit there for a day and filter emails and reply, or spend the day making the tails, so she decided to make the tails. I taught her how to change some email settings to help her filter some things, and we realized she wasn't even GETTING some of the emails (which was also posted about on FB) and how to set up automated responses that gave answers to frequently asked questions. She also decided to save time she'd only be sending 1 process pic during the tail making, of when the tail was starting to be painted. Before that, they all look the same generally. And painting is the important step to make sure you're conveying what the person wants.For all the people who have apparently ordered ones, we certainly don't hear a lot about it. I wonder why.
She did post these things multiple times on her FB, and let people know that despite the delays she was still striving to put things in the mail as soon as possible. She sent lots of stuff out without even getting to take a photo of it She also said on FB she'll be compensating people who had to wait a super long time with extra gifts.
There's a LOT of pressure as I'm sure Jesse, Stevi, and other tail makers will tell you, not to repeat mistakes others have made, and to live up to very high expectations. Originally Raven was only doing one order at a time but the demand became too big so she decided to take on more and stuff like this happens. At the very least she did her best to keep people updated as a whole (I realize people want individual emails, but working 100% by herself that just wasn't possible) and compensate. I think she learned a heck of a lot through this whole thing, and how she'll do some things differently, but honestly there's not a whole lot you can do when the people supplying your silicone don't come through
I'm just thankful people are being so kind, patient, and good about it. Having Raven as a friend I see stuff the public doesn't get to see and I KNOW how hard she works to make sure she lives up to everyone's expectations. She takes it very seriously and wants every mer to have their perfect dream tail and she puts a lot of pressure on herself to make sure it's absolutely perfect the first time. I had to wait a long time for my tail, it was delayed for a lot of reasons I didn't know at first and once I found out, I was frustrated but I could totally see how there wasn't anything anyone can do. I can promise you, all that melts away the instant that giant-ass box shows up at your house and you pull that beast out of the packing peanuts !!! You're going to have the best freaking tail of your life and it'll last your life. Mine was the first silicone she made, and she's learned so much since then, and mine was made thinner than any other silicone tail on the market and I'm telling you, the thing has taken a beating and doesn't show it!!!
And just to drive you even more crazy...
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