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Thread: What happened to Jesse?

  1. #181
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
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    my guess is it's covering a mistake. He either dropped the pink there and had to improvise or something else.

  2. #182
    Senior Member Pod of The South
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    Quote Originally Posted by AniaR View Post
    my guess is it's covering a mistake. He either dropped the pink there and had to improvise or something else.
    I agree. Jesse was one of the first tail-makers I happened to hear about when i first started into mermaiding (happened to see his test swim videos on Youtube) and its very sad to see him do things like this, but I think that was the only thing he could think of to fix whatever problem he created. Very sad to see his company going so downhill
    ~Merman Rett Of Georgia~

    (Formerly Known as Risingmermaid)

  3. #183
    Senior Member Euro Pod Samantha Siren's Avatar
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    Will be even sadder if he doesn't start paying me back and I have to call the cops on him. He's already a day late and not replied to me!
    User formerly known as "Samantha".

  4. #184
    So glad you finally got your refund Merkitty! I haven't seen a dime yet. sigh.

  5. #185
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    ugggh see there is such a fine balance between giving a tail maker a chance and not over doing it with the online concerns, and then having that totally taken advantage of when you try to do that. It's so hard to know when you should give someone a chance and when we should speak up. I feel like if we all said something earlier maybe some people could of avoided this... but how were any of us to know I guess.

    Sorry Shelley

  6. #186
    Situations like these are always really hard to predict. If more people had spoken out sooner, it's possible things could have been resolved faster... Or he could have just panicked and disappeared with everyone's money like so many other tailmakers before. I'm really, really sorry for everyone who's been caught up in all of this. This is such a mess, omg. Even Jesse's whiteknights aren't trying to defend him anymore, and that says a lot.
    Last edited by Starfrit; 05-01-2015 at 09:45 AM. Reason: oops how I grammar

  7. #187
    Senior Member Pod of Texas Seatan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PearlieMae View Post
    Maybe he's just not very good at it.
    Pearlie, I think that this is at the heart of most problems that tail makers end up having. They are able to create a silicone tail, but they reach a limit where they are unable to progress any further on their own with the silicone medium (perhaps they need to go to an FX conference or get together with FX artists to learn new methods), but they don't want to admit it so they continue taking orders. As the orders pile on they become stressed and their work goes downhill even farther. One of the mermaids who worked at the Ren Faire in Dallas/Fort Worth and received one of Finfolk's very early tails was my student last year and she had some negative things to say about their quality--but that was one of their early tails and they made a point to improve drastically. I don't know if they or Raven have ever gone to any workshops on FX designs or if Abby, Bryn, and Raven are just three people who, when they reached their first "limit," had enough talent to think through it and TOOK THE TIME to fix the problem before continuing their designs, refusing to send out anything but their best work. I think new tail makers get themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place by advertising themselves as an alternative to the "big" silicone tail makers whose skill level is above theirs and, when the clients are disappointed, they just end up trying to cover their butts. Unfortunately that doesn't work when your competition (like Finfolk or Merbella) would absolutely make it right if something happened while they were making your tail to make it something other than promised. Even the best tail makers can get super behind--we've all seen people wait months and months and months to get their tails, no clue when the production will be finished--so if it's that difficult for the people who have the process 100% down, imagine the difficulty of someone who is still not a master in their craft. (And if you are not constantly improving, then you're really not a master of your craft--artists learn new things and come up with new techniques to make their work better all the time. It's one of the things that makes art so wonderful--you never stop learning and creating new things.)

    I guess what I am saying is that I believe that people start selling their tails (even AT COST) way too soon. Do like Finfolk did and donate tails to a Ren Faire or make your friends tails at your own cost. Even a customer paying "at cost" is going to have subconscious expectations and, if they are not met, it WILL hurt your business. The fact that my student experienced high levels of tearing with her Finfolk tail did not affect their business at all because they made them as costumes for a Ren Faire to show off rather than as a tail for someone in the community. I don't think people should take money for tails until they are queens/kings of the process. And you can tell that learning to work in silicone is a HARD process. Raven, Abby, and Bryn don't have Mernetwork documentation of their long journeys, but Pearlie Mae's tail making thread is a great example. She tested what seemed like a thousand methods, had to redo things that messed up, had to change her methods mid work, had to redesign things differently from the way she first imagined it... It was a LONG process that took almost two years, if I remember correctly. And she didn't start trying to make tails for other people until all her methods were tested over and over and over again. When she hit a "limit" she figured out a way to work past it... Not everyone is capable of doing that, ESPECIALLY if they have the pressure of orders bearing down on their shoulders. I know Jesse has been making tails for a long time, but the amount of time you've been doing something doesn't matter--it's how much your methods have changed improved over that time period. If they've gone down rather than up, it's time to stop taking orders until you get back on track. Which is the reason I also believe that, if you take orders as a new tail maker, you should not spend ANY of that money until the product is sent. Otherwise you might find yourself having to disappear like Fishbutts, leaving tragedy in your wake as people lose out on hard earned money.
    Once upon a time I was known as Seavanna. Going by Seatan these days. I always wanted to be the high lord of underwater hell.

  8. #188
    ^ not that is particularly matters in the grand scheme of things, but I thought it was worth a tiny derailment. FinFolk did not donate tails to the renfaire.
    They were either bought at full price or with a rush fee. Not exactly sure which, but definitely not donated.

    (My knowledge comes from being one of the mers that work said faire)
    Last edited by Aysun_the_Mermaid; 05-01-2015 at 04:14 PM.

  9. #189
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    Yeah they did sell them I remember. But everything else is spot on. Raven and Tyler both did loads of spfx online research and training and met with smoothon. Tyler actually posted on the forum about it a year or so ago when someone flipped out thinking merbellas should disclose their methods! Lol

  10. #190
    I hear what your saying Seavanna. However, quality issue with product is a different story than integrity issues. You touched on both in your post. I personally don't have a problem with someone who is 'starting out' making tails and selling their experimental tails as long as everyone involved knows dang sure that it's a trail type effort or prototype. I have a BIG problem with someone dishing out sloppy work that doesn't meet their current skill level. AND, and even BIGGER problem with crafters taking money, spending it on recreation/personal expenses and then never delivering product at all. So, I wholeheartedly agree that the money should have never been spent so that it could be refunded quickly. I do understand that there is product cost but for the potential amount of $ that Jesse took in, versus how much he owes out to people...he enjoyed my money. That isn't fair. It's illegal actually.

  11. #191
    Hello All,

    I paid Jesse Caldwell $2,400 for a deluxe silicone tail May 20, 2013. I have not received a tail, but my hard earned cash is gone. Though he has promised several times to produce the tail it has not happened. On one occasion I let it slide because he claimed he was grieving his grandmothers passing. Lo and behold the next day he was posting pics on social media with an ear to ear smile as he rode roller coasters at an amusement park. He should have been working all weekend to produce our tails. I am all in for a lawsuit. I have been extremely patient with this man. I'm guessing there are several, if not many others in our situation. My tail alone adds up to grand larceny.

  12. #192
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    Sounds like black listing time

  13. #193
    If he hasn't been black listed yet...it's LATE !!

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

  14. #194
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    He has been. Lol

    Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

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