So okay I thought I would share this. Let me give you a little back story. I mermaid at my Renaissance festival and have been performing for years as a mermaid performer. I ordered a tail from FishButts because they were in my price range and I didn't have time to make my own (which I always have made my own! and know exaccctly how long it takes to let the product cure!) I had a show I had to dive at during a halloween event at our aquarium in Oklahoma, the tail didn't quite fit right and the latex she used didn't cure long enough and it literally fell off in the tank.. mind you she told me that she hadn't even started my tail 3 days prior... Then puts it together and ships it in a day...NOT how you make a tail... .I was pissed. I was also taking this tail to WDW to dive and to do a vow renewal with my husband and because of that, I didn't get to do either. I got to dive but didn't get to use the tail. Didn't get to do the vow renewal either because of her mistake! This was such a pain in the butt and I was crushed because this is something I HAD PAID FOR BOTH for my trip AND for personal use...REALLY disapointed! So I emailed her and told her how unhappy I was with the situation and I apparently wasn't the only person who had that same problem. Her excuse was a "bad batch of latex" and said if I paid her $100.00 she would do a dragonskin tail to make up for all the problems. Okay first of all, I'm glad she offered to fix it...but as a business person myself...If I made such a grave mistake in my execution of product, it wouldn't be up to the customer to PAY for the mess up!!! BUT, I did. I paid the extra $100.00 to have the tail done in the dragonskin to fix her mistake. She was really good about communicating with me about the issue at hand and I told her the colors I wanted because what she had done before was pretty but it just didn't look right in the water. I wanted Ivory and gold and it was ivory and it looked like it had dirt on it...not really gold. But I digress...
So yes I had emailed her with descriptions and what I wanted, and she had sent me an email saying that I would have my tail by Dec 1st...date came and went...no email stating she couldn't complete the tail...no email at ALL....I told her I needed it for Christmas because I was going to use the new tail for Christmas cards...She said she would get it to me before Christmas for sure no problem......Christmas came and went...No tail...No EMAIL...NOTHING...ZIP ZILCH NOTHING!!!! By then I am extremely pissed off. Then I get an email on Jan 8th saying that she is 2 weeks behind on processing. Its not even a personal email, its a mass email sent out to all of her contacts....Again...NOT happy.....So I had sent her a couple of messages regarding a deadline that I am trying to meet for a national publication as well as a program for our upcoming spring festival...SO then I get this email....
Message regarding my tail:
Stephanie has informed me that she is sending out ALL her Christmas/late/backordered tails in february she's currently catching up on orders,. She will email you when she has a photo of your tail and I know you've been very patient which her and she appreciates that considering January hasnt' been the best month for her at all. She will make sure you get your tail as soon as shes done!!Rose
My response:
Thats fine thank you Rose. I am trying to get information regarding an ETA because I have a professional photoshoot set up for my company and am needing it no later than the 20th of Feb. It is imparitive that I have it by then because our photos have to be taken, edited and submitted for a large publication by the 28th. I am just needing to know that I am going to have it by then. I understand how busy she has been and how life can throw you curve balls and I'm sure I'm not the only person who has waited 12 weeks for product but it is very important that I have this as it is for my business and have committed to this shoot and gig MONTHS ago. I sort of expected it in January because of the time frame that I have been waiting. I just need a confirmation that I will have my tail by the due date or unfortuantely I am going to ask that I have my money returned and I will return the previously damaged tail as well and request that I be reimbursed for that as well. I hate to sound like I am upset but I have a bunch of executives climbing down my back because I have had to push back deadlines because of a lack of product.
LF
I absolutely hate this because it gives such a bad impression of working with artists. A bad batch of latex? I'm sorry but this doesn't fly, if this was the case and you mixed the latex incorrectly or if it was just faulty, you would simply do a new batch and cast a new tail. But instead they recommended another product and had you pay for an upgrade. So here's what I think. They tried to enter the market with a lower priced product and latex. They did not test their product. They found out after they sold it that there were major problems. So they had to regroup and chose something well known and more expensive. Bummer, doing it correctly means they should have sold the tails for higher. Maybe they will just offer it as an upgrade to all the unhappy clients. Meanwhile they've never used this stuff before. Time to experiment, this time we will test it. Uh oh, it means everyone that bought it is going to have to wait until they are sure it will work, don't want to have the same thing happen again. Oh and by the time they figure out why other people charge so much more, they will have lost all their business with a reputation of bad products. Better get it together guys, some things you should not DIY without experience. There's a reason why there are so few mermaid tail builders. It's requires a high level of experience, knowledge, and skill. You don't just wake up and decide you are going to make tails out of your backyard. ou know which companies are professional if they back their products when they find out there is a problem. I'd like to say I've made everything perfect, but there are times when we've made mistakes. I find that most artists/companies do not react as they should. If I make a mistake, or something doesn't work out, I am available immediately to try to solve the problem and replace the product to the customer's satisfaction. I am very particular when it comes to my reputation, and unless the customer is downright trying to wiggle a discount for no real reason or get their product for free, I am right there to fix the wrong. Having experience as I do, they definately goofed and instead of standing up to fix the situation immediately, they are running from the confrontation. Not everyone deals with confrontation well, many run and hide. And although we want to run and hide when something goes wrong, if you want to be in business long you have to be able to face problems head on and even though you dread picking up the phone, you must do it. With the lag time they are giving me, it sounds like they are not only avoiding the confrontation, but it's possible they don't know how to fix the problem. They may say so, because they really don't want to give a refund. Recalling a product is expensive and they may be too inexperienced to be able to do that, may have spent all the money and don't have it. Meanwhile they are trying to figure it out so they don't have to do that. AND whats worse is that she's STILL taking orders ontop of the lag she has from her PRE christmas orders. HELL my tail was ordered in SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!! Thats what is really making me upset is the sheer fact that I have had a tail on "order" now since September since she has failed to deliver an adequate product.
I am getting ready to request that I have not only the original tail refunded because I literally had the dang thing in the water less than 10 minutes and it fell apart and now I'll have to wait 14 to 16 weeks now for a tail that I needed a month ago!!!! I am at a stand still because I have to have this new tail by the 20th of Feb for a shoot and if I cancel the order then I literally don't have another option but use an old product and however I might be okay with it sort of, when you've worked this hard on everything ELSE to go with what was supposed to be delivered adequately, remaking everything is not an option for me right now. Not with being a full time student and a full time mommy AND business owner. So I have two options...wait on the product and pray to God that its correct...or request the $600.00 refund that I am due for both the original flawed product PLUS the upgrade. And if I cannot get either of these in adequate time, I am prepared to seek legal action but that is a last resort but needless to say, I am NOT a happy Fish Butts client and I am apparently not the only one. I have a few other friends who haven't had to wait near as long but have had nothing but slack and excuses.
Needless to say I'm not happy.
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I hope it all gets sorted out soon. I went through a similar process with my mertailor tail, and eventually just gave up and went with someone new. I know Stevi, I know Raven, I know Eric, I know Jesse, and several new up and coming tail makers. I think I see a pattern in everyone that they all reached a snag where there were too many orders, or some issue with materials (shortage, quality, etc.) and I think how the tail makers each deal with that snag determine their business. I know Jesse plowed his way through his holidays to get orders out, Raven too. Now she takes limited orders. I think many of us were concerned when Stevi decided to offer the sale. We don't want to see her crash and burn like others have. 
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