What a silicone "neoprene" monofin looks like.

[PearlieMae]

A bit ot, but pearlie, I absolutely love your daughters quote in your signature! It makes me giggle everytime I see it. A very welcome sight today!

Happy to oblige!

[AniaR]

Okay folks, I think we gotta slow down just a wee bit. I know everyone gets passionate around issues of poor quality tails, and it becomes an us VS them that can get crazy. I believe Paige's mom was probably talking to Eric about this and was either inspired to make a post, or asked to post about her personal experience. I know Paige's mom and Paige. I met them at NCmerfest and they are kick ass ladies. I don't want to see them scared off the community because they are happy with their experience. You gotta realize not only did they have an experience that was positive, they have spent good times with Eric and know him personally. Just please keep in mind that sometimes when people jump in here it's because they are concerned about a friend. I'm not saying at all that it excuses poor behaviour, I just want you to think about it is all.

I feel like Eric was doing a really good job for a while there at managing things like this without the back and forth. I'm sorry to see it escalated into nasty emails and FB posts.

I think in future there's a couple of things that can help prevent this sort of thing. And I speak as one of the very first angry mertailor customers who sorta set the ball rolling years ago. So this isn't to put you down in any way Jamie. Believe me I have been there! This is just sort of my perspective thing.

On the one end regardless of what's written on his website, googling him and those specific tails will tell you that people have known for at least 7 years it was neoprin (spacer material) and caulking. (alex plus now replaced by higher grade silicone). While I do believe people should get what they pay for (meaning information NEEDS to be more upfront) I also think people need to have more accurate expectations of what they're paying for. That comes on both his end, and the customers end. These tails aren't known for being top of the line... they aren't meant to be. While they're a cheaper option for many they just don't hold up as well and neither do most tails in those price brackets from other tail makers either. Now this isn't me saying anything untoward about Jamie, just sort of stating it as a general reminder (because I did make an entire thread about tail expectations before) that it's important people don't buy these types of tails with the intention of doing loads of work with them. Upgrading to more reliable silicone is a much better choice in that regard.

I know many tail makers have tried loads of things to get those monofins to bond inside the tail. Maybe this is or isnt the best idea, but I know people have tried sanding them down, a variety of glues and caulkings, different spacing materials like Nessie showed. It seems to me this was just another attempt at making it work because really, there's no other reason to put holes in the monofin. Some tail makers are doing away with monofins totally and just having foot pockets with stronger silicone for the fluke. I think in this case it was probably an attempt not only to make it bond but to prevent the fluke from filling up with water which is one of the main issues for most tail makers.

I'm not sure about the issue of refund/exchange but it's standard that once you tamper with something (e.g. take it apart it anyway) the refund is then void.

Since that's the case and Jamie is stuck with it like it is, I think the best solution here Jamie is to put a new monofin in.
Full disclaimer: I'm not a tail maker, these are just tips I learned from having a similar tail and it's all try at your own risk.

I can tell you from my own experiences of owning a similar tail, that you can use faster curing but coloured silicone on the inside to bond the fluke since you wont see the inside anyway. I usually then buy a small clip on fan from somewhere like target and you can shove it right down to help dry it. Put something heavy on it. It'll probably take double the curing time listed on the bottle because it's harder for the air to get in to dry it. In terms of the never ending stretching you can reinforce any soft spots on the INSIDE of the tail with different materials to help prevent it from stretching into a hole. Mermaid Mimi who owns my old tail has found glueing denim on the inside really helps, because it stretches with the neoprin but not enough to tear it. Mimi has also sewn a ribbon through loops on the inside waist of her tail so she can pull it tight like a draw string to tighten the waist as needed- without compromising the look of the tail. She also coloured and sewed on strips of loose denim to make heel fins and a dorsal fin and it looks like it's always been part of the tail. Much more durable as well.

Mimi's tail is my old one and is nearing 7 years old and she uses it a lot. it's NOT in great condition at all, but we've been able to make it last until hopefully one day we can afford to get her a custom one (we keep looking for used ones but Mimi is very tall so it's rare that I see one that would fit her). Though we talk about it a lot and she prefers not having a higher quality silicone because of just how much work she does with kids. She likes being able to repair this one on her own and wouldn't want the stress of repairing silicone.

For context sake and ideas, here's some pics of Mimi's tail that might inspire you Jamie. I encourage you to message "mermaid mimi" on FB for tips she's really good with them. Just keep in mind her tail is alex, but most of the things still apply.





^there's no photoshopping there in terms of changing issues on her tail. Just brightening of colours all around cuz the shot was taken at twilight.

Here's a video taken last week that shows her swimming with it. Mimi makes this tail work despite all those problems but also, since it was my old tail... it's too short for her. Hence why she wears all those lovely things. She still loves the tail to death.



My point in sharing all that is just hopefully to inspire you that yes these tails can last a while if you've got the drive to take care of them and come up with solutions. But ideally you'd want to go up a level in tails so that you don't have to worry about that stuff.

Now as for Paige's Mom, I just wanna say I hope you DO search around the community here and see what a wonderful place it can be. Tails are tricky. They are so personal to people and people invest money but also a lot of faith in their tail makers. It's hard to wait for something and have it turn out less than what you expected. No one likes to limit their dreams because of their tail. Paige can learn so much from mernetwork and even end up making lifelong friends so I hope you wont judge too quickly based on this one experience.

What I'd like to see happen:
-I think it would be good for Eric to be as upfront as possible on his website, but I do understand (as we've discussed in other threads before) why he worries about the negative connotations of the materials. I think he has such a huge client base, there are loads of people who will still buy and not care in the slightest
-I also think a better reply to the emails on his part might be something along the lines of simply stating this is the way they've chosen to make the product and if people would prefer higher quality they should consider the higher quality tails. it's blunt, to the point, but not insulting anyone or making assumptions about them.
-It would be nice if he refunded it, but I do get why they don't offer it after people take their tails apart. We took ours apart too.

And since it's the topic right now, and maybe doesn't necessarily apply as much in this situation but it's something I've seen a lot of so I'm going to take the chance to bring it up. In most cases it would be great if people emailed the tail maker first before posting. Sometimes I think tail makers (not just Eric) get a bit out of joint when people run to the forum first before even giving them a chance to address concerns. (I'm not sure if you did that or not Jamie I'm just stating it generally, please don't feel personally singled out!) I think it automatically sets the tone for tail makers to be defensive. I have seen loads of people post issues about my tail maker without letting her know and I know it hurts her feelings because she works so hard and if there's an issue she wants a chance to fix it before people throw her under the bus. I don't think that's unreasonable because if you bought a laptop and it had issues, you'd attempt to get them fixed first before posting a review online you know? I find people use the forum as a way to keep tail makers accountable, but they aren't always necessarily being fair to the tail makers before doing that. I think yeah, if someone isn't replying to your emails after a while, or has given you an unsatisfactory response then totally go for it. But there HAVE been a few mertailor issues (along with other tail makers) where the issues were resolved really quickly but people never bothered to follow up on their mernetwork thread stating as much, and the tail makers had NO CLUE there was a problem because they hadn't been informed first.

And obviously not in this situation- because Jamie has offered up her emails so we know emails have happened. I do wanna say a lot of times on mernetwork I observe people complaining about not hearing from tail makers, and when I approach tail makers about it (it's happened with 3 different tail makers recently) the tail makers can actually produce emails where they WERE communicating with the client, they were being nice and professional, and the client was more than willing to accept the tail makers terms, or wait time, or whatever... but then they come on the forum and act like they're not getting anywhere with the tail maker and the tail maker is being unprofessional, and they're complaining about wait times or repairs that they were totally accepting of and nice to the tail maker about. My point in sharing that, is sometimes people's posts on the forum are very much skewed in their favour and we don't get the whole stories. I believe it happens enough that it directly contributes to why most tail makers don't post on here, and do get so upset and snippy when people make posts on the forum. Again, this doesn't apply specifically to Jamie but I have been looking for a way to bring up the point so I hope people won't mind that I've sort of derailed slightly. I just think it's an important one to make.

Jamie, I know you're going to have a lot of fun with your silicone experimenting and I hope through that you're able to create yourself the perfect dream tail. I'm sorry you've had this experience. I know how frustrating it can be. But as I say in my book and workshops we all start somewhere and a creative person can make these things work for them in a professional way. It sucks that you have to, but from all your awesome posts on here I know you're up to the task. Good luck!

[Talia]

I usually don't like being involved in these kind of things. I will say this and then drop the issue.

Paige's mother came here and explained her daughter's case, minimizing the lived experiences of other people - then she accused the rest of the people in this thread of being "nasty", and extended the label to the rest of the Mer-community. I find that quite rude, since we can see by the number of post she has not been here much, and probably does not know personally many of the people around here, specially because many of us do not even live in the US.

They may have had a great experience with Eric; that's wonderful, good for them all - that does not mean everyone else in the world had it too, nor are their feelings in the matter any less valid than those of Paige and her mother.

I understand that she may have come here to defend a friend. But there are ways and ways to express one's opinion. Saying "if she can do it, anyone can do it" it's like implying that Jamie, or anyone else having troubles with Eric's tails are useless and do not know how to swim or take care of a tail. At least, that's how I read it. If that's not what she wanted to say, she shoud have worded the things she wanted to express better.

That is all.

[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

Wow, im late with the popcorn!

Talia and Echidna, you guys rock my fins!

When it comes to eric, he only returned 2 of my emails (8 sent so far) and thats only after ive mentioned him on a public spot. He told me he would not pay to ship it to be fixed and he would not give me my money back.

So I find it total crap that in his last email he says hed pay to fix it. Shipping it back to him would have cost more then the tail is worth and WILL NOT change the fact that its fake neoprene. He advertised it and obviously knows thats fraud or wouldnt be changing his webpage, right?

As for paiges mom, blaming me for erics shoddy work puts you in the same light as him in my eyes and I dont appreciate it when ive provided proof. You have no right to judge my ability as ive been a very good swimmer for long then your child has been alive. Im glad she likes her tail, but since eric uses her for advertisement it doesnt surprise me that her tail is holding up. He only puts effort in to his tails when he chooses, and not for every one like every other tailmaker. And considering the high cost of the product. Thats just unacceptable.

the fact that these are your first posts leads me to believe the only reason you joined was to defend eric because he is banned from here. Thats fine. Its not going to change my opinion.

Raina: not knowing about this place till after I ordered is the issue, I ordered last year and only found this place a couple weeks before I actually got my tail. Which makes me sad that he cant live up to expectation of proper production. Seeing the magic you works on your tail gave me the inspiration I needed to fix this myself either way. Ive got some supplies and new hanna inspired fringe so I think I can do it. You guys did an amazing job and I would love to chat with mimi about it! Is she on here?

I gave him the chance to respond to three previous emails in the last week. He only responded once I mentioned him here. I have said more then once that this isnt a bash eric thread. This is to show those who are asking about this particular type of tail. So I showed them. Ive provided screenshots and when I deal with the bbb, I will be sure to include all my emails and fb convos and copy of my care sheet, and people can decide for themselves. Hes just mad because im not someone he can walk all over. And he has no right to speak to my swimming ability. He has no idea how well I swim, or the fact that even in the crocked beyond floppy tail im still able to do some small flips. No barrel rolls, as the fin is way to floppy to turn at all (you can see it fold in half when I try, pics in an earlier post.

If the bbb decides that me opening it voids anything (how would it, eric already said he doesnt refund) then thats their choice. The claim im making with them is that he advertised one product and delivered another. Thats not a lie I made up. Opening it only further proves shoddy workmanship. This thread is about the monofin and its issues. There are many other issues with this tail.

He said in the email I posted he wanted to see pics of the damage if I had them. I did send him all those images when I had to deal with him the first time.


If anyone wishes, I would be more then happy to post the emails here (including my responses).


This behavior of eric to send a child to fight his battles is beyond the pale and disgusts me greatly. I feel for the girl.

[AniaR]

Paige's mother came here and explained her daughter's case, minimizing the lived experiences of other people - then she accused the rest of the people in this thread of being "nasty", and extended the label to the rest of the Mer-community. I find that quite rude, since we can see by the number of post she has not been here much, and probably does not know personally many of the people around here, specially because many of us do not even live in the US.

I see where you're coming from, but a lot of people outside the community who look into it don't have the best opinion of it because they aren't in it. I say this from a place of watching a friend of mine get singled out on a FB thread and knowing that while people made some valid points, a lot of it went well beyond and I felt the need to speak out for my friend. I'm not offering it as an excuse, or saying you're wrong to say what you are. I just don't want Paige's mom to be viewed as some kinda lackie or someone just running their mouth is all. Or a fake person with a fake account. She and her daughter are excellent well respected mermaids entitled to their opinions, and I can 100% appreciate how this post could come off the wrong way to someone on the outside. It's a lot of assumptions to jump to about a person you don't know, and just perpetuates the "hate network" rumour. All I saw her express was that she had a good experience and was shocked how negative everyone was being, and it made her concerned. I think that's valid from her point of view. She didnt say anyone lied or made up their issues. She just brought what she could to the conversation.


Jamie- my posts were more trying to springboard off your sucky experience to elaborate more generally. I did my best to give you any specific solutions to your specific scenario that I could. I hope you'll follow up with Mimi cuz she's great. She's not on here, but you can find her on FB "Mermaid Mimi". I know you aren't making a bash eric thread you're trying to tell your story but some people do enjoy jumping in on the sensationalism and my joke about it escalating wasn't directed at you so much as his emails and posts. I believe you did everything you said you did and my intention was not to call that into question- sorry if it came off that way. I just find these threads end up very multi-faceted and sort of opening a pandora's box of issues to be addressed. It does frustrate me that 7 years later this is still an issue. I remember he stopped making these tails for a while but then brought them back due to demand.

[Mermaid Wesley]

I WISH I had access to alcohol. This thread would make a stellar drinking game. Everything someone personally insults someone else drink. Every time mertailor responds to something "without having seen the mernetwork post" drink. Sounds like a good time


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[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

Raina, I take no offense to any of your posts. I wanted to reiterate my point for those who felt I was was unjustly judging and blaming eric. He could be a very nice person face to face, I dont honestly know. Never met him and never plan to. But the workmanship I can speak to, and to be repeatedly told its my ability thats the issue is really starting to piss me off. I know thats not you!

I appreciate everything youve said, you have much more experience then I, so I would gladly take advice. Im making my husband get me your books as a christmas gift and I shall definitly head over to fb and find mimi!

I do see hes now making a different fluke shape for them so I think this is an issue with not only me. They look like full monofins in them. I hope so. I dont want others to work hard and save up to end up with junk like I did.

Im glad paige has a good tail. But whoever posted in her name has absolutely no right to speak of me that way. Thats beyond unprofessional.

I know in forums it can get out of hand. I tried to keep it down by stating on a few posts that its not a bash eric thread (although I would love to spew what I really think from my face but I dont think that amount of bad language is acceptable anywhere, even for a sailor) but I am very tired of his games.

[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

I WISH I had access to alcohol. This thread would make a stellar drinking game. Everything someone personally insults someone else drink. Every time mertailor responds to something "without having seen the mernetwork post" drink. Sounds like a good time


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Im so doing this on the weekend! Ill let ya know how far I make it before im too plastered to write

[Mermaid Wesley]

Lmao great


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[Echidna]

I know in forums it can get out of hand. I tried to keep it down by stating on a few posts that its not a bash eric thread (although I would love to spew what I really think from my face but I dont think that amount of bad language is acceptable anywhere, even for a sailor) but I am very tired of his games.

I can relate.
If I had paid money and received a monofin looking like that, I'd so want to whack the seller with it and demand he swim in it for awhile, and then dare to repeat any of his "your skillz aren't up to the task"-bs.
That said, if you replace the monofin, you might get some use out of the tail after all.

Besides, this hasn't been a "bash" thread in any way imo.
You stated your experience, and the photos of the product speak for themselves.

Children have it a bit easier to swim with fragile, small, or cheap monofins.
A seller should be upfront about what clientele a product is suited for.

Although it looks a lot like the holes came out much bigger than expected, and instead of putting in a new, useable monofin, he just shipped the tail with it anyway.

[Tetra]

This tread was a wild ride from start to finish lol. But I'd just like to point out that while nobody should assume anything about anyone personally, criticisms of customer interactions and product quality really are very helpful and necessary and I really appreciated this feed and the hard evidence it presented. I was leaning toward Mertailor before reading feeds like this, but the information has helped me decide that there are other tailmakers that will be a better fit for me when the time comes for me to get a nice silicone tail. So thank you!

[PearlieMae]

Echidna, so often, I think we are from the same pod!

The video of mermaid Paige is lovely, but I have to say, even for a small person, there isn't a lot of push through the water with that REALLY floppy/flowy fin, in my opinion.

[Mer-gal]

I just bought a finis wave mono fin, and it is bent like that too. It is brand new and I was wondering if it could possibly not be Eric's fault that it is bent?

[Yulia]

I just bought a finis wave mono fin, and it is bent like that too. It is brand new and I was wondering if it could possibly not be Eric's fault that it is bent?

Mine is also bent that way, but I think she meant another type of bend.

[Mer-gal]

Mine is also bent that way, but I think she meant another type of bend.

this may sound like a stupid question, but, what other type of bend?

[Yulia]

this may sound like a stupid question, but, what other type of bend?

"I apologize I didnt explian clearly enough earlier, when the monofin bends, its not horizontally. It bends in a v shape. The tips of it bend backwards, like a butterfly. When in the tail soaking wet, the tips touch bending backwards. It follows the shape of the holes, and looks close to what a butterfly's wings do. Im working on the video now since I cant think of a good way to word it."

From the first page, there's pictures there too.

[Echidna]

Echidna, so often, I think we are from the same pod!

well, we are!
or will be, once I manage to win more than 17 bucks from the lottery, which was my last result lol.


Regarding the monofin bend; the slight downward curve visible from the side is normal with Finis monofins.

The problem with Mermaid Jamie's monofin is that the excessive cutting and especially drilling made it unstable, so it no longer bends in a natural way when used, and will probably snap if she swims with a bit more force.

That happens easily if a monofin is too thin/floppy, while at the same time, it's really hard to swim with such a fin and you're still hardly moving.

Edit, Yulia was faster

[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

This tread was a wild ride from start to finish lol. But I'd just like to point out that while nobody should assume anything about anyone personally, criticisms of customer interactions and product quality really are very helpful and necessary and I really appreciated this feed and the hard evidence it presented. I was leaning toward Mertailor before reading feeds like this, but the information has helped me decide that there are other tailmakers that will be a better fit for me when the time comes for me to get a nice silicone tail. So thank you!

Im so glad. If this thread helped just one person from all this grief, thats awesome.

Thanks Yulia and Pearlie for explaining that. Yes the fin is normally bent a bit, the middle of my monofin has the factory curve, the outside edges are getting more and more bend because it folds the tips so they touch. Im trying to get a good photo of it to show the middle and the edges. One of the sides folds more because the whole fluke is crooked. I could feel something not right with it when I swam and tried to put some power behind it.

If he had just said, yes thats unstable ill send you a new one, this thread wouldnt exist. Sending it to him means the same crap cut job. No thank you. Then hed have my money and my tail.

As per Rainas suggestion I have messaged mermaid Mimi for some helpful tips to fix the esthetic of it.

Slightly ot, but I feel the water gods and goddesses have smiled upon me because ive been notified by dhl my new triton monofin for my silicone tail is to be delivered today! I can finally swim again!


My only issue with having to put a new fin in it the extra cost to me, which I feel is his screw up. Its unfair that ill have to shell out 100 buck to get a new one because he botched this one. Maybe the bbb can offer him to send me a new one instead of money back. Ill take either at this point.

[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

Ok guys. I know its older, but I wanted to give a bit of an update on my monofin.

I fixed the damn thing! I was in such a hurry to get it done in time for my first party as a mer so I didnt photo document it like I should have.

I used Gorilla tape and gorilla epoxy.

First i took a heat gun on low heat and warmed it up, then placed heavy bottles on it and let it cool and it helped flatten it back to a more normal shape. Then I took it to my vertical belt sander to sand off the bad edges. It was then that I discovered he didnt even cut it evenly and one side was longer then the other. (Another reason it swam crooked)

Then I placed gorilla tape on on the bottom of the fin so the glue side was visible through the holes. Then I filled each hole with gorilla epoxy and let it dry.

I placed more gorilla tape over the top of the holes and created a night tight seal.

I took to bamboo skewers, wrapped them in the tape, and glued them over the bottom hole to kind of replace the missing ridges he cut away. Once that all dried I used GE 1 window and door silicone to sandwich the fluke back together.


I trimmed alot of silicone out of the fluke first. The fluke is still crooked, but it no longer folds like butterfly wings and I can actually move in the water.

I used more of the GE 1 mixed with pearl ex pigment to cover the seams and add some new color to the fluke.

Here she is after paint (I am not done yet, I have more colors to add and I want to see if I can get some tiny shells to kind of hide where the holes were since the material there is stretched out. I used pearl ex duo red/blue and I have interference blue for more details.




Also I found this on on the interweb from merfest. It has pearl in her new basic and paige in her old one like mine. You can clearly see in the fluke the same holes I have. So is not just my monofin he did this too. Kinda funny since her mom defended him not knowing he did the same thing to her tail.

heres the full size version where you can see better. You can see pearls tail has a more intact fin with what appears to be no holes. So obviously me creating a fuss has done something.




Theres another mer who posted her fluke tore from the unsanded ridges. I do not regret opening the fluke. Matt was at the party with me and even he seen the difference in the fluke movement! When I hold my fluke up it stays up! It doesnt flop over anymore. But it stinks like vinegar, which makes me wonder if my tail was actually dragonskin or not. I know he used caulk to sandwich the fluke in at the very least.

I wanted to put the repair info in so other can use it if the need to. I can confirm thus far the repair is holding beautifully!

[Rett]

I was laughing all through this thread at Eric's comments. How he blatantly denies ever saying it is Neoprene is totally bs (you totally proved that one with your screenshots). So is his comment about how silicone cant fuse to real neoprene (Raven from Merbellas totally proves this is possibly by the silicone/NeoprENE hyrbid tails she used to offer). I also laughed at how his website says neoprin is durable (that stuff stretches worse than anything! Thats the exact opposite of durable!) Dont mean to bash Eric, but his company will be the last company I go to for a tail. I'll stick to a tail-maker who has mostly good reviews (and doesnt delete the bad ones) and produces actual good quality lasting tails. Even if his performance tails are better than this basic one he sold you, reading about your experience has left a sour taste in my mouth about ever ordering from his company!

Im glad you were able to fix up your tail enough that it is (at least temporarily) usable. I guess we all owe you now for giving us the heads up before anyone else wastes their money