I sat on the idea for leaving a review about my experience for quite some time. I wanted to give MF every opportunity to get better from the advice, care, and understanding he's received from senior members and other customers before adding to the pile... but after seeing so many experiences and still not making me whole and ghosting me I feel like it's time I share my experience with MF. This is to shed more light on how your experience may go with him.
I want to preface this with the notion that I don't think MF is malicious in any way or has any bad intent. I think he is just honestly incredibly forgetful and absent minded when it comes to his organization, quality control, and customer care/retention. I did do my research and knew I was taking a gamble but he was running a good sale and the previous vendor I ordered gauntlets from (put a deposit down for them as well) ghosted me so I wanted to see if this could be an affordable alternative route. I apologize if this gets long winded. I'm just going to go through my experience based on our conversation on Etsy.
On January 29th I ordered a FPH2 helmet kit and an ESB gauntlet kit from him on a sale he was doing to acquire materials for future projects. I then patiently waited without any response or follow up.
On March 19th I reached out for an update to which he informed me it was ready to ship but he was taking a break from shipping due to the pandemic and not having health insurance. Informing me would've been nice instead of leaving me in the dark but I completely understood the concern so I was fine with it and left it at that.
On April 15th I reach back out as I haven't heard from him and he told me visors finally arrived and he would be shipping that week. It was unknown to me visors were never there as he previously told me it has been ready to ship but he didn't due to the pandemic. So at this point the visor for my helmet is now there and it's shipping that week. Still, I said no worries and was beyond polite and understanding with him.
A week goes by and I reach out again on April 22nd looking for the update on shipping as it was supposed to go out. He responded with a random piece for the gauntlet kit... just a picture saying it was giving him trouble and then a picture of my package saying the label is printed and ready to go. Now on March 19th he told me everything was ready to ship but here on April 22nd he's still telling me parts are being made. Now at this point he did (on his own terms) offer to throw a set of his lineage ESB shoulders for free for the troubles. I felt this was a kind gesture and an honest take on correcting his poor communication. I was fine with it and he did say if anything was wrong he would replace it on a dime. At this point all was well in my book.
April 24th comes around and I received the package. Below were the issues. Remember I ordered a full FPH2 helmet kit and ESB Gauntlet kit. Everything was literally tossed in a box... no matter how big, small, or fragile the parts were... they were just free floating to bounce around in the box with some newspaper.
1. The visor was missing (This was a big part of what was holding my shipment up... a bit weird it wasn't in there.)
2. One of the LEDs for the RF topper was missing (It could've gotten lost in the box... nothing was wrapped up. Parts were just scattered throughout the paper so I only found 1 LED.)
3. The calculator comm pad on the gauntlet was missing
4. The gold greeblie that goes right above the pad on the gauntlet was missing
5. Gauntlet hose was missing
6. Hollow everyday light for gauntlet was missing
7. Metal gauntlet darts were missing
Aside from the missing items there were a few issues with the casts themselves.
1. The rocket was beyond repair. It is visibly warped/bent. It was incredibly warped.
2. The flamethrower design seems significantly different than the one advertised on Etsy. It's just different, not accurate to ESB.
3. The clear portion to the RF Topper does not fit in the black topper housing. It's not even close. It looks like they were made from 2 different people. It could not be assembled due to the massive fitment issues.
4. The helmet cast was WAY too thick. The dome of the helmet was so heavy it hurt the top of my head wearing it. Just a seriously thick cast and there was a lot of cat hair or dog hair and bugs all through at the cast and stuck to the surface of everything.
5. The vac formed gauntlets were unusable. The orange peel was incredibly apparent and the plastic was very very thin. There would've had to been a lot of reinforcing and surface prep work to get them to an okay standard.
He responded offering to get me the remainder of the parts out by Monday (the 27th) and offered to remake the helmet. His excuse was they packed 40+ packages and got flustered. Regardless, I was kind in my response and did not want to deal with shipping the helmet back for a replacement and offered to keep it and cut my losses. I offered to send him pics of anything he needed as proof. Told him Monday would be great no problem and thanked him for his kindness.
He then asked if I wanted to send my current boulder of a helmet to a different customer of his?! Obviously that was a terrible suggestion and I continued to say I didn't want to deal with shipping it out. He then informed me he would have everything shipped.
April 28th comes around, a day after I was to expect a tracking confirmation and I am again forced to fish for an update. He informed me he was cassted a new helmet for me and let me keep the old one. I did not request a new helmet, that was on his terms. He lost a part of the mold to his everready light so that was not ready and was to be shipped at an even later date. The darts were coming from another vendor? So he never had those to begin with. He then included a metal rocket. I don't know where it came from or who made it but it was a completely solid metal rocket he included to replace my warped resin one. He said he had no use for it as it was collecting dust and offered it to me. Again, kind gestures... trying to make things right and I appreciated it all but this only all happened after I continuously had to reach out and follow up. If I didn't, nothing would've ever been resolved or attempted to be resolved.
April 29th he asked for me to leave a positive review as he claimed " I strive to make every purchase a great one. I’m still learning to cast/make props and want to make sure you’re happy with what you get! " I did thank him for his gracious offer of sending me another cast of the FPH2 while letting me keep the anchor weight one. Despite the lack of communication, missing parts, and shoddy parts he was trying his best to make it right or at the very least do as much damage control as he could for his reputation. He told me to send a reminder message to get the shipment out the next day (the 30th). I sent him the reminder message per his request.
the 30th lands, no tracking. I message him again. He responds asking for my address. I give him my address.
May 1st rolls by, no response... I ask him for the tracking and he created it right then and sent it to me. He said there was a delay due to him having to cast up the new helmet. (He told me on the 28th he cast me the helmet so what's he doing casting another one on the 1st days after he said everything was ready to go? Despite all of it... I was still kind and apologized for being a thorn in HIS side and was looking forward to everything.
May 5th rolls around and this is the first and only time he reached out to ME without me fishing for a response or update. He said it was shipped. There was some shipping errors, tracking wasn't working... but I waited for it. Exchanged kind words.
May 6th I get the package. Below were the issues with it.
1. Still no gauntlet darts. (he did say they were coming from a different vendor but nothing was updated for me on when/where they were coming from. They weren't in the second shipment.
2. The helmet he sent was a lot lighter but it was not cured nearly enough. The paper stuck to it in shipment adhering to the surface... it was incredibly sticky. really tacky. Any time you touched it a finger print was permanently made into the surface. I tried sanding it, wet sanding it... all it did was make things gummy and tacky. MF suggested I coat it with windex and let it dry outside and that would work. It did not.
I gave the second helmet a week to cure and it wasn't any better. After looking at it it was warped from me sanding it. There just wasn't any saving this bucket. I had hopes it could be salvaged but I had to toss it due to the stench of resin and it being unusable. Considering it was a kind gesture from MF I didn't bother him any further about that helmet but it still left me with the current bucket I had that's heavier than the Titanic.
May 23rd rolls around... much time has passed and I again have to follow up regarding the darts that were supposed to be included in my order back in January.
May 24th he responds saying his vendor in china hasn't sent them yet and that he could offer a refund.
May 27th I agree to the refund to which he wants me to wait until the following Wednesday (June 3rd) to see if they'll come before refunding me. I agree and am still being polite throughout it all.
June 4th rolls around with no response from him. I reach out.
June 5th I reach out and he responds with "The stalks are being finished early next week and shipping from the UK, they are very nice and being made by bucketheadprops on Instagram.
But if you prefer the refund please let me know
"
I wasn't inquiring about stalks or anything like that. He didn't even read my message or even have the care to understand what he was even replying to. He apologized for "reading it wrong" and said he was going to message Quest Designs. (I thought Quest Design was a Canadian Etsy shop... if the darts were coming from China, why is he messaging them?)
June 6th, no response
June 8th, no response from him and I sent the following message "You know, just refund me the dart amount. These were supposed to be included with my kit literally months ago anyhow. How they're still not available is beyond me but you really shouldn't be selling kits you don't have the parts for. I've been extremely patient with your lack of communication, misunderstanding, missing parts, delayed times, improper parts, and still missing parts... but I gave you an extensive amount of time for these darts... last wed was the day for information and we're on the following Monday with nothing still. Just refund the difference of the darts and I'll be on my way. Thanks man."
June 10th I follow up and showed concern as I hoped nothing had happened to him. He finally responded. " The darts are coming in from China and these props are my livelihood so it would be hard to just stop selling these. "
He then issued the refund for the darts... we exchanged some kind words, wished each other the best and went on our way.
In the end his communication is some of the worst I've ever dealt with and can only be trumped by someone that ghosts you entirely. The quality control on the parts I got was not good at all and not at all what he advertises as FP parts. The stock images he uses from FP are not at all what you actual receive in terms of quality and if I hadn't been diligent and constantly hounded him I would've never gotten them period.
That being said he did do a lot to try and make things right... whether it was out of good conscious or to save face I do not know. He was never malicious towards me and despite his onslaught of screw ups and delays, white lies, all of that... he still eventually did deliver everything except the darts. I want to believe he can learn from everything... and even if his quality doesn't improve, at the very least his customer interaction and communication improves. He's somehow managed to acquire so many great molds but you are definitely gambling with ordering from him.
If you do, be on his back. As long your diligent he eventually does respond and does eventually get your stuff out. Take his turn around times with a grain of salt and expect there to be a lot of work that goes into the parts. I hate to say it but expect to not receive everything you ordered as well.
You live and learn both as a buyer and a seller and I really REALLY hope MF can start learning from these posts. Would I suggest MF to anyone looking for parts? At this point, no.... but if he can square himself up I think he could turn around and become a great seller if he focuses on his orders and really pays attention. People will wait if they get quality and everything the first time round. You make someone happy their first time round that will resonate for years to come. You shouldn't have to make white lies, send out freebies, etc... to try and make someone happy. I want to see you succeed MF. You clearly want to do this... just slow things down a bit. Don't bite off more than you can chew... focus on each thing you make to ensure it's good quality and you'll be surprised with just how well things can go! Also drop the FettPride branding PLEASE haha. No idea why you stick to that but that also taints your reputation from the getgo... but that's just my opinion. Admins, I can share my conversation if needed to verify anything I've said. I literally went through my entire experience and laid it out here as it went. Best of luck MF! I hope I start to hear some positive things and maybe someday I can order again.