Let me help clarify a few things:
The issues that people are expressing frustration with are regarding historical backorders that had been placed with Ted. I COMPLETELY understand the emotion that Ted's past customers are feeling. They are NOT new orders placed through UltimateSwimFin.com .
I am VERY proud of the work and service from UltimateSwimFin.com and proudly stand behind its track record 100%
Don't confuse your past order times or customer service through Ted with that of a new order through USF. They are unrelated and are two different companies.
Re: Ted's backorders... for certain the situation is improving weekly. There are no new backorders or customers that will ever have to go through Ted. He is good at design, product development and fingineering. That's it.
All new sales go through USF and insulate the public from Ted's "customer service".
I believe in the product so strongly, that I've dumped a lot of capital up front into securing inventory for myself, so that the Lunocet product and USF business can thrive... and because of this... Ted's backorder situation is improving weekly and it will shortly become a thing of the past... never to return again.
It is not a ponzi scheme... quite the opposite actually. The old orders that need to be fulfilled are decreasing...this in an inverse pyramid which will get to ZERO and them all customers will only deal me USF and never deal with Ted again. Ted is not handling any new customer $ at this point and hasn't for 6 mos, actually.
There is no conspiracy theory and no... equipment has not been repossessed... he wouldn't have shipped 3 fins this week and have another 10 in the works for next week...
I have also managed to get a list of ppl that are owed fins... and have handed it over to Ted for fulfilment.
Like it or not, the reality is that new sales are providing Ted the capital to catch-up on backorders. Without them... the business would have shut the doors (without fulfilling ANY backorders). This would also be an end to the Lunocet and it is an amazing fin.
Re: durability, there have been some product improvements since the 2015 Pro was first launched that improve the spring durability, spring action and also the case of the core tip poking through the fluke.
Marco has been shipped a new spring with the new Torlon spring bearings which will improve the action and reduce any binding and undue wear. In my case, as I ALSO had an early 2015 Lunocet Pro (Marco was the first), I noticed a substantial improvement when I made these changes and my # of kick-cycles went from 4 to 3 / 25m length!
Finsailor: you know how to get your warranty parts from Ted. I am not involved in that. Your call. I DO know that they will be shipped out as soon as received and the new parts will make your fin perform MUCH better... it is a surprising improvement.
One thing that you will see is that I will not speak badly of competitors publicly, nor make up negative stories. I hold myself and USF to a higher standard.
I stand behind my customers and the products that I sell and have never had a warranty issue.
Fins are shipping (both new orders and backorders). Here is a sample list of fins that have shipped recently:
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?qtc_tLabels1=CV035215174US
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?qtc_tLabels1=9405503699300067188344
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?qtc_tLabels1=CW883571835US
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?qtc_tLabels1=CJ198312351US
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?qtc_tLabels1=CJ198764847US
I will not continue to engage on the forum for customer service issues, but this one time I needed to set the record straight, since people were seemingly confusing past backorders through Ted and new orders and current customer service through UltimateSwimFin.com
If you have a question / inquiry / re-inquiry, PLEASE email
Sales@UltimateSwimFin.com as it is the best way of being able to track issues and respond to inquiries. I will not be monitoring forum PM's regularly for these matters.
Ted is fulfilling backorders... and while I can not put a specific time frame on its completion (as it is largely out of my control) I am confident that this will not carry on into the fall season...
For Ted's customers that are pissed off and fed-up... I get it. Your situation sucks.
The fin itself is awesome and IMHO, since you've waited this long... knowing it will only be a bit longer... is worth the wait, but that choice is yours.