Grays Taxidermy Rip-Offs

I have never taken the time to write a review of anyone before, but boy am I frustrated, mad and every other feeling you can negatively think of! My husband and I were on another chartered fishing trip out of Clearwater Florida. We had a great day and my husband caught a 22inch lane snapper which is said to be a bigger length for it being a Lane. The captain did not push us to mount this fish but when we said about mounting it, he said I can take care of that for you. With questioning him about price and quality, we put our trust in him and gave him the deposit by credit card, and left later knowing we would get the bill for the rest. A month later I get a bill for the second half of the 238 dollars that we owe but also are being charged 120 dollars crate fee and 88 dollars to ship whether they ship to PA or locally to FLA. We were never told this by our captain and the receipt was such small lettering that you could not read it well. After this bill for a 22 inch fish I called Gray to talk about shipping and these fees they were nasty, ignorant, forceful and would not cancel my order and refund my money even though the fish was not even started, because benounced to us there was a nonrefundable statement for deposit on the paper that was not told to us and we did not see. When I said about back charging my credit card they said "go ahead and try to fight it, we will win we have done it many times" WOW... so needless to say I wasn't going to give them another dime and lost my deposit. Turns out the nonrefundable deposit goes right to the captain as his commission. So over the internet I spoke with 3 other taxidermists in Florida and all were very much aware of Grays scams on tourists and one time fisherman that Grays and the captains prey on. I ended up going with Browns Taxidermy out of Cape Canaveral FL super nice guy, he has a website, for a total of 234.30 and that is shipped to my door. This total is less that my initial deposit. BEWARE OF GRAYS!!!!!!! - Jess Shadron. 4-8-16

Adam Wiedman, 20 Oct..

tax•i•der•my noun the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals with lifelike effect. Gray Taxidermy is an unethical business, a fantastically orchestrated scam to con people out of their money, and a complete rip-off. Let’s start with my first qualm: The name “Gray Taxidermy” would imply that Gray actually practices taxidermy, but the fact of the matter is that every fish that they ship from their facility is a reproduction - a poorly painted, mass-produced fiberglass mold. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problems with reproduction replica mounts - I’m a stout believer in catch-and-release fishing - but when it’s implied on your fishing charter that the fish you caught will be used in the final product, you expect that your catch will be used. The replica does not even come close to capturing the natural beauty of your fish - the originally gorgeous spots on my original catch look like haphazard paint splatters and the ultra high-gloss finish makes it look extremely unnatural. Also, they don’t even take the time to add an eye to the reverse side of your catch, which is noticeable if you mount it in a traffic area within your home. “The Captain’s Choice” is a great tagline for Gray Taxidermy, because the amount of commissions that the charter’s captains probably make from helping swindle tourists out their money has got to be more than enough incentive for them to continue practicing further fraudulence. Here’s how the scam works: first, you catch your fish and the deckhands immediately persuade you to consider having it mounted. They tell you that they “will send the fish to the taxidermist” and “everything will be taken care of for you.” If you agree, they will then ask you for an immediate deposit of half of the total cost of the mount, and an email will be sent to you in a few days with instructions on how to pay for the other half of your purchase. What they don’t ever tell you is that you will end up paying more than half on your next payment, and that you will also be receiving a crating charge and another shipping charge on top of that. In my particular case, the crating charge for a 38” Dorado was $170, and the crate itself merely consisted of a thin cardboard box, a small piece of wood, and two screws. Add another $120 for shipping and you’ve almost accumulated another $300 in undisclosed fees. I can only imagine what the exorbitant crating and shipping fees for a much larger fish would be. Long story short - I got scammed. I’m happy that I purchased the fish to represent the memories of my honeymoon, but I couldn’t be more displeased with the deception, the communication, the attention to detail, and the overall experience with Gray Taxidermy.