Anyone else have a tarantula that has a "clicking" motor? I think the ITR is rubbing the casing but I'm not sure. It's VERY loud...not just a hum like you'd expect. I've done everything I can think of to fix it but the only way I can get it to work is to reverse the gimmick (so that the thread now comes out of the bottom and the tab is at the top). I've contacted Mesika's people but haven't gotten a response. Could this be a defective unit? I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem.

Hi
My reel is very quiet so I think you have a bad reel. Mesika has very good customer service. I had a problem with my reel and he fixed it no questions asked. He is a member here so I would just P.M him.
hth
Ralph

How do I find him on here? What's his username?

The clicking trantulas are for tablehopping in Mexican restaurants with loud Mariachi bands.

Finally got a response from his website. The address I had on file was incorrect. The correct address was mesika@mac.com

Mine has no noise either ~ hope you can get yours replace soon

Yeah, me too. I'm a little nervous because I basically sent it off and now I have nothing to show for it...no proof. Haha. Hope they send me another one!

Hi
I was shocked at how fast I got mine back!Great customer service.

I hope so. I actually heard the opposite from someone else. I sent it off last Thursday so we'll see when I get it back...it's been one week and counting.

Ok, Yigal himself contacted me about this - My tarantula was a FAKE! It came with a DVD, box, everything...SO surprising because it was purchased from what I thought was a legitimate dealer. Yigal is going after them and told me to keep quiet about who I bought it from. So...I can't really warn you guys about the site...but if you find a Tarantula for under 45 dollars DO NOT BUY IT. That should suffice to warn you for now.

He told me he could help get me another one if I help him out on this. We'll see what happens. Don'tcha love a good drama?

Yigal is great about taking care of customers

So I'm free to now bad-mouth this terrible site! The site is MagicWhiz.com and they sold me a FAKE tarantula for sure! Here's what to look for in a fake:

1. My fake came in a soft cardboard box with slightly faded graphics. The original comes in a hard, sturdy box with clear graphics. (The designs on both are identical)

2. The printed circuit board that has the motor is green on the fake. The original has a black board.

3. The stick switch cannot be detached on the fake. The original stick switch can be detached.

4. The original's motor is totally silent. The fake's motor has a humming sound and other noises if the quality is worse.

5. The original has strong thread that doesn't break easily and pulls smoothly from the reel. The fake ones have thread that sometimes jam up in the unit and breaks easily. (My fake unit's thread jammed after a few minutes).

Stay safe out there guys!

Guys - what an odd series of events...

1. I bought a fake tarantula from MagicWhiz.com
2. It didn't work right so I sent it to Yigal Mesika
3. Yigal's people (some guy named Danny) said it was a fake and told me "buy one from my favorite online dealer and we'll give you a 1 year warranty" - I told him "that's what I did so you are replacing mine right?"
4. Yigal contacted me himself and said "Keep quiet about this. We are working the issue and if you help us, we'll send you a new one soon."

Now...that's cool. They at LEAST should send me my fake one back...but to send me a real one is pretty nice. However...

5. DAYS go by and nothing happens. I contact Mesika again...
6. Danny replies, "We ask that you post on all your favorite magic forums about how displeased you were finding out that you purchased a fake from MagicWhiz. Also, explain how the quality on the fake device was utterly poor. Please email these post to us, and once we see them, we may proceed."

Really? This is weird...they won't even tell me WHY mine was a fake at this point. I finally figure that out on the forums and so in keeping with my original dealings (keeping quiet and not contacting MagicWhiz) I went ahead and warned everyone about the fakes.

7. I post bad reviews for MagicWhiz and forward the links to Mesika
8. No response for days
9. I (to my shame) FINALLY email MagicWhiz the following message:

I recently purchased a Tarantula from your online company and received a model with an opened DVD. I wasn't sure why the case was opened, but everything seemed ok. However, the motor was loud at times so I sent it directly to Yigal Mesika and they informed me my unit was a FAKE. After doing more researched, I also agree (proved it to myself) that my unit WAS FAKE. They have now confiscated this unit.

I want MagicWhiz to take responsibility for selling me a FAKE item. If you are selling FAKE tarantulas, I cannot imagine what else you are selling that is not legitimate. If you cannot take responsibility for this, I will be reporting you to BBB and all online magic websites that I'm a member of (and there are quite a few). I don't know if you are willingly selling fakes, but if you are not you need to pull your stock immediately. If you are, consider our business permanently concluded as well as many of my friends. Once you start getting bad reviews on the forums, even you know that you are done for.

Please let me know how you plan to rectify this. Thank you.

__________

Here's their response:

Matt,

We apologize for the issue. We will definitely look into this as soon as possible. It is not our intention to sell anything that is Fake! This is the first time we have ever heard about this. We have been purchasing our tarantulas from a new company that we have found. Again we apologize for any inconvenience this matter may have caused. We will stop all stock immediately. We will purchase a tarantula from MurphysMagic.com and replace the one that was confiscated to you right away. Thank you for informing us.

Best Regards, Magic Whiz Customer Service

WOW - now THAT is customer service! While I understand it's not Mesika's obligation to solve a problem of a fake tarantula, his people were not very easy to deal with AND apparently they never even TALKED to MagicWhiz about the issue. Not very happy about the mix-up...but pretty happy that somebody is finally sending me a real tarantula.

Thank you, Magic Whiz!!!

...ask and ye shall receive.

Thanks for the update, talking to people is the easiest and most important mode of communication (unless of course you have problems speaking or hearing but you get my drift).

Sheesh, no kidding right? I was told to contact Mesika in the first place since he supposedly has this great customer service record. Then he tells me to go bad-mouthing MagicWhiz before he'll help me. Very odd. To my knowledge, he doesn't even contact them about their fake stock and just ONE email from me and they fix the whole thing. Very odd on Mesika's part.

So, more has developed since this morning!

I'm eating lunch at a local Café in Colorado Springs before my flight to Vegas to see Criss Angel tonight. Guess who calls my cell phone? That's right, kiddies...Yigal Mesika! Pretty cool. I had sent him an email mildly complaining about the length of time it was taking his company to resolve this matter. He worked things out on the phone VERY professionally with me. We were able to determine the source of the bad tarantulas with the help of MagicWhiz staff who also responded VERY professionally when they found out their Tarantula batch was a fake. They had purchased a cheap batch of only 20 and had sent out even fewer than that to customers. I just happened to be one of the "lucky" ones. Haha. Anyway, both Yigal and MagicWhiz offered to take care of the fake tarantula, but since the blame started with MagicWhiz, I let them replace the unit. Yigal was a perfect gentleman in his conversation and I'm very pleased to have the matter totally resolved with my promise of a Tarantula on the way from MagicWhiz. By the way, the "hang up" by Mesika's team was due to the fact they didn't deal with email. They were snail-mailing correspondence and I wasn't aware of it. They are now working on sorting out the issue with the obvious culprit here - the original supplier. Go get 'em Yigal!!

Mine wasn't so quiet either when I received it (non Fake), but now it has been quietly sitting in a box on a shelf for the last 9 months.

Oh, that's a shame! I should be getting my authentic T this Friday or Sat. Can't wait!

I find it strange that I can't find the Tarantula for sale on Mesika's Products page. Is it normally there, or do I take my chances on buying a fake from some other store?

Try to avoid doing that ziplock, supporting the fakes is the only way we can guarantee their existence. Only support the original creators and true distributors.