What's fair to ask for here when a seamstress makes a crappy mistake?
July 10, 2015 1:38 PM Subscribe
Straight pins from alterations to my wedding dress were accidentally left in, with rather painful results. I would like the boutique to make it up to me--what's fair to ask for here?
I bought my wedding dress from what is arguably the most "high-end" boutique in my area. I had alterations done in-house--the dress turned out lovely, but five minutes before I walked down the aisle I felt a sharp jab in my thigh and figured out that a couple of straight pins had accidentally been left in the dress by the seamstress. Even worse, they were in the lining, so I couldn't even get them out and they poked me several more times throughout the night.
I am pretty annoyed about this because, again, this place is pretty nice and the alterations cost me almost half the cost of the dress. I was fine with that, but with the amount of money I pretty much expected it to be perfect (and there were a few other issues--e.g. discovering at my first fitting post-alterations fitting that they had straight-up "forgotten" to do half the changes we talked about, among a few other easily avoidable complications).
I am not one to go straight to Yelp or whatever and be like "Hey everybody, this place sucks" so I contacted the manager and let her know, saying I would love to write them a nice review and recommend them to other engaged ladies in my social circle, but that I had a pretty bad taste left in my mouth with the pins being left in after all that, and that I absolutely wasn't looking to get anyone fired but that *I hoped there was some way they could make it up to me*. The manager got back to me and was very apologetic and said she would bring the matter to the owner.
I've already had to touch base after subsequent radio silence, and at this point I feel like I should not leave it open-ended and need to say "Listen, this what I expect/this is how you can make it up to me". The couple of people I've talked to agreed "Yeah that is really not cool" [about the pins being forgotten] and said I should either ask for a small refund, or ask them to have my dress professionally cleaned (which I will have to do eventually anyway and will also cost me a pretty penny--UGH).
Are either of those options even fair? What do you think is reasonable to ask for here, if anything? I am also cognizant of the fact that they are NOT concerned about my repeat business (it's not like I am going to come back again next year and buy another wedding dress!) so I may ultimately get blown off here. Any advice/perspective is appreciated.
I bought my wedding dress from what is arguably the most "high-end" boutique in my area. I had alterations done in-house--the dress turned out lovely, but five minutes before I walked down the aisle I felt a sharp jab in my thigh and figured out that a couple of straight pins had accidentally been left in the dress by the seamstress. Even worse, they were in the lining, so I couldn't even get them out and they poked me several more times throughout the night.
I am pretty annoyed about this because, again, this place is pretty nice and the alterations cost me almost half the cost of the dress. I was fine with that, but with the amount of money I pretty much expected it to be perfect (and there were a few other issues--e.g. discovering at my first fitting post-alterations fitting that they had straight-up "forgotten" to do half the changes we talked about, among a few other easily avoidable complications).
I am not one to go straight to Yelp or whatever and be like "Hey everybody, this place sucks" so I contacted the manager and let her know, saying I would love to write them a nice review and recommend them to other engaged ladies in my social circle, but that I had a pretty bad taste left in my mouth with the pins being left in after all that, and that I absolutely wasn't looking to get anyone fired but that *I hoped there was some way they could make it up to me*. The manager got back to me and was very apologetic and said she would bring the matter to the owner.
I've already had to touch base after subsequent radio silence, and at this point I feel like I should not leave it open-ended and need to say "Listen, this what I expect/this is how you can make it up to me". The couple of people I've talked to agreed "Yeah that is really not cool" [about the pins being forgotten] and said I should either ask for a small refund, or ask them to have my dress professionally cleaned (which I will have to do eventually anyway and will also cost me a pretty penny--UGH).
Are either of those options even fair? What do you think is reasonable to ask for here, if anything? I am also cognizant of the fact that they are NOT concerned about my repeat business (it's not like I am going to come back again next year and buy another wedding dress!) so I may ultimately get blown off here. Any advice/perspective is appreciated.
I would leave out the part about the issues during fittings because that just bogs this down in details that were actually rectified. Instead I'd send a postal letter along the lines of:
Dear Wedding Place Owner:
I became a customer of Wedding Place in August of 2014 when I purchased my Vera Wang Harmony dress from your store at a cost of $1500. I subsequently arranged for you to undertake the necessary alterations to the gown at an additional cost of $700.
Given Wedding Place's stellar reputation and the significant cost of the alterations, I expected them to be completed to the highest professional standard. Unfortunately, when I put the gown on on my wedding day, I discovered a number of straight pins had been left in the dress by the seamstress, trapped in the lining so that I was unable to remove them.
The result of this oversight was that I spent my wedding day being repeatedly poked by pins. This is as unpleasant as you might imagine it would be, and made an otherwise joyous day both painful and stressful.
I have previously discussed this with your manager Sue Jones, but to date no resolution has offered. Therefore, I would like to request a refund of $350 against the cost of the alterations that were not delivered to an acceptable standard.
Sincerely,
Etc.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:49 PM on July 10, 2015 [37 favorites]
Dear Wedding Place Owner:
I became a customer of Wedding Place in August of 2014 when I purchased my Vera Wang Harmony dress from your store at a cost of $1500. I subsequently arranged for you to undertake the necessary alterations to the gown at an additional cost of $700.
Given Wedding Place's stellar reputation and the significant cost of the alterations, I expected them to be completed to the highest professional standard. Unfortunately, when I put the gown on on my wedding day, I discovered a number of straight pins had been left in the dress by the seamstress, trapped in the lining so that I was unable to remove them.
The result of this oversight was that I spent my wedding day being repeatedly poked by pins. This is as unpleasant as you might imagine it would be, and made an otherwise joyous day both painful and stressful.
I have previously discussed this with your manager Sue Jones, but to date no resolution has offered. Therefore, I would like to request a refund of $350 against the cost of the alterations that were not delivered to an acceptable standard.
Sincerely,
Etc.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:49 PM on July 10, 2015 [37 favorites]
Something that I think is helpful in cases like these is to think about how much harm you suffered. Like, pins in the wedding dress, that sucks! But does it suck worse than not having any alterations? Did it absolutely ruin the day? If not, it's less harm than the cost of the alterations. How much did it affect the alterations? Was your enjoyment of the dress, say, halved by the pins? Was it a pain but something you could deal with, more on the order of shitty shoes that cut your feet? Maybe then 10 percent of the cost of the alterations? By thinking through this kind of stuff, you both are much more likely to get some refund, and you're being fair about the work they did do. It's also (generally) how you'd be compensated if you sued them — you'd be unlikely to recover the full price of alterations, even before any costs associated with taking them to court.
I'm also of the mind that you don't really have any obligation aside from honesty in Yelp reviews or recommendations — ultimately, it would be better if they made some sort of offer to you, but either way you should feel free to tell all and sundry about your experience both good and bad. (Not tying the review to any expected outcome also helps you keep on the right side of the line from extortion, something that probably won't matter unless you took them to court, but even still is a bit gauche.)
posted by klangklangston at 3:15 PM on July 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm also of the mind that you don't really have any obligation aside from honesty in Yelp reviews or recommendations — ultimately, it would be better if they made some sort of offer to you, but either way you should feel free to tell all and sundry about your experience both good and bad. (Not tying the review to any expected outcome also helps you keep on the right side of the line from extortion, something that probably won't matter unless you took them to court, but even still is a bit gauche.)
posted by klangklangston at 3:15 PM on July 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Hm, I disagree with some of the other bits of advice here. My mom does textile work (mostly quilts, granted) and a pin being left in a garment is by no means a rare or even unexpected occurrence. It's an indicator, rather, that your garment was worked by a human and not a milling machine. Feel free to ask for some sort of kick back, but... a full or half refund? That strikes me as an extreme reaction to a common snafu.
I just phoned my mom for her take on this. Firstly, she was horrified on your behalf, and on behalf of whomever worked on your garment. She suggested that if this is a "big house" with more than a few staff, this might be an instance of a tailor having completed the work and then a middleman of sorts taking it for the next stage of work without having checked to make sure that the tailor had removed the pins / double checked edges / etc. If it's a small shop, it was human error but nonetheless an expected kind of error (paraphrasing her words, "this isn't a damaged garment, which would be grounds for a full refund. little else is"). She also wonders aloud why people don't inspect the work on a high-end alteration before leaving the shop, when a quick remedial action can be taken. That's no help for you in this situation, but something that the shop might ask you. If they do, they're not being jerks, it's a part of their trade that they assume people know to do.
If there's blood on the dress, they certainly owe you some or all of the cleaning fee. But, again from mom, make sure when you handed over the garment for work that you didn't sign an insurance agreement (or something similar) that established a maximum liability before you ask for some dollar amount if that's the route you go.
I'm sorry this gouged into your wedding day!
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:55 PM on July 10, 2015 [6 favorites]
I just phoned my mom for her take on this. Firstly, she was horrified on your behalf, and on behalf of whomever worked on your garment. She suggested that if this is a "big house" with more than a few staff, this might be an instance of a tailor having completed the work and then a middleman of sorts taking it for the next stage of work without having checked to make sure that the tailor had removed the pins / double checked edges / etc. If it's a small shop, it was human error but nonetheless an expected kind of error (paraphrasing her words, "this isn't a damaged garment, which would be grounds for a full refund. little else is"). She also wonders aloud why people don't inspect the work on a high-end alteration before leaving the shop, when a quick remedial action can be taken. That's no help for you in this situation, but something that the shop might ask you. If they do, they're not being jerks, it's a part of their trade that they assume people know to do.
If there's blood on the dress, they certainly owe you some or all of the cleaning fee. But, again from mom, make sure when you handed over the garment for work that you didn't sign an insurance agreement (or something similar) that established a maximum liability before you ask for some dollar amount if that's the route you go.
I'm sorry this gouged into your wedding day!
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:55 PM on July 10, 2015 [6 favorites]
I agree that a full or even half refund seems excessive for a few pin pricks.
What you should expect is for them to correct the mistake - unpick the lining, remove the pins and yes if its blood stained - get it properly cleaned. On top of that, some sort of apology gift - to the tune flowers, a nice bottle wine or chocolates (since a voucher to their store is unlikely to be useful)
posted by missmagenta at 9:58 AM on July 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
What you should expect is for them to correct the mistake - unpick the lining, remove the pins and yes if its blood stained - get it properly cleaned. On top of that, some sort of apology gift - to the tune flowers, a nice bottle wine or chocolates (since a voucher to their store is unlikely to be useful)
posted by missmagenta at 9:58 AM on July 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just getting the dress fixed is not acceptable compensation. Normally, I think that would be a reasonable solution for a simple mistake, but this is a wedding dress. The party's over and the dress is not going to be worn again any time soon, gods willing.
I agree with internet fraud detective squad, wedding vendors charge ridiculous amounts of money because they are supposed to deliver perfection. The lack of response from the owner is also a valid complaint. I'd give them one more shot with DarlingBri's script and then take to the interwebs. Really, you'll probably get a much quicker response if you make some noise elsewhere.
posted by yeahlikethat at 5:17 PM on July 11, 2015
I agree with internet fraud detective squad, wedding vendors charge ridiculous amounts of money because they are supposed to deliver perfection. The lack of response from the owner is also a valid complaint. I'd give them one more shot with DarlingBri's script and then take to the interwebs. Really, you'll probably get a much quicker response if you make some noise elsewhere.
posted by yeahlikethat at 5:17 PM on July 11, 2015
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You may want to go in person though. It's easy to blow people off via phone/email.
posted by guster4lovers at 1:45 PM on July 10, 2015