I took a brand new, semi-formal style dress that I had just purchased to wear to an upcoming wedding, to Trendy Tailors to have it taken up. I am just under 5' tall so this is an issue I have with nearly every dress, skirt or pair of pants I purchase. I mention this to establish that at 49 years old, I have had numerous dresses and skirts taken up by tailors. My comfort length is and always has been to have the hemline at the top of my knee. This time was no different and during the fitting, I had the seamstress (who is also the proprietor) pin the hem of the dress to the top of my knee. The wedding was only 4 days away and the proprietor agreed to have the dress ready for me to pick up on the Saturday morning (the day of the wedding).
I had just come from the gym and needed to run home and shower and get ready for the wedding so when I picked up the dress on my way home, I was unable to try the dress on. I was charged $68.25 including tax, for the alteration. When I went to put the dress on as I was getting ready at home, I was shocked to find that the hem at the back came only to the bottom of my buttock and mid-way on my thigh at the front. I called Trendy Tailors to let them know that I would need to bring it back to them during the week after work and that I was not able to wear it for the occasion I had purchased it for because it had been hemmed to short.
The following week I took the dress back to Trendy Tailors as discussed. Both of the proprietors were there and I tried the dress on for them to show them how short it was. When I came out of the dressing room the woman told me that I had asked her to pin it that short. I of course insisted that I would never at anytime ask for a dress to be hemmed to barely cover my butt or only 1/2 of my thigh. She continued to argue with me and I insisted that I've had a lifetime of experience having my skirt length hemmed at which point she changed her argument to insist that it was only short when I walked (if this were true, it would still be a problem) so I then showed her that no, it was that short when I stood still. Her argument changed again and she told me it was because the dress had become too tight on me since I had it pinned the first time. Not only is this rude and insulting, but highly unlikely that a person could put on such a significant amount of weight in 4 days and that it happened in a way to make a dress shorter? After several minutes of arguing she agreed to fix it but wanted to charge me to do so. I let her know that this was not acceptable and that since the dress had been purchased to wear to a specific event and that it was not wearable, at the least I wanted to be reimbursed for the cost of the hemming and have it repaired at no-charge. She refused and insisted I would have to pay. I maintained what I thought was fair so at this point her partner intervened and asked what I wanted. I told him that I wanted them to do the right and fair thing. That if they fixed it for no-charge and reimbursed me for the initial charge, I would be willing to give their business another chance and if I shared my experience, I would be sure to let people know that they made things right ad he agreed. As the man reached to get cash for me, the woman began shouting at him and pulling at his arm so he told me that she said "no" (I could not understand her myself as I am only English speaking/understanding). I stood my ground and every time he tried to give me the cash, she came running back to him while shouting and pulling at his arm. This went on several times over about 10 minutes at which point I said that I wasn't leaving until he gave me the cash for the initial alteration. Finally even though she was still shouting and pulling at him, he gave me $60 and told me to take my dress somewhere else.
I still have not been able to have the dress repaired, it is far too short. I will never be able to wear it.