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As I was driving through downtown the other day, I noticed that tailoring by Robin has moved onto Huron Avenue from the shoe box she was in over by Skarbo Chiropractic.
I havent done any business in the last 2 years with Robin, nor do I ever plan to again! Hopefully after reading this blog I can persuade other people to take their business elsewhere as well.
Now Robin may be your best friend or relative, but that doesnt make her any better at what she does, or excuse the humiliation she put me through.
My best friend was getting married a few years ago, and I was to be the Matron of Honor. At the time we had no local Davids bridal, so we were told to call the Davids Bridal in Virginia where my friend was living, and give them our measurements and credit card numbers, and they would ship us the dress in an appropriate size. It was 6 months before the wedding and I was hesitant to do this, as I am plus size, and everything I put on fits me differently, but being a good bridesmaid, I did as I was told.
Shortly aftering ordering and paying for my dress, I became very ill. After a month of not being able to keep food down, it was determind that I needed to have my gall bladder removed, but the surgeons were either on vacation or booked up, so my surgery was put off for another month.
Needless to say, this was an automatic diet for me, since nearly everything I ate caused projectile vomiting. When my dress finally arrived, I pulled it out of the wrapper, stepped into it, and realized it was SOO big that even after I zipped it up, it fell right back to the floor! Now normally I would have been thrilled, but with a month left till the wedding I didnt have time to order a new one, and the closest Davids was over an hour away, so getting them to alter it was out of the question.
I decided to go to tailoring by Robin to have it taken in. On my first visit to her tiny shop, she chastised me for getting such a large dress, and told me she was so backed up the dress would not be ready until 2 days before the wedding! I was NOT happy about this, because what if it needed further work after I re tried it on.
2 days before the wedding I called her from work, as I had not heard from her. (she claims to have left several msgs on my voiemail, but there were no calls on my caller ID from her, and no msgs on my voicemail) I found that she had gone for the day. I left a frantic message on her machine asking how I was going to get my dress. The morning of the rehearsal my friend rushed to the shop and paid for my dress and picked it up because between all the things the bride had planned for the day, I had NO time to go and get it.
When there was a small break in the action, I flew to her house and hurriedly tried on my dress. It didnt FIT! It was WAY too SMALL!!! Now I ask you, how does a dress go from being so big you cant wear it, to so small you cant wear it in a months time, and NO I did NOT gaing back the amost 50lbs I had lost from being so sick.
Of course I became hysterical, so my friend did everything she could think of to get the dress to zip, including buying me a "girdle" type undergarment to wear under it. We went to Robins shop, which thank god was open, and demanded to know what she had done.
Of course she took no blame for it, it was all my fault, by this time I was late for rehearsal and she was closing for the day. After much heated discussion, she decided she would take the dress home and work on it, and have it done in the morning, which I found unacceptable, I wanted it done that day, as I had a hair appt in the morning, and other wedding related responsibilities, so I needed the dress that evening. She took my cell phone # and agreed to call me when it was done.
We were in the middle of my speech at the rehearsal dinner at 9pm that evening when my cell phone rang and it was a call from an obviously drunken Robin, insisting that I come to her HOME right away, and get the dress because she had other girls from other weddings who were in the same situation, and she needed to get their dresses done as well.
I excused myself from the rehearsal dinner at the Fogcutter, and my friend and I drove to Robins house, which by the way, was in no way, shape, or form like anything I would invite clients in to, and thats all I will say about that.
With her grown daughter sitting in the living room, and in front my my friend Cindy, as well as herself, drunk Robin insists that I take off my clothes and try on the dress right there in the living room. Can you say embarrasing? Humiliating even?
Well of course the dress still didnt fit. AND it had a stain on it! Robin then added insult to injury by forcing my friend to try and cram me into the dress, yelling at her to "pull harder" on the 2 sides while Robin yanked at the zipper, and barking at me to "suck it in" or "let all your air out", which didnt work.
After 10 to 15 minutes of this I had what I believe to be a nervous breakdown, yanked the dress down, threw my clothes on, and ran out of the stinky house.
My husband, who had been waiting in the car had to go to the door and ask for my dress. He was going to pound on the door and demand my 65.00 back, but I was sobbing and talking incoherently, so my friend told him to just drive to the hotel where all of the wedding party was staying so we could try to figure something out.
Almost everyone in the wedding party, and over half the guests were from out of town, so they were all staying at the hotel, which to me added to my humiliation, as these people didnt know me, and I figure they all assumed I was just too fat for my dress, which wasnt the case at all.
The bride, my friend Kerry, had worked for Virginia Stage and had the seamstress from the stage company make her wedding dress, and it just so happened she was also a guest at the wedding.
Upon hearing what happened, Kerry gathered Emmie, the seamstress, and the best man, who's name escapes me at the moment, together to come up with a plan. The best man asked for directions to the local 24 hour dept store, and actually went a purchased a sewing machine.
Emmie had me put the monstrosity that used to be my elegant gown on the best I could, surveyed the damage, told me she had no idea what Robin had even tried to achieve, showed me all the poor stitching and cutting that had been done, took the entire dress apart, and using my matching wrap, spent the ENTIRE night before the wedding totally reconstructing my dress. I received the dressa bout 25 minutes before the wedding started, so many of the professional pictures include me with my hair and make up down to perfection, and wearing a black velour sweat suit. How nice.
Emmie and also Kerry's mom who sews, both wanted me to sue Robin and report her to the better business bureau. I didnt, I really wish I would have.
Bottom line here is I have NO IDEA how she manages to stay in business, because the more people I tell this story the more stories I hear, so PLEASE , save yourself and your wardrobe, and don't take your business there
Tags: poor work ethic bad business
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