United Custom Tailor

I stumbled across this tailor shop the
day after a marathon day of shopping at My Sister’s Closet. I had purchased a Marc by Marc Jacobs blouse for $ 7 on sale with a small rip. They were able to fix the tear in a day.

I took in two things for alterations: A coat to have the lining replaced, the coat was perfect! I was even able to have it lined in my favorite color! (Although it took 3 attempts before the coat was ready for pick up: First visit the day it was promised to me, second date given to me I wised up and called before making the trip (lucky for me because the coat still wasn’t ready) and finally the day after the second quoted date. Result: 3 ½ stars for Alteration Number One.
The next item I had for altering: A «yard sale special» dress to be altered for a costume — I needed the dress to be more ‘body hugging’ and said so at time of consultation. Alas, when it came time for me to pick up the dress, I really wasn’t thinking about trying on the dress and not only was I short on time/​patience; I didn’t have the right «unmentionables» for the occasion and rather than show off the good china to the entire shop and a newly arrived male customer, I wound up not coming out of the dressing room (which doesn’t have a mirror in it, who does that?!), and just had my mom eyeball it and give me her vote. She said it looked good, so I changed back into my street clothes, paid $ 30 for the dress alterations and went on my merry way. Well –the dress was not altered the way that I had requested, and in fact I was hard pressed to find what he’d altered. The dress was about 3 – 4 sizes bigger than what I would normally wear, but as the dress was a column dress, I thought this wouldn’t pose a huge problem. Especially for a guy whose clientele include a lot of folks in the dressage /​competitive equestrian sport world. Suffice it to say, it’s very formal and fitted attire. So I call the shop to let them know I’m not satisfied. The young woman who answered said: «Ok.» … {I waited for something like «I’m sorry you feel it isn’t quite right, bring it back in and let’s see what we can do.”} When I realized she was not going to say anything, and I mean nothing. I explained about the dress and coat that «Mok» altered and how I loved the coat but the dress just didn’t seem any different, did I need to schedule some time with Mok? The response, «We here from 10 to 6.» So I said, «So any time tomorrow is okay?» Again, «Ok, bye.»
I came in the next day during my lunch — had another mostly one way conversation — but at least it seemed we were making big strides in getting the dress to a much more fitted look (I showed him a picture), so I was beginning to feel a bit more positive. After two fittings — one for the interior slip and one for the exterior dress, I came out of the dressing room and was presented with a ticket for an additional $ 60 charge.
I never expected the man to do it for free, but, really? The dress cost me $ 5.00 — the original visit already cost me FIVE TIMES that and you’d have never guessed it had been altered! Now — he wants to charge me *another* $ 60.00? I managed to get him down to $ 50.00 and then he wouldn’t budge — so I’ve now agreed to pay SIXTEEN times what I originally paid for the dress… God, I hope he gets it right and can deliver on time. At this point, I don’t have much choice but to agree — I need the costume for this weekend. Lesson learned — if it doesn’t fit, don’t alter it! (At least not here).
Result: 0 stars for Customer Service, 1 star (so far) for Alteration Number Two — I’ll update once I get the dress back.
Overall: 2.5 Stars — - Definitely ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ service.