Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/27/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have taken four dresses to this company since October 2021. She was supposed to make alterations to them. The dresses were finally ready and I picked them up about two weeks. I paid approximately $800 for the service. I noticed where she cut was supposed to be a hem, but she completely cut it off and now the dresses are cut too short. I had to buy a replacement dress for two of the dresses. I paid $200 for the replacement dresses.  One of the dresses can be salvaged and the last dress was completely ruined. When I contacted the company, she said it was done exactly how it was pinned. She claims I told her I was using them as tunics and I never told her that. She told me to give her a few days and she would get back to me. She didn't call me back. I called her on Monday and she told me she would call me back. I called her the next day and she hung up on me. Now she will not answer my calls.  I will take this to small claims court if this is not resolved. 

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/01/2022

  ************************* brought in 4 dresses.  She wanted to hem the bottom and remove the pockets.  We did not taper the sides.  We only removed the pockets because she said they were too bulky.  She paid $12 for the hem and $15 for removing the pockets.  She picked up the dresses and took them home.  She later brought them back and complained they were too short.  (This was after the 7 day grace ****** as stated on each invoice).  I told her we always keep the scraps and I would find them so I could lengthen them, which I did at my expense.  There was one I couldn't find.  I offered to use a similar fabric which is how it's usually done since you couldn't see anyway but she didn't want to do that.  Everything is carefully measured.  I take a lot of time on each fitting making sure each customer is satisfied with the way their items fit before they are left with me.  She said she was ok with the items and took them home.  Weeks later she came back in and said "You are  not going to like this but you ruined my dresses, You're going to buy all of them, return all the money for the alterations and I'm keeping all my items, go get my money!"  She was raising her voice saying my work was horrible, gross, among other negative things all in front of other customers.  I reminded her when I fitted her I mentioned that they were short and she said she was only going to wear one as a dress and the rest as tunics with leggings.  If you have ever been to my shop and have been fitted for anything you know how careful I am with measuring everything and how much attention I give to each fitting.  Everything done exactly how it is marked.  My seamstresses have all been with me for years.  They are all very good and know the routine.  I have three way mirrors so each person can see exactly how it will look when finished.  ************************* had a hard time making up her mind on the length of each item.  I gave her as much time as she needed to decide on the final measurement.  She said at one point she noticed where we cut was supposed to be where the final hem should have been which doesn't make any sense because there are non markings left after the alterations are completed.  So what was she going off of? Also I maxed out each hem which only had a 1" wide seam allowance (each item is always finished the same as it came in originally unless otherwise requested) which means it would be back to the same length as original.  Her total cost for alterations for all 4 dresses was $78.  I was called several times during the middle of the day.  I had told her I would call her after hours because my husband went back to work.  My daughter had to leave because she was dealing with cancer.  We were in the middle of prom and wedding season and I was running the business by myself.  I was called several times during the day, each time there were only demands and (when am I going to get my money!).  There was never any discussing anything.  She said (I'm sorry about your daughter but this needs to be resolved now so go get my money!).  Her actions left me quite stressed.  I was trying to work with her on some sort of solution but she wouldn't let me discuss anything with her.  There were constant phone calls during the day, a hand delivered letter by her husband, threats of trying to damage my reputation.  It was clear this was going no where.   I did exactly what she requested on each item!  I was done with being harassed.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/01/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  ***** is delusional.  There are so many made up facts in her statement it is ludicrous.  ***** only re-hemmed one of my dresses, an animal print dress, and it was still too short after re-hemming because they cut off too much fabric.  I had to repurchase the dress and took it elsewhere for alterations.  I had the other dress hems let down as well by another alterations shop on dresses that were ruined at Alterations Unlimited, but the old hem lines show and are non-wearable.  When I say *****, I don't mean ***** but instead her employees.  I feel ***** is very talented which is why I went to her for years, but she hired some unqualified employees and they did in fact really mess up my clothes.  My out of pocket expenses include the bad alteration costs, plus the cost to replace the ruined dresses.  ***** even at one point said she guessed she would have to replace my animal print dress, but went on to tell me that she was a small business, had just paid taxes, did not have the funds to pay me at the time and it would take a couple of weeks for her to pull the money together.  I was more than willing to wait, even willing to accept installments.  Also, this is the first time of me hearing that her daughter had/has cancer.  I don't know if that is made up for sympathy or if she has me confused with someone else, but I never told her I was sorry about her daughter's illness.  I am sorry, but again, this is the first time hearing that story.  It is utterly false that I told her I would ruin her reputation, I do believe in karma instead.  I posted nothing on any social network, but instead complained only to BBB to try and warn other customers of her misdealings.  I have however read her reviews since my run-in with her and I am definitely not the long ranger in terms of alterations gone wrong.  Alterations Unlimited has a lot of really bad reviews.  In the end I have found a darling girl to do my alterations and she usually gets them back to me in a week.  It was always a month out for Alterations Unlimited because they are so backed up.  Alterations Unlimited has also lost my clothing and we have had to come back several times while they searched the store looking for items.  ***** owes me $ and she knows it.  Not sure how her guilty conscience lets her fall asleep at night.  No wonder she is stressed.  ***** needs to buck up and pay me for the bad alterations that I paid her for in addition to replacing my ruined items.  "Strong women don't get even, they sit back and let karma do it's job."  ***************************

   

   

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/01/2022

  Want to let you know that I have yet to receive a check from ***** at Alterations Unlimited.