My tuxedo rental was a total disaster and the WORST customer "service" experience I have ever had with a retailer. Employee who did my measurements was very good and pleasant to work with; however after the tuxedo, shirt, etc. were delivered and ALL were the wrong size and/or style -- and I sought a full refund because I ultimately missed my wife's formal event -- she told the store manager I "did not allow her to take my measurements personally," which is, pardon the expression, a bald-faced lie. I told her what size coat, trousers and shirt (collar size) I wear, and she then used her tape measure to confirm them herself, agreeing with each one I had told her.
The tuxedo which was first delivered was wrong in every possible way. I wear size 42 trousers; a size 47 was delivered. Pant legs were about 5" too long. Clearly someone else's pants were sent and the order was not checked before leaving Al's warehouse in Houston. Coat was the correct size but sleeves were about 1" too long (and were satisfactorily shortened later). Shirt was the wrong collar style and I could not button the collar button (I wear a 17 1/2 collar dress shirt. A size 18 was re-ordered for me.) Asst. mgr. (who did the original measurements) and another employee were very accommodating and apologetic for the mistakes.
I returned the next day (the day of the event) as instructed, to find that the coat sleeves had been shortened satisfactorily. The coat, as it turned out, was the ONLY thing right about this rental.
Size 43 (side adjustable) pants were delivered the second time, but they had not been hemmed at all. They were literally 10"-12" too long (I did not measure).
When I pointed this out, the asst. mgr. (who did in-store alterations) said she was forbidden from cutting any excess length from any pair of pants, but would hem 3" from my correct length, leaving about 8" of excess fabric. This, she said, she would "fold up inside the pants legs" and I "would have to be careful not to rip out the hem when putting the pants on" or while wearing them at a 3-hour formal event.
I then informed her that that was totally unacceptable and, after several minutes of argument, she took the pants back, cut off several inches of excess fabric and hemmed the pants to the correct length.
All this hemming, re-hemming and arguing took almost two hours (one hour past the store's closing time).
Once at home and while dressing for the formal, I noticed that there was no bow tie included in the 'accessory package' with the studs, socks, etc. As I do not own a bow tie myself, I ultimately missed my wife's event entirely. She did not speak to me for the next day and a half, regardless of my explaining what had happened.
The next day I returned the tux, told the store manager, Dale Harper, of all the problems I had encountered, and requested a full refund of the $155 I had spent on this rental. He immediately informed me that he had no authority to make any sort of refund, but would have to take the matter up with his regional manager the next day.
Three days later -- having heard nothing from either Mr. Harper or his regional manager -- I called the store, only to learn that the regional manager had not yet responded to Mr. Harper's email about my rental problems. He reiterated that he would call me as soon as he had spoken with his manager.
Two days later -- one full week after the event -- I had still heard nothing from anyone with Al's Formal Wear. read more