I was recommended to Broadway Upholstery by "Carlos." I then made a couple of trips to the shop, including to select fabric for the replacement of a sagging headliner in a used Jaguar sedan that I planned to purchase from Carlos.
Like a lot of women, fabric colors and textures matter to me, too. That's why I took the time (but what's time to a girl, right?) to visit Broadway Upholstery in person, to see -- and to touch -- upholstery fabrics available there. I assumed -- mistakenly, as it turned out -- my preference would matter to the owner of this shop.
When I arrived, I was greeted by a Hispanic man who is so charming, when he shook my hand, I felt like I was being greeted by Pit Bull.
He showed me his choice for the headliner -- a nappy fabric in an anaemic shade of beige. Although some women somewhere might like beige, I have never met one who does, and I don't like beige, either. Nor did I like the fuzzy texture of the fabric he recommended. Altogether, the ugly color and fussy texture brought to my mind a man cave from the 1970s. (I can't imagine that the real Pit Bull would choose anything so hideous!)
I asked to see other fabrics -- in shades of pale gray or pale blue, to complement the silver-blue exterior of the car. The Pit Bull look alike then showed me a few fabrics in various shades of gray, all with a more sleek texture than the nappy beige he had suggested.
He did not have many fabric choices available in his shop, but he offered to order whatever I liked. Unwilling, however, to wait the few days for any other fabric to be delivered, I chose the palest shade of gray he had in stock.
I also inquired about the cost, but he said the change in fabric made no difference in the $320 estimate he had already provided for the new headliner. He said his estimate took into consideration all adjustments related to the sunroof.
Despite everything, when I left Broadway Upholstery that afternoon, I had a nagging sense that something had been misplaced in cultural translation, so I turned around and went back to the shop to request a swatch of the sleek, pale-grey fabric I had selected. The Pit Bull look alike immediately provided the swatch, along with a winning grin, and I put aside my sense that something was not as it ought to be.
But a few days later, Carlos told me to stick with the beige fabric initially recommended. I had no doubt about my preference for the headliner fabric, but I wondered whether Carlos' overbearing, second-guessing of a woman's plainly stated choice might be a Hispanic thang.
When I later met with Carlos to purchase the car, I was outraged to discover that the ugly, nappy, fussy beige fabric -- which I had rejected -- was, without any warning, used for the new headliner.
By this time, financing for the car was already arranged, so I went ahead with the purchase.
But I wanted to take a minute, anyhow, to warn any other women who might be in search of automobile reupholstery: if you love it when men waste your time and ignore your -- repeatedly stated -- preferences, arrogantly presuming to choose FOR YOU whatever THEY imagine to be BEST FOR YOU, doing so without even telling you what they are presuming to do on YOUR BEHALF, by all means then: bring your business to Broadway Upholstery, where a handsome, Pit Bull look alike will flirt shamelessly while he turns a totally deaf ear to the business that, UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, brought you into his shop.
It really seems that, at Broadway Upholstery, female customers are regarded as stupid marks who can be easily duped with a little -- or a lot -- of charm. But don't take my word for it; another, earlier Yelp review of Broadway Upholstery (wish I'd seen it before) is provided by another woman who, like me, was also dissatisfied (to be very ladylike about it) with the slapdash workmanship she, too, encountered at Broadway Upholstery.
I won't be back there, for any reason. read more
