Carol's, I wanted to like you. I really did. I actually had a really great first experience with you, so I went back! That's when things went downhill.
I had a bridesmaid's dress that I needed altered. Since my schedule was crazy, I didn't have time to get it done until the week of the wedding. I was scared that it wasn't going to get done, or if it did, it wouldn't be done well. Checked the ratings on Yelp, and decided based on the few reviews here to try out Carol's.
When I called, they said they could do the dress in 2 days. Score!! I walked in with it late one afternoon, tried it on for them, was in and out in about 15 minutes. As others have said, there are only 2 changing rooms, so if someone is getting a lot of things altered, it's going to take a while to get into a room. However, they weren't too busy that day, so I was done and on my way pretty quickly. Came back two days later, and the dress fit nearly perfectly! Well enough that I didn't want to bother with any more alterations. I even asked if they could press it for me, and the sweet lady took it into the back and had it done in 5 minutes. Don't remember exactly how much the alterations were, but I think it was under $30. I was a happy girl!
One month later, when I needed to wear a formal dress of mine whose zipper had finally met its end, I immediately thought of Carol's. I also had a pair of pants with a broken zipper and some dry cleaning to do. One week later I picked up my things. The dry cleaning seemed a bit pricey, and the zippers were $12 each.
When my event rolled around, I decided to try on the dress early in the day, just in case. Good thing I did, because as soon as I got the dress on, I sat down on the bed and the zipper split in the middle!! Now, I have been wearing this dress several times a year for the past 2 years. It is tight, yes, but I had actually lost a bit of weight since the last time I wore it, and I had never had a problem getting it zipped up, other than the dysfunctional zipper right where the fabric changes on the dress. So for this zipper to split, it meant that they had used a really cheap zipper. They are only open 10am-2pm on Saturdays, which happened to be the exact times that I couldn't go, so I asked my bf to take the dress back, explain what had happened, and ask them to put in a stronger zipper that day. They were willing to do the quick work (as they should!) but basically told him that you just have to be careful with the zippers, to zip them up slowly. They charged him for the new zipper (due to their policy about no free fixes after more than a week), and when I got home to try it on (being VERY careful with the zipper), it skipped a few teeth where the fabric changed in the dress!! Not even wanting to take a chance on it popping again, I had to come up with a Plan B for the evening. I was very upset that they did not use a better quality zipper, especially when that is what he had asked them to do. I'm sorry, but with a dress that is supposed to be form-fitting, you need a strong enough zipper that it won't pop when you take a deep breath.
To make things worse with Carol's, I noticed two months later when I pulled something out of the drycleaning bag that they had given me someone else's pants with my drycleaning. Yikes. I took them back, and I hope they make it back to their owner. The ladies in the store were very happy that I brought them back, saying that sometimes they have to pay to replace people's clothes. I know they don't do the drycleaning in-house, but still. That's scary.
So Carol's, I tried, but now I'm going to have to try to take my dress to someone who is willing to give me more than the lowest quality zipper they can find, and I'll stick with my usual drycleaners who is cheaper and doesn't lose things. read more