My daughter went to Sew At Seams with her prom dress to have it hemmed by the owner, Patricia. Patricia said it would cost $140.00 to hem the dress as it is chiffon. She said she had 2 dresses ahead of my daughters'. On that day Patricia charged a $35.00 deposit to my credit card and set up a date and time for my daughter to come back to try on her hemmed dress. If it fit that day, she would take it then. If not it would allow for additional time to finish the dress. This date was 13 days from the original drop-off date and seven days until the prom.
My daughter showed up for her fitting appointment with Patricia as scheduled. At that time Patricia told her she was behind as she had many dresses come in since her drop off whose prom was sooner and she had not gotten to her dress. Patricia asked that she come back the next afternoon.
One hour later I got a phone call at home from Patricia. She stated she had just seen my daughter for her fitting and once again needed to change her appointment from tomorrow (Saturday) to (Tuesday), 4 days before prom. I said, "Yes, *** told me she was just there for her fitting and her dress was not ready. She was upset" Patricia became very defensive and said "Upset?! What is she upset about? I didn't even take a deposit!" I said, "Well, she is upset because she is a 16 year old girl who is worried about having her prom dress finished and you did take a deposit of $35.00. You charged my credit card." She stated, "Well I don't know what her problem is but you can come and get the dress and your deposit."
I immediately went to Sew At Sews to pick up the dress and get my deposit refunded on my credit card. Patricia proceeded to tell me she doesn't take credit cards. I said, "Patricia, this is the second dress I have brought to you and both times you have swiped my credit card on your iPhone. She said, "I need to see the receipt then." I said "OK, I will have my daughter bring it here now." Then she changed her story and proceeded to say, "I don't take deposits, that was a fitting charge and it is non-refundable."
I asked for the dress and told Patricia that" word of mouth means everything" to a small business. I truly believe this as my husband and I are also small business owners. Patricia did not meet her deadline and was extremely defensive and rude. She did not perform her service as stated and then proceeded to lie and keep the $35.00 deposit.
I would not be writing today had she done the right thing: return the deposit and accepted responsibility for not having the dress done.
May 16, 2014 A Follow-Up to the Above Review:
Today I came home to a message on my answering message from Patricia, the Owner at Sew At Seams (if only I could record audio on Yelp!): Word for Word: "Hello, This is Patricia from Seam At Seams Custom Tailoring. I received a very negative review based on false accusations from *** and her mother and I want to let you know that I am going to report this to Dr. *** ****, Director of Education at Wareham and I will be filing charges against you. You will be hearing from my attorney very soon. Have a great day. Thank you."
Apparently Patricia is unaware of our first amendment which we all know includes freedom of speech. read more