I live in Washington DC now, but grew up in Indianapolis and am getting married there in a few weeks. I thought it would make the most sense to get the dress altered close to the wedding date so I decided to look for a tailor in the Indy area. I found the Perfect Stitch through some searching I did on the web and thought Melissa would be a great fit to alter my dress.
Since I don't live in the area, I first asked my wedding planner to go by the shop and talk with Melissa and see whether she would have time to work on the dress and could reserve my time at her shop. After my wedding planner met with her, she said that while she might do good work, Melissa was extremely rude, short, and snide in her interactions and carried herself with a superior attitude - making comments like "I've already talked to her," and "why don't you just send her in," or making one word comments like "uh-huh" as if she could care less whether she received our business or not.
Even with that warning, I decided to still try and go with Melissa based on the good reviews of her tailoring that I found online - thinking that not all of us have the best social skills and maybe she was having a bad day.
Yesterday, I told my mom that Melissa suggested she take the dress there when it arrives so she could steam it out. My mom called and they couldn't even find the appointment that I had made back in February (it's now May). My mom had to call several times before they found where they had written it down on hand.
Then today, my mom went over to the shop to give Melissa the dress. As soon as my mom walked in, she didn't even say hello but just took the dress, hung it up, and said " I need $145 to store this dress and guarantee your spot in line - first come first serve. I already told your daughter that and my assistant told you yesterday." Honestly, I don't recall her telling me that, and I did question why someone would pay $145 fee just to store the dress there and hold a spot in line - who doesn't show up for their own alterations, especially when I'm coming from out of town and have been so adamant about taking it there?"
Beyond that - and more importantly - as soon as my mother stepped into the store she was approached with the same rudeness, snideness, and an overall poor treatment that my wedding planner received. Melissa treated us like we are idiots who should be grateful to even have her working on our dress, and even made comments like "you can go somewhere else, but you'll have to bring it back here for me to fix it once they mess it up," and "anyone else will ruin this dress," and "you'll get what you pay for." My mom was so upset she passed the phone over to me at some point, and I have to say I have never been spoken to by someone as coldly as I was by this woman. As a small business owner myself - I can't imagine ever speaking to clients in this way and still remaining in business. She is condescending, rude, pushy, and falsely superior. SInce I've interacted with her, I've not heard one positive comment or congratulations or indication that she actually cares about the people whose lives she is impacting on such an important day.
Ultimately - we decide to take our business elsewhere... and it wasn't about the money. I didn't want to have to spend one more minute, or make any of my loved ones spend one more minute, with someone so lacking in tact, manners, and respect for others. She might be a good tailor, but she is not professional, and is actually even hurtful.
If "we get what we pay for," I'd like to pay for someone who can share the joy and levity of this special moment in my life. I do NOT recommend anyone take their services here. read more