Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/08/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I took two pieces of clothing to this business for repair of some leather on the clothing. I also took a large piece of leather from which the business could use for the repair. I spent over an hour on the initial visit trying to get an estimate for the work from the business. The business owner spoke little English but stated repeatedly that she could not provide an estimate until she started the repair and saw how much work it would take. I asked her to call me once she had an idea on how much it would cost. I believe this was in the first part of May 2022 when the clothing was dropped off. with the large piece of letter. There were only three small pieces that had to be removed and sewn back in. I was expecting maybe $150 max. So, a month goes by and no call and then the owner calls me up in early Jun and says she is almost done but has a question. So, I go by the store in early Jun 2022 and the owner goes on and on about how much work it was, and she is basically done. She says it will be over $400. I complained and said it was too much. A week later she calls and says come pick up the clothing and the bill is $440 after tax. So, I complained mostly because she never gave me an estimate before she started work and she never gave me a price until she was done. The price for the repair of these small leather pieces is unrealistic. I was there again for over an hour trying to reason with the owner and she got very irate. I offered her $210 for the work and she basically made me leave without my clothes or the leather that I gave her. Again, I feel this owner was trying to extort me. The repaired items go with a pant suit which was less than half of that to buy in the first place. The owner should have called me with a fair estimate. If she had even given a slight indication that it was going to be more than $150 in the first place, I would have never done business with her to begin with. Now she refuses to return my clothing, or my leather.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/29/2022

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the above-referenced complaint filed by
  one-time customer ****** ********. Below is our response and photographic evidence in
  support of our statement:
  The customer initially came into our business, KB Sewing Salon, on April 3, 2022, and
  brought with her, a worn-out two-piece outfit (a top and skirt). She said that the vinyl parts on
  the outfit were worn out and she wanted those parts replaced with leather. After examining
  the condition of the outfit and listening to what the customer was asking for, the owner
  explained to the customer that what she was asking was considered custom work since she was
  essentially asking for the outfit to be re-made. The owner told her that the cost of remaking a
  two-piece skirt and top starts at $350 for labor. The owner also explained to the customer that
  for the type of work that she wanted, it was the customer’s responsibility to bring in the new
  material to be used (the leather in this case), the pattern to cut out the replacement pieces, as
  well as any notions, such as thread and needles (because fabrics like leather require particular
  threads and heavy-duty needles). The owner told the customer that it would cost extra if she
  did not provide a pattern because it would take extra time to remove the original vinyl pieces
  carefully so they could be used to create a pattern for the replacement pieces. The owner also
  told her that she was very busy and would also be out of town so she would not be able to get
  it done until May or June at the earliest. The customer told the owner that she was not in a
  hurry and that anytime in May, June or July would be great. The owner told her that if she
  wanted the work done, she would have to go and purchase the replacement fabric and bring it
  in before she can start the work. The customer did not express to the owner at that time that
  even the base cost of $350 plus tax was too expensive or not acceptable to her.
  On April 8, 2022, the customer returned to the shop and brought back the same outfit
  and a piece of leather and said that she wanted to get the work done. The owner looked at the
  leather that the customer brought in and saw that it was thick and stiff. The owner told
  customer that it would cost $50 extra because the thickness of the leather was hard to work
  with and requires specific threads and heavy-duty needles, which the customer should have
  brought but did not provide. When she brought her outfit back to the shop with the leather
  piece, the customer did not say anything about the $350 plus $50 that the owner told her it
  would cost, or that she thought the cost was too much. The customer left her name and
  
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  number and asked the owner to call her when it was ready. There was no need to call the
  customer because she had already been given a price for how much the work would cost.
  The customer wrote in her complaint that “there were only three small pieces that had
  to be removed and sewn back in” but as the photos show, there were many more pieces. It
  took 10 hours just to take the vinyl apart from the blue fabric on the top. It took three
  additional hours to take the vinyl pieces off from the skirt. Removing the old pieces from the
  top and skirt also took a long time because the vinyl was so worn out and falling apart that the
  owner had to take extra caution and time when removing it so as to not tear it because she
  needed each piece whole to create the pattern to cut out the new material.
  On April 26, 2022, the owner called the customer and told her to come for a fitting. The
  customer came to the shop for the fitting and tried on the skirt and top that was nearly
  completed. The customer was thrilled with how perfectly it fit her and told the owner that it
  was “beautiful, nice, and wonderful!” She had no problem with the work that had been done.
  The owner told her that it would be finished and ready to pick up on May 5, 2022, and the
  customer was thrilled to have it ready so quickly. The owner then showed her the ticket with
  the price that she had been quoted on April 3 and again on April 8. The owner explained again
  to the customer that although two-piece outfits regularly cost $350 to re-make, since the
  original pieces had to be used to create the pattern and remake the outfit, it would be $50 for
  the extra work. The owner told her it would be $438 total with tax and showed the customer
  the itemization on the ticket. The customer didn’t say anything or object to the work that had
  been done, or the amount that she owed.
  On May 5, 2022, the customer and her husband barged into the shop and started yelling
  at the owner: “You speak English? You can’t even speak English!” The owner took the
  customer’s outfit off the rack and laid it on the counter so they could see the final product and
  showed them the ticket again. The customer’s husband, who was standing between the
  counter and the dressing room (the customer was standing closer to the door), said to the
  owner that he was not paying $400, threw $200 on the counter, grabbed the outfit, and started
  running out the door. The owner ran to the door and grabbed the outfit from his hand and
  called for her husband to come out to the shop. Because the customer and her husband were
  unable to run off with the finished outfit without paying for it, they came back into the shop.
  The customer did not say anything when she and her husband came back into the shop.
  The owner’s husband tried to talk to the customer’s husband to resolve the situation but he
  just said that “that woman (the owner) doesn’t speak English!” The customer’s husband said
  that they should just be able to pay $200 and the owner said no. The customer’s husband said
  that because the owner didn’t speak English (which she does), he didn’t understand how much
  it would cost. The owner’s husband said that owner made it very clear to the customer how
  much the work she wanted done would cost, and ultimately, it was the customer’s
  responsibility to understand how much the work would cost. The customer also had many
  opportunities to express any concerns she might have had about the cost she was quoted: 1) on
  April 3 when she came to inquire about the work, 2) on April 8 when she returned and brought
  
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  back the outfit and the material for the work, and 3) again on April 26 when she came in for the
  fitting. Contrary to what the customer alleged in her complaint, she had three different
  opportunities to question the amount that she was told it would cost. Her husband said that
  when she went home after the fitting, she thought she shouldn’t have to pay so much and that
  $200 should be “enough.” This would be like going to a restaurant and ordering a $400 bottle of
  wine and after taking a sip, you realize that you shouldn’t have ordered and opened a $400
  bottle of wine. So when the restaurant says you must pay $400, you tell them $200 seems like it
  should be enough, throw $200 at the waiter, grab the bottle of wine and try to run out of the
  restaurant without paying the rest of your bill. In this case, rather than calling ahead or coming
  in to discuss the price in a calm and civil manner, the customer and her husband behaved in a
  physically aggressive way and attempted to rob the owner by stealing the finished product
  without fully paying for it—essentially, shoplifting. The customer and her husband should be
  grateful that the owners did not call the police and report the attempted theft.
  The owner’s husband explained to the customer’s husband that the work that his wife
  asked to have done cost more than $200 and that she was quoted a more than fair price for the
  work that was done in re-making his wife’s outfit. In fact, the $400 she was quoted did not even
  cover all the extra hours that were spent on the custom work that the customer asked for AND
  received. In total, the owner worked on remaking the customer’s outfit for over 36 hours. It
  took over 13 hours to take the torn and old vinyl off the top and skirt, over 22 hours (two entire
  days) to create the pattern to cut out the new pieces from the thick and stiff leather, and then
  an additional 6 or 7 hours to sew the pieces together. The work that the customer asked to be
  done was significantly more than “only three small pieces that had to be removed and sewn
  back in.” The owner did not even charge the customer for the thread, notions, and pattern that
  the customer did not even bother to provide.
  Since the customer and her husband refused to pay the amount due for the work, the
  owner could not give them the finished outfit. The owner and her husband told the customer
  that she has 30 days from that day (May 5) to come and pick up the outfit. The notice that is
  very clearly posted in plain view in the shop states: “KB SEWING SALON IS NOT RESPONSBILE
  FOR ANY ITEMS LEFT OVER 30 DAYS BEYOND THE CUSTOMER’S REQUESTED DATE. KB SEWING
  SALON CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR DEFECTIVE FACTORY-MADE MATERIALS.” The
  owner explained to the customer and her husband that if they don’t come in within the next 30
  days to pay for the work, the shop and the owner have no obligation to keep it. Under this
  posted notice, KB Sewing Salon had no obligation to keep the customer’s outfit beyond June 5,
  2022. The customer did not file her complaint with BBB until August 6, 2022, which was two
  months past the shop and owner’s responsibility for the customer’s outfit that she failed to pay
  for and pick up. By the time that the customer filed her complaint with BBB, the owner was
  under no obligation for her outfit and leftover material.
  The customer alleged that she brought her outfit into the shop “in the first part of May”
  and that “a month goes by…and the owner calls me up in early June and says she is almost
  done but has a question.” The customer’s alleged timeline is incorrect as the owner was
  actually out of town in May and finished the work before she left town. It is the owner’s
  
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  business practice of 33+ years not to leave town without finishing any customer’s work that is
  pending. The owner also keeps meticulous record of when each item of clothing is brought in
  for work and when each item of clothing is paid for and picked up. In addition, when a
  customer brings clothing that needs alterations done, the owner creates a handwritten ticket
  for each customer that itemizes the work to be done (here, “make suit, replace new leather”),
  the price that the customer was told, tax amount, and total price. The owner shows the
  customer this ticket to make sure there is no misunderstanding about the work to be done or
  how much that work will cost. This is to avoid situations like the present one, where a customer
  claims she was not told how much the work would cost before it was finished. In all the years
  that the owner has been in business, she has never started working on something for a
  customer without telling the customer how much he or she will be charged, especially when it’s
  a job that requires a higher charge like a total re-make of a two-piece top/skirt suit. By making
  sure that the customer is aware of how much she will be charged for the work BEFORE the
  owner begins the work, the owner can avoid spending hours working on something only to
  have the customer refuse to pay her because they didn’t agree on how much she would be
  charged. The owner also notes the date of any fittings as well as the promised date for the
  finished item on the ticket. The customer was told how much it would cost to replace the vinyl
  on her top and skirt with leather every time she came into the shop and was also shown the
  ticket when she came in for a fitting on April 26 th . At no time did the customer ever object to
  the price that the owner told her for the work.
  The customer also claims in her complaint that the outfit she brought into KB Sewing for
  work “goes with a pant suit which was less than half of that to buy in the first place.”
  Sometimes, people bring in worn out clothes, or buy something cheap in the store and want
  alterations made to it that exceeds the cost of the original outfit. It is not reasonable for a
  customer to expect the owner to charge less for custom work just because the cost of the
  custom work ends up being more than what was paid for the original outfit. Custom work is
  custom work even whether it is on a $5000 designer outfit or a $5 outfit purchased at a garage
  sale and the cost of the custom work is determined by the labor required for each job rather
  than the amount that the customer spent on the original outfit. Said a different way, if the
  customer was given an outfit for free by a friend, is the owner required to do the alterations for
  free because the customer didn’t pay anything for the outfit in the first place? Of course not.
  Furthermore, the process of removing cheap, worn out and frayed vinyl from polyester is more
  time-consuming and tedious than working with high-quality fabrics.
  The customer states that if the owner “had even given a slight indication that it was going to be
  more than $150 in the first place” the customer would not have done business with us. I would
  think that stating from the very first conversation on April 3 that it would cost at least $350 to
  re-make a two-piece outfit would be a “slight indication” that the work would be more than
  $150. That the customer knew from the beginning that the work would cost at least $350 but
  did not object to it or express any concern about the amount might suggest that she never had
  any intention of paying for the custom work that the owner did at her request and that she was
  going to only pay what she wanted to, even if it meant stealing the finished product. If the
  customer had explained to the owner that she had a limit on what she wanted to spend on the
  
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  alterations at the beginning or said that $350-$400 was too much, the owner would have been
  happy to work with her to find ways to minimize the work and cost. But the customer waited
  until the work was completed – to her satisfaction – before refusing to pay the ticket and then
  resorting to theft.
  The 82-year-old owner has been the sole proprietor of KB Sewing Salon for the past 33 years
  and has always done impeccable work. She provides alterations for many people in the
  community, such as seniors and members of the military, for significantly reduced costs, and to
  others for free. Customers who have had work done at KB Sewing often pay extra because of
  the high quality of work that the owner does, often at lower prices than other local shops. In all
  the years she has been in business, the owner of KB Sewing Salon has never received a
  complaint about her work or the amount that she charges. It is ironic that the only complaint
  filed against KB Sewing Salon is from a person and her husband who tried to rob the shop and
  was stopped by the owner.
  The customer and her husband were shown the posted notice and clearly told on May 5 th after
  they tried to steal the outfit that they had 30 days from then to come and pay the full amount
  they owed. Although the owner typically donates items that are not picked up within 30 days, if
  the customer pays the full amount due ($438) in cash that she owes for the custom work that
  was completed on her outfit, KB Sewing Salon is willing to give her the finished outfit and the
  leftover pieces of material as originally agreed to by the customer and owner. This is the only
  fair result. However, if the customer engages in any disruptive or violent conduct in the shop
  and attempts to not pay the entire amount of $438 and steal the outfit again, the owner will
  not hesitate to call the police and have the customer and her husband arrested for theft.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/29/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Assumed Answered]
  
  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  Most of what the business owner stated is pure fiction and is not based in any reality at all.

  
  

  The big lie that is told by the business owner is that she stated on April 3, 2022 on the initial visit that she gave me a starting price of $350, then extra after that.

  That is not true. I spent over an hour on that initial visit trying to get the owner to give me any kind of an indication of what the estimate for the work would be,

  The owner repeatedly stated that she would not have any idea until she got into the work part of the way and came up with a better idea of what the work would entail.

  I must have asked her fifty times for a rough estimate to no avail. Language barriers may have been at work here, but I am telling you I never got any estimate and if I 

  would have heard anything over $150 I would have taken my work elsewhere. Everything the owner stated about the cost of this work being $350 to start is not true.

  The owner told a lot of strange stories about other projects and rambled endlessly about all kind of other nonsense, but never gave me any indication of an estimate for the 

  work I wanted done.

  
  

  There was a need, and a very real requirement to call me once a good estimate was reached, before the majority of the work was done, as I had no idea what the cost would be

  while she did the work in Apr.

  
  

  In late Apr, I did come in to review the work and at that time I still expected the cost of the project to be $150 at the most. When the owner produced a charge of $400 I was shocked.

  Completely shocked. And I told her it was too much. She tells a lot of stupid stories about wine and the like and that doesn't make any sense either. I wouldn't drink wine anyway,

  and I sure wouldn't order wine unless I knew how much it cost. My mistake was expecting the owner of this business to charge a fair amount for a fair amount of work. I had no 

  idea it was going to take 100 hrs, or whatever the final amount was. Maybe you should get an estimate in writing before you start work, as the owner's English is so bad, she thinks

  she says a lot of things that can't even be understood by someone who actually speaks English.

  
  

  And when I went in to pick up the items in early May, I offered a fair amount for the work conducted. I feel the owner was trying to extort us as she never gave me an estimate, or updated me, until

  the work was done. Bad business practices all around. You want an analogy. It's like taking your car in for a service, expecting a $50 charge, them saying it's not done for a couple days,

  then charging you $2,000 for all the extra things you never asked them to do. No - the dealer shows you what he is going to do, has you sign an estimate, then calls you if something

  else is found and the cost increases. In fact, I don't lie, cheat or steal, and I surely don't appreciate the owner saying I tried to steal the outfit. I did pick it up, offered $210 and gave the 

  outfit back when the owner's husband came out of the back. I never left the premises. I never stole anything. If anything has gone on even close to stealing and lying, the owner of this

  business has repeatedly lied about the $350 estimate upfront and has stolen my property by her shady business practices. I will pay $210 for the work, and I will send someone else to pick

  it up because I don't deal with people who lie and try to steal things from me. And I should be calling the police if anyone should be calling them. $438 is outrageous and I told you that the first

  time I heard that.

  
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** ********