Alterations Express

Every time I have been there, the experience has been great. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Alterations were done while I waited when I requested and always done perfectly.

hemmed my prom dress too long. then too short. waited 20 minutes to get my dress steamed when it was supposed to be ready when I got there. awful experience.

They are 0 for 2, and I am not coming back.
THIS IS ENTERTAINING, SO PLEASE READ. and it’s a true story. feel free to base a novel or play on this absurdity.
First time I needed something done here: suit jacket was 2 inches too short after they had measured it and worked on it for days, then they had to redo it and I had to come back.
Second and last time: this time I came to get my pants hemmed. You walk in and they expect you to know what to do and where to go. Talk to me people! I put on the pants, I tell someone I’m ready, a lady walks in and says nothing to me; just measures 1 pant leg, puts a pin in it, and starts to walk out. I say to her «don’t you want to measure the other one? are we done?». Finally, she acknowledges me as a human being and says «yes, we’re done. no, we don’t do that. go back to the front counter.» So I give them the pants and leave. When i pick them up a week later, I try them on just to be sure… Lo and behold ONE LEG IS SHORTER THAN THE OTHER. I am not 100% sure, so I tell this to the woman at the front counter (completely different people this time). Another lady meets me in the fitting room. Note that this one doesn’t say anything to me either. Am I in an episode of The Twilight Zone? She finally asks, «do you want this one lengthened?» She is referring to the longer one, so I say «no, I want the other one lengthened». She proceeds to ask me the same question over and over because i keep giving the same type of response («you are focusing on the wrong pant leg», i say). Eventually, I break it down as if we are two people from opposite ends of the earth: «I want you to confirm that these pant legs are different lengths because your angle is more advantageous than mine. Then, I would like you to lengthen the shorter pant leg.» She finally gets it after asking me one more time, «yes, but do you want me to lengthen the longer leg too? Because I don’t think that would look very good.» I try not to laugh and just say «no, thank you. just the shorter one please». As we are walking to the front counter, I say, with a smile on my face, «you know, this is funny: because i actually asked the other woman why she didn’t measure the other leg.» She says to me, «it’s not our policy to measure both unless you tell us one of your legs is a different length than the other.» Does she realize how difficult it is for me to measure my own legs? I ask her to check to see if there was some kind of error, because I’ve never been to a tailor who told me my legs were different sizes, and I’m pretty sure my legs are of equal length. She checks. She tells me, «no, it’s not our error, it’s yours. now you know for next time. one of your legs is shorter than the other.» Now, it’s obvious what the quality of service is really like. I tell her how absurd this all is to me. Does she realize SHE is the tailor? Is it common knowledge for one to know their exact leg lengths before coming to a tailor — and telling them the information they are supposed to be obtaining themselves? When i shop for pants, i never have this problem. i know what leg length i purchase at the store. i know all my pants fit me perfectly, except these pants that they’ve just worked on.
So the woman was shifting the blame onto the customer for them screwing up the customer’s pants, while justifying her own laziness! (it’s not their policy to waste time measuring clothes. ‘Cause why would a tailor do that?
An extra 30 seconds of their time would have avoided this whole issue. An extra 30 seconds, when no one else was in the store, could have saved me the trouble of having to come back a second time — again —, and could have saved them the trouble of working on my pants again. Alterations Express. More like Alterations We Stink At Our Job.
(I am civilized the whole time, so there is no reason for them to be acting this way based on any reaction to my behavior. This is simply how they operate. It’s the opposite of customer service. Maybe I should be referencing bizzaro world from Seinfeld instead.)
How is this a business! Oh, and all the women that I interacted with were completely American, no accent, no language barrier.