Tailor Mistake - What my options?

[SuitingStyle]

Hi -

Took suit pants to a local tailor for some alteration the other day, sadly, he managed to completely ruin it and now as far as I am concerned, the pants are totally unwearable. I would like some suggestions for what I should do.

I am a 34 waist, and I took a 38W pants for him to alter. I asked him repeatedly, if he was going to recut the pants, and he said yes. So I told him I wanted about 4 inches off the waist and the seat to be smaller. What it turned out , however, was completely not what I had envisioned. It was very obvious he only took the material from the back, so the center seam and the side pockets were completely out of place , reaching all the way to the back, and pulling on the pleats. On top of that, he took too much material out of the seat, I can't even sit down.

Should I try to go back and try to get him to compensate me , or maybe there would still be material left to make the pants a bit roomier.

appreciate any suggestions you might have.

thanks

 

[sho'nuff]

ughh..god.. why do things like this happen all the time? i think the tailor should reimburse you for at least something, but it will be difficult from my experience reading on the forum.
let see what others have to say.

i do believe that tailors /dry cleaners should give the option to purchase an insurance on the item before turning it in to them, kind of what like the post office has.
you state the amount insured and they charge you accordingly so this sort of thing will be taken with ownership/accountability by the tailor/dry cleaners.

 

[babygreenspots]

Originally Posted by diorshoe

ughh..god.. why do things like this happen all the time? i think the tailor should reimburse you for at least something, but it will be difficult from my experience reading on the forum.
let see what others have to say.

i do believe that tailors /dry cleaners should give the option to purchase an insurance on the item before turning it in to them, kind of what like the post office has.
you state the amount insured and they charge you accordingly so this sort of thing will be taken with ownership/accountability by the tailor/dry cleaners.

This is a great idea, and you would think if they were truly confident in their skill they would still be interested in pushing this type of insurance.

 

[Joel_Cairo]

I feel like both you and he should have known that you can't take that many inches out of the waist without messing up the look of the seat... the fact that he messed it up that badly is his fault, but I think you gave him an order that was impossible to sucessfully fill... I suppose since he's the paid professional in the equation, its his responsilbility to say "no can-do"

 

[Get Smart]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

I feel like both you and he should have known that you can't take that many inches out of the waist without messing up the look of the seat... the fact that he messed it up that badly is his fault, but I think you gave him an order that was impossible to sucessfully fill... I suppose since he's the paid professional in the equation, its his responsilbility to say "no can-do"
agree, but it's prolly hard for the tailor to turn down $ (even if it's the right thing to do). maybe he thought that since the OP was asking for something that really couldnt be done, he wouldnt notice if the job was done poorly. my tailor tells me repeatedly that certain jobs i want him to do won't turn out and he says no. lesson learned, find a new tailor.

 

[SuitingStyle]

thanks, I agree, it was partly my fault also. I thought since he previously had done a good job tailoring my pants (but nothing as major as this, just 1 or 2 inches off the waist), that he would be able to handle it. Also I made a mistake of trusting him he would be honest with me, after I asked he could do the job. Anyway, since this is the holiday season, I will look on the bright side, at least I still have the suit jacket left.

 

[Joel_Cairo]

Originally Posted by SuitingStyle

thanks, I agree, it was partly my fault also. I thought since he previously had done a good job tailoring my pants (but nothing as major as this, just 1 or 2 inches off the waist), that he would be able to handle it. Also I made a mistake of trusting him he would be honest with me, after I asked he could do the job. Anyway, since this is the holiday season, I will look on the bright side, at least I still have the suit jacket left.

that's the spirit.

:
Why wear two major items that have the exact same color and pattern when you cobble much more interesting ensembles together! Suits are so lame

 

[acidboy]

Since the trousers are 4 inches larger than your waist, isn't the jacket also quite large for you?

 

[SuitingStyle]

no, I wear 46 jacket, that's my predictment when comes buying suit ..... seriously thinking about giving up weight lifting and just become a runner

 

[hye]

Originally Posted by SuitingStyle

...seriously thinking about giving up weight lifting and just become a runner

Brilliant! That's exactly what I did... it's so much easier to find clothes that fit now!

 

[a tailor]

you may want to print out this one.
go to ask andy.
go on search.
type in trouser alterations.
scroll down to trouser alterations.
hope this will explain how it should be done.

 

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

I feel like both you and he should have known that you can't take that many inches out of the waist without messing up the look of the seat... the fact that he messed it up that badly is his fault, but I think you gave him an order that was impossible to successfully fill... I suppose since he's the paid professional in the equation, its his responsibility to say "no can-do"

If more than two inches of waist needs to be taken in, trousers can be successfully re-cut.

Originally Posted by SuitingStyle

I asked him repeatedly, if he was going to recut the pants, and he said yes.
What more can a customer do?

 

[SuitingStyle]

so none of you would try to go back to the tailor (given you will never go to him ever again), and raise hell to try to get him to compenstate you for the messed up clothes? .......... seems there is limited protection for the consumer when it comes to alteration tailor ( except if you do the alteration in the same store where you bought your clothes )

 

[tiecollector]

The customer is not at fault at all. The tailor is the expert. My tailor makes suits so I trust him with any sort of alteration. Just goes to show that not all tailors are created equal.

I would take him to small claims court if he does not reimburse you for the pants. It will cost you your time and about $35. It is his job to let you know what he is capable of.

I don't know about tailors but dry cleaning people have screwed up some of my shirts so now I don't even bother. I heard from a friend that she had some clothes messed up by the dry cleaner and they would not reimburse her even though they blatantly messed up the garment, which was expensive. So she sued him and won.

I have watched People's Court and from time to time there is definitely a tailor or two that has to defend themselves.

 

[teddieriley]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

I feel like both you and he should have known that you can't take that many inches out of the waist without messing up the look of the seat...

I hear this said all the time, but I'm a 44R and the drop is usually 6. I have a 33 inch waist and have had pants tailored to that, and I don't think it has messed up the look of the pants, at least to my "slightly trained" eye.

Are people with a 44 and up jacket size with a 33-34 inch waist really that rare? I know RTW must take into account a broader market, but if the natural waist is at least a 38, and this only accomdates the fat people, wouldn't accompanying pants that can't be tailored down to a 34 successfully be exclusing another segment of the buyers? Doesn't make sense.