Harriman Army & Navy Store

Review: On Monday, May *, 2014, I went to Harriman Army Navy to purchase 4 special order item. At the time of my purchase, I was told that they would be available for pick up in 4-6 weeks. I first contacted them, I believe, at the 5 week point, to see how my order was progressing. I was told that they weren't in yet. My next phone call to them was made around the 7 week point. I was told thatthey had just rreceived a large shipment, it was in the back, but their receiving person wasnt in til the next day, & that someone would contact me about it then. Two days later, I contacted them again. I was told that the person that dealt with tbose special orders had looked into mine, and that the company they get that merchandise from was out of stock. They're sorry that they didnt call me back like they said, but that it would take two more weeks to get my order in. I called them two weeks later, and I was told that the company that they get that specific product from was closed for summer break, and that I could not have possibly been told two weeks previously, that they were out of stock, because it's all special order & as needed merchandise. That they couldn't have run out of stock on it. The person I spoke with all but called me a liar, while calling the person that I previously spoke with, a liar. I was also told that I would be contacted this week, when the special order company re-opened from their vacation. It's Thursday, & I've yet to receive a call. These Items were meant to be birthday gifts, & a father's day present. Unfortunately for me, this is not the first time that I placed my trust in this company. The first time, the outcome was not quite as bad, but the 4-6 weeks turned into somewhere near 3 months, & the product was not what I was promised. I should have learned my lesson the first time.Desired Settlement: I want the exact product that I ordered.

Review: I purchase a dress for my daughters senior prom from this store. The dress was purchased in March of 2013, I paid $520.00+tax with a debit card for this dress. My daughter went and got measured for the dress. When the dress came in we were called, we went up to the store for a fitting. We knew the dress would need to be altered, we choose to stay there in case anything happened to the dress they would be responsible for it, at least we thought. My daughter tries the dress on just as we thought the strapps on the dress needed to be fixed and the hem need to be done. However the dress needed to be let OUT. ( my daughter has been on weight watchers and has been loosing weight) I was so upset at this time bc this was unexpected. The worker in the store writes up the bill for the alterations and yet another $220.00 on top of the dress ok. She askes us do we want to pay now or later I say later bc I would like to see the finished product. She tells us the dress will be ready on 6/**. The day after the fitting I was so upset I called the store asked for the owner or mang. the owner was away so I spoke to the manger, explained my concerns bat the mistake of ordering the incorrect size and I was not going to pay for the dress to be let out ($47.00) so we agreed on that. I get a call June [redacted] that the dress would not be ready as promised it would be ready on the [redacted] so I say ok no problem. We went on the [redacted] to pick up the dress aling with her Godmother. Well, the strapps we still not fixed the dress had a NEW run in the linning on the bck of the dress, and the beads were falling off. The owner went home already by this tme so we are dealing with the manager. She tells us we have to bringthew dress to whasingtonville to the seamtress, bc shewold nto be back to the store unitl 6/** the prom 6/**. Weget in the car take the dress to the streamstress, We go to try the dress on for the 2nd time after alterations and its missng bead and still not "perfect" aas the worker of the store is unzipping my daughter out of the dress she breaks the zipper. The owner comes up she says you will haveto replace the zipper and its $60.00 and all of the stones were on the dress when she delieverd it. SO prom is now 2 days away back in the car to washingtonville and the owner askes before we leave IF we want to pay for atlerations now. I said no when we pick up the dress I will. Weare driving I am so upset my daughter is hysterical crying I call get the owner and ask her what can she do about all this I dont want to pay for the alterations ofr this dress it not a "perfect: dress anymore that I paid $520.00+tax. she said you have to pay for aterations I took 47 off and that all I am taking off. I told her to keep the dress (not realizing its in my car) and I would see her in small claims court. she said ok no problem. My daughtere isa like mom we have the dress so I said good the dress is paid for in full I m not going to oay for alertaions. a few mintues later the owner calls my cells and leaves me a message that if I dont pay for the dress she will fill out a police report and file a civil charges on me.Desired Settlement: look the dress is damaged with all of the stuff they had to do with it due to their mistakes. I paid in full for the dress all we are asking for is not to pay for the alterations do to their ill customer services. the dress has a run in the linning that you can see, the zipper needs to be replaced, its missing beads it was not ready when promised, we had to run to the seamstress, the straps are still me corrected. I could be going for a lot more.

Business

Response:

In response to our conversation regarding the purchase of an evening gown from the above named complainant. On 4/**/13

Dress was special ordered according to her daughter, [redacted]'s measurements. She measured a size 18. Customer was advised

that alterations were a separate fee, not included in the price. Customer paid for dress in full on this date.

On 5/**/13 Daughter came in to try on dress, accompanied by her mother and two other women. Dress fit tightly. When mother

asked why we did not order her a size 20, we explained that she measured a size 18 and a size 20 would need the entire bust taken

in which would be a more detailed and more costly. Mother and two other women examined dress top to bottom and advised us they

did not like the way the dress was beaded, We advised her that we would go over the beads and fix at no additional charge.

Customer wanted more beads added to various spots that she felt warranted more. We said we would comply with that request

as well. We then advised her that we needed to schedule an appointment for her ([redacted]'s) fitting which required

a $35.00 deposit (that would be used towards her alteration fee). [redacted] said she did not have the money to do so. We accommodated

her and set up a fitting appointment anyway without the deposit.

On 5/**/13 [redacted] and another two women came in for her fitting. The gown needed two full layers shortened. Both beaded shoulder straps

shortened. The waist at the two side seams and the lining needed to be let out. Fee came to $222.00. Customer advised. Just the hem alone

was $120.00. We were also adding beads at no additional charge.

On 6/**/13 [redacted] and [redacted] came in. Customer said she did was still unsatisfied with the alterations. Refusing to pay for it. We suggested

that she take it directly to our seamstress, [redacted], who would be able to address all the things she still found to be unsatisfactory.

They left with the dress and took it to our seamstress. She was very agitated and felt we should compensate her. A $47.00 deduction was

given to her.

The seamstress ended up doing an additional $70.00 worth of work on this dress as she now had to add fabric to the lining so it fit the customer

and lied flat. No additional expense was passed on to customer. Seamstress also did reinforce beads (again).

On 6/**/13 [redacted] came in with her "godmother" to try on dress which fit very well. When they were unzippering the dress, the zipper snagged

and we had a difficult time getting it down. I advised them that we needed to now put in a new zipper (at no further cost), I spoke to our seamstress

who was waiting for them to come to her .

She would replace it while they waited. I requested that they pay the balance of the alteration fee and again, they refused saying they wanted to make

sure it was all done right. I allowed them to take the dress to the seamstress and they would pick it up form our store the next day.Within a few minutes

after they left with the dress, [redacted] called me and said she was returning the dress instead of having it fixed. That she was going to file in small claims

court instead of having it fixed. I said ok. The dress was not returned and an outstanding amount of $222. plus tax remains outstanding. The deduction

has been rescinded due to the way the customer has handled this matter and additional costs incurred.

We have been in business since 1972 and have never encountered such an unruly customer. She was verbally abusive to her own daughter in our

presence and to our staff. Clearly she was looking to get away with paying as little as possible for this dress as she displayed "buyers remorse" from

the beginning. If the dress was too expensive she should have though otherwise. It is always our policy to disclose all information before a customer

orders or purchases a dress from us as all dresses are Final Sale. This is clearly noted on the receipt and at front of register.

Regretfully, this could have turned out ok if the customer allowed

us to make it right, bus she did not. Respectfully.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

[Your Answer Here]

In response to the [redacted] man Army & Navy stores reply this is not a case of buyer's remorse. I purchased this dress fully aware of the cost and fees. If this were buyers remorse I would not of been able to pay for the dress in full. However customers expect certain things when we walk into a business, if since this establishment has been in business for so long I was expecting The highest level of service. With this being said the business should of known how to identify my expectations and meet our needs to our satisfaction.

Some of the facts stated in the response were correct some were not. On the [redacted] of May we did go to the store, it was my friend, myself, my daughter and her boyfriend. It is correct that my friend and I did examine the dress from top to bottom as any customer would do expecting a perfect dress. Not only did we not like that the beads were lose, the dress was extremely tight. This tightness cause the dress to pull in the back and the zipper buckle (not to lay flat against my daughters body). I had said to the sales person I wanted the dress let out. She made it very clear to me " I have been in this business for a long time and if I don't feel the dress needs to be let out I am not letting it out because you feel it needs to be done". This took be back seeing that I paid for the dress and the tone she had when speaking to us was very rude. When we left the store my daughter and her boyfriend commented to me on how "rude that lady was". On June [redacted] I called the store asked for the manager or store owner. The manager was on the phone explained to me that the owner was away. I explained to her that was upset because I felt if the right size dress was ordered I would not have to have the dress let out. We spoke for a bit, very pleasant lady. She asked what could she do to make us happy I said I don't feel we should have to pay to let the dress out. She replied OK I will take $47 off. We agreed.

In regards to the $35 fee I never said I did not have it. I said to the sales women what about the $35 fee. She explained to me that the money was usually taken before the [redacted] appointment, due to the fact that girls don't keep their appointments. I told her I had no cash but did have my ATM or check book. She then said its usually cash, but because your appointment was made and you showed up don't worry about the fee. My daughter, her boyfriend and my friend being present heard this. The women's tone set for a very uncomfortable appointment.

We were made aware of what alterations would need to be done but were never told how much each individual alteration would be. I was given a yellow piece of paper with all of the alterations that needed to be done a final cost of $220.

On June [redacted] myself my daughter and her Godmother went to the store to try on the dress after alterations. Yes I was very unsatisfied. When my daughter tried on her dress a run was put in the dress in the back on the left side that was not there before. The beads were not fixed the straps to the dress were still hanging off my daughters shoulders. I did not refuse to pay for the alteration's. I was told to come back to the store Tuesday June [redacted] because the seamstress would be back in the store. I explained to the women that that was unacceptable due to the fact that prom is June [redacted] and what if we ran into other issues. She in turned called the seamstress spoke to her. She came back to speak to us and said then you will have to take the dress to the seamstress (which is the next town over) if we needed the dress done. I said lets go. The employee said to me will you be paying for your alteration's now? My response was no because they are not complete when the seamstress bring the dress back and we come to try it on again I will then pay. She said ok I understand. We took the dress to the seamstress. I don't feel it is our fault or problem that the seamstress ended putting an additional $70 into the dress. Again there was mistakes made on this alterations. When I made mention to the run that someone put in my daughter's dress I was also offered 10% off by the manager. here is also no mention that on the [redacted] while the employee was unzipping the dress the zipper got stuck and she could not get my daughter out of the dress. When leaving on the [redacted] the issues were the following: the run still in the dress, the beads falling off and the zipper issue, the straps and the fact that the fabric was still pulling in the back by the zipper which made the zipper not lay flat. Also remember I was to bring the dress to the seamstress, if I was an buyers remorse I would never have accepted this dress after the first fitting nor would I have brought the dress to the seamstress myself.

On the [redacted] of June my daughter and her Godmother did go pick up the dress, that had certain flaws with the alterations yet again. At this point now that zipper is now broken and needs to be replace. Yes they said that they would replace the zipper free of charge, there were beads missing on the dress and loose beads. If we wanted this fixed we had to again bring this to the seamstress. They were never told that they could wait for the dress to repaired they were told to pick it up Wednesday at the store. That is why when asked if they were going to pay for the alterations my daughter's Godmother said no we will pay when we pick up the dress Wednesday. My daughter and her Godmother were told that they ordered the smaller size because it would give my daughter more curves, what kind of reasoning is that for not ordering the correct size?

A few minutes after my daughter left the store upset, I did call the store (so frustrated after paying all of this money for a "perfect" dress and now its far from "perfect") spoke to the owner (so I was told) I explained my frustration over all the errors in alterations and all the running back and fourth that we had to do to the seamstress. I asked that due to all of the errors on this dress I would like a discount on the alteration's she said "no sorry we already took $47 off for the let out of the dress." The let out of the dress was not to my mistake I said you should of for that, I told her to keep the dress and I would see her in small claims court. She said ok sweet heart that's fine. Not knowing that my daughter had the dress with her, I called her to tell her to leave the dress and she said I am on my way to Washingtonville the seamstress. I told her to bring the dress home and we will fix it. Next thing I know I get a voice mail on my phone from the store saying that she is going to make a police report ( I did not take anything that did not belong to me the dress was paid in full) and civil charges. I did receive a phone call from the [redacted]man Police and I spoke to the officer.

I am truly not an unruly customer, I am a frustrated customer who came into their store with high expectations of great workmen ship as well as a professional and knowledgeable staff. As for verbally abusive to my daughter it was not abuse it again was being frustrated because of imperfections of the alterations and the perfect dress that turn imperfect due to the run that could not be fixed. If this store has been in business for so long then they know that it is about making the customer happy with the product they bought not sending them back and fourth to the next town to fix the product.

Also the hem was done incorrectly, the satin part of the dress is longer than the sheer part of the dress. I am not asking to be compensated for the cost dress. I feel that do to their seamstress and the mistakes made to this dress something needs to be done for us as the customer. Some of the beads were not even sown on they were glued, the zipper caught the inside liner of the dress and made hole in it because that dress was ordered too small. Also keep in mind that they as referred to in they letter as breaking the zipper..my daughters Godmother asked the employee to show her how to work the zipper because it kept getting stuck and while doing so it broke. Again I paid for a perfect dress with alteration's(

meaning when the alterations were done the dress would be perfect)to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,