![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
hagiology.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
egl_archive...and i figured the egl folks should be aware as well.
I just though't i'd put this up as a warning to anyone considering purchasing something from limebarb.com.
these are pictures of a sailor top i purchased from limebarb last summer, i also purchased a pair of loose socks, but they're out at my cottage.
having a mother who's an excellent trained seamstress and being somewhat of a seamstress myself, i'm able to recognise a well made garment vs a piece of garbage.
in several places (not just the ones displayed here) on the garment (as well as on the loose socks i purchased, there are "puckers" in the seams where there shouldn't be... this is something that happens when you rush yourself on a project and you don't pay any attention to detail. most of the time, when this happens (it's happened to me before), you rip out the seam and start over again. puckers affect the way a garment drapes and fits... here, because of the puckers, the collar doesn't drape properly.
as well, the neck on my sailor top is HUGE... at least 3 times as large as necklines in the garments pictured... if i wear it i have to be really careful bending over. it gapes a lot. also, with the loose socks... when i ordered them, they were listed as WHITE, and when i got them they were clearly offwhite (cream, ecru, whatever.)
anyhow... as well as producing an unsatisfactory garment, she also took her SWEET SWEET time (a little over 2 months) delivering, and never bothered to email me to let me know that it was going to take extra time, or notify me that my money order arrived. only after several emails (which got gradually more impatient as time went on)did she respond.
i never bothered to complain to her about any of this, because im pretty chicken shit when it comes to something like that. even if im at a restaurant where they serve me hair in my food, i just stop eating and push my plate away, i never complain about it. but, ive seen people mention her a few times recently, and i just thought you all have a right to know about my experiences with her.
anyhow, her products are unsatisfactory and her service is subpar. i suggest looking for your schoolgirl uniforms and loosesocks at jlist.com or on ebay.
I just though't i'd put this up as a warning to anyone considering purchasing something from limebarb.com.
these are pictures of a sailor top i purchased from limebarb last summer, i also purchased a pair of loose socks, but they're out at my cottage.
having a mother who's an excellent trained seamstress and being somewhat of a seamstress myself, i'm able to recognise a well made garment vs a piece of garbage.
in several places (not just the ones displayed here) on the garment (as well as on the loose socks i purchased, there are "puckers" in the seams where there shouldn't be... this is something that happens when you rush yourself on a project and you don't pay any attention to detail. most of the time, when this happens (it's happened to me before), you rip out the seam and start over again. puckers affect the way a garment drapes and fits... here, because of the puckers, the collar doesn't drape properly.
as well, the neck on my sailor top is HUGE... at least 3 times as large as necklines in the garments pictured... if i wear it i have to be really careful bending over. it gapes a lot. also, with the loose socks... when i ordered them, they were listed as WHITE, and when i got them they were clearly offwhite (cream, ecru, whatever.)
anyhow... as well as producing an unsatisfactory garment, she also took her SWEET SWEET time (a little over 2 months) delivering, and never bothered to email me to let me know that it was going to take extra time, or notify me that my money order arrived. only after several emails (which got gradually more impatient as time went on)did she respond.
i never bothered to complain to her about any of this, because im pretty chicken shit when it comes to something like that. even if im at a restaurant where they serve me hair in my food, i just stop eating and push my plate away, i never complain about it. but, ive seen people mention her a few times recently, and i just thought you all have a right to know about my experiences with her.
anyhow, her products are unsatisfactory and her service is subpar. i suggest looking for your schoolgirl uniforms and loosesocks at jlist.com or on ebay.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: UGH!
Date: 2003-01-30 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-30 08:31 pm (UTC)Thank you SO MUCH for this information! I was toying with the idea of buying from her! O_O
I can't believe the way that shirt looks. Before I read your post, I was like, "What the HELL is THAT?"
It's the most horrible lack of quality I've ever witnessed. Girl, you MUST complain to her about it! Get your goddamn money back! She stole from you.
Gawd, the examples of her work pictured on her site look really good... *sighs* There goes another cool site down the crapper...
Thanks again.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-30 09:31 pm (UTC)I'm not normally one to say "Throw a fit! You have a right!" but, boy, do you.
I've dealt with home based single seamstress "companies" before and it only took one bad experience to start letting someone else order from them first and getting the dirt before ordering for this exact reason.
I'm only sorry you had to be the poor girl getting ripped off this time.
I'm sure she's a nice girl, and I'm sure that when she tries she makes a lovely garment, but to be churning out poor quality work and slowly no less? There's no excuse, I don't care how nice of an individual you are.
Complain, try to get your money back, and we'll all boycott accordingly I'm sure.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-30 11:57 pm (UTC)so, this is my passive agressive way of getting back at her.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-30 09:54 pm (UTC)xo
no subject
Date: 2003-01-30 10:24 pm (UTC)And the EGL stuff... $185 for a dress!
no subject
Date: 2003-01-30 11:47 pm (UTC)but, limebarb does sub-standard seamstressing and doesn't use particularly high quality fabric. so, her dresses aren't worth anywhere near that much.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 12:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-30 11:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-30 11:59 pm (UTC)dissapointing tactics
two college students who wanted to give everyone a chance to have some
j-style clothing without having to pay the outrageous prices at importer
stores.
If you were dissatisfied with any of the stuff we made, all you had to do
was email us, and make arrangements to ship it back for repairs or a
replacement. The tops are 29 dollars for a better fabric to what you'd find
in an actual Japanese sailor fuku, and to go around badmouthing us instead
of just asking to exchange your defective item for a better unit worries
both of us. We never heard anything from you or any of the users of this
thread as to their dissatisfaction, so how are we to know if anyone has
issues with us or our work? Instead of simply asking to repair the garment
and the situation, you go onto public forums and trash the two of us with
photoshopped pictures? We're still very willing to repair your garment for
you, but this is an immature, rude way to try and solve a situation. In the
future, if you feel slighted by someone, I suggest you try to deal with the
problem with that person, instead of cowering in a forum and trying to pass
bad information.
If you're dissatisfied with the time it takes us to make and ship an
article to you, then I suggest you make it yourself next time. We both have
full time college responsibilities as well as general projects and daily
chores, since we don't live with our mothers, but by ourselves. Sometimes
we don't have time to get fabric, sew outfits, and ship them until a few
weeks afterwards, and with tons and tons of orders, no one typically
complains. Most of our customers understand that it takes time for us to
fit things together and respect the disclaimers all over the site that say
things may take time.
Finally, I hope that you all realize that with any endeavor, some people
accidentally get burned. It's not our intention to ship bad products or give
people crappy service, but there will always be a minority that
unfortunately feels that way. The small group of you represent many
hundreds of customers over the past 3 years that we've been making clothes,
and you are a very small minority. I invite all of you to email us about
your orders and we will gladly accept returns and remake.
-Ryan and Barb
P.S. Someone named Swan_Jun emailed us, but was unwilling to accept our return email. It sounds more and more like you don't actually want your problem fixed, you just want something to complain about.
Re: dissapointing tactics - individual responses
Date: 2003-01-31 03:06 pm (UTC)kouhotaru - We sent out emails to everyone who had ordered before the 18th, telling them that they would have to pay a small fee to have their package shipped express. We got only one email back, and it wasn't your boyfriends. It's possible that the email may have not gone through.
batwinged - We're not a home seamstress 'company'. We make it very clear that we're not trying to be some kind of store with stock. I (Ryan) wish that even one of the people on this forum would have emailed us with their dissatisfaction, then we could have taken it back and learned from our mistakes. Instead, not one of these people emailed us. How are we supposed to know what people are thinking if they don't tell us?
hagiology - I say again. There's no need for 'passive aggressive' ways of badmouthing us. If you want us to make you another top, we'll make you another top. The things are only 29 dollars, for christs sake. If you had even tried, you would have found that our number one priority is making sure people get what they want. We do our best to make it really clear to people that we're not a company, we're not Japanese, and we don't import. But some people just don't get it, no matter how hard we try. Your order took so long because my parents popped a surprise trip to Texas on us, and we were out of comission for like 2 weeks. Then we had college finals the week we got back. It was a very hectic time, and a lot of orders went out later than we wanted to. A lot of people emailed us asking for updates, and all of them understood the situation.
yapipie - Everyone conviently forgot to mention that we sell our stuff for like the cost of fabric plus a few bucks for our trouble. The sailor fukus are 29 dollars, and hers came with a stretch cotton that was 50% lycra and 50% cotton. That same fabric just got picked up by Ralp Lauren and is now 7.99 a yard. Not exactly "Cheap Fabric".
awakenthesadist - We haven't heard from you yet about your sailor fuku. You won't find anyplace else for plus sized fukus, because no one else makes fukus from scratch just for you. Send it back to us and we'll be happy to send you a new one.
Some of you mentioned that the collars are too long, or the sleeves are too long. I was unaware that there was a standard size for sailor fukus, as they're made for teenage japanese girls. In the future, however, I'll make sure to take exact measurements for all clothing orders, instead of relying on american clothing sizes like small, medium, etc.
Again, I urge all of you to email us and we'll be happy to fix your puckers, or exchange your old merchandise for new.
-Ryan
Re: dissapointing tactics - individual responses
Date: 2003-01-31 03:13 pm (UTC)That's a very good idea. Exact measurements make for nicely-fitted items. I hope it works out for you. If the pictures are any indication, I know you can achieve beautiful work. =) Good luck.
Re: dissapointing tactics - individual responses
Date: 2003-01-31 03:42 pm (UTC)i have every right to warn your potential customers of the type of service you provide. you run a business, you sell subpar product, you have to expect to be badmouthed. sorry, that's the way it works.
If you want us to make you another top, we'll make you another top. The things are only 29 dollars, for christs sake. If you had even tried, you would have found that our number one priority is making sure people get what they want.
I'd definately rather make the thing myself in the future, so i have no interest in bothering to return it to you or to ask for you to make another one.
"only $29.00"... not everyone has the luxury of a disposable income, unfortunately. and you neglected to take into consideration the fact that i am canadian, which makes your top considerably more than that in CDN dollars.
We do our best to make it really clear to people that we're not a company, we're not Japanese, and we don't import. But some people just don't get it, no matter how hard we try.
forgive me for being so stupid as to assume that if i was going to pay actual money for something that was painstakingly made by hand, i would recieve a well made product. lord knows what gave me that idea. i guess i drew from the fact that when _I_ sell things to other people, i make sure i do the best job possible. it should be a crime to charge someone $30.00 for something that looks like a 9th grade home-ec project. and don't go blaming your unsatisfied customers for YOUR OWN shortcomings. apparently you "just don't get it", if you sell people crap, they're going to get pissed off about it, and unfortunately for you they WILL complain to other people about it.
Your order took so long because my parents popped a surprise trip to Texas on us, and we were out of comission for like 2 weeks. Then we had college finals the week we got back. It was a very hectic time, and a lot of orders went out later than we wanted to. A lot of people emailed us asking for updates, and all of them understood the situation.
If you were that busy... so busy that you couldn't take the time to make a quality garment for someone who was paying you, you should have refused the orders. i know i would. furthermore, you have the ability to update your site, and you should notify your customers if situations like that arrive. it's your responsability as a retailer. customers shouldn't have to resort to emailing you about their orders taking a long time, if there's a delay, you should notify them! and somehow i fail to se the corelation between your parents visititing, finals happening etc and you accepting money for a product which has visible sewing errors. don't you feel the least bit guilty about ripping people off? if you don't, you have no business selling things to people.
yapipie - Everyone conviently forgot to mention that we sell our stuff for like the cost of fabric plus a few bucks for our trouble. The sailor fukus are 29 dollars, and hers came with a stretch cotton that was 50% lycra and 50% cotton. That same fabric just got picked up by Ralp Lauren and is now 7.99 a yard. Not exactly "Cheap Fabric".
hi, i worked in a fabric store for 2 years. i have an idea of how much different fabrics cost. cotton/poly broadcloth, which is considered the least expensive fabric, retails for around 5$ a yard (metre in canada, which is slightly larger than a yard, and kind of compensates for the difference between the canadian and american dollar). $7.99 a yard for fabric is dirt cheap, especially if it's a stretch poplin. furthermore, the top you made for me would probably take about 1.5 metres to make, probably less. which blows your whole theory of making things at the cost of fabric plus a little for your effort out of the water. that's nearly a 50% markup.
"Again, I urge all of you to email us and we'll be happy to fix your puckers, or exchange your old merchandise for new."
no thanks. it's obvious to all of us that your not qualified to do seamstressing.
and finally, i'd like you to answer a question for me:Why would you ever accept someone's money in an exchange for such an obviously flawed garment?
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 04:50 pm (UTC)I'd like to add that anyone who advertises for and sells items or service is indeed running a BUSINESS. I can't understand these people's insistence that they are not a business, and they are somehow not responsible for what has happened. All the other smalltime businesses I've seen would and HAVE, on occasion, taken full responsibility for poor work, and have done everything possible to compensate. Even regular joes conducting auctions have taken such efforts to ensure their customers' satisfaction. The immature and unprofessional attitude of Limebarb dot com is unbelieveable.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 05:44 pm (UTC)I'm sorry, but where do you get these assumptions from? We're not a licensed business, so I don't like to refer to us as such. But I'm here taking full responsibility for everything, and offering everyone new items for free. What else can I do to compensate?
The immature and unprofessional attitude of Limebarb dot com is unbelieveable.
Where do you guys get off like this? What's immature is not telling the person you're mad at, and instead making gross logos and posting vulgarities about them on private forums. All any of these people had to do, and still have to do, is email us. We'll fix it for them. How hard is that to understand?
Re: dissapointing tactics - individual responses
Date: 2003-02-01 01:07 pm (UTC)However your stuff is adorable and after this experience I'm sure nothing like that will ever happen again....remember there's no such thing as bad publicity
Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-01-31 03:07 pm (UTC)No one "cowering" in this forum has said anything out of line. They simply spoke of their experiences with your business. The fact that they had negative things to say is your fault, not theirs. No one said that you didn't own up to your mistakes: they clearly admitted that they didn't bother asking for a refund. All anyone did here was warn others about the bad quality of the service they paid for.
Sometimes we don't have time to get fabric, sew outfits, and ship them until a few weeks afterwards, and with tons and tons of orders, no one typically complains. Most of our customers understand that it takes time for us to fit things together and respect the disclaimers all over the site that say things may take time.
Yes, things like this do take time. However, the time you take should yield a quality garment, like the stuff pictured on your site. As others have said, I am positive that you do beautiful work when you try... But the stories and examples I've seen from people in this forum are awful.
Since the pictures of your work on your website are so impressive, I know you're not ignorant of what quality seamstressing looks like. The fact that you would sell items with puckered seams and oversized collars is just shocking.
I really hate to see your company boycotted. I do. I myself was highly impressed with pictures of your work, and I was saving money to spend on some of your items. Much as I hate the situation, though...what I said earlier holds true: disappointed customers have the right to complain about their experiences. One or two of them did it childishly, but the fact still stands.
I didn't mean to make you feel assaulted, here, so I truly hope you don't take it that way. Just wanted to say my piece. I don't think I've been cruel or unjust.
Do take care. I wish you luck for the future.
<3,
~*~ n e k o ~*~
Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-01-31 03:23 pm (UTC)There's no crime in posting photographic evidence one's complaint. She didn't edit the pictures in any way except to add informative text and arrows. She also took zoom-in pictures to illustrate her point.
It's not "bad information" if it's true.
Whoops.
Date: 2003-01-31 04:16 pm (UTC)Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-01-31 03:50 pm (UTC)i have no idea why you think i would lie about something like that. contrary to what you may think, i dont really enjoy getting crappy clothing and starting arguments with people.
Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-01-31 03:56 pm (UTC)We try to do exact measurements, but a lot of people don't know how to give us their measurements, so we switched to standard sizes. This isn't the reason for the puckers, that was a mistake that must have occured during the fifty some orders we got in one week around the middle of december. But we definately need to force people to give us their measurements in the future.
Satire is the right of any thoroughly disappointed customer. It's not a wrong or cruel thing to warn potential buyers away from a company -- it's business.
No one "cowering" in this forum has said anything out of line. They simply spoke of their experiences with your business. The fact that they had negative things to say is your fault, not theirs. No one said that you didn't own up to your mistakes: they clearly admitted that they didn't bother asking for a refund. All anyone did here was warn others about the bad quality of the service they paid for.
Well, what I'm saying is this is the wrong way to voice your complaints. First of all, we're not a business. We're two college students who accept comissions for custom made clothing. It's as much a learning experience for us as it is for anyone. Now we know to watch more carefuly for puckers. But we've gotten a few hateful emails from this forum, and it makes me (ryan) angry. All anyone had to do was complain to *US*, and we would have gladly repaired the garments or exchanged them. I think it's lazy to instead chat about it with your friends, when it takes two seconds of effort to just ask us to repair it. We're not a corporation who's going to funnel you through a voicemail box. We care about our work and we care about people who pay us. If you got a bad item, for the love of god, do something about it. If each of you had done something about it, there wouldn't be anyone in this forum talking about it right now. But instead, every person here just sat on it and pouted. I suppose it was harsh to say cowering, but I don't know what else to call it. People seem afraid to just email us and ask us to fix it. In fact, the only thing we GOT emails for was hate mail. How does that solve the problem?!
Yes, things like this do take time. However, the time you take should yield a quality garment, like the stuff pictured on your site. As others have said, I am positive that you do beautiful work when you try... But the stories and examples I've seen from people in this forum are awful.
The items here are only Loose Socks and Sailor Tops. Some of the people didn't even know they weren't imported. We try our best to pay attention to every item, but we do make mistakes. It's not easy to manage this mini-business, a full load at school, and keeping up after ourselves, and our two cats. Plus Barb has projects and Umbrella Studios duties. And we both have Shoujocon and Anime Central duties. It can be a lot to handle. That's why if people just approach us with their concerns, we happily accept their item back and repair it or just make them a new one. The puckers are entirely our fault, but we honestly didn't think they were that bad, and they slow us down... a lot. We're strapped for time, but if even one person had emailed us and told us it bothered them, we would have fixed it for them on the spot. No one did.
Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-01-31 04:02 pm (UTC)I don't really know what anyone means by oversized collars. We make all the collars the same size, and very few people have mentioned this. There's no standard for sailor fukus, and I think the real issue is not that we're making oversized collars, but that the person who got their fuku didn't want the collar to be that big. None of us went to a Japanese highschool, so I find it hard to believe that anyone would claim to know the proper size for a fuku collar. We've shipped a whooooooooooooole lot of fukus, and we've only seen these two or three complaints about them so far. Some are construction issues, errors that unfortunately occur. Others seem to be style issues. That's a personal thing. We're always willing to guarantee satisfaction, but again. No one emailed us.
There's no crime in posting photographic evidence one's complaint. She didn't edit the pictures in any way except to add informative text and arrows. She also took zoom-in pictures to illustrate her point.
It's not "bad information" if it's true.
i have no idea why you think i would lie about something like that. contrary to what you may think, i dont really enjoy getting crappy clothing and starting arguments with people.
Informative text like "Limebarb is a rip off! Don't support her crap!"? I don't take issue with the pictures of the fuku. I take issue with the frankenstein text and screaming vulgarities. If it had just been a fuku with enlargements and arrows, It would have been fine. And I certainly don't believe after seeing this song and dance that you don't enjoy getting in arguments with people. I tried to get your email out of your profile so I could discuss this with you privately, and I noticed that you seem to take pride in your ability to alienate people and lose your temper. The email address you sent me isn't accepting replies, which I'm sure you already know.
Like I keep saying, the errors in the garment were a mistake. If you let us, we'll remake it for you and that'll be that. But you're obviously not interested in having your error repaired, you seem to think that getting this attention is worth more. Instead of emailing us with your complaint, we had to wait until it wound up on a forum. As soon as we saw it, we offered to repair it. But you still haven't taken us up on our offer. Your order is six months old. What kept you from emailing us all this time?
Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-01-31 06:20 pm (UTC)im kind of curious as to which "screaming" vulgarities you're refering to? is it "rip-off" or "crap"? because if you are... well... i think you should stop taking yourself so seriously.
If it had just been a fuku with enlargements and arrows, It would have been fine. And I certainly don't believe after seeing this song and dance that you don't enjoy getting in arguments with people.
well, to be honest i had no idea you were a part of this community. i didn't check for your name before i made the post. i had simply seen people mentioning your fledgling business occasionally, and i felt that if people (and most of the people here are young adults, not multi-millionaires) were going to spend their money on something, they should make an INFORMED decision. it is our right as consumers.
I tried to get your email out of your profile so I could discuss this with you privately, and I noticed that you seem to take pride in your ability to alienate people and lose your temper.
how is information in my profile relevent to anything we're discussing in this forum? if you were searching for my email address you should have done just that. if you were searching for ammunition to use against me in a flame war, you should be honest about it. furthermore, i in no way stated that i "take pride in my ability to alienate people and lose my temper.", that is your own fabrication. and i don't seem to have done anything to alienate anyone here, nor have i lost my temper. the one thing you don't seem to understand is that i am well within my rights as a consumer. if people are going to be purchasing things from you, they have the right to know if you offer shoddy products or not. i (or anyone else who's commenting here) cannot stress this enough.
The email address you sent me isn't accepting replies, which I'm sure you already know.
the email address in my profile is purposefully scrambled to avoid spam. it's an option that every livejournal user has when they fill out their profile. in order for it to work, all you have to do is delete the spaces between the @ and the rest of the address.
Like I keep saying, the errors in the garment were a mistake. If you let us, we'll remake it for you and that'll be that. But you're obviously not interested in having your error repaired, you seem to think that getting this attention is worth more. Instead of emailing us with your complaint, we had to wait until it wound up on a forum. As soon as we saw it, we offered to repair it. But you still haven't taken us up on our offer. Your order is six months old. What kept you from emailing us all this time?
i think that your shoddy workmanship getting attention is worth more than having another subpar garment, yes. and no, i'm not interested in recieving another subpar item from you. i will accept my money back and no less. if you're not willing to do that, you will have to continue to deal with me informing your potential customers of the quality of your products.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 04:15 pm (UTC)Yes, you ARE a business: you take orders and money for the work you do. That is, in effect, a business, whether or not you have an official license. You can't honestly believe that, since you're not a true clothing company, people shouldn't expect quality from you? I don't think that's right.
Since the items in question are "only" loose socks and seifuku tops, isn't it understandable that these people are horrified with the seeming lack of care put into the pieces?
Look... I'm sorry to appear harsh. It's understandable to be miffed that you're losing customers, but you should have the decency to be upset only with yourselves. No one else is at fault for what has transpired but you. I'm not saying you've committed a grievous sin -- just that you ought to take responsibility. Don't blame your customers for their reactions to the bad service you provided.
While it's true that the customers in question should have gone to you about their dissatisfaction, they have every right to talk about their experiences with your store.
I know you're an independent smalltime business, and I'm sorry that you're unfamiliar with the rules therein...but bad work yields bad responses.
Re:
Date: 2003-01-31 04:34 pm (UTC)We're hardly losing customers, that's not my motivation for spending so much time with all of the people here. We have a lot of customers, and losing a few one time shoppers isn't going to kill us. This isn't even our primary method of finacial support. The only reason I came here was to try and help the people who were upset and do whatever I could to make them feel better. I'm willing to do whatever I can to help every single one of them get what they paid for. I'm here to try and show them that we CARE about them and their orders, and we feel bad about having made it below their acceptable standards. That's better than you'll ever get from any corporation or business. I don't even care how old it is, I only care that this girl goes away happy.
Sadly, I sincerely doubt there's anything I can do to make her happy.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 06:43 pm (UTC)if you're concerned with making me happy, you'd realise that i've said countless times that i dont want a replacement, i want my money back. that is the $$$ i spent on your item, refunded, into my paypal account preferably. i will package up the flawed item and send it back to you as well, provided you pay for the shipping. this is the only solution that i will be satisfied with. as well, if my happiness is your concern, perhaps you could stop accusing me of "just wanting something to argue about.", if i wanted an argument i would have emailed you and called you out dirrectly and been alot more caustic than i have been here. i had no idea that you were a part of this forum, and therefore didn't think anyone would "argue" with me informing them about your workmanship.
We're hardly losing customers, that's not my motivation for spending so much time with all of the people here. We have a lot of customers, and losing a few one time shoppers isn't going to kill us. This isn't even our primary method of finacial support. The only reason I came here was to try and help the people who were upset and do whatever I could to make them feel better. I'm willing to do whatever I can to help every single one of them get what they paid for. I'm here to try and show them that we CARE about them and their orders, and we feel bad about having made it below their acceptable standards. That's better than you'll ever get from any corporation or business. I don't even care how old it is, I only care that this girl goes away happy.
i find that statement to be pretty arrogant. if you're concrned about your customers being satisfied with your services, you should be upset if you lose even one customer. and at least 2 people have said that they had considered purchasing items for you, but changed their minds once they saw the pictures i posted.
and your items are not simply "below my acceptable standards", they are below the standards of anyone who pays money for an article of clothing. you simply are not qualified to accept peoples' money for items that are as poorly constructed as the ones that you sold me, and people need to be aware of this. if you're busy with school and such, i can empathize with you, but you should not accept orders when you are too busy to do satisfactory work.
Sadly, I sincerely doubt there's anything I can do to make her happy.
for the fourth time, i will be happy if either of these things happen:
a) i recieve my money back, in full, plus the cost of shipping to send the item back to you.
b) other young adults like myself are informed that if they are purchasing from you they are running the risk of purchasing a poorly constructed garment.
c) you realise your error, and make sure that you know what you're doing before you offer your services to the general public. (ie. take some garment construction classes)
Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-01-31 04:24 pm (UTC)----- Original Message -----
From: <hunterrudo@aol.com>
To: <limebarb@limebarb.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 6:28 PM
Subject: Notification of Payment Received
> This email confirms that you have received a Payment
> for $80.00 from Chad Harris (hunterrudo@aol.com)
>
> View the details of this transaction online at:
> https://www.paypal.com/vst/id=3AB91614TL5048845
>
> SHOPPING CART CONTENTS:
>
>
> 1.
>
> Item Name: Sailor Top with Short Sleeves
> Option 1: Size?: X-Large
> Item Amount: $29.00
> Quantity: 1
> Total: $29.00
>
> 2.
>
> Item Name: Long Pleated Skirt with Wide Pleated
> Option 1: Size?: X-Large
> Item Amount: $35.00
> Quantity: 1
> Total: $35.00
>
> 3.
>
> Item Name: Kerchief
> Option 1: Color?: Red
> Item Amount: $8.00
> Quantity: 1
> Total: $8.00
>
> Cart Subtotal: $72.00
> Handling: $0.00
> Shipping: $8.00
> Sales Tax (0.000%): $0.00
> Cart Total: $80.00
>
> ------------------------------
> Payment Details:
> ------------------------------
>
> Amount: $80.00
> Currency: U.S. Dollars
> Transaction ID: 3AB91614TL5048845
>
> Buyer: Chad Harris
> Message:
> Your selection and design quality are excellent, thank you for offering
such a wonderful service!
> Thank you for using PayPal,
>
> The PayPal Team
I deleted the address for security reasons. He emailed us on 12/18 at 6:02 and said:
Hello, thank you for a prompt response. If at all possible I would like the order shipped to Sara in time for Christmas, please let me know the amount and I will remit it through PayPal if you like. Thanks in advance for any correspondence.
Sincerely,
Chad Harris
We wrote him back on the 22nd, saying this:
"Hi there.
Like we say all over the page, it takes us between two and two and a half weeks to get orders completed and shipped. You submitted your order on the evening of the 17th. Typically, because of a school break, we'd get a lot of orders done fast, but since this is also the christmas holiday, we'll be with our families until the 3rd of January. After that, we'll start sending out orders, and you should expect yours by the first weekend of January.
Thanks!
-Ryan and Barb"
That's the last we've heard of him, and I sincerely mean it. Ask him to please send the email again, it's possible AOL didn't send his message.
Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-01-31 04:28 pm (UTC)----- Original Message -----
From: HunterRudo@aol.com
To: limebarb@limebarb.com
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 2:22 PM
Subject: Hello
I'd like to inquire about my recent order's status. I understand that it won't reach the destination by Christmas, but I was just wondering if it had been shipped yet and by what method. Thank you for your assistance and courtesy.
Chad
-----------------
After that, we didn't email him back, we just shipped it. I regret not emailing him back, but we really had to concentrate on orders. It was kind of a SNAFU, this break.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 04:30 pm (UTC)Sorry about your bad experience. Hope I didn't seem smartassed, here... It's just that I know a few people in the business, and I know time can become very scarce.
new subject
Date: 2003-01-31 04:38 pm (UTC)I want to know what you guys think of the EGL stuff. Despite what our hater says, we do use quality fabrics, and we work hard on the EGL stuff. That's why it's so damn expensive! We want to lower the price a bit, but we haven't gotten any emails even remotely interested in the EGL stuff. Barb loves EGL and she and her friend dress in EGL all the time, like they are shown on the front page. Do any of you have any positive suggestions?
Re: new subject
Date: 2003-01-31 05:15 pm (UTC)Re: new subject
Date: 2003-01-31 05:40 pm (UTC)Do try to be mature about this. Hagi-san does not hate you. I know her anger feels offensive, but she is entitled. She is simply fed up with your refusal to accept that she did NOT do you wrong by making your mistake(s) public. I don't think there would have been a problem here if only you would understand that. Your lack of imported Japanese authenticity, and the fact that you are only two college kids conducting a hobby, does not make you exempt from the accusations herein.
*sighs* This is getting repetitive. You're probably not going to accept it no matter how many ways I say it, how many times I repeat...so... I'm finished. I don't want to fight or argue.
I was not surprised at your prices for EGL dresses (which I think are gorgeous, BTW, along with the related accessories). I know how expensive they are to make. Typically, I see such items on eBay starting at fifty to eighty bucks...and those are SALE items. =) I know the kind of effort that goes in to EGL dresses.
Hmmmm. As for suggestions... None, really. Perhaps you could check out Rose and Thorn (http://www.roseandthorn.com) for reference. They, I believe, are the ones who sell most of the EGL dresses on eBay (the ones I mentioned above).
I also dress EGL. I have begun a collection of petticoats, and I'm desperately searching for a just-above-knee-length black circle skirt... Just a basic one with lace fringe that I can wear over my knee-length petties. Ooo! Perhaps you two could look into that? I just can't find an affordable one ANYWHERE... Or if I do, they're never in my size (30" waist). =(
Re: new subject
Date: 2003-01-31 05:53 pm (UTC)She can make the mistakes public all she wants, but you have to understand that I'm not a corporate PR person, I'm a guy who saw someone talking trash about them on a livejournal.com forum. When someone comes away from having an item for 6 months and suddenly decides to start a crusade against the makers instead of just asking for her money back, you have to wonder what her intentions are. I can only assume that her primary interest is not fixing the situation, otherwise she would have done it six months ago. Everyone here has every right to be angry, but I'm doing my best to make it up to them and all I'm getting is rude comments and refusal to accept any consolation.
I was not surprised at your prices for EGL dresses (which I think are gorgeous, BTW, along with the related accessories). I know how expensive they are to make. Typically, I see such items on eBay starting at fifty to eighty bucks...and those are SALE items. =) I know the kind of effort that goes in to EGL dresses.
Too tell the truth, I more often than not find EGL stuff on Ebay isn't really EGL stuff at all. It's just like a plain silk chamise or something passed off as EGL. I really don't find too much authentic EGL stuff on Ebay most times I check. The Rose and Thorn stuff is nice, but I wish they wouldn't use so much thick satin. It wrinkles so easily. We like their designs a lot, though! We've been planning to go through the latest EGL bibles again to get some new ideas, but we don't want to take ideas from other sites. Thanks for the suggestion though.
I also dress EGL. I have begun a collection of petticoats, and I'm desperately searching for a just-above-knee-length black circle skirt... Just a basic one with lace fringe that I can wear over my knee-length petties. Ooo! Perhaps you two could look into that? I just can't find an affordable one ANYWHERE... Or if I do, they're never in my size (30" waist). =(
If you like, email us about it and we'll see if we can figure something out. We're always very willing to make custom items based on your price range. ^_^
Re: new subject
From:Re: dissapointing tactics
Date: 2003-02-01 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 05:27 pm (UTC)I didn't mean to sound rude, it's just a fact. I really don't think you'll find a place that makes plus-sized fukus. Most of the professional uniform makers make them in standard sizes. I was trying to be nice to you and show you that we were going an extra step to make it custom, just for you.
I highly doubt that you're the ONLY place in the ENTIRE WORLD that makes plus-sized fuku's, or fuku's from scratch
There's plenty of cosplay shops. The ones I've seen would be happy to make you a custom sized fuku top for a hundred dollars or so.
Honestly, I don't think, after finding out others have had messed up ones, that I'd want a new one from you. But believe me, I will be asking for a refund of money.
Again, if you didn't like your fuku, you should have asked for us to remake it. It's difficult to make plus sized clothing without the person here for fitting, because we don't know the shape of your frame. We try our best to make the garment acommodating for you, and I'm sorry we failed. We've made lots of fukus, and these two or three mistakes shouldn't make you switch your opinions just like that.
And also, when you go on a trip or something, you should tell your customers, not have them email you first,complaining that your product hasn't arrived.
We told everyone we had to leave, and it was posted on the front page of the site. Very rarely has anyone emailed us asking where their order was. And when they did, it was usually because they expected it to be shipped the next day, which is their mistake. I'm sorry that you slipped through the cracks, you have every right to be angry. Why didn't you try to remedy the situation?
And about the neck collars? They shouldn't be so huge as to show one's bra and clevage. You can look at photos of the japanese ones and see this. The ones with super low collars also have fabric behind them covering the clevage area.
Listen, with all due respect, the Japanese ones aren't being shown on people the same size as you. If you were a 13 year old japanese girl, we'd know exactly how to make it. But we had no picture for reference for your size. I'll say it again, I'm sorry. You can either send it back and get what you want for free, or get your money back and pay twice as much at another cosplay shop.
Comparing what I've seen and heard here, and what my purchase looks like, I begin to wonder if you really did make what was in those photos, because they look totally different.
Now you want to talk about rude? That's rude. We get very few complaints, but you go so far as to accuse us of showing someone elses stuff? Oh please. We make all the clothing shown in the photos. The difference is we're all standard sizes and we have each other here to fit the garments perfectly. Mail order custom clothing is troublesome, but if you would have emailed us and let us know it didn't fit, we would have happily replaced it with a better fitting garment. In fact, we still will. We don't have any obligation to give you or anyone any of their money back, and we don't have any obligation to remake clothing for anyone. We spent the time to set up a livejournal account to address everyone's concerns and do whatever we could for you, and all we get is this hateful, childish namecalling. We acknowledge that we messed up your orders, and we're willing to do what we can to make it better. It may be our fault that the outfits perfect, but it's your fault for not emailing us and letting us know. We've got a lot of very happy customers, and you should be happy that you're getting a chance to have your concerns addressed. Try acting like a civilized human being and you're more apt to get your way.
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 05:30 pm (UTC)Should read: "It may be our fault that the outfit's not perfect,"
no subject
Date: 2003-01-31 05:59 pm (UTC)I don't have any more time to do this, we're very busy now. If any of you would like to say anything else to me, or get your order repaired, please email us, limebarb@limebarb.com.
Thanks!
You didn't clear anything up really..
Date: 2003-01-31 05:54 pm (UTC)Re: You didn't clear anything up really..
Date: 2003-01-31 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-02-01 01:32 pm (UTC)Got what you paid for...mostly
Date: 2003-02-05 04:16 am (UTC)Look at the collars on the sailor fufus. They don't lay correctly in the pictures, why would you expect yours to look different?
http://www.limebarb.com/store/pictures/uniforms/long_sleeve_sailor_1.jpg
The back of the collar puckers and so does the left side of the back. The next one is a bit better:
http://www.limebarb.com/store/pictures/uniforms/short-sailor-top_1.jpg
...But look at the hem.
Take a look at any of the pictures with light color fabric. Look at any closeup picture (the pink dress is a good example). Notice how the attached lace makes the pink fabric pucker? (look at the lower left corner)
http://www.limebarb.com/store/pictures/egl/frilly-dress_4.jpg
If it looks like that right after it was made (and I assume pressed) before the picture was taken, it's not going to get better.
Also, the ribbon in the lace up front hangs funny.
http://www.limebarb.com/store/pictures/egl/frilly-dress_3.jpg
Take a look at the closeup on the Alice dress peter pan collar
http://www.limebarb.com/store/pictures/egl/alice-set_4.jpg
The collar needed some sort of lining and it looks like it was ironed rather than pressed the way you can see indications of the seams inside. The material the apron is made of looks like 88 cent a yard sale muslin. Look at the other light colored items, they also have puckers and look like they were made from the same material.
Buyer Beware. Be careful of wishful thinking making you think the item is better than the picture. I also think you were right to show exactly what the quality of arandom sample of their work was.
Before I learned to sew and learned costume design, I purched a costume from eBay (not from Limebarb..this was about 4 years ago). I could see that the hem looked uneven and that there were numerous other problems, but wishful thinking made me bid on it anyway. When it arrived, it was far worse than it looked in the pictures! The hem that I thought was slightly uneven was 4 inches longer on one side than the other. All the little bulges and puckers on the eBay picture were real. I had thought that maybe the costume just needed an iron... What I learned from this is pictures don't lie. Also, the pictures someone uses as an example are likely to be their absolute best work. (note: The seamstress did fix the hem, but I didn't have the guts to complain about the rest of it because I took yet another look at the pictures and realized I got exactly what I paid for)
From
Someone who loves to sew and cosplay
To Limebarb
Date: 2003-02-05 04:19 am (UTC)Sorry to be so critical of your construction techiques. As far as costumes go, they are mostly not bad, but if you judge them in terms of CLOTHING they really aren't very good at all. In all the costumes that I could see close up, it looks like there is a problem with the tension adjustment. People tend to want clothing quality in a Sailor top. As you should know, the neck openings on different sized shirts are different and in order for the collar to lay right, the size of the collar will need to change. You mentioned you use the same size collar; that's just not going to work. If you're not sure what someone who is a plus size is built like, perhaps you can have a plus sized friend give you a hand.
Here's a tip. Pattern Master Boutique has a middy blouse pattern. The program costs under $200. Since you talked about 50 orders coming in in one week and the shirt profit margin seems to be 60-70% judging by the fabric quality, I think you can afford it. You put in the measurments of the person and how loose or tight they want it to fit and it does the rest. It also has instructions on how to take the measurments.
The pleated skirt patterns that come with it are great. They take the individual's waist to hip ratio into account. I know the program is for non commercial use, but I don't remember if that means you can't sell the actual patterns or if it also includes the clothing made.
http://www.wildginger.com/
Good luck. I'd love to see you improve. There are two sisters that make and sell costumes (they are on the east coast and use strange fanfic names for Sailor Moon characters) and I swear their sewing gets worst, not better over the years! I'd hate to see that happen to you.
Someone who loves sewing and cosplay