This is her libellous nonsense about me:
"I want to share my deep apologies for having to make a public statement like this, but unfortunately I can't think of any other solution...
After about 3 years of doing business with Helen Highwater of Pinup Parade, we have no choice but to sever ties.
I've received a few emails from customers who wanted to purchase the Sonia peasant skirt and our peasant blouse. All items have been shipped to Pinup Parade, despite their claims. Not only has Ms. Highwater made malicious claims and attacks against both me personally (including defacing my character and ridiculing my religion), my attorney and my company she also fraudulently posed as a professional persona in an attempt to bully my company, I've decided to publicly post the tracking numbers that include these items. They are CP545294864US and CJ171564586US. We have customs forms that show the items that were shipped to Ms. Highwater, plus an email when she placed the order and requested that we jump around in the sizes when having this produced.
I would like to further apologize to anyone who hoped to purchase these items for Halloween parties and festivals. One of the boxes had delivery attempts made for over a month before Ms. Highwater claimed the package. Unfortunately, the fabric and materials used for this peasant skirt were sourced specifically for Pinup Parade and Ms. Highwater's custom request and Nicole Katherine doesn't have any additional inventory of this skirt. If you have any other questions please email Nicole Katherine Designs at info@nicolekatherine.com
For our European customers, we have other retailers that carry Nicole Katherine...."
(poor bastards!)
How long have I been dealing with Nicole Katherine Designs? I first of all stocked a nautical confection whcih was quite nice - probably ordered those at the end of 2007 or early 2008.
Last year, I ordered a dress which I sell as the "Tiki Babe" dress (it's known elsewhere as the Da Carlo dress). I had to get all of the zips replaced on these dresses because they all broke. Nicole gave me money towards doing this but didn't cover the full cost. Then I discovered that several of the dresses had the wrong size labels put in so I had to send them back - she said she would give me a $400 credit note which would cover me for my costs of posting the dresses back to her, and the dresses - which are now for sale on her Etsy shop, by the look of it.
This year, I very stupidly decided to order more clothes from her - why? Because I forgave her and because I believe in giving people second chances. She said the problems with the Tiki dresses were caused by her manufacturer, who she was no longer using.
My order cost me nearly £2,000 (this is about two months' wages from my day job for me), which I paid in two installments, one in May and one in June. I have emails from her at the time promising me that the items would be ready in three weeks. I didn't received anything until September (and then only half the order), apart from the top and skirt that was sent to me in Spain in July so that I could get photos of it for my shop. I had planned to do this after she'd promised that the items would be shipped to me before I left for Spain at the beginning of July.
On 24th August she told me that the Maureen dresses were coming in two boxes and that part of the Sonia (blouse and skirt outfit) were coming in one box - the rest of the order, mainly blouses but including some skirts and some Maureen dresses, were delayed, because, surprise, surprise, there was a manufacturing problem.
So two letters turned up from Parcelforce advising me of customs charges and Nicole emailed me to say that one of the boxes had been sent back to her because some chump in US customs had stolen the paperwork - this was the box of Sonia outfits, mainly skirts, some blouses (the customs paperwork says 18 skirts and 5 blouses). I paid my charges and the two boxes which appeared contained Maureen dresses.
I was initially pleased with them but then when I put one on in order to model it, I realised that the neckline was baggy. My friend came round to model them and she noticed the exact same thing. To prove that I'm not making it up, here's a photo of us modelling them:
And here's a close-up of the necklines so you can see how they bag out. This is not acceptable and as far as I'm concerned, unwearable.
I'd hoped, initially, it was just my body shape, but as you can see, the two of us have different body shapes, and different busts. I could not in good conscience send these out to customers, at £80 a pop.
I contacted Nicole and told her. She was very apologetic, and said I could send them back to be mended or she'd help me find someone in the UK who would. Now - had this been the first time I'd received an entire shipment of faulty goods from her, maybe I would've been calmer and (whilst still mightily peed off) followed her suggestion. But I wasn't calm - why? Because she'd let me down for a second time. And bearing in mind I was still owed $400 which she was insistent I could only have as a credit note for yet more of her stuff - which I was very concerned would be bad quality as well - I was very worried. I told her I no longer wished to do business with her (she instead seems to think she chose to sever ties - no, that was me, after receiving a second order of faulty goods! I should've said it after receiving the first). She also said the following:
"Anyway, I've noticed that it depends on who's wearing the dress if it's a little baggy in the center and also posture. The pattern was taken from a 1940's pattern and we just tweaked the sleeves and made the skirt a little different. When Gia modeled it, depending on how she was standing it would bag out a little bit. The same as when I tried one on."
The key here is that she'd noticed it, depending on who was wearing it - and this is very important as to timing - WHEN GIA MODELED IT.
Gia is this lady here, and it was this picture that had me place my order for the Maureen dress because I thought it looked rather nice. Had I known that the neckline bagged out depending on who was wearing it and how they were standing, you can rest assured that I wouldn't have bought any:
I was, by this time, incredibly upset. I had paid for these things in May and June, it was September and I'd only got half my order, and now that I had that half of it (at this point, just the Maureens), it was actually unsellable. I wasn't willing to waste any more time on it - when you run a small business, you only have a very small amount of capital and you can't have that amount of money tied up in stock for that long, waiting for it to arrive. I did what anyone would do - I went onto my Facebook and bitched about it.
I shall be very clear here on the nature of my bitching (and this is on my personal Facebook, not the Pin-Up Parade Facebook page - I'm not stupid enough to bitch that publically). I had put the photos of the Maureen dresses on my Facebook, and I made sure before I said a thing that I'd blocked Nicole and had removed the tag for her Facebook page. I wanted to rant in private, with an audience I could trust. Sadly, Facebook's privacy settings were borked - my entire profile was locked down except for my photos, so Nicole read what I said: and what I said was pretty much this:
I'm fed up receiving stock that needs mending, she knew there was a problem and still let me order 30 or 40 odd dresses, I've had enough!
She then contacted me on Facebook to tell me that she and lots of her customers had read my outburst (what were they doing on my private Facebook? Had she gone back to the photos to see what I was saying and then given the URLs out? Even though it wasn't, as I'd at first thought, locked down, how on earth were they finding it? Google? It wasn't something you could just stumble across by accident!). She said I had slandered her, and then went on about how she runs her business in a Christ-like manner. So I replied as followed - and bear in mind how upset I was at this point. And no, I should've stayed calm, but I have been under a hell of a lot of stress lately being under constant medical supervision as well as my 19 year old brother being about to be shipped off to Afghanistan, while my 17 year old brother is on Prozac and hasn't spoken to anyone since May:
"I haven't said anything publically. I've said it in my locked down Facebook.
Rather than tick me off on Facebook, shouldn't you be responding to my emails? I've tried to be polite to you but I've lost my patience.
Oh and I'm a Christian as well. But I think it's rather pointless bringing Jesus into the conversation.
By the way, a slander is a lie. I'm not fucking lying abhotuy your terrible shitty dresses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Now you can tell by my spelling in the last part that I had completely and utterly lost my shit. I might be slightly embarrassed, but I'm not ashamed of doing so - I actually suffer from a mood disorder so there are times when I actually cannot deal levellyheadly in high-pressure situations - the kinds of situations where you've spent 2 months wages on a heap of shite.
(and this is where, when she says I was "ridiculing my religion", I suppose. As a Christian myself, why would I ridicule someone for being a Christian? For that matter, why would I ridicule anyone with faith? Or without faith? Or who just aren't really that sure?).
She refused to speak to me after that outburst, and made me speak to some woman called Vicky. Now, I speak to the organ grinder, not the monkey, so along with two of my friends, we invented the character of Brian, Pin-Up Parade's business advisor. Now I don't make a habit of inventing characters (unless I'm writing a novel), but for all I knew, Vicky was her (and to be honest, I have at least one email purportedly from Vicky that too involved emotionally to be anyone but Nicole), and as she wasn't going to speak to *me* but still had to, seeing as... well... I was the person who'd spent £2,000 on shit from her shop, I had to find some way of communicating still. Brian in no way bullied her - I am happy to show all email correspondence to anyone who wishes to believe that "Brian" did, because Nicole is telling a porky when she says so!
I even apologised for what I'd said on Facebook and deleted the photos and the comments - but she still wouldn't speak to me.
I wanted to send the Maureens back, but she wouldn't let me. Pretty much, if I sent them back to her expecting a refund, she'd just post them right on back to me and charge me for the postage costs. She said she couldn't afford to pay for the refund (which is odd when you see her banging on about how her company's expanding at a rate of knots - obviously not expanding fast enough for her to be able to cover ALMIGHTY COCK-UPS like this!).
She kept misreading my emails and instead of asking for clarity, would instead rant on and on about how mean I was. Yes, I'm very mean, because I bought some dresses that were shit and I wanted it dealt with, and I was dealing with an obstructive twat.
Eventually, when I realised that my prefered solution - sending them all back for a refund - wasn't going to happen, I very reluctantly said I'd accept a partial refund so that I could find a tailor myself to fix them. The money she was determined to send me wasn't even worked out on the basis of how much this would actually cost - so if I do finally find someone to fix them and it costs me more than the $460 she refunded me, I'm pretty much buggered. There was no talk at ANY TIME of being compensated for my time wasted in receiving shite and the time it would take me to find someone to fix it. Yes, she said she'd find someone for me, but going on past form, I just didn't trust her.
At this point, or earlier, to be honest, I should've consulted a business lawyer. Alas, I didn't, and then *I* received an email from a solicitor instead. Yes, you did just read that right - I am the person who was sent unsellable product, and *I* am the one who is sent a threatening solicitor's letter. This really daft thing is, I received this email after agreeing to the $460 refund. Why was I sent it? They claimed because my email wasn't clear enough in saying I'd agreed to it - I think instead it was scare tactics.
The other problem was of course the $400 credit note. I didn't want $400-worth of her stock because I couldn't trust it not to fall apart or be sagging or have sleeves the wrong size or be labelled wrong or have zips that broke (none of which is libellous - THIS ALL HAPPENED WITH STOCK I BOUGHT FROM NICOLE KATHERINE DESIGNS). I very reluctantly agreed to have a box of peasant blouses to go with the Sonias, and requested a range of sizes. I received this shipment yesterday and it contained the following: 3 size S, 2 size XL, 3 size XXXL, 2 size 16. That's four different sizes.
Finally the refund came through - in two parts, of course, just to annoy me.
However, this all left, if we may wax Poirot-esque for a moment, "The Mystery of the Missing Box." At the beginning of this very dull piece of typing, I said:
"On 24th August she told me that the Maureen dresses were coming in two boxes and that part of the Sonia (blouse and skirt outfit) were coming in one box - the rest of the order, mainly blouses but including some skirts and some Maureen dresses, were delayed, because, surprise, surprise, there was a manufacturing problem."
So by mid September I had received three out of five boxes from her: two boxes of unsellable Maureens and 1 box of Sonias. Except I couldn't list them in the shop yet because I only had 5 blouses and the whole point is that it's sold AS A SET. I had 18 skirts and 5 blouses. I asked for the tracking number, but she said she wasn't speaking to me anymore, so Vicky said Nicole was out of town and would provide me with the tracking number. When the second refund installment came, she added a note:
"Here is the balance due for settlement. Your package is on it's way. Tracking number CJ17 1564 586U S through USPS. This payment is a severance of all business ties from this point forward."
As she'd never emailed me to say that the 2nd box was on the way, I wasn't entirely sure what was in this shipment. I emailed thus on 15th October:
"Please could you advise if this box contains the remaining Sonia items? I believe this also contains some Maureen dresses as well. I still haven't received the second box of Sonias and I have asked for the tracking number but haven't heard anything back. I'm afraid our business ties aren't severed until I've received all the items I've ordered from you.
If I don't hear back about what's in this box - is it just the credit note peasant tops or is it the Sonias as well? Or if I'm not given the tracking number for the Sonias, I'll have to action a credit card reversal for the value of the missing Sonias. It could well be stuck in the post, but if you haven't given me the tracking number, despite me asking several times, I don't really have a choice."
As I received no answer, on 20th October I emailed again (and as you cna see, I was on the verge losing my temper again) :
"Please could I have an answer to this email? I will probably have the box by Saturday, but I would like a reply.
does this box contain the rest of my Sonias (and I think some Maureen dresses as well)?
If this box does not contain the rest of my Sonias (and possibly Maureens) where is it? I need the tracking number.
If I don't have either the rest of the Sonias turning up in this box or if you don't give me a tracking number then I WILL do a credit card reversal - because I'll be owed stock and I'll be out of pocket.
I've got several thousand pounds worth of stock just sitting about because I can't sell it - the Maureens need to be fixed (I'm negotiating with someone who'll fix them, hopefully) and I can't sell the Sonias because the order's incomplete. This whole scenario just gets worse and worse and no one replying to me just makes it EVEN WORSE. Is customer service an alien concept to you or something?"
Still no reply. So I decided to "encourage" her to respond to me by going onto the Nicole Katherine Designs Facebook page and saying something along the lines of "if you've got time to do this, why don't you have time to look for my tracking number?" My comment was deleted and I was unfriended. I joined again, where Jillian, poor woman, posted that she wasn't actually Nicole and in that most American way, said "have a nice day!" To which I commented, in a very British way: "I would be having a nice day if you'd only give me my bloody tracking number!
I did get a reply (so questioning her competency in public had the desired effect!) but all she did was type mainly in block capitals, yelling that all the stuff had been delivered to me. She accused me of lying, "playing games", being devious, being horrible, committing harrassment (because I was daring to ask her for a fucking tracking number). She sent me two tracking numbers and in block capitals told me not to contact her again. I checked these tracking numbers and these weren't in dispute - I had received them, yes, but they were something else - NOT the second box of Sonias.
She looked at the tracking information and because it said "attempted delivery" more than once, claimed that I was refusing to accept the deliveries, just to be difficult. I told her that if she tracked them at www.parcelforce.com instead of on the USPS website, she would see that it says "attempted delivery at her end when at my end it's saying things like "package received into customs", "awaiting customs payment", "delivery rescheduled" (this happens after I've rung Parcelforce to pay the charge and they agree a day to deliver it), "delivery attempted" (delivery driver comes to my house to deliver it but I'm at work). It finally says "item delivered" and it is signed by someone other than me - this is because it is taken to my local post office for me to collect and is signed by the staff there.
Even after explaining this to her, she has the temerity to post on Facebook and Blogspot, the following:
"One of the boxes had delivery attempts made for over a month before Ms. Highwater claimed the package."
This is libellous rubbish and she knows it is because I have explained this to her and she has even looked at Parcelforce tracking to see what it says. SHE IS LYING!
She sent me an email containing four tracking numbers and some crap about how these are all the tracking numbers she has. In her libel, she says of the tracking numbers "They are CP545294864US and CJ171564586US." You will see these in the list of tracking numbers published below and I have already told her that I don't deny receiving ANY of these items. Yet she has gone onto Blogspot and Facebook and said that I have denied it. I HAVEN'T. I am looking for a tracking number that she hasn't yet given me. I shall post them here, identifying which shipments they refer to. You can look these up at www.parcelforce.com for yourself:
Maureen #1
Tracking Number CP299252250US
Parcel number: EC357766089GB
02-09-2010 14:17 Birmingham South Depot Parcel delivered
Maureen #2
Tracking Number CP299252246US
Parcel number: EC357750375GB
04-09-2010 14:02 Abbey Road Collected by customer
Sonia #1
Tracking Number CP545294864US
Parcel number: EC360388002GB
18-09-2010 12:51 Abbey Road Collected by customer
Parcel number: EC357766089GB
02-09-2010 14:17 Birmingham South Depot Parcel delivered
Maureen #2
Tracking Number CP299252246US
Parcel number: EC357750375GB
04-09-2010 14:02 Abbey Road Collected by customer
Sonia #1
Tracking Number CP545294864US
Parcel number: EC360388002GB
18-09-2010 12:51 Abbey Road Collected by customer
(Nicole's note: "And then Tracking Number CP299252263US was the tracking information that
had been stolen from the package before it was reshipped, new tracking
number CP545294864US as referenced above." So in effect, there were 5 tracking numbers for 4 parcels because one parcel had two tracking numbers).
Credit note blouses Tracking number CJ171564586UShad been stolen from the package before it was reshipped, new tracking
number CP545294864US as referenced above." So in effect, there were 5 tracking numbers for 4 parcels because one parcel had two tracking numbers).
Parcel number: EC366464342GB
Date Time Location Tracking Event
23-10-2010 09:53 Abbey Road Collected by customer(note
So she's given me four tracking numbers: two boxes of Maureen dresses, 1 box of Sonias, 1 package of credit note blouses. There is no tracking number for the second box of Sonias. All I want from her is this tracking number so that I know where it has gone, but she won't supply it. I don't know thhis point if she's gone so stark raving bonkers that she is unable to deal with my case rationally and so can't see she's made an error with supplying me with tracking numbers, or if she's only doing this to get back at me because I got so fed up with her I went on Twitter and used some swears. Like, to be perfectly fucking honest, anyone *would* do when faced with this (she's got screen caps, apparently, which she'll probably now unleash because I've gone public with what's been going on. Check my twitter accounts - you'll find most of them are no longer there because I deleted them not long after posting them).
I tried to explain that even her emails show that I should've recevied five shipments and I've only had four and she sent me the following email:
"Helen there was a balance of 19 sonia skirts and 20 blouses, I shipped one of the skirts to you in Spain and a blouse. The 19 skirts were shipped. There were a total of 18 blouses delivered (19 counting the free one I gave you). I'd refunded you for 2 blouses. I have the customs declaration forms. If you didn't receive them something happened to them in transit or you're lying."
Before accusing me of lying (for the millionth time) it may have been better for her to have thought about what I'd said - that I should've received five parcels and had only received 4, and that she'd only given me tracking numbers for four shipments. If indeed it has been lost in transit, then she needs to deal with it because she is the one with receipts of postage, tracking numbers, customs documentation etc.
I emailed her this 3 hours ago and haven't had a response, but in that time she's posted outrageous lies about me on Facebook and Blogspot. Me having a couple of rants on my twitter account is no way near as extreme as someone posting a blog and writing things in it which they know to be untrue.
"I'm missing the balance of skirts and blouses. As mentioned. I've received the credit note blouses in one parcel and then the other box containing 18 skirts and 5 blouses - but I haven't received the others.
I swear on the life of my mother that I have not received them - that I am missing a shipment of Sonias, which was mainly containing blouses but had some skirts and by the looks of it some dresses.
This is the shipment I'm trying to hunt down. Yes, it does look like it's got lost in the post - this is why I've been asking your for the tracking number for it. You gave me 4 tracking numbers yesterday and I've received those four parcels, but there should have been 5 boxes so I'm missing 1 box.
If you would please give me the tracking number for this missing box, then we can find out what's happened to it."
No response. How many times do I have to say to this clotheared pillock that she has said herself I should have 5 boxes and have only received 4? Why is she so keen to believe the worst of me, and accuse me of all manner of horrible things, such as refusing parcels? Check the tracking on Parcelforce's website and you'll see I have done no such thing. All I want is to have my stock, which I'd paid for by June, in my shop to sell. Why the hell would I send stuff back and pretend I hadn't received it??? That's total tosh!
If you've read thus far you either a. love the drama, or b. you are one of my customers and you are interested to know what's going on. If you are one of my customers, then you know that I'm not a horrible person, that I'm keen to deal with problems, that I don't lie. Look at my Customer Testimonials page - these are comments from customers over the last few months. There's a thread on a forum where you'll see loads of happy customers (I'm not linking to it because I don't want to involve the very nice lady who runs the forum). If you really must, speak to my other suppliers and see what they say about me! They will not agree on this picture that's been painted of me by Nicole.
She says in her email that customers have contacted her asking where they can buy the outfit - none of them have come to me. I've had one person express interest in the Sonia and I know for a fact that they haven't contacted her. She very much over-estimates her popularity anyway - my other lines are far and away more popular. But I'm not mentioning them by name here - you know who they are and I'm not dragging them into a situation which doesn't involve them.
This whole situation only arose because I lost my patience when I received yet another delivery of stock from Nicole Katherine Designs that wasn't good enough quality for me to sell. Whatever she says about me, bear that in mind. I'm not a horrible person, I'm not vindictive. Fuck me, I don't have the time to go about being vindictive, making up stories, lying etc etc etc. I only get upset and lose my temper and get sweary when I have good reason to.
(please note: I own the delete button on this blog so I reserve the right to delete whatever comment left below that I choose! Before accusing me, get your head round the situation. I am willing to supply emails to people who think they know all about what happened).
I will probably receive another solicitor's email telling me to remove this blog because it's "public slander". It is merely an accurate reflection of the truth. This is *my* side of the story. I have only written this because of what has been written, publically about me - a load of lies, basically. What *is* libellous is the post which Nicole Katherine Designs has seen fit to display on Facebook and Blogspot. She knows these things to be untrue. She knows I didn't refuse to accept a parcel for a month, she knows I don't deny receiving the items for the tracking numbers she mentioned. She's just trying to get her own back, and there's enough in her blog for me to get a solicitor involved myself, but I can't actually afford it because I've effectively lost £2,000 wasting my money on products from her shop.
18 comments:
Good grief. It's unacceptable how she went off the deep end like that. And so what if you got mad on your personal Facebook? It's called personal for a reason.
Surely a person of a proffessional nature who is intent on leaving all further contact to their solicitor shouldn't be indulging in libel and slander on behalf of their own business. Isn't that completely against the supposed proffessional and honest manner she proffesses to manage her business with. Smacks of a guilty conscience non c'est pas?????
Syperderfyngers: I thought my facebook stuff was private - as soon as I realised it wasn't, I deleted it and apologised. Did she forgive me? Hell no.
The Olivettes: true! She keeps saying in emails "my solicitor will deal with this now" but she can't quite let it go and keeps emailing me. True, her emails are full of unfounded accusations, and demonstates she either a. isn't reading my emails properly as I have to keep repeating myself about the missing 5th box, or b. is being willfully obstructive.
Her completely inability to provide me with a tracking number for the missing 5th box containing the rest of my Sonia order does make it seem - I say *seem*, I'm not accusing... as though she never sent it. She may have forgotten about, or she may have decided to piss me off because I got upset when she sent me unsellable product. Who knows.
I've read it all, and it is unacceptable and unprofessional of her to refuse to deal with the problems. I agree with spyderfyngers. I liked some of her designs but I will be steering clear.
Violet: her refund policy doesn't protect you if there's a fault - at least, that's what she told me. So I might be talking bollocks.
I will say this though - the Sonia is actually very nice. And the Maureens would be nice if they didn't have the problem with the neckline or the dodgy sleeve size. The Tikis are nice too, even if the fit is a bit specific, shall we say, so they don't fit many people.
May I remind you that you also have
email which states that once the items arrived from the designers supplier they were not checked over at all for quality assurance purposes and sent directly to you.
Love Ego xx
Wow, she sounds like an unreasonable wench! And considers herself a professional? Blech!
I can back you up on that offhanded statement that the necklines look different. I actually sew a bit (quite a lot back in the day - just not so much now) and it appears to me that the necklines on your pictures look like they were done differently. I suspect I can see where they cut the inlay wrong and then tried to make do rather than cut new ones.
Aside from that, though, I can't blame you for losing your mind on this. I've been watching from the sidelines. You repeatedly ask for this one piece of information and somehow the response is something else. The first time I would say she misunderstood what you were asking, but now she seems determined to answer the same thing over and over without actually taking the time to see that you are asking something else altogether! Seems about right for someone who doesn't take the time to make sure there is quality control with the product she sells.
I don't know what to say other than I hope this get resolved for you. I hate to see your struggling business go to hell in a hand basket because someone else can't manage their business properly.
And private or not, if you didn't put it publicly on their FB or blog, you have the right to say anything you want. I have been burned before by privacy settings that don't work properly, but in the end I get sick of this internet world thinking that just because they can see it, it's okay to twist it and make it public for everyone and then act like YOU are the one who put it out there for all the world to see.
Hmf, down with bullies who send solicitors before trying to get clarification.
That really sucks -what an idiot! I hope that you get your trackign number at least; hoping fo rthre vcorrect refund seems improbable unfortunately.
Oh Helen I really feel for you, as a small business owner myself I think we have to rely on reliable suppliers and when someone proves unreliable it can end up in the collapse of a small business. I don't think people realise that this can make or break a small business.
Sadly I had a similar problem with a supplier this year and had to hassle, hassle and hassle for a refund on a faulty product which I couldn't sell. I thankfully wasn't contacted by a solicitor but I was treated like a pain in the ass, and they didn't seem to understand why I was repeatedly calling and emailing them. Erm because you sold me fauly product and I want my money back.
Sadly this company supply some items I want to continue to stock but they seem to have also severed all ties, still in a way that's good as I now know they have no integrity, why? Because I went to a trade fair after I'd received the refund and there were the fauly products on their stand, selling to other retailers!!!
I may be running a business to try to make an income, however I won't compromise my integrity and I won't accept others trying to compromise my integrity. I think what you have done is right and I think this companies attitude has been appalling!
Ego: yup. She never does seem to check them - if she had checked them she would've known there was a problem. Same with the Tikis - you only had to put the dress on and pull up the zip for the tag to snap off in your hand!
Phairhead: yes - she is the one accusing me of being unprofessional. Am I the one sending out bad quality goods? Erm... no. This all started because of that. She makes it sound as though I'm some kind of nutter, attacking her for no reason, making up stories. She's left out so much of the history between us in her screed of nonsense! It does sound from what she wrote that I'm an arsehole - but the fact is, it's not true!
What I object to as well is that she's behaving as though I haven't got any for sale at all - BUT I DO. So if she did have any customers wanting that specific item, then... well... she is actually losing me business by saying I don't have the items. I do have some of the items, but not my full order, and this is the problem!
Snowee: what you said. ;D Well quite. She broadcast about what I'd said privately - that was her choice. No one could've found that thing on my Facebook - why would they? Unless they were a mutual friend of mine or people posting on the photos - but the people posting on that photo were mainly NOT the kind of people who are friends with her - they're people who aren't interested in dressing like a granny at all!
and yes, she is being wilfully obstructive. I have been very clear in saying there should've been 5 parcels and I've only received 4. In her last email to me, she says "it must've got lost in the post" - and I said, "If it's got lost in the psot, then give me the tracking number so that we can find out what's happened to it." but she won't reply! why not? Because it's got lost and she doesn't want to help me? Or because she never did send it out in the first place and so doesn't have a tracking number to give me?
She is a vile human being. this could all have been resolved so easily but because she can't forgive me for losing my temper, she's treated me like a piece of shit.
What Fiona said: I won't compromise my integrity and I won't accept others trying to compromise my integrity. I think what you have done is right and I think this companies attitude has been appalling!
Good advice all round from people on here, who you've known and trusted over the years.
I really do understand how you feel. I fell in love with a skirt on NK designs and purchased it. It was clearly sized wrong. I had to get it taken out, but when i tried it on, the zipper instantly broke. Not only did the zipper break, it was pulling apart from the seam. I felt like a fat cow. I had to get my co-worker to cut me out of the skirt and pay to get it repaired. And when i went to actually wear it the other day, i noticed that the pocket was just falling off. I feel for you. I'm sure it will all work out.
Fiona: "I won't compromise my integrity and I won't accept others trying to compromise my integrity."
ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!
Miss B: Thanks for commenting!
No, I'm not surprised to learn that this isn't an isolated incident! She said that someone was selling faulty zips around LA or something - but the people who replaced the zips for me said it was more likely that they had been sewn in too tightly. They were meant to be invisible, but it didn't work. My dresses were out of action for a month while being repaired, ffs!!!!
Wow, far too much hassle for what should be very simple, refund to you!!!
I've only ordered her Tiki dress and i must say i had to adjust it myself, I put this down to me being plus size, but on reflection I think it may of been due poor make up.
It is a shame that these problems have occured as anyone who make plus size vintage style dresses is rare. But as for customer service, yours was very quick and I was very happy with it.
Clearly and sadly hers is falling way below basic business sense! I can't blame you for venting, i have a feeling she almost went looking for any excuse to cause upset and get out of refunding you for products that she knows are poor.
Good luck and i hope you can leave all behind you ready for a new year x
OMG, I think your story is about to be mine! I order stock from her for the first time which took forever to come and when I finally got it, it was made so badly and I told her so going so far as to say I would never put my label on such poor work.She said she would give me a refund but I had more stock to come I gave her the benefit of the doubt with the next shipment before I sent back the last shipment. I received the next lot and again quality of fabric is poor and after seeing it on for the first time I think a poor design and again bad workmanship with dark colour thread being left between facings on a very light colour fabric.I am now not sure wether to send the goods back because I may end up with none of my money returned and no stock even though it's crap. Great WTF am I supposed to do?
Lisa
Australia
Oh god, Lisa, I'm soooo sorry that you've had to go through this too! Has she been horrible to you? (or have you managed not to lose your temper???!)
I actually don't know what to suggest, but perhaps if she's going to give you the option of a FULL refund for these things if you return them, then you should take her up on it.
I've sold about 4 Maureens, and no peasant outfits (even though the peasant outfits are actually nicely made!!!). The final box never did turn up and she never did send me the tracking number. Her solicitor NEVER replied to me either!
I think, actually, you should say that, without mentioning names, you've heard you're not the only person buying from her who's received crappy quality goods.
It may also be worth contacting a business lawyer. I really wish I had to begin with! You need to find out where you stand legally. It may well be the case that you don't have a leg to stand on because you didn't order a sample first - I don't know. But do get a solicitor because if you start asking for refunds, she'll start getting shitty with you and will only speak to you through her lawyer.
What items was it that you bought from her?
The other thing is, we should both report her to the Better Business Bureau! It takes time to submit it and to be honest I haven't done it yet because this whole thing has upset me so much. I couldn't even bear to go back through the emails to try to get a credit card reversal for the items I didn't receive. the fact that she could challenge the reversal made me feel sick and I just couldn't bear to go through all that just to have her chuck more accusations at me (I'm dishonest, I'm a liar, etc etc etc). So I've left it and chalked it up to experience, and feel happy that this blog post ranks highly on Google when you type in her name!!!
(was that how you found my blog?)
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