Weddingbee Blog

Wow… Glad it worked out! I think you’re pretty much right… you should pay for the other dresses that you were already going to pay for, but since the tailor screwed up, it’s on him to cover a reasonable replacement cost. It would also be smart of him to not charge you for altering that replacement since it was a PITA for you to sort everything out quickly. Just go in there with a clear idea of what you’re asking for, and then ask for it clearly — you are being reasonable. Good luck!

I think that you have to pay for all of the dresses that were altered correctly, but you should definitely have her pay for the dress that was ruined. Instead of having her pay for the new dress, tell her that she has to pay the cost of the ruined dress. It should end up being about the same.

I am so sorry that this happened to you! But, the new MOH dress, while not ideal, is still beautiful. Good for you for managing to stay calm=!

Gel bra cup? Who knew?

In another situation I read about, the vendor had to pay for both the damaged and the replacement ie. the dress that was ruined and the new dress you had to buy to replace the ruined dress. But I am not sure if that’s “legal” or a “kind gesture” of the vendor’s. You should pay for the ones that were altered correctly but you shouldn’t have to pay for the damaged one and he/she should compensate you for that one. I don’t think you should have to pay for MOH’s alterations either. I am not sure about compensating you for the new dress though.

Wow- I am impressed at how calm you were able to stay. Kudos to you Miss. Rasberry. I think the posters above have given you good advice. You are probably liable for all the correctly done alterations, but I would request sternly that he/she pay for the cost of the replacement dress.

good luck. keep us posted.

How awful! I think you handled it very well, kudos!! They should have to pay for the cost of the replacement dress, regardless as to if it was more expensive. (The stress alone of having to do that and the time!)
You will most likely be liable for the correct dresses, though in my heart I do not feel you should have to pay for them!
I love the new MOH dress, it is gorgeous!!

I agree with many of the others. You should pay for the correctly altered dresses.

You should not pay for the MOH to BM alteration, obviously not pay for the alterations to the ruined dress and also ask for the cost of of the ruined dress (including shipping costs).

I would probably also ask for the alterations of the new dress and the first alteration to the MOH dress to be gratis, but be willing to use those as the bargaining chip.

People make mistakes, and the tailor should have to pay for the mistake. But she should be paid for the things she did correctly.

I’m very interested in what someone with legal training would say, but my thoughts are that you pay for the dresses that went right, and the tailor pays for the new dress and waives charge for alterations to it.

Someone above suggested the tailor pay for either the ruined dress OR the new dress, but I’m going to guess that the new dress likely cost more, and not on a whim to choose a more costly dress, but because you had fewer options since you needed this sorted out in a reasonable time frame. In the unlikely event that the new dress costs less, the tailor ruined a dress that was worth more and should still be liable for it, thus the tailor should be liable for a sum equal to the cost of the more expensive dress.

Someone mentioned that perhaps the tailor was not aware of the damage that could be caused by nicking the tatas of the girl for whom she was altering the dress. I reluctantly agree with this. HOWEVER… she should waive the payment of the ruined dress and make a peace offering by doing an equally valued amount of alterations on the new MOH dress so that we all break even from the loss of the of the already-done alterations to the ruined dress. (IE had she done $75 worth on the ruined dress, she should credit you that much toward the new MOH).

I know your pain… sort of. In high school, I had this gorgeous white gown- very To Catch a Thief/Grace Kelly– with three layers of chiffon on the bottom and a taffeta lining. The tailor did an incredible job fixing the bodice to my hugantic chest, but BUTCHERED the bottom. I mean BUTCHERED. One layer was somehow longer than it began, the middle layer was mid-calf, and the outside layer was so un even I can’t begin to tell you. I almost started crying- I didn’t love the dress to begin with but this just put me over the edge. She said she wasn’t going to charge me, but that she couldn’t fix it because she was going into the hospital for an extended stay the next day. The prom was like 3 days from then.

My trusty tailor that I normally go to pulled through and only charged me 10 bucks to fix the disaster. I wrote her a check for 50 because I love her and wanted to thank her for making the alterations overnight.

There was a similar case on a TV court show recently,where a couple of the dresses were ok but one was not. In the end, they did not have to pay for the alterations to the ruined dress and did have to pay for the replacement dress and I’m fairly sure the original dress as well. I don’t think you should have to pay for anything related to the ruined dress-it’s not as though it’s usable to anyone.