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Fabric Store Fun! *long*

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  • #16
    A professional seamstress who refuses to cut fabric? Seriously? What does she do if she makes a mistake and has to use the seam ripper?

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    • #17
      Years ago a friend of mine managed a store that sold collated nails in sealed packets. To help the builders pick which nail they wanted they had a boad made up of two or three of each nail attached to the board with a part number under each one.

      He still found there were open packets of each nail on the shelf and some of these packets were ripped and some nails (that weren't galvanised) were going rusty. All of the open packets were unsaleable.

      So he made a rule: no staff member was to open a packet before it was sold, and they were not to allow the customers to open the packets before they bought them. As well, opened packets were not to be returned. If they wanted to look at the nails they could look at them on the display board, or they could buy them and then look at them.

      He got many complaints from the customers who all wanted to look at the nails before they paid for them, but he did not give in. There was no reason (he said) to look at them. You could not tell the size by eye and it was written on the packet what size and type they were. If they ever opened the packet and found the wrong nails inside, he said then he would take them back. That never happened.

      Finally he got one customer who would not accept that he could not open the packet before he paid for them. The customer made a big fuss at the counter and refused to buy them if he couldn't open them first. He finally left without the nails.

      A week later an officer from the ACCC arrived in his shop. He had a complaint from that customer. He said he was investigating that complaint and after finding out that yes, the package of nails had not been opened he asked only one question.

      "Why didn't you allow him to open the packet of nails?"

      He too left the store (not looking very happy) but never returned and there was no further communication from the ACCC. I imagine they concluded that as long as the nails still belonged to the shop they could do whatever they wanted with them and when they had been sold to the customer then the customer could do whatever they wanted to them.

      Don't you wish you had a manager like that in your fabric store?

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      • #18
        Quoth gerund View Post
        "Why didn't you allow him to open the packet of nails?"
        ** points to board displaying samples of each and every nail the store carries **

        "That is why not, Sir."

        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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        • #19
          Quoth EricKei View Post
          ** points to board displaying samples of each and every nail the store carries **

          What I failed to say in the original story was that all of the customers refused to accept the board display. All of them would look at the board and then still wanted to open the packet.

          It's like they just didn't believe the board, or they were only satisfied after the packet was opened. They were all told that after they owned the packet they could do whatever they wanted with it.

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          • #20
            Quoth chimera View Post
            People are often amazed by how much fabric is actually needed for a project. I think a lot of the inchers go home and get started only to realize they've only got enough fabric to make a doll dress rather than a person-sized garment.
            Oh, yes. Especially when they're making children's clothing. One woman bought some of the shirred dress fabric for a ten year old niece, and thought 18" would be enough. For a newborn, maybe, but not for a ten year old! Of course, she couldn't bother getting the kid's measurements, that would take actual thought, and we can't have that!
            Quoth chimera View Post
            Then they reached across the counter, grabbed the fabric between my hands, looked at me and grinned "Let's just streeeeetch it, stretch it!" :-D and tugged the fabric further along. "A gift from you!" they laughed.
            So, if I'm reading you correctly, the SC managed to steal quite a bit of fabric by trickery? That absolutely sucks. I hope the project was ruined. It would serve them right.
            Quoth LesserSouthernFroglet View Post
            As for the 'least wrinkled' section - oh good grief. What, you reckon you sew and you don't have an iron?
            I've had customers who wanted me to cut every single piece because they don't have scissors. Yes, scissors. Something that should be a staple in every household, and they don't have any.

            They honestly think they can make clothing, quick as a wink, without scissors, or thread, or pins, or measurements, or...you get the idea. The stupidity is painful to deal with. I am rapidly losing what little brain filter I have left and am afraid I might go off on the next idiot who can't be bothered to think for themselves or plan ahead.
            I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
            My LiveJournal
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            • #21
              Beyond the odd attempt at altering a few items (I have actually succeeded) and hemming Hubby's pants, I don't sew. I don't like working with patterns, it's difficult and boring for me. But even I know that if you're doing a project with cloth, you can't eyeball it. Eyeballing works for craft paint and polymer clay, sometimes with beads, but not with cloth.
              "I try to be curious about everything, even things that don't interest me." -Alex Trebek

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              • #22
                Quoth XCashier View Post
                They honestly think they can make clothing, quick as a wink, without scissors, or thread, or pins, or measurements, or...you get the idea. The stupidity is painful to deal with. I am rapidly losing what little brain filter I have left and am afraid I might go off on the next idiot who can't be bothered to think for themselves or plan ahead.
                The above statement would have made my dear Mothers head explode. in my youth (single digits) Mom used to make a LOT of stuff at home (patterns and fabric stores/huge sections at major dept. stores) like dresses/clothes for her or friends or me or siblings. she had one section of a bedroom devoted to sewing with many scissors, pins, threads, a multitude of colors, drawers full of new and used patterns, drawers full of stuff that I can not remember AND A decent sewing machine. Hell a lot of times she took over the kitchen table for layouts and cutting.

                This is NOT a quick 5 minute thing even today.
                I'm lost without a paddle and headed up SH*T creek.
                -- Life Sucks Then You Die.


                "I'll believe corp. are people when Texas executes one."

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                • #23
                  It's not just craft / DIY shops that this happens in.

                  It used to drive me crazy when I worked at the discount store, the amount of time we had to spend refolding and repacking things like tablecloths, that the customers had taken out of the packaging (despite numerous notices asking them not to do this). The excuse was always that they 'needed to see' the tablecloth.

                  Really? The packaging is almost totally transparent, so you can see what colour it is, and the shape and dimensions are printed on the packet. What on earth more do they expect to be able to find out by opening it?
                  Engaged to the sweet Mytical He is my Black Dragon (and yes, a good one) strong, protective, the guardian. I am his Silver Dragon, always by his side, shining for him, cherishing him.

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                  • #24
                    Quoth Sparklyturtle View Post
                    A professional seamstress who refuses to cut fabric? Seriously? What does she do if she makes a mistake and has to use the seam ripper?
                    My thought exactly! They need to fire that seamstress and find someone else. I'm a seamstress and I'd never require that from anyone!

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