You need the money so you will do what I want!

[bainsidhe]

Good luck with it all and I'm glad you're going to tell her no. Personally, I'd tell her that if she wants something on the cheap, she should buy fabric and sew it herself. You support yourself and your family by designing, sewing and selling pageantwear. It makes no business sense to waste time and money responding and caving to unreasonable demands. Since she obviously doesn't value your work, she's welcome to go elsewhere for her pageant needs.

[Pixilated]

I'm so sorry for your misfortune, especially at this time of year. I know how easy it is to walk off without something and I don't even have the distraction of children!

I'm glad you're going to refuse this ... person. It's one thing to grab your sale prices while they're there but what she's doing is just beyond vile; she knows you're in a tight spot and wants to turn the screws because of it. And I agree with those who said she would nitpick everything and then do a chargeback and leave you with less than nothing, given that her demands for "special" prices would've cost you money just to make and ship the items. Lupo's reply was perfect, not only for explaining your decision but by the way it throws her own comments back in her face.

[EricKei]

I wish you...er, wait, yer in show business. Break a leg, PM! ^_^

[Sapphire Silk]

Yes, I'm throwing her own words back in her face, but if you're in this tight of a spot, then no, you should NOT take her order. She's going to cost you money in the long run. Do what is right for you, and if she tries to badmouth you in the business, then keep every scrap of communication with her, and point out how she tried to hold your dire circumstances over your head to try and get more shit for free.

Quoted for Truth. Glad to hear you decided to tell this bitch to take a hike.

I'll bet she's a real stage mother too, real drama queen who throws a fit when her precious doesn't win.

Ugh

[ShadowBall]

I'd be half-tempted to let her have a sale dress, agree to the terms of "no refunds on sale items," and ensure the dress is so loosely put together that it tears open or falls apart. If she bitches, you could remind her about her agreeing to the "no refunds" policy.

Ehh, that may tarnish your reputation, though. It's still a fun thought to think what her face would look like if she was getting her daughter (or whomever would be in the dress) into the dress backstage and it tore irreparably right up the back, or while the kid was in front of the judges.

Yay for the ban too! I don't quite know how this idjit found you before, but here's hoping they don't just create a new account or contact info to get around that ban. Since, you know, rules and bans are for OTHER people, but not special little HER.

[XCashier]

So I am going to go ahead and tell her no and steal Lupos words to give her, then present her with a beautiful ban

YAY! Right on! Seriously, you did the right thing. If you give this SC an inch, she'll demand several miles, then do a chargeback. And she's doing it deliberately because she knows you're in financial trouble. This is the mistake so many retailers have made; rewarding SCs for their bad behavior. All it's done is led to worse and worse behavior, stressed out employees and stores going under (and this site of course, but every cloud has a silver lining ). Ban the bitch and if anyone asks why, tell them the truth.

Personally, I'd tell her that if she wants something on the cheap, she should buy fabric and sew it herself.

Oh, that would be fun to see. Speaking as a fabric store employee, I've seen so many people that think that sewing is just so easy, that they can just "throw it together" and it'll look fine. Of course, they badly underestimate the amount of time and work it actually takes. They never, ever take measurements, they don't even consider using a pattern, they make mistake after mistake and the finished product, if there even is a finished product, ends up laughable and costing them more than they wanted to buy the original item for.

[mikoyan29]

I would tell her no. She is taking advantage of a situation and that's not right.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I'm so sorry about your purse, PM...people suck Including the SC. I hope everything works out for you!

[notlovinit]

I'm not sure if my private message sent. I can never tell if people are getting my messages until they reply. Anyway, I tried to send something to you earlier about possibly sending you some nonperishable food if you wish. If you got that message, then great, but if you didn't, message me and we can work out the details. I would love to help you and your family out with what I can.

[Mystic]

Ok *breath* I'm going to say something I hope you and no one else takes offense to, but given the history of your posts, this really needs to be said.

You need to be more professional if you want to run a successful business. Thus far, you've seemed to be anything but that, and it's really hurting you and will hurt your business and reputation with people in the industry.

For one, you really need to learn and use the word "no". You've said this customer has been a pain in your ass, so you need to learn where that line has to be drawn and just say, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather have no business than lose money on an ungrateful person who uses me." When people ask for discounts on already discounted items, there is that wonderful two letter word to save the day.

On the same issue, you do not have to and should not give reasoning to clients. All you need to say is "these items are on sale". Leave it at that; they don't need your life story nor should they know anything going on in your personal life. It's not their business and you should keep your personal life out of a business transaction for a lot of reasons, but this being a good one... people will know they can take advantage of you in a bad situation.

But for the love of all that is holy, stop working with people who use you and disrespect you. Just say no to SCs. You own a small business, you shouldn't put up with people scamming you out of hard earned money, especially when you already know your products are worth far more than what you sell them for.

Good luck.

[RealUnimportant]

Is there anyone local you could sell your raw materials to? Sounds like you'd get a better deal!

[pageantmama]

Ok *breath* I'm going to say something I hope you and no one else takes offense to, but given the history of your posts, this really needs to be said.

You need to be more professional if you want to run a successful business. Thus far, you've seemed to be anything but that, and it's really hurting you and will hurt your business and reputation with people in the industry.

For one, you really need to learn and use the word "no". You've said this customer has been a pain in your ass, so you need to learn where that line has to be drawn and just say, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather have no business than lose money on an ungrateful person who uses me." When people ask for discounts on already discounted items, there is that wonderful two letter word to save the day.

On the same issue, you do not have to and should not give reasoning to clients. All you need to say is "these items are on sale". Leave it at that; they don't need your life story nor should they know anything going on in your personal life. It's not their business and you should keep your personal life out of a business transaction for a lot of reasons, but this being a good one... people will know they can take advantage of you in a bad situation.

But for the love of all that is holy, stop working with people who use you and disrespect you. Just say no to SCs. You own a small business, you shouldn't put up with people scamming you out of hard earned money, especially when you already know your products are worth far more than what you sell them for.

Good luck.

No offense taken I already know I have a hard time separating nice friendly talky Michelle from business woman that should be making money Michelle, lol. Several of my customers are also pageant friends in real life that I have either met at a pageant and started working for or they got one item from me and started ordering a lot. So I am ok with being on that friend level with them and forget I am not on that level with everyone. My husband tells me the same thing, that my attitude is great if I want to be a cashier the rest of my life because I can pretty much handle any SC with a smile on my face, but if I want to own a business I need to be more of a hardass.

[Victoria J]

If Christmas is a slow time for pageants it is still a busy time for dressing up. Could you maybe sell some stuff as party dresses or best dresses for little girls to wear at Christmas ? Maybe slightly less fancy versions of your normal stuff, and not needing so many expensive crystals either. (I don't know enough about the difference between pageant wear and other clothes, but plenty of non-pageant girls will surely be enjoying getting dressed up over Christmas so it seems worth looking into).

If you do approach local churches etc. for help I think people are right that it's the kind of help people love to give. Anyone can need help one fortnight.

If you are going to take a loss on something you made, forget this entitled woman. Maybe you could offer a nice dress to one of the church groups (again maybe not quite as fancy as the pageant dresses, and without all the crystals) - to go to a little girl who doesn't normally have nice dresses. Good sewing and dress making is pretty miraculous looking to those of us who don't have the skill. You could feel like you aren't just taking, give something to another family in need AND maybe if they see your work they'll know some people who might buy things from you.

However you work things out - Good luck. It's not good when you are just struggling and managing and life hits you again.

Victoria J.

[emt_cookies]

The party dress idea may work on Ebay. I really am not that familiar with Ebay, but I've seen adult dresses on there where the buyer can send the measurements.

[pageantmama]

If Christmas is a slow time for pageants it is still a busy time for dressing up. Could you maybe sell some stuff as party dresses or best dresses for little girls to wear at Christmas ? Maybe slightly less fancy versions of your normal stuff, and not needing so many expensive crystals either. (I don't know enough about the difference between pageant wear and other clothes, but plenty of non-pageant girls will surely be enjoying getting dressed up over Christmas so it seems worth looking into).

If you do approach local churches etc. for help I think people are right that it's the kind of help people love to give. Anyone can need help one fortnight.

If you are going to take a loss on something you made, forget this entitled woman. Maybe you could offer a nice dress to one of the church groups (again maybe not quite as fancy as the pageant dresses, and without all the crystals) - to go to a little girl who doesn't normally have nice dresses. Good sewing and dress making is pretty miraculous looking to those of us who don't have the skill. You could feel like you aren't just taking, give something to another family in need AND maybe if they see your work they'll know some people who might buy things from you.

However you work things out - Good luck. It's not good when you are just struggling and managing and life hits you again.

Victoria J.

I do sell other types of stuff as well. I sell party dresses, pillowcase dresses, peasant dresses, and boys suits that I make myself that includes pants, newsboy hat, and "tie shirt"(a shirt with a tie out of the same material as the pants and hat that I embroider onto a shirt) I also do a suit of the month and dress of the month club where you can sign up for a certain number of months and either get a suit or dress every month for however long you sign up for. The longer you sign up for the better the deal you get But no one is buying for some reason here lately I have tried ebay as well and there are so many non paying bidders and then you have high fees, it is not even worth it to sell on there anymore.