First off, hello all! I'm new to this forum. I was directed here by someone from my normal hang out forum, which is the nerennies forum. This looks like a great forum and I hope to visit here more often under better conditions in the future.
Now on to my situation.
I have a bit of a problem and I'm at my wits end about what more I can do about it.
I recently got a new outfit, as did my wife. We wore them to Market Day at Birka in New Hampshire, in January and got a lot of complements. I really like our new outfits. Well, the sleeve on my outfit began to fray a bit, after only wearing it a couple times. Likewise, my wife's bodice frayed a bit as well, after only really wearing it once.
So, after speaking with the person who made them, she happily agreed to fix them, if I sent them back to her. I did, but here's the problem.
After missing the deadline that I had requested them back, I emailed her to find out when the items would be ready. Well, this was back in late March and I've yet to receive a response from her. I've emailed her countless times since then, as well as called and left messages, but she has yet to respond to any of my inqueries.
I was never rude in any of my emails, or phone messages, so I can't imagine that I've made her angry. However, I don't know what else to do at this point. The New Hampshire Ren. Faire is coming up in less than 2 weeks and my wife and I don't have our full outfits anymore!
Does anyone have any advice, or suggestions on what other options I might be able to take?
The company in question is Midnight Breeze Designs (www.midnightbreezedesigns.com) and she's located in Wimberley, TX. Until last month, I've had nothing but praise for the quality of work she's produced, as well as her quick responses to my emails. Now, I'm not sure what to think.
Any advice or help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I'm getting very desprite at this point. Thanks in advance.
Sir. Kindle
Thanks for posting this. I've seen many items from this vendor on Ebay, now I'll think twice before bidding, at least until I hear that you've gotten satisfaction from them.
Dayna
oh man!
My costume from last year was from her and it took me FOREVER to get it, with me giving her a pushed back deadline twice, she was still late! Then, I noticed the french hood I payed for wasn't in the box. It took her another few weeks to get that to me! If you had asked me before, I would have told you to give her at least two months before you needed it back.
what I might think about doing is perhaps, in as polite a manner as possible, tell her you HAVE to have it by the end of the week, period. If that doesnt get a response, then you might need to threaten calling the better business bureau in her area. Besides that, I'm not sure much what can be done. did you keep all of the emails reguarding the repair? was it through E-bay, Paypal? I am not sure their rules if you have RECIEVED it then shipped it back....
I am so sorry! from someone who has been there and will never go back to her, I hope it all works out( and quickly!)!!!
Quote from: Lady Catherine on May 04, 2009, 05:13:36 PM
oh man!
My costume from last year was from her and it took me FOREVER to get it, with me giving her a pushed back deadline twice, she was still late! Then, I noticed the french hood I payed for wasn't in the box. It took her another few weeks to get that to me! If you had asked me before, I would have told you to give her at least two months before you needed it back.
what I might think about doing is perhaps, in as polite a manner as possible, tell her you HAVE to have it by the end of the week, period. If that doesnt get a response, then you might need to threaten calling the better business bureau in her area. Besides that, I'm not sure much what can be done. did you keep all of the emails reguarding the repair? was it through E-bay, Paypal? I am not sure their rules if you have RECIEVED it then shipped it back....
I am so sorry! from someone who has been there and will never go back to her, I hope it all works out( and quickly!)!!!
Yes, I experienced her procrastination right from the start. Fortunately, when I first needed the costume, I had a lot of time and it still took till the last minute. Same with my wife's costume. As for leaving enough time, I gave her an end of March deadline, knowing she'd be slow to get the repairs done. Now it's well past the deadline I set and she's stopped responding completely.
I paid for it through paypal, but I received the item, so I'm not sure that will help much. I have all of the emails that were sent back and forth between us, but don't have all of the ones I sent, but didn't get a response to. I recently started saving those though, just encase I needed them.
I've considered contacting the Better Business Bureau, but I really don't want to tarnish her reputation, if I can resolve this peacefully. I might just have to threaten her with it first and see what happens. She's really giving me no other choice.
Anyway, thanks for the support. If anyone has any further ideas, please let me know.
Although you have received the item, you can still dispute it. I think you have to jump through more hoops and do more tricks, but PayPal will let you dispute it.
Thank you all for your responses.
I had to twist an arm, in a very courteous, but straightforward manner, but the issue has been resolved and my items are on the way.
Overall, with the exception of this incident, I like Midnight Breeze Designs. However, if anyone is considering using her, please make sure that you leave yourself plenty of time before you actually need your outfit.
Thank you again.
Sir. Kindle
Quote from: Sir. Kindle on May 04, 2009, 02:07:37 PM
First off, hello all! I'm new to this forum. I was directed here by someone from my normal hang out forum, which is the nerennies forum. This looks like a great forum and I hope to visit here more often under better conditions in the future.
Now on to my situation.
I have a bit of a problem and I'm at my wits end about what more I can do about it.
I recently got a new outfit, as did my wife. We wore them to Market Day at Birka in New Hampshire, in January and got a lot of complements. I really like our new outfits. Well, the sleeve on my outfit began to fray a bit, after only wearing it a couple times. Likewise, my wife's bodice frayed a bit as well, after only really wearing it once.
So, after speaking with the person who made them, she happily agreed to fix them, if I sent them back to her. I did, but here's the problem.
After missing the deadline that I had requested them back, I emailed her to find out when the items would be ready. Well, this was back in late March and I've yet to receive a response from her. I've emailed her countless times since then, as well as called and left messages, but she has yet to respond to any of my inqueries.
I was never rude in any of my emails, or phone messages, so I can't imagine that I've made her angry. However, I don't know what else to do at this point. The New Hampshire Ren. Faire is coming up in less than 2 weeks and my wife and I don't have our full outfits anymore!
Does anyone have any advice, or suggestions on what other options I might be able to take?
The company in question is Midnight Breeze Designs (www.midnightbreezedesigns.com) and she's located in Wimberley, TX. Until last month, I've had nothing but praise for the quality of work she's produced, as well as her quick responses to my emails. Now, I'm not sure what to think.
Any advice or help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I'm getting very desprite at this point. Thanks in advance.
Sir. Kindle
They are currently manning a booth at Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie. You might be able to leave a message for them
through the Faire office. ph. (888-533-7848)
Let us know when your items come in.
I love that I can learn of professional vendors - and have ordered from one that I "discovered" here - that are well respected in this community; I also appreciate learning which vendors may not respond to our business in a manner befitting a professional. Truthfully, if the vendors treated their customers like they themselves would like to be treated, then no one would ever need to post a thread like this.
I saw that this thread was started over regarding the same issue that has popped up on the Forum before. I thought that this copy of a personal letter sent to another member should be shared from our personal experiences from garbing.
I don't have a personal hash against Midnight Breeze, I got what a paid for. A entry level costume. I expected more of a professional policy when I paid in advance, and then having to contact them several times for their mistake. From now on I'll have Lady Kathleen of Olmsted do work for our family.
Friar Rohn
________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have bought from that company last year. I had my nephew's first doublet and slops made by them. To be honest, we were disappointed. She did not follow the sizing directions we sent at all. The doublet was way too small and if we didn't request having the eyelets along the sides put in, he would have never been able to fit in it. The slops.....he's 11 and they would have fit me and I'm 5.11 and pushing 300 lbs. It was shipped in a pretty good sized box and I was shocked to find out the whole thing was just those paned slops. I had to cut them open to remove a huge amount of filler and have them taken in at least 10 inches on each side and still had to add suspenders due to the weight. To make matters worse, we bought a paid for a matching shirt with the suit and it was not delivered. We contacted her immediately and she admitted her mistake.....it took over a month and 4 emails before it finally arrived a week before the Boares Heade Feaste. She first promised it would take 6 weeks for delivery, it ended up being over 4 months.
He wore it once.....hated it and decided to never wear it again. We're donating it to the costume shop next month.
My best advise on buying ANY garb off of eBay......
Don't do it. Gawd on his Throne....please don't do it.
I recently bought a friar suit from one of the "best known sellers of garb" on eBay called Armstreet. It was a horror story. They never delivered it, sent bogus tracing numbers, never would give a true tracking number and changed the price of the suit after the auction was ended. I still haven't had all my money refunded after almost 2 months and PayPal froze their account over the circumstances of their actions.
I won't being wearing garb again this year.
Look......I've been buying from eBay for over 10 years. These 2 examples are the worse I've ever had and they both deal with garbing. I'll buy accessories but never any garb off of eBay from now on.
I had Lady Kathleen of Olmsted from this forum make my nephew's new suit. I cannot express the difference she made. The best analogy is maybe "a beat up old 56 Chevy pickup (rust and bald retreads included) vs. a Ferrari Enzio". There is no comparison. Price wise, she's a little more expensive and believe me.....it makes a HUGE difference. The first suit cost over $300 with shipping from Midnight Breeze and took 4-5 months. It was the doublet, slops and eventually the shirt. Lady Kathleen's price was $400 for the doublet, slops, a shirt made specifically to our request and matching flat cap (Midnight Breezes promised one but never delivered).
His current suit is truly a work of art. She made it to allow for all future growth and completely adjustable. He wore it to his first Renfaire last week, was the most requested to be included in "family photos" when walking around, countless times that other kids whipped out their camera phones and easily won 1st place at the costume contest.
Trust me.....save your money and don't deal with eBay sellers who don't and won't care about any personal requests of what you dream of wearing. Money's tight for everyone now, don't regret the same decisions that I have made. I'm personally well off and his latest suit cost $400 but I would have paid her $600 to $800 easily since I've seen the differences of professionally and workmanship.
To me, Midnight Breeze's work is for entry level first time garbers who would be happy because they been used to buying from off the rack. This is the main reason I never had them make Alexei's second suit.
Find a local seamstress or go with the good Lady.... I cannot stress that enough. Check out the threads called "Noble Class Garb for Children" and "Spanish Garb?" in the garbing section.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
You hit the nail on the head good Friar.
My first noble dress is in NO way as nice as the one I had Lady Kathleen make me last year... nor as nice (I am sure) as the one for this year.
My 1st noble dress I got off eBay and I know of at least 1 or 2 others that have a dress by this person. While it was done in a timely manor, it does not fit me that well. To boot the boning ripped through on the top edge and had to be sewn up and looks bad or like a poor noble. The money spent on that dress could have been used for a better made dress from someone else.
The 2nd dress I also got off eBay and once again it did not fit. The arms were WAY to small and I had to have a local seamstress alter it to allow my arms to fit in. The grommets were all pulling out and I had to hand sew around each one to reinforce it. The skirt was way to small and the pull they had used was sewn and would not allow the skirt to expand. Once again I had to have a local seamstress alter it. To allow me to wear a chemise under it, i had to have one of my chemices altered and made short sleeve. While not a bad thing, i should not have had to do this. I then had to put in tie rings on the skirt so I didn't have gapping. Once again the measurements were not followed.
I will in the long run end up sending this dress to Lady Kathleen to alter and make more H/A and alter to fit better which I have full confidence in her.
In the end there are a few good people to use and your best bet is to track them down on this site.
If you don't mind spending the money as our good Friar said, do it. While I scrimp all year for my clothing from Lady Kathleen, it is well worth it. If you must go with an on-line dealer go with Heather from www.verymerryseamstess.com She isn't the only one, but she is the only other one I trust to make my garb of any sorts.
I am sorry to hear of your troubles, and I wish you all the luck in the world resolving it. Your best bet may be to just get it back and see if one of the wonderful ladies on this forum who sew can do the repairs for you. Yes it will cost but in the end it will get done correctly and in a timely manner.
Quote from: Friar Rohn the Chronicler on May 05, 2009, 09:53:06 AM
My best advise on buying ANY garb off of eBay......
Don't do it. Gawd on his Throne....please don't do it.
Holy Crap! that is hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and I totally agree!
:D :D :D :D :D
good luck!
Oh, rats! NOW look what I have to live up to! ;D ;D ;D
People do say it as they find it here. Gotta love that.
First of all, thank you all for your responses. I'm sure everyone here is trying to be very helpful and supportive. However, some of this came across, at least to me, as a bit condescending and not very helpful, concerning the situation I was in. Furthermore, some of the advice makes me feel like I had made a bad purchase. I'm not trying to say that this was your intent, but it came off that way to me.
Now, let me give you a little back story about my purchase. I did not find Midnight Breeze Designs on ebay. In fact, until I posted this thread, I had no idea she even sold products on ebay. I found her sight simply by searching for Renaissance clothing sites. I also found her products, at least from the pictures on her site, to be pretty much what I was looking for in garb. I was also surprised that her prices were as reasonable as they were. You see, I had spent months scouring the internet, trying to find a place where I could buy nice looking, reasonably priced garb. I had found a few sites that showed some very nice garb, but most were waaaay out of my price range. I finally found Midnight Breeze and, after contacting her with my ideas (and expecting the price to sky rocket), I was excited to find that she was able to make what I wanted in a price range that I could afford. She was kind, responsive, and very interested, and patient, with all the changes and ideas I had. Sure, she took longer than I would've like (although it didn't take her close to 4-5 months). Sure, it wasn't perfect right out of the gate and needed some adjustments. However, she handled all the problems I had like a pro AND with a smile. In the end, I got the product I wanted and really liked it...at least until I read statements like "To me, Midnight Breeze's work is for entry level first time garbers who would be happy because they been used to buying from off the rack." Well, thank you, but this statement hurts a little. I had nothing to compare her too and I "was" happy with my purchase. Now, I'm not so sure. I also read that it's worth paying more, if you want better. Well, of course that's true, but I don't have a huge budget. She made something for me that was better than I expected, for a price that I didn't think was possible. In fact, I liked it so much that I had her make my wife's gown and, in the end, it came out like we wanted it and we love it. I know, it frayed and it shouldn't have, but she admitted that it shouldn't have and said that the garb is expected to last years. She apologized and agreed to fix the problems.
Look, I'm not saying that most of what you said isn't true. It probably is, but you have to consider your audience. This was a huge purchase for me. One that I was very excited about. Now it seems like everything I went through was a waist of time and what I got, wasn't worth the money.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience with her. My experience wasn't perfect either, but overall, it was a positive one.
I know I had this problem, which has been resolved, and I'm not condoning what she did. However, I still like the product I got from her. I'd also recommend her to my friends, if they were looking for something that was in their budget and looks good. I have heard from Lady Kathleen and am really excited to see what she can do for me in the future, provided it's within my budget. I really hope it is, butIf it isn't, I'll have to look someplace else.
Yikes... we're still waiting on my brother's new garb from her. Hmm, thanks for posting the number, Dona. I'm not sure if it's the one I have, but I think we'll be giving her a call soon.
I'm glad that your issues were resolved.
I personally would have said that for Faire Garb;
Midnight Breeze
is in the top quarter, especially for what they charge.
I am so glad it will work out!
I, too, loved my dress, it is beautifully done and very well made.
It has had no problems, what with washing every day for the month faire run, and now it is on it's second person, as I have lost too much weight to wear it this year. ;)
* I did mean to say, I hope that I did not make you feel I was demeaning your choice. I firmly feel you made a great one, based on her talent and craftsmanship. She makes lovely garnments, especially for what she charges! I do apologize if I came across that way.
Quote from: Lady Catherine on May 07, 2009, 06:26:47 PM
I am so glad it will work out!
I, too, loved my dress, it is beautifully done and very well made.
It has had no problems, what with washing every day for the month faire run, and now it is on it's second person, as I have lost too much weight to wear it this year. ;)
* I did mean to say, I hope that I did not make you feel I was demeaning your choice. I firmly feel you made a great one, based on her talent and craftsmanship. She makes lovely garnments, especially for what she charges! I do apologize if I came across that way.
Thank you for the response. As I said, I'm sure that nobody who responded meant to be hurtful, it just came across that way to me. I also understand that the comments were made as a warning for future purchases and they were not regarding the purchase I had already made. I guess I was a bit sensitive about this subject. It hurts a bit to read that something you invested a lot of anxiety, time, and money into isn't worth it, or isn't as good as something else you could've spent the money on...that's a bit tough to hear.
Anyway, I must say that I hope MY comments didn't upset anyone. I was just trying to convey how some of the responses made me feel. I wasn't trying to anger, hurt, or condemn anyone.
as for this;
"and now it is on it's second person, as I have lost too much weight to wear it this year. ;)"This is always a good reason for passing on clothes. ;D
I read in the middle of replying to this thread, about how I have not herd from her in 13 days and right as I finished up she emailed me! She is going throw some medical things that are not good at all so just give her time... She has my pants and shirt done and says she will ship it tomorrow and is waiting on the trip to finish my doublet. So I will update you all as it comes...
Well being that my brother paid for his garb back in January, recent medical reasons or not his garb should have gotten here a long time ago. I'm telling him to email her again today. :(
She makes good stuff just takes a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time to get it.
Lady Kathleen does wonderous work but what she offered me to make what I wanted was too much out of my price range. I know the ole saying "you get what you pay for". someday I hope to be able to afford something from her as she lives close to me.
Sleepy!!!
I am sure we can work something out when the time comes.
I'm sure we could. Please don't take what I say in jest. You do wonderful work. I mean no harm me lady.
Hey you guys, my brother finally got his garb today from this vendor. I don't know if he's tried it on yet but the pants I know will fit him. I'll make him try on the doublet tonight. I must say it is really pretty and the quality is great. Now I just need to bling it up. Mwuahahaha! Yay for jewelry!
Cant wait to see pics of him in it. Yeah for garb!!
While I was in Oklahoma attending the Renaissance Festival at the Castle in Muskogee, Friar Rohn took me over to the Costume Shop where he donated the Doublet, Slops, and shirt he had paid for that his nephew wore only once made by the vendor in question.
I looked over the overall workmanship. Not bad, but not accurate either for what Rohn had asked for. He had been specific as to what he wanted for his nephew that would last for several years. He had submitted photos of what he wanted.
Way too many grommets for a Doublet that should either button or clasp down the front. The sleeves were attached in a pane only style that had grommets at the cuffs as well. Friar Rohn had asked for detachable sleeves like those seen Custom made Doublets. There was not enough room for growth for width or length.
The slops were not what I even expected Slops to look like, based on paintings and research. The waist and leg bands were nothing more than wide casings for elastic. I do not recall elastic being used for period clothing then. No front opening that could accommodate a young man for when Nature called.
The Elizabethan shirt was nothing more than a Pirate shirt with gathered ruffles rather than with Box Pleated Ruffs that he had requested.
I apologize for sounding harsh here. Friar Rohn had asked me to take a long hard look at the ensemble and then give my assessment.
My brother's ensemble: The slops fit fine, the doublet fits fine in the shoulders and chest (thank goodness - that's the hardest part to fit on him), but yeah, the waist....no so much. I cannot decide if it's the wrong size or if my bro grew a little bit round the middle since he bought the piece... I'm thinking maybe a little of both. I'm pretty sure I can fix it though... Any ideas, other than having to add a small panel to the sides?
If there is a waist band you may have problems adding to the girth. But yes, adding a panel to the sides
is your best bet.
Thankfully, no waist band. ^_^ It's very good to hear that putting a small panel in would probably work. Luckily the fabric that would need the panel is black so you won't be able to see the funky seams from far away.