WWYD - Am I being too impatient?

[Aloe Vera]

One of my DD's school dresses has a broken zipper.
I brought it to a sewing place in town on 09/09. The guy told me the zipper looks fine and it might just be the closure thingy that needs to be replaced. He would call me to let me know.
1 week later, I haven't heard from him so I called and he hadn't even looked at it.
It will be 3 weeks on Monday and I haven't been called or told anything. I just want to go and get my item and go somewhere else. Is this a normal timeframe? The only experience with seamstresses I have was with my wedding gown and waiting for weeks or months was the norm.

[mcmel]

Yes, I have found that this kind of thing takes longer than I anticipated. I would call and ask if you could pay to have it rushed or something. I’d worry that I’d go get my item and then still wait another 6 weeks somewhere else.

[nicolewi]

I would try calling and telling him you need it by X date (like a week or so if you don't actually need it ASAP), and see if he comes through. If not, take back the item. Maybe if there is no deadline he just keeps putting it at the back of the line?

[lust2hart]

I don't know what a typical timeline is for this sort of work, but the fact that he hasn't communicated at all with you so you have no idea what to expect would have me getting the dress and going somewhere else.

[jinkies]

That is not normal in my experience. I usually just use the tailor at the dry cleaner, and she turns things around based on when we need them, but even without a deadline it's never been more than maybe 10 days.

I would call around to find someplace that will commit to fixing it within a week or so, and then go get the dress and take it there.

[fluffycookie]

That seems odd. MH needed to have some pants hemmed and it took maybe a week or so. They gave him a date that they would be available to pick up. I would do what PP suggested and call and say you need it by X date.

[simpsongal]

Not impatient. Any time I drop something off at the dry cleaner for alterations or work they give me a pick up date. And it's usually within a week. Go get it and take it somewhere else.

[isabel]

I recently had something hemmed. They gave me a quote and date for pickup when I dropped it off and it was ready before the date they quoted.

I would call and ask whether they’ve looked at it. If they haven’t, I’d go get it and take it elsewhere.

[redheadk]

That’s a long time, IMO.

The fabric store sells zipper repair kits. If you are at all handy, you may want to give it a try yourself since he said the zipper looks ok.

[hermione]

Nope. Go get your dress.

[ellipses84]

A week - 10 days is a pretty typical timeline and if they are running behind they should communicate. I’d tell them you need to pick it up on X date. My grandma was a Tailor.

[lavenderblue]

I have a seamstress and I've never had to wait more than a week to 10 days for her to finish anything.

[cuadrado]

Our seamstress has a 10-day turnaround time during regular time and a 3-week turnaround time during prom season. They also give you a pick-up day when you drop something off.

[meanie]

Your repair is probably small $$$ and being put on the back burner, could you take it to one of those shoe repair places that does repairs while you wait? Some of them do zippers, too.

[Deleted]

I have never once dropped off an item without being given a date it would be ready. Sometimes that date is 3 weeks out, if they’re busy, but they’re always clear that they’re running behind and it will take that long.

[Aloe Vera]

That's what I thought. I'll go get it back. redheadk this might be a good idea. I'll see if I can fix it that way.

[SusanBAnthony]

There is a tailor in my neighborhood who is known for this. People actuvely discourage using him for this reason. Id go get the dress and find someone else.

[macmars45]

It can take awhile based on the projects ahead of yours. My seamstress always gives me a rough estimate when I drop off stuff. So I know not to even think about it for x amount of weeks or whatever.

[livinitup]

I grew up with a mom who used shoe repair and tailor/seamstress places. I know where they are in my current town (dry cleaners, too). I go through spurts where I use them for some of my stuff. A lot less than years ago. IME, it can take ages. It totally depends on what they have in queue in front of you. I don’t think they work for efficiency. Like, the tailor doesn’t look at his tickets and bang out some simple projects one afternoon a week. If you need it back, feel free to hound him and he will skip some complicated work to get it back to you.

Once, when I was going to a wedding, I asked a seamstress to do some very light/easy stitches to shorten my dress straps. I could have done it (seriously, it was that easy) but the dress was expensive and I was willing to pay for a very polished fix. I needed it back in 3 days. I shouldn’t have done that to her. If looks could kill, I thought she was going to murder me. I was very apologetic.

[dale]

The seamstresses I use are in the dry cleaner shop and only come in on Wednesdays. We are always told it takes "up to 2 Wednesdays" to get done.