I a glad you had a good experience with your wedding outfit, but I would never recommend her.
I want to share with everyone my experience with the Pakistani designer Hajra Hayat.
I emailed and inquired about ordering kurtis custom-made based off her shalwar kameez designs. Her manager Rabeela was very professional and very nice. We worked for over a week emailing and finalizing details. On the sleeveless kurtis, I stressed to make sure they had sleeves. I asked for a discount since it was my first time ordering and I was ordering 4 pieces. She extended a nice discount and then emailed me later and said the “head office” will not allow it since they have no control over the $65 DHL charges. They gave me $20 off?? I emailed Hajra Hayat directly about this and her unprofessional response was “hey, why u want a discount. Margins aren’t that high over here. when u get the clothes it will be worth it.” Who talks like that??? She is a grown woman, not a teenager who says “hey.”
I sent the $550 and after 4 weeks, inquired on the clothes. Both Hajra and her manager said that the clothes had been sent and that they would email me a tracking number. No number came. After a couple more emails, the manager, Rabeela, wrote me that the DHL charges were $92 and that could I send $25 more! So they both lied to me on package being sent, and then asked for $25??? How cheap is that?
After sending the $25, the clothes arrived. The kaam and amount of kaam is very good for the price. They put sheer, chiffon-type material on the sleeves when I was hoping they would not be see-through. Isn’t that would someone means when they say to add sleeves?? Also, the stitching was not good. I asked for upper arms width to be 13 inches wide. They were 10-12 inches. The kurtis were snug on the chest area. One of the kurtis was supposed to be a full kameez from one of her outfits. I paid $225 for that one and it is snug snug snug. I was very disappointed as it was my favorite from the order. I took the kurtis to a local tailor last week for alterations and they have told me minimum $50 if they can even do it due to not much fabric to work with.
Early this morning, the tailor called me to her studio and showed me little holes in the chiffon all along the shabby stitching on the sleeves. How can she fix that? I went to a fabric store and bought some chiffon and hopefully she can patch it somehow.
I just want to share my experiences with everyone because I think it’s important for you to know what you are dealing with when you order from Hajra Hayat.
I had emailed her manager Rabeela a few times on my unsatisfaction of the order and cc’d Hajra. Hajra never replied and Rabeela’s friendly vibe disappeared and now they no longer reply to me.
This whole experience has been very disappointing as I was hoping to establish a regular business relationship with her.
no offence, but more than $2000?? My sister actually had a very similar suit for her valima, and it was readymade and no way near that price. Designers take a lot of advantage of ppl
Lara, I feel so bad you had such a nasty exprience with Hajra Hayat. This is utterly disguting. When you pay sooo much money for clothes from a designer you expect better service. And the $25 charge...omg...how pathetic!
I live in Canada and I ordered a jora from a girl who lives here. The tailor added a lot of work to the pants an I hadn't paid for this. I felt bad and wanted to see if it could be switched with a plain trouser. The seller did point it out but said that I got lucky and there is no need to pay her for the extra work.
Also, I order from a home based designer from Lahore and recently I ordered jewellery with the clothes. Neither one of us expected that it would cost anything. She ended up paying 1000Rs for security as the jewellery was artificial but on the expensive side. She swallowed the charge with dignity. Also, her partner made very short sleeves with one of the outfits and I asked her to send some fabric so that I could add it to the sleeves. She absolutely refused to to that and instead convinced me to send the shirt with a friend and she will take care of the alterations since it's their fault. She agreed to pick-it up and drop it off at my friend's place. I was very impressed!
So if Hajra Hayat, who charges 20,000Rs+ for each formal is that stingy...then OMG...
the brother of a very close friend of mine ordered his fiance's valima jora from hajra hayat; its the shocking pink and peachy colored gharara off her website.
the package arrived yesterday and its a complete mess.
this is the email my friend sent HH:
"#1 we had ordered HHB-3 in ferozi and gold exact replica
2 firstly, where is the purse /pouch etc?
3 second, we paid you $1900 out of which, $130 was DHL, you know when the package came, it says on the package $14!!!!! $14 dollars hajra how much markup are you keeping on the DHL my god and the package was as light as feather!!!
4 the package came in 6X6 box absolutely rumpled with the kaam all coming out now you tell me how is that professional from what angle is it professional hajra!! I have ordered stuff numerous times from my relatives in khi and never once has customs tried to rip the kaam off. really this is bad KAAM COMING OUT!! I was in Karachi in May and had bought outfits from Unbeatable, Maria B, and you know what the packaging with which they send you stuff is totally different!
5 we live abroad and work very heard for our money my brother paid $1900 to you. This is not a joke!!! We wanted an exact replica not imagination. Now we are going to go shopping on the weekend to buy another outfit, and do what with this, you tell me!! we have 400 people coming to the wedding in May from overseas you think something that has stitching coming out, barely any kaam on it is something the bride will wear no WAY!!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE THE PICTURE!!"
my friend also said the dupatta (this is a bridal jora, mind you) is made of georgette, and the patti on the kaam is just one inch wide.
the gharara is made of some coarse fabric, not even mixed material and far, far away from pure silk.
i'll post HH's response when they do respond, but beware ladies! be very, very careful whom you order from.
^ I feel really really sorry for them - it's one of the risks you run when you order from abroad. Some designers feel they can get away with it when they haven't met you in person!
I never did trust Hajra - the comments she leaves on her facebook profile for potential clients can be unwelcome.
my friend's mom was understandably upset and horrified, and sent off an email asking for a full refund since the dress is so completely unacceptable. this was HH's response:
"We have made 100% of the original god knows only what u were imaging
We r very consious of our work from the fabric to the packing if dhl customs has ruined its packing we r not to be blamed and we have sent u our logo ed hanger bag so why this stabbing
plx go ahead and put ur views where ever u want along with pictures of this product as we have all the data to back us up
Before we all loose it to unneccassary comments plx inform us of one solid reason u think this product is different from the original
We r still here to hear any logical complaint u have as I personally have double checked everything from ainne samad and arfeens emails
Much regards "
seriously???? this is how a designer corresponds with an upset client??? i'm speechless.
b2b, they paid with western union. the price was set to 1 lakh 10,000, and then she upped it to 1 lakh, 20,000 rupees halfway through the process. -- i found out the price was upped because my friend's sis in law to be requested a thicker kaam patti on the outfit and a matching pouch.
zigs, i know, i feel horrid! now they have to go hunting for another jora. and the sad part is, bunto is my friend's father's cousin- the choice was between her making an outfit and HH making an outfit and
^that is horrendous I hope this wman goes out of business! When I was shopping for my wedding dress I went into HH in khi and the two workers she had there were just sitting around when u came in and didn't get up once till I told them to call HH and find out when she will be in khi with other dresses since they didn't have much in the khi store. The whole time I was there they had such a nonchalant attitude. I hope everything works out for your friends family.
Now I understand y my dad thinks every Pakistani in Pakistan is incompetent. My dad and I would never let her get away with this. Infact once we would be done she would never have the courage to pull off something like this again.
If they have close family there I would suggest going there speaking to HH herself and basically ripping her a new one. Don't ask her any questions such as why did she do this or that instead start telling her with a fairly loud volume and force that this dress better be remade with our specifications on this date " or else we know how to get our money back" going in with a security gaurd will probably help.
weird. their response makes me wonder if they had a good hard look at the design. photos can be deceiving because all the professional photos are so airbrushed that they make everything look better than it actually is. plus when you look a t low quality image on a website, you cant really see the quality of the kaam.
anyway, i think their issue is that the kaam was falling out and the pouch is missing? poor packaging. poor fabric and reduction in kaam is not excusable.
regarding the shipping, dhl does not cost 14$ from pak to north america.
not even canada post will charge you that little for an overseas package.
anyway, if she paid using a credit card, she can take photos of the original outfit, and her own outfit and their email and give it to her credit card company to dispute the charges.
"god knows only what u were imaging" - A bridal dress that doesn't resemble road kill perhaps!
Such designers really make me angry. I can just about put up with the crap from some of them, only because thankfully whatever i've been sent so far has met my requirements. But for her to go and place the blame elsewhere really gets my blood boiling!!!!
b2b, there were many emails that went back and forth between my friend, her sis in law to be, and HH. everything was detailed out, including the material to be used, so its not like they just used the picture and ordered it, you know?
i'm just so peeved at the nerve of this woman to actually turn around and imply that its their fault!
as for the shipping, i agree, $14 does sound low from pakistan to toronto, however, i don't think its $130 either... i was speaking to shay and she was telling me she's ordered heavy stuff from khi thru DHL and its been around $40.
but you know, even if they overcharged to $130, even that is forgivable after a point- what isn't is the substitution of poor fabric and the use of poor kaam such that the stitching is coming undone, when they've clearly made a commitment to provide a high quality outfit and have detailed what material they were going to use.
also, WHY would DHL repackage an outfit like that?? they're not some gaoon ka post office, they're freakin' DHL. if you send something packaged properly and at the very least folded up instead of shoved into the box any which way... it'll arrive still folded.
sumo, there is no way my friend is going to let HH get away with not giving a full refund- she has plenty of family in pakistan who will step in to speak to her in person, if all this emailing isn't going to yield results. $1900 is not a small amount of money, and who knows how much a ready-made valima jora is going to cost them.
Looking from how stubborn this woman is I think she won't refund only thru emails and I agree if they paid with a cc they can gave the company deal with HH
^ I think Western Union have a disclaimer stating they won't be held responsible for defected goods bought abroad - I've always had to sign one when sending money through them.
yep, DHL wont open your package BUT canada customs will, for anything with a value over 60$. just an fyi, shipping companies charge the cost of shipping plus brokerage fees, esp when shipping to places like canada.
sgc you should post pics pf the dress she made....let us all see and learn a lesson.
We all have seen her dresses on facebook and her website, and we would like to see what they look like in reality.