I blame the customers for these designers being so full of themselves. Maybe if ppl had some more self respect and stopped throwing their $$ at teh designers, they'd act like decent human beings instead of the gods they seem to think they are? The more people will fall for their designs AND take their attitude, the worse these ppl will behave.
I agree! there is no shortage of designers in Pakistan. Dont take your business to designers with attitude and especially those who are dishonest
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
shay and sara i want you guys to please move the comments miamisweetheart and sozankaar and everybody else made about their experience with layla here.
they are right now in the forum called anyone heard of..
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
I have no power here.. :D but i think u can re-post your experience with Layla in this thread.....
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
shay please ill post mine and if you could move the rest
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
Take your business somewhere else and save yourself the tears on your big day. My experience with Layla Chatoor was nothing less than a nightmare. She will shamelessly eat your money shrug her shoulders and say “I don’t remember writing that in my diary”. When you ask her to kindly write the discussed contract in the receipt she'll shrug her shoulders and say “I don’t work like that “.
I placed my order in November for my bridal. I went one day with my mother and aunts to get quotes for the dress. It cost Rs ABC, 000 with work just on the front of the shirt and Rs ABC, 000 + Rs de, 000 for both FRONT AND BACK. I said I wanted just the front for ABC, 000, placed the order and promised to pay her advance the next day
The next day I placed the order, paid her Rs ABC, 000 + de, 000 and said I wanted work on BOTH THE FRONT AND THE BACK of the shirt.
This was in November. Also in November, my sister ordered her dress for my wedding from Layla. I went with her to help her with the selection. I ask Layla if I could change the order of the purse that I was going to carry on my wedding... She said “sure as long as it is not made yet. So which one do you want?” and she even drew the purse in her secret diary. My wedding was in March. **Layla Chatoor called me in **February- just a month before my wedding to confirm the exact color of the dress. So I ask her “are you sure you will be able to finish making it if you just start working on my dress now” Her reply, “I’m a professional designer not an adday wali” in a shop where I would “have to remind “her to give my dress on time. In her words, “If your trial is scheduled on 27th then it will be on the 27th” I say ok and avoid her yelling on the phone any further. But now I wish I had not trusted her as a “professional designer” that she calls herself
On the 27th of Feb, I go for my trial. She shows me an UNSTICHED shirt front and back. AND THE BACK HAD NO WORK. She showed me the back and pointing to the little border marking done with a golden thread she said “ I did a little extra on the back”. Both my parents and I remind her that we asked for complete work done in the back too. She shakes her head “I don’t remember that” but agrees to check in her diary. My parents and I were disappointed but it didn’t matter at that time because the back would be hidden by dupatta anyways.
TWO DAYS before my wedding I call her to ask if I could PLEASE come to her for the (real) trial- (the one in which people TRY clothes for the fitting not just see them unstitched – the one that I was supposed to have with a “professional” designer) She says “you can tomorrow”
So I went THE DAY BEFORE MY WEDDING.. THE DAY OF MY MEHNDI TO TRY OUT MY DRESS THE FIRST TIME. It was tight. And it was also the first time I saw the Lehnga. I asked her if she could change the color of stones in the lehnga. She said “no problem” and she put pins around the shirt to mark where it needed to be altered
THE DAY OF MY WEDDING I GET THE DRESS WITH THE WRONG PURSE. The dress was TIGHTER THAN YESTERDAY hard to even put on. And the lehnga’s stones were unchanged. If I went back to her, I would run late for my make up appointment, hence my photo shoot which was scheduled to be done in DAYLIGHT. Great right? Thanks Layla! It was hard to get into the dress and when a dress is tight, your shoulders look broad and no matter how hard you worked your bottom to look skinny and perfect, you end up bulging out of your dress –like a sumo wrestler. So I was a bulging out bride, not because I gained the weight from stress but only because I didn’t get enough time to try the dress and approve the fitting.
After my wedding I ask her to accommodate me. She had not changed the stones on lehnga as promised and when I asked why, she said “There was no time to do it” but she agreed to change it now, after my wedding, as a customer service
She also agreed to fix the fitting of my dress now, after my wedding, as a customer service
She DENIED to having agreed to work on front and back of shirt but said she will do it as a customer service
She denied ANY conversation that we had about the purse and refused to open her “magic” diary again.
Having learnt from my mistakes I now ask her to please give it to me in writing that she will give me work on the back of the shirt too*.“ I don’t work like that*” She says. “My clients trust me” …WHAT???? You don’t write an agreement??? HOW PROFESSIONAL IS THAT??? And God Forbid I mention what a nerve wrecking, hair pulling nightmare it has been especially on my wedding day... there she would start again ranting and singing on and on that shes a “professional designer”
Perhaps that was the most insulting part of our business dealings. I maybe a hard to please client as she told me later on but I’m not a LIAR. There were seven people as eye witness including me when she quoted the prices of the dress, with and without work on back, but she denied all that. I could’ve brought the whole as witness in front of her but she would adamantly say as she did to me on my last visit “unless I say it, it cannot be true.” (picture it with the shoulder shrug- and seriously if you don’t believe go check out the attitude for yourself)
You know what; I would have been ok with a “sorry I could not finish your dress in time. I know it’s a very special day for every girl but I will work on the back of the shirt after your wedding” and just a “sorry I forgot to change the order of your purse” but No! Layla Chatoor is too professional for that. The response I get from her is shrugging of shoulders and saying “I don’t remember that” and when I ask everything in writing, again a shoulder shrug and “I don’t work like that- my clients trust me”. I mean Heck after all this, I believe even Giorgio Armani , if he had such an option, would come out of his grave to apologize to his clients for a case such as this but I think Layla is too “professional” a designer to offer that gesture to her clients.
My professor went to Vera Wang to get a dress and shoes for a certain event. The assistant at Vera Wang could not deliver the shoes, she asked my professor to pick any shoes from the display that would go with her dress and it was for her to keep along with the shoes that she had originally ordered. Now that’s professionalism. Nobody wants to deal with attitude especially when you have an option of taking your business to another, genuinely professional, designer.
Here in the USA there is something called a small claims court where you take petty injustices such as these to court just because you are confident that you will get justice. How sad there is NOTHING you can do in Pakistan even if it’s about principles- nothing. There is no price for the turmoil I had to go through but the hard-earned money that she took from me and delivered only half of the agreed upon product cannot be recovered in Pakistan either. (I have five women and one man (my dad) as eye witness when she quoted the prices to me of both work on the front and work on front +back of shirt.)
So learn from my experience. I would HATE for any other girl to go through this turmoil and deception again. Either get Layla Chatoor to WRITE EVERYTHING and give it to you and heavens forbid you forgot something, be prepared for denials, songs of being a professional and the shoulder shrugs oh yes! OR take your business elsewhere where they won’t treat you as riff raffs –somebody they can take advantage of to the fullest and then get away with it
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
Explicit06 first time i'm reading ur story.its unbelievably shameful.I feel so sorry,But if all big names r likethat whom can u trust.Its better off going to small scale.I don't remember now where i got my dress from but they were either in liberty or Orega but they did everything professionally.They were way less expensive than designers but atleast kept their words.I wish i could remember their name.
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
Explicit! There is a small matters/ small claims court in Pakistan. (My dad's a lawyer). I don't know if your case would fall under small matters as it would be at least a one lakh ruppess dress if not more as its designer. However, it would be hard to prove in any court without any written agreemenent unless you produced the non ated witnesses perhaps. I am sorry to hear what you went through. That lady Layla sure is full of herself. Where is she located ?
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
Excuse me, but shouldn't this thread be under the FASHION section? How do reviews about experiences w/ designers fall in the wedding category? Granted, the designers make wedding-wear, but they are still fashion designers. Not to criticize this thread, because I do find it very helpful.... just think it might be more appropriate elsewhere.
Explicit! There is a small matters/ small claims court in Pakistan. (My dad's a lawyer). I don't know if your case would fall under small matters as it would be at least a one lakh ruppess dress if not more as its designer. However, it would be hard to prove in any court without any written agreemenent unless you produced the non ated witnesses perhaps. I am sorry to hear what you went through. That lady Layla sure is full of herself. Where is she located ?
wow. i never heard of that eastern11! thanks for that info. well she charged me more than a lakh but gave me the work that she first said was worth 1 lakh so she still owes me atleast a quarter of a lakh. does come under small claims court? and my witnesses are all related to me though. my sister, mother, and two aunts were with me the first time she quoted the price and my dad and I were there the second time she quoted the same price and took the advance payment.
thanks so much for that info eastern11
she is located in defence in khayaban-e-muhafiz. she works from home and operates by word of mouth like a lot of other so called designer to possibly evade from taxes.
regardless, if the amount is too big for small claims court it should be all the more important to have something in the law that protects you from being cheated like that dont you think?
i dont know what the deal with courts in pakistan are.ive seen movies where girls are adviced to stay away from courts. I dont care though i wouldnt mind taking layla chatoor there!
Same with Deepak Perwani, did anyone see him on Nadia Khan show? He was so rude when people were telling him how he should make clothes for even middle class budget..
good im not the only one who noticed that.. he was being such a jackass nd high headed nd telling her to go sumwhere eles if she cant affort it! i would never go to him after this!
wow. i never heard of that eastern11! thanks for that info. well she charged me more than a lakh but gave me the work that she first said was worth 1 lakh so she still owes me atleast a quarter of a lakh. does come under small claims court? and my witnesses are all related to me though. my sister, mother, and two aunts were with me the first time she quoted the price and my dad and I were there the second time she quoted the same price and took the advance payment.
thanks so much for that info eastern11
she is located in defence in khayaban-e-muhafiz. she works from home and operates by word of mouth like a lot of other so called designer to possibly evade from taxes.
regardless, if the amount is too big for small claims court it should be all the more important to have something in the law that protects you from being cheated like that dont you think? i dont know what the deal with courts in pakistan are.ive seen movies where girls are adviced to stay away from courts. I dont care though i wouldnt mind taking layla chatoor there!
may b she should change her name from layla chatoor to layla chilatterbaz.how abt media.y don't u publish an article abt her in local paper or in a urdu paper circulated abroad and send her a copy so she shrug those shoulders as much as she like
A friend and I went to Sana & Safinaz.. and my friend is slightly pleasantly plump and both of them started giving her weight-loss tips and tricks.. and then they said they don't design for "heavy" girls!That friend snapped back and said she'd come to a designer not a nuitritionist!
Excuse me, but shouldn't this thread be under the FASHION section? How do reviews about experiences w/ designers fall in the wedding category? Granted, the designers make wedding-wear, but they are still fashion designers. Not to criticize this thread, because I do find it very helpful.... just think it might be more appropriate elsewhere.
Most of the guppans here do not go to designers unless it's for their bridal dress or baree clothes.. and this thread is to give them/everyone an idea of what to expect when they go to different designers so that their money and time isn't wasted.
The thread is staying here.
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
As shay pointed out already, I went to Nomi Ansari for my wedding dresses a few months ago. When i was there trying on outfits, 2 ladies came in to pick up a few outfits from him and dropped off their son's wedding card to invite Nomi (don't know why people do this, I would not invite someone I'm getting my clothes made from unless I know them personally and know them well). anyway, after the women left, nomi and two of his female assistants took out the cards, starting reading them, and laughing cuz i guess some of it was written in urdu and laughing at their names. and they were doing this in front of me, my mom, and another 2 clients.
other than that i could really sense a snobbish attitude from him. he asked me where im from and what i do, and i told him im from ny and im studying accounting and finance and will take the cpa exam when im done. and he was like 'oh god thats horrible, i could never enjoy something like that' i ofcourse happen to agree with him but i dont know him well so how dare he say that to a new client!
then towards the end, he was like 'come on you have been here for 4 hours, decide on what you want already' firstly, i wasnt there for that long, secondly, he wasnt even with me the whole time to guide me through the process. anyway at that point we were basically finished so we got the quotes from him and ofcourse he had increased the prices a lot ( i came in with my dad to his place and he knew my dad owns a hotel in khi). after that i left, i never called back to confirm the order with him or leave a deposit, i pretty much knew i didnt wanna go with him cuz if he could be veen slightly rude in the beginning of the whole process, i was sure he was capable of even more rudeness thru out the whole process and i wasnt going to go thru that on my wedding.
so his assistant called me two days later to ask to confirm the orders, which are of my mehndi dress, wedding dress, valima dress, and 1 dress for my mom and i said 'if i want to order the dresses from nomi, i will call and confirm myself.'
after that i went to The Designers in khi and ordered the bridal dress from Karma, loved the dress, loved the customer service, the women there are extremely nice and friendly and realized that all the prices we were quoted on from nomi were much higher since the designers also carry nomi outfits with price tags on them.
Im sure it was another guppy who said the same things about Nomi Ansari.
He make fun of his clients!
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
Thanks for posting your experiences ladies.
I've heard good things about Umar Sayeed and Bunto Kazmi. Seems like everyone else needs a lesson or two in etiquettes.
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
^^Umar Saeed came on Brunch with Bushra and seemed like a humble, easy-going guy...But, then, who knows how's he in "real" life with clients who are not exactly elites with oodles of dough to play with.
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
I havent had any bad designer experiences cause I copy whatever I like :P hheheh but I had the scariest experience with karma salesperson!! I got this order for a karma copy so i decided to go down to their store in Islamabad, which is pretty close to my house so me and my grandma decided to go look and then have brownies at this amazing lil bakery right next to it. We walked in and there was this huge macho guy at the counter and we started looking around and in one of the outfits there were threads coming out .. like for real and I said to my grandma sheesh.. if they're gonna charge hundreds of thousands of ruppeess least they can do is have quality control and the guy came from the counter stood next to us and said "kya problem hai TUMHAY" not even aap ko!! He said TUM.. and I was like "just pointing out something unimpressive no need to get rude" and he actually asked us to leave the shop and not return. I e-mailed karma people about this whole bunch of times but they didnt care to respond! The salesman threw us out!! It was so messed up that when we walked out he walked out with us and kept staring at us til our car left .. poor grandma was so scared she was like "qasam khaoo you will never come here again yay larka Allah janay kya kya kar sakta hai!" So that's that!! I think they should train their staff cause even if they're good people half the time it's the staff that messes up .. and they should not open up stores all over if they themselves arent gonna be present there ever.
I talked to umar sayeed once.. didnt enjoy it all that much.. I've been working on getting my lawn collection printed so I was checking out designers who would be interested in working with me and eventhough all work was mine I just wanted the name and was willing to share 40% profits. He said "do you really think I have the time for all this" after that there was pretty much nothing left for me to say...
Re: Bad experiences with designers- share your story here!
^^ omg angel thats really really horrible u should have given him a big fat slap on his face!!