This thread was moved but I thought this post was relevant to ppl in this forum…so here it is…
I don’t normally post on here, but I had to reply to this thread, forgive the length but hopefully it will help out any prospective bargelloshop.com clients…
I actually placed an order with bargelloshop.com - I had heard about it from others, but no one I know had actually worked with them before. Although I was also wary - usually I try to get most of my clothes made through relatives/friends in Pakistan, but I thought it was worth investigating to see if this could be another way of ordering clothes from here in the US and having more control of what is being ordered. They take custom orders, along with the designs you see online - for custom orders you basically you provide them with a picture of what you want, and the customer service person(basically the owner) contacts you via IM or phone as far as the details, measurements etc. I knew they did knock-offs, so I knew it would be a not-so-exact copy but I thought I’d try. That first part of the experience was fine - she seemed to understand what I want, I had her send me a very detailed invoice and email reiterating all the details(colors, kapra, etc), costs etc, and payment was made through Western Union(you can do 50 % before/50 after). I was able to communicate with them via im and they replied to emails promptly.
However, my experience AFTER ordering was totally different, of course. The same drama that you face when dealing with designers in Pakistan – nothing was done on time, no updates on status, they claimed that I was getting a steal for the “quality of work” they were doing( I didn’t end up paying them more that previosly agreed), and the quality of customer service was horrible. Not only was everything late (they said 4 weeks from design to receipt of the suit, it took almost 8 weeks). And the final product??- TOTALLY mediocre. It didn’t look like the picture(surprise, surpise) which I could have lived with had the quality of the kaam been decent. The kapra was rawsilk with malmal lining which was as discussed and the stitching was fine - but the kaam was not intricate or anything of high quality. The dupatta was totally cheap chiffon kapra and the color of both the dupatta and suit was totally off. I mean my expectations weren’t sky high going in, but I had hoped that perhaps it would be a happy surprise in that it turned out to be better than I had expected – but it was honestly not that kind of surprise. I really was not happy with the quality of the work. I knew they did knock-offs of designer stuff, so I knew it wasn’t going to be designer quality - but I had at least hoped it would look somewhat like the pic. Also - I had to keep harassing them at the end about when I would receive it – they were basically MIA and I had to keep contacting them to inquire about status. They kept telling me it was almost finished - and finally at the end, I told them to refund me b/c I really didn’t want to wait another month for the suit since the occasion I had wanted to wear it to had already passed. Then after that email, magically I received an email that said it had already been shipped and it appeared on my doorstep a few days later.
To be fair - they claimed that many of their kaamwalas had been from the northern areas (though they are based in Karachi) and they had to leave to be with their families, and that is what delayed the work. So perhaps this was truly an issue - Allahu Alam. However, the part that casts doubt on that is that the suit actually should have arrived to me the week before the earthquake hit. So who knows what the actual truth of the matter is.
What is sad to me about these e-retailers is that their online storefront is so deceptive - their fancy java applets and “e-faces” and mission statements make it seem like they are so professional and that they have their act together. But it is all smoke and mirrors - b/c at the end of the day you deal with the same things you deal with when you design something in Pakistan in person. In the beginning they talked the talk about how great their customer svc was and all of that - but I had to demand a detailed invoice/receipt, I never received a notice of status or was able to track status on the site, and I never received any notice that the suit was being shipped, or what the tracking # was( even though it was DHL-ed, and it did have a tracking # on it). Same with most of these Pakistan websites - yes, they look great and claim to have some sort of “online ordering” - but it usually turns out not to exist when you pry further. That being said, I did try ordering something from HSY’s website and their customer service was great - although I didn’t end up ordering it so who knows, but they seemed to be pretty organized about the order process at least.
I know this was really long - but I feel like a lot of you are in the same boat as I am. You have a good idea of what you want, and want an easy way of ordering it, withought having to either trouble relatives or just want to have more control in the ordering process. My honest advice as far as bargelloshop.com – don’t do it unless you are really, really desperate – I’d probably pay a little more and go to a boutique here, or just stick to your family in Pak or order in person over there. As a previous poster mentioned, they are deceptive by virtue of what they claim about reselling designer suits. This may be unfair but I didn’t feel like they were being totally honest with me in our dealings and I’d rather not support a Muslim business like that. Maybe in a few years there will be a great website that can truly make our lives easier
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If anyone has had any better experiences at these websites…pls share…otherwise, pls spread the word about bargelloshop.com.
In pak i try getting a skirt made, the stupid stupid guy made me a burka… even before your post, I wud never try to order something online, ESP from a desi!!