Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
Another thing never go for shotgun deals.....this designer was supposedly in Houston for a few daysa.....She was suppose to leave Houston on August 11th ....and guess what she took the money and she herself did not mail parcel.....she left it with her mother and sister to mail.....I did not pay them I paid her.........Ms. Zahid mentioned her years in business and having her own manufactering plant....etc.....of all the boutiques that buy clothes from her.....in my fasting (roza) state I let the smooth talking get to me.....yes one pays for his/her stupidity......I am extremely angry about money but even angrier about loss of trust and that another human being be so deceptive........and now she publicly has stated that she will not put a claim thru insurance to teach me a lesson.....and that I had behave if I wanted my money back.......since when has a asking for your money back for merchandise you did not receive become a MISBEHAVIOR? 5 weeks of waiting is nothing...? $Since when has $925 become worthless amt that I should just think that post office messed this is simply a mishap.....forgive and forget?
GS members please consider what your response is if somebody issues you a check for merchandise or services you have provided and the check by some mishap gets lost......then should the receive just wait for months till the postal service finds it to get paid for goods or services.......is asking to be paid for something a misbehavior? Is asking for goods a misbehavior? Maybe society's norms for accpetable behavior have changed.......somebody please enlighten me.........
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
For a good vendor customer is always right. A good vendor will deal with any kind of customer behavior with tact , calm and respect. Vendor is not supposed to lose their patience.
There are two sayings when it comes to buyer/seller transactions:
"Caveat emptor" (buyer beware) and the "buyer is always right" - notice these are mutually contradictory sayings and warns both seller and buyer from each other. It seems neither buyer or seller abided by these adages in this transaction.
I agree with you that a seller should realize their reputation is far more valuable than the headache and loss of goodwill resulting from having a dissatisfied customer. But I will say, that the buyer in this situation has not been patient or the least bit forgiving of what to my view iwas initially human error.
@Seyrsh
Thanks for your input....I would greatly appreciate if you can elaborate on what you mean by bad client? If I have crossed any limits as a client I would like to know......to date I have no dresses in hand and I am loss of almost $1000 - not mention countless hrs spent on this blog and failed communications....
I've followed this thread from the very beginning and you come across as impatient and show a lack of willingness to work with the vendor to resolve your issues. I'm not advocating for the vendor at all, but from the perspective of the vendor I can sympathize with her wanting a few weeks to investigate the issue and then proposing a resolution.
What would I have done in this situation? I would have given the vendor a few weeks to investigate (and not started to send accusatory emails the day after shipment) and then after the expiration of a mutually agreed upon time, regardless of the outcome of the investigation, asked for delivery of the suits or reimbursement for money paid. Obviously, the offering to her of the opportunity to investigate would depend on how open and honest her communication with you was and whether she was making an effort to resolve the issue.
I've been a dissatisfied customer and I've had some vendors reward my patience with their best efforts to resolve the dispute and I've been repeat customers of theirs and I've had other vendors take advantage of me, never to have me do business with them again. I think you know which vendors are prospering :) But those are just my two cents.
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
@Sehrysh....once again again thank you for your 2 cents... Unfortunately I cannot post or blog about my entire dealing with this designer............however....my mistrust began immediately after I deposited money.........she had sent an email saying the amount that was due for the dresses I selected on Skype.......and that payment was due immediately since she was leaving on Aug. 11 and some alterations needed to done on the dresses........she reassured me that she had a girl who did all of her alterations and she would be able to do the alterations in a few hours time and the dresses would be mailed out but she needed to know right away.........I did like the dresses I saw both in pictures and on skype........Also I was not frequent member of GS......a sold a few things on the forum but that's about it.......I rejoined when my Eid order was messed up (incorrect sizes....dresses were beautiful but sizes were too small or too big).....I had to come back to GS to sell the dresses........with Eid in a few weeks I knew I did have enough time to place another order..........so I decided to buy some readymade outfits from Pakistan..........I posted a thread asking which REadymade brands were the best.......apparently Shabnam Zahid saw my post and contacted me both on GS and facebook. Anyways when I saw her dresses I thought my problems were solved........I didn't need to order from Pakistan....
Sequence of Events:
August 8th (Monday) - Ms. Zahid contacts me on GS and sends friend request on FB...I accepted friend request. she sent msg with link to her picture and told me was in Town for Exhibition in Houston and that she supplied to various boutiques in the Houston Area
Auguist 9th (Tuesday)- I contacted via phone and we set up time to see dresses on skype.........I repeadtly told her I was only interested in getting only 2 or 3 dresses for 1st order.....she showed numerous dresses from her mother's home based boutqique......and said she would offer wholesale prices if I bought 6 or 7 dresses.......dresses were in large size and I needed Medium or Small....she said some dresses could be altered (shortened.....tightened and take in shoulders). She told me she is leaving Aug. 11th (Tuesday). She said she had a seamstress who did all of her alterations. I asked her if this was enough time for her to alter and mail dress before leaving.........she said her seamstress was very good and could pick the dresses and drop them off before Iftar once Payment is made....I asked about payment and she said she wanted deposit in her account in her specific bank. ..I inquired and found out that there is a branch located 30 minutes from me....I emailed her cofirming that I would buy dresses but she had alter and MAIL BEFORE LEAVING ON THURSDAY AND IF THIS WAS POSSIBLE DUE TO TIME FRAME.......SHE REASSURED SAYING HER SEAMSTRESS WAS VERY GOOD
August 10 (Wednesday)....I decided to bite the bullet and deposit money in her account.......I asked her if she could negotiate on price and she said no...she already gave discount.....I didn't haggle because I was in need of clothes and I was happy that they were in USA and I would have a dress made from scratch...... I emailed and in morning confirming and asked for her bank details.........she responded with her bank info......... I called from the bank before making to deposit to confirm that she would have the dresses altered in time and that she would send using Priority Mail.....we agreed on $25 for mailing cost...I told her I would pay her back if it cost extra....we agreed to this........she repeatedly assured both alterations would be done by evening and she would mail in the evening once she saw that payment was posted. she also told me she goes to post office personally to mail orders and checks for best possible way to mail things....by comparing various methods....on that I told her ONLY SEND VIA PRIORITY MAIL....I would send her any difference owed. Emailed her in the evening to ask if parcel was sent....she replied saying that it would send Thursday and that alterations were completed.
August 11 I called in the morning to make sure that Ms. Zahid would mail out package.. She had already confirmed that alterations were completed and that parcel was ready to be posted. When I called she said parcel was not mailed but that she would mail parcel before her flight in the afternoon..........Several hours later I called again to find out if parcel was sent......This time her mother picked up phone and said that Shabnam already left and that the dresses could not be mailed because the alterations weren't done correctly and that Shabnam doesn't send out anything that is not perfect and that the mom would give to seamstress again for correction. According to mom before flight she measured the dresses and found out they were not done to my specifications. The mom spoke to me for long time telling how she supplied to various Branded Stores in Pakistan and that she was reputable in Houston...and so many people knew her.......anyways, I ended conversation politely asking her to mail out package later on today or tommorrow.She agreed and she took my email address.........she emailed me........I emailed her back telling her I was a little apprehensive because it was large amount of money and I was victim of fraud previous so I am always nervous about first time transaction. She asked for my mailing address. I emailed her my address....She reassued me and told me not worry.
Friday August 12 I called Shabnams' mother.......she said alterations were redone and she would mail parcel after Jummah Prayer....and I again told her I am a bit nervous as the amount is large and its first time dealing...I politely asked her to mail package and send tracking number.....she again engaged in long conversation about how great and realiable her daughter is.......I said fine...but would greatly appreciate if parcel is sent.....
I called and emailed Shabnam's mom later on Friday (evening). she said parcel couldn't mailed becasue it was too large for her to lift .........Shabnam told me that her mother operates a boutique from home and mails packages all the time....also she told me she remeasured and alterations were not done to speficifation. so she turned over dressses to another daughter (Shabnam's sister) who is seamstress by trade....This sis/daughter was supposed to fix the alterations..........at this point my brain is reeling.......I am scared and I suspect fraud.....I emailed Shabnam. Shabnam emailed me back saying that the sister would mail her the dresses in Canada and that she would mail to me......This email made me go crazy......I suspected fraud....Shabnam keep on saying she doesnt promise on quality...etc...Why would these dresses have to mailed to Canada and then from Canada they would be mailed to USA.......I asked for a refund...I told Shabnam to keep her dresses and issue a refund or immediately mail the dresses
Saturday August 13
Shabnam emailed me back saying that she was dependent on her sister's schedule....etc....anyways...I told her just forgot the deal and to refund the money.....in response she sent me a tracking number by late afternoon. By late night the system showed that parcel was received at post office and it was due to be delivered on August 22nd (more than 1 week later......). I discovered she had used the cheapest method to send package. I signed up for updates with United States Postal SErvice.......anyways....my mind was somewhat at ease. Shabnam Z. called and give me long explanation of why she couldn't mail parcel before leaving.....I was hopeful that after 9 nine days I would receive package.......I checked out update of parcel everyday....
August 18th I receive email update from USPS saying that package went to Dead Mail and is undeliverable ....no label on package......I called Shabnam's mother and emailed Shabnam.........her mom gave cold response that she doesn't know anything about parcel and I should contact Shabnam direcetly.....I called USPS numerous times and discovered there was no mailing label or it came off and parcel never left Texas...and went straight to Dead Letter Facility..........
August 22nd I waited till this date to see if package would be delivered.......called USPS numerous times and contacted my local postmaster.....postmaster said this type of occurence is rather rare in his experience and that I should contact seller to ask them to file a claim. Meanwhile I asked moderators for help about this situation. and if they heard of Shabnam Zahid......they said they had not heard anything positve or negative about her......they encourage me to start a thread which I did next day
August 23 Started thread on GS....only 1 person had successfully ordered some stuff from her.........nobody else knew of anything....severaal days later Shabnam responded..........the rest is on the thread...
So Seyrsh............I started to have strong doubts about this seller even before parcel was mailed.......I was afraid I was going to vicim of fraud for 2nd time..........Not receiving the package is NOT JUST A MISHAP BUT AN AFFIRMATION OF MY DOUBTS....MY bad luck started when I didn't get correct sizes for my Eid Order....otherwise......I would not have come back to sell or look for more Eid dresses.........
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
Sorry, the above was formatted for easy reading but formatting got lost
Anyway mistrust between seller and me began before parcel was sent and shortly after I deposited money.........Not receiving the parcel just has confirmed/reaffirmed my doubts.......
I have spent alot of time blogging and writing about my ordeal......it has effected my work......I feel very VIOLATED......and duped....loss of money is very painful but the fact that somebody made a fool out of you is even more painful.......I lost alot of precious time and despite all of my efforts I remain empty handed!
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
@Mirch .......I shall take that advice........others have suggested the same.
If she does not have a business license , then I think ( not sure) that you can lodge a complaint with police for fraud too. You can go to local police station and talk to them. For 925 dollars it is worth a try.
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
I don't think think Ms. Zahid or her mother have business licenses. Not sure....but most home based Desi boutiques don't have business licenses as far as I know.....As per what she told me she lives in Calgary, Canada. Will find out about filing a claim with the local police...will have to look into whether I should do it thru my local one or the local one in Houston. Once again thanks for help and concern. Hoping for an end to this ordeal soon.
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
lastest update is that I called post office to check status of claim and to see if one was ever filed:
turns out that claim was filed on 9/14/11 under Ms. Zahid's mother's name and payment is set to go to Ms. Zahid's mother. My postmaster also submitted claim but since this one reached first ........payment will go Ms. Zahid's mother instead of me unless Ms. Zahid's mother changes this. So they will collect payment twice and I will be at their mercy to get my money back.......
Please tell me what I should do? Can this really be happening to me.........
@ Mirchi
If you are a genuine moderator.........you should judge urself who is doing wrong....
cheater never writes back they just disappear. whenever some body had some bad experience with someone and one writes at any forum. many customers who has been ripped opp come up.....why nobody came here as I have had never dealt customers like her.suggest her to go wherever she wants. In this way she might get her money by tomorrow.My concious is clear so ask her to try her luck.If she had a bad experience what she could have done to her, She never got her money back from them.In this case I have been reassuring her to give her money back asap. but now I'll wait for the claim to be processed and then I'll return the money due to her behaviour.I was thinking to file the claim tomorrow as 4 weeks has been passed but now I should wait 90 days to find the parcel and if I dont find it then I'll file the claim. so that I can prove that I have mailed her clothes in real.
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
Hi Gup shup members…this long thread now came to an end…
I have filed the claim for insurance on the 14th of sep so that I could send the money back to Hadiya,sofia, Tee Q or Zeenat or I dont know who else…( as she has so many names and accounts every where about which we will talk later.) Suddenly I came to know that the package is found at the dead mail centre. Which is quiet unlinkely but it happened.Allah wanted to show Sofia, Hadiya…or who ever that I did mail the package but mishap has happened.She was not accepting this fact and lost her temper many time and always suspected me.I was taking a chance if we could find the package.If I would have paid the money back to her and the package is also found then what will happen .I dont think so she will return my money back rather she would have return the suits back which have no use for me as they are custom made and she asked to alter them according to her requirement.If she would have returned them or did not recieve I would have thrown them in the garbage So In short Allah is watching and I was right I have sent the clothes but the package was misplaced. It did come to the dead mail centre and now its been found on the 15th of Sep and on its way to Sofias address through priority mail( which was my mistake to send it through regular mail)but if It was in our fait then it could be happened with priorty mail too.So good luck to hadiya and sofia or Tee q ( tee q is the address from which she used to send me links to this gup shup forum and Zeenat is the name which she used to send me the abbusive messages from on face book so I blocked her.Hadiya is her name here at gup shup forum.And Sofia is the name which she sent me to send her package to.
I just read her posts at some other site and then she has been blocked from those sites too. I think she should stop doing this.She should concentrate o her business or what ever and dont waste time in postng every other website by different names and stop butting in every one’s conversation. She will get the package by Wednesday I guess and she can check its status also by the old tracking no.she would be responsible if she is not home or the package is not recieved as I have paid to get her signatures done…
Here is the threatening email from another name I got today
Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 7:25 AM
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subject
Urgent!
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mailed-by
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Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.
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hide details 7:25 AM (12 hours ago)
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ASA,
I was informed by my postmaster that a claim was already filed by Your mother Zakia Siddiqui on 9/14/11 for $1000. She is due to receive payment. At this point the post office has said that e you should change the recipient to my name immediately. I have worked for many years processing insurance claims and this “appears” to be a classic insurance scam especially since parcel was never received and it was fully insured and you have filed a claim even when claimed you would wait 90 days on the forum…
I have waiting long enough and tried to reason with you…but you and your mother refuse to speak to me but if you continue this case will be turned over to the postal inspector and I will have to SUE your mother. The choice is yours!
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
Yaar koi iss thread ko lock kyon nahi karta. Its so so so soooooooooooooooooo annoying now. Please Hidayah tell us here when you get your parcel so a mod can lock this thread... It needs to die
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
Hi Gup shup members
I apology that Tee que is not Hadiya the rest of the names do belong to the same person. Tee que just messaged me that she posted this GS forum link at my page to inform me in good faith whats Hadiya is writing about me ..How would I know who is Tee que when I am getting messages from Hadiya by different name definitely I thought Tee q is also the same person who know about this matter ........
Re: Has anybody ordered from Shabnam Zahid of Silk Affair?
[mod]Thread closed . The buyer and seller should contact each other via PM.
Buyer and seller please do not open another thread on this topic because they will be closed too.[/mod]
