I can only speak from my own experience, but working with Saira Sheikh of Eastern Collections was a nightmare.
She can definitely be very friendly when she is looking for customers, but she is a business woman first and foremost. Once she noticed how much I liked the dress (and I will say that it was very pretty and nicer than the bridal dresses in most Indian stores), she knew that she could get money out of us and so she did. When we tried to talk to her, she told us since the piece was “custom”, it was the final price..(but aren’t all pieces custom unless your buying off the rack?). I also later found out that a friend of mine bought from her previously, and when she did, she was able to bring her “custom” dress down to a lower price.
During the process of customizing the dress (colours, beads, design, etc), she made us feel very rushed, and we didn’t feel like we made the right choices in a few areas. So we called and made further appointments to make some changes. When you’re paying a serious load of money to someone, you should be able to make the changes you want. However, she constantly rushed us, and instead of giving us time and putting thought into it, she would say anything just to get us out. And her motto is “sky’s the limit” - but when we wanted something, she would say it can’t be done, and then would later say, “oh well if you give me more money I can do it”
She was rude, she would cut me off, and actually yelled at me once.
When my dress came, it was really beautiful, but her tailors completely ruined the cut of the dress. When I pointed that out to her, she made a ridiculous excuse about how it was because we shortened the length. The whole reason I initially chose the dress was because of the way it was cut and the way it flowed down, and that was no longer there.
There were a host of other mistakes, including the neck area being too big despite the measurements she made, mistakes in the design that I specifically asked her to change, and her mixing up my hijab order and then giving me one that didn’t even match my dress.
I’ve gone into a lot of details just because I had such a negative experience and wouldn’t want anyone else going through that. All the other vendors I worked with were great and I had no problems with them, but having to deal with her was horrible. Personally, I would never recommend her to anyone, ever.
Although I know other people who have not had problems with her - I would say that if you are just looking for a nice dress and are not into the details, then you might be okay. But if you are the type of bride who has been looking for the perfect dress and a vendor who actually is invested in making sure YOU are absolutely happy - then you can find someone much better.