OT I'm LIVID - my first negative feedback

Service is one of the reasons people keep coming back to our store. One of
the main hiring conditions is that the potential employee must have a good
knowledge of garment construction. Unlike another chain fabric store in
AU/NZ that hires who ever they can get; some of the staff have never held a
pair of scissors. Most of the junior sales people in our store are fashion
design students. Not only can they construct, they can design and pattern
draft. The senior members are long time dress makers and sewist who, like
me, have sewn all their lives.

That we have several fashion design schools in the city keeps the garment
side of the industry fairly lively. And I'm astonished at the amount of
craft cotton we get through - patch working is a world wide phenomenon.

Ah yes, the size snob. Love 'em. I usually whip that tape measure out fast
and flip it 'round those hips pretty darn quick. Ole quick draw, they call
me! I tell them to think of me like their doctor - I might know their
secrets but would never tell! In all seriousness, I find we need to take a
lot more hip measurements with the advent of warp stretch. The pattern
companies still don't give the quantities for warp stretch. I keep meaning
to write to them and say they need to start including this.

Jean, what is going on with waistbands? Have you noticed that the pattern
pieces are always too short for the actual skirt or pants? I haven't used a
waist band pattern piece in years (I like them a certain width and cut my
own). I still measure them out of interest and they are still making them
too short. The latest was a vintage Vogue I was helping my girlfriend make.
Still short. Just as well I know about it because the fabric was expensive.

"Jeanne Burton" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 17:57:20 +1200, "Marisa Cappetta"
wrote:

You have catagories too? That's amazing. We get that too. At the moment
everyone is making jackets and buying fancy buttons. Or changing the
buttons
on existing jackets to make them a bit more stylish. The button counter
is
crowded.

I don't know a lot about what is going on in the apparel side of the
store, since I am the "decorator"...I swear the girls over there spend
hours just figuring out where to move the fabric to make me look
stupid when I take a customer over there G

The trouble is that sewing is a dying art. I spend a lot of time
explaining
the basics to people. Which I don't mind, at all, I love to help. I love
to
promote the art, it gives me great pleasure. It's the customer that
won't
listen which can make the day difficult.

I spend a lot of time working with young people. I've seen a GREAT
resurgence in all sorts of crafting, sewing included, in the 12-16
year old group. I have a 10 year old that I set up with a "special
discount" similar to our schoolteacher's card, because she's making
fleece blankets and selling them. She's made enough to buy her own
violin, and now is paying for her lessons. I have a 15 year old with
her own checking account who comes in and buys 50-75 yards of
*expensive* fabrics about once a month. She's a straight-A student
who has a very lucrative business on the side making tote bags and
purses, custom, at school and at home parties. She also consigns in 3
or 4 stores.


What drives me up the wall is when they ask
advice and refuse to listen to it and get stroppy on top of that.

You mean like the girl who needed a VERY fitted equestrian jacket for
a horse show the other day? I looked at her pattern to give her an
opinion on if the fabrics were appropriate, and noticed that the
pattern was a Vogue 6-8 size. This girl was thin, but NOT a 6-8.
(Example. I'm, at the moment, wearing size 8 pants from Express. I
wear a size 14 pattern.) I suggested they measure her and look at the
pattern measurements because it wouldn't fit. Mommy announced that
dear daughter had been a size 7 since she was 13, and would be one
till she was 50, and she didn't care to be insulted by any suggestion
that her daughter was NOT a size 7. Then they stormed out. My
manager was convulsed with laughter next to me, thank heavens, because
they WERE the type to call and complain...

Then there is the customer who made a jacket and isn't happy with the way
it
turned out. She brings it in and we spend sometime looking at trims and
buttons and a couple of simple re-styling tricks and she walks out liking
her jacket after all. That's a good day! Or the lady who is getting
married
on a tight budget and we find her a lovely combination of satin and
organza
and I find out she's also a step-mum and we bond and both walk away
feeling
like the day was about more than buying and selling a bit of fabric.
That's
an even better day.

Ohyeah...
I have 6 letters hanging on the bulletin boards in the break room from
customers who have taken the time this month to write to corporate
about me. They're embarrassing...service is dead in this culture
these days...when people get it, they're overwhelmed. It's sad,
really.

Jeanne

A lot of people think sales people are either sophomoric, parasitic or
barracudas (like in real estate, or used cars). It is very honorable work.
I have worked with sales people like you, Marisa, and they enriched my life,
and often my wardrobe (or other possessions) too.

Tina


"Marisa Cappetta" wrote in message
...
You have catagories too? That's amazing. We get that too. At the moment
everyone is making jackets and buying fancy buttons. Or changing the
buttons
on existing jackets to make them a bit more stylish. The button counter is
crowded.

The trouble is that sewing is a dying art. I spend a lot of time
explaining
the basics to people. Which I don't mind, at all, I love to help. I love
to
promote the art, it gives me great pleasure. It's the customer that won't
listen which can make the day difficult.

One such day a young woman wanted stretch thread to sew her stretch
sequined
fabric. I tried to explain that you don't need or want a stretch thread,
even asking her, "What is going to happen when you put any pressure on
that
seam? It will stretch open." She wouldn't believe that we didn't sell
stretch thread and went looking at another store before sheepishly
returning
and buying a Gutermann, poly-thread and asking me what sort of stitch she
should use on her sewing machine. It turned out she had thought shirring
elastic was a stretch sewing thread. I don't mind that she needs
information, I love helping people who want to learn. I have a few
customers
who's sewing skills have advanced based on the few sessions we've had just
shooting the breeze in the shop. What drives me up the wall is when they
ask
advice and refuse to listen to it and get stroppy on top of that.

Then there is the customer who made a jacket and isn't happy with the way
it
turned out. She brings it in and we spend sometime looking at trims and
buttons and a couple of simple re-styling tricks and she walks out liking
her jacket after all. That's a good day! Or the lady who is getting
married
on a tight budget and we find her a lovely combination of satin and
organza
and I find out she's also a step-mum and we bond and both walk away
feeling
like the day was about more than buying and selling a bit of fabric.
That's
an even better day.

Oh, yes, we get that too,
"Jeanne Burton" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 17:36:58 +1200, "Marisa Cappetta"
wrote:

The tricky part about ****ing off a customer face to face is running
into
them in the supermarket, like I just did 20 minutes ago. I could see
she
still thinks I'm a blithering idiot This woman admitted to knowing
nothing about sewing and then wouldn't listen to my advice, even though
she
asked for it. Oi. Save me from the stupid people.

You know...I sort days into categories at work...there's drapery days,
where every other customer is making drapes, or dining room chair
days, where everyone is recovering them...it seems to run in cycles
(except that at least one customer a day needs me to tell him/her how
to make a poker table...what IS the attraction with poker all of a
sudden?
But the past week, EVERY day has been "stupid people day". Every
person who has walked into my store has been stupid. They've asked
stupid questions. They've wanted to do stupid things (make drapes for
a 12' window without spending more than $10, out of prime designer
fabric) or they are completely unable to understand instructions like
"fold the fabric selvage to selvage".

Frustrating...

Jeanne

We have two staff members who never use patterns. They drape, cut and sew
and make the greatest clothes. I'm in awe.
I love timeless pieces. I wear my clothes for as long as they hold together.

I really can't answer that only because I haven't used a commercial
pattern in years...I drape my own, and I make next to no modern
garments. Most of the stuff I make dates to, at latest, 1600. In
fact, it's a local store joke that while I don't even balk at working
by hand on "the bodice of 30,000 garnets", which I'm handbeading for
the next 10 years, or at hand-sewing a hem that's 15 feet around, I
have NO idea how to put a zipper in. I haven't done one since I was
about 14. And I really don't plan on learning how...

Jeanne

I love what I do, Tina. I thought I was going to have to resign just
recently, but was able to get my work hours adjusted to fit in with school
hours. I have a good balance between solitary studio work, teaching and the
job at the store. I've made friends with a lot of my customers and we have a
lot of fun, some great conversations and in some cases I feel like a I make
a difference just by listening.

"Christina Peterson" wrote in message
...
A lot of people think sales people are either sophomoric, parasitic or
barracudas (like in real estate, or used cars). It is very honorable
work.
I have worked with sales people like you, Marisa, and they enriched my
life,
and often my wardrobe (or other possessions) too.

Tina


"Marisa Cappetta" wrote in
message
...
You have catagories too? That's amazing. We get that too. At the moment
everyone is making jackets and buying fancy buttons. Or changing the
buttons
on existing jackets to make them a bit more stylish. The button counter
is
crowded.

The trouble is that sewing is a dying art. I spend a lot of time
explaining
the basics to people. Which I don't mind, at all, I love to help. I love
to
promote the art, it gives me great pleasure. It's the customer that
won't
listen which can make the day difficult.

One such day a young woman wanted stretch thread to sew her stretch
sequined
fabric. I tried to explain that you don't need or want a stretch thread,
even asking her, "What is going to happen when you put any pressure on
that
seam? It will stretch open." She wouldn't believe that we didn't sell
stretch thread and went looking at another store before sheepishly
returning
and buying a Gutermann, poly-thread and asking me what sort of stitch
she
should use on her sewing machine. It turned out she had thought shirring
elastic was a stretch sewing thread. I don't mind that she needs
information, I love helping people who want to learn. I have a few
customers
who's sewing skills have advanced based on the few sessions we've had
just
shooting the breeze in the shop. What drives me up the wall is when they
ask
advice and refuse to listen to it and get stroppy on top of that.

Then there is the customer who made a jacket and isn't happy with the
way
it
turned out. She brings it in and we spend sometime looking at trims and
buttons and a couple of simple re-styling tricks and she walks out
liking
her jacket after all. That's a good day! Or the lady who is getting
married
on a tight budget and we find her a lovely combination of satin and
organza
and I find out she's also a step-mum and we bond and both walk away
feeling
like the day was about more than buying and selling a bit of fabric.
That's
an even better day.

Oh, yes, we get that too,
"Jeanne Burton" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 17:36:58 +1200, "Marisa Cappetta"
wrote:

The tricky part about ****ing off a customer face to face is running
into
them in the supermarket, like I just did 20 minutes ago. I could see
she
still thinks I'm a blithering idiot This woman admitted to
knowing
nothing about sewing and then wouldn't listen to my advice, even
though
she
asked for it. Oi. Save me from the stupid people.

You know...I sort days into categories at work...there's drapery days,
where every other customer is making drapes, or dining room chair
days, where everyone is recovering them...it seems to run in cycles
(except that at least one customer a day needs me to tell him/her how
to make a poker table...what IS the attraction with poker all of a
sudden?
But the past week, EVERY day has been "stupid people day". Every
person who has walked into my store has been stupid. They've asked
stupid questions. They've wanted to do stupid things (make drapes for
a 12' window without spending more than $10, out of prime designer
fabric) or they are completely unable to understand instructions like
"fold the fabric selvage to selvage".

Frustrating...

Jeanne

Ah yes, JoAnn's. Faceless, inhuman and their stock is awful. Same with
Spotlight here and in AU. Customers come to us to complain about Spotlight.

I work at Hancock. Everyone there sews. It's required. OTOH, I
interviewed at JoAnn. They asked me what I wanted to do there...I was
enthusiastic about promoting sewing, teaching, etc. I was coldly told
that I was there to cut fabric, and to take money. I was NOT there to
"waste my time" gabbing with customers. I have a friend who was
fired from JoAnn for answering a question about how to use a product
they sold...and she was a manager.

What a shame she's not coming to the South! I'd love to meet her. Maybe the
next tour?

My mom will be doing a 5 week quilting/teaching tour of Oz/North
Island NZ this winter. I believe she's flying into Canberra and
flying out of Sydney, though I could be wrong. She'll be on
homesteads, staying with families and teaching for 3 or 4 days, then
being flown in bush planes/driven to the next stop. She'll also be
selling her patterns and books and judging several shows. She can't
wait. Next year she'll be teaching in South Africa.
Yeah, quilting is pretty universal, though I've been told by reliable
sources that there are only 2 indigenous American arts - Dixieland
Jazz Music, and Patchwork Quilting...

Yeah, quilting is pretty universal, though I've been told by reliable
sources that there are only 2 indigenous American arts - Dixieland
Jazz Music, and Patchwork Quilting...

not so...quilting was being done in Japan hundreds of years before in
America. Old pieces were patch-worked in pieces into new screens, etc.
particularly in strips or in appliqued parts using what areas were still
good. Blocks of patched pieces in repeated shapes are more an American
innovation though.

However, you got it for Jazz-----and Tap Dance (not clogging) is from the
USA as are animated cartoons. (thank you Max Fleischer and others)


--
Sarajane's Polyclay Gallery
Beads-Dolls-Wearable Art
www.polyclay.com
see the current auctions at:
http://snipurl.com/aiid
"Marisa Cappetta" wrote in message
...
Ah yes, JoAnn's. Faceless, inhuman and their stock is awful. Same with
Spotlight here and in AU. Customers come to us to complain about
Spotlight.

I work at Hancock. Everyone there sews. It's required. OTOH, I
interviewed at JoAnn. They asked me what I wanted to do there...I was
enthusiastic about promoting sewing, teaching, etc. I was coldly told
that I was there to cut fabric, and to take money. I was NOT there to
"waste my time" gabbing with customers. I have a friend who was
fired from JoAnn for answering a question about how to use a product
they sold...and she was a manager.

What a shame she's not coming to the South! I'd love to meet her. Maybe
the
next tour?

My mom will be doing a 5 week quilting/teaching tour of Oz/North
Island NZ this winter. I believe she's flying into Canberra and
flying out of Sydney, though I could be wrong. She'll be on
homesteads, staying with families and teaching for 3 or 4 days, then
being flown in bush planes/driven to the next stop. She'll also be
selling her patterns and books and judging several shows. She can't
wait. Next year she'll be teaching in South Africa.
Yeah, quilting is pretty universal, though I've been told by reliable
sources that there are only 2 indigenous American arts - Dixieland
Jazz Music, and Patchwork Quilting...

Jeanne, I'm with you. I'll hand crochet the lace and stich the camisole with
a hundred embroidered pintucks---but NO zippers!!!! I almost flunked home-ec
for refusing to zipper....I made handbound buttonholes down the back of a
dress and laced it up instead....


--
Sarajane's Polyclay Gallery
Beads-Dolls-Wearable Art
www.polyclay.com
see the current auctions at:
http://snipurl.com/aiid
"Marisa Cappetta" wrote in message
...

We have two staff members who never use patterns. They drape, cut and sew
and make the greatest clothes. I'm in awe.
I love timeless pieces. I wear my clothes for as long as they hold
together.

I really can't answer that only because I haven't used a commercial
pattern in years...I drape my own, and I make next to no modern
garments. Most of the stuff I make dates to, at latest, 1600. In
fact, it's a local store joke that while I don't even balk at working
by hand on "the bodice of 30,000 garnets", which I'm handbeading for
the next 10 years, or at hand-sewing a hem that's 15 feet around, I
have NO idea how to put a zipper in. I haven't done one since I was
about 14. And I really don't plan on learning how...

Jeanne

~A lot of people think sales people are either sophomoric, parasitic or
barracudas (like in real estate, or used cars). It is very honorable
work.
I have worked with sales people like you, Marisa, and they enriched my
life, and often my wardrobe (or other possessions) too.

And they're so rare. I think a lot of people in jobs such as
restaurant work, reception, and *especially* retail sales are waiting
to win the lottery. They're just marking time til their big, huge ship
rolls in. Customers are an annoyance to them -- we interrupt their
cell phone call, or their conversation with another salesperson, or
whatever they're doing (while being paid) that's much more important
than the customer.

Plus most of them don't know a damn thing about where they work these
days. I had a senior salesperson at Long's (drugstore chain) insist
the nightlights were somewhere they weren't yesterday. Man, she was so
annoyed that she had to actually walk over there to show me! What're
they paying you for, you ninny? Gee, I'm sorry I asked. All they had
there were refill bulbs (I *told* her!). Every time I ask anyone for
help in a store, I clench my body and get ready for something I don't
want to hear.....either attitude or "Duh, I don't know."

But not everywhere. I love the local fabric stores, for instance,
because the people there (they have some dudes working there too) know
their stuff up and down and sideways. I go in there feeling relaxed
and satisfied before I even choose to buy anything. It's becoming more
and more rare these days -- not only IRL, but online too.

Wow Marisa... there is NOTHING like your store in this city. At ONE of
the local stores, many of the people who work there sew a bit, some more
than others, but we're not talking about people who really understand
garment construction.

Getting help on fabric or construction from store employees is more or
less impossible. Half the time they don't know what you're asking for,
or whether they have it. *sigh*. I wish you were here...

Marisa Cappetta wrote:
Service is one of the reasons people keep coming back to our store. One of
the main hiring conditions is that the potential employee must have a good
knowledge of garment construction. Unlike another chain fabric store in
AU/NZ that hires who ever they can get; some of the staff have never held a
pair of scissors. Most of the junior sales people in our store are fashion
design students. Not only can they construct, they can design and pattern
draft. The senior members are long time dress makers and sewist who, like
me, have sewn all their lives.

That we have several fashion design schools in the city keeps the garment
side of the industry fairly lively. And I'm astonished at the amount of
craft cotton we get through - patch working is a world wide phenomenon.

Ah yes, the size snob. Love 'em. I usually whip that tape measure out fast
and flip it 'round those hips pretty darn quick. Ole quick draw, they call
me! I tell them to think of me like their doctor - I might know their
secrets but would never tell! In all seriousness, I find we need to take a
lot more hip measurements with the advent of warp stretch. The pattern
companies still don't give the quantities for warp stretch. I keep meaning
to write to them and say they need to start including this.

Jean, what is going on with waistbands? Have you noticed that the pattern
pieces are always too short for the actual skirt or pants? I haven't used a
waist band pattern piece in years (I like them a certain width and cut my
own). I still measure them out of interest and they are still making them
too short. The latest was a vintage Vogue I was helping my girlfriend make.
Still short. Just as well I know about it because the fabric was expensive.

"Jeanne Burton" wrote in message
...

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 17:57:20 +1200, "Marisa Cappetta"
wrote:


You have catagories too? That's amazing. We get that too. At the moment
everyone is making jackets and buying fancy buttons. Or changing the

buttons

on existing jackets to make them a bit more stylish. The button counter

is

crowded.

I don't know a lot about what is going on in the apparel side of the
store, since I am the "decorator"...I swear the girls over there spend
hours just figuring out where to move the fabric to make me look
stupid when I take a customer over there G

The trouble is that sewing is a dying art. I spend a lot of time

explaining

the basics to people. Which I don't mind, at all, I love to help. I love

to

promote the art, it gives me great pleasure. It's the customer that

won't

listen which can make the day difficult.

I spend a lot of time working with young people. I've seen a GREAT
resurgence in all sorts of crafting, sewing included, in the 12-16
year old group. I have a 10 year old that I set up with a "special
discount" similar to our schoolteacher's card, because she's making
fleece blankets and selling them. She's made enough to buy her own
violin, and now is paying for her lessons. I have a 15 year old with
her own checking account who comes in and buys 50-75 yards of
*expensive* fabrics about once a month. She's a straight-A student
who has a very lucrative business on the side making tote bags and
purses, custom, at school and at home parties. She also consigns in 3
or 4 stores.


What drives me up the wall is when they ask

advice and refuse to listen to it and get stroppy on top of that.

You mean like the girl who needed a VERY fitted equestrian jacket for
a horse show the other day? I looked at her pattern to give her an
opinion on if the fabrics were appropriate, and noticed that the
pattern was a Vogue 6-8 size. This girl was thin, but NOT a 6-8.
(Example. I'm, at the moment, wearing size 8 pants from Express. I
wear a size 14 pattern.) I suggested they measure her and look at the
pattern measurements because it wouldn't fit. Mommy announced that
dear daughter had been a size 7 since she was 13, and would be one
till she was 50, and she didn't care to be insulted by any suggestion
that her daughter was NOT a size 7. Then they stormed out. My
manager was convulsed with laughter next to me, thank heavens, because
they WERE the type to call and complain...


Then there is the customer who made a jacket and isn't happy with the way

it

turned out. She brings it in and we spend sometime looking at trims and
buttons and a couple of simple re-styling tricks and she walks out liking
her jacket after all. That's a good day! Or the lady who is getting

married

on a tight budget and we find her a lovely combination of satin and

organza

and I find out she's also a step-mum and we bond and both walk away

feeling

like the day was about more than buying and selling a bit of fabric.

That's

an even better day.

Ohyeah...
I have 6 letters hanging on the bulletin boards in the break room from
customers who have taken the time this month to write to corporate
about me. They're embarrassing...service is dead in this culture
these days...when people get it, they're overwhelmed. It's sad,
really.

Jeanne




--
-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com

We have some good stores around here, but overall I hate the attitude
and reluctance to *help*. Local stores are the best, overall, and
national chains are the worst.

Restaurants here are another matter... for some mysterious reason,
Portland has a food service culture unlike any other I've seen or heard
of, except perhaps New York. People don't just wait tables as their day
job... they wait tables as a *career*, and the competition is stiff.
Likewise barista positions. People sometimes think they can move to
Portland and wait tables until they "find a better job" but even
seasoned wait staff find it hard to get a foot in around here. And our
wait staff are GOOD... especially in breakfast places. They have to be,
because there's a line of hopefuls with their resumes on file, hoping to
replace them.

Dr. Sooz wrote:
~A lot of people think sales people are either sophomoric, parasitic or
barracudas (like in real estate, or used cars). It is very honorable
work.
I have worked with sales people like you, Marisa, and they enriched my
life, and often my wardrobe (or other possessions) too.

And they're so rare. I think a lot of people in jobs such as
restaurant work, reception, and *especially* retail sales are waiting
to win the lottery. They're just marking time til their big, huge ship
rolls in. Customers are an annoyance to them -- we interrupt their
cell phone call, or their conversation with another salesperson, or
whatever they're doing (while being paid) that's much more important
than the customer.

Plus most of them don't know a damn thing about where they work these
days. I had a senior salesperson at Long's (drugstore chain) insist
the nightlights were somewhere they weren't yesterday. Man, she was so
annoyed that she had to actually walk over there to show me! What're
they paying you for, you ninny? Gee, I'm sorry I asked. All they had
there were refill bulbs (I *told* her!). Every time I ask anyone for
help in a store, I clench my body and get ready for something I don't
want to hear.....either attitude or "Duh, I don't know."

But not everywhere. I love the local fabric stores, for instance,
because the people there (they have some dudes working there too) know
their stuff up and down and sideways. I go in there feeling relaxed
and satisfied before I even choose to buy anything. It's becoming more
and more rare these days -- not only IRL, but online too.


--
-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com