It is free but I am unhappy..and other stories

[pageantmama]

I have not posted in a little while, not for lack of sucky customers but lack of time. First I want to say DO NOT ASK ME 928570394857934875 QUESTIONS ABOUT SOMETHING AND THEN ASK ME TO LOWER THE PRICE AND WHEN I WON'T DO IT TELL ME YOU WILL THINK ABOUT IT AND NEVER MESSAGE ME AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry had to get that off my chest. I have a dress I made my daughter and due to the car needing a new engine AND a new transmission we have not been able to do pageants for a few months and will have to put them off a little while longer. So the beautiful dress I made for her needs to be sold to make up for what we have spent on car stuff since we can't do any right now anyway. Even though I LOVE this one I am only asking 200 to try and get it gone and get the money. I had several people play 20,000 questions then offer a super low price for it. Like the lady that said she would give me 45.00 for it Or the one that said she just bought a dress from another designer and it did not fit so she needs one in a hurry so I should give her a better price since she just spent 500.00 for the other one. Sorry Lady, you didn't spend the 500 on one of my dresses so why should I make up for another persons mistake?

Also, I have listed with a model referral service. The deal is I pick one of the children and I send them an outfit for free. Then they send me back professional pictures of them modeling it and get to keep the outfit. Good deal especially for the type of stuff I sent, you would think. I could always take pics of my son and daughter for free but I want a variety of models and I can't afford pro pics for every item I sell. I usually pick from the models that are waiting on a casting call and have never been booked to be nice. I sent out a Halloween type item since in the pageant world holidays don't matter and you can use any theme if it is outfit of choice. The mom decided that she did not want to send me any pics because she felt (her words) offended that I would send a holiday item that I probably just could not sell in the first place so I am unloading it on her daughter. Keep in mind she got it about 2 weeks before Halloween. I think she just did not want to pay to get the pro pics done. I am sorry but if my daughter had never been booked and she finally got a booking I don't care if it was a sack I would let her do it for the good review to get better bookings. Especially considering she is paying for this referral service. So yeah, good luck on future bookings lady.

Then there is the lady I was sewing for. She is another designer that I found out is copying other designers designs and selling them as her own. She had cancer so I was sewing for her since she didn't feel good. Had I known I was copying other peoples stuff I would not have done it. She told me not to tell anyone that I was doing her sewing since she has a reputation to keep up I agreed. I did several different things for her. Then she sent me fabric and wanted me to do some reversable boys suits and overalls. I asked her where the patterns were and she said just buy some. Um, ok I hope you are adding that to the price for the suits since I would not use them otherwise. Then she did not send enough fabric for the 6 suits (jackets, vests, and pants, all reversible) and 3 pairs of overalls so I had to buy extra fabric that she was supposed to compensate me for as well. I get the suits finished and send it off. Since I had sent her things before and got payment when she got them, to make sure quality was up to par before she paid she says, I didn't think twice about it. I keep an eye on tracking and notice they got forwarded to another address. I am like, ok she said she was thinking about getting another place closer to where her husband works, maybe she has moved now. I see it is finally delivered. I give her a few days to send payment, still nothing. Then a friend of mine says she saw where the lady posted about something and someone asked her about her new seamstress. She said "I sew everything myself, but some lady begged me for a job and I gave her a chance. Big mistake, she tried to steal my patterns (the ones you didn't send?), my fabric (that you didn't send enough of?) and then I had to take a warrant out to get what she made me"

I tried to send her a message to ask what was going on and not only did she block me on Facebook but she also blocked my husbands account so I can't message her from there either. I know it was stupid to send it before payment but that was part of our deal and she had never given me a problem before. But then again it had never been such a big order before either. I want to go and post everywhere I know her customers go like the forums and stuff but I don't want to make a bad name for myself because I know how manipulative she can be and she will turn it around on me somehow So I just took all that time for HER clothing and I guess I can only take a loss for it

Oh, and here is the dress I am talking about. So if anyone knows a pageant girl that is 18 months to 3 T that needs a nice cheap brand new dress, here is one

[flybye023]

Sorry, I'd comment but I'm still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor.

I'm sorry you have to deal with such losers.

[Slayer]

How horrible! That woman is absolutely messed up. I hope you can figure out a way to get the story out to her clients without, like you said, her making it all about you.

At least she didn't soil your name with all her lies (from what I understand). Though I doubt that's any consolation at the moment.

Dress is so nice!

[Redbeard]

My little sister works with a "natural girl" pagent in Minnesota, no age innapropriate costumes, no makeup beyond a little stage makeup for glare, they don't allow the wierd, "let's make our girls look like a vegas showgirl" style pagents, and she would LOVE you.
Would you mind if I PM'd you her info?

And holy crap what a beastly woman! Cancer or not, she's a thief and a rip off artist, I hope you've spread word though the community

[SavageChihuahua]

Ugh, thiefs are so horrible! I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Oh, and that dress is gorgeous!! Wish I had the money, I'd buy it off you for my little girl. I hope you sell it soon to help with bills. People are so messed up asking for less especially considering the obvious work that went into that.

[emax4]

How far away from you is she? Is it possible that you can go to some of these pageants and burst out with, "HEY! THAT'S MY DESIGN?!!! YOU NEVER PAID ME!!!" in the middle of a presentation?

[Balgram]

Yeah, I wouldn't let that one woman slide. That's ridiculous, and if you don't defend yourself then no one has any choice but to take what she says at face value. Nail her for that, and if you have any proof (receipts for patterns or fabric) then you can keep it handy. Pointing out that you were never paid is big, too. I imagine the industry has a lot of trust, and if you don't have trust you won't get much business. Good grief. What a terrible person.

Also, what is the deal with the model mom? Did she just get your clothes for free because she refused to send you pictures? Can't she then get blacklisted? Or did she send the dress back?

That dress you made is GORGEOUS, this is the first time I've seen your work. I don't know anyone with young kids who are into pageants around here, but I will definitely keep my ears and eyes open and send people your way if I come across some possible contenders!

[bainsidhe]

With liar-lady, how much value are we talking? I'm thinking you should document everything and take her to small claims court. I'm petty and would want to start mudslinging, but you're right that will only make you look bad and you're running a business after all. She can be petty once you take her to small claims, but the facts speak volumes.

[pageantmama]

My little sister works with a "natural girl" pagent in Minnesota, no age innapropriate costumes, no makeup beyond a little stage makeup for glare, they don't allow the wierd, "let's make our girls look like a vegas showgirl" style pagents, and she would LOVE you.
Would you mind if I PM'd you her info?

Go ahead I love the natural pageants more then glitz, and of course my 4 year old Diva loves the glitz because she gets to wear the big hair and makeup, lol. We only do those every so often if we get a good deal though, they are wayy more expensive. For the natural ones she always asks, where is my lipstick so I put a little clear gloss on her and it usually wears off by the time she goes on stage so she can't get in trouble and get docked for it, but she still gets her lipstick, lol

[pageantmama]

And I have emails, receipts, and tracking number for sending the stuff to her. I also have the screenshot my friend took of her conversation about me that didn't mention me specifically but still badmouthed me. I would love to bust into a pageant and call her out, lol but she lives in another state. She was supposed to pay around 300 for the work and shipping. That was around 30 per suit plus cost of shipping for the super heavy box. And considering she is selling them for a LOT more then 30.00 she was getting a good deal even if she would have paid me

[Jetfire]

Sounds like you have everything you need for a small claims court claim; I'd definitely put the pressure on her. If you think you want to appear on TV, contact one of the Judge shows like Judge Judy or People's Court. (IMO, People's Court would probably be your best bet; Judge Milian seems to love these dress/wardrobe cases). Even if she sends you the money, you might be able to get her for her slanderous (is slander written? or is it libel? I can never remember which is which) statements and implications.

[thansal]

Could some one who actually knows this stuff possibly verify this:

If pageantmama was to file in her state, isn't it on the thief's head to show up where pageantmama filed? And if the thief doesn't show, isn't the ruling likely to default in pageantmama's favor? (I read some stuff on people using small claims to deal with issues like this a little while ago, but I can't remember specifics).

Any way, I wish you the best of luck on this.

[Kristev]

Sue her. For defmation of character as well as the money.

I hate to see people being taken advantage of.

[dougall]

If she has defrauded other people your actions may get them to come out of the woodwork as well.

[bainsidhe]

One other thing to consider about small claims court is how you will collect. If you win a judgement, you can pay a fee to garnish wages, but that idea is bust if she's self employed. Though it may feel good, there's no use getting a judgement with no way to collect.