Let’s Talk More about Shabby Apple
Whew, okay. Am I ready for this?
I think so. (Please let this be the last post I ever ever write about Shabby Apple).
About eight weeks ago, I was looking at my blog stats and I noticed that my original post about my deep unhappiness with all things Shabby Apple was my most viewed post of any on my blog over the past year (which, considering I wrote it a third of the way through the year, was fairly impressive).
I mentioned this on Twitter, linking to Shabby Apple (which I’d done on numerous occasions before), and went on my merry way.
Then, the next day, I got an email from the husband part of the husband-wife team that own Shabby Apple and I almost fell over in surprise.
Apparently some employee had forwarded along my tweet which linked to my posts and they’d seen it.
He told me how successful Shabby Apple had been over the last five years or so and how many repeat customers they had, and then how that probably didn’t matter to me when I had had such a frustrating experience and to call him at my convenience.
Y’all, a letter from the owner! I felt both excited and kind of like throwing up. Because confrontation? I hate it.
We actually had a nice conversation the next day, where I explained how frustrating it was that the policies were all over the place (“we’re helpful with gifts!” “Wait no, anything over thirty days we absolutely do not accept!” “I’m sure we can help you!” “Sorry, there is nothing we can do”) and how I was not very happy with the dress itself (unlined, weird fit, etc).
He suspected it was probably a fluke bad dress (which I absolutely do not agree with because my complaints about it were the exact same as the others on the website) and also that the dress was made to fit someone more curvy than I am (I also disagree with this because I tried the dress on one last time before I sent it back and it fit MUCH better now that I’m not nursing and am back to my real-life flat-chested self).
He said they’d pick out a new dress for me and send it on and requested (although it was up to me) that I send back the other dress so he could see if it was a fluke dress.
My new dress came a week or so later and they’d sent me this one which I totally hated on the website, but, when I put it on wasn’t half bad.
I’d originally thought I quite liked this one, but apparently it doesn’t come in my size, and the thought of another trip the post office for another dress that might not fit/look decent/need to be returned just made me feel tired, so I decided to keep this dress.
And, you know what? I like it. It actually does the things they say their dresses are supposed to do – I don’t have to wear anything under or over it, the length is decent, and it’s a nice mix of dressy and casual. I don’t necessarily love that it has an elastic waist, and I find the sleeves a little tight (I can’t reach very far before the underarm catches), but I’ll definitely get wear out of it.
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| I tried really hard to get a good front view of this dress and I feel like they were all deeply unflattering |
Is it my favorite dress ever? No. Would I personally pay $86 for it (plus taxes and shipping)? HAHAHAHAHA. No. Of course I would not. But then, I’d be hard pressed to ever pay more than $40 for a dress, so I’m not exactly Shabby Apple’s target audience.
Am I planning to buy anything else from Shabby Apple? No. There’s pretty
much no chance after this whole fiasco that I would ever send them my
own money. I still think their dresses are just far too expensive for
the quality and I think their customer service is sorely lacking. It’d take more than one exchanged dress (mind you, this was not a free dress) to make me forget my own horrible experiences, not to mention the fifty or more other commenters who had similarly poor experiences.
But I’m glad to have a dress I can finally wear (with my gold shoes, no less!) and to no longer feel full of rage when I walk into my closet and see my $100 unlined sheer-topped dress. And it’s nice to have this whole unpleasantness behind me, even if it did take them seven months to respond. But, really, let’s not quibble.
ust stumbled across your blog in search of other Shabby Apple info. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Shabby Apple. I've bought *many* dresses from them and have had good experiences with them so far. I've been looking for a modest dress retailer for a long time. I only wish I had found them sooner!
I've also bought from a couple of retailers you mentioned, eShakti and Land's End. Dress availability from eShakti varies from day to day. Colors and styles are available one day and not another. Land's End has the quality expected from a large catalog retailer; a little better than Target. Their prices certainly reflect the ability to purchase items in large quantities.
I've also looked at/purchased/returned dresses from many other retailers: Ann Taylor, Talbots, The Limited, J Crew, Coldwater Creek, Macy's, Nordstroms, and Overstock.com. Some of their dresses fit me weird. I guess I have a weird figure. If the dresses fit me, their prices, even on sale, were out of my price range.
Shabby Apple dresses seem to be made for me. When I purchases, if they don't work for me, I return them and get a replacement quickly, thanks to USPS Priority Mail. I've had good, quick communication from them when there are problems with my returns (which was rare.) I've even had a return exception because they sent me the wrong size on a final sale. I also like that they send emails with discounts and free shipping.
I've been happy with Shabby Apple and the dresses I've purchased from them. I hope to purchase many more dresses from them in the future. I also hope that if you haven't, you do find a dress vendor that works for you!
Also, Shabby Apple will not work for you if you are tall. Their dresses are made for people who are 5'4" and they have no tall option. If you are looking for a knee-length dress (which it's Shabby Apple, so you probably are) and are over 5'6" you will look like you are wearing a shrunken dress. Waist is too high, torso too short, length is not anywhere close to the knee. Wanted to cry when I found this out the hard way.
I guess perhaps I am in the minority, but I've had good luck with shabby apple. I'm 5'7 , and for me, finding a dress with sleeves that isn't insanely short is a real struggle. I can't even imagine what it would be like to end up with a calf length dress. Totally jealous–i've always thought it would be easier to find dresses if I was shorter 😉 Shabby apple dresses tend come to the top of my knee cap. The dress flattered my shape (granted I'm more curvy than the author). I used a measuring tape and their size chart to pick a size and the dress fit perfectly. I think buying clothes online in general is kinda of tricky because everyone has a different body type and it can be hard to know without trying it on if it will flatter your body. My experience with trying to buy modest dresses online is that it can be a mixed bag and you better look close at return policies BEFORE you buy or you will get burned. Some companies have you to pay both for shipping and for return shipping (talk about throwing away money) or sometimes they don't even do exchanges or returns. Ugh. I don't remember the company, but I could tell you a horror story about bridesmaid dresses that my sister ordered for her wedding that could not be exchanged or returned–all sales were final. But back to shabby apple…. I also called customer service because I couldn't find the return label, and someone picked up instantly and emailed me a new shipping label within minutes. I returned the one dress with no problems (I was within the 30 day return policy). Also, the dress I returned was the one that was fully lined. I felt it was too heavy and bulky when I wanted something more slenderizing. I prefer the lighter fabric. Compared with Downeast Dresses, I thought shabby apple was more expensive but also a little higher quality.
this is a really old blog post, but i found it looking for info on shabby apple. just in case shabby apple ever sees these comments, i want them to know that people are still seeing your blog posts and that they made a huge mistake in treating you the way they did. i spend thousands of dollars on line every year, and just the amount of money i send to zappos each month could probably fund NASA for several decades. so, shabby apple, you are still losing customers with serious cash because of how you treated this one customer. the internet never forgets.
Dear Everyday Reading Author,
I read your posts on Shabby Apple and I have some hope. I was wondering if there was anything you could do to help me. I’ve had a very bad experience with Shabby Apple and they won’t make it right and I’m starting to get desperate. Please help!
Last month Shabby Apple had a promotion that was “buy one full priced dress, get one sale dress free.” When I shop online, I usually put everything that I like into my shopping basket and then gradually eliminate items until the price reaches what I’d like it to be at. So with this promotion going on, I added the promotional code, then started eliminating the dresses I could do without. When I looked at the price, I was surprised at how cheap it was, but didn’t think anything of it and then placed the order. I later found out that there was a glitch in their system that added ALL sale items for free with the purchase of one full-priced dress. I hadn’t really been looking at what was full priced and what was sale priced, but when I got an email from Shabby Apple asking me to pick the full priced and sale priced items I wanted from my order, I thought “well, technically this was kind of THEIR fault for having a faulty promo code, but whatever” and so I sent them my choices. Before I’d received an email from them, I’d also placed a couple more orders with them unknowingly making the same mistake. I figured they’d email me about those too and I’d pick the free dresses I wanted and whatever.
Then a week later, I checked my account to find out that they had refunded all of my orders. I asked them about it and they said that they “found out” that I had “deliberately” placed two more orders after they’d emailed me. I explained to them that I’d placed the orders before I got their email, but they wouldn’t place the orders again. I was already feeling very frustrated because the promotional was now over and I couldn’t get the buy one get one free anymore.
Anyways, despite this lack of professionalism, I got on a few weeks later (mistake #1) and placed another, much larger order, for around $500. This time I double checked that the promotional code was working so we didn’t have any problems and I paid in full for the order. This was almost a month ago. Since then, the order has been marked as “manual verification required” and nothing has happened. My credit card has been charged the full $500, but the order hasn’t shipped. I’ve called and emailed Shabby Apple customer service over and over again, but they have not responded. I suspected that they may be ignoring me on purpose, so last night I used a different email address to contact them. I got a response from them almost immediately asking me how they could help (they didn’t know who I was). This confirmed that they have been deliberately ignoring me.
To sum things up, I’m out $500, they won’t send my dresses, and they’re ignoring any emails or phone calls I give them. I’m coming dangerously close to the 30 days after the order placement and I’m scared they’re going to give me “there’s nothing we can do” and just not send me the dresses. At this point, all I want is a refund. I don’t even want the dresses anymore, I just want my money back. I keep thinking that what they’re doing has to be illegal somehow. They can’t just take my money and not send me the dresses, can they? It seems like you were able to have some influence with them because of your blog and its publicity. Is there anything you can do to help me? I’m desperate. I need that money back. They’re ignoring me, and I don’t have enough money to pay a lawyer and file a lawsuit.
You were in contact with the owners at one point. Could you contact them again or even give me their contact information? I’m desperate for help and you seem to have influence.
If this hasn't been resolved, you can contact the Better Business Bureau for help. Hope things have worked out for you!