Why I Will Never Buy a Shabby Apple Product
I have considered writing this post for some time and not done so because I didn’t want to seem ungrateful for my mom’s lovely and generous gift, but. . . now I’m just too angry not to say something about it, and I would really like to keep someone else from having the same terrible experience I had.
The short story is: Shabby Apple makes poor-quality items and doesn’t stand behind them.
The long story? Well, buckle your seat belts. Because I am filled with indignation.
For Christmas, my mom bought all three of us girls dresses from Shabby Apple. Mine was this one:
 |
| via |
Lovely, isn’t it? My mom has good taste and always has (I do not joke when I say that every time I get compliments on an item of clothing I’m wearing it is always something my mom has purchased for me).
The thing was, at Christmas I was still nursing. A lot. And continued to for many months afterward, so wearing a dress wasn’t really an option for me. So the dress hung, unworn, tags still on, in my closet for quite a few months.
Finally, when nursing had tapered off to the point where I could make it through three hours of church, I pulled the dress out of my closet, and with anticipation, slid it on.
And. . .then I realized I couldn’t zip it up. Keep in mind that the website states that this dress is “fits generously.” I am not sure what universe it is where a “generously” fitting dress will not zip over my sub-100 lb body, but it is NOT this universe.
And the top gaped like crazy.
Oh, and the top? Was white. And sheer. And unlined. So the whole premise of Shabby Apple, which is “A return to what dresses were always meant to be—a one piece outfit. No need to add anything…no tank tops, no cardigans, nothing,” is blatantly untrue.
Also, it hit me mid-calf, rather than at the knee, which was quite unflattering.
We were starting to get dangerously near running late, which I loathe, so I quickly changed into something else and we went to church.
The dress still had the tags on it and I’d worn it for a total of 2 minutes in front of my bedroom mirror.
After church, I looked up the dress on Shabby Apple and it said, “Sizing concern? Not the right dress for you? Return your dress and Shabby Apple will ship you a new dress for FREE!”
Perfect. This would be an easily solved problem (my present self is laughing at this). Plus, the dress was still being sold at full-price, so I figured they’d let me ship it back and send me off another one. I’d pick a less expensive dress!
I called in to Shabby Apple the next morning and explained the situation. “Was it ordered more than 30 days ago?” the rep asked. “Then I’m sorry, there is nothing we can do.” (I loathe this answer so much because that is NOT true. They are choosing to do nothing about it). Basically, I was stuck with a brand-new, non-fitting, poorly made $100 dress.
I emailed a long description of the scenario to Shabby Apple (recap: 6 month old dress, never worn, still for sale at full price, tags still on). I was upfront about the fact that I knew I was outside the return window.
They emailed back saying how sorry they were and could I give them some info about the purchase so they could see what they could do.
My heart soared.
Only to crash when they quickly responded saying, “Unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to make an exchange for your dress whereas your item was purchased in December. We understand and are flexible when the purchase is given as a gift but we do strongly advise that you try on your items as soon as possible to receiving them so that any exchange/return can be placed within our 30day exchange/return policy. I am sorry for any inconvenience that this may be for you and that the dress didn’t work out for you.”
I’m not sure what their definition of “flexible” is, but it’s clearly FAR different from mine. Also, why did they suggest they could do something about it when I told them the dress was purchased many months ago, but then when they saw the actual date, they suddenly couldn’t do anything?
I went back and looked at some of the reviews of the dress again. One reviewer, who gave the dress 4 stars, said “The only problem is that the top is completely see-through. You can’t really wear an undershirt because the skirt is so tight that you would see a line. So you would have to sew a lining in the top. The quality doesn’t reflect the high price.”
Okay, so I wasn’t alone in this sheer problem. (Why you would still give it 4 stars is beyond me, but whatever).
Another commenter, giving it three stars said, “VERY LONG SKIRT. I’m 5’4″ and rather petite. I ordered this dress in a Med, because another dress that I ordered very similar to this one was a Small was too tight. I have to return the dress because it sits WELL BELOW THE KNEE, as in mid calf. And overall it was just too big, which could have been the Med instead of the Small, but the length was just silly. I looked like I was wearing my big sisters dress. ha. No lining in the skirt, and it felt rather thin. I wish it had fit as it is a cute style! But the pics on this website show the blonde girl with the dress at her knee, ya-no way.”
Again, why three stars? But I digress.
Another FIVE star review said, “This dress is not lined and is a bit of a struggle to get on and off. I did manage to zip it up and down on my own, but it took a good five minutes each time and I feared tearing the dress.”Â
I guarantee you that the people who are giving these high star ratings with complaints like this are the people who give a standing ovation to every performance they attend.
As I looked through reviews of other dresses, I noticed the same sorts of comments again and again: cheap fabric, unlined, fit not as shown, poor sizing.
I know Shabby Apple has a good reputation. They take gorgeous pictures, they have lovely models, and their selection is wide. They heavily promote their brand in the blogosphere, giving away many many dresses. But their dresses are poorly made, don’t fit well, and the photographs are terribly misleading. They are low quality products that are horrendously overpriced.
And their customer service is seriously lacking.
Compare this with my experience yesterday with Lands’ End Canvas. I ordered a swimsuit a couple of weeks ago and it didn’t show up. I had recently ordered another swimsuit and a shirt for Bart for Father’s Day (Lands’ End makes excellent, excellent dress shirts) and they’d both shown up within a week of ordering. I knew from my order that it’d arrived two days after shipping at the post office sorting center. But then the post office appeared to have lost it.
Twelve days went by.
I hopped on their website, clicked the “Chat Now” button and within seconds was chatting with Megan. I gave her my order number and told her the situation. Two minutes later, she was verifying my address and said a new swimsuit would arrive at my doorstep on Thursday, via UPS. No hassle, no waiting, not even a phone call.
And THAT is why I love Lands End. When they say “Guaranteed. Period.” they mean it. That’s why I buy my swimsuits there, and why Bart wears a Lands End shirt to work 80% of the time.
They know what good customer service means.
Last week, my mom emailed Merrick and me to ask if we’d like new black dresses for Landen’s upcoming wedding. She suggested that Shabby Apple had a very cute line of black dresses.
Both of us emailed her back separately that we would love a new dress, but would she mind if we purchased them from somewhere else?
I ordered this one from eShakti. Their return policy? You can get a full refund or you can get a gift card back in the amount of your order PLUS 20%. Why? Â
* A way for us to show higher responsibility in not meeting your expectations.
* To give you the opportunity to order again so that we can try and delight you, the next time round!
That’s a return policy I can get behind.
If you’re considering buying a dress from Shabby Apple, I would strongly encourage you to think again. You can get a better dress somewhere else. A less expensive dress. A dress that isn’t sheer, sized incorrectly, and unlined.
And perhaps, if you buy that other dress, if you need to return it, you’ll get a better answer than, “Sorry it didn’t work out for you.”
(You can read my follow-up post about my Shabby Apple experience here. Spoiler: They never did responded at all. Updated 5/2012: They finally did respond and exchange my dress. Not that after this whole thing I’m at all convinced their dresses are worth spending actual money on).Â
I am SO glad you posted this! You may remember I included that VERY dress in a wishlist I posted a while back (read: a SHOPPING list for Haki). Ahem. Anyway, I was just browsing their site the other day thinking, "I wonder if they'll ship to NZ…" and "I could wear that to the wedding in Jan because I won't be nursing as much," and then I worried that for the price (and after the exchange rate and international shipping) I wanted to be sure I would like how I looked in the thing!
Again – SO. glad.
So so so glad I read this! I was literally just about to purchase a dress from Shabby Apple. I have no tolerance for this sort of customer service. THANK YOU for saving me a headache! – Sarah
I have loved their style for a long time, but, being tall, their dresses will never ever fit me, which I was really sad about, until I read this post.
My sister-in-law bought one of their dresses for a family wedding and when she told me where it was from, I was surprised. It was a cute dress, but it didn't fit her very well and it looked cheap (none of which I said to my sister-in-law, of course)
The creator/owner of the company's sister is my relief society president and often wears their dresses since she gets many for free. They look as if they were hand made for her. I've met the owner and she herself has great style, but somewhere along the line, the magic combination of both style and quality (of both product and service) just didn't happen.
I suggest you go hawk that thing on ebay.
What a pain!
I've used eShakti a few times, and I'm pleased with their policies on returns. I've never had a hassle.
That said, I've had to return almost EVERYTHING I've purchased from them. I custom sized and they're all over the place on consistency in sizing, and none of the time has it been right. So to say I'm glad I get my money back when I have to send back ill-fitting custom sized items = gold.
Good to know as I'm in the market for a new dress!
eShakti does have a great return policy…which is great because I have returned every.single.thing. I ever bought from them. I have a strict non-internet clothes buying rule for myself now! Best of luck Janssen!
Ok, then. Good to know. I always doubt their stuff would fit me anyway. Problems like these are why I pay with American Express every time online (except sometimes I pay with paypal so that isn't quite true, but anyway). I bought a new broiler element for my oven a while back. We are slow at projects, so it sat for about 47 days before we tried to install it. Installed, oven the still didn't work. . . Not the broiler element that was broken. Boxed it back up, called to return it, and what do you know, it was beyond the 45 day return window. So I called American Express to deal with it. They tried to get the company to accept it, and gave me an immediate $90+ refund even if they didn't accept the return. The company refunded Amex the money, I didn't have to do anything, and the weirdos still didn't want the element back. So now I have the money, and an unused broiler element (which I don't need. . .). Thank you, Amex!
Very good to know. I appreciate your honesty here. I have looked at their dresses before and they are quite lovely…apparently only online though, and not in real life!
Wow, your mom buys you (all) $100 dresses off the internet?! You're one lucky girl 🙂 Of course, you already knew that 😉 And I love the men's shirt tip from Lands End.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I purchased a shabby apple dress several years ago when they first started out. I wanted something cute for a trip to San Fran with my dad. The dress was so hard to get on. I mean really hard, I had to almost fight it. I have probably some of the world's most narrow shoulders so I wonder what other people were doing. The skirt didn't fit right and unless the sash was tied tightly it just didn't look good. On top of that, well, the fabric wasn't the best quality. All of this from a pretty expensive dress.
So, I sent the dress to my friend Lindsay because I wasn't about to throw out a piece of clothing that was really fine (just not for me). She loved it.
Then I made the mistake recently of purchasing a Down East Basics dress. It fits terribly. I was supposed to wear it to my cousin's wedding and just couldn't. I borrowed a dress from my mom.
It's just too bad.
Thanks for the heads up in dealing with this company. This type of info is always helpful in dealing with online companies. However, I can't help but think maybe you need to take a little personal responsibility regarding their return policy. It's clearly stated that you have a 30 day window to return items. I understand you were breastfeeding but that doesn't excuse issues that were in no related to that. The sheer top would have been noticeable just by looking, breastfeeding or not. The length also would have been a noticeable issue just by holding it up to you..again, breastfeeding or not. Instead you chose to hang it in the back of your closet until you were ready to wear it. That isn't the companies fault. It's your fault. The company gives you a window of time (whether we think it should be longer or not isn't the issue). You have to keep in mind that people try to screw companies all the time. They wear dresses with the tags still attached and then try to return them 6 months later when they are finished with it. That's not fair to the company. Also, the company relies on the money from their dress sales to run their company and pay their bills. They can't leave all that money just sitting in an account in case you decide 6 months later that you don't want the dress. They hang on to the $ for 30 days and then spend it based on the assumption that you are satisfied with your purchase and there are no issues. That would be like a company giving you a paycheck and then coming back 6 months later and saying there was an issue and you have to give the money back. Chances are, you've already spent on the money.
In the end, you have the power over this company. You have the power to write a blog slamming this company (and somewhat rightfully so as it sounds like their product is junk). The company doesn't really have any way to defend themselves against this except to give in to you and meet your demands. On one hand this keeps companies honest and striving for happy customers. On the other hand, it's kind of bullying because the issues you are having COULD have been resolved to everyone's satisfaction had you just followed the return policy. Instead, you didn't and now you're trashing a company because you are upset you didn't get your way.
Erin, I can see your point, absolutely. I should have tried it on immediately and it's not their fault that I didn't. They are under no obligation to let me exchange or return the dress (although, I never once asked for a refund – all I wanted to do was exchange a dress they could resell since it was brand-new for another dress). What is their fault, though, is that their dresses are poorly made and that the sizing makes it difficult to find a dress that fits you. When they claim that their dresses are made to be worn without anything else needed, they should not use sheer white fabric for a top. There is no way to wear that without something underneath. And based on other reviews, the other comments on this post, and several personal friends and family members, I know that this is not an isolated event. I'm not opposed to Shabby Apple because they won't let me exchange my dress, as that's their right (although it does make me very wary to order something in the future from a company that makes it hard for me to get the right item); I'm opposed to them because they're selling heinously overpriced cheap dresses. I do not believe that the photographs of their items match the item you get in the mail.And I don't feel like I'm trying to be bullying to Shabby Apple – I feel like I'm trying to warn people who might be contemplating a purchase that they'll be spending a lot of money for a dress that is just not high-quality.
So glad you posted this! I have considered Shabby Apple dresses in the past and based on this I will NEVER order from them. I can't STAND poor return policies. Thank you Thank you Thank you!
Nice response to the above comment Janssen! Always classy. 🙂
As for your post, I back you 100% and it's not just because you are my friend. I hate companies that do not stand behind their own mottos and goals. You have probably just saved several people their own headache from ordering a dress from them.
I ordered a couple dresses from Shabby Apple last year and neither fit. One was just all wrong and the other was just too small (the next size up I feel confident would have fit perfectly). But, they didn't have that size in stock, so I ended up returning both. Then my boyfriend bought me a dress from them and it too didn't fit right – the skirt portion was lovely but the sleeves on the top were so tight it cut off circulation. Otherwise it fits and looks great so I'm still looking for a place that will alter the sleeves for me (few and far between where I live), but meanwhile it's sat unworn for many months. I doubt I'll order something else from them again because three out of three dresses haven't fit…and I have to pay shipping both ways.
I'm so hesitant about ordering stuff online because of this. I order occasionally from ModCloth, but almost everything I've ordered from them has fit (3 out of 4 dresses). And their prices are so much more reasonable and the comments always tell me if something is lined or not. But then I still have to pay return shipping which I hate so much.
Now I order almost exclusively from JC Penney when I want dresses. We have a small store here that doesn't have much of a selection, so I order from them online. Shipping is free to your home if you spend over $69 and then it's free to return if you bring it back to the store. It's basically no-risk shopping. I've ordered a ton of stuff even if I don't think it will fit because I know I can try it on and return it and get all my money back, without paying any shipping at all.
I have heard good things about eshakti and will probably try them next.
What a pain! I must be lucky…I've had really good experiences with SA so far, (granted I buy them once in a blue moon and only after trying on a dress first at a trunk sale or something) but you've made me wary now. What awful customer service!
What a crappy experience, and what an interesting response from Erin. I think claiming fault on anyone's side is a little pointless, since it doesn't really matter if an issue is the customer's "fault" (and I have to say, I don't think it was)–what matters is how the company chooses to respond. If a company won't make an effort on behalf of its customers, those customers are perfectly justified in expressing their disappointment. A review isn't some kind of sneaky revenge on the company–it's an expected part of the company/customer exchange.
The 30-day return policy isn't some kind of retail law. If a company chooses to have such a limiting policy, then regardless of how well the policy is advertised, they're going to have to be accountable for people's dissatisfaction with it. Maybe it's the customer's "fault" for not inspecting a dress she knows she can't wear just to make sure she fits in the 30-day window, and maybe it's the company's "fault" for having a restrictive policy in the first place. Either way, Erin is right about one thing: To a certain extent the company is at the mercy of their customers' reviews. Which is why they should probably try a little harder to make their customers happy.
It's so funny that you're writing about this now, because I was just looking at Shabby Apple dresses a few days ago, when I never have before. I probably won't be buying anything from them either now. Too bad for them that so many people respect your opinion on things like this. 🙂
How funny you should post this just as I have a Shabby Apple dress on my dining room table waiting to return. The dress I ordered is made of terrible, cheap, scratchy fabric. The kind of fabric one would find on clearance at Hancock Fabrics. Being a rather expensive purchase I was quite disappointed. Good thing I am in the 30 day return window. I would also never recommend this company to anyone I liked.
I bought a maternity dress from Shabby Apple and it also did not fit right. The picture made it seem like the dress went to the knee, but upon trying it on, it was more like mid thigh. I'm a tall girl at 5'10", but I'm not excessively tall and this dress was short! And, I wasn't even that far along in my pregnancy (5 months). I can't imagine how short it would have been near the end of my pregnancy. Needless to say, I straightaway returned the dress.
Sorry your experience with Shabby Apple was much worse. I agree, for the prices they are charging, they should be delivering a better product.
I'm so glad that you wrote this. I was strongly considering buying a dress from them, but I wasn't sure if the very high price (in my opinion) was worth it. I appreciate your honesty! I will be shopping elsewhere.