Mondo Pelle jacket update
And now, in the interests of not being a dick, I present to you the readers of my LJ an update on the ripped zipper Mondo Pelle jacket situation.
After Joe presented me with links to information on small claims court and to the Better Business Bureau website, I determined that I would indeed call Mondo Pelle to see what, if anything they were going to do about my jacket, and that if their response did not reasonably satisfy me, I was going to file a complaint with the local Better Business Bureau (of which they are a member, as it turns out). According to their reliability report, they've had a couple of complaints in the past three years, both of which are regarded as being resolved (although for the product issue listed, "the consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB"). I don't really know if that's generally good or bad as records go, but it's encouraging that the issues are regarded as resolved.
It took me some time to work up to calling them (yes, fine, I'm pathetic), but when I finally did I got the co-owner who's listed as principle management on the BBB reliability report. He was friendly enough and said that if I could come in to see him either on the odd occasion when he's at the Conestoga Mall location or at their Cambridge location, which is usually where he is, he would see just how tight the jacket was and conditionally on that he would do something for me. I told him I didn't think I could make it in right away (exams, transportation, and move-out dates conspire) but that I would come in and do so. It's reasonable for him to want to see how tight it was if it ripped because it was snug, I suppose; after all, if I had to pull hard to close a six-inch gap to get it closed and zipped up, then short of the saleswoman watching or helping me do so and THEN saying, "Don't worry, it will stretch", I ought to frigging know better.
As it turns out, Joe came in last night for the watching of hockey with roju and Jason, so he took me to the mall with the jacket to see the guy, who'd told me he'd be there for the rest of the day. I got there, talked to him, showed him how the jacket fit, and he said, "Okay, no problem, we'll fix it." I did mention the pink stuff at the back, just for the sake of honesty, but of course that doesn't matter to me, and it doesn't matter to him if he's going to fix the jacket, not replace it. I also mentioned that I was worried about this plan because I'd had it "fixed" once already, and he said it must have been done poorly if it ripped again. Me, I'm happy if it can be fixed; I liked the jacket well enough to buy it, after all.
So, at any rate, so far so good. I'm a little nervous that the fix won't hold, *again*, and in that case I don't know what exactly I'll do, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. In the meantime, I'm certainly satisfied with the man's attitude, which seemed reasonably accommodating and much more agreeable to me than "it's not a manufacturing defect, so you're screwed."
In summary, my revised opinion of the store is that they seem willing to deal with you reasonably, but if only for the hassle angle I wouldn't recommend buying anything from them that didn't feel like it fit well to begin with. *shrug* Additionally, while the styles and so on are nice enough, the ladies' sizes at least are on the quite-small side.
Now, I should get down to the serious business of studying and packing. Stupid residence move-out policy; I'd much prefer it if I could take a couple of days AFTER my last exam to pack up and get ready to leave.
After Joe presented me with links to information on small claims court and to the Better Business Bureau website, I determined that I would indeed call Mondo Pelle to see what, if anything they were going to do about my jacket, and that if their response did not reasonably satisfy me, I was going to file a complaint with the local Better Business Bureau (of which they are a member, as it turns out). According to their reliability report, they've had a couple of complaints in the past three years, both of which are regarded as being resolved (although for the product issue listed, "the consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB"). I don't really know if that's generally good or bad as records go, but it's encouraging that the issues are regarded as resolved.
It took me some time to work up to calling them (yes, fine, I'm pathetic), but when I finally did I got the co-owner who's listed as principle management on the BBB reliability report. He was friendly enough and said that if I could come in to see him either on the odd occasion when he's at the Conestoga Mall location or at their Cambridge location, which is usually where he is, he would see just how tight the jacket was and conditionally on that he would do something for me. I told him I didn't think I could make it in right away (exams, transportation, and move-out dates conspire) but that I would come in and do so. It's reasonable for him to want to see how tight it was if it ripped because it was snug, I suppose; after all, if I had to pull hard to close a six-inch gap to get it closed and zipped up, then short of the saleswoman watching or helping me do so and THEN saying, "Don't worry, it will stretch", I ought to frigging know better.
As it turns out, Joe came in last night for the watching of hockey with roju and Jason, so he took me to the mall with the jacket to see the guy, who'd told me he'd be there for the rest of the day. I got there, talked to him, showed him how the jacket fit, and he said, "Okay, no problem, we'll fix it." I did mention the pink stuff at the back, just for the sake of honesty, but of course that doesn't matter to me, and it doesn't matter to him if he's going to fix the jacket, not replace it. I also mentioned that I was worried about this plan because I'd had it "fixed" once already, and he said it must have been done poorly if it ripped again. Me, I'm happy if it can be fixed; I liked the jacket well enough to buy it, after all.
So, at any rate, so far so good. I'm a little nervous that the fix won't hold, *again*, and in that case I don't know what exactly I'll do, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. In the meantime, I'm certainly satisfied with the man's attitude, which seemed reasonably accommodating and much more agreeable to me than "it's not a manufacturing defect, so you're screwed."
In summary, my revised opinion of the store is that they seem willing to deal with you reasonably, but if only for the hassle angle I wouldn't recommend buying anything from them that didn't feel like it fit well to begin with. *shrug* Additionally, while the styles and so on are nice enough, the ladies' sizes at least are on the quite-small side.
Now, I should get down to the serious business of studying and packing. Stupid residence move-out policy; I'd much prefer it if I could take a couple of days AFTER my last exam to pack up and get ready to leave.