December 2021 by Maria Hernandez
Short version:They gave me the run around for 4 days. Never got the price quote I wanted for a discontinued fabric and found out on the 4th day that they no longer have enough of it for my project. They did on the 1st day, so if they hadn't given me the runaround, I could've purchased it.Long Version:I am a seamstress who does custom sewing, including the occasional non-apparel items. My client wanted a second set of covers made for the booth seats at her business. The existing covers were made with a fabric sold by Burch (and seemingly nowhere else). I called on Monday to ask about the fabric. I was told the fabric had been discontinued and that there were 15 yards left. At the time of the call, I wasn't sure if 15 yards would be enough for this project so I ended the call and double checked my math. When I was sure that 15 yards were enough (literally 5 minutes later) I called back. I couldn't get a hold of the person I originally spoke with so I tried to continue the conversation with a second rep.She told me that they could not provide a price on the fabric unless I opened an account with them so I told her to go ahead and send me the application. I received an e-mail within a few minutes. I filled out everything and provided all the documents they asked for. A few hours later I get an e-mail from a third rep saying that, upon further research, they recommend I apply to their other website JKBFabrics.com. I went to the website and searched for the fabric I needed but it was not listed on that website. I replied to the e-mail, that same day, asking for clarification as I had not been able to find the fabric I needed. They responded saying that not all fabrics they sell are listed on the JKB website and that if I wanted to order it, I would have to go through her directly.I replied to that message stating, again, which fabric I wanted including the color and yardage. She responded the following day on Tuesday saying that she couldn't find my account and therefore couldn't complete the order. I decided to call her to confirm whether I still needed to set up an account on the website even though the order would be made directly through her, over e-mail, and pertained to an item that was not listed anywhere on that website. She said yes, so I immediately went back to the website and created the account. I got an automated confirmation of my account creation which I forwarded to her so she would be aware.On Wednesday I still did not receive any further communication from the company so I sent her an e-mail requesting an update.No response on Thursday either so I tried to call again. This time, the phone played a recorded message saying to go to JKBFabrics.com and immediately hung up! It wouldn't let me through to any menus or dial any extensions.I went to the website thinking maybe there would be an update there. There wasn't. So, as a last ditch effort, I sent her another e-mail. This time, she responded almost immediately asking me to "please refresh her memory on which fabric I was looking for" By this point I had told this person 4 separate times (both e-mail and over the phone) which fabric, color, and yardage I needed. She responds by telling me that the fabric I'm looking for is discontinued (yeah, I knew this) and that they only had 4 yards left...unbelievable.If she has simply taken my order the first day, they would've been able to sell off the entire remaining fabric and both my client and I would have been happy. Instead they made me waste 4 days and now the fabric is gone.
