Hi;
I would like to ask your views on something.
I purchased a sewing business recently. I am having growing pains as the woman that promised support has given me none. These products are hand dyed shirts that are appliqued. The applique part is not the problem. She had a special way that she dyed shirts, she send me that, but the inventory she sent me there was no hand dyed shirts in there. I don’t have a clue as to what they look like. I tried the technique and they came out tie dyed. So, I thought that was what they are supposed to look like. The web site that came with the business does state in big letters hand dyed. I did not put that there. She also did not give me any buisness names so up out of the blue I get an order for a shirt, not knowing this buisness. I drop ship the order. The person gets the order and throws a huge fit about the shirt because it was tie dyed. I’m not sure what she was expecting as I don’t know what the former owners dyed shirts look like. Both the business and the purchaser has promised to ruin my buisness over this one shirt and that they will make sure that I go out of buisness. I had to refund the money back plus. I had a feeling this woman didn’t really want to full with me to begin with from before I sent the order out. I had thought about buying predyed shirts, but they are so much higher than buying white and dying them, and being on a limited income right now just starting out, I’ve got to do the best that I can.
The purchaser did say that it looked like and hand dyed shirt. Well that is what it says on my web site.
Now, my question is that since my site ( I can’t say about hers) says hand dyed does these people have a right to throw such a fit and promise to ruin me over this dye job, which as I stated I’m not sure what they are supposed to look like to begin with. I know everyone has their own ways of doing things.
Thank you very much for your views on this.
Replies
It is too late to tell you this, but you should have had everything in writing, signed, sealed and witnessed, all with the help of a lawyer. To get your money back is going to be difficult if not impossible if you do not have proof of what you were told by the seller of the business. It was a grave mistake not to see the shirts, isn't there a picture of one on the woman's website?I wish you luck in sorting this out but it is likely to cost you more money to extricate yourself from this. Unfortunately the world is full of unscrupulous people who take advantage of situations like yours.
Thanks for the reply. I did get things in writing, however some of the little things like this were not. I purchased the business off eBay, that should have been a big send off, but I was thinking that I could make it go on my own. Which I do tend to do. If I can over come this issue about the dye job. As for a lawyer, since the woman was so far away I don't know if a lawyer in this town would even touch anything.
The shirts, there are pictures of them on the web site, but they are actually to distant to be able to tell much and the resolution is so low that you can not blow them up and look at detail. Also a lot of them look a lot like the same type shirts that I have here that was store bought, and not hand dyed. I know this sound confusing, and it is. I still have all the e-mails that she had sent me. I'm keeping them for reference just in case.
She said there were shirts like on the web site, I think one of them was just like what was on the site, which gave me a good base for the applique, but none of the others had the same applique as on the site. However I have come up with my own thing as well to add to. But it is more the dying that has got me.
She has come up with this special technique in dying and that is what I tried. She sent me all the information on that, but I think she missed something in the sending. It does not say if the shirts or supposed to be uniform or not. Also the mix she sent me she said would dye a ton of shirts, I was only able to get one shirt at a time dyed with this mix and not evenly at that. I have since got regular fabric dye and dying them with that. It is working better, still having some problems getting that to dye right, but it is better, I have two shirts to dye with a darker spot on them.
Thanks.
Have you contacted the Ebay support people? I was told that they are great at getting things ironed out with unhappy clients. They don't want you to be dissatisfied.
http://www.dharmatradingco.com is an excellent resource for all methods of fabric dying, painting, foiling, etc. They also sell ready to dye items, the cost varies with the amount. They should be an excellent resource for you.
Best wishes on your new business! Keep thinking positive and believe in yourself! Mary
Thank you very much. I have contacted the address you sent about some of my problems in dying. I am awaiting the answer.
My largest problem is with this company that had a prior contract with the business I bought and they complained about the dye job of these shirts, which mine were tie dyed. I'm not sure what the former owner send before I purchased the business. This business that has the contract has promised to ruin me over this dye job, which is what I thought the former owner was selling as she sent me instructions on the way she dyes fabric. While the former owner didn't give me the support that I feel I should have gotten, I'm still pretty happy with what I am doing.
I will say that it hasn't done the business that she had promised not even close. I am working that out at this time in my local area. I have had several hits to my web site that came with the business.
I know if this business that has the prior contract [I did send forms for this business to fill out and did not return them back to me. I just got an this is great e-mail. ] has a right to try and ruin me when I am selling them my interpretation of the product. As far as I know this is the first complaint on this business, for all I know the former owner could have gotten several complaints. I feel like I am walking blind with this company. This is where I am confused as this person from the beginning has seemed to have an attitude, which I'm looking at her dropping me as a blessing, but it bothers me that she has promised to ruin me and make sure that I never sell any more shirts over this one shirt which is my interpretation of how the shirts are to be made. I have felt with the whole purchase of this business that I am not getting the whole story, but I'm really hoping to be able to make it my own.
I just don't know if it is right for them to do what they say they are going to do to me, when I'm doing this my way. I feel that I have done nothing wrong and being treated terrible for doing nothing wrong. The simple thing would be that if they didn't like the product to nicely ask to return it for a refund. No problem, rather than what I was sent a nasty letter about all these and wanting the refund plus back. I guess it is more the way things were handled, I don't feel it was real business like the way they handled the whole situation. I felt like I done a very good job on this and then all of a sudden I was slammed against the wall for no reason rather than handling it more professional. I did offer to have that one returned and make another for them. It was answered with another nasty letter. Which leads me to actually believe that maybe this woman had unhappy dealings with the former owner, she did know that I bought the business and was working somethings out. I don't know.
I just seem to get in situations like this. :-)
Thanks.
My enquiring mind forces me to ask you if there is any close relationship between the seller of the business and the people doing the complaining. I know of a situation where a business was sold, the agreement was that the old owner would not compete with the new, a completely different source demanded satisfaction with the product (of the new owner.) It turned out the two sets were in cahoots to 1. sell the business, 2. cause a problem and collect financially from the new owner who gave up the business, and 3. the company could then be sold again to other unsuspecting buyers.It's not impossible, especially as you are at arms length with both of these people and cannot easily confront them or get redress.
Save all your information, inform them you are tape recording any phone calls that may occur, and do so. Then I might ask them if they've heard of "defamation of character or harassment lawsuits?" If anyone threatened me, I think I would call the District Attorney locally, and ask what my options are, or possibly the Better Business Bureau/Association in your area. There may be a local radio station or television station that offers free call in legal advice too.
It is a shame that someone is being evil and causing you heartache and stress. I hope the harrassment is short lived, don't give them anything to feed off of and maybe they'll lose interest.
Thank you all for your reply. I do hope this goes away. My husband did say something about if push came to shove then we would contact someone legally. But this one situation has caused some stress. As for if they are in cahoots together, I don't know, but it does make one wonder. Then maybe she had bad luck with the former owner and it has carried over to me. As long as she does no more we are alright, but it is that what if that is scary.
I will say that so far I am getting roughly 200 hits to my site. No orders :-( but several hits.
Thank you all very much for your help. I was mainly wanting to know where I stand with all this. Thanks.
This is over one lousy t-shirt?
It is difficult to visualize what is going on here. What exactly did you "buy"? What are you selling? Is there a site where these products can be seen? Are you selling on Ebay or Etsy?
Give the disgruntled customer notice that you are the new owner, refund their money and advise them you do not intend to do business with them again.
Keep copies of everything and let your answering machine do it's thing.
Edited 2/10/2008 10:18 pm ET by spicegirl1
Thank you. Yes this is over one shirt.
I bought a business, which came with a web site, http://www.horse-itz.com hand dying and appliqueing shirt for wholesale and retail. I bought the business on eBay, but sold the shirt from a business that had a prior contract with the former owner. I knew of this business, but did not know they were selling the products through the site, until I got an order for one shirt to be drop shipped. I sent it and the purchaser was unhappy with the dying of the shirt, which had a tie dyed look to it rather than just a solid uniform look. That is when everything started, but the web site does state that the shirts were hand dyed. They had sent me nasty e-mails and stuff about this shirt, rather than handling it buisness like.
I did refund the money plus and they have since took me off their site, which is fine with me. It is the mean things that were said that is bothering me and the promise of ruining this buisness for me.
Thanks.
My sons sell on Ebay and there are a lot of dippy, miserable, self serving people in the world.
Don't let a couple "small" people get you down. Store away the letter in the "nasty" file and it will soon be buried by the letters in the "happy" file.
I am retired and plan on staying that way. When I see something that is trendy, I make one or two then give them away, with the understanding - no orders.
I get satisfaction in sewing for charity. Pure happiness has been the feedback.
Wishing you much success and happiness.
Thank you very much.
I've been sewing for people for almost ten years now. I have an associates degree in tailoring. Mainly individual stuff and alterations. I have also sewn a lot for my sister who is in her 20s. I have made all her choir outfits and a lot of her dance dresses. One dress she specially wears to the horse races. :-)
I love to sew for others and as a business. This is like I said the only second complaint I have ever had in those ten years, the first one came down to the woman simply not wanting to pay for the product. As she paid me said it was perfect and then after the check came back she started going on about how it was wrong. I offered to correct it for her if she would bring it back and cash money and she said she would do that, but never showed back up. After all that I found she had been in jail a couple of times for just that. Needless to say after that I no longer take checks, unless it is from someone that I know real well.
This new thing of selling wholesale and retail products that I make, is something I had been wanting to do for awhile, just couldn't think of anything to sell on my own. Then this fell in my lap, which is I took as a blessing as it is just me. I love to sew and love animals, so here we go. I have actually came of with more stuff, I haven't add them yet, as they are still in the works, but this complaint and the way they went about it just took me by surprise and upset me a little. It was more over how they went about it rather than so much what it was about. That is what upset me the most, not the fact that it wasn't what they thought, that can't be helped, it was the way they went about it. I guess if I had been more into this business rather than just starting out it wouldn't have been so bad either. But to get this just starting out and as I call it having growing pains, trying to get everything together, figureing out things like how the shirts are supposed to look and such like that, it would be different as well.
Oh, by the way, I didn't think I had shirts that she had dyed, I did find one that was at the bottom of the box I didn't see. It was under a bunch of felt and yarn I finally got fully sorted over the weekend. That dye job didn't look much different from mine, there was a slight difference, but not much.
Thank you so very much for your replies. It actually really helps.
From the details of your story, it sounds as if you are the victim of a scam. It is very unlikely that you will ever get any money back, make money, or make a profit from this business. The only person who will profit is the one who "sold" you the "business." If the business had truly been profitable, there would've been no reason for the owner to sell it. Instead, that person makes money by selling business several times to different people.Making a profit selling handmade garments is difficult, but making a profit selling franchises or businesses to unsuspecting people is relatively easy. A website can be created in less than one hour, and a plausible business plan or contract can be adapted from online versions in another hour. Two hours later, the scammer puts the "business" up for sale and sits back to accept the payments. The names, types of businesses, and use of technology may change, but this pyramid scheme has been around for a long time, and honest people continue to lose money.
I agree with Teaf5. Write it off, move on, and be happier. Sometimes you just have to walk away. solo
SewingMom,
I don't know where you stand with your business problem, but it sounds to me like they requested the one shirt because they knew the business had been sold and wanted to see what the new owner would send for a hand-dyed shirt. This could have been - just to see the difference - or maybe the business had a commitment to purchase a specified number of shirts and is trying to get out of the deal. There isn't any way for you to know their reasoning.
However, if you didn't use a lawyer to purchase this business, you need to find one ASAP that deals with internet businesses. The reason you need to do it is you can lose everything if this is a shady deal. It make cost you a thousand dollars to have him/her review the purchase of the business but you need to do it. This isn't to try and get any money back but to make sure the deal is complete and she cannot do anything to risk your financial situation. You can also discuss this other problem with the one shirt with the lawyer. The cost of the lawyer is a business expense so you can deduct when you do your financial statements. If you don't have a love of accounting you also need to get yourself an accountant you trust to help you with that aspect of owning a business.
In the meantime you can do a couple of things that will help your lawyer and save you a few dollars up front. 1. Contact the Better Business Bureau and find out if the old owner had complaints filed against her.
2. Contact the Secretary of States office in your state and the state where the business was prior to you. All businesses need to be registered with the secretary of states office. - They will be very helpful -find out what you need to do in that area.
3. Don't utter one bad word in the same sentence as the name of the company - don't give them anything they can use against you. People sue people for the littlest things today.
4.If you don't like the business part of owning a business maybe your husband would be willing to help out in that area.
This is called - CYA - Cover your A**. Because if you don't someone else will kick it to timbuktu.
Good Luck, try to relax, and work on getting a thicker skin. When I went into management I had to learn quickly not to take things personally. And to stand up to some people and tell them straight out - Things happen, I will do my best to correct the problem. When they keep yelling at you - just say, I am sorry, I know there is a problem, lets work on the solution. Can you tell me what your expectation was for this item. Try NOT to feel the blame, it can take you down faster than anything.
God Bless, jane
WOW - I am so so sorrie you have had this kind of trouble. Over 25 yrs ago - My husband I bought a T-shirt company from some friends of ours - so we thought, and their kids had heavy debt tied up into and they wanted us to take over this hefty loan. I found out I was pregnant and my husband was going to college while we were daily in this shop! I loved it and the shirt then we were getting order and having to pay out monies we did not have, for they had placed an order they forget to tell us. We were also promised support and didn't receive what was promised either.TO make a long story short we had no choice but to fold the business and file Bankrupt due their hiding of it all. It had been transferred into our name and they tried to transfer the loan in our name and PTL we were called about thisand we were able to stop this. It was not written w/in the contract they could not stick us w/ their debts that were in their names Needless to say we learned so so much. My husband spent many of long hours at the library gathering up all the info. on this all. What was so so sad we all went to church together and we left - they were not backing down, so we went to seek a lawyer and he helped my husband with all the legal 'junk' that we had been 'sucked' into not knowing and at the end the others had to pay for all the heavy loans and they too had to file Bankrupt and they had nothing to show for their loss. Atleast we got to keep all the stock and sold it. My husband went to school full time and we are now the better for all we learned and were extremely shocked that friends from our church who we thought we knew so well - were so 'underhanded'. So snakes slither in everywhere and deceive all they can.
I agree with the many others who have said ck' with BBB and a lawyer and all that can best help you in this. That customer may also be one to yells alot and state just to get what she wants & not follow through with her demands but you never know so get all the necessary legal help even if you think you are covered - go the extra mile. I have a family member that screams about everything and get so so much for free and laughs about it. The rest of us are ashamed and do not shop with this person. They are so obnoxious - I pray this is the case with this person. I pray you can get it straightened out. I agree with the one that states Ebay wants their customers happy so keep up with the inquirer. I looked at your sight and the shirts show look really good on the website. Sometimes we never know all until we dive in with both feet.
DO not continue to beat yourself up over this even if it all falls apart. You know your heart and your intention were correct. We always learn the best when it is the hardest - U may can get this all corrected and sorted out and it become as you want and if not - You tried and even in failure you still succeed = You will have learned some insights and you have gained some new support on this plight.
I wish you well and please do keep us all informed of how it all comes out in the wash. Sincerely, :~) tera
Thank you very much for your reply.
I do have happy news. I have stopped using the woman's methods of dying that she wanted me to do. I have done my own thing. Sold several other shirts with nothing but praise.
But just the first customer throwing such a fit, and kind of feeling things out was very intimidating. Luckily we had no orders coming in we didn't have to deal with as this woman told me she just bought what ever she found on sale in town. She also told me she had a huge inventory, there was three or four shirts at which only one was like on the web site and the rest was all yarn she used. So, that made everything even more confusing to me, trying to figure out what she done with these shirts, which was easy after I saw the one, but still. And of course none of the shirts were dyed with her methods, which is where all the fuss came from.
But things are doing much better now. Thank you all so very much. The main thing I think I have got to learn now is the business end and the web site. The site is almost a nightmare to learn, I think I have everything set up right and then some small something goes wrong. I'm now taking a course to learn web design so I can work that out. The business end, will come in time as I do have a business degree, just getting my head in that mode. :-)
Thank you all so very much.
Great glad to be some help and keep us all informed -how it is going and esp as you get all learned and we can see your new wares (so2speak) as you learn and grow! Take care and I pray you the best in your new fun adventure. It is amazing how much we learn as we are squeezed in areas we thought we would be. :~)
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