Alterations by Dawn — Local services in Hagerstown

Please think twice before hiring Dawn Brooky of Alterations by Dawn. Below is a summary of my experience. I have photos documenting all of Dawn's work, and I have shared those photos with her and with the dress store who recommended her as a seamstress. The dress store offered a sincere and quick apology after seeing the photos (even though Dawn's work is not their fault). Dawn responded as you will read below.

Quality of Service: *Very poor quality work overall (large stitches showing on the front of the dress in numerous spots; a zipper placket with fabric puckering and multiple stitching lines; grimy spots around where she sewed in the sleeves; lining sewn in with puckers and large visible hand stitches; etc.), plus Dawn ruined my sash and my sleeves. The sash is replaceable, but not the sleeves. Dawn looked at the photos I sent her and told me nothing was wrong with her work, and that the problem was me.

*Responsiveness: Dawn responded to my calling to make appointments, but she was not responsive to my requests for a refund. Her responses to my problems with my dress were not based on concern for me, for my dress, or for my stress, but for how she could salvage her reputation and cast blame on me.

*Professionalism: Dawn treated me decently in her fitting room. When I came to her with the problems in her work and to request a refund, she treated me rudely, implied that my motive for contacting her was because I had dress-regret, and said that she was the professional, there was nothing wrong with her work, and that I was the one with the problem. She said she would work on my dress again if I wanted her to, but she would do it her way, not in the way I wanted. Her way caused the problems in the first place, and I won't trust her with my dress again. I also unfortunately expect Dawn to reply to my review in a manner to cast doubt on my legitimacy, as she mentioned she would and could respond to any reviews I left online.

*Value: I paid Dawn $280 for alterations, all of which I am now re-doing myself, other than the hem. Her poor workmanship is costing me time, costing me emotional energy, and costing me money beyond what I paid her. I will not take the dress back for more of her work to fix the problems she created in the first place. I have requested a refund for everything but the hem, but she will not issue a refund. Her final response was "perhaps we weren't meant to do this dress together."

I paid her good money to do good work. She got my money, but I got only poor-quality work and an unwearable dress as she left it. That's not right by anyone's standards.

*Flexibility: I'm giving Dawn a full star for flexibility, as I misjudged traffic once from Winchester, VA, and she made time to see me at the bridal shop instead of at her home.

You be the judge for yourself. I do not recommend Dawn's work or...

Her talent and ability to do the job is amazing. Her customer service is not. So many times I had to ask to clarify what times I could come outside of the wild hours of only before 2:30 on week days. I am a teacher in the county so it baffled me that the we couldn't set up a time to meet that would work. One of the times I had to reschedule to a Saturday morning and didn't have coverage for my daughter so I had to share that I would be late and her response was "you can come inbetween sessions but if they get mad I'm telling them it's your fault" I was stunned that she could be so rude. All of the mothers out there know how hard it can be to navigate a baby by yourself. One of the times I showed up after a text exchange that she said to come 5:30 or 5:45 so I sat there waiting outside of her house with cars in the driveway. I called and texted. I had to leave to put my daughter to bed. That night when I reached out again that night asking to clarify if she mean am or pm she texted back rudely stating that I was supposed to show up 5:30/5:45 a.m. to which I said "with all do respect you did not clarify AM or PM" when I tried to pick up my dress now 2 days before the wedding I was attending out of town, it was impossible to schedule a pick up time that would be an easy exchange. Her rude response after asking if I could come after my teaching hours she simply stated "nope." Quality of work: A+...

My son is getting married in September. I ordered a dress in July, and it took almost a month to arrive. It needed to be hemmed. I found Alterations by Dawn in a Google search, and it looked like it would be the perfect place to go for a somewhat tricky alteration. Dawn and I made an appointment for a date in August. It did not take long for the fitting, and Dawn said she would contact me when the job was finished. A week later, Dawn called and told me the job was completed. I grabbed my shoes and went to pick up the dress. When I put on the dress, I was very impressed. Her stitch work was perfect, and my dress hem still maintained the swing and flow I loved when I bought it. Dawn is professional, talented, and friendly, it was a very pleasant experience, and I highly recommend her for your alteration needs. You will not be...