2 years ago

If you need alterations to a military uniform, look elsewhere. SSG in the U.S. Army, recently commissioned to 1LT, dropped off my OCP tops and PC on 6 December and ended up calling today, 14 December to see if they were ready. Got the go ahead to come on in to pick them up. When I get there I am greeted by a very nice older lady, gave her my name, and she retrieved my order. As she brings it up front, puts it on the hanger, it becomes blatantly obvious something is very wrong... When I dropped these tops off, I called first to make sure they were knowledgeable and performed alterations on military uniforms and got a very confident "Yes, we can take care of that." I brought in 4 sow-on patches for my 3 tops and PC, on already sown pieces of uniform, explained that they only needed to be replaced in the same places as they were already sown with the new patches and how they were to be positioned in reference to the rank. The first thing I noticed was that the rank was cut down in such a way that the rank of positioned underneath the U.S. ARMY patch, well off the center line of the jacket, leaving no way to salvage the patch, and a clear cut violation of AR 670-1. On further inspection, the patch placed on the PC was off set, uncentered, and tilted. When I bring this to the attention of the very nice older lady, she goes to the back to grab her store manager. This lady was immediately very unpleasant. I explained the errors to the uniforms and she accuses me of not providing instructions on how they were to be placed, when in fact they had the PERFECT reference for the already present patches, and needed only to be placed just like they were already on. I then went on to explain how the patches could not be used again, because they had cut away way too much material and would need new ones. I gave Shopmyexchange and Rangerjoes as references where they could find new ones and gave a detailed account for the pattern (OCP) and rank (1LT), because I refused to purchase more patches destroyed by the one that put them on. It doesn't end here.... I get a call back about 15 minutes later, from someone identifying as the owner, informing me to come get my items because they would not be doing any more work due to my attitude towards his worker. Never during any of this interaction did I have an "attitude" or display any behavior that was unbecoming of an Army NCO/Officer. I informed this person to please hold onto what he planned to tell me, I was on my way, and we could talk in person. I get back to the store within 5 minutes of hanging up and greeted by the same man identifying as the owner. I allow him to express his side of the story and what he was told by his store manager, to which points he asked me: "Do you see an Army post anywhere around here?" and "(My store and workers) are not in the service and do not know anything about putting on these patches." My turn... I get to look at my patches again... pointing out the same problems, to which I ask, is this work that you can support and back? (owner acknowledges how poor the patches looked on the uniforms and PC) I am a subject matter expert, quoting AR 670-1, explaining that there was never any point in time that his staff communicated to me that they did not feel comfortable or able to complete this work. At this point this man is flushed, visible shaking, and getting louder with every response. At the end of this conversation, this very nice older lady passes me way more than the patches were worth and I attempt to refuse the cash in excess of what the patches cost, met with resistance by the owner, insisting that I take it all. Before I leave, I expressed how unprofessional I thought his and his manager's behavior have been. To which he responds: Where are you from? I respond: "I own a house here in Lebanon, and I grew up in Antioch, TN. Are you really trying to give me a southern hospitality lecture? I have been more than accommodating with insisting that you and your office have a second try to fix the mistakes, I am an ICU nurse, keeping people alive for a living, and know much more of southern hospitality than has been shown to me here." Overall, the manager, owner, and whomever performed the alterations have no knowledge of how to alter military uniforms on the simplest of items. They do not know how to admit fault, and worst have the most unprofessional attitudes that I have ever experienced in a service-type business. I will not be returning, and if you would encourage everyone to not support this rude, unprofessional business.