Etsy vendor/transaction dilemma

[Hudson_Hawk]

DH and I purchased a swivel glider off of CL a few months ago and it needed a slip cover due to some claw damage from the previous owner's cat. I commissioned a custom job off of a vendor on Etsy, her work looked great and she had good feedback. Anyway, she was in NYC and I'm in MA so we had to coordinate the measurements from a distance. This is a glider that's on display in all Babies 'R Us locations, so I suggested she go there to see it in person and take measurements. She came back saying that the measurements of the chair didn't mesh with the dimensions provided on the maker's site and asked me to confirm. She sent a guide to measure the chair and I carefully noted the requested numbers and sent it back. Note, I am an amateur at best, but I do have some skills.Still, I questioned my ability to get the measurements correct, so I sent pictures of the chair so she could see what I was seeing.

Anyway, I got the slip cover last night and the quality of the sewing was great. It was a totally professional job and was beautifully constructed. However, it didn't fit at all. I couldn't even get it over the back of the chair. The cushions and the ottoman covers fit great, but the cover for the frame was just not going to work. I was peeved to say the least. Not at the vendor, like I said, the quality of her work was great, I was pissed that I measured incorrectly.And it wasn't like I could force the fabric on, it was cotton duck cloth (canvas) and as soon as I started trying to use force to pull it over the seams started tearing.

I thought it was just the width of the back that was off, so this morning I tore out the seams along the back to see if there was any way it could be taken out. Unfortunately there was only 1/4" in the seams, so definitely not enough to make up the deficit. After I got those seams pulled I realized that the arms were way off, so I pulled those seams as well. By my estimate the back is off by about 1-2" on either side (to account for the stuffing in the chair and room to slide the fabric on) and the arms were off by about 4"!!! Now, I may be a novice, but I know there's no way I could have gotten a measurement off by THAT much! Sure, maybe a half an inch or so, but FOUR inches???

At this point I'm still thinking it was my mistake so I told DH that I would check the measurements I gave her against the actual size of the cover before I approached her about the issue. I just checked and it looks like she didn't ask for a length of arm measurement. She just took the length of the base (29") and subtracted the cushion measurement (6"). Now, granted I didn't have my tape measure to check the size of the cover this morning, but there's is NO WAY this arm sleeve is 23" long. It's closer to 18", which would also account for the 4" shortage.

So here's my question (I'm sorry this was so long). Now that I know what we're dealing with, I think I can fix it on my own with some extra fabric and our sewing machine. Sending it back to the vendor is probably going to cost more than the fabric will. Should I send it back and ask her to fix it, even though I've essentially dismantled the cover? Or should I just ask for a partial refund and fix it on my own?

And what do I do about feedback? Her work was really good, but if she's kept the pattern she made to use for future work she could be perpetuating the mistake so I feel like I should bring it to her attention.

 

[steph72276]

I would first email her and tell her about how off it is and ask her at the end what you guys could work out to get it fixed. Then the ball is in her court and with negative feedback a possibility, she might go out of her way to help you. Then you can decide what to do after her offer.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thanks Steph.
My concern isn't about a refund or placing blame, I want her to have an accurate pattern for future jobs. The company that makes this chair doesn't make slipcovers so there's actually a market for them and she could do quite well marketing herself on etsy for this specific product. I would hate for her to get in a bind with a future client who is less understanding because I didn't have the balls to let her know the measurements were off. It was a tough situation given the chair being in MA and her shop being in NYC and while my measurements aren't the ones that were wrong, I admit there was a huge margin for error because of the distance. I also feel like a dumba** for sending back the cover in pieces. Granted, I needed to pull it apart to see where the problem was, but still. That was her creation and she's an artist.

I think I'm going to fix it and then send her an email letting her know about the adjustment to the arms so she can update her pattern. I think I can fix it for under $20 in fabric and maybe 2 hours worth of time. It's literally just a matter of adding in a few strips of fabric and resewing the seams.

 

[steph72276]

Sorry I'm just now reading your last response. Maybe email her saying that you just wanted to make sure her pattern was corrected and tell her you plan to try to fix it yourself and just see if she offers to redo it for you? I would probably go that direction before you do it just to see.

 

[Hera]

I would send it back to her to fix. I think she should have asked all of the measurements that she needed rather than assume. I wouldn't worry that it's dismantled, she'd probably have to do that anyways.

 

[Octavia]

H_H, if your measurements were wrong, I'd say fix it and let her know that you'd made a mistake. But since the error was on her end, I would let her know before you do anything more, and see what she suggests. I wouldn't worry about the pieces, you did what you had to do to see what the problem was.