Followers

July 23, 2010

Buy with caution


A'salaamu alaikum. I bought 5 abayaat from East Essence because their prices were, well, too good to be true. We paid $140 for 5 abayaat. Mine was fine, true to size. None of them were great quality but for the price, didn't expect it.

The other four were all too small. They all measured about 3 inches too small in most areas. We contacted the company to return them, and then of course I had to pay return shipping.

The company just contacted me and said they will not honor the return because they measured them and they were correct. ?? They also said they had been worn and were stained and wrinkled.

Ummm they were wrinkled because I had to stuff them back in the packaging and as they were SKIN tight they were never worn. Any stains were from their factory. Subhanallah.

I am very displeased with the company, especially the tone they used when writing to me. Accusing me of being dishonest, wearing something and then returning it. Anyway now I have to spend ANOTHER $10 to get them returned to me. I will hope to sell them on eBay and make a little of the money back so I can buy the girls some new abayaat for Ramadan.

Please excercise caution if you want to do business with this company. No problem if your order comes in good shape; beware if there are any issues.

Ma salaaama.

9 comments:

Banana Anne said...

Aww man, that's really annoying. I've ordered from them once (I got one of their $20 jilbabs) and I like mine, but it's definitely nothing special, and the fabric is clingy so I have to wear a sweater over it and loose jeans underneath. For a while it was the only jilbab I had, but now that I have more, better fitting ones, it's been reduced to being thrown on when I have a quick errand to do. I would like to order from them again, but Insha'Allah I will try to find a jilbab in a different fabric. What length did you get them? If they're my size, maybe I'll buy them off you Insha'Allah!

Banana Anne said...

Also, if you're looking for jilbabs for yourself and your girls, there's a store in Boston called Mabruuk Fashions. They sell tons of skirts, shaylas, khimars, and jilbabs of all types, including ones for kids. Their prices are very reasonable, and the people that work there are extremely nice Masha'Allah. If you're ever in Boston, it might be worth looking at.

Stephanie said...

Wow that sounds so infuriating! I've been wanting to order from them for quite sometime but have heard mixed reviews.

Dee said...

My sister bought me a gift from there, a white abaya and hijab number. It's totally see through and all the buttons fell off.
I've been a loyal simplyislam customer for about three years and they have never let me down. Try them.

Nikki said...

I just ordered my first from them. It's been shipped but has yet to arrive.

There were actually five I wanted to order and contemplated doing it for the free shipping...but I had to order a custom length because I am short, and they said they would not honor returns on those so I thought I would try just one before going "all out" with the debit card.

I ordered some kurtis from them earlier and they're a bit snug. For this reason, if I order any more kurtis I'll order a size larger. On their size chart, though, they said there was some extra room built into the abaya for "modest fit" so I ordered the same size as I did in the original kurtis because they implied they were sized differently.

I hope I don't regret it...with custom length and shipping it was $40, which is kind of a lot to waste. I'd still really like those other four if this one goes well.

Umm Aaminah said...

A'salaamu alaikum everyone. Thanks for the heads-up on Boston area shops Anne; we'll check it out next trip. :-)

Stephanie... hard to say. I am pleased with the abaya I ordered myself but it's not great quality. I think it's fair for the price though.

DD, I thought the girls white abayaat were kinda thin too but if they had fit wouldn't have been too upset.

Nikki, insha'Allah your order will be good. On the chance the owners are Muslim I don't want to be too harsh with them but they haven't deal with me in an Islamic manner so Allahu alim. The abaya I ordered did have the extra 4" built in but the girls didn't. Go figure alhamdulillah. :-)

And you are right, when you want the custom-length they refuse to refund which is frustrating. I mean you get something, you don't like it and you can't exchange it. I personally won't order from them again but I am sure they have some pleased customers too.

Mona Zenhom said...

I've heard a LOT of bad things about this company. NO one should give them any business. I hope you can sell them.

Nikki said...

as an update, my abaya came yesterday and I am quite happy with it, albeit the wrinkles from packaging that I don't feel like ironing out...

As I had said, I ordered the same size that I had in kurtis (which ran small) because they said abayas had extra room built in for modesty. At least in my case, this was very, very true and I am so happy that I have not wasted my $40. Buying clothing on the internet is often a "gamble" and all too often I lose money on shipping and return shipping costs. With that being said, there are no Islamic stores in my area so I will continue to buy clothing online, and will most likely continue to buy from East Essence because of their prices.

Umm Aaminah said...

A'salaamu alaikum Nikki. I am glad it worked out for you. :-) I am sorry it didn't for us, especially as we spent so much but alhamdulillah. All our rizq is from Allah. :-)

Like you, I have lost too much $$$ on things that weren't quite what I thought they were or quite what they were advertised to be.

Wa Allahu alim.