Hiccup the Third: The Dorothy Shoes

I really have to thank one of my coworkers for coining the term "Dorothy shoes". If you know nothing about them at all, that's an excellent clue, even though I totally reference them in an earlier blog post.

I ordered my wedding shoes from Shoes of Prey, who let you customise the style of your shoe within certain parameters. This was mainly to ensure that I had a style and color that I liked. I placed the order back in August (after spending 2 weeks agonising over how high the heels should be) and they arrived in late September. Within 4 weeks, as advertised.

I slipped into them and right away I loved how they looked and felt. I was worried they wouldn't fit but I could totally get my feet into them, hooray! But then, as my heartbeat returned to its normal rate, I realised with a great sadness that the more I wore them, the more I was beginning to notice a problem.

I didn't spot it at first, but effectively the shoes are a full size too big. Sticking my foot right back into the heel where it should be left a good amount of space between the toe of the shoe and my own toes. Not a good look nor a comfortable fit on an important day, I guess.

The thing that makes me laugh these days is that I actually considered just running with it. Grab some bubble wrap and squish it into the heel area, surely that'll do the trick and no one will be the wiser. The shoes will be hidden by the dress anyway, who cares if they don't look perfect? So I might roll my ankle on my wedding day, I do that all the time, would it really ruin the day?!

A thought - a realisation - crept in not long after I'd actually grabbed some paper and tried to squish it into the heel cup to see if that would work. I spent dollars on these shoes. Good dollars. And for such good dollars, I should be getting shoes that fit.

Shoes of Prey comes with a 365-day return/remake policy, which I imagine is part of the price they charge for the shoes. So why didn't I jump on that right away?

Because my dress fitting was in three weeks! (Two weeks as of the writing of this post.) That meant I needed to have shoes on-hand on the day so that the hem could be measured and trimmed. Even if they began to remake them THAT DAY, they're unlikely to arrive in time for the fitting (they claim a 4-week turnaround) and surely they're going to wait to receive my rejects before they even start on new ones!

I addressed my worries by doing something I rarely do anymore in this age of E-mails and online messaging systems - I picked up the phone and called someone.

The solution I managed to negotiate was that they'd get started on the new shoes straight away and try to get them to be before the fitting. Meanwhile, they'll let me keep the current ones to use for the fitting just in case they don't make it. I'm pretty psyched about this option and I think they agreed to it because I sent them photos of how they just didn't fit and they know I'm not full of crap.

Now, I'd written most of this post a couple of weeks ago, when the shoes first arrived. As of the time of this post's publication on the blog, my shoes are due to arrive this Thursday, in plenty of time before the fitting. Hooray! So, provided the shoes actually come in then and are the right size, I'm definitely giving Shoes of Prey an A+ for customer service.

Hiccup the Second: Hair and Makeup

I'd booked with a reputable hair and makeup service in the third week of August, purely so that I knew that there'd be someone to do it. I didn't particularly care much about trialling a whole bunch of places and then choosing one because I don't have strong opinions on makeup or hair anyway. From what this particular agency said on their website, they pretty much sat down with you during their trial and didn't leave until you were happy. I'm largely indifferent on makeup in general as I am beholden to the notion that less is more, and I already knew roughly what I wanted for my hair, too, so I figured I wasn't going to be disappointed. I wouldn't even really know if they were fucking it up,

Anyway, I got an E-mail from them earlier this week where they told me that they would no longer be able to offer me the makeup artist I'd booked due to medical reasons. They offered me an alternative artist, but she didn't use an airbrush, which is what I wanted because the less things that touch my sensitive face-skin, the less likely it is to explode. So, naturally, I was a bit disappointed because I was super happy with their price and with the agency's manager, not to mention the fact that I now had to do the search all over again with one month less to go than before.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor hiccup. I have plenty of time to find someone else and to book in some trials before the day itself. My tax return will cover any extra cost incurred from needing to go with someone more expensive. It'll all work out.

Except that I'd already paid a deposit for both makeup and hair services. The agency was in within its right to keep the hair booking because I'd already paid for it, and I also felt bad insisting I get the full deposit back for something that wasn't their fault. But then it did mean that I'd have to deal with two agencies rather than one. Not the end of the world, but not what I'd prefer.

Now, I've withheld the name of the agency thus far lest you think I'm actually using this post to bags them out. The truth is quite the opposite - I'm withholding it until the end of the post so that you know the whole story before you make a judgement call or an assumption.

I e-mailed the agency with my problem - that I understood that I may still have to do my hair with them given I'd paid for it but I was disappointed that it meant I had to work with two agencies. I also apologetically turned down the offer of the other makeup artist since airbrush makeup was pretty much a "must-have" for me for a biological reason rather than nitpicky one.

I received a phone call the following morning from the woman who manages the agency - I'm picturing her as an ultra-classy Madame of sorts, cigarette holder and all - and she was very warm, understanding, and apologetic. She not only offered to refund my deposit in full, she even offered to help me call around to find an alternate service provider! She sent me the contact information for a few other places to get me started and welcomed further contact from me if I wasn't having any luck calling around on my own. It was really very sweet and far more than she needed to offer.

In a way I'm now even more sad because I'll be missing out on working with such lovely people with a good sense of customer service - not to mention how to run a business in a competitive industry!

On reflection, I have a sense that her response was largely due to the fact that I was also understanding of the problem. I actually led off the conversation by asking if the original makeup artist was all right, given they had cited medical stuff as the reason for the cancellation. That probably helped my case because it was pretty clear I wasn't out to jump down anyone's throats or demand money back; like I've said before, I seldom am when I'm the customer. And I'm certainly not going to give anyone grief when it's no one's fault.

I got a good outcome, really, because I was offered a full refund of the deposit when they were not legally required to offer one. I thought that was awesome of them. And that they offered to help me out with finding someone else? Extra awesome.

This experience made me understand that most people in businesses like this really are in it because they love watching brides look beautiful on their wedding day. It's not (always) a cash-grab, it's a pretty genuine love of weddings and making someone feel good and perfect on a big day. Much of my disillusionment around the over-commercialisation of weddings has been diluted through this experience, which I think makes it a win in a way.

I'm pretty confident I'll find another makeup person well before the wedding, though if you have any recommendations yourselves, please don't hesitate to suggest them! Mostly, I'm now genuinely hoping that the original makeup artist is okay.

The agency in question is Sapphire Hair & Makeup Creations. Its founder, Julie, runs the whole shebang from Brisbane and it appears to have a great reputation in the rest of the country. Julie is the lady who rang me after I'd sent my E-mail, and from the get-go she's been very lovely. I'm disappointed I didn't get to work with her staff this time, but hey maybe a bit of praise on the internet will make up for it?