Local tailor in NYC (assuming loshon hora to specify which one), made a hole in suit pants, when trying to let out the waist. I first went to the suit store as it was right after purchase and barely worn so I assumed it was a defect in the material, however they denied it and when they opened up the pants on the inside they saw a patch so said it must've been the tailor. When I went back to the tailor he said the tailor that worked for him wasn't wearing her glasses. He initially refused to offer any compensation stating it was my fault since I had him open it up and loosen it a few times (kept on being tight when I was trying it so asked him to let it out more). He was able to make it tighter and cover up the hole, however now it is tight and in future can't let it out more. He finally agreed to also give me a $100 future credit, and signed his name in the slip / receipt paper.
Fast forward a few months I had pants that needed work, total was $20. He agreed to fix it for free but said no more, but told him about the signed receipt with $100, he told me i can rip it up and his "rabbi" said he doesn't need to pay. When I asked him for the receipt for pants that I'm giving in now to fix, he just gave them back to me without fixing them.
Wondering what can be done here- if anyone has good advice, I know $100 is not much but considering the suit was around $300-400, I just feel like this is unfair and the tailor is just taking advantage here.
this similar story happened when i was in Yeshiva and i took a suit jacket to get it fixed (forgot what). The tailor had used a piping hot iron to get out the creases and ended up melting it (polyester). When i confronted him about it he claimed that i should just send it to the dry cleaner and that'll fix it. I told him that, no, a dry cleaner won't fix a melted suit. When he asked what he should do about it i told him that i had a spare pair of pants and he can use the material to fix the jacket. He said fine. But, i told him, i want compensation for the pants that he will be destroying, 50 shekel. He agreed.
When i came to pick it up he gave me the jacket, which he fixed beautifully, but refused to give me the 50 shekel because again, his "Rabbi" told him he doesn't need to. I told him that that is very nice but he agreed to give it to me. If he wanted, i would take the 50 and then we can go to a Rav to ask. He refused. By then, more customers came into the store but i just stood there and insisted that he give me the 50 shekel. After a minute or 2, he realized that he had much more to loose than i, and angrily handed me the money while letting me know that i'm a ganav and a terrible person...
