Reviews of Alterations By George (Tailor)

Matt Moser

I found Alterations by George via a Google Search one Monday morning and took three new shirts to him for alteration. They all fit me fine in the shoulders and were already darted to fit neatly around the torso, they were simply too long for my taste. I asked George to follow the factory lines all the way around the bottom hem so it would appear 'original' and not altered in any way. He asked me specifically if he could just cut it straight across to shorten it and I clearly indicated that NO, that was not what I wanted and explained again that I wanted the factory lines so it would look original. He said that he understood. It is a small shop and George seemed very kind. Before deciding to take my shirts there, I read that he has been a tailor all his life which was something I truly enjoyed and respected as his is a dying breed. Also my great-grandfather was a tailor who immigrated from Germany and started a successful tailor shop in Philadelphia in the 40's so I have always had an affinity for the trade. I felt George had a grasp on what I wanted and I was delighted to see him pull out an old black and white Composition Notebook which, despite its age, was worn and faded but still very much in tact. As he flipped through the pages I could see they were filled with things written in pencil most of which had faded over the years. I was fascinated by it and really enjoyed that he seemed to find no compelling reason to adopt expensive technology to solve a problem so perfectly handled by a few bound pages. It is now Thursday morning, one day earlier than agreed upon he called to let me know my shirts were ready and I let him know I would be along shortly. My shirts were hanging from a chrome rack directly ahead so I approached and picked up the one nearest to me. I could see immediately he had not done what I asked him to do. I calmly reiterated our conversation from Monday and he acknowledged that he knew what I had asked for but said that he did not have much to work with so he did what he thought was right and simply cut it straight across. Well, there is a very subtle curve but nothing like the original lines I had clearly asked for. He pulled out the cut fabric and showed it to me. This really polarized the fact that he had almost entirely ignored my directions. He said that if he had followed the lines it would have been too short so he took a different approach thought I would be happy with it. I was not. No longer calm, we go back and forth childishly for a few minutes and the conversation, of course, goes nowhere productive. I let him know that I would be leaving a nasty review on the internet and he said that it could not be any more nasty than I was being right now. That felt like that was a stretch since I never made any personal attacks nor did I verbally degrade the quality of his work just angry [loud] banter about the facts. He changed his tune quickly and began to smile and told me that he could fix it right now. Still very angry, I reiterated that since he was dismissive of my original directions why on Earth would I trust him with the scissors again! Of course that was worded differently but you get the point. On the phone he told me that it would be 48.00 so I stopped by the ATM on my way and took out 40 as I already had a ten and a five in my truck. Leaving him with essentially a two dollar tip I walked out without another word. This all happened about an hour ago and now that I have calmed down, I went back to my truck to look at the quality of the work. There is a little puckering in the hem and the length is off for two of the shirts where the two front panels come together when buttoned. Had he just done what as I asked I would have no complaints and I would have written and equally lengthy review but with a very different tone.

Ashley Ellen

Me and my husband got married recently. We put the wedding together in a short amount of time. Just about a day or two before I realized that my husbands pants still needed to be hemmed. So we found George online and he had later hours available, which was helpful since I remembered at the last minute. George was very friendly and accommodating. He assured me he could have the pants done very quickly, and he did. I was very happy with the service and my experience. He even went out of his way and sent me a congratulations card for our marriage after, which was so thoughtful of him. I would definitely recommend him and would use him again. Thanks George!

George Ruiz

George, is a fine gentelman and a seasoned tailor, who has been in the business all his life. George will treat you with all the respect and care that you deserve!