I tried Darzi Express so you don't have to
KARACHI: Nothing frustrates me more than going to see my tailor. Our former love/hate relationship has lately become a hate/die relationship.
He almost never gets my clothes right on the first go, rarely delivers on time and it takes every ounce of my patience to explain what I want for each suit. It's a hassle and it's the last thing one needs after a long, hard day at work.
With Eid relatively close by, I'm already shuddering to think about how many times I'm going to have to go down to his dingy shop.
When I stumbled upon the Facebook page for Darzi Express, I was beyond ecstatic; I thought this was the answer to all my stitching woes. Right?
Well, not quite!
Where it all started
Darzi Express is a home pick-up and delivery tailoring service — the first of its kind in the country.
"Growing up, my mother used to design clothes exclusively for a niche circle. We had these kaarigars operating out of our house so I've always had access to the manpower," shares Muhammad Ahad, the brains behind Darzi Express.
"Folks these days have their hands full. No one has the time or energy to make their way through Karachi's bustling traffic to go to their tailor, after they get done with a busy day at work or university. And we all know it's never one trip. Women almost always end up going back to get alterations done or with some complaint or the other," explains Ahad.
Let's give it a shot
Here is how it works: you give their representative a call and tell them your address. They'll come to you wherever you are in the city, most probably the same day. You can send a sample outfit along so that they have your measurements.
You then receive a phone call, informing you that your order is being put into production and to iron out any other details.
48 hours later, you get your clothes. It's that simple.
Sitting at the office on a slow Saturday, I convinced my colleague we should give Darzi Express a try, purely out of sheer boredom and to satisfy the sliver of curiosity I had.
We had this gorgeous green Elan 3 piece lawn suit lying around the office so we decided to make that our sacrificial lamb and make a kameez out of the cloth of the dupatta (yes, we're stingy like that!) and a pair of a kameez and trousers.
I called the representative and two minutes into our conversation, I already felt my expectations depleting. She actually reminded me of my tailor; testing my patience and constantly interrupting me. However, I finally got her to note down our address and their rider arrived after 4-5 hours, right before we were about to leave work to pick up the cloth.
Since I placed my order on a Saturday, we obviously didn't get it back in 48 hours, as they don't work on Sundays, something they should have specified but didn't! We received our stitched surprises on Tuesday evening and we couldn't have been more disappointed.
What went wrong?
Well, mainly we did. Instead of sending a sample kameez, we just wrote down measurements off the top of ours heads and decided to wing it. Obviously, we thought we're skinnier than we'd like to admit and now, we have two perfectly nice Elan shirts that won't even fit my eight-year-old niece.
They also pulled a move most tailors do: added piping that I had never asked for. It just made the whole outfit look worse.
To be fair, they called me twice after and asked if I'd like to get it altered, free of additional costs and that shows stellar customer service. However, we felt the clothes were beyond repair and so declined.
Ahad acknowledges that there are obviously some challenges.
"I understand that women have a relationship with their tailors that is special but I don't think it's irreplaceable. There are first time apprehensions but they're eventually worked out and then, women start focusing more on the benefits of getting this service while sitting back at home," he states.
Ahad mentioned that if the customer is dissatisfied, they send over a 50% off voucher for their next order to compensate. Interestingly, no such offer was made to me when their customer representative called me to follow up.
Nevertheless, I'm open to giving them another try. Their rates are reasonable enough, the same you would find in the market and on top of that, you're getting them delivered right at your doorstep. It's too convenient to give up on!
Advice for people planning to try out Darzi Express
Make sure you give them a well-fitted sample outfit for your measurements. If not, bust out some measuring tape and just send them the correct measurements.
Don't try them out if you want an outfit for an urgent event.
Their representatives use Viber and Whatsapp — keep that in mind! Send over pictures of the design you want to avoid any misunderstandings.
If you don't send a picture, then be very patient and descriptive while explaining what design you have in mind to their representative.
Don't keep your phone on silent right after you place your order. They usually call with queries and if you miss their calls, your production gets delayed.