Carly Harris Designs - Te Aro

Terrible experience yesterday. I explained to the shop assistant that I was shopping for a pink top for a particular event. While she showed me several red items of clothing, I managed to find the only pink item in the store. She pointed at it and said, 'is that pink enough for you?' I said it was (I actually quite liked it) but that I didn't have time to try it on right away because I had a meeting. She returned to her desk and suggested that I try the thrift shop, because they might have more of what I was looking for. I left. After I'd finished the meeting, I thought about going back to try on the top, but the appalling attitude of the shop assistant meant that I simply couldn't bring myself to go back. I've taken people to shop at Carly Harris before, and have bought clothes there myself. I'm unlikely ever to expose myself or the people I care about to that sort of behaviour again, however.

Just some friendly feedback: Would prefer being able to negotiate a refund (for difference in price) when exchanging items. Bought the wrong style & wasn't made aware of the exchange rules at the time. Turns out you can only exchange something of similar value and you will only be made aware of this when trying to return/ exchange. Explaining how the exchange tags work to customers on purchase would be nice as I assumed it worked differently based on my expectations of store policy.

On Sunday 7th of January I bought a dress from the store Carly Harris on 154 Cuba St in Wellington. This dress was purchased to wear to a wedding in Scotland in March and as most evening dress styles, can only be worn with the correct underwear. I purchased the dress in order to take it home and try on, when I did I found that the dress did not fit correctly to my shape and I was not able to wear it without large parts of my bra being on show. On Monday 8th at lunch time, less than 24 hours after purchasing the dress, I phoned and spoke with a shop assistant who told me that Carly Harris did not offer refunds and I would have to bring the dress in to the store on 154 Cuba Street, Wellington before 5:30pm that day in order to get any exchange on the item. I was quite surprised as while in store I said that I would I need to go home and try it on with the correct bra. Despite this, at no point did the shop assistant indicate that there was a no refund policy. This strict returns policy is not clearly signposted within the store however is stated on the dress tag, in small fine print. As someone who has worked in retail I would expect store assistants to make this clear to customers. Naturally I was troubled by this new information so I requested to speak to the manager (and part owner), Christine Harris. Immediately when Christine came on the phone she spoke to me in an abrasive and unhelpful manner. She was not open to any discussion but instead hung up the phone on me twice. This was not the level of customer service I expected to receive from a store where I had spent $215, especially not from the owner. It illustrates that Carly Harris do not care about the aftercare or satisfaction of their customers. As a discussion over the phone was not possible I went into the shop during my lunch hour on Tuesday along with my friend who had been with me when I purchased the dress. We walked in and were greeted by Christine who was at the desk speaking with a friend. When we said we were there to discuss a return and had phoned yesterday Christine then again immediately became unresponsive and confrontational. As my friend and I stood and spoke with calm voices trying to discuss how this was not an acceptable level of customer service and that I was not happy with my purchase or the lack of disclosure about the returns policy, Christine began acting very erratically. Within minutes she tried to bully us out of the shop by threatening to call the police, raising her voice, coming close to our persons and shaking her fingers at us angrily. Her behaviour was out of proportion and we were in shock that this was how a business owner saw fit to deal with unhappy customers. Thereafter Christine proceeded to phone the police and complain of our behaviour which she stated made her feel uncomfortable. She claimed that we were making a scene within her store all the while we hadn’t raised our voices. I spoke to the police woman on the phone who seemed to understand my position, the outcome was that the police did not attend the store premises. During Christine’s conversation with the police she was asked to describe us. At this point she said “long brown hair, green top, black skirt” before looking at me again and saying “chubby”. Apparently Christine considers size 10 and curvy women as chubby. As an owner of a women’s clothing store and someone who supposedly in the business of making women feel confident and beautiful to make this remark is disgraceful. Commenting on a woman’s weight in a derogatoryway is completely unacceptable and shows the character that Christine Harris truly has. So this post is a warning to future brides to be, bridesmaids and wedding guests who think about purchasing from Carly Harris. Be aware that your custom will be taken without any customer service or aftercare and that your figure will be scrutinised by Christine Harris herself.

Utterly disgusted at the service I received here. I bought a dress from the store whilst I was staying in Wellington, and the service was pretty unfriendly when I bought it. After one wash the fabric was crinkled as if it had been made very cheaply, and when I called the shop and spoke to the owner to explain my issue, she barely gave me the time of day and just hung up on me when I tried to discuss a refund or exchange. Shockingly bad.

Really disappointing experience. Rude service (designer's mother I believe) and for the price paid for a rayon dress and the image they like to project, I would have expected a little more care taken in terms of experience. The dress was just shoved in a ratty thin paper bag and when I returned an item by post for an exchange the exchange turned up in a post bag scrunched up like a carelessly packaed trademe item.

Absolutely awful woman in the Welllington store - who I believe is the designers mother. Visited with niece and sister-in-law and received great friendly service from young girl. We then looked at other stores - but my niece decided that the Carly Harris was the Dress she wanted for the ball. When we returned both woman were now in the shop. The older woman was extremely rude and condescending to the younger one - and in front of customers. It was almost closing and we were now indecisive as the dress was $50 more than we thought - a difference due to fabric choice - the woman though offered a $40 discount. Great! But when it was unwrapped the next day my sister-in-law found a large pull in the fabric - she phoned the store and was spoken to very rudely and told that because we received a discount there was no refund or exchange. Ummmm...thanks for nothing. Not legal, not nice and $225 spent on a dress not fit for purpose.

Just had a really great experience with the online team. I have been coveting a Carly Harris Paris Overcoat for years after seeing a sample in store (also had a great experience in store at the time) and have finally ordered the new Forest shade - the team were so lovely to deal with and I can't wait to receive the coat - NZ made is always the way to go!

Fabulous store with exquisite designs made in amazing colors and beautiful fabrics. Carly Harris has been one of my favorite stores throughout the last twenty years. Christine always adds another level with her beautiful art and open and friendly personality. Love it!!