Gap replied with a simple "I'm sorry" and explained that If I chose to drive the skirt all the way back to the outlet (an hour away) that I had purchased it from, it was possible that manager would decide to replace it or refund my money. Since the skirt was only 12 bucks and the store is so far away, I instead chose to decline their offer and boycott Gap... (sadness.... I love it there)...
ENJOY!
Dear Gap Customer Service:
I would like to share with you the play by play of my horrific evening last night. I will premise the story by mentioning that I was very excited to wear my brand new green pencil skirt that I purchased from the Gap Outlet in Lee, Mass a few weeks ago.
A few of my closest friends and I were planning a dinner party as a celebration for our friend's big move to North Carolina. We wanted to do something special, a little above and beyond the ordinary. We decided to bring our friend to Vin Santo's, a intimate Tapas Wine Bar in Latham, NY. We ordered wine and appetizers and had an excellent time. We then moved the evening across the street to an Italian restaurant for dinner. We arrived to the restaurant, got a table and placed our order with the server. While we were waiting for our entrees to arrive, I embarked on a journey to the ladies room; little did I know what sort of debacle I was actually about to encounter.
While I was in the rest room, I washed my hands and my small purse tumbled off of the sink counter and onto the floor by my feet. No big deal (or so I thought). I gracefully bent down to pick up the purse and RIP!!!!! The back of my skirt completely separated... the whole way from the bottom to top. Thank god for the durable waist band Gap engineered because it was the only piece of fabric keeping the skirt from completely falling off of my hips all together.
So I'm standing in the bathroom, experiencing a NICE breeze when a wave of panic overcame me. I thought to myself, "What the heck do I do now!?" Naturally it would have been completely unorthodox to casually walk out of the ladies room and back to my table with my rear end hanging out. There was no hiding the fact that my skirt was ripped ALL the way up the back. I tried to do an emergency fix with a few Bobby pins but my efforts were unsuccessful. I was stuck in the bathroom with no pants and I knew dinner was arriving soon. Had there been a window, I may have climbed out and made a run for it, but I was not that lucky.
After a few more moments of racking my brain and coming up with no solution to this catastrophic event, I called one of the ladies at my table. She answered, told me my dinner had arrived and that the whole table was waiting for me to get back so they could begin eating. She actually had the nerve to ask me if I "fell in" and wondered what was taking me so long. I then explained to her what happened and how mortified I was. After she nearly spit out her champagne through her nose laughing at my expense, and shared the embarrassing story with the rest of the dinner guests at my table (and I am sure a few neighboring tables who overheard her loud banter) she darted to the bathroom to see if she could rescue me. Thankfully she brought her linen napkin with her which I ended up tucking in the back of the waist of my skirt to cover the top part of the large tear so that I could make it through the restaurant without completely mooning any of the other dining customers.
I finally gained the courage to leave the restroom. I held my breath and swung the door open. My friend walked out directly behind me to try to block anyone from seeing what was going on "back there" and she followed me straight out the front door of the restaurant. For a brief moment I thought I was going to make it out of the restaurant without being completely embarrassed in public, but as I was nearing the door, my table of friends starting clapping loudly and laughing (really almost crying) so I am sure other tables in our vacinity noticed the situation as well. I left the restaurant without being able to eat and was not able to enjoy the rest of the dining experience with my friend who is moving in a few days. Needless to say, as funny as it is looking back today, I was very upset last night that my evening was ruined.
The kicker to the whole story is that a very similar thing happened to me last winter when wearing a pair of your jeans. I won't go into vivid detail, but my all-time favorite pair of Gap Jeans (ankle length boot cut dark wash - not sure of the style, had 2 buttons at the top and a wide waist band - LOVED them - would have bought 10 more pair if I could find them in the stores still) ripped up the crotch in my friend Dan's car last winter. Again, at a very appropriate time - on the way to a Siena basketball game with my friend's parents who were accompanied by a few of the franciscan friars from the college (yes religious men) who all had the pleasure of sharing this full-moon moment with me that cold winter evening. Needless to say at the time I REALLY wished that car had heated seats.
At the time I blamed the embarrassing ripped jeans event on the fact that my jeans were a little bit worn in (as they were my favorite ones and I wore them all the time) but now I'm wondering if your fabric tends to have defects in it. Both times, the clothing items ripped up the fabric itself, not on a seam of any sort. This skirt wasnt tight at all and I have never washed it before!
In conclusion, I hope that I gave you a laugh today, even if it was at my expense, as I am trying to laugh about it today too. Is there any way that this skirt can be replaced because I feel that it may have had a fabric defect and I truly believe that your clothing items are more durable than this. I shop at Gap regularly, have a Gap credit card, and am a big fan of the company. I hope that you can help me out here. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Warm Regards,
Drafty Trousers
