Jeremiah Nahanee Bridal Couturier Unprofessional Etsy Seller, terrible dress maker, rip off Delta, British Columbia

My wedding is next month (September 18, 2010). In March 2010 I set out to find the perfect dress, and I did, being untraditional I find my dream dress. However it was out of my price range. I went to the popular website Etsy.com and requested through their Alchemy service that someone custom make the dress I wanted along with a small matching dress for my daughter the flower girl, some hair accesories, and matching bolero's. 9 people responded to my request, 2 of which I seriously considered. After having "conversations" with Jeremiah through Etsy, I requested pcitures of previous work. Jeremiah was not able to provide any but gave me a link to his blog (http://www.auhsojdesigns.blogspot.com/) which is no longer running. The dressed were very beautiful. Jeremiah sounded like an up and coming professional just out of design school. I also requested references and Jeremiah provided me with the email of a woman he said he did work for. This woman gave a glowing review of Jeremiah. I decided to put my trust in him and go with it, hoping to get my perfect dress.

I have never worked with the Alchemy requests on Etsy before, and I assumed that Jeremiah had, so I trusted him when he sent me a paypal invoice requesting me to pay a 55% deposit to go toward materials and labour. At this time I paid him $204.50CND. I made a change to the dress and added some tulle, at which point Jeremiah requested another $50CND for materials. his communication at this point was on par, I wasn't really concerned about anything and still trusted he was legit and hard at work on the dresses. Then he lost contact for a month. In may I emailed him asking for an update on the progress, a week went by without a repsonse causing me to get anxious and wonder if I had been ripped off. Then he replied taking offense to my concern, being very unprofessional and snide in his response to me. At this point I then became concerned simply due to the laspe in communication and his unprofessional response. A bad feeling began in my stomache.

Jeremiah advised that the dresses were coming along and would be done shortly. When we initially started the process Jeremiah said that when the dresses were half done he would send pictures of the dresses for me to see the progress and advise if there was anything I didn't like or change I wanted made, so I was a bit shocked that he was telling me they would be done shortly and I hadn't seen the dress yet. I advised Jeremiah I was looking forward to seeing the progress, he advised the pictures would be sent in the next few weeks. Again I sat back and patiently awaited the pictures.  3 weeks later Jeremiah sent an email advising the dresses were 3/4 done and he would send pictures in the next week. This was June 12, 2010. He also advised the dress would complete and ready to ship in the next few weeks and I would have my dress by the end of July! I was so happy as things things seemed to be coming along great!

Another 3 weeks went by, and no pictures were sent, I sent an email to Jeremiah asking how things were going and that I was looking forward to pictures. Jeremiah was apologetic, advised business was crazy, the dresses were almost done and pictures would be sent that week for me to approve. 5 days later still nothing and my pateince was shot, I advised jeremiah of this, and again requested photos. 3 days later Jeremiah sent an email apologizing and advising the pictures would be sent in two days and if he didn't send them by then he would refund my deposit.

2 days later Jeremiah did send the photos of a a poorly made dress that did not resemble anything of the dress i had requested. He advised that the dresses were not complete and I could make changes if there was anything I was not happy with, and if I was unsatisfied he would provide me with a partial refund. I looked at the photos and was just sick to my stomache as I couldn't see how the dress Jeremiah had made could ever become the dress of my dreams. I advised Jeremiah that I was not hapy with it, and could not see myself wearing it, and would like the partial refund of the deposit paid so far.

Jeremiah agreed and advised he would close the file and issue a refund. A week later and nothing, so I sent an email to inquire about the refund. Jeremiah said he was waiting for some cheques to clear and would end the refund shortly. That was the last time I heard from him July 25, 2010. I have sent several emails to Jeremiah expressing my financial strain with impending wedding and having to order a new dress... no reply, nothing. So i then advised Jeremiah I would file a rip off report, and that is what I am doing now.

I attempted to file a claim through paypal only to find they do not accept disputes for services such as this. I attempted to file a dispute through etsy.com only to find that Jeremiah did not properly issue me an invoice through Etsy.com that could be traceable. Jeremiah sent me an invoice through Paypal. So basically I got screwed and am not able to dispute this loss of precious time and money and my wedding dress! I have sent an email to Etsy.com to advise that Jeremiah was not doing good business on Etsy.com and hopefully they will follow through with some discipline.

The least I want to see happen is that Jeremiah be known for this unprofessional behavior and hopefully no one else will fall victim! I've since ordered a new dress, same dress being made by someone else and am waiting on pins and needles for it to arrive! it's been a nightmare so far! I started this in March of 2010 so I would not be waiting a month away from my wedding day to see my dress! And that is exactly what is happening. I don't want to disourage anyone from using Etsy.com as I LOVE the wonderful people making custom made items of such wonderful quality for people. I was looking forward to an Etsy made dress unique to me. I will just never trust the alchemy process and stick with the Sellers who have good ratings and whose work I can see.

Thanks for causing a bride to be alot of uneeded stress Jeremiah.