My Problem with Mr. Tux

We have all experienced it. We have all scurried around Target, Crate & Barrel, or Bed-Bath-and-Beyond to quell the list registered by the lucky couple. If you are not a complete hermit and have at least one friend, you have been to a wedding and have experienced the WEDDING SEASON. I am on the tail end of the wedding season. Two of my good friends have taken the leap and another is on the way.

Other than Target and Crate & Barrel, another store looms on the onset of every wedding: Men’s Wearhouse. I guess you can call Men’s Wearhouse a suit store, as well as, a tux rental location. The two wedding I was blessed to be a part of had rented their wedding attire from this store.

As a personal preference I have never understood the idea of renting a tux (fancy suit) for the price of buying a nice suit from a place like Express or Macys. Many people decide to go the tux route for their wedding and to that I say, “To each his own.” I was happy to fork up the money to honor my friend and his soon to be wife.

I did have an interesting interaction at the Men’s Wearhouse in Castleton last Friday. I ran into the store to pick up the tux for a wedding I was to be in that evening. The nice man at the store handed me the massive tux bag and added that I probably should try the tux on before I left the store. Everything fit perfectly except for the shirt. It was a little large. Unapologetically he searched for a new shirt, which he found and gave to me. It fit perfectly except for a large stain on the shoulder. Hell, stains happen. I’m cool with it.

He proceeded to tell me they didn’t have my shirt here at the store but it was at another location for me to pick up. Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? You want me to waste more of my day to go pick up a shirt in the mall because you didn’t have the right product to begin with?

Needless to say, I left the store in search for the shirt only after I informed the man that next time it would probably be best to go get the shirt for the customer. The last thing you want to do is give the customer another errand to run because of YOUR mistake.

It has happened numerous times, not only to me but also to many friends. A tux doesn’t fit. The measurements for the arms are two sizes to small. Is it that hard to get something right the first time? A tux rental costs between $130-$175 and this is a RENTAL! They get the tux back the day after.

I can only imagine the margin Men’s Wearhouse makes off of tux rentals, assuming they all come back in one piece. You would think they could afford customer relationship training for their employees.