Poya Boutique

I recently went to a boutique called Poya Boutique at Empire to get some tailoring done for my sister's upcoming wedding. My mother loves their signature 'ballroom kebaya', so we'd often passed by the store and decided to get our stuff tailored there.

The staff were lovely and quick, and informed us that it would usually take a couple of weeks for our clothes to be finished, and they would call us after. As promised, they called us around the two week mark to let us know that our clothes were done, and my sister and I went in for our initial fitting.

My kebaya was cut in a way that caused the material to crease at the part where the armpit meets the body, and therefore needed some minor alteration. My sister's baju kurung also needed some minor alterations. They re-measured me and subsequently sent the clothes back to be altered.

When I came back for the second fitting, my sister's baju kurung was perfect. My kebaya had some improvements but the strange creases were still there. The lady asked if she could take a photo to show their tailors, as their tailor is mainly based at the Bangsar store. She said it was sometimes difficult to conceptualize the explanation of what had gone wrong, and it was often easier to show them a photo.

Throughout this while, they were unfailingly polite towards me, and I was fairly relieved at the level of concern they seemed to take with my clothes. However, it had taken awhile, and I was starting to be concerned if they would be able to fix it properly the second time.

I was surprised then, when my mother told me she had received a call from the owner of the boutique, who apologized for the problems with the tailoring, and suggested I come in so she could bring me straight to her tailor and get the kebaya fixed there and then.

I agreed and an appointment was set up.

I wasn't entirely sure who the owner was and I wasn't sure what to expect. After the past incident with my sister's designer, I was slightly wary.

I definitely didn't expect the beautiful, fresh faced girl who walked in right on time, with the biggest smile on her face.

Adilah apparently runs the boutique with her mother, and immediately made me feel right at home with her friendly attitude and a gregarious personality. She's one of those people who is hard not to like, and her constant chatter put me at ease immediately. She had come onboard to Poya Boutique a couple of years ago, but had grown up with the family business and worked other jobs prior to joining forces with her mother.

We'd gone to their Petaling Jaya workshop, where I was measured and the kebaya was altered in order to rectify the previous mistake. Adilah even took me out to lunch while they made the alterations - and it was finally perfect.

It was obvious from talking to her that Adilah and her mother cared a lot for the brand and their customers, and spent a lot of time personally scouring different countries for fabrics and other things.

It makes a difference when a business owner goes through the extra mile in order to fix a problem for a client - in this case, it was a situation which I didn't even expect that sort of treatment, and I feel it is a reflection of the passion that Adilah has put into her business and her belief that the satisfaction of her customers should never be compromised.

I walked out of that experience feeling very much like I had gotten the star treatment - and naturally, it is not surprising that I will definitely be back again at Poya, knowing that the quality of the service is such.

Poya is located at Bangsar Shopping Centre and Empire Gallery. For more information, please visit www.poya.com.my.