Liability of a dressmaker for damage to clothing

Questioner

My girlfriend had a pair of trousers, made of very thin fine fabric, altered (shortened) by a (Turkish) tailor. However, the tailor was rough with the trousers. You can clearly see where it was sewn. She altered the trousers as if they were jeans. In addition, an iron was used on the trousers, so that the hem print is clearly visible from a distance. If you look closely, you can see marks from the iron here and there. The trousers are ruined by this. Of course we went back to the dressmaker. She initially denied having ironed the trousers, but later it turned out that ironing was necessary because of the hem. She initially blamed the machine for the poor sewing, then the thin, fine fabric. I think that as a professional she should know in advance how to handle such fabric. She argued that she cannot know everything. She offered to sew again, but this time by hand. But if you sew again, the damage only becomes greater. We want compensation. She got angry, shouted 'I'm done with you' and threw us out of her building. Question: Can we hold the dressmaker liable for the damage?

Lawyer

You can of course hold her liable for the damage. Normally she is also insured but in any case she is WA insured like everyone else. I would hold her liable by registered letter and of course take photos of the damage to the trousers. In the letter you announce that you have obtained legal advice and that if she does not cooperate you will take further steps. If she really is a professional seamstress with her own shop etc. then you can certainly expect her to know how to tackle a repair (in this case shortening trousers). If she had any doubts, she should have made that known in advance. Now that she has accepted the assignment you can expect it to be carried out correctly.