When it comes to wedding gown shopping (or any kind of shopping that involves people helping me), I'm a pretty laid-back, easygoing person. If possible, I like to get in and out of a store without too much assistance. Of course, you do need some extra help when shopping for wedding wardrobe, but my point is that I don't expect to be waited on by consultants or treated like a princess. I also don't need excessive compliments or want anyone to gush over me. I get that I'm just "another bride" and not some special wedding snowflake. However, I do expect common courtesy from people who want me to give them money for their services and product.
In search of the perfect dress for my wedding, I visited a few boutiques (ranging from well-known bridal stores like Kleinfeld to small ma-and-pa operations in the middle of nowhere, all offering different dress prices, designers, etc.) I'd like to think that I've had some varied (but mostly very positive) experience when it comes to bridal shopping that by the time I went into this place (also somewhat higher-end and well-known - or so I've been told) I knew what to expect.
That's why I was completely shocked by the unprofessional attitude of this consultant (I'm not sure if I can even call her this).
I gave her a budget. What did she do? Bring a dress way over budget and actually tried to convince me that my budget didn't really matter because it was a perfect dress for me. It wasn't really, by the way. Which I told her. Then what did she do? Just kept pushing that dress over and over again without presenting me with any other options. Well, there were a few others, all of which didn't meet my criteria of dress I was looking for, so...
She wasn't simply pushing the pricey dress it in an overly enthusiastic, fake manner, but she was actually rude about it, telling me I would make a mistake if I didn't buy the dress right now because it was a big mistake to wait so long and no other store would accommodate my timeline (yes, I'm pushing it, but all other stores had no problem accommodating an 8+ month timeline).
Not once did she smile the entire appointment and rolled her eyes as if she had somewhere else to be - which considering the phone attached to her hand, she clearly did. I would tell her something I was concerned about (they made custom dresses so I assumed we could talk about making changes for a cost, of course) and she would tell me that I had no idea what I was talking about.
The biggest issue that made me decide to leave came in the changing room. She was already super unhelpful, so it didn't surprise me that she didn't bother helping me get out of my dress or failed to answer when I asked for help with the clamps I couldn't reach. But then I turned around (in my undies and nothing else in front of a floor-length mirror, by the way) and she was texting on her phone. After telling us that we're not allowed to use our phones in fear that we might try to steal the designer's design. How about the fact that you may very well be texting my photo to whomever you're talking to right now, lady?! Okay, I know that she most likely (and hopefully!) wasn't, but still...ugh. Texting on the phone while your client is struggling in and out of dresses is crappy enough, but while I'm standing there in the changing room with you, practically naked? Blech!
Of course, she wouldn't let us leave until we committed to the dress. OF COURSE, we didn't! The good news? I did go to another place and found my dress with the help of a consultant I absolutely loved. She went above and beyond what I expected, was so down-to-earth, honest, kind, understanding, fun...a crappy experience thankfully turned into something positive.
Anyway, I hope this was the right place to vent about such a silly thing. Do you guys have any unprofessional vendor stories that are hopefully just a distant memory now?
EDITED B/C paragraphs decided to vanish - yikes.
Also, I just realized...HOLY BRACKETS. Sorry peeps.