help!!!

taltal725

Ok girls, I need some advice. I have reason to believe that a "designer" gown I ordered from a dress shop may be a knockoff. Is there any way to get proof that my gown is real? When the gown came in, I tried it on and realized there was not a tag attached. Also the buttons were missing. The boutique owner assured me this was a mistake from the designer. Things just don't feel right and I don't know how to contact the designer becaues the website does not have a direct phone number. It is a Mori-Lee gown. Are there any "signature" things I should look for on the dress to make sure its not a knockoff? I'm not sure there is much I can do now anyways (wedding is in 2 months), but I'm going to be furious if I payed all that money and the gown is "fake".  help!!!

PreppySailor

Does the fabric feel like the sample you tried on? Does the salon you ordered from have a good reputation?

taltal725

Well I have had a TON of conflict with this store to date. Like I said, the buttons were missing on the gown when it first "came in". I tried the gown on at a different shop originally and found out that a shop (the one which i speak of) much closer to me carried Mori-Lee , so they special ordered it for me. They typically did not carry that design. I might be totally paranoid now, just b/c I have not had good customer service with them to date... Or my gut could be right on and I could be getting screwed. I just wasn't sure if there are tags on the inside I should look for, or specific things that would be a give away if the dress was a knockoff. Is it weird that there are no tags on the dress now? Or is this normal? I'm not sure what to do now. I want to call the designer and see if the dress was ordered and sold to that shop. But it may be impossible to find that out.

taltal725

It's difficult to remember what the original gown felt like, just because it was literally 5 months ago when I tried it on at a different shop.

PreppySailor

I would take it to a bridal shop that regularly deals with Mori Lee gowns and ask their opinion. You may just be feeling suspicious for no reason, but it would suck to spend money for a designer gown and get a replica.Are the missing buttons functional? Like can you do up the dress, or are they just decorative?

PreppySailor

What is the style number? do you have any photos?

taltal725

It is Mori Lee Style 2304.. The one tag on the inside says "Mori- Lee", but then under that tag is one that says "made in china"... does anyone know if her dresses are manufactured in china? I apologize for sounding so naive.. but i just don't know a lot about dresses.

taltal725

The boutique owner told me she called the company about the buttons, recievd them, and she sewed them on. They look fine on the dress now. It's just kind of sketchy to me. Why would the dress have been missing the buttons in the first place. I would love to find a phone number to be able to call the Mori Lee factory or someone from their headquarters or what not.

PreppySailor

It's a very pretty dress, do you have any pictures of yours? A lot of designer dresses are manufactured in China.

taltal725

Oh well thats good to know. I don't have any pictures unfortunately.. but honestly, i dont think it would help. I mean, I put the pictures from the computer right next to the dress and ofcourse it looks the same, but I'm just not sure about the quality.I think I will take your advice and call the shop that I originally went to. I will take the dress in, have them take a look and then go from there. I don't want to stress about it, but I also don't like someone taking advantage of me. Worst case scenerio, it is a knock off.. I buy the dress from the original store and just have it altered.. or maybe try to rush order a new one. Then demand a full refund from the other place and report her to the BBB. Thanks for your help!! If anyone else has a Mori-Lee and can provide some input that'd be awesome!

pinkypoo33

Does the dress look cheap or funny to you?  If you love the dress and it fits you fine and all, then I wouldn't really worry too much if its a knock-off or not.  If you were paying thousands of dollars and you felt it was a knock-off then I would be more concerned because you want to get what you paid for, but I think Mori-Lee dresses are very reasonably priced and even if it were a knock-off (not saying it is), you're still getting a nice dress for a good price. 

KappaUCF20

That definitely sounds a little off to me. If the design you ordered was supposed to have buttons on it, I find it hard to believe that Mori Lee would just forget to put them on. I don't see how they could make that big of a mistake. If you find out that it is a knock-off, then I would definitely report the bridal shop. I'm sure Mori Lee wouldn't be pleased to hear that they're selling lower end replicas under their name. It could tarnish their reputation.  On the tag inside, does it say "Mori-Lee" with a hyphen?  From what I can tell on their website, it doesn't appear that their logo has a hyphen in it so that might be another red flag.

KappaUCF20

And furthermore, if they are selling replicas under a different designer's name, I'm pretty sure that's illegal (it would probably be a violation of copyright law or something).

alishadhs4

Taltal:Mori Lee is actually just that-she makes knockoffs of higher-end designer gowns...

taltal725

Well obviously I understand I wasn't purchasing a high end designer gown.... I just don't want one of those dressed that came from http://shop.storeofdress.com. Nor do I want someone selling me a second hand dress or a used dress off of ebay. Does that make sense It's just frustrating when you think that a bridal shop has lied to you. I found a number to Mori Lee customer service and I will be calling today to look into it further. Thanks for all the input!

Lovie 129

I'm going dress shopping for the first time this weekend, nut when I narrowed down the designer I wanted, I called local bridal salons in my hometown. I was advised the dressed I was looking they could not get. The more exclusive salon went further and told me some designers don't send all of their collection to a store because of the price point. Salons have to buy the samples the have. If a stores clientele will only spend a max of $2,500 on a gown, they will not be able to order a gown from their more exclusive line where a gown may cost $5,000. Bridal salons have a contract with designers they must maintain. If your dress was one price at the first store and considerably cheaper at the salon you purchased from, it very well could be a fake. Ask the salon rep for the Mori-Lee number and address because you want to send wedding photos and a thank you note for helping making your wedding so perfect by making your perfect gown. They may fall for that and give it to you, if not, go on the Mori-Lee website, look for salons in your area that are authorized to carry their gowns. Take it from there.Good luck and I hope all works out.

mikesboo23

Go to the mori lee website and click 'find a store' type in your zip code and see if the store you bought it from comes up.  If it does not then they do not sell mori lee gowns at all. 

taltal725

Hey KappaUCF, I'm a Kappa Alumni from WVU. Pretty neat Anyways- back on topic. Just incase anyone cares, I got to the bottom of this. Today I went back to the original shop that had the Mori-Lee 2304 sample that I had on and compared it to my "mori lee" and the dress that was ordered for me was totally a knock off. So obvious that everyone in the store was appauled. Now, I only feel stupid that I let this lady blow smoke over my eyes and I fell for it. Luckily the woman at the good store was so wonderful with me. She was able to rush order my "real dress" and it will be here in 2 weeks. I have never been so relieved in my life.Now its a matter of how I get my money back from the other store.. if I even can. I figure I may have to take the lady to small claims court or something. I just want people out there to BEWARE that just because you order a dress from a "professional boutique", they can still really rip you off. The store is actually listed on the website as carrying mori-lee. I think the woman just took advantage of the fact that she didn't carry the exact style # that I wanted. Looking back on it, there were a million "red flags". but when you get caught up in wedding bliss I guess its easy to miss things. wheeeeeew. It's all over now though and I have the gown I reallllyy wanted.

westerngirl_84

You may also want to contact the BBB (Better Business Bureau-www.bbb.org) and see if/what they can do for you. Not sure exactly how it works, but if you look at some stores that have received negative ratings by the BBB, you can see that there is an attempt made to fix the problem, although I don't know if that means that you'd get your money back or they'd just get a complaint filed against them. I'd visited the site before making the trip to a bridal store two hours away from where I live, and the store's rating along with feedback from former customers convinced me to stay away. Obviously, take the complaints with a grain of salt because some people cannot be satisfied, but I'd say that the BBB is a good place to start. For some businesses, it's very important to them to be BBB accredited, and for others, they don't care. However, the BBB will investigate a complaint even if the store isn't accredited. The store may also take you more seriously if you get the professionals involved. Good luck!

PreppySailor

Wow, I'm so glad that you will be able to get the real dress you originally fell in love with.

mikesboo23

Definitely file with the BBB.  You file your complaint and what action you want taken and send it in.  They decide if it's necessary to follow through with it (in your case it will be).  Then they contact that company and let them know that there is a complaint against them and they have a certain number of days to respond.  If they don't respond it will go on permanent file with the BBB.  Most companies choose to take the action requested.