So 3 of my girls (my best friend and 2 cousins) live out of town, they are all about 5 hours away. My best friend came home for Easter and that weekend she and the other 3 of my bridesmaids who live locally decided to go dress shopping to get an idea of what everyone liked. My two cousins could not make it for Easter but said they would wear anything and if we found something we all liked to go with it that they did not have to be included in the hunt.
We went to 4 bridal shops in April and found the dress everyone liked at the first shop. It is Alfred Angelo, style 7053 in the color shown (espresso)
http://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/styles/7053They told us the dress was $146.00 (including tax) and if all 6 girls end up ordering the dress through them alterations would be done free of charge except total reconstruction if someone happens to get pregnant, etc. I told them we weren't making a decision yet since we were more than a year out and they said they would take all of my info and the dresses we liked and keep it on file so if we decide to buy there they would have all of that info already. After we finished looking for the day everyone agreed the Alfred Angelo dress was their favorite and that was the one they wanted. I personally loved it and was extremely happy with their choice. I emailed my cousins the link to get their opinions and they also loved it so we were set!
The following weekend (so very end of April) I took my Mom to the dress shop to see the bridesmaid dress because the pictures don't do it justice! While we were there the woman working kept telling me the bridesmaid dress may be discontinued so we should order right away. I kept questioned her if that specific dress was due to be discontinued and she said she doesn't know until teh designer tells them to pull it off the rack. I explained to her 3 of the girls lived out of town and wouldnt be in the area until July. I told her we would definitely be getting the dresses there because the price is perfect and the free altrerations couldn't be beat! She pulled out my file and I made an appointment for the 23rd of July (yesterday) for the girls to go get fitted.
I knew my cousins were going to be here this weekend for my aunt's surprise birthday party so all of the girls decided that this is weekend they would go get measured for the dress and put down thier deposits.
So 5 of my girls (one of my local bridesmaids had an emergency), myself, and my Mom went to the shop yesterday for the appointment I scheduled in April. Everything was going just fine they all got measured and placed the deposits down. The last girl was paying her deposit and I overheard her say "I thought the dress was $146.00".. so I go over and woman working said, "well that was the price of the dress when you were in April, its gone up since then" (to $169) She babbled on about the designer changing the price of the dress and there was nothing she could do about it and asked if we wanted to discuss it. We talked about it for a minute and decided that the $20 price difference was fine for everyone and we still wanted to get the dresses there for the free alterations. Then the woman working says "You don't get the free alterations" !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said WHY NOT? She said that was a "special" they were running in April. Since no one placed deposits while it was running we did not qualify for it.
The girls and myself were extremely angry because 1. We were never told there was an expiration on the "deal"...they made it seem like it is something the store always offers as a courtesy for larger bridal parties. 2. She said the deal ended a couple weeks ago...I explained we had an appointment for today since APRIL so they knew what dress we wanted and that we would be coming in July for the fittings/deposits. I asked why they didn't call me to tell me the price and deal would be changed knowing we were coming in...she said they don't have time to call clients that don't have deposits down already! The woman became very rude and snippy with all of us and basicaly said we should have came in before the deal ended... we tried explaining had we known it was going to end then we would have! My Mom then got involved which it not a pretty thing. She basically told her the customer service was lacking, they knew we werent purchasing in April the first time we looked so why would they give us any pricing if it would be changed and she demanded a phone # for the store owner. She asked if e change our minds about going there if the deposits can be returned. The woman said because one of my girls was not there the order would not be placed until the last girl put down her deposit so basically we have some time to decide. You can she began to panic about losing the sale because she then offered us "alterations for $30" So if any alterations are needed the most they have to pay is $30. We left things as is but were still unhappy with the way we were spoken to and how they never even told us as they were placing depsoits down the price and alterations had changed.
About 5 minutes after getting home I had a call from the woman working that she spoke to the owner about thesituation personally and they can't change the price of the dress but they will still offer the free alterations deal.
Would you stick with this place to get the free alterations which I know can add up or would you go somewhere else after getting CRAPPY customer service? Were we wrong to be upset about not being informed of these changes? I feel like a jerk but at the time we were all very frustrated, especially the girls from out of town being that they decided to order from MY local shop to get the free alterations.
If you made it this far I APPLAUD YOU.