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Florida-Central Florida

Bad Experience at Alfred Angelo, Altamonte (Long-ish)

My maid of honor and I decided yesterday that we were going to go dress shopping in Altamonte. We searched online and found that there was a David's Bridal and a Brides By Demetrios there, so that's where we planned on going.
On our way there, we spotted an Alfred Angelo sign, and because I had looked at Alfred Angelo designs online and liked them, I wanted to stop by. So we pulled in, just to look. We were definitely not buying anything yet, it was my 2nd day of dress shopping. We were just experimenting and seeing what styles were available and the prices.

We went into the store and were not greeted like I had been earlier at David's and Formally Yours (Eustis). We didn't really feel like we needed all that much help, because it was our first time out together, and we were just browsing. We found 2 dresses that we agreed I should try on. There were a bunch of open rooms, but some  had dresses and we just weren't sure what was taken and what wasn't. So, we stood by the fitting rooms for a longggg time waiting on someone to acknowledge us. Finally, after we waited and nobody said a word to us, my MOH told a lady that we were just wanting to try on a couple of dresses, and if there was a fitting room open. She asked what my name was and then asked if we had an appointment. We didn't. We didn't know the store was there, otherwise we would  have, but we also didn't feel the need to be helped out by a salesperson, because we weren't intending on buying anything. The associate RUDELY said, "We're working by appointment only, but I can see if there's someone who can take the time out to help you two." We were polite and said "okay, thanks so much!" After she took the dresses from  us and randomly walked around the store for about 10 more minutes, she brought a girl to us and said that she was "taking time out of her busy schedule to help us out". My MOH told her, "We didn't really need a full-time helper, we just wanted a door open." But the new lady seemed really sweet and was pretty helpful. She knew we didn't want to be hovered over, so she helped us when we asked, but she wasn't overbearing.

Now, I was trying to find dresses in my size, but it's extremely difficult to find size 2 samples nowadays. There were a total of 4 styles in a size 2, and 4 in a size 4, about 5 in a size 6, and then maybe 5 in a size 8. There were dozens and dozens in size 10 and up, though. Just to get an idea of styles and options, we looked through some of the size 10's and 12's and 16's and such. The lady that was rude to us before came up to us and rudely said, "You're looking at really big dresses." and we said "we know, we're just looking at the styles, because there's hardly anything in my size". She seems to not even listen to us and continues to rudely say "You could maybe pin back something that was 2 sizes to big, but you are just TOO small for any of these." To which we replied "We know, we're just looking at styles that are available here" and she rolled her eyes and walked away.

I just thought it was a terribly rude woman there. Just because we didn't have an appointment and I'm a petite bride, she felt the need to be rude to us. The woman that helped me in the fitting room was nice, but nobody else said a word to us. It was also really hot in there. I kept sweating.

Has anyone else had unpleasant experiences at Alfred Angelo Altamonte? Or did we just catch the lady on a bad day?

Re: Bad Experience at Alfred Angelo, Altamonte (Long-ish)

  • edited December 2011
    DANG. That's awful! I have heard of people having poor customer service experiences there before, so I don't think it's you. At all. I absolutely would have had words with their manager over that stank biatch's attitude! 
  • edited December 2011
     I don't think it's you at all either, though I am not sure what the lady's problem was.  My bridesmaids had some problems there when they were trying to order their dresses, but I am surprised they were nasty to one of their potential brides...  That's a shame.  I ended up getting my dress there and it was ok...  but I was disappointed that they gave the bridesmaids trouble.  I am a petite bride too, so I had to clip pretty much everything I tried on, but otherwise the wedding gown part of it was ok.  Although the lady was kind of snarky when I went to pick up two of the bridesmaid gowns.
  • edited December 2011
    I have sworn off Alfred Angelo.  They were AMAZING to me when I was picking out my dress, but when we went to pick it up, we had a HORRIBLE experience.  
    Same with my MOH when she got her wedding dress.  They were GREAT to her when she was picking it out.  They ended up ordering a size that they thought would fit, but it was too small, and ripped her dress in the process of trying to get it on her.  
    Then, the most recent time, when we went to try on BM dresses, the girl was nice, but she didn't ask for sizes, she stuck my girls in the SAME dressing room (we were the only ones in the store), and had the dresses jumbled up and didn't help my girls try on the dresses at all.

    These are definitely condensed stories, but you're not alone.  They aren't good. At. All.
  • edited December 2011
    Strangely, I had a similar but exact opposite problem at that store.  I needed a 12 or 14 and the girl basically told me I was too big for any of the dresses and that they only had 4 styles I could try on. It was my first dress shopping trip and was quite demoralizing.

    However, I really liked the look of the AA dresses online, so luckily there's also  a store here in SFL.  The store down here was great and thats where I got my dress and the bridesmaid dresses as well.
  • edited December 2011
    So funny that you had this experience, because I completely agree!  2 weeks ago I had two appointments - one at Demetrios and one at Alfred Angelo.  I had tried on a few times and was definitely ready to buy.  My experience at Demetrios in the morning was absolutely amazing.  We had a girl named Regina helping us and she listened to exactly what I wanted and pulled some dresses that were perfect.  Then she asked me about my theme and colors etc. and pulled some dresses that I never EVER would have pulled myself.  As it turns out I fell in LOVE with one of them that was everything I thought I didn't want.  She was very good at coaxing me out of my comfort zone and helping me envision something that was just perfect.  She even put on a bridesmaid's dress in my colors and stood next to me to help me get the feel for it.  Loved her.  

    Thhhennnn ... after that wonderful experience, we decided we might as well go to our Alfred Angelo appointment and if it wasn't as great we would just return to Demetrios and get that dress.  Well it took me about 30 minutes in AA to realize that even if I found something I liked, there was no way I was buying it from these people.  They would disappear for a while only to return with hideous selections and then they told me I looked wonderful in everything, even these god awful monstrosities that didn't flatter me at all.  It was very clear that they were only interested in a sale and not in my actual happiness.  After about 4 dresses I was close to tears and my mom took me back to Demetrios where I was greeted so warmly and they measured and fitted me and were so attentive even though there were several other appointments going on.  Not to mention that my original appointment went for almost 2 1/2 hours and not once did they make me feel rushed or that I needed to get on with it.  I didn't even notice how much time had passed.  

    So Yay Demetrios and BOO Alfred Angelo!   
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks for the info on Demetrios! I haven't been yet, but now I definitely want to check it out!
  • SarahSmile23SarahSmile23 member
    2500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    hmm...AA was ok for me. it wasnt as horrible as david's was. but i got spoiled after going to solutions bridal and didn't want to go back to AA again.
  • edited December 2011
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • edited December 2011
    That sucks! I hate when people treat you like that. I feel like I will always be treated crappy because of my small stature (being only 5 feet tall) and people not taking me seriously. Well, people lose a lot of sales that way! GL finding a dress from people who actually give a hoot about helping you out!
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