Ok here is the scoop. I fell in love with a dress at David's Bridal. It's a mermaid fit, satin, and has a bow on the right hip. However, we had gone to the Phx Bridal expo the day before, and rushed to put a non-refundable $100 down on a completely different dress that my mom liked, at a smaller boutique. (Mistake #1.)
Since we had that money down, we went there after we left DB, just to see it, and decide what to do (dress I love vs $100 at this store). I had a bad feeling about this the whole time. Anywho, we get there and were greeted with bad customer service. No one helped us for the first 20 min, even though we had an appt, and the other girls there just sat around and gossiped. Ugh. Finally, I go find the dress myself in the racks, and helped myself into the dress in the dressing room. My parents were kinda eh about that dress (with said deposit). My mom decided to ask the lady if they had anything similar to the dress I fell in love with at DB. They did! I liked it, esp more so because it had a corset and came with a free veil and tiara. So... we ended up buying the dress for an even better deal than advertised at the expo. (It seems too good to be true). This is the dress that you have seen pictures of recently.
The next morning after buying the dress I had brunch with my Phx girlfriends. They were a little concerned about my dress because they had heard of other boutique stores in Phx going out of business. On the drive home I tried to read reviews and didn't find anything good, but I was driving, so I tried not to think too much. I called the store several times that day (within 24 hours of the purchase) and no one answered, and the voice mail box was full. That night I read through every review I could find about the store.... and the reviews are horrifying. (Google "Once in a Life Tyme" AND Phoenix AND reviews). Even the Better Business Bureau gave them a grade of F! They are so bad that I wanted to cancel my order. I called my parents, crying, asking them to read the reviews and cancel the order that day. They refused to go that day, but they did go to the store the next day to cancel in person. They were too late, you have to cancel within 24 hours of the purchase, in person. Good thing we never knew that! Ugh.
My mom then decides to tell them that the wedding has been moved up, just so we can get the dress in on time for alterations and customization, and not a week before the wedding (read the reviews, apparently this is common). So they put a rush on the order and say "5 weeks." Since then they have refused to give us an order number, an estimated shipping date, a confirmation number, or even a price for the "rush order" in writing. Everything is making us stress about this dress and think this company may be horse ***, or going out of business. To top it off it wasn't even the dress that I fell in love with at David's Bridal.
So... we signed a contract. One of the lines on the contract said that it cannot be cancelled in any circumstances. We've spoken to contract lawyers and our credit card company, and they all say the same thing: that unless they fail to deliver within the original ship date on the contract (which was never stated), that we can't do anything to cancel the order or even submit a claim.
I'm so disgruntled. I want to go to David's Bridal and go purchase my dream gown... but can't because I can't convince myself to waste my parent's money and be a bridezillabitch.
I called the manager of the store and spoke with her myself. I politely, but sternly, told her that we needed information because we were considering further legal action. After 30 minutes of bull *** on the phone, she finally emailed my dad a copy of the order reciept with our purchase order number on it as well as an estimated ship date. However, it looked like a photo copy of an excel spreadsheet... which anyone could put together. There was nothing official on it implying an order exists, and the important stuff (like the designer's name) wasn't even on it. Oh... and guess what... in the last 3 weeks the quoted "rush fee" has changed 3 times, and the estimated shipping date has been different 4 times.
So now we have a purchase order number and a "ship date". I feel a little hopefull... but still cant stop thinking about the DB dress...
My FI thinks this was all a mistake, and I and my family agree. We are at a loss. Do we wait to see if it shows on time (for the fake wedding date)? At all? If we wait to see what happens we risk the chance of it being too late to order my favorite dress through DB. Either way we are out $500+ from the first order because the lawyers and credit card company have told us that unless they fail to deliver within 30 days (of the non existant shipping date) there is nothing we can do to get our money back.
My fiance wants me to be happy and has implied that if we have to he will buy me the other dress... not that I need him to (YAY MASTERCARD!) but the thought is sweet.
I'm sad. I have no emotion for my wedding dress, and to top it off, there are NO samples where I live to try on again (southern AZ). I would have to drive all the way back to Phoenix and go back into that horrific store just to try it on.
This place is a joke and has made nothing but my entire family (and FI) extremely frustrated and angry. Do NOT go to Once in a Life Tyme bridal.