BRIDES BEWARE!

Jeniferan

I just want to warn any brides that might be considering French's Bridal as a option to buy a wedding dress.  Please don't waste your time like I did!  The owner as well as the other sales associates are unbelievably pushy and rude.  This is a big purchase and not something you should be pressured into by a group of commission hungry, insincere older women who will take advantage of you any way they can.  Their selection is terrible, their prices are offensive, and their business is run very poorly.  I've seen identical dresses at other stores selling for HUNDREDS less.  There is nothing you can get at French's that you can't get anywhere else in the area.  I highly recommend that you take your business elsewhere.  I wish someone had warned me!

kmt_cas

Thanks for the warning.I just want to say it is a bit strange since this is your first post on the boards and you are bashing a store.  Always raises a red flag.  Maybe that's just me.

Scarlet856

Jeniferan,I completely disagree with the PP. I too had a bad experience there and reported them to the AG and to the knot as they advertise that they were voted best of the knot.  They cut the labels out of their dresses!!!!! They tried to get me to buy the sample dress that I tried on even though it was too small across the chest. The saleswoman kept telling me that she was a seamstress and could take it out. Everyone knows that you want to take your dress in - not out especially with beading but she was trying to unload the sample so she kept pushing and wouldn't even tell me who designed the dress. In the dressing room I discovered that the label on that dress and all the others were cut out. After that experience I didn't even want to dress shop anymore. The girls on here pointed me to bella sera in Danvers and it was soo refreshing! I recommend it if you're still looking!  

kmt_cas

Scarlet - my response had nothing to do with her experience with French's Bridal.  I was merely pointing out that it is always strange when someones first post is bashing something, whether it be a store/vendor/or something else.  Always makes me think they are a competitor of the bashee.  Like I said, I could be wrong, and you obviously had a negative experience with them as well so she certainly isn't alone.  I've never even heard of French's Bridal so I have no opinion either way.

Scarlet856

Well, you sounded a bit snarkey if you want to know the truth. It was that, that I found unnecessary and didn't agree with. If you wish to make an issue of it, that was the reason for my comment.

kmt_cas

Ouch.  Well, that was definitely not the way I meant it to be written.

Scarlet856

I can see what you mean about first time posters.  Maybe I just took it the wrong way because I could identify with her. As a result of my experience at that store I reported them to every authority that I could think of and all of the designers that they carry. It really bothers me because I hate to think of all the people that they take advantage of who fall for it!

kmt_cas

Well, if anything, everyone who reads this know that they seriously suck!  Good for you taking action like that.  Most people move on without trying to make a difference. 

Scarlet856

Hey thanks.  Looks like you're an ace with those dispute resolution skills! Keep up the good work!

kmt_cas

Lol I'm incredibly sleep deprived because of my thesis so half the time I talk in gibberish.  Thanks though

deannacb02

I went there with my friend who is also getting married. The fact that they remove the designer from the dress and won't tell you who designs it is OBSURD!!! I then went back (maybe thinking it would be different) with my mother to look at MOTB dresses......well they charged ridiculous prices so when we realized it wasn't in our price range, the woman immediately walked downstairs, told the other woman working and they stood together and stared at us as we walked out. It was so uncomfortable and rude! Sorry, my mother is not spending $1000 on a dress! I WOULD NEVER GO BACK THERE!

Jeniferan

I can see that it might be weird that my first post was so negative, but I just felt so strongly about my terrible experience and wanted to communicate it any way that I could!  I would hate to see more people get taken advantage of.   I too reported them to the AG and the BBB.  I noticed that there were no tags as well and they would not tell me the designers of the dresses.  They said they were a "private label".  I've seen the exact same dresses at other stores with designer labels on them.  They are running a very dishonest business!

Ainslie325

I had a similarly terrible experience with another bridal salon (a chain, based in the Chicago area-- HOUSE OF BRIDES HOUSE OF BRIDES HOUSE OF BRIDES). Similar high pressure sales, hidden fees, deliberately demeaning comments, etc. I will say, though, that the practice of cutting makers' tags out of gowns is pretty common. It's an obvious attempt to force a purchase by concealing the information that would allow you to comparison shop. Obviously, a reputable shop should be able to trly on their competitive pricing and excellent customer service; to have to resort to this (rather bush league) tactic implies that they are missing either the former or the latter. While tag removal on samples is fairly common practice, I think it's pretty brazen to overtly lie about the origin of the dress (a "private label"? Jeez...). Do your job well, offer me a fair price, offer to match the prices of any brick and mortar competitor, and you can win my purchase the old fashioned way. Try to mask your inadequacy with deception? I'll walk every time. Incidentally, the shop I mentioned above (HOUSE OF BRIDES HOUSE OF BRIDES HOUSE OF BRIDES in CAROL STREAM, ILLINOIS) actively send out letters to brides who register at their store telling them that local competitors are filing for bankruptcy, that they'll be unable to fulfill orders, essentially any slanderous claim short of "their dresses are contaminates with small biting insects." The letters are always sent without a return address, but, it's very easy to tell (by the postmark, and by the way you enter your name in their computer-- I alwyas include a strategic misspelling, just so I can trace the origin of my junk mail) from whom they were sent. How's that for shi%ty??

cazzysmith

ainsley, that's brilliant!hard to believe there are businesses w/ store fronts using such unscrupulous practices! kudos on reporting them to the BBB

Scarlet856

Jeniferan, I'm so glad that you went to the AG too. I'm hoping that if enough people do that, they might actually look into it! I tried to go to the BBB but they only seemed interested in mediation and there is nothing to mediate here! I also reported to the FTC as there is a federal statute regarding the removal of tags...

GettinHitchedInMA

Wow - you girls rock!  When I noticed the tags were cut out at La Sposa in Watertown and they said they would only tell me the designer after I ordered it and paid my 50% deposit I just thought that was normal. Although it did feel wrong at the time, I wasn't savvy enough to know that it's actually illegal. We should definitley boycott all the stores that do it! I mean, I would rather buy from a store where I can try on the dress than order it over the internet, even if I do save a couple bucks so they are really shooting themsleves in the foot by acting like b*^ches.

GettinHitchedInMA

PS *kmt_cas* your hair is GORGEOUS!!! Where are you getting it done?

Scarlet856

Gettinhitchd,Don't feel bad, they almost sucked me in for a second when I had the gown on and they knew just what buttons to push too. THat's what makes it such a scam!