BM Dress Dilema (long)

jcarchidi · March 2010

Hi all, I'm fairly new here, first time posting, but I've got a dilema and just have no idea what to do.
I went to a bridal store in Cary and found the perfect BM dresses. I am now kicking myself for not researching better before I went. I could tell I wasn't getting the best service at first, but overlooked it. In January, my MOH's mother was in town and we went and paid for her dress. Her dress is a different color than the rest of the girls and is going to need the most alterations so we wanted to order it first. A few days after paying for it, I got a call from them, saying that they would not order the dress until the remaining 4 girls paid for there's (probably should have been the biggest red flag). After numerous phone calls/emails, she still refused to order the dress. I went and ordered 2 other girls dresses a couple weeks ago. Both times, the management was extremely rude, not helpful and refused to cooperate with me and my girls. After this (and paying $20 for two swatches that I still don't have two weeks later) I've decided to cancel the orders for all the dresses. I will not do business with someone who is rude, lies and is uncooperative.
I called today and asked that we cancel the orders. When the owner spoke with my MOH's mother, she said that if she wanted to cancel the order she would give her all her money back. Now she's saying that she never said that!! And is refusing to refund our money. She's claiming that their policy is to refund all but 25% of the cost of the dress. Keep in mind NONE of the dresses have been ordered from the designer. All she did was write it down a piece of paper and we paid for it. She is lying and refusing to work with me in anyway. I don't know what to do! I don't want to do business with this woman, but can't ask my BM's to lose $50 each. The receipt says "no refunds or cancellations" but technically no order has been placed, she isn't out any money if we cancel. HELP! Any advice??

katherineUTC · March 2010

I am really confused. So, you ordered MOH's dress and paid for it, and THEN the bridal store called you to say they wouldnt order it, until all the other dresses were paid for? I dont understand why they didnt tell you this up front. Anyway then you went and ordered two more dresses, but they let you order them without paying for them?

Overall I'd tell them you just want to start back at square one and cancel everything because you don't feel you have received good customer service, let them know you'll contact the Better business bureau if they do not refund the money you gave them SINCE they did not place an order.

jcarchidi · March 2010

Yes, after we paid for the MOH dress, they called me 3 days later and said they wouldn't order it until ALL (5) dresses had been paid for. So two other girls went and paid for their dresses. But at this point in time NONE of the dresses have actually been ordered from the designer, we have just paid for 3 of them. I've gone round and round with the owner and she refuses to give us a full refund or cooperate.

I know it's the stubborn part of me that just has a hard time doing business with someone so rude with such terrible business practices. Judging by her attitude, I don't know that arguing with her or going to the BBB will do any good. Though, I do plan on filing a complaint. That doesn't change the fact that it will take 3 months to get the dresses in, and we're running out of time.

goheels05 · March 2010

Yuck. Unfortunately, this is a common policy. It's one of the main reasons I had my bridesmaids order their dresses online.

Did she pay by credit card? If so, she can call her credit card company and dispute the charge. I've had a lot of success getting refunds through my credit card in the past.

Also, I highly reocmmend reporting to the BBB. Somehow they are very convincing. The BBB of NC has something like an 80% success rate of resolving complaints. I reported one of my wedding vendors to the BBB--my wedding DVD got lost in the mail and the guy supposedly didn't have a master copy and wasn't going to refund my money. Guess who was blowing up my phone, all apologies the day after he got served BBB papers? He magically "found" a master copy and hand delivered it to my house.

See if you can find your dresses online. You may have to settle on a similar dress elsewhere, but it will be worth it not to deal with crappy businesses.

katherineUTC · March 2010

Frustrating :-/ What is the owner offering to do for you? Did your other two BM's pay for their dresses in full?

katherineUTC · March 2010

PS - I ordered my bridesmaids dresses from Pearl's Place in Louisiana, you just call them up and order over the phone with a credit card. They have most major brands of BM's (and bridal) dresses. Plus their prices are WAY lower than you will find locally, no sales tax, I saved a ton of money. The BM's dresses were on my doorstep in FIVE weeks.

jcarchidi · March 2010

Two of them paid by Credit Card. I had to pay for one of the girls' dresses and she had me use my PIN (i know.. big mistake) so my charge is debit.

thanks everyone! I will definitely file a complaint with the BBB and hopefully that will help! The owner isn't offering anything really, just to refund all but 25% (of a $200 dress!!) So we'd each be taking a $50 loss.

That's a great idea to see if I can find them online cheaper - then maybe even if we have to take the loss of $50 it won't be so bad. I'll definitely be checking out Pearls' Place! I just cringe at the thought of that woman making even $50 each off of us! But better than having to deal with her I suppose!

katherineUTC · March 2010

I would have the two who paid with a credit card each call their credit card companies and reverse the charges, thereby getting themselves a FULL refund. As for you paying with the debit card, I would just ask for your money back on that one minus the $50. That way, the total loss for the three of you is only $50. You'll save enough money ordering those dresses through Pearl's Place that it will even out, I promise.

andrea01012009 · March 2010

i had a roofing problem a few years ago and found the BBB to be worthless and in favor of the business who happened to be a BBB member.

i'd tell them that you are giving them three days to reverse the charges and if not you will be filing separate disputes (not one dispute) for each dress. rumor is that if you get enough disputes in a short amount of time the credit card company can shut you down or make you put collateral in the bank to cover unusually high dispute volumes.

Beth0882 · March 2010

Try emailing or writing the owner a letter so something is in writing. I think each credit card co. is different, but I think that usually before they allow you to dispute a charge so that they reverse the charge the credit card co. requires you to prove you have exhausted all means possible on your own to try and get your money back, so having something in writing will help. Also, be aware that the store owner could decide to take legal action against you if you reverse the charges and don't leave her with the money she claims is nonrefundable -- probably unlikely for $50.00 a piece, but just make sure you think things through first!

Beth0882 · March 2010

Info about the Fair Credit Billing Act which governs credit card billing disputes: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre16.shtm

<Sorry for all the boring info, the hideously boring banking law class i took is finally becoming useful! />

I also recall (and have seen on a few websites) that

"Most credit card account disclosures state that the customer can be liable for up to the first $50 in fraudulent charges. Few credit card companies actually assess this charge." But you might want to check with your company before you go to the hassle of filing a dispute for $50.00!

wlfpkbride · March 2010

I had some pretty horrible service at a bridal salon in Cary myself. I wonder if it was the same one. I ended up not ordering from there. I tried on the dress I ended up ordering there. Luckily, my MOH was with me because there was no one available to help me try on the dress and we had to practically chase them down if we needed something. After that experience I refused to order my dress from them. I ordered it from Jay's Bridal (It's a brick & mortar store in Gainesville, FL but they have an online division as well) I got it $100 cheaper with free shipping and no taxes.

We went back on a less busy day (because they don't make appointments) for my BMs to try on dresses and they were just as bad. We ended up going to David's for their dresses and they came in about 4 weeks after we ordered them.

katherineUTC · March 2010

I dunno, I personally have never had a problem disputing a charge on my credit card. Granted, I have only done it a couple of times probably over the past 10 years, but Discover or Chase Visa or whoever was always eager to help me out if i was in a bad situation where I didn't get what I paid for. I think if you explain to the CC company that you gave this woman money and she is holding that money without actually ordering you what you are asking for, you have a good case.

Maybe the rules are more stringent now but it's worth a try. I kind of doubt the shop owner would go after her legally, I mean she'd have to get an attorney, etc etc, all that costs money.

jcarchidi · March 2010

wlfpckbride - it probably is the same store. I read reviews recently and it sounds like we had the same experience.

Thanks again everyone! One girl has already contacted Discover (and they were extremely helpful and told her what she would have to do and the process) about the charge and the other will probably have to do the same (with Amex). Thanks for everyones suggestions - I'm getting started on writing my complaint/letter!!

goheels05 · April 2010

I'm so glad they have Discover and Amex. Those are the two best ones for disputing charges, which is why many places don't accept them.

Katherine, I had the same experience with mine. Last summer Mr. Heels and I stayed at a hotel and we paid with a gift card. We still had to reserve with a a credit card. When we got our Discover bill the next month, they had charged the whole cost of the hotel to our credit card, and none to our gift card! We thought we were SOL because we let them throw away the giftcard since it was the entire amount. We called Discover, and they refunded our money immediately and said they would do an investigation and that we may ultimately be found liable. We never were--they never reversed our refund. I was so relieved. The hotel was up in VA where we were visiting my brother. It's not like I could just drive up for the day to argue with them about $150!

heybekaruth · April 2010

i know what store you are referring to! we had a terrible experience there when my best friend got married. unfortunately, they offer the widest variety of dresses all in one place in this area. when my sister got engaged, we went there to try on dresses and the owner was just as rude as she was when my friend got married.

we had NO help whatsoever - i asked for those clips things so that we could get an idea of what the dresses even looked like and the girl huffed at us for even asking her to do something! before we went i told my mom and sister that we would NOT order from this store but did go just bc they do have a pretty good selection.

due to the great reviews about pearl's place - we ordered from them. the dresses are not here yet but they were super nice and helpful, even all the way from Louisiana!

BM Dress Dilema (long)

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