Beware of this Bridal Store!!!! ( and which store you should go to) PIP

clevelandcutie · February 2011

Catan's Fashions in Strongsville.

If I could sum them up in one word it would be Horrible.
Sorry girls but stay away from them. I made my very first gown shopping appointment here. The receptionist was charming, sweet and customer service oriented.

I made an appointment 2 weeks in advance. Upon arrival they made me wait 40 minutes. The girl who was my bridal "consultant" asked me if I liked any styles or researched any online.... I said yes and told her which ones and asked if they had them. She pointed over to a section of dresses and told me to start looking and she would call me over to the room when it was ready. wow. the fun didnt stop there.

I pulled about 4 dresses and the first one I tried on brought my mother to tears ! I loved the dress and decided it could be the one.... 1 minute after I took the dress off I was half naked and some other consultant busted into my room and said she was taking it because she has an appointment in who requested to try it on. I sat there jaw dropped in disbelief as my consultant said okay and that it wasnt a good style for me anyways because I was "bottom heavy" and that I should stay away from mermaid gowns. What is this Kleinfeld or something?? As you will clearly see at the end of this review - I look totally fine in mermaid gowns and am not really bottom heavy as she had presumed. I am curvy there is a difference!

I was treated poorly and ended up leaving in tears, with a completely negative body image in mind. The staff had a snotty, rude, attitude. They might as well have said you are priviliged to even be in our store. I was called twice and told the owner would work with me. I fell for the sweet talking and was told to call back if I found any gowns I liked online. I called them last week and the person I spoke with was incredibly rude, and snapped at me when I mispronounced a designer (excuuuuse moi) and then told me that they didnt have that gown and smugly said " we cannot carry every single gown by every single designer" .

I went to Dora's Bridal in Fairview Park. The service was amazing. Beautiful gowns . The lady who worked there was an absolute doll. Honest and straight about everything. I ended up finding the gown of my dreams and as I stated earlier I purchased a Mermaid gown and it looked nice on me ..... I highly recommend Dora's Bridal .... Please even if you do not go there I would not give Catans my business or my time.

Here is the Gown :
[IMG]http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu1/colleenbday/dressblacknwhite-1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu1/colleenbday/dressyaay-1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu1/colleenbday/dress4-1.jpg[/IMG]

Good Luck Girls

amariemaz · February 2011

I'm sorry you had a bad experience.

I didn't mind Catan's or Dora's but the service wasn't the best. I had the best experience at The Perfect Bride in Rocky River. There is a huge difference between these stores. PB is very small and the sales staff waits on you hand a foot. When I went to Catan's and Dora's they just pointed to the racks and told me to to pick what I wanted and take it to a dressing room. They really did not help me try them on or give me any feedback at all.

Celticrebelgirl · February 2011

Ur dress is beautiful and you look amazing in it...now...back when I got married the first time and was looking...I went to Catan's...and hateed it too...Im plus size 18-20 and they made it seem like I was morbidly obese and why was I even looking at dresses??? Rude not a single care to my needs...and especially if you dont have money...forget it then...so I agree with you there...now Ive ben curious about Dora's and Perfect so thanks for both those reviews ladies

will have to check them out

K Byte · February 2011

Yeah I feel like the board "party line" is too much biased in favor of Catan's. They do have probably the largest selection in the area but they are also insanely busy all the time so I think their customer service probably suffers as a result. We tried on BM dresses there and it was a zoo. Sorry your experience was bad, the dress is beautiful on you though!

Peckles · February 2011

I didn't have a problem picking out my dress at Catan's, but I also got my bridesmaids dresses there and it was a disaster. They needed to be altered and some of the seamstresses there were so rude.

I also had to go back there a few times to pick up their dresses and pay for them, and no one that works there has any idea what is going on. It took 45 minutes to even PAY for an alteration because everyone there just directs you to another register to get rung up at.

We were there when they had their prom dresses, and we were told to wait at the register for a seamstress to ring us out. Twenty minutes later, with prom music blasting in our ears, still no one in sight to ring us up.

So I went bridezilla on the first person I saw and told them to ring me up so I could just get out of there already.

I would not recommend Catan's bridal at all either. I'm sure there are much better places that actually know what's going on with their customers!!

JKohio · February 2011

Bummer it didn't work out for you. I didn't purchase my bridal gown there, but I went there to try on stuff and check out selection. I didn't have any problems with the staff or what was available. I ended up buying from Julianne's Bridal Outlet in Olmsted Falls and loved them.

I did buy a bridesmaid dress for my brother's wedding from Catan and went shopping with SIL when we were style shopping. No problems then either. I elected not to use them for alterations though, so no experience with that. I took my BM dress to Julianne's again and they were wonderful.

IMO, you hear good and bad stories about all of the shops. It comes down to the staff working the day/time you are there. Hopefully, you get someone who clicks with you, but sometimes you don't. I can see how that would color your experience.

danielle.eardley · February 2011

I was just at Catan's yesterday and I actually bought a dress. I made sure to make my appointment in the Couture room (although my budget was on the lowest end of what they would consider "Couture".) My consultant was excellent. I actually was just going to look and I ended up buying a dress from the trunk show samples they had leftover from the weekend. My consultant pulled tons of dresses that were in the style I described and she really got what I was looking for. I actually had 3 dresses I would have been happy with, in addition to the one I fell in love with. She spent nearly 3 hours with me and my mom trying on dresses, never once pressuring us or making us feel like we were taking up her time. She even threw in a sash for the dress.

That being said, I went on a Monday. I had the day off of work and it was a perfect day to go because the weather was crappy too. I have heard horror stories of going on the weekend.

I honestly liked being able to look through the dresses before I was placed into a room. It let me look at all the designers' styles in person and gave me a better idea of where to start when my consultant asked me about what styles/designers I liked. I had done a bunch of research on the internet prior to going but hadn't tried anything on yet.

Sorry you had such a poor experience.

FutureJilliannD · February 2011

I didn't end up purchasing my dress at Catan's due to extenuating circumstances, but I did have a good experience there. My consultant let us browse and pick out dresses and helped me find ones I had from magazines. She didn't pressure me at all and let me walk around in the dresses for a long while (not like other stores where they are like ok take it off and on to the next).

I think it really depends on your consultant.

cpaukner · February 2011

I have not purchased my dress yet but I went to Catan's this past Sunday and my consultant (Karen) was great. I tried on so many dresses and she just kept coming back with more. She learned who I was not just what I thought I wanted because you can think one thing and try on something completely different and fall in love and that's what happened. She found two amazing dresses that are complete oppositesof eachother and of what iI thought I wanted but both are totally me. Sorry you had a bad experience but your dress is beautiful.

danielle.eardley · February 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_ohio-cleveland_beware-of-this-bridal-store-store-should-pip?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:110Discussion:6d46b732-4373-442f-b79c-b3c7e922ba68Post:c0e229c6-66fa-4669-b58e-78a52497380f">Re: Beware of this Bridal Store!!!! ( and which store you should go to) PIP</a>:
[QUOTE]I have not purchased my dress yet but I went to Catan's this past Sunday and <strong>my consultant (Karen) was great</strong>. I tried on so many dresses and she just kept coming back with more. She learned who I was not just what I thought I wanted because you can think one thing and try on something completely different and fall in love and that's what happened. She found two amazing dresses that are complete oppositesof eachother and of what iI thought I wanted but both are totally me. Sorry you had a bad experience but your dress is beautiful.
Posted by cpaukner[/QUOTE]

<div>I also had Karen, she was awesome and so nice :) For other brides, maybe you can request her when you make your appointment?</div>

cibber93 · February 2011

I didn't end up buying my dress at Catan's, but I loved the store for bride's gowns. The rooms are very private - no parading around in front of everyone else. It's actually the best store I went to as far as privacy goes. Also, Olena was my consultant, and she was wonderful. She is the only thing that makes me regret not buying from Catan's. I really think she was a great consultant. I agree there were some other not so nice people there. Like some of the other people mentioned, one consultant kept busting into the room and taking dresses. When Olena was out of the room we asked this same rude consultant if we could borrow one of her clips and she said no, she wasn't out consultant so she wouldn't be able to help us. I could see if she was busy with a customer, but she was just standing there doing nothing. I had been to Catan's for bridesmaids dresses, and that was a nightmare. Absolutely ZERO customer service there. For my gown, I went to Dora's, Candlite Bridal, Catan's, David's, Expressions Bridal and Brides by Demterios. I bought from Brides by Demetrios. The service there blew everyone away (except Olena). Plus it was quiet and calm, and the manager was great too. They went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable. We are going to get the bridesmaids dresses there too. Kim and Felicia are the consultants I worked with at Demetrios - both wonderful!

Schmoo2011 · February 2011

See, I had the exact opposite experience. Went to doras and was treated poorly- to the point of they put me in a dressing room with another bride! I was so uncomfortable there. But, when I went to catans on several different occasions looking for my perfect dress, I also had Karen. She was amazing and very laid back. She gave me a very spacious room and helped me pick out my perfect Maggie ball gown. I am going back in July for alterations which is the only thing I am worried about, as I haven't heard anything but bad things about that.

starshine985 · February 2011

It's truly all relative - everyone will have a different experience at each location. I bought my dress at Catan's and had a great experience. I even bought my bridesmaids dresses, hairpiece, shoes, veil and earrings from that store. I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but it is not a bad store to go to. I've heard a "horror story" about every single bridal salon in the area. I, personally, loved the fact that they let me look around for the dresses that I wanted before putting me in a room. I don't like people hanging all over me and I'd rather look for things on my own since I know my style.

My whole point is that this is not a bad place to shop even if it is unfortunate that you happened to have a bad experience.

ellen73 · March 2011

I fully agree with you!! I went to David's on a Saturday, and Catan's on a Sunday just as they opened. David's was a ZOO.. but the consultant I had was awesome and made me feel more special than the witch at Catan's. She must have mentioned my weight and that I was a "bigger girl" two dozen times. I too came in with a list of dresses I knew they carried, and had called ahead b/c I really didn't have time to waste. That didn't matter. I didn't want strapless, they brought in strapless after strapless gown saying I could add spaghetti straps. Really?? The room we were in was dingy and kind of gross.

I found my dress on the knot a couple of weeks later, tried it on at a place in Columbus (that also has bad reviews), called around places in Cleveland- and Dora's had it too. They were amazing!! I was living in Columbus, moving to Chicago, getting married in Cleveland... needless to say my life was hectic and my weekends in Cleveland were few and far between. There was usually only one other bride there the 3 times I was there, and for both fittings I was the only one in the main room at that time.

mrsaloshen · March 2011

My experience at Catan's was kinda "meh" - not the best but definitely nothing like your described it, how horrible of that consultant! (BTW - you look GOREGOUS in that dress!)

I purchased my own dress from Dora's. The ladies there are so sweet and the woman who was helping me was so excited when I decided to purchase my gown there (a $550 Mori Lee steal!). Best thing about it - they're storing my gown free of charge until my wedding! Being an out-of-town bride, that's sooo helpful!

ccbiro · March 2011

I purchased from Catan's. I had a family entourage with me (they all came in from Detroit) so I pretty much had to find my dress that day. After attempting David's Bridal, I thirsted for the vast selection Catan's offered. I'm also pretty sure my family preferred sifting through the dresses to help me find one rather than being waited on by a consultant. Anyway, we found my dress and I

it!

The only downer.. I'm a street size 0 or 2 (depending on the cut), and the woman wanted to stick me in a dress size 8. I know the sizes are different, but really.. there is no need to take the dress in 3 inches in all 3 areas. Sounded like she was trying to up-sell me on the alterations.

carebear01268 · March 2011

I agree, I had been to Catans 3 different occasions when I barely even seen an employee and when I did they did not offer to help me at all! I will never ever go back to that horrible store.

Beware of this Bridal Store!!!! ( and which store you should go to) PIP

Re: Beware of this Bridal Store!!!! ( and which store you should go to) PIP

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