I recently got married, this April 14th. As any recently engaged female would do, I almost immediately began shopping with my friends, for bridesmaids dresses, my bridal gown, and various other things that I knew we would need for the big day. Where I live (Greensboro, NC), there are very limited choices as far as those type things go, so I did the only thing I knew to do, and began my shopping at David’s Bridal on Wendover Ave.
My first experience with them was decent. Three of my bridesmaids and I found a pretty blue dress that everyone ended-up loving. So I filled out the necessary paper work in order to register with David’s Bridal. While doing so, I was informed that I could pay another $25, get our tuxes at After Hours (apparently David’s Bridal and After Hours work hand-in-hand with each other), and get a great deal. Brian, the groom, would get his tux rental for free, and each of my bridesmaids would get a certain percentage off of their dress purchase. So I signed-up. In addition to paying the $25, all I had to do was “agree to purchase my dress at David’s Bridal.” Those were the words of the customer service representative that I talked to that night. So that was that. I began to call my bridesmaids and inform them of the cost of the dress. Well, this was when I ran into problem #1. The first bridesmaid that purchased their dress was told they could not get the discount, because I had not yet bought my dress. This did not go over very well with me, as I had specifically asked if they would still receive the discount, if they purchased their dress before I purchased mine (and they, of course, said yes). I had to make a big fuss with the manager and spend a lot of valuable time in the store, but I did eventually get the discount.
Well, then it was time to purchase my wedding gown. I found one that I loved – it was actually the second dress I tried on! Well, I was told that I needed extra length added to it (I am 5’11”, so this was easy to believe – I just took their word for it). This was an addition $100. Well, we paid and we were done with David’s Bridal for the day. A couple of months passed, and I hadn’t heard anything about my dress or my bridesmaids dresses coming in (they were supposed to call me when they were in). So, out of curiosity, I called David’s to check. It turns out the dresses had come in a couple weeks prior to the day I called, and they hadn’t bothered to inform me. Over the phone, they told me that I had a certain amount of time to come pick the dresses up or else they would no longer hold them for me. They offered no explanation as to why they hadn’t called…and no apologies either. So I went to pick the dresses up that night.
Later, when it was about time for my dress to be in, I decided I had better call, to see if it had come in, because, at that point, I felt I knew how they operated. I called and got the same story as I had gotten when I called to check on my bridesmaids dresses. It had been in for a while, I received no phone call, and I had only a certain amount of time left to pick-up my dress. I don’t know whether or not they could legally get rid of my dress if I didn’t pick it up, but I didn’t want to take any chances, so I picked it up soon thereafter. Before I could carry it home, however, I had to get alterations done to it. Several hundred dollars later, I had gotten the dress altered. The price alone would have been enough to make anyone angry, but on top of that, I found out that the dress needed to be hemmed! Yes, hemmed…after I had paid an extra $100 to add the length that was now being taken off. I suppose I shouldn’t have taken the advice of a David’s Bridal worker in the first place.
So now I had all the dresses (and a lot less money). It seemed that everything was going well. Until one Saturday morning when I received a phone call from a bridesmaid who had just tried her dress on, and to her dismay, it did not fit. Yes, David’s Bridal had ordered the wrong size dress. I called David’s and talked to customer service – once again. I was told that all sales were final and nothing could be done about the dress. Furthermore, they could not assure me that they would have the right size in by my wedding date, if my bridesmaid placed a new order. I was furious, as was the bridesmaid. Through a long chain of events (some of which I wasn’t even a part of), she was finally able to talk to a manager and get the dress exchanged for the next size down, as it was proven that it was the fault of David’s Bridal.
Everything eventually ended-up panning out and I have been happily married for 4 months. But it was no easy road getting there. David’s Bridal’s customer service is terrible and unreliable at best. It was a constant battle and a very heavy burden that I should not have had to deal with. Especially when you think about all the outrageous prices I and my friends and family had to deal with, too. I have told many people now to not deal with David’s Bridal. And that is what I’m saying now as well. I know I never will again.
