I was looking at dresses with a friend for another wedding when I saw a dress at House of Bride's I wanted to use for my own bridesmaids. From day one, their staff was very rude and I vowed I would not use House of Brides for my own dresses.
I checked with — across the street and they were $30 cheaper than HOB for the same dress. When I went back to House of Bride's with my friend, I saw that they had a price match policy. Against my gut instinct, I decided to use HOB because I thought they would be a more rebutable company than - . Since they matched the price, I figured it can't be that bad.
I went to HOB several times before I ordered the dresses just to show my bridesmaids. They would never let us in without an appoinment, even just to look; so, I would have to sneak in and look anyway so I could show the girl's the dress. I came one day with my mom who was from out of town, and the receptionist said we could not look at the dress because we didn't have an appointment.
I told her my mom was from out of town and she said I could show her the dress, but no one would be able to help me and we couldn't try it on b/c we had no appoinment. While looking at the dress (this is before I decided to use HOB), we started looking in the dress for tags so we could see who the designer was and find the dress elsewhere. Well, to no surprise, all the tags were removed and all that was in there was HOB numbers. An associate saw us looking for tags, and then ran over to see if we needed any help.
I finally placed my order with HOB. They said the girls could come in whenver they wanted to get sized, and they would place the order when the last girl put her order in. I was warned in advance that I should give HOB a fake wedding date just to make sure the dress arrived with plenty of time. My wedding is June 2, so I gave them the wedding date of May 11.
Well, here it is May 3 and I still have no bridemaid dresses; after I was told that dresses arive 4 weeks before the wedding date. So, I should really have had the dresses by April 13. Of course, HOB didn't call to tell me there was a problem, I called on 4/25 to check on the dresses since I didn't hear anything. I spoke with JoAnne in the order department. She said she would check on my order and call me back.
Well, she called back and left a message. What do you know, she called the manufacuter, and the dresses shipped that day and would be there by Friday 4/28. I didn't hear from them on Friday, so I went to the store on Saturday to get my dresses. Well, surprise surprise, the dresses weren't in, and no one at the store could help me.
I called JoAnne back on Monday 5/1 and she said she would check on my order again. She called and left another voicemail saying she called the manufacturer and the dresses would ship on Tuesday and would take 3-4 days to deliver. That means my dresses would deliver on 5/8 for my 5/11 wedding. Which if you do the math only leaves two days for the girls to get alterations.
I called back on Monday and JoAnne was already gone for the day. It seems as though their order department only works from 12-3. So, I called on Tuesday and talked with JoAnne, she asked if I ordered the dresses too late, she checked the computer and then said I ordered in enough time. She then said she didn't know why it didn't ship 4/25, she had no explanation and said I would need to talk to a manager. So, I was transfered to Krys's voicemail, I guess the manager doesn't start work until 2:00. Krys never returned my phone call, so I called her back.
Krys told me the dresses were on the truck and would be delivered before 5/11. I asked JoAnne and Krys both at different times for a tracking number. I have yet to find out what that is.
Krys then said it was my fault the dresses were late because my girls ordered to late. She said they needed 16 weeks to order the dresses. I told her that JoAnne said I ordered with enough time, and she told me JoAnne didn't know what she was talking about. I then asked why her staff didn't tell me I needed a rush order since my girls ordered too late. She said she didn't know, but they should have.
I then checked the calendar and realized that my last girl ordered her dress 15 weeks and 6 days before the due date. Which means I was one day short of hitting the 16 week mark and that is why my order was late.
Krys then proceeded to tell me that the dresses had been expedited from day one at the cost of HOB (and she didn't know why). And when I brougt it to her attention that I was one day short of 16 weeks, she told me that different designers need different amounts of time, and that maybe my dresses needed to be ordered 18 weeks in advance. I can't believe that an expedite order takes 16 weeks to deliver.
I finally told Krys that my real wedding was June 2, and she said what are you worrying about, you have plenty of time. I told her that isn't the point, I requested my dresses on May 11.
To make a short version of this, my checks were cashed within days of paying for the dresses. I have not heard from HOB since. And now here it is 5 business days before I am supposed to have my dresses and they are not here.
I urge anyone reading this to avoid HOB and all the headaches. And if for some reason you do decide to use them, make sure you lie about your wedding date to make sure you get your dresses with plenty of time to spare.
Gina
Schaumburg, Illinois
U.S.A.
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