I have had a bad experience trying to get a dress from David's Bridal in Colma, CA. I had no trouble buying my bridesmaid dress from the store, and thought that I was ordering it in the correct size. It was a little tight, but I thought that alterations would be able to take care of that by letting it out. WRONG! They don't tell you up front that they cannot let out their bridesmaid dresses. The alterations person was wonderful, telling me what she could do with the dress I had, and also offered me the option of re-ordering the dress in a different size (if they had it), and that it could be overnighted. I chose the latter option, and I thought it was a done deal. Wrong again! Someone at the store dropped the ball on getting the dress from another store, and had to order it to be made (b/c they're cut to order)... So it was going to take a while for it to come in. Then, I had to call almost every day for three or four days in a row to see when the dress would be in. Finally, I got an answer: first week in June. However, by Thursday of that week, no dress... And they said it wouldn't be in until the 12th! Luckily, it came in on the 9th, but I wasn't able to get an alterations appt until the 14th. The alterations people have been wonderful the whole way through. When I got my bill for alterations, I was stunned at the price. Over $80 for shortening the straps and doing the hem. So I talked to the customer service person that I had dealt with previously and explained to her (very politely, I might add) that because of all the hassle I had to go through to get this dress, I would like some sort of compensation on the alterations. She got very defensive and said that they don't do that. And, she made a point to tell me that it was MY fault in the first place, because I had ordered the wrong size and that they DID compensate me b/c they had not charged me for another dress. Luckily my friend was with me, and she told them that no one had told me when I had gotten the smaller size that a larger size would have been better. The customer service person then replied, "Well, if you were with her at the time, why didn't YOU say anything?" My friend and the rep kept going back and forth, and finally I gently put down my card and said it was fine, I would pay for all of it, and that I would be sending in a letter. The rep seemed to understand (finally) that I meant business. "Hold on, I'll call my district manager." After a few minutes she got off the phone and said, "You won't have to pay for the alterations." I had not intended for it to be free, I had only wanted a percentage off.
To the rep's credit, during this almost month-long debacle, she had done a lot for me to make sure I was getting my needs met. She was the one I talked to the most, and she made several apologies and was often very friendly. I just wasn't happy about how I was treated re: the alteration fee.
While I am happy with the end result (thus far), I think it would have been better if they had inquired as to what kind of compensation I was asking for. Maybe then it would have saved us some time and energy.
I won't be going back to David's Bridal in the future, if I can help it. Good customer service, and a nice dress, should not be worth this much trouble.
0 comments