While visiting my parents on Christmas break, I went with my father to shop for wedding gowns for the first time. I chose to shop at Angela's Bridal because it was within a mile of my parents' home in Central Point, OR.
The consultant who worked with me that day was very attentive and had a sweet personality. I appreciated her spending time with me in choosing my dress that day. However, the main issue that I have with her service was the fact that she either lied, or was mistaken, about the color choices available in my dress in order to make a sale. The Allure gown that I purchased, Style 8362, has a cafe colored sash along the hipline. The consultant and I discussed for quite a long period of time that day how much I disliked the sash. I specifically asked her, "Can I get the sash in another color?" to which she replied without hesitation, "No." Common sense says to me that even if the consultant was 99% sure my dress did not come in any other color, she would have taken the 5 minutes to look online to see available options. Especially when it comes to a $1000.00 purchase. The business had also removed the designer "Allure" manufacturer tags, so I was unsure of who the designer was.
During my appointment, I explained to her that I loved the organza overlay on the skirt and I loved the beaded bodice, but I really did not think that the sash looked flattering on me. She explained to me that the width of the sash could be altered by your house seamstress (again getting me to pay more money). She failed to mention that Angela's Bridal in fact carries several similar dresses by that designer, and she did not offer to pull any additional dresses that also have that beaded organza overlay, A-line skirt, and similar beading on the bodice WITHOUT that sash. Some of the similar styles that they carry in the store that I found on their website are: #2803x, 28117,28111,2891, and on the Allure website styles #8357,8365, 8442,8523.
It seems to me that any consultant who truly wanted me to find "THE DRESS" would have presented me with all of the options available to me that suited my style and did NOT have the one component, the sash, that I DID NOT WANT. She knew that I did not want the sash, as I even asked if it could be removed altogether.
I then proceeded to purchase the dress, based on the consultant misleading me and blatantly lying to me about the color combinations available. My intention was to spend even more money to have the dress altered so that the sash width was smaller and much less noticable.
After I went back home to California a week later I saw my exact gown in a magazine and visited their website (Allurebridals.org). I found that my dress does in fact come in THREE color options: ivory/cafe/silver (which I purchased) and ivory/silver, white/silver. The other two color options have either a white or ivory sash which would not draw nearly as much attention to my hips, which was my concern with the cafe color of the sash and also would not interfere with my choice of wedding colors.
I called Angela's Bridal the following Tuesday (the store was closed Sunday & Monday) and spoke with the manager, expecting an apology and a quick refund. She admitted that it was the store's mistake, but would not refund my money. She inititally offered to replace the dress in the ivory/silver color, with the condition that I pay the $30 shipping charge and wait 4-8 months for my dress. I hesitated to accept this because the ivory/silver combination was not available for me to try on. Also, I did not want to give this store any more of my money. However, when I later attempted to accept it the offer was rescinded, as the manager said that owner stated the dress could not be replaced because my gown had already left the store. Why was this not an issue when she had earlier offered that day?
Since that time, my phone calls were ignored and I was repeatedly told by the manager that I would be again contacted by her or the owner of the store. The last time that I spoke with the manager, she said that she was going above and beyond what she had to do (since I had already purchased the gown) by "listening to my sad story."
The owner (who I was told was out of town the entire time) refused to speak with me on the telephone, but did write me two short e-mails that basically restated the policy and did not address any of the dishonesty that occured in the store. His final response was: "In regards to our previous contractual transaction we are not willing to negotiate. We choose to operate within our agreed upon terms. As the contract states we will NOT be refunding, cancelling or exchanging your gown. Furthermore, we see no future reason for discussion regarding your purchase with us."
What kind of customer service is this? I have never heard of such a thing. Angela's Bridal's employees and owner are deceptive and rude. I cannot believe that they can continue to be in business with horrendous customer service practices such as this.
It is my contention that the no refund/return/exchange policy CANNOT apply in this situation because I was lied to and misled into purchasing a gown by the consultant at Angela's Bridal. As this was my first time dress shopping, I relied on her expertise to direct my purchase. I trusted that what she said was 100% accurate and true, and only then did I commit to purchasing the dress.
The only thing I did wrong was entering Angela's Bridal in the first place and then trusting their bridal consultant. For this I am penalized, stuck with a wedding gown that I don't want and out over a thousand dollars.
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