I took my Wedding Gown (new, never worn, with tags) to Long's Bridal on East Colonial. The dress fit me perfectly. I needed no alterations other than a bussel put in the back. I felt like a princess. I originally purchased the dress a size too small and over the course of six weeks to lose 20 pounds to fit into the dress. Gwen, the manager recommended that I get the dress cleaned after she noticed a small speckle of makeup near the zipper. She said that steaming the dress would be an additional $99 but would get out the wrinkles and the speckle. I agreed. The total cost was $153.36 of which I paid half. A few weeks later I contacted Gwen on March 19th concerned that I may need additional alterations due to weight loss. I was told that she was swamped and could not see me until five days before my wedding. Tuesday around lunchtime I got a call from the Manager asking me to come in for the final fitting at 2pm. When I arrived my dress was hanging in a dressing room. The first thing I noticed was two large palm sized scuff marks in the back area on both sides of the zipper. I called Gwen into the dressing room and asked her about the marks. She told me that the dress was already like that when she got it. I disagreed and told her that I would have noticed something that extreme. Gwen then told me that the dress could be steamed and cleaned for an additional $99. That's when I reminded her that I had already paid for the cleaning.in addition to the stains, some of the pleating in the back of the dress was coming undone. I pointed this out to Gwen. She told me that it was suppose to be that way. I told her that it looked out of place and not at all like the condition I had left the dress in. She then told me that she would get the stains out free of charge, and look at the pleating, and told me to come back at 5pm to pick up the dress. I left the shop visibly upset. About 5 minutes later the Gwen called me to tell me that the stains had come out of the dress. When I returned and viewed the dress in dim lighting the stains appeared to be removed. However the pleating in the dress was still hanging down showing the threading underneath. When I questioned Gwen about this, she told me that it would straighten itself out during wear. I expressed my concerns about the pleating and also told her that I did not feel I should pay for the cleaning being that the dress was dirty when I went to pick it up. She told me that the dress had been cleaned and its easy for things to get on the dress. I paid the remaining balance and went home to try on my dress.in normal light it was then that I noticed that faintness of the stains and that the pleating she mentioned was still out of place. I immediately called Gwen in a panic expressing to her that the stains were still visible and that my pleating was altered. Gwen told me that I could bring the dress back in two days and that she would take a look at it. With the wedding in four days, I could not take that chance. The very next morning I missed four hours at work in search of a shop that could clean and repair the dress on such short notice. When Long's reopened on Thursday I called and spoke with Gwen and told her that the dress was being cleaned and repaired by another shop and that I would like a refund for $99 to cover the cost of repairs and cleaning with the other shop. Gwen told me that I would have to take Long's to court because I left the shop with the dress. I told her that she knew my concerns before I left. She said that she was not willing to do anything more and refused to provide me contact information for the owner. My wedding is two days away, I paid Long's $156 and now I am having to pay another shop for the repairs and cleaning. Long's Bridal ruined my beautiful dress...
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