ComplaintsforI Do Bridal

• Initial Complaint

  04/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dress was purchased on my Genisys credit card on 03/20/2023 posted on 03/21/23 in the amount of $2,364.24 from I Do Bridal in *******, **, Order #**** / receipt #*****. What happened is the sales associate was assisting me with trying on several dresses. I found her to be very aggressive. I did end up buying a dress after she told me if I got home and did not like it, that I would be able to return it for a full refund. Once I got the dress home I showed my mom. She pointed out a lot of defects that I had not noticed and was not made aware of ***************. I also realized the dress just wasn't the oneI called the boutique within 12 hours for a resolution. I spoke to the manager *****, who was very unfriendly compared to the day before when I was spending a lot of money at their establishment. I told her how I was unhappy with the condition of the item and would be bringing it in that afternoon for the full return their assistant promised me. ***** told me they will not honor a refund and we were not able to come to a resolution. She told me to resell it and she would send me stock photos and she never sent me any stock photos. I reached back out unhappy with the "customer service" I had received so far and I spoke to another employee that said I could change my tip amount if I was unhappy. I said I would do that because at least something was coming back to me. The sales associate said they had to send the request to the owner to change a tip amount. The owner reached out to me via email and said she would only change my tip to $0.00 if I signed a Non-disclosure agreement, that enforced me to not leave negative reviews. I declined to sign that because my main problem was not resolved. The store owner then accused me of extortion? and stopped replying to me. As you can see by what happened to me the store owner will go to great lengths to not provide customer service.

  Business response

  05/01/2023

  ******************************* purchased a dress at our Clearance Sale one day event on 3/20/2023.  The dress was sold to her "AS IS" at 50% off.  All damage was fully disclosed and the damage on this particular gown that made the gown qualify for the 50% discount was on the tulle overlay.  Not only was this disclosed and discussed but most of the time ********* had this layer pulled up and had consulted with the seamstress in store that day because she wanted to completely remove this layer and was not planning on having it on the dress anyway.

  Her relationship with the stylist when she was in store was vastly different than the one she is describing.  In fact, she even sent her photos of herself in the dress after the appointment (see attached) and looks happy with her purchase which she was 100% when she left the store.  As was her companion that day.  They said things like "This dress has everything we were looking for" and "I love this dress".  When ******** was deciding on the dress the stylist walked away and said "I am going to give you some time to discuss things" and it was Virginia who waved her back over and said she wanted to purchase.  She also told the stylist "I am a very decisive person and I will not change my mind".  This is not just an account from the stylist but these were observations made by the owner who was sitting near by during nearly all of the appointment.  The stylist did not at any time tell Virginia that we would return the dress.  She did tell her that she can resell the gown herself if she changed her mind.

  The store manager is *******, she was not present the day of the sale but was the one who took Virginia's phone call the following day.  Not only was she kind and friendly on the phone to Virginia, she sent the photos that she promised via text message as soon as the call concluded at 2:50PM that day.  They are in our digital records.  

  Once we did not make an exception and return the dress for her when she had a change of heart, her mother took over and began sending ranting emails with significant mistruths.  She made demands and tried to vilify everyone that works in our store.  She was not present at the appointment, did not make the purchase and at the time that the purchase was made ******** was 100% happy with it.  She even selected an optional gratuity for the stylist and all of the transaction was done by her alone.  

  When her mom called the store on 3/30/23  inquiring about the tip she spoke to our stylist ******.  Here are the notations she made at that time " I asked her if she was looking to modify the tip amount?" and she said "yes".  I asked her "What amount she would like to leave instead?" and mom said "Zero, She had a terrible experience."  I told her that "I am not able to process any refunds on my end, but I would submit her request to the owner to inquire and someone will get back to her in a few days".

  Further, ******** and her mother contacted the bank which the card was through to initiate a chargeback when they were unsuccessful in bullying to get a refund.  The bank requested a copy of the contract that was included here.  They concluded that they did not qualify for a refund as our store policy is clearly stated and was signed for.  

  Virginia purchased a dress of her own free will and changed her mind.  We talked her though an option for reselling her gown in which she could recoup some, if not all of the money she has spent.  We sent her the stock photos of the dress to utilize for this.  We spent a tremendous amount of time communicating with her, and her mother.  They were offered a full refund for the tip amount, which was what they had requested in writing at that time.   The offer to fully refund the tip was an exception to our contract and did have a stipulation that they would need to sign off that it was full and complete resolution and to hold harmless and not slander.  They refused the offer.  

  Further, she replied in writing that "I intended to leave reviews, report you to the better business bureau, the attorney general and the ***************************. The only way I would feel comfortable signing this is if you give me a full refund for the dress and the tip. At this point my issue has not been resolved."  

  For 26 years we have run a business that is customer focused, staffed with kind and good hearted people.  We constantly go above and beyond to make sure that every bride loves their experience and their dress.  Virginia loved both when she left our store.  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩