David's Bridal Consumer Reviews - Page 3

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- Do not visit the David's Bridal on Elston Ave in Chicago Il. The store managers are incompetent and lie. I went to pick up my bridesmaid dress in December. I was given the wrong dress and had to drive back to the store to return it. When I returned it they blamed the mix-up on corporate. Two days later after I complained to customer service and the assistant manager calls and tells me the dress is at the store. She tells me that they can ship it out next day or two-day. My husband calls back a week later because we were on vacation. He speaks to another manager who was supposed to send it out on January 5th. I had not received the dress so on the 14th I call the store back. I speak to another worker at the store who informs me the dress was never sent out. Then five minutes later she changes her story and tells me that the dress was sent out on the 7th. I file another complaint with the customer service. The original assistant manager calls me back on Saturday and tells me the dress was never sent out. I am so frustrated with this situation. I guess David's Bridal no longer cares about their customers. I suggest taking your money to another store. Disappointed on how customer service deals with concerns and complaints from customers.

One of the things that I find most interesting about sites like this is how quickly [and thoroughly] people complain about their services or experience without first checking to see how their attitudes affect their overall experience. How many people act like bridezillas or are just plain rude and/or allow their people [bridesmaids, mothers, friends, whoever] to be just plain abusive to another human being just because they think being proposed to makes this special.

I too have a negative experience at David's Bridal. Mine went like this. I made an appointment for Saturday. I was told on the phone it would busy and I may have to share my consultant, but that was the only day I could get two friends in so I came.

It was no biggie to me. I completely understand that at is heart, David's Bridal is a retail store-a special retail store-but a retail store nonetheless. And just like Macy's can become crowded on a busy Saturday it made sense to me that so too could David's Bridal. And just like at a doctor office on a busy day, appointments may run long. I was okay with the idea that I may have to wait for my appointment.

I was just excited about my wedding and wanted to take in the whole experience. I got to my appointment on time, but my friends weren't there yet I asked if I could wait. They asked me to register, but since I registered online I didn't have to fill out the paperwork. I did hear a girl complaining about doing so. That should have warned me.

My friend picked up one of the dress to ask me what I thought. We were told that we could not handle the dresses because they are sold off the rack and only the consultants are allowed to handle them. I was told when I got my consultant, if I liked the dress, she could take it to the fitting room for me. The girl who said this wasn't rude, she was just matter of fact. I got my consultant. She was friendly and upbeat. When I was told that I would have to share my consultant with another bride, I was okay with that.

However, guess who my bride was. She was the girl who was at the desk complaining about the registration process. And she was not at all pleased that she had to share me. She and her sister complained about it the whole time she tried on dress. But that was just the beginning. She was rude and a nasty and her sister was way worst. However, the consultant I had remained pleasant despite this.

I noticed that the other bride's family, bridesmaids or whoever she was with kept bringing dresses after dresses back to the fitting room. The consultant asked them to stop, but the didn't. The sister even snapped at the consultant, yet the girl was still very pleasant, but I could see she was stressed.

I felt so bad for her. She was trying her best to juggle both of us at the same time and still remain upbeat. The other bride's sister who absolute flat out refused to go sit outside so she remained standing at the fitting room door--would contradict everything the consultant said about anything. But the consultant remained tactful. I have to say I was impressed at her professionalism because it so couldn't have been me. I so wanted to tell that girl to shut up and let the poor girl do her job.

Then there was the fact that every time my consultant came to help me, the other bride would call to her. It was like the woman was determined not to share. It got so bad, I decided to cut short my appointment. As I was in the fitting room getting dress to leave I could hear the bride and her sister complaining about the consultant being stupid and rude and pushy, even using profanity about the poor girl.

That angered me. I was there. I heard the consultant trying hard to please both me and the other bride. It was a shame, but I just knew when those women left they were going to complain about the girl--probably to the manager or on some site just like this. So I made a point to go to the manager and tell her what a good job the girl had done and I made a point to fill out a survey and call customer service.

It just goes to show that sometimes it's not the consultants or the people in the store, but how rude we as consumers can be because we think we are entitled to certain things and we live and breathe that customer is always right bull. Just as a side note, I made another appointment with my consultant during the week. It was quieter [a tidbit of information I got as my consultant walked me to the door] and the bride I shared my consultant with this time was much nicer.

After things were all said an done. I wrote a nice letter about my experience praising the staff. Because one of the things that gets my goat and that I find so interesting how little people are willing to be so thorough when they receive quality service.

It's like when things go outside of how people thinks things should go, they want to tell the world, scream, rant and rave. But when things go well no one says a word. So I said I am letting everyone I know, know just how pleasant my experience was. Moral to this story ladies... sure bad things happen and sometimes people are just plain rude. But let's check ourselves. Let's make sure we leave our bridal egos at the door and walk inside these stores wanting to be just as respectful to them as we think they should be to us.

NILES, OHIO -- When approached to contract with them for their vendor program... beware. I received a phone call saying that I had been "recommended" to ** by a previous bride or one of their employees. When I questioned this at the store they had no idea. I contracted with them for a one year contract (opt out after 6 months) and thank goodness for the opt out. My biggest gripe was "Black Friday" weekend. I had asked if some sort of "trial period" or some really short term (1-3 month) contract was possible before agreeing to 1 year and was told no.

I get there that weekend and learn of some other vendors there displaying and showcasing free of charge! What really upset me was the fact that I was set up off in a corner and these vendors, once again there free of charge, were invited to showcase right in the middle of the store and can easily be seen upon entering and exiting the store.

Don't expect much out of store traffic as they come there with 1 of 3 intentions: 1) Picking out a dress. 2) Trying on a dress. 3) Picking up their dress. All this is usually within 8 weeks of the reception and they already have all vendors they need booked for their reception. Oh and probably 50% of the store traffic are actually brides, others are bridesmaids and little girls trying on dresses for school dances! When approaching the customers and advertising yourself, you feel like one of those people in the mall trying to sell lotion. The clients just form a big circle around your table, almost as if you have some sort of odor.

Very seldom does an employee send one of their clients over to check you out. Most of the store traffic already had a vendor for the service I provide. When you're there set-up at the store, the employees and management act like they paid you to be there instead of you paying to be there. You almost feel like an employee. I was commanded to do certain things that a client of mine would ask me to do instead of being able to work my own magic in terms of promotion.

For the money paid, you would think they would make their employees promote your service, but instead displaying brochures and business cards is good enough for them and they think they did their job. They do send you a copy of the registry once every 2 weeks and I did get some inquiries from that, but if I didn't quote them the lowest price they've ever heard... forget it! When you contact ** regarding your concerns you just get "I'll have to check with the management at the store on that."

I never did get an explanation about Black Friday weekend! What a waste of hard earned money this truly was! They are willing to take your money with little or no return! Take my advise wedding vendors, the best and most cost effective form of advertising is word of mouth. If you'€™re just starting up, the next best thing is the web.

Create or pay someone else to create a professional looking website and optimize it for major search engines. Brides today are very tech savvy and will turn to the internet at some point when looking for vendors. You need to reach them when they'€™re actually looking for you, not a few weeks before their reception when they'€™re stressed out at David'€™s Bridal figuring out their dress!

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA -- It was my worst shopping experience in years, while this was supposed to be one of the most important things in my life: finding my wedding dress. I went to the David's Bridal store in Bakersfield, CA, after work. I walked in and stood there for 2 minutes until someone approached me. The employee was not friendly or helpful at all. Without any greeting, she had an attitude like “what are you doing here?” She barely talked to me although I tried to express my need in a friendly manner. She threw me a catalog, asked me to fill out a form, and had another girl help me.

That girl was more friendly with a smile one her face, but she was impatient to listen to my description of dresses that I would consider. She only heard the first criteria and ignored the rest. Of course, she could not be very helpful to find me “the dress.” She found me 3 dresses that were very similar, while I'd like more variety to choose. She took me and the 3 dresses to the fitting room, asked me to try on, and said she would come back and check on me soon. The dresses did not fit and took me a while to try on each of them. There was not any mirror in the fitting room so I had to walk out of the room to see what it's like in the mirror.

I spent 20 minutes trying on, coming in and out of the fitting room, but she was never back. During that time, I really needed help, but where was my help? When the dresses didn't fit, I really didn't feel comfortable walking all over the store to find that girl with my bra showing.

I was extremely frustrated w/ their service so I finally changed and left. When I left the store, no one even approached and asked me how I was doing or if I found anything I liked. Since I entered the fitting room, the girl or any other kind of help just seemed to disappear, and I was left alone. For the whole time, I felt like I was not welcome there.

How did that happen? I kept wondering after I got home. I have been very disturbed. The employees seemed pretty friendly and helpful to other customers. They only had an attitude to ME, so it must be something about me, not their general personality or service. Was it because I didn't make an appointment and just walked in? I don't think that it could justify their bad service and attitude. They could have had told me that they were occupied by scheduled customers at that time, explained to me professionally, and helped me schedule an appointment, as any decent business would handle it.

There was no need to give an attitude. If that wasn't the reason, what is? Because I went there alone? Why would it be an issue as long as I have money to spend? I dressed better than many customers at the store, so I'm sure that they treated me like that not because they thought I could not afford their stuff.

I understand big women sometimes are discriminated, but I am a size 4 so it is not a problem. Plus, people who know me always say that I am the kind of customer that every business (especially fashion) would love to have. Then the only thing I could think of was my ethnicity. I am Asian, and I was the only Asian at the store. I am not sure how much experience they had in serving Asians. Anyway, racism, which is the last thing I'd like to believe, was the only believable guess I could come up with after ruling out many other possibilities. I will never recommend this store to any of my friends, and I would like to warn the potential customers of David's Bridal.

TOLEDO, OHIO -- On Wednesday 10/8/13 my daughter Aaron came to me in tears. Her Fiance had called off the wedding and is breaking up with her. The following day I called David's bridal to inquire about her dress. I had made the final payment on 9/28/13 and wasn't even sure if the dress was there. They gave me a delivery date for early November. The lady I spoke with on 10/9/13 was very pleasant. She told me the dress was there.

I explained to her what happened and she said as long as the dress has not been picked up that I would receive a full refund. She also said If I do pick up the dress David's bridal will always allow me to exchange it. I asked her if I wait about a week would that be OK. I was still hoping they would reconcile. She said "sure just don't leave it there over a month." I said OK. We ended the call.

By Saturday 10/12/13 it was painfully obvious that they were not going to reconcile. I called David's Bridal on Monroe St. Toledo, OH at about 12 noon. The lady who answered the phone this time was very rude. I asked to speak to the store manager she said she was a manager. I began explaining to her what happened and that I spoke to a lady from their store on 10/9/13. I didn't even finish what I was saying when she interrupted me and inquired in a very nasty tone "who did you speak with?" I replied "I am not sure." She said "if you don't know who you spoke with I can't help you. All sales are final!"

I then became very angry and asked her what her name was she replied "Stephanie". I asked to speak with her boss and asked her name. She replied she wasn't at the store and her name is "Cindy". I asked for her boss's phone #. She became even more nasty and said. "I am not giving you her personal phone #." I replied "I didn't ask you for her personal #." (assuming she may be at another store) She said "she's the store manager and she isn't working today."

I then said "wait a minute you told me you were the store manager." She said "I'm one of the managers but she is the store Manager." I then attempted to go over the entire thing again. She was very rude and kept repeating to me that I needed the name for whom I spoke with. I asked her if I had the name would that make any difference.

She emphatically replied "Yes, we always honor what our associates promise and we have honored it for others" I said "but you won't honor it for me." She again said "only if I remembered the name." She also said "I needed to read my receipt better". I became irate at this point and told her that is "**" up. I know that wasn't nice but I had it with her at this point. I felt like I was being robbed of $500. I ended the call.

I checked with my attorney and he advised me to file a claim against David's Bridal in small claims court. He said in order for there to be a sale I need to receive either goods or services in exchange for the currency. I have not only have not received the dress I have not received a receipt for the payment made on 9/28/13. I have nothing to return or exchange.

This is also causing me extreme stress. After my daughter being crushed and now this. I have fibromyalgia (verifiable by my physician). When I have stress it adds to my body's pain and can make me bed ridden for days. Today I couldn't even move when I woke up. It has taken me to 3 pm in the afternoon to even type this letter.

As far as remembering the lady's name my fibromyalgia can and does cause me to forget many things names and numbers especially. I have to write everything down or I forget them. When I called on 10/9/13 and spoke to the Lady, I trusted fully what she told me. I didn't have any reason to ask her name. I'm sure she said it when she answered the phone but I didn't remember it 3 days later.

NORTH ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS -- My name is ** and I shopped at the David's Bridal in North Attleboro. I have never been so disgusted with customer service in my life. My very first bridal gown appointment was made with them simply because they are a big name and I was sure to be happy with them. I made an appointment over the phone with one of the managers and was excited to go in. Once I got there with a couple of my family members I was instantly disappointed.

They hadn't put me in for an appointment and so they stuck me with a consultant who was already very busy. Not only was she in a rush but she was more of the "pushy car salesman" type rather than the helpful and nice person I was expecting. I was so overwhelmed that I left that day without a dress but had two in mind that I was very fond of and seemed to be in my budget. I went ahead and shopped at a couple of other bridal shops and had MUCH better experiences, however, I kept thinking about the two dresses I loved at DB so I made a second appointment to decide between the two.

I chose my dress that day with both my bridal consultant and the alterations women had reassured me for the SECOND time that alterations would be around $100, knowing my concern for the costs of alteration and having a strict budget. So once my dress had been ordered I went in to try it on once again (paid in full already) and to get my alterations done.

To my surprise the alterations cost was more than DOUBLE what they had quoted me. So I had a manager speak with me and not only was she not understanding, she had accused me of being wrong and had told me that they have a strict price that they stand by no matter how little or how much a dress needed to be taken in.

The manager went on to say that the alterations women has worked there for years and that she would not have quoted me a wrong price. The manager tried pushing me to take the dress home with me (knowing that it would be non-refundable if I did not take it with me). The manager and staff let me walk out of there that day with tears in my eyes, with no apologies or worries about fixing this situation. I finally had to turn to corporate for help, just to find that they were just as unhelpful as the managers at the store location.

The women in charge of their customer service issues (I'm sure there are TONS) was yelling at me and eventually I started yelling back and she assured me that she would call me back that following Monday after speaking to the district manager (why someone at corporate would have to speak with someone below their abilities I'm not sure).

Monday came and gone and I never got a call. So I called her back today (Tuesday) and she not only said that they were not able to help me, she also told me that they would no longer make any alterations to my dress at all for me! All of the sudden they are unable to touch the dress! She went on to advise me to return the dress and start my dress search all over again.

Now here I am, a couple months before my wedding, left with nothing but a horrible experience and no wedding dress. I have worked in sales for over 8 years and I am so disgusted with the customer service that I would recommend for any bride to be to go elsewhere to get the great customer service they deserve while finding their special dress!

CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE -- I am not one of those people for whom the wedding is the most important event of my entire life (but I don't blame those who are, because it is quite a big deal). I didn't spend endless hours obsessing over minute details of the ceremony, but David's Bridal in Chattanooga, TN treated me and my wedding party with such a lack of professionalism and courtesy, I feel that it is important to warn others of the quality of their service.

About four months before my wedding, I walked into David's Bridal on a whim with my mother and sister. We didn't have a consultation scheduled (more about that later) and were simply perusing the gowns on the racks. I found one that I absolutely loved and was allowed to try it on. It fit perfectly and did not have to be altered in the least (once again, more about that later). I immediately put that dress on layaway as well as a veil that I had selected. I was having an issue deciding between two veils and they had told me that if I wanted to change them later, it wouldn't be a problem. Like an idiot, I took them at their word.

Fast forward to three months before the wedding. I called and scheduled a consult with their bridal "consultants" for my bridesmaids and to check on my dress. My bridesmaids were sized, the specific dress was selected, and measurements were taken. I was somewhat shocked to see the consultant "eyeballing" as she called it, the measurements by putting a dress three sizes too large on one of my bridesmaids and simply taking four inches of it by hand saying that it would do. I was aghast.

I stated that it would not fit her properly. My bridesmaid stated the same and told the lady that based on the measurements that we had taken on our own, she should be wearing a different size than the consultant suggested. The consultant wrote down the size that my friend suggested. She fitted another of my bridesmaids by placing a dress that was in no way comparable to the one that I had selected (mine was a halter, this one was a strapless with boning in it) and was WAY too small (by like five sizes) on her. From that, she made up her mind what the correct size was, despite our protestations.

After we had asked her to order the dress two sizes larger just in case, she rolled her eyes and said "Why come to the consultation if you already know everything." The irony of all of this was that I sew, my mother sews, and one of my bridesmaids is a seamstress. We had one bridesmaid who couldn't make it, so we had taken her measurements specifically and given them to the consultant who looked somewhat irritated about having to work with only measurements, but she took them down. I had a total of five bridesmaids. Four of them had been sized and I felt somewhat relieved.

After this infuriating process, we left, not wanting to spend any more time in the store than we had to, which was a mistake. I should have asked to see my dress, but I didn't. We were told that the bridesmaids dresses would be finished and received by one month before my wedding. That was plenty of time, I reasoned, with just a bit of wiggle room in the middle in case something happened.

Two months pass. No bridesmaid dresses. I was fairly calm, and kept getting very polite but obviously BS excuses. Another week passed. Then another. And then another! Almost a month late and one week before my wedding! By now, I was freaking out and almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I was fairly anxious about the fact that there may need to be some alterations to the dresses that the girls had ordered. Thankfully, my mother is a very calm and rational person. She had a talk with the elderly manager and the dresses were delivered.

My bridesmaids and I went to the store in order to retrieve our dresses. We picked them up and I had my girls try them on just in case. Out of the four bridesmaids that had been sized, NOT A SINGLE DRESS FIT. I was furious! The only one whose dress DID fit was my bridesmaid who had not come to the fitting. I asked to see the sizing charts, as I had watched the consultant write down the sizes. The dresses did not match the sizes that we had requested. The consultant had erased the sizes that we had requested and as a result, not a single dress fit! We could see the eraser marks!

One bridesmaid had a dress that was literally two sizes too small, the rest of them were too large by at least two sizes. I demanded to know how they were going to fix it. The elderly manager was obviously angry with me for questioning her consultant and stated that we would just have to pay to get the dresses altered to the correct sizes ourselves. They wanted to let out the dress that was too small (there is NO WAY that it could be let out two sizes and since it was a satin dress, the original seam line would be seen regardless of what they did, making the dress look cheap and cheesy) and take in the dresses that were too small, distorting the way that they looked.

I told them that there was no way that MY bridesmaids were going to be penalized for their consultant's poor work. She suggested having the girls in the dresses that were too large purchase a bust-enhancing bra for $80.00 that only they carried. One of my friends who was not involved in the wedding paraded through the store with fake boobs that did the trick (that were five dollars, might I add) for two of them (resulting in one of the more comedic moments of our drama). We DEMANDED that they order a new dress for the bridesmaid whose dress was too small and they grudgingly agreed to do so without charging her extra and having it rush-ordered.

We went to the front to finish purchasing our items and I asked them to bring out my dress since it had been in layaway and I had finished paying it off a week previously (they had said that they were going to clean it). It came out and was FILTHY. It had makeup stains all over it, was picked up, and had a black line that pretty much went from the top of the dress to the bottom. That was not the shape I had put it away in layaway in. I was nearing an apoplectic fit by this time. Did they really expect me to get married in that filthy dress?

Thankfully, my mother came to the rescue once again. She kindly, but firmly insisted that the dress was to be cleaned. They stated that it had been. Then she lost her temper as well and told them that they were going to clean it again if that was the case. Oh, and remember the veil that I was told I could exchange for another one later if I wished? I attempted to do so.

The elderly manager refused to allow me to do so, despite the fact that I had paid it off already and the one that I had selected was identical in price. We argued about it for another five minutes and I was allowed to exchange the veil as they said I would be. The staff (especially the elderly manager), my consultant, and the woman who performed the alterations were not only unhelpful, but downright rude and inefficient.

Fast forward three years. My sister finds a dress at the store that she loves. It was dirty and all picked up, though. She was told that it was no issue, that another one could be ordered and delivered. When she went to the front to pay, she was told that there was no way that they could order the new dress. My mother (bless her) told the same elderly manager that there was no way that she was going to pay full price for a dirty and damaged dress if another one could be ordered instead. The manager relented and the dress was purchased and ordered.

She hasn't had any more run-ins with this company, but I am really hoping that she decides to go somewhere else for her bridesmaids' dresses. I for one know that this company will NEVER get any of my business again and I believe that it is my duty to warn other brides that this company's total lack of respect will leave a bit of a sour taste in their mouths on their special day.

MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK -- I visited David's Bridal with my daughter around a year ago. It was the first time either of us had ever shopped for a wedding dress, so we weren't sure what to expect. We were aware of the complaints and negative reviews, but we decided to make an appointment and see for ourselves. My daughter had no intention of buying a dress the first time out and basically just wanted to see what it was all about.

When we entered the store, we were asked to sit at the reception desk where a friendly and knowledgeable employee handed us catalogs and then proceeded to obtain the required information from my daughter to get the ball rolling. As she answered questions, I browsed through the catalogs trying to become familiar with the different styles. So far, everything was going well.

When we were finished at the reception desk, we were assigned a consultant and taken to the dressing room area. My daughter showed the consultant the dresses that she wanted to try on and made it clear that she was not going to buy a dress that day. The consultant understood and couldn't have been nicer about it. Knowing she wasn't going to make a sale did not stop her from catering to my daughter in every way possible. She was cordial, helpful, patient and professional at all times, never once making us feel like we were taking up her time.

After trying on about a dozen dresses, critiquing each one and taking pictures, we were exhausted. The consultant, on the other hand, was fresh as a daisy and still running around trying to accommodate us. Despite the consultant's enthusiasm, our heads were spinning, and we were ready to leave. When my daughter told the consultant that we had to go home and process it all, she began trying to persuade my daughter to buy a dress by offering limited time discounts and various other incentives. We only had to remind her once that we weren't ready to buy a dress, and she completely understood and immediately ended the sales pitch.

She thanked us and gave us her card, making us feel a twinge of guilt for not committing to a dress. Either it was a clever exercise in reverse psychology, or the consultant truly understood that we were not going to buy a dress but never let that influence her level of customer service and professionalism in any way.

We left the store and spent the rest of the night talking about the dresses and looking at the pictures. We were completely satisfied with every aspect of our David's Bridal experience. Everyone we encountered that day was professional, helpful and friendly. The whole time I was sitting in the waiting area while my daughter was trying on the dresses, I noticed that all the consultants exhibited the same caliber of professionalism as ours, and all the brides-to-be seemed just as pleased as we were.

If you are hesitating to visit David's Bridal based on the complaints you read on the internet, I encourage you to at least give them a chance. While I cannot attest to the quality of the service provided after a purchase is made, I do know that my daughter and I were treated like royalty for the several hours we were in the store. If she had decided to buy a dress that day, I would have felt confident that she wasn't going to be disappointed in the end.

As with all chain stores, some locations are better than others, depending on the employees. Some stores may be disappointing, but if you receive the level of service and professionalism that we did, I think the chances are good that it will continue through the entire process.

I went in to look for a bridal gown this past April. The woman at the table in the front was humorless and acted like my bridesmaids, my mom and myself were bothering her. She claimed all of her consultants were busy with other customers but rustled up a girl I'll call **. She told **, right in front of us that she had to give us to her even though ** was helping another bride and her bridesmaids find bridesmaids dresses.

Now, if all of the consultants being busy had actually been the case I could have accepted sharing my consultant with no problem. However, I never saw more than ** and one other consultant helping customers the entire time I was in the store, not on the sales floor or in the dressing area. I did see them hanging at the front desk and chatting with the table lady. Were they passing the time while their customers browsed? No, there were no other customers in the store except the girls looking for bridesmaids dresses and a bride whose consultant was right there with her. But why couldn't the rest of them have helped me?

They weren't non consultant employees, they weren'€™t busy with other work, they were just hanging around. Why did I need to be given to ** who already had 4 girls to tend to? Anyway, I went in with print outs of all my favs from the website which I gave to **. She looked through it quickly and said she didn't think they had any of them in the store and started flipping through the racks to find me something else. While she was flipping I started seeing a bunch of my favs! I informed her that "wait, I want to try this one on, that one on etc." Her response was along the lines of "Ummmm...okay..." But she pulled them down.

She wanted to pull a lot of dresses before I tried any on, I guess so she didn'€™t have to go running back and forth, which was fine by me so I picked out all the dresses I wanted. She sent me to the fitting room and came back with 4, less than half of the dresses I'd chosen, which I thought was weird because she wanted me to pick out so many more. I figured she had them sitting aside. After she hung them up she took off to the bridesmaids without a word to me. Going to take care of her other customers I can totally understand but hanging up my dresses and walking away with no instructions, asking if I needed help or anything I cannot.

I put on the first one with my maid of honor's help (thank God she came in to see if I'd need it!) and walked out to show everyone. They oohed and aahed and ** came out. With no smile or enthusiasm she said "So is this the one?" I hadn't tried on anything else yet and she'€™s already asking if I've found my dress? I politely told her it was beautiful but I wanted to keep looking. Again, with no emotion she turned and walked back into the dressing room, back to the bridesmaids. My MOH and I tried on the rest of the dresses I had and ** came out once and asked again if I'd found the one.

It was expectable at that point cause I'd tried on multiple dresses but when I told her I wanted to keep looking again she actually looked kind of annoyed. She came with us back to the dressing room to take the dresses and informed me that there were no more A-Line dresses in my choices and she'd be bringing me the sheath dresses I'd chosen (I'd only picked A Line and sheaths). As we waited I realized that couldn'€™t be true because I'd only picked 3 sheaths to try on but had picked about 14 total dresses I wanted to try on. And I knew that there were other dresses I really wanted to try on and that she'€™d pulled down that weren't included in the 4 she gave me.

I doubled checked with my MOH to see if she realized it too and she agreed. ** was intentionally telling me there were less dresses than I'd chosen. Sure enough she came back with the 3 sheaths and told me that they were the last of the dresses I'€™d picked out. I decided not to start a disagreement right then and there and just try the sheaths and mention it to her after if none of them struck my fancy. Luckily for me I fell in love with the first sheath I tried on. It was beautiful and perfect for my body but slightly too tight.

My mom, MOH and bridesmaids wanted me to buy the size I had on and up my exercise routine since it was only a little bit tight and I had 6 months to the wedding but ** went on about how it was too risky what if I gained weight I should buy the next size up. I tried the next up and it was way too big but she had gotten to me with her "What ifs". I decided to take the next up. She disappeared with the dress after telling me I had to take the one off the rack and sent us to the check out.

After she walked off with the dress I didn'€™t see it again because when I got to the counter they immediately brought up the garment bag which I purchased and put my dress into it behind some other merchandise. I paid for the dress and the underthings and went home and hung it up. Now what happened next is as much my fault as theirs but if they were a decent company it wouldn'€™t have happened. I didn'€™t open the bag to verify everything was right or double check my receipt before I left and I didn't open it back until after the 72 hour window to return the dress.

I looked at the receipt at work and realized the dress was listed as ivory. I had requested white dresses and the dress I had tried on (and was in all of my pictures taken at the store) was white. The next size up was white. But my receipt said ivory? Clerical error? No, when I got home I opened the bag and the dress was ivory. This didn't make sense to me because I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that their dresses are usually one color or the other in the store and if for example you try on in ivory but want white they have to special order it?

If that'€™s true they apparently had at least one in the store that was ivory when the rest were white. AND the dress I tried on and ultimately agreed to buy off the rack was white and she walked off with it. That can only mean she walked away with the white dress and somehow grabbed an ivory one and took that up to the check out. Why? How? It makes no sense but it happened. A friend suggested maybe it was ivory all along and I didn't notice but it's not that kind of ivory, it's very obviously a different color.

Plus, the other reason I know it's a different dress than the one I agreed to buy is because I inspected that dress for stains or problems before I handed it over to her (and after I took it off) but when I looked at it at home there was a ugly brown stain on the collar! Now, what I probably should have done was march back to the store and demand a new dress, in white this time. But due to an experience a friend had had with her dress and problems discovered after she signed the receipt and after the 72 hour window I knew it would be a giant fight so I decided to make due with my ivory dress.

I took it to a private seamstress (their alterations department is awful, what I needed done to make the dress fit would have cost more than the dress!) who got most of the stain out, pressed it and made it fit perfectly for a fraction of the cost of the dress. When I tried it on after she was done I realized that the ivory looked great on me and is not going to be a problem. The white would have been better but the ivory is also beautiful.

We also had a slight problem when we went in for bridesmaids dresses. We had another consultant who was rude and impatient and told my MOH it was going to be hard to find a dress in her size (she'€™s overweight)! Who does that??? It actually wasn'€™t a problem, they all found beautiful dresses but the consultant claimed they wouldn'€™t come in until right before the wedding because of the color. I debated changing colors but she said it would be fine, alterations could be rushed and my girls didn'€™t want to change so I stuck with the original color. The dresses came in 6 weeks before she said they would which was a huge plus and I give them credit for that.

All in all, going to David's is a gamble. One of my good friends had a fabulous experience, another a good experience and another a terrible experience (made mine look tame!) so knowing and accepting that before you go will strongly affect how your view your experience. Remember, it is like going to the Target of Bridal shops. Overall I think mine wasn'€™t good but it wasn'€™t awful. If my expectations had been higher I think I would have felt much differently.

DURHAM,, NORTH CAROLINA -- Before I even went into David's Bridal in Durham, NC I went to their main website and wrote down the codes of the dresses I wanted to see. I thought it would make it easier for the sales people and for me. I went into David's Bridal with an expectation that because weddings are such an important day, they would have enough people and support staff to walk you through the process. I felt utterly lost. I did have someone greet me and they did have a few of the style numbers I wrote down from their website, but not a lot of them.

I thought I decided on a dress I liked because they told me it would probably be out of stock or they would not carry that style in a year when my wedding was planned, so I felt that I had to get the dress quickly and my dad applied for their 12 month interest free credit card to pay for the dress. However, after thinking about what a rush decision I made, I brought a friend back with me to get a second opinion and we decided on a more expensive dress.

At first this David's Bridal franchise did not have a problem with that because I was giving them more money, but when the shoes that I originally picked out did not match the more expensive dress that I switched it for, they told me that I had to pick another pair of shoes that were the same price or greater. Now mind you the first pair of shoes that I ordered had not even arrived at the store yet and the selection that they had available was scarce. I asked if I could have store credit to use on the web or get a refund for the shoes since they didn't even have the original pair I ordered in the store anyway, and they said no.

I guess because all of David's Bridals are owned by Franchise owners, they will not call other David's Bridals stores to ship in another dress or look up an item their store does not have. They will order it from the warehouse from PA, but it takes at least 3 to 4 weeks to get it in the actual store.

I suggest if you do go to David's Bridal because they have cheaper prices, go on line first to pick the style of the dress you want, write down the codes, and call of the David's Bridal stores in your area to make sure they have it in stock first. If I had known that once you pick something there you are stuck with it, even if you haven't received it yet, I would have been more careful and went to Payless where they have dyeable shoes that you can return if you do not like the way they fit. I felt the management was snoody and the couple of times after I ordered my dress to get help with other accessories I literally had to wave my arms in the air to have someone come and help me.

All of my bridesmaids had similar experiences with lack of customer service. Good prices, but don't expect customer service or ever getting a refund.