David's Bridal review: Lady's.. Take it for what it's worth 17

My daughter purchased her wedding gown, also there were 5 bridesmaide's dresses, one of the Grandmother's, myself, the Mother of the Bride, flower girl dress and various accessories, shoes, vails, etc... The purchase's amounted to well over 3, 000.00. The first problem was with the "alterations" on my daughters gown, it fit perfecetly, the only thing it needed was the addition to lift the train for the reception, David's Bridal alterations person suggested she needed to add the bra cup's.
Those came to an additional $147.00. When she went to pick up her gown and tried it on it was too tight at the bust, because of the addition of the bra cups, which they had pinned in at the time of the original fitting. They charged her an additional $50.00 to fix the alteration's which she had already paid for. My gown was tight at the bust, I specifically asked the person helping us if it could be altered, she assured more than 3 times that the gown had enough fabric to be let out in that area, she assured me that all there gowns were made to be altered and it would be no problem, "there is plenty of frabric to alter the gown". Well I took my gown to my seamstress and there is no room for alterations. After speaking to an employee I was told that only wedding gowns had room for alterations, not wedding party atire. To sum it up so far all the alterations my family and wedding party have had to done are over $400.00 and still climbing. If you have had problems the ph# to the corporate office, Ms. Wayne, her direct # is 407.321.0061. I am considering orginizing a protest at there locations, if you live in the Houston area and are interested you can contact me at dlbt1@comcast.net or 284.428.1393.

P.S. I visited 2 of there locations and neither had any $99.00 dresses. I urge you to report your problems to the Better Business Bureau.

I went to find a Mother of the bride dress, I told the person helping me that we were moving May 15th to Cal. The sales lady assured me I would get the dress by April 25th and i even found an alteration place, for they were too busy. I went in on April 17th to pick up my dress and was told, no, it's due in May 25th. I explained, yet again, about the move, the wedding date and that I wouldnt have bought the dress if I knew it wouldnt be in until May 25th ! I dont think any person would allow that challenge of getting a dress in that short of time! So, I have to pay 2nd day postage to get it to Cal. Its May 30th and it's still at the store! They say it wouldnt even get here till Tuesday! We leave friday for my daughters wedding! I want all my money back, they lied to me about the date and i was nice about it, they dont mail it to me and thats enough!
I'll never do business with Davids Bridal again, and so will ALOT of other people WE know.
All their concerned with is the money, they don't care about your wedding!

I went to David's Bridal in Paradise Valley for my best friend's wedding and we were instructed that we needed to buy our gowns there. I bought my gown and paid almost $200 for it, the sales clerk assured me the dress would be cleaned and pressed after it was ordered and I was happy ot hear that because I spent so much money on it. When I received my dress it was terribly wrinkled and dirty as well as one of the other brides maids dress. I called to let the manager know and she just said sorry, nothing we can do. So, I ended up spending another $50 to get my dress pressed and cleaned when this was supposed to be done with the purchase of the dress. I am getting married and I refuse to go to David's Bridal to purchase my gown or anything else.
Do not go to David's if you want a good experience for you and your wedding party!
Unhappy Bride to be and Bride's maid!

I took me from June to October to get my bridesmaid's dress. First it was too small, but I was carged $95.00 for alteration even though This was partially impossible.zthey refused to refund my money, instesd I was peomised a bigger size dress (size 10, as the size 8 was too small), but instead I received a size 12, then had that fitted for alteration again, while I was waiting the size 10 came so I had to re-fit again for another alteration then wait again for that alteration. I finally picked up my dress the Monday before the wedding after I asked to speak with the manager.

@Bride in June:

Here's what happens when you don't schedule and appointment and expect to be waited on. Consultants are only allowed to handle two customers at a time in order to give them customer service and make sure they're taken care of. If we only have, say one consultant working, and she already has two parties, and a bride walks in with 5 bridesmaids and expects to be helped, someone is going to be neglected. The consultant can take the party who walked in, but they might not be happy because she would be unable to take care of the needs of each party, and will inevitably leave one party or all upset and ### about the "lack" of customer service.

A LOT of work goes into what the consultants do for their individual clients and parties. The reason why we ask that you schedule an appointment is so you can receive one-on-one attention.

They also want you to order your dress in advance so you don't procrastinate and wait until a month before your wedding and then order it, same with your bridesmaids. It's them looking out for you to make sure you have your gown.

@Erin:

That's fine and dandy, but not everyone can afford a Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, or Monique Lhuillier gown. That's why they come to DB, we have gowns from $99-$1199.

David's Bridal is AWFUL! I ordered my dress the beginning of January. Picked it up in March (why it took that long, we will never know lol) I scheduled an alterations appointment for March 23. I was quoted a 6 week wait. However, I went in anyway and had the dressed pinned for hemming and bustling.

But here is where the madness starts, I went to pick it up on May 13 and the hem was extremely crooked (like 1/2 inch difference between right and left side crooked) and their was a huge spot on the front of the dress that hadn't been there when I dropped off the dress.

When I pointed this out to the alterations she argued with me. In fact, she would not admit to it until my sister got down on the floor and specifically pointed it out.

So yea, the customer service is awful, the management is unprofessional, and the store just plain blows. Don't buy your dresses here!

I work for Davids and love it. Though I only do get paid a few cents above minimum wage, when I do make commission the checks are not horrible. As for people complaining about the consultants, this is a national chain just because you had one bad consultant doesn't mean all the consultants in the entire chain are exactly like that. We are all people and we are all different. My customers love me and even the ones that find their dresses elsewhere come back to me for other things. I do not hound brides that did not buy with endless phone calls, and I have never had a complaint about my service. There are consultants that work in my store that I can't say the same thing about.

As for the quality of the dresses, I can't say they are the best. I have a degree in fashion merchandising and have studied fabrics and textiles and such. Unfortunitly all the dresses at David's, even the oleg cassini's are all 100% polyesther. There are no silk dresses. That would be my only complaint since polyesther is a cheap material.

I am by no means the stores biggest fan, but I don't think it's fair to say nasty things about all of our consultants.

Unless I'm missing some extra posts that are for some reason not displayed here I don't know why everyone is being so horribly harsh on Bridal Diva! She was just defending her workplace based on her own experiences. Doesn't anyone here want multiple opinions to work from?! It seems like most just want someone to agree with them, but that would make this website nothing more than a ###-fest rather than a useful place for info gathering. :/

Meanwhile, my experience at David's Bridal in CT and in MA were both good. (I got married in April 2009) In fact, to address Bride in June's point about the closed boutique... my mother and I were out shopping like crazy in a busy area and didn't get to David's until 15 minutes past closing time. When I knocked on the door they told me to go ahead and come in, that there were still people there who could help me. I didn't end up getting anything that trip but they were still sweet when I left and my consultant said that since she had had a slow day it was great that she got to work with another bride before going home. (Someone even got my mom from outside, where she had stayed because she thought that was the most polite thing when a store was closed, and got her a comfy chair to wait in.)

I worked for David's over 3 years ago and I always had very nice paychecks, even the base is a couple dollars over minimum, and besides, that isn't what the point is all about. I am sorry if some people had bad experiences, but I can not tell you how many times I had a bride find their dream dress and they couldn't stop smiling! That's what it's all about and it's not the consultants fault that management is trying to just push sales leading to maybe not the best customer service at all times. As for dresses "falling" apart, I feel that is absolutely ridiculous! The dresses aren't so "cheap" either, sure you can get the $99 sale, but there are only a couple very old and discontinued styles. The average gown from david's is around $500. I personally bought my dress from there after I had moved on from the wedding consultant position. I bought an Oleg Cassini and I will tell you that it is such awesome quality and it still is just perfect! I would say though if you are a "BRIDEZILLA" then David's probably isn't the best place for you! No offense meant by that comment! It can be a very overwhelming experience especially since there are so many dresses- the best thing to do is to do a little research online or in the catalog and bring the style #'s. Then a good consultant should be able to help bring you more styles that you are liking. AND if you feel you aren't getting good service, let the manager know you and your consultant aren't clicking and you would like a different one! If you aren't happy, I gotta say, look at yourself as well!

First of all, we DEF get more than min wage, plus a decent percentage of what we sell... no it's not the best paying job, but it is a lot more than min wage... i would agree that there are some consultants that do not care about the customers, and I don't think that's very fair to take that out on every person that works there. Seond of all, I do think it's funny that some people claim that DB dresses are cheap (even Oleg Cassini, Monique luo and suck that designed for presidents wives...)when people from other boutiques buy many of our discontinued dresses or designer dresses for a decent price and then sell them to their clients at the "other boutiques" for double or triple the price... yet theirs isn't "cheap"... we have had complaints about that one. Also, I have NEVER heard of any of our dresses comming apart until now... even mine didn't come apart (which was from DB) and was extremely comftorable... mabye if someone that was not from DB alters a dress and messes it up than mabye...

Ladies, Ill say it again. You get what you pay for. Dont expect top quality and a 'boutique' experience from this place. They are mass produced! Top quality does not come from something like that! If anyone lives in Ohio, though, you MUST go to Cincinnati Bridal and Formal. Their customer service was exceptional and their dresses were top quality (Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Monique Lhuillier...). I spent a heck of a lot more money by choosing my dress from there, but I left very happy. Good customer service and very knowledgeable sales people was a big part of the experience of shopping for my dream dress.

Good luck to all!

I also work at David's Bridal and I have to disagree with Bridal Diva. We do get paid minimum wage plus a percentage of what we sell which does not add up to much. This is a job that you really have to love in order to do it well. I never worry about the money because it's not what it's about. I love to make the bride feel special (as she should feel) and beautiful as she chooses the most important dress she will ever wear. I am sorry to those brides that encountered less than enthusiastic consultants-you have every right to take your business to someone who cares. However, one bit of info that you should know is that if you did not make an appointment you cannot blame the consultant for being too busy to help you properly. She is most likely trying to help a bride that did make an appointment plus any walk-ins at the same time;when this hapens, it can be very hectic and difficult to give each bride the attention she deserves. Also, about the problem with the three dresses: NEVER let them tell you that you can only try on three dresses! Really the rule is that you can't have more than three in the dressing room at one time, they should be able to keep your other picks on another rack and bring them to you as needed. They do it this way so that the dressing rooms don't become overcrowded which can result in damage to the dresses. It is true that new hires can be confused about rules and not very willing to bend some of the less-than-practical ones. If you do decide to shop at a David's bridal keep these things in mind and before becoming upset make sure you are talking to someone who knows what they are doing.

Good luck!

Good luck

Oh, and FYI- I found a WONDERFUL Bridal Store that was MORE than happy to allow me to walk in when walking by their store one day. Funny thing is, they were already AFTER hours, but they didn't care because they genuanly cared about my wants and desires. The didn't tell me to make an appointment and come back even though they had pleanty of ppl working that could help me. They simply said, go ahead and look around, and let us know what you like.

The best part is, they got my dress in there in LESS than 2 weeks. When I went to David's Bridal, they wanted me to order my dress 6 months to a year in advance! I thought that was rediculous, especially considering I wasn't ready to pick a dress yet at the time, and YES I was planning on loosing weight-which I did!
Bridal Dive, I certaintly hope that you find a dream job where you don't work with people, because I can tell by your attitude, people surely won't want to work with you.

OMG! How dare you Bridal Diva? If you don't like working with Brides, then don't! I have never been so offended than I was when I attempted to find a wedding dress from David's Bridal.
I do not have time to make appointments because my bridal party has a crazy, ok I can go now, schedule. How DARE you refuse me service? IF you don't want to deal with brides who are already pulling there hair out, have been out all day and accomplished nothing, and would like their MOH to be in the dressing room for HER opinion, not some consultant who benefits by selling her the most expensive dress, even if it looks horrible, then don't work there. Period. But don't post a very public, very rude message online where anyone, including a Bride searching for satisfaction comments online before she buys from David's Bridal, can see it. YOU are in a customer service position. If you don't like it, change yourself honey, because customers are always going to expect you to deal with it.

Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 3:09 PM
To: 'customerservice@dbi.com'
Subject: My dress
Importance: High

Hi,

I added a comment about my wedding dress that I purchased from David's Bridal in Roseville, , and it was never posted.

I left an honest claim about my cheap dress! The boning in the dress started to come out an hour into the reception, it was poking me and left a huge rash that even started to bleed. My whole wedding I was being poked by what felt like a cheap under wire bra.. Alll in all we had to pull out 5 Bones that had poked through within a 4 hour period. I had a hugeeee rash under my arms from constantly being poked at that eventually started to bleed!... I was totaly uncomfortable on my wedding day... It was virtually ruined.

My name is *********, I bought the dress from Roseville, Ca. Davids Bridal, 9E8787 Satin

-Ok, this is the email I sent to Davids Bridal. Lets see what kind of customer service they have.

OMG...I just had a run in w/David's Bridal and I now know your fellow co-worker. Isn't it a shame that you have to stoop to belittling your clients on behalf of the organization you work for. It's all, unfortunately, very true. David's Bridal has the worst imaginable customer service. And, to Bridal Diva, I pity you if you are ever out there looking for a job. I'd never hire you in a million years. Your unprofessional, lacking even a modicum of compassion, rude beyond belief, inconsiderate and much too immature to be of any help to someone facing all the pressures of pulling together a wedding.

Yes, they’re all great at getting you to spend your money, but heaven forbid something should occur that changes the original plan. Didn't you all know that life is set in concrete and curveballs never come into our lives? I only hope that one day, a David's Bridal consultant, manager, alterations specialist, etc, comes into contact with the real world and experiences life’s little curve balls that alter an all ready decided course or plan. Then I can only hope that they are counting on someone of their own ilk to assist them through the situation. Only then will they truly see how despicable their customer service skills and guidelines are.

If they are truly stating the company policy / line as they say, than I will do all in my power to make sure that no one I'm acquainted with utilizes their services. I will also register a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I will also look for other Blog / Complaint sites to make sure that this message gets out there. Only if they feel it in their pockets will they take notice. Don't just complain, do something about it. I'd even consider joining in a joint law-suit. Has anyone talked to a lawyer? I'm considering doing so.

Actually we get paid above what the average person gets paid. You get your hourly wage which is above minimum wage as well as a commission. You might want to check it out sometime.

Davids does sell quality wedding dresses. When you have customers (not all) come in and treat the merchandise like crap it can end up looking like crap. If you mean a better bridal store sells better dresses you are dead wrong since we have the same manufacturers doing our dresses as the "better" ones. Davids buys in bulk where your other stores buy by the piece. When they have a paid sale. Then you have to wait for an extremely long time for your gown to come in and it still may not be right. Been there, done it.

As far a better bridal boutique they get paid strictly commission per piece for what they sell and it does come below minimum wage therefore they push you into buying. I know I used to work there.