Renee's Bridal & Special Occasions

This is my review and opinion only based on proof with emails, photos and witnesses. I felt Renee was helpful initially then became contradictory, unprofessional and malicious, demonstrating a pathological lack of accountability. I hope to protect others from a similar fate.

Renee was dishonest and did not provide a dress as promised. It was a special order which came in a questionable two sizes too small and fit nothing like the sample, weight unchanged. She glossed over the issue saying “I’d probably lose weight before the wedding.” What kind of response was this?

She never provided an explanation yet insisted I pay for alterations to enlarge it. I insisted she be accountable for her mistake and requested a partial refund (she could resell the dress) or let a court decide. She agreed in writing to fix it. By the next appointment, she had already enlarged the dress up to 4” in some areas, both breasts almost entirely exposed. She said she was “done” with the dress and I could take it to another seamstress, a direct contradiction to her written promise. It fit like a sack. Ethical business practices? You decide. I’m not JK Rowling; I can’t dream up a story this bad.

She insisted all alterations are her customers’ responsibility, no matter what. I ask you..if properly measuring and ordering the right size isn't her responsibility, what is? It’s her business. She took the measurements. If anyone in her camp screwed up, it should be on her..not the customer. Fortunately, I had already purchased another dress at BHLDN for a fraction of the price. It was perfect!

Retribution! I filed for a chargeback and received a credit. She lost the sale and merchandise. Research your card’s policy! Pay special attention to modifiers giving you 540 days from date of purchase to file your claim!

MasterCard and Visa:
https://chargebacks911.com/chargeback-time-limit/

Visa Modifiers:
https://chargeback.com/visa-chargeback-time-limits/

American Express:
https://chargeback.com/chargeback-reason-codes/american-express-reason-codes/

Discover:
https://chargeback.com/chargeback-reason-codes/discover-reason-codes/

No response can justify her actions. Why promise with no intentions to follow through? Intentional misrepresentation or false promise? You can form your own opinion as to whether you want to take a chance with your time and money. Some business relationships just don’t work out and she could have chosen to part ways with more integrity but didn’t. Renee may greet you with all the self-described “southern hospitality” you can stomach but I felt she was quite proud of her efforts to deceive. I have a few names for those who cheat others this way, but Southern isn't one of them.

First of all, I flew in from Virginia to Pensacola to spend a week with my daughter and help her find a gown for the Marine Corps Ball. We had a strict budget of $200.00 and found a gown on the sale rack for $100.00. Renee was there that day and seemed nice at first...playing praise and worship music and ACTING so sweet and sincere. Buyers beware!
She is such a fake with her purchased D+ cups...puke!
We considered buying the gown, but the hem itself was over $50.00, the bra cups were $30.00 and by the time we were finished we were at max budget. The one thing we asked was for her to show us how the dress would look ironed because of all the pics in the satin and she wouldn't...told my daughter " well, with your personality, you wouldn't be happy anyway". She is a piece of work and I am surprised she is sgill in business!
Long story, short ( not quite : )
We ended up trying some other shops only to hear from others that Renee has sent brides away in tears...we aren't surprised. We found the perfect dress anyway for a little over $200.00 and had it shipped to us overnight so we could get any alterations completed.
But, we still considered going back to get the dress at Renees just to have one for next years ball. This was when she showed us how horrible her customer service was and continued to insult us. Unreal! I am so shocked by this simply because I work in the customer service industry for the past 15 years...she would be so fired!
Also, just a note...many other shops mentioned this and I believe they are correct...it looks like the dresses are second hand dresses...all the tags are cut out of them and many are in bad repair with beads missing and seams stretched as though they have been previously worn?
Just save your time, heartache and headache...go elsewhere.

Do not purchase your weddding dress here or buy your bridesmaid dress. First of all they have no customer service. The owner does not care about the customer and is only in the business for the money. Anyone looking to buy a wedding dress go to Wedding Artisry off of 9th ave right around the corner from Renee's they have great customer service (keep customer updated on the status of the dress monthly if not more), offer a military discount, discount on bridesmaids dresses, viels, and tiaras, payment plans and alterations/steaming included. Non of this is offered at Renee's and they do not call customers to let them know the status of their dress. Owner is rude and the employees seem too busy to help customers that have paid in advance. Don't buy from this company, weddings should be a joyous experience not a hustle.

I know exacally what you are talking about. I went in to try my bridesmaid dress, and they had me try on the only dress they had in that style it was a 10 I wear a 5/6 in my everyday clothes. They told me me was going to need to order an 8 and I had to pay $50 for super fast delivery because the wedding was two months away. When I got the dress in it had to be taken in, in the sides and the bust also it needed to be hemmed. I think if they would have ordered me a smaller size it would have been alot better. I go to get the dressed altered by Renee's and after they pin everything I get a bill of $118, my dress was $130 so I paid just as much for the alterations as the dress. This was on a Saturday 8/9 that I dropped it off, I found someone that could do it cheaper and called back to Renee's Monday 8/11 and told them the situation and asked of I could get the dress back to save some money. The lady said she would call the lady that was doing the alterations and call me back. I called back to Renee's on 8/20 because I never received a call back the same lady that I spoke to on the 11th answered the phone and said she was sorry and would call the seamstress and call me back. Surpriseingly she called back and gave me some wonderful news, THE DRESS WAS NOT DONE!Nine days later, with no call and the dress was not done. Let me tell you this is the 20th and the wedding is on the 30th, Yes 10 days away. NO PHONE CALL ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So I had to go pick the dress up on the 21st because she wouldn't go pick it up for me that day so I could take it to someone else. I will NEVER deal with these people agian, and I will tell everyone I know how this company is ran so poorly.

I have been married for about a year now. I'm so happy that I found a website to vent on about Renees Bridal. I purchased my dress from her store. I also got told about the outrageous alterations charges after my purchase. I also paid 50.00 extra to have my dress here 2 weeks before my wedding so I would be able to have it altered somewhere else. So 2 months go by and I am eagerly getting all the details ironed out. I call Renee's on the day that they said the dress would be there. Renee proceeds to tell me that they will not be getting the dress in until the following week. Yes thats the week of my wedding. So I as any bride would freaked out. I told her that I would not pay the 50.00 extra and really just went into panic mode. She said that I would have to pay the extra 50.00 and started to get nasty. So I shot back. Telling her that this was my special day and she could at least be a little more considerate of how I must feel. And now the WORST part. She said "If you don't stop talking to me like this, I will cancel your STUPID dress order." I couldn't believe she said that to me. This is my wedding your talking about. It means the world to me and for her to call it a STUPID dress, I was mortified and scared because I had 14 days till my wedding. I cried for so long that day because I didn't think it was possible to get another dress. She is so fake and unprofessional. Just like someone else said on here, she smiles in your face but is totally fake behind your back. She cares about selling a dress and not the "wedding experience." I wish everyone in this town knew it too. Needless to say my whole family was outraged that she said that to me. My Dad called the credit card company and had the charges reversed. She then called my house the week of the wedding. My now husband answered and told her that I had canceled the "stupid" dress order and she would have to sell it to somebody else. She denied saying all of that to him but he said it didn't matter. I was able to find a perfect dress at another shop down the road called Wedding Artistry. They really know how to treat you there. They also did all of my bridesmaid dresses without outrageous alteration charges. Most importantly they made my wedding experience what it was suppose to be- My Special Day! Don't ever go to Renees Bridal. They will rip you off!

My 8 year old daughter was measured by Renee's in January for a June wedding. They knew the wedding date because they were handling the info for the bride. They ordered the dress with the measurements that they measured in Jan, not allowing for the usual growth of an 8-year old. Today, which is April, we went to pick up the dress, which by the way has been paid for. Of course the dress was much too small and they proceeded to tell me it was not their fault my child grew in the last 4 months and that I would have to pay another $150 for another dress. I told them that if they would have sized her correctly, allowing for the usual growth of a child, this would not be an issue.

As you can probably tell, I was not given a refund, and I am now the owner of a $150 bride's maid dress that does not even fit an 8 year old.

I would never use Renee's, and I did let them know I would let as many people as I could know about my experience.