I purchased a dress from Sherwood Bridal in January, paid an additional fee of $75 for early delivery, and was promised the dress in April. I paid for the dress and delivery in full. I was to be the maid of honour in my best friend's wedding on June 10th.
I was working in the U.S. when I first placed the order so when I returned home for good I called the store to give them my updated contact info. At that point I was advised by Rose, one of the owners, that my dress was not going to arrive until mid-May. I was a bit upset, but tried to be understanding of the fact that the dress had not been completed by the factory and the delay was on their end. I inquired about getting my $75 back since the dress was not going to arrive early. I was told that the extra delivery charge was to ensure it arrived as quickly as possible from the factory once it was ready to be shipped. Rose explained that if I had not paid the extra money my dress would not be arriving until June instead of May. The explanation made sense to me, however that was not how it was initially explained to me at all.
I followed up again in mid-May with the store, as I had not heard anything from them, only to be told that my dress was not in and would arrive at the end of the month. At the end of May I called again. I was advised that my
dress would arrive on Tuesday May the 30th. I followed up on that date and
was again told that it would be another week. I waited yet another week and no call about my dress. I left several messages conveying my concern about receiving the dress in time for the wedding. I pleaded for a call back. I was never able to reach someone at the store directly, I always had to leave a message and hope for a call back. I waited a week for a phone call from them and then finally went to the store in person. At this point I was furious.
Not only was my dress not in, but no one at any point had called from the store with an update. Similar to one of the ladies in your story, I had not told the bride about all these problems. I did not want to worry her, but what would I say to her if my dress didn't come. I was running out of time and had to do something.
I was constantly having to chase them down for an explanation. Rose spoke to me in the store and gave no apologies. She tried to blame the delay on me saying I had not come in early enough to order the dress. We argued back and forth for a while and the end result was that she promised to call me the next day with an update. I asked to speak to the owner. She did not say that she was a co-owner (which I found out later), she only gave me Jeremy de Mel. I called Jeremy and left a very polite message for him asking for help with my problem. I have not heard back from him to date.
The day I was in the store I ran in to the lady that your story centered around. She had come out of the back after having "words" with Rose. She asked me if I had ever been to the store before. When I answered "Yes, unfortunately" she barged out of the store stating "nothing but problems here". I could relate.
The next day came and went and I did not hear from Rose as promised. The following day I called and was able to speak to someone. The dress was finally in. It was only a week before the wedding at this point. I went in to have my fitting done that day. Due to the delay I had not shopped for shoes or undergarments since I did not have the dress (which I had planned on taking shopping with me for the colour and actual fit). I scrambled around that day to get all of this done so that the fitting would be accurate. After the fitting I was told that I could pick up the dress the next day.
I was told by one of the women in the store that my mother would have to come in at 1pm to pick up the dress, wait for at least an hour, and then I would have to come after work. By then the dress should be finished. Of course I thought this was ridiculous, but at this point it did not surprise me. My mother went the next day to pick up the dress. She was determined to wait until the dress was ready to take home. After about an hour it was brought out, only for her to realize that only half of the agreed upon alterations had been done. Back the dress went for additional work to be done. Fortunately the dress was ok when it came back out the 2nd time.
My story ends happy in that I had a dress for the wedding on June 10th. I wish I could say that the dress was perfect, however it was not. The dress ended up being too loose around the waist and shoulders. After all the hassle I went through I was at least hoping it would fit properly. I didn't let it bother me too much, I was just happy to have the dress.