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View Full Version : House of Brides in Schaumbug, IL



JEN94SHO
03-12-2001, 02:15 AM
Talk about a bridal disaster. I ordered my Mon Cheri wedding gown in October of 2000. At the time they said the dress would be in by mid February. Then, in early December I ordered four bridesmaid dresses from the same store. Again, they said everything would arrive in mid February. Well, in February I starting calling the House of Brides to check on my order. (Actually, I also called various times previous to that to confirm everything was on schedule and they always assured me everything was going along fine). So, I was getting very excitted for the dresses to arrive. I kept calling and leaving messages for their order department. No one ever called me back.

After two weeks I finally got ahold of the manager, Chris Richards, whom told me that the store forgot to order the bridesmaid dresses. She kept telling me she would contact the manufacturer and call me back. I never received any calls back and hence had to keep contacting their store only to constantly be put on hold for extended periods of time (long distance) and get stuck in voice mail. She offered no valid reason for the mistake except that it was their fault and the salesperson would be held accountable. Great, what's that going to do for me? Everyday she had a different report from the manufacturer in regards to whether or not I could still get the dresses on time. She also had to keep asking me what my wedding date was (as if she couldn't remember the date of the order that was royally screwed up.

To top things off she told us my gown was on it's way and had been shipped. Then at the end of the week she said it would arrive I called and guess what - no dress. Then, she said it just arrived on Thursday, March 8. Great, I made an appointment to pick up the dress that Saturday (a four hour drive for me). However, I had to wonder if things would turn out ok.

I got to the store and was told to go to the alterations area where I rang the bell and waited for a girl to take my name. I also noticed the pack of cig's laying at the counter (how appropriate for a bridal salon). She came back a while later and said she wasn't able to find the dress. I was so mad! I told her that @*!# dress had better be there. So, she went back and determined it was in the manager's office. She took me back to a dressing room (which was crappy compared to the rooms where they try to sell you the dresses) and I waited for them to bring it in. Now, here's the horror --- they brought in a dress that wasn't even mine, even though it did have a typed tag with my name on it. Oh my goodness I thought. They don't have my dress! So, I became very, very upset. After all this, and driving four hours, they offered no apology and even said I needed to calm down and act more mature and educated.

I'd also like to mention that my mom even called to confirm we were coming to get the dress they day before and they said it, and my veil was all ready to go. They lied! So, now they decided to tell us that my dress must have accidently been shipped to their warehouse downtown. They said a corrier would bring over and it would take about an hour. Ok, we will wait. So, we waited, and waited all afternoon (over two hours) and when the dress finally "arrived" it was time for the store to close. They brought it out and said they just steamed it in the back so it might be damp. I looked the dress over really well and it was obviously a worn sample. There were armpit stains on it and even a black marker spot on the train. To top things off, there was no bag, no tag with my name on it, and it was not even the size I ordered. However, as uneducated as I am, the manager insisted that it was brand new from the manufacturer. Great. My wedding is on June 23, this year, and now I have no dress.

As for the bridesmaid dresses, I have ordered them rushed from another store and they should arrive mid May. However, I am so upset about my dress that I don't even know if I want the same dress anymore because of the memories that I'll think about when I put it on. The House of Brides in Schaumburg was so rude. The manager even snickered at me as she told me to calm down. No apology, no offer of a beverage as we waited all afternoon, no offer to fix the problem, nothing. I personally think that they decided to make us wait all afternoon in hopes that we would just take the dress without even trying it on. She did ask if I wanted to try it on. I believe that they were just trying to trick me, the uneducated, stupid bride. Well, I hope they realize how uneducated I am when I call my lawyer and sue them for their actions. If any other brides out there have had any bad experiences with this store please let me know at...
[email protected]. I hope that no one else has to go through this type of experience. We can all make a difference if we speak up! I have already written editorials to newspapers and will not stop until this story is told to as many people as possible.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Shearer

rinasa
04-21-2001, 01:56 AM
Maybe it's just me but every House of Brides that I've visited offered me very bad service that ranged from outright rudeness to completely ignoring you. I've had 5 girlfriends who have gotten married over the past 5 years and in the Chicagoland area that means a trip to the well known House of Brides. And I have visited every one of their store locations in the Chicagoland area at one point or another.

I don't know if it's the way your dressed, who you arrive with, or simply the nationality you are (I'm asian).

But there are three House of Brides that stand out particularly in my mind:

House of Bride the very Schaumburg location: My first girlfriend who is very, very wealthy and got married 5 years ago. It was summer time and a bummy day so we were dressed for comfort. We walked in, browsed and was basically ignored, which did not sit well with this particular friend who is high maintenance. We asked for help and were told that everyone was taken up at the time, but someone would get to us soon. Well after browsing for more than 40 minutes (it's a big place) still no one. We asked for help again and stated how long we were waiting, and were told that everyone was busy, however a few employees were standing around gossiping. My friend got very mad and I suggested we try another store.

House of Bride Norridge Location: A couple of years ago I visited this tore with my my bestfriend who was getting married. We were both dressed like typical college students, my bestfriend who is asian and very very petite tends to look very young. We walked in and the ladies just looked at us. No greeting, no hello, no offer to help. We just announced that we were going to browse, they said nothing, it was a slow night at the store and this one lady following us around eyeing us like hawks without a single offer to show a dress.

We were getting some bad vibes and shrugged it off and continued on our mission to find a dress for her. After about 10 minutes of browsing she found one she wanted to try on and asked the very lady who was following us around if she could. Point blank she said, "I'm sorry honey but we don't carry that in your size." So we asked them what dresses they had in her size, and they lady responded, "Honey, our dresses here are quite expensive, and your size is hard to fit, you might want to try a David's Bridal store." I mean she told this to us with a completely straight face! Completely offended and shocked we left with a feeling of bewilderment and we just said, "Okay" and left, lost the feeling to shop other stores and began to feel very angry at the way we were treated.

Glen Ellyn Location off Roosevelt Road: I visited last year around July to look for a dress for myself. I went with my husband to be at the time after we got off work. Here we were a mixed race couple (he's caucasian and I'm asian) and we were dressed professionally at the time. This is a well staffed store that is located in a bridal strip mall. It wasn't very busy at the time. We walked in and not a single person offered to show me a dress or even greeted us. We browsed for half and hour and still no one offered to help even though they were doing nothing. Remembering my past experiences with House of Brides I just said "Let's Go"

I will never ever return to any House of Brides and I will highly recommend against any bride to use their services. No bride shopping for the happiest occasion in her life should be treated as such.