LIES! LIES! LIES! (VERY LONG STORY!!)

[susanj]

It’s infuriating!
I went to a well known shop in New York.
I was set on ordering a gown during a trunk show because it would be a $350 discount off my dress.
The dress came to $3150 pre-tax and alterations.
My consultants were a PLEASURE to work with.
Here’s where it gets ugly.
2 weeks later I’m stressing the cost of the dress and just second guessing the dress in general. There was a wrinkle in the bodice that was driving me batty in the pictures. I showed concern before ordering the dress and my consultant assured me that a seamstress would be able to fix it.
After ordering the dress I contacted a few seamstresses (from various wedding boards) as to my issue and I was told that the wrinkling is “a common problem” in strapless gowns and although it could be minimized there would still be the possibility because the weight of the gown pulls it and creates the wrinkle, etc., etc.,
Now I’m a mental case thinking that there’s no way I want to spend almost $4000 on a gown that will be wrinkled on my wedding day!
After looking around, I decide that I want a different dress. I find one (online) for $1000 less than the one I ordered.
It is 2 weeks since I put in the order.

I call the shop and ask them what would happen in the event that I change my mind on the dress and I’m told that as long as the dress isn’t being “cut” they would issue me a credit.
(The policy on the receipt, which I signed, and which I kick myself every day for, states *in the event of a cancellation a minimum of 75% of contract must be paid within 10 days and the balance by date of the affair*)
But whoever answered the phone told me, chances are it’s not yet being cut. May I ask why you want to cancel the order (AND STUPID HONEST ME) I tell them that I found something somewhere else, I was really unhappy about the wrinkle etc., I tell them I have no problem taking a credit, I have 5 bridesmaids to outfit, but I’m very concerned about the wrinkle, now that I know that it might something that is unavoidable.

Now I am told that all cancellations have to go through so and so who is in charge of “orders”

When I finally get in touch with the “order person” (again asking me why I want to cancel) I am told that I have to go through the manager…she has my paperwork and will call me back.
The following day I get a call from the manager…to tell me there’s no way I can cancel the dress because it’s already being cut (even though my wedding isn’t until January 2003) I think they’re lying but I am at their mercy, right? Since I did sign the receipt, I am now liable for this $4000 dress that will wrinkle in the middle?
½ of me want to just never go in to pick it up again!! I’m so frustrated! And the story ONLY gets worse!!
Any advice so far?

[susanj]

So…
Because I feel like it is my own fault for
1. signing the receipt which states their cancellation policy
2. trusting the consultant about the wrinkle
3. being honest about my real reason for canceling the dress
After much hemming and hawing with the manager…I decide I will just try to sell the dress. There is absolutely no way that I can cancel the order and I am responsible for the balance. ‘sigh’
Fast forward to now.
My dress is listed on various boards for sale and a girl contacts me about my dress.
She saw my ad, went to the trunk show and ORDERED it from the shop!
When I asked her WHY she would do that, she told me that she was a bigger size than me.
Some background
The shop asked her WHERE she saw the dress and she mentioned that “a girl was selling it onlione”

The manager figured it was me. They told her she wouldn’t fit into my dress. Ordered her 1 size up since her bust was measured 1” bigger than mine.
I told her that when I tried on dresses my consultant also told me that they would NEVER order me a size 8 (even though the waist was SOOO big in a 10) because of my bust. It was only because the SAMPLE happened to be an 8 and it fit me perfectly did I stress that I wanted an 8 even though my measurements call for a 10 on the charts.
As a matter of fact, in a 10 CONSIDERABLE alterations would have to be made in the bodice. The 8 needed only a hem…so I’m convinced *almost* that this is merely a scam to get you to pay more in alterations than necessary…but that’s another rant.

It turns out we wear the same bra size and have the same waist size.
The girl wants me to call the shop and see if she can take over my contract.
So I do…get the manager who first goes on to tell me that there’s no way the dress will fit her etc., but in any case SHE (the other girl) cannot cancel her dress either since it was placed directly with the designer during a Trunk show, it is already being cut.

When I inform this girl of this she’s terribly upset. She only put $500 down to hold the price they were giving her (10% off PLUS 10% off to come closer to MY LISTING PRICE!!)
I tell her how I think that if she tells them that she may be buying the dress elsewhere, they will not be so cooperative, instead she should just say she’s reconsidering the cost of the dress because it was so expensive.
SURE ENOUGH…she calls a few days later and says she’s a bit concerned about the price…alluding to the idea that she just wants to come back in and maybe find something cheaper. She spoke to the manager. Same one I’ve been dealing with…who asked her if she’s spoken to me, to which she said no (fib)
MIRACULOUSLY her dress wasn’t being cut!! OF COURSE she could come in and find something else. The order was merely on hold until she could come up with enough to make 50% down!!

Now that she is getting a taste of how it feels to be lied to when someone wants all your $$ she’s just as upset as I am and she wants to cancel her dress and take the business elsewhere. We’ll see what kind of explanation they give her when she tries to do that….

[annieliu]

I am so sorry to hear about this. You should post the name of the store to warn other brides!! How is it turning out right now?? I hope all turns out well!