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View Full Version : BridalTown inCollegeville PA



VirginiaCleveland
04-23-2003, 07:44 AM
Ladies,

I had to share this with you. I live in NJ and BridalTown in Collegeville PA was only an hour drive up the turnpike from me. I went with a specific set amount in mind for everything. When I got there as soon as I said the amount I was willing to pay, it was like they may as well have been deaf. I was shown dressed 1/3rd over the price I wanted. I wanted to stay within the 700 range. I was shown 4 dresses, one of them was 650 the rest were all 900+. The higher end ones were beautiful, but not what I wanted to pay. I settled and I mean settled on a much lower costing dress because the aggressive tactics of the sales woman ticked me off so badly. What I should have done was left and to this day I don't know what stopped me. I had wanted a dress that reminded me a bit of Grace Kelly and my grandmother, you know, classic and a bit modest as well. I had actually found a dress for the unbelievable price tag of 99 dollars. You should have seen the saleswoman's face. Well she got me back because this was also one of the places that had tier pricing for alterations. They had two pricing schemes. Depending on what you had done, they'd charge you anywhere from 200 to more and it was even if you needed next to nothing done. Then, after they got done with the alterations, they still pushed more "packages" on you. For an extra 250 on top of it all, you could get a slip, shoes, stockings, and a garter. Yep. They also said that you qualified for a little 3 or 4 day vacation to anyone of about 5 locations and that if you took your bridesmaids back for the gowns as well, they would throw in free vouchers for gasoline. (Don't ask where the gas stations were that it applied to. I had never heard of them.) In order to get the trip though, you had to purchase a total of "three packages" from them. The gown, the alterations, the Extras. For a dress that was 99 dollars, by the time everything was done, I paid 500+. I was also made to feel cheap, humiliated and "grubbing" in the process. The woman actually looked at me and sniffed ," None of today's brides want to look like their grandmother if they can help it..."

The story does have a happy ending though because everytime I looked at this dress, no matter how much I liked it, I thought of that saleswoman and the comment she said to me. Needless to say, I felt very bad about having bought it. I contacted the owner of the shop through email and worked with the general manager, they not only gave me an entire refund but also let me keep some of the incidentals like stockings, garter, and slip when I explained I had such a poor expereience I just wanted to bring back the dress. While I reccomend the owners of the establishment, I caution you to be armed against the sales people in here. This is definetly a crank them out kind of place. The even happier ending is that I found the gown of my dreams online from my favorite manufacturer through thebridalshop. com for a mere $99 on sale!!!

Virginia

ria27
11-20-2003, 01:17 PM
I also had a horrible experience at Bridaltown, but thankfully left before I gave them any $$. I arrived early on a weekday (w/o an appointment since i was traveling 2+ hrs and wasn't sure of my exact arrival time) and was told that they *do* accept walk-ins, but I would need to wait for a consultant. Their consultant was necessary to "show me through the place" and can offer "one-stop shopping" for all wedding needs, including photographer, tuxes, etc. I explained that i was from out of the area & would not be using those services and just wanted to "look" at bridesmaid gowns for ideas/colors. At that point, I was dismissed. The waiting room was a dingy, dirty place that i doubt has been remodeled since it opened (30 yr anniversary per their ads). A very stained carpet & a grubby pink satin sofa awaited. After 45 min of my fuming about the dirt & the wait (and two "consultants" breezing thru the waiting room looking bored) i inquired of the receptionist how long a "typical" appt would last & when a consultant would be free? I was told that an appt could last from 10 min to several hours and they had "no way to determine an average". During the wait, a bride entered who was just picking up her gown from the seamstress. The receptionist explained the "tiered" alteration prices - their ads advertise most gowns under $699 but they obviously make their $$ on the alteration packages. She seemed surprised to be charged $250 for "just a hem" (OBVIOUSLY!) but the gal explained the alterations package cover "almost everything, you just didn't need the other stuff altered" as if that is any type of consolation for the bride to be. They also "will not release" a gown to another seamstress incase of problems they do not want the brides "telling everyone a poor fitting gown came from their shop!" The more I listened and observed, the more I felt that this was not the place I was interested in giving my business - bargain gowns or not! PS. I never did get to see any gowns after a 65 min wait!