Pearl's Place messed up my order!

[VanessaH]

I ordered a Jasmine dress from Pearl's Place in December or early January. I called them to determine the style number (it wasn't on the website except in coded/falsified form), described the dress thoroughly and told Elaine where it was on the website. She told me the number to order. I wrote it down several places and e-mailed it to myself at my online e-mail account so I could have access to it.

The dress arrived today. NOTHING like the dress I thought I was ordering. As the dress was a "special order" Pearl's Place refuses to do anything about it. I could understand this if it were my mistake, but _they_ told me the style number!

My wedding is so close that will I have to go to a regular salon this weekend and pay full price to get my dress. Let me just say I'm not impressed with Pearl's Place's customer service.

[Brideman]

Hello,

My name is Fred and I own Pearl's Place. Last night 3/8/2001 at around 5:15 central time, a mother called with the comment "I ordered the wrong dress for my daughter." We were shocked and concerned. We at no time said that we could do nothing and as of this afternoon 3/9/2001 after a number of calls, we still do not know from the bride or the mother what the actual style should be. We stand ready to do something to help. The wedding is close and we have made some suggestions. I still do not know what gown we are referring to and what gown the bride actually wants. Be assured that we want to get it right and will do whatever, is possible, to do so.

On another matter I must suggest to brides about style numbers. Yes on the Knot and other site and designer sites it is hard as they have codes. But they are not as skillful as they think they are. In many cases, if you are on a PC you can right click and attempt to download the photo, see then the style number that appears. This will work a lot of times. If you are on a Mac then you just download the photo and see again, the number that appears. This also works in, many cases and designers, with the Knot and Wedding Channel.

Now to this bride. We at Pearl's Place are always concerned about every single order that we process and every single bride. We have not spoken to this bride and stand ready to move any mountain or whatever to help her get the correct gown.

Thank you all and thanks to all for your years of confidence,

Fred, Pearl's Place

[PRINCESS_KIM]

I contacted Pearl's Place for a quote on a gown. I received an email to call their store because some designers do not wish to have quotes given via email. I called long distance to Louisiana, placed on hold for about 6 minutes, and was told that they "...were not able to obtain a dress from that designer." Yet, the designer is listed on their website as a line they offer???

[VanessaH]

It's true that most experiences with Pearl's Place have been good.
My information was as follows:
1) Elaine helped me determine the style number from the website number when I called. I wanted to be sure that we had the right number, so I wrote it down and proceeded to describe the dress to her. She seemed hurried to get off the phone...it was probably busy and other things were demanding her attention, so I decided to just trust her and get off the phone. The number I wrote down is the one that we used to order.
2) When the dress arrived, I learned that it was the wrong one. I learned that Pearl's Place was refusing to do anything about the mistake. Also that someone had told Mom (kindly) that she had to "make her like it."

Now I wonder several things:
1) Is the Jasmine style number chart accurate or did it trip Pearl's Place up?
2) Did I have a "bridal moment" and write down the wrong number? Or did Elaine have a stress moment and accidentally tell me the wrong dress?

After hearing Fred's side of the story, I realized that I should have taken the matter in my own hands. It seems there's been some miscommunication on both sides. I'd be thrilled if we can work this out.

Thanks for the reply, Fred! :)
-VanessaH

[seline]

Oh well I guess I have to place my 2 cents here. I will definately say that Pearl's Place will help you correct what they are able to do. I know that they will if they have time to do this.

As to the other bride that called and they did not have the gown. Well most stores, in fact all stores, that carry the higher end designers, must I believe, have the actual gown to sell it. Pearl's does not take orders for gowns that they are not totally valid accounts for. This is to the advantage of other brides, as I have some friends that ordered from services that were not actual dealers and when they had problems, they could not have them corrected. I am speaking of NetBride and Gowns On Line particulary. Also DBS. So for the designers on their site, they only sell what they carry.

I will be calling Fred about these posts and advise him. Also want to say that all of my dealings with this store have been a total A+++

[alyssanar]

I have nothing but the best to say about Pearl's Place. They just saved a very good friend's wedding plans after another store and service had totally messed up her order. They did not have much time and they came through.

I highly doubt that Elaine did not know the style number codes from that line as she usually double checks with Fred on all of those.
I also think that they are the best in service, help and caring on the internet.

If you need any references you can email me at [email protected]
happy to send any suggestions about this store.

[VanessaH]

After a long and frustrating series of exchanges with Pearl's Place, our money has finally been refunded.

On the down side I have to say that I am disappointed with Pearl's Place approach to customer service. Their personnel are stretched so thinly that they have little time or energy for efficient and calm service. My mother and sister attempted to resolve the situation for me, since I was facing a major medical emergency and final exams at the same time, just a few weeks before the wedding. However, Pearl's Place refused to have further communication with them until they heard from me. Perhaps this was done with my best interests at heart, but it made an already difficult time more difficult.


Clear communication was also a problem: we received different information about our options for resolution, depending on who we talked to. Sometimes the information was even contradictory.


Based on this information, I believe that Pearl's Place would benefit from hiring customer service employees whose only function is to resolve customer service issues. That would leave the rest of Pearl's Place staff free to take orders and help customers.

On the "up" side, I am pleased to relate that once an agreement was reached, Pearl's Place moved quickly to resolve the problem. I would have liked phone or e-mail notification of the resolution, but I expect they are quite busy just now.

Finally, I would recommend Pearl's Place to brides who want affordable gowns without bridal industry games. The only caveat is that, as always, it is in the best interest of the bride to triple check that she is getting the gown she believes she ordered.

[Affordable Dreams]

Glad to hear you were given a refund. Fred was nice enough to post his side. I was happy to see that as most don't respond once they have your money (from the way everyone is posting).

What gown did you end up wearing? When was your wedding? I'm sure you looked beautiful!
Happiness Always,
Chrissy
Affordable Dreams By Christine
DBS