Ellies Bridal

Review: I went to Ellie's Bridal to purchase a wedding dress. I chose one, and they told me that, in order to get it in time for my wedding, they'd have to special order it. I gave them my credit card and also ordered two veils and a pair of shoes. Two months later, I discovered that they'd failed to order the veil and had lost the order form and lost track of my dress. It turned out they had not rushed the order and the dress was scheduled to arrive just days before my wedding. I had them call and change the order so that there would be time for fittings.

They told me to come on a particular day that week for a first fitting, so I took a day off of work to go, and just asked that they call if there was an issue. When I arrived, the dress was not there and they said they hadn't checked on the shipment. When I insisted, they called [redacted] and located the dress and agreed to bring it to my office the next day, which they did. The dress needed significant alterations, which I paid for. When I showed up for my appointment, the bottom of the dress was in tatters and many of the agreed-upon alterations hadn't been made. They told me to come back a week later at 4:00 and that the dress would be fixed. When I arrived, they told me that they were closed for Mother's Day that day and weren't doing alterations. I said that I was there to honor a time they'd selected and insisted that they call in the shop owner. When I tried on the dress, I discovered that, in order to hide the tattered hem, they'd shortened the dress too much. When I noted it, they denied being the ones who had shortened the dress, even though they'd been in possession of it the entire time and were clearly responsible! They took the sample dress off the rack and said they could cut it down to fit me and that then I could choose between that one and the one that was too short and that they'd bring the dress to me. I asked about the shoes - the saleswoman told me that my shoes had been ruined in the dying process and needed to be re-ordered. When I asked Ellie, the owner, she said that those had been another woman's shoes and that she'd get mine the next day.

When Ellie came, she only had the dress which was too short and said that she hadn't altered the one she'd pinned the day before as promised. She also had a pair of shoes that were completely ruined - wrong color dye, in splotches all over the white shoes. Despairing, I asked for some basic alterations on the dress, and she agreed to bring it to me. When she brought it back, it didn't quite sit right, and I asked her to look at a photo of the dress with me and pin it to look like the picture so that she could take it back to her shop for final alterations. She refused and stormed out, leaving the dress in my home. She did bring and leave a pair of shoes that had a stain on them, but were at least all the same color.

It's now four days before my wedding and I have a dress that I can't wear. They charged me for the dress, the shoes and the alterations and I've had to find other shoes and will have to find a way to either get this dress fixed or find a new one in just three days.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund for everything that I spent, plus whatever costs I will now incur over the next few days to either have this dress fixed or to buy a new dress if this one isn't salvageable. I'd also like for others to be aware of the level of service at this shop because a wedding dress is a time-sensitive purchase and customer service and alterations are essential for the transaction to be fair.

Review: I noticed 2 days before my wedding that Ellie's totally screwed up three major things on my dress. After paying $600 the price of my dress in alterations, I figured they would right these wrongs:

1) They left a straight pin in holding my dress together

2) The left colorful strings TIED in the lace of my dress from the alterations

3) The steaming was never completed

What did Ellie's do when I called them? NOTHING! They refused to believe that they did anything wrong and made me send them multiple pictures (which I have in my possession). Two of the managers, [redacted] & [redacted] made ever excuse in the book. This is not the service you expect when you spend multiple thousands of dollars somewhere. In addition, my alterations were terrible. I had to go three times and [redacted] refused to do some alterations, or pressured me not to get some done because it was too much work for her. The alteration manager told me many times that "the dress just won't do that", however after getting another opinion from a different salon, the dress did do the alterations I asked for.

In my eyes, Ellie's did not successfully complete the service I paid for. The alterations were not finished and poorly executed. I have photographic evidence of all failures of service.Desired Settlement: I would like to refunded half the of the alteration cost ($300) due to the unfinished service, poor workmanship, and the need to take the dress to another salon for emergency repairs the day before my wedding.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Ellie's response is completely unreadable, incorrectly copied, and follows no path of logic (see attached). The 4 PDF pages submitted are a testament to Ellie's poor attention to detail since they, like my dress, contain numerous errors and lack the finishing touches expected from a reputable business. A new, fully formulated response should be submitted.