Fantasia Bridal Center & Boutique Inc.

Review: Let me start off that my experience with Fantasia Bridal started off really well! I had an amazing consultant who helped me find a dress after trying on only a few. We ordered the dress in the same size that the sample was in (12). In August when the dress finally came in I started the fittings.....this is when it all fell apart.

When the new dress arrived and I went to my 1st fitting. My original consultant informed me that she would no longer be available and that someone else would be with me along the way to help me with my fittings. This stressed me out a little because I had built a relationship with the consultant and now I had to start all over and rely on the new consultant who didn't know me at all. I put the dress on and it was a little big. Everyone thought, "wow you lost a lot of weight! Congratulations, you look great!” In all reality I didnt loose that much weight, but I began to think I did based on what everyone was saying (who wouldn’t like the compliments). So now the dress is on and the seamstress came in and pinned the bottom of the dress to the length she thought was correct. When I told her I wanted it longer and touching the floor, she kept saying, "no, this is the way it should be. You dont want it dragging on the floor. Trust me I have been doing this for 17 years". So I said ok and trusted her opinion because she was the professional in this situation. I still thought it was a little too short, but she kept ensuring that this is the way it is supposed to be that it would be a little longer once the dress is steamed. On my way home I called them back and said I would be returning the next day (saturday) to talk about the hem and not to start the process yet because I just didnt like the look of the dress in the way she hemmed it. They said no problem, come on it.

The next day I came in for the second fitting and met with the seamstress and [redacted] ([redacted]). They explained to me that the dress had to be hemmed from the bottom because there was no waist line. I love the bottom design of the dress and didn’t want to lose the look or the design of it, so I asked if there was anything they could do, like create a waist line hem. She said, “Of course it can be done. It’s a lot more work, but it can be done, no problem”. I asked them if it was more expensive if we changed the hem, the seamstress said "no. its the same amount if we hem from the bottom or the top". So I put the dress back on and they pinned the dress from the waist area to be cut and hemmed.

The 3rd fitting I tired the dress on, and the area around the hips was WAY to baggy. They explained that when they lifted the dress up, the wider part of the dress is also raised up and now it has to be taken in. This is somthing that I was not told when we decided to hem the dress from the, now created, waist line. Again, I am not a seamstress and it is not my job to know how alterations can change the dress and therefore need MORE alterations...that is their job and they should have said something along the lines of, "if we hem from the top, it will most likely require additional alterations and therefore more money, are you sure you want to that?" If I knew the total cost of the alterations would be clost to $700 dollars, I would have skipped the hem all together and gotten a pair of higher shoes and everything would have been fine. So now they start to take in the sides/waist of the dress so that it fit me like the sample did. During this time, the seamstress only pinned from arm pit to hip area, and my mom commented that the dress should be pinned all the way down because the sample was more fitted. Again the seamstress said, "It's ok I will follow the line of the dress, it will be perfect". So we trusted her professional opinion yet again. She recommended that we come in for the final fitting the tuesday before my wedding (october *, 2013). I thought that was pushing the date a little too close so I came in on friday september ** instead, and thank god I did......

I came in for my "last fitting" (#4) on friday septembe [redacted] and put the dress on. At this point I am expecting a beautiful completed dress that makes me feel amazing, the same feeling I felt when I had the sample dress on back in March. It was a total disaster. I immediately started crying as nothign was fitting. The dress didnt pass my hips, the corset wouldn’t close at the bottom, the bust was too tight, and I the dress now appeared too short. I did not feel beautiful, I felt frumpy. The seamstress looked over the dress and realized she never cut the supportive boning from the back of the dress which is why everything was bunching and the dress wasnt lying correctly. "The dress will be perfect once I cut the boning out, no problem" she said. I took a deep breath and said ok and home I went. I was in tears my entire 45 minute ride home because this whole experience has been a nightmare and I didn't need the stress a week before my wedding. When I got home I spoke with my mother and we decided that we would go back to the bridal shop the next day (saturday 9/**/13) to discuss the dress issues with the [redacted]. I called them after hours and left them a message explaining how upset I was and how concerned I was that the dress just wasnt right and something was wrong.

So now my mother and I go back on 9/**/13 around 11:00am and met with [redacted] right away. She sat down and listened to my concerns from day 1 of the fittings, and she explained to me that she also agreed that something wasn't right. She understood that I felt like I wasn't being listened to by my seamstress and just pushed along the entire way. I also questioned why the alterations were almost $700 and she said it was because I did a total re-construction of a dress…which wasn’t supposed to happen! All I needed was a 2” hem. Again, if they let me know what it was going to entail and the price, I would have gotten 5” heels....simple as that.

So I put the dress on for my 5th fitting….. I broke down in tears again. We spent 4 hours with [redacted] trying to figure out what was going on with this dress. While she was pulling and tugging on the inner layers of my dress, she noticed that some of the crinoline was sewn into the lining. She continued to separate the fabric layers with her hands as she tried to pull and situate the dress so that maybe it would fit better on my body; it didnt help. We also noticed that the corset was as tight as it could go…and yet the dress wasn’t fitting. Finally, after breaking down in tears again, she asked me to try on the sample dress…..and it fit perfectly! The waist, the line of the dress, the bust, and the corset looked great! It was a beautiful dress that seemed to fit me like a glove. At that point [redacted] had said, “looks like [redacted] will be buying your wedding dress", "we will clean up the sample and you can have the sample dress”. When I looked at her she said she had seen “fluke” dresses before, just not with this designer. She took the original dress and the certificate of authenticity and said she would (in a very confident tone of voice) investigate it further and that I would most likely get a full refund in the mail, this of course made us happy.

Now with 1 week until my wedding, I didn’t have any other choice but to take the sample, which I was fine with because it fit me!

I had them hem the dress a very tiny amount (1/4” I think) and tuck in the “eye lashes” around the sweet heart bust line. They refunded me the difference between the original alterations and the alterations from this time, so my total I had to pay was a little over $400; but I figured that would be ok, because I would be getting the money back from my dress that I originally paid for…..or so I thought.

[redacted] had my dress cleaned and I was able to pick it up on Tuesday 10/*/13. In the dimmed dated lighting of the bridal shop, the dress looked great….got home, still dirty on the bottom, but again, at this point I didn’t care because I had a dress and there was no more time left.

I called [redacted] the following week after my wedding (week of 10/*/13)and left a message with her to call me back to discuss what was going on and if she had heard anything from the designer on receiving a refund for my dress….I didn’t hear back right away. I called again the following week (week of 10/**/13), after a few missed call’s and exchanges, we finally spoke on 10/**/13. She informed me that “it didn’t look good”. The representatives of [redacted] apparently had no interest in helping me out because the dress had been altered. [redacted] explained to them that it wasn’t until we started altering the dress that we realized that there was something wrong….they didn’t care. [redacted] told me at that point that she would pay for me to get my dress cleaned and preserved….I am still wondering why I had to pay full price for a dress that I didn’t wear, and additional alterations to a dress that was a sample, and all she could offer me was cleaning and preserving.

We spoke again on 10/**/13 and she told me that the representatives did not want to hear from her again, and I asked how I would be compensated by her and her business, she said she would give me 10% off the original dress price. So basically I bought a used sample dress for 10% cheaper than a bran new dress....She also told me that they could fix my origianl dress and I could try to sell it on my own. Towards the end of the conversation I was getting frustrated and upset so when we hung up with eachother, I called my mother and asked to speak with [redacted] to go over what we spoke about on the phone. Apparently my mom asked too many questions because [redacted] responded by saying, "[redacted] and I spoke about this already, you will have to ask her". When my mother told her I had asked her to call, she said in a very stern and sarcastic tone, “have a nice day [redacted]” and hung up the phone on her.

I called Fantasia Bridal to speak with [redacted] and the man from the tux area got on the phone would not put [redacted] back on the line. It is my understanding that they are married, or that is what I heard from one of the employees. I explained everything I said above to him and he was just as sarcastic and rude and said that I was given the opportunity to be compensated and that [redacted] went above and beyond to help compensate me. I had cut him off from talking because I was mad and he wasn’t listening to my story, he only cared about how his wife did to make things right. He again was very rude and said, “ are you going to listen to me or keep cutting me off?” When I told him I would bring them to small claims court he said, “if that’s the action you want to take I will see you there” and hung up the phone on me.

That is the last line of communication we had with Fantasia Bridal.Desired Settlement: I really don’t want to no do I have the time to take a day off from work and take them to court, but if something is not done to compensate me monetarily, then that is what I will have to do. After all the time, all the fittings, the gas money having to go back again and again, time off from work to go back time after time, and the simple un-needed aggravation, I believe I deserve something more than 10% off the original price and cleaning & preserving the dress (which will never be worn again). I do not know how much sample dresses are discounted when a bride purchases one, but 10% seems a little to little for a used dress. I would like to discuss an amount that is fare for me as well as the business owner.

Business

Response:

The facts of the statement are only partly true. Seeing our customer did not want to pay for alterations because she was unhappy I asked her to try the sample back on and if SHE wanted I would get it cleaned snd start alterations over on this dress. That is what she wanted. I never charged for for the hours of work done to first dress (I paid the seamstress) I never charged for to pay for the cleaning of the gown (I paid that as well) I already called the manufactuer to see if [redacted] could expedite a brand new dress for her, it wasn't an option, there was no time. [redacted] was happy with the sample and outcome. She did not pay for two dresses and I did everything in my power to make my customer leave and be happy with the finished product. She left with a gorgeous [redacted] gown and alterations done the way she wanted.

If you have any further questions contact me any time.

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Fantasia Bridal

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

I didnt say I didnt want to pay for the alterations, I said, "i need a new dress I cannot wear this!"...that is when tou asked me to put the sample back on...

when I first paid for the alterations I was charged for the hem ($250), 11 bustle points ($110), taking in the sides ($??), pinned eye lashes ($35 or $45...don't remember exactly), plus tax. I'm assuming the time was built in there as well because my total was $690 and no where on the price breakdown did it say time/labor....