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Bridesmaid dresses, store lies for months, now out business, wedding in 3 weeks [SOLVED]
Figgy
Fighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered User regular
Fighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered User regular
This is a long story, so I'll shorten it via bullet points.
- Wedding is coming up on October 1st.
- Bridesmaids and Bride went to bridal store to find dresses for the bridesmaids. They chose one and each went to get fitted and put down half the cost of the dress as a deposit.
- Store said the dresses take up to 6 months to come in. This was in February. We're now on month 8.
- Beginning of July, Bride calls about dresses. Calls never answered. Emails never answered.
- Mid July, Bride and I go into the store (half hour away) and are told because of the postal strike (Early July in Canada), dresses were delayed, but they'll be in shortly and we'll hear from them in a couple weeks.
- End of August, calls not returned. Emails not returned.
- Beginning of September, a bridesmaid and her sister go to the store, doors locked, sign on door: "Closed for Inventory." No one is inside.
- Got ahold of the 'manager' today, who says she is working at home while the store is going through a 'transition.' She'll be in touch with us "soon." Very fishy vibe.
- Called another bridal store today who knows a rep for Alfred Sung (make of the dresses) and he called him to inquire about getting the dresses from that store instead. Rep calls back and says that the original store already ordered them, they've been sent, he isn't going to sent another set of dresses or he'll be out money for the first. But, he confirms the original store is indeed out of business.
- Bride gets in touch with original store's manager, who says she was in a car accident, store owner put everything in her lap, and now she's working out of her home. She has been working through client's orders, going on priority based on which weddings are sooner.
- Manager says the dresses are in the warehouse in Toronto (45 min away from us, 1h15m from her), but she can't get them shipped until she pays the warehouse the remaining balance, which she needs from the bridesmaids.
- Bride says she won't be paying more money to a delinquent store and she wants another alternative. Manager says she'll call right back. Never does.
Now what? I'm going to be making some calls tomorrow. I have the number for the manager who is working at home (it's a cell), I have the number for the other store Bride called today, and I have the number for the Alfred Sung rep.
Right now, there are 5 dresses and just over $600 already paid as a down payment. The manager wants the other half in order to get them out of the warehouse and shipped. She's putting on a huge sob story, wants to give us the number of other brides she just dealt with to vouch for her, her address, etc. In my opinion, it sounds like she's trying to get as much money out of clients as possible and then just skip out. So far, it's like pulling teeth just to get ahold of anyone at this store. We can't even get in touch with her, we've been lied to about the dresses, lied to about the stores, lied to about delays, and now she wants us to pay another $600?
Here's where it gets even more ridiculous, the store is actually owned by a television celebrity who does wedding planning. She is often featured on wedding shows on Slice, TLC, etc. This is part of the reason the Bride went to that store for these particular dresses. Now, she's nowhere to be found, as you would expect.
Now what? Part of me wants to find out this woman's address and drive down and knock on her door, demanding a refund of the down payment so we can go to some random store and get something for these girls to wear, but if she is telling the truth and the business is broke, that's obviously not going to happen. Right now, I'm pretty sure only two of the five girls actually paid with a credit card, and I'm not sure they can even do a charge back on something from eight months ago.
I'm going to try to call the Alfred Sung rep and the other bridal store owner and see if there's a way I can go to the warehouse and pay the remaining balance for the dresses directly, but that's likely not going to happen since the sale was from the designer to the store, and I'm sure I can't just walk in and take over.
Any ideas? There's very little time to get this sorted out.
- Wedding is coming up on October 1st.
- Bridesmaids and Bride went to bridal store to find dresses for the bridesmaids. They chose one and each went to get fitted and put down half the cost of the dress as a deposit.
- Store said the dresses take up to 6 months to come in. This was in February. We're now on month 8.
- Beginning of July, Bride calls about dresses. Calls never answered. Emails never answered.
- Mid July, Bride and I go into the store (half hour away) and are told because of the postal strike (Early July in Canada), dresses were delayed, but they'll be in shortly and we'll hear from them in a couple weeks.
- End of August, calls not returned. Emails not returned.
- Beginning of September, a bridesmaid and her sister go to the store, doors locked, sign on door: "Closed for Inventory." No one is inside.
- Got ahold of the 'manager' today, who says she is working at home while the store is going through a 'transition.' She'll be in touch with us "soon." Very fishy vibe.
- Called another bridal store today who knows a rep for Alfred Sung (make of the dresses) and he called him to inquire about getting the dresses from that store instead. Rep calls back and says that the original store already ordered them, they've been sent, he isn't going to sent another set of dresses or he'll be out money for the first. But, he confirms the original store is indeed out of business.
- Bride gets in touch with original store's manager, who says she was in a car accident, store owner put everything in her lap, and now she's working out of her home. She has been working through client's orders, going on priority based on which weddings are sooner.
- Manager says the dresses are in the warehouse in Toronto (45 min away from us, 1h15m from her), but she can't get them shipped until she pays the warehouse the remaining balance, which she needs from the bridesmaids.
- Bride says she won't be paying more money to a delinquent store and she wants another alternative. Manager says she'll call right back. Never does.
Now what? I'm going to be making some calls tomorrow. I have the number for the manager who is working at home (it's a cell), I have the number for the other store Bride called today, and I have the number for the Alfred Sung rep.
Right now, there are 5 dresses and just over $600 already paid as a down payment. The manager wants the other half in order to get them out of the warehouse and shipped. She's putting on a huge sob story, wants to give us the number of other brides she just dealt with to vouch for her, her address, etc. In my opinion, it sounds like she's trying to get as much money out of clients as possible and then just skip out. So far, it's like pulling teeth just to get ahold of anyone at this store. We can't even get in touch with her, we've been lied to about the dresses, lied to about the stores, lied to about delays, and now she wants us to pay another $600?
Here's where it gets even more ridiculous, the store is actually owned by a television celebrity who does wedding planning. She is often featured on wedding shows on Slice, TLC, etc. This is part of the reason the Bride went to that store for these particular dresses. Now, she's nowhere to be found, as you would expect.
Now what? Part of me wants to find out this woman's address and drive down and knock on her door, demanding a refund of the down payment so we can go to some random store and get something for these girls to wear, but if she is telling the truth and the business is broke, that's obviously not going to happen. Right now, I'm pretty sure only two of the five girls actually paid with a credit card, and I'm not sure they can even do a charge back on something from eight months ago.
I'm going to try to call the Alfred Sung rep and the other bridal store owner and see if there's a way I can go to the warehouse and pay the remaining balance for the dresses directly, but that's likely not going to happen since the sale was from the designer to the store, and I'm sure I can't just walk in and take over.
Any ideas? There's very little time to get this sorted out.
Figgy on
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I've sent an email to both the store owner and manager for now. I'll be calling tomorrow. I don't expect anyone to answer.
Does anyone know the specifics on charge backs? Does it have to be within 30 days? It's eight months ago, but no product was ever received. Can these girls charge back? Are the ones who paid by cash/debit fucked?
The best bet is to just call the number on the back of the card, describe the situation, and ask what the card issuer can do for you.
This, as far as I'm aware, is a civil dispute. Police won't get involved. They'd need the courts, which is obviously not the ideal solution for either party here.
Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Our best man is also a police officer, so...
Yep. At this point, trying to haggle out some sort of discount for your inconvenience is a bad idea with the wedding so close. Just get 'em, and put this all behind you.
And I won't get the owner on the phone. Her number is not listed anywhere, and I'm fairly certain her email is read by an assistant anyway. I have sent one tho, so we will see on that.
edit: Laying in bed I've decided I'm okay with two options:
1) I pay the balance owing on a credit card to the manager over the phone or in person and pick up the dresses myself that day from the warehouse.
2) i pay the balance owing on a credit card to the manager over the phone or in person and have the dresses shipped overnight express (or same day if possible) to my home.
I see no reason why either of these options wouldn't be fine by the store unless there is fraud going on. The store gets its money just the same, and I don't have to worry about the dresses being shipped to a story I can never get ahold of.
The bridal shop likely has a mark up on the dresses in excess of the remaining balance. They are still owed that barring something more complicated than "I'll buy it" as a purchase agreement. Still, this plan seems like the best option for you.
Alternatively, contact something like the consumerist.com and if they post it make sure to send a copy to the "big wedding planner's" email. Even if an assistant is reading it that should be a big enough heads up.
Get some addresses and verify before you get police involved because people like this split town fast, and often lie.
See if you can do whatever possible to not pay her money until you have the dresses yourself, asking her if you can pay the warehouse directly their fee and then pay her the remaining balance once you pick up the dresses.
I would recommend looking for low cost replacement dresses though immediately. Even if you do not buy them now, having some kind of backup plan in place and ready to go will be a load off your mind.
I've called Alfred Sung. They will not allow me to pick up the dresses myself. They will not ship the dresses to me. They will not allow me to pay them directly. In fact, they aren't willing to give me many details because they don't deal with customers directly, they deal with the store. As far as they're concerned, these dresses were ordered by the store, not us. She did confirm for me that the store manager has been working with them to get dresses, and she vouched for her with regard to paying up front for the dresses to be shipped. Basically, the warehouse has the dresses, can only be paid by the store, and can only ship to the store. The Alfred Sung rep will not ship us another, separate order. We've even had another bridal store owner talk to the rep for us, who is close friends. We heard the conversation over the phone between the two of them on the guy's cell. Not going to budge there, since he'll lose the money on the original order. That's a dead end.
I've spoken with the manager of the store. It sounds like the store itself owes more to Alfred Sung than we owe to the store. So, not only do we need to provide the store with the remaining we owe ($600 and change), the store needs to make an additional payment in order to get the dresses shipped at all. The manager says she is waiting for the owner to make the initial payment (I'm assuming the down payment, which was given months ago but likely never sent to Alfred Sung), and then the dresses will be shipped to her COD. The COD amount is what we need to give her before hand. She says the day before the dresses arrive we can pay, then come back and get the dresses. The payment must be in cash, as she has no money on hand to pay.
I've asked her to call her contact at the warehouse and figure out the remaining balance and then ask if I can instead provide the store (who then provides the shipper) with a certified cheque made out to Alfred Sung's people, instead of the store. This way, it's traceable and I'm not giving cash to someone I quite frankly don't fully trust.
So, the good news is that there are people who vouch for this store and say they're actually doing this with every customer right now and it's working out, however inconvenient and shady. She also gave me the number of a bride that just had her dresses delivered, for whatever that's worth. I likely won't call her. It's now just a matter of getting the owner to submit the initial payment so that the dresses can be shipped, I can show up with payment, then show up the next day to get them.
Hopefully, all of this can happen by early next week to leave time for the girls to have their dresses altered.
In the meantime, I've told the bride to look around for an alternate dress so the girls can grab those, ideally on a credit card so they're not out any money for the moment, and then return them once we get the actual dresses in time.
Basically yes, the store is out of business. They aren't in the building. All staff is gone. It's just the manager at her house, trying to get the remaining clients their dresses instead of just saying, "Welp, we're out of business. Take us to small claims to get your deposits back."
You seem to be going the right way on everything. The only additional thing you could do is try and seek publicity to apply pressure to the "name brand" lady. Though that is going to be very hit or miss.
I'm still working on some things to try and circumvent this woman to get these dresses in our hands, but unless that works out we're even worse off. Deposits are gone. Dresses can't be shipped to this woman's home. The owner is playing like she is doing everything in her power. Further, she's told the local paper that she can't refund the deposits because the women are under contract to buy the dresses. That's funny, doesn't the same contract say the owner has to actually sell them the dresses?
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3292708
At this point you are almost better off going to a new store and starting from scratch quickly. Something like a David's Bridal will have thigns in stock and they are equipped to do rush ordrers.
I am not saying that you should give up with this store, but the wedding date will not budge any more than the people that you are working with at the defunct store. Prioritize the wedding and get some sort of dresses and then continue to deal with the store, I feel it will take longer than what you have.
Also, a question: Are these dresses even tailored yet? Bridesmaids often get the dresses taken in or let out here and there; if these dresses have not been altered it means two things. 1. there is no realy reason to obligate you for their purchase after the wedding date and 2. even if you get them you will need to spend time having them altered.
Check the contract, is there a space for the wedding date or a gurantee related to arrival time?
Alternatively, have everyone just come dressed up in suits and dresses instead of tuxedos and bridal/bridesmaid gowns. Nothing wrong with that option either if your luck has run dry.
The dresses are not altered yet, but as I understand it would only take a few days. They should have plenty of time as long as I get them this week.
Bowen, I know opinions differ greatly across cultures about the customs of weddings, but that's simply not going to happen. First of all, the tuxes have been ordered and paid for. Second of all, they will be wearing bridesmaids gowns. That's not open for discussion. We have an option for dresses that would cost about $100 each, and they would be here in 2 business days. That's our fall back, but like all bridesmaids gowns, they cannot be returned. So, we're waiting to see what happens with the originals before that. There's also the fact that the bride doesn't really like the fallback dresses, but it is what it is.
Charge backs will be happening regardless, but only two of the five girls used a credit card for their deposits. Even if we get the dresses from another store because they took them over, we'll charge back. The original store took the deposit money and kept it. The dress maker/designer has none of this money.
You're almost absolutely going to have to use your fallback options here. Did you speak to someone at the warehouse other than a general shipping manager person? Maybe if you bark up the chain of command you can get someone who gives a damn and would be willing to work with you. Are you just dead set on these dresses or what is the reasoning you won't move on and get whatever money back you can?
We're not necessarily boned, and it's more the girls I'm concerned about because it's their money they're losing.
When I spoke to the warehouse, I spoke to the person in charge of "bridal." The bride has also spoken to the actual representative for the designer--the guy with the power to actually release these dresses. The first time we spoke, he was under the impression that the store was doing what they needed to do at the point, albeit slowly. He wanted to make his money/commission/whatever, so he wasn't going to ship out brand new dresses in a rush, or he'd lose out on the first dresses which were sitting and waiting to be paid for. Things have changed, since the store can no longer get the dresses without being a "store," so that's one of the avenues I'm exploring and waiting to hear back about.
One of the people I've been dealing with (who isn't directly related to this but is trying to help) says that dress makers/manufacturers are generally assholes and will try their best to gouge you.
The reason I won't simply "move on" at this point, get back 40% of the money, and buy five new dresses at a premium is that if I actually do get these dresses, I can't return the fall backs. They can ship those in 2 days. I have time for that. I've got a trick up my sleeve that I won't go into detail about, in case people are reading this thread that are in the same situation (there are dozens of women in the area that are affected). I don't want them harassing the other person I'm dealing with. If he wants to reach out to them too at this point, that's up to him.
As far as advice goes though I would contact the manager and demand a refund based on the fact that the deposits have not gone towards the dress. You can also mention that the store had entered into several verbal contracts with you in regards to when the dresses would be delivered and have failed them. If/When she states that no refund will be given explain as plainly as possible that the 'no refunds on deposits' is only applicable when the money is in fact a deposit on a product and that you have spoken with the distributor and are aware that none of the money has gone to him.
It may be time to poke a badger with a stick a bit, but with kindess
Playing hardball while continuing to be polite can be helpful in this type of situation.
Yes it may be a civil matter, but one that the dress store would lose. It would not be a terrible idea to let the manager know that you have looked into it from a legal standpoint. Also seeing as how none of the money has made it to the dress company yet you may get an officer interested; none of the money went were it was supposed to which brings intent of sale into question.
And she is not charging full price, if she can even get the dresses at all. Like I said, the original store isn't even able to get them. The shipper won't give them over any more because they don't consider them a store. They will only ship to a store. Even if I gave the original store five times the price of the dress, they can't get them. They are "begging" the shipper to get the dresses right now, and I've been calling all morning to find out how that's going, but that's where it stands down that avenue. She has said she isn't interested in making a profit any more and will just need the money to pay the shipper.
I've spoken with the girls and offered the split the difference that they're going to be out, except obviously those who are able to charge back. Even then, Visa is saying it's a special case because it's been so long, so we will see how that goes.
I'm just waiting on one other thing I'm working on. If that goes through, we might save some money. If not, I'll be sending full payment tomorrow and hopefully have the dresses by Friday.
This thread scares me to death
edit: To add a bit of content to this post, I hope all goes well with the store manager. I believe she's probably doing all she can. I wouldn't hold her personally responsible; it's probably the fault of the owner, and you could theoretically take them to task for this.
@hoodiebear.bsky.social
Unfortunately, not all bridesmaids are being as understanding or supportive as they could be. Things like canceling their hair appt with a family member and her co worker who are driving 2 hours at 5am the morning of the wedding, because they want to save money now since they have to pay extra. $18 extra.
Just a word of advice for you guys/girls if you're ever asked to be in a wedding party: if you even have the slightest concern over the financial responsibility of being part of a wedding, politely decline. It's far better than accepting and then complaining every chance you get about having to spend money. A wedding party should be there to relieve stress and be supportive, not add to it every step of the way.
Other costs could include hair/makeup, and stuff associated with stag and does.
On the other hand, there's usually a gift presented to the party from the couple, rehearsal dinner, limo rides/drinks, etc. Not to mention hundreds of dollars spent on gatherings in an effort to bring everyone in the party closer together (wine tasting parties, nights out, etc all paid by us). Never do the latter. Chances are it will not be appreciated and in some cases even resented.
Weddings. Christ.
Who's the silly goose who proposed here, eh?
That's my wedding anniversary (2010)
My wife and bridesmaids specifically went to David's Bridal because of all the stories about shady bridal stores closing with everyone's deposits (and because you can get the same material in different parts of the country since several bridesmaids were far away)
ed
And yeah party members were expected to pay for their dresses/tuxes/etc. Granted it is potentially a few hundred bucks but honestly its like the cheapest part of a wedding. My wife's bridesmaid dresses were like 1% what we paid for the whole thing. Luckily our bridal party wasn't bitchy at all and it went smoothly
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
I understand that, but on the other hand, it's very costly to be a member of a wedding party, and sometimes the bridal couple doesn't consider that as much as they should. While $18 is a small amount given what they're probably already spending, you're asking them to spend $18 more on a dress that they probably will never use again (because, let's face it, even good looking bridesmaid gowns -- if they actually exist because the taste of the bride is rarely the fashion the bridesmaid wears -- always look like bridesmaid gowns).
Glad to hear you got it figured out though.
That's why you should refuse if it will be a problem...
The amount of time and money the bridal couple is spending on the wedding means that cutting $10-20 off of the bridesmaid's dresses just isn't something they can put on the top of their list of priorities.