Your Store Ordered The Wrong Color Dress and Refuses to Do Anything About It!

David's finally admitted THEIR mistake and let us exchange the dress
for one off the rack that was the right color and fit my bridesmaid
perfectly.

To those who had to get nasty and say it HAS to be my bridesmaid's
fault or my fault but how dare I blame David's, you're wrong. The
dress does come in Lilac AND Light Peri. For whatever reason the Lilac
is only offered in the Prom section. The store finally admitted that
when they saw our order was the Lilac from the Prom section they
thought it was a mistake and CHANGED it to the Light Peri from the
Bridal one without bothering to call me or my bridesmaid to confirm.
So yes, the retailer WAS at fault, not me or my
bridesmaid.Fortunately, the situation is resolved and my bridesmaid
has the proper color dress and matches the maid of honor and flower
girl.

For the record, my letter to them via Planet Feedback was completely
ignored.

I'm really disappointed that people had to jump in an immediately
decide my bridesmaid and I must be idiots who screwed up.

I just looked the item number up on the David's Bridal website and
it's not even offered in lilac.

Interesting post Aimeyir. This could explain a lot. Knowing this, it
could be that the issue was created by the bridesmaid. Overall
though, it would seem more likely that David's Bridal should have had
record of what was required for the wedding and simply made a mistake,
ordering from one area instead of the other.

Having the same two dresses with the same number, just different
colors, seems like an accident waiting to happen.

Overall though, the only thing I would expect from David's Bridal is
to place a rush on the dress, receiving it and altering it by the
wedding date. I'm sure it must be stressful, but these kind of things
can happen and ultimately make the memories. In my opinion, I
wouldn't be using the time you have between now and the wedding
writing a letter through a third party website. There's this great
invention called the telephone that will put you in direct contact
with the store. Be pleasant but direct. If it was your bridesmaid
error, that is unfortunate. In such a case, if they cannot guarantee
the dress within the time left, you may need to simply purchase some
dresses off the rack and reimburse the ladies for their purchases from
David's Bridal.

Now if it were David's Bridal's mistake, then I would expect them to
refund the cost of the dresses so they could be purchased elsewhere.

From what I can tell, there is a F12495 in the bridal section and a
F12495 in the prom section. Unless you specified that it was the
style in the prom section and not the bridal section, then it sounds
like the error initially was your fault.

I think planning a wedding must be a crazy event. I think many brides
get too over detailed and really tense about even the smallest of
things.

I think the person who originally responded to your post brought up
some good points. Could it be that your bridesmaid mistakenly did
something to get them to try and order her dress from the bridesmaid
area instead of the prom dress area. I would think that they would
have a well kept record of what you wanted though.

If there is a real difference between these dresses, they should be
willing to rush a dress and have it for you within the six weeks, but
even then I would think they have to rely on other people to perform
the job. But if you are just going to buy different dresses somewhere
else, like you are talking about, that you like more, then it won't
make any difference.

Everyone seems to have covered the high points here. I didn't go with
David's Bridal because of how rude the woman I initially spoke with
was, and I am SO glad after hearing the horror stories. And your best
bet probably is to try a local shop since they tend to be more
flexible. Try looking in one of those local bridal magazines (In
Kansas City they're called KC Bride...I'm sure there's one for the
major city nearest you).

The most important advice I can possibly give you is this: Don't
panic. I just got married last October, and I know whereof I speak!
I know that you must be absolutely furious over this. I would be too.
For your own well being, though, when things get crazy, just stop,
breathe deep, and think about the reason you are putting yourself
through this. I had a mantra: When this is over, I will be married
to the man of my dreams. And you know what? I am. :)

I know wedding planning is insane. Feel free to head over to my blog
if you want to vent to someone that's just been through it. Good
luck, and congratulations!

I hate David's Bridal, and warn everyone I know against using them.

Good luck getting your bridesmaid's dress.

As others have suggested, since it's prom season you may be able to
sell the dresses to girls from a nearby high school. Or on eBay.

If you do decide to suck it up and just buy different dresses, may I
suggest that you donate these to your local high school(s)? Ours has
a Prom Boutique--donated dresses are available for girls to wear to
prom or homecoming(yes, even homecoming merits taffeta around here); a
local cleaner donates dry-cleaning; the girls return the dresses after
prom. MaryKay and Avon reps donate samples, as do the cosmetics
counters at our one large department store. Teachers and parents do
hair and makeup the day of the event.

Others are right in that a small, non-chain bridal store may be able
to accommodate your tight schedule. For my first wedding, over 20
years ago, we couldn't get hold of one of my bridesmaids. I arrived
home from college on May 31 to find a letter from this "friend"
telling me that she was sorry, but she was pregnant and felt that
she'd let me down and couldn't be in my wedding and hoping that I
could find someone else to wear the dress that she'd paid for.

My wedding was scheduled for June 9.

My aunt volunteered, and the place had the dress altered from a size
14 to about a 4 by June 8. You have a little more time to work with,
so maybe you can find a place that will work for you.

And I must be the only one who has had a positive experience with
David's. Last summer, my then 11-year-old was asked to be an
usherette in my friend's/her music teacher's wedding to my daughter's
5th grade teacher. The only "demand" from the bride was that the
dress be black, to match the usher's tux. We set our own limits for
appropriateness and started with David's. The dress was ready when
promised and the alterations were just right.

I'm not saying that I'd recommend DB, necessarily, just that our
experience was positive.

Good luck to you!

I wish I could offer you a solution, but unfortunately, I can't. I
shopped at Davids while looking for my wedding dress a few years ago.
All I can say is that the store did not have a try-on dress in the
size I wanted, so the salesperson, in order to get the sale, said
"It's not supposed to be comfortable! You'll be able to breathe AFTER
the ceremony!!" I walked out.
I hope they make things right for you, either by refunding all your
money and letting you shop elsewhere or getting you your dress FAST.
I know that Jessica McClintock had my bridesmaid dresses ready for me
in a little over two weeks. To top it off, their measurements were so
right-on that no alterations were necessary! Their prices weren't
that bad, either. $119 for the plus size gowns that my bridesmaids
needed. Only $99 for the misses' sizes.
Congratulations to you and good luck to you and let us know how things
turn out

I found David's Bridal on the BBB website. Maybe you can report
them...
http://www.dc.bbb.org/report.html?national=Y&compid=80016928

It takes a lot more to be "Cool" like Jeffrey. But I agree, he IS an
excellent role model.

After witnessing a friend get completely ripped off by David's Bridal
(they purposely ordered the dress way too big so they could charge
more in alterations), then JOKING about it to her while she was in
tears, and after hearing similar stories (such as at wedding-related
sites), I have absolutely nothing positive to say about that
establishment. If someone had a positive experience, I think that's
rare and based more on getting lucky enough to get a good store with a
good manager.

The few times I've been there (with friends who didn't know David's
poor reputation), the employees have been young women, even teenagers,
with no experience or skill when it came to ordering the right size,
taking measurements, and just generally treating customers (nervous
brides) with maturity.

I'm sorry they did this to you.

All I can suggest is... take a deep breath. It's about your MARRIAGE,
not your WEDDING. In the end, it won't matter, and when you celebrate
your 50th wedding anniversary, it won't even register!

What a terrible situation! My sister's wedding is on May 19th. I
warned her about David's Bridal before she went looking for dresses
because I haven't heard much good about them. She did find a wedding
dress that she purchased right off of the rack, so there really wasn't
anything for them to screw up. As for the bridesmaid and maid of
honor dresses, she went to a small bridal boutique with a more
personal touch. I would try calling the customer service line and
explain the situation. Tell them that they either need to let you
return the dresses you've already purchased through them, or they need
to correct this situation ASAP. For my wedding, I went to JC Penny's
and chose very pretty flowing dresses right off of the rack. They
were mint green, purple and blue. The bonus was they didn't look like
prom dresses or wedding dresses so my bridesmaids were able to wear
the dresses again. They were much cheaper too. Hopefully whatever
you decide, things work out. And just remember, it's the marriage
that really counts. Good luck!

Most of us spend most of our lives not really paying attention to the
reputations of stores that sell things for weddings. I think this
allows stores with fairly abominable track records to keep getting
customers. There was a David's Bridal across the street from a job I
had once, and I remember thinking that it looked like a good place for
an engaged couple to shop because it was large enough that someone
wouldn't need to go to all kinds of different places.

Now, of course, I do not think David's Bridal sounds like a good place
to shop. But I have only revised my beliefs because I mess around on
Planet Feedback -- it would be fairly easy for me to still have a good
impression of the place.

Marriage is almost certainly not in my future, and it's definitely not
in my past, but if I were shopping for a wedding, I really wouldn't
have all that much information about where to go (none, actually,
other than the information about David's Bridal). And I suspect that
a lot of other people are in a similar situation.

I'm not saying that David's has an abominable track record. I don't
know what the ratio of satisfied to unsatisfied customers is. But I
do believe that it benefits from the fact that most people only get
married a few times in their lives, and many people only get married
once. A lot of 'em spend significant amounts of money, too. So it's
important to lure them in the door in the first place, but generating
repeat business may not be such a priority. And when a company isn't
going after your repeat business, they're a lot more free to not do a
great job the first time they deal with you.

When I got married 4 years ago, I got all our dresses at David's and
had nothing but good things to say about them. It was great that I
could go to one store and my sisters and niece went to another. That
being said, we did have a problem when it came to my mother's handbag
and shoes.

When she picked up her handbag and shoes, they did not match. It was
obvious they were not dyed at the same time. I used to dye shoes for
one of my part time jobs so I knew that. My mother decided she would
keep the shoes and just purchase another bag and that's when the fun
started. They would not give her a refund on the bag because she did
not have the receipt with her, only the claim check. It was a hot
August day and they wanted my then 80 yr old mother to go back
crosstown on the bus to get the receipt. She called me and she was
very upset. She wanted me to come to the store, pick her up and take
her to get the receipt. I live 35 miles away and was reluctant to do
that so I called the store and asked to speak to the manager. The
person who came on the line was absolutely the rudest person I've ever
spoken to (and not just because she said no). I just refused to speak
to her any further.

I went on-line and found a number to their corporate headquarters. (I
think it was somewhere in Ohio) It took a couple of calls but I
finally got someone who was wonderful. She gave me her number and
asked that my mother call her with the SKU number and the transaction
number from the receipt and credited her charge card for the bag.

I know longer have the number but if you search for other posts on
David's Bridal, someone found it for another poster. I would go that
route rather than hoping to get a response to this letter. I do have
to point out that by saying you are going to tell your friend to avoid
David's, you are not giving them any incentive to make this right for
you.

Remember David's is a huge chain and for the volume of business they
do, they are more than likely to have some unhappy customers. I can
think of three other brides besides myself who were very happy with
David's. I did not have several thousand dollars to spend on a dress
and was able to find a dress I loved at a price I could afford. My
niece is getting married in two weeks and she got her dress there.

I will also search for the number and post it here for you if I find
it. Please, if you call, be calm and give them a reason to want to
make this right for you. I do think they will. I know that planning
a wedding is very stressful but you need to be calm when trying to
solve one of the many snafu's that can happen when planning a wedding.

This is why people like to have simple weddings... No dress
coordinations to stress over. I got my dress for my parents' casual
beach wedding two weeks before the date at the mall.

Still, some people like to go big, and when things go wrong... They
really go wrong. As people have said before, David's Bridal doesn't
seem to have a great reputation. There's not a whole lot to be done
here other than hope the dress comes on time and that it's the right
colour.

A lesson learned.

I can see how the colours got mixed up, however. Some ordering systems
only use the first few letters of the colour, or their numbering
system is alphabetical, meaning one letter or digit can be the
difference between purple and blue. The only difference between purple
and blue is red, anyway, I suppose...

Quite a few letters do come in here on PFB with complaints about
David's Bridals. That isn't reassuring right now I know but I hope
they can resolve this for you, and fast. I can understand how upset
you are. I think it's risky at this point for them to rush the dresses
at the last minute since there is a remote possibility of a recurrance
and they aren't guaranteeing they will be on time. I'm so sorry this
is happening to you at this special time! Best of luck to you with
everything!

Yeah, I am with Twinkle. Return those dresses and find something else
ASAP. Right now prom dresses are out all over the place so it might be
easier than you think.

I have never understood why women pick such HARD colors to find and
match for a wedding. Colors such as lilac, periwinkle, and lavender
are really difficult because the colors vary from place to place and
item to item. I had to help a woman find tons of stuff for her
bridesmaids all in periwinkle. Want to know just exactly how insanly
difficult that was?! LOL!

When I got married my bride's maid dresses were champaign colored. All
the same. But if I ever get married again I will NOT have bride's
maids (except maybe my sister) and I will not have "colors" and I will
not have a church and in fact, I might not wear shoes. LOL! I am going
to have it outside in a park or on the beach and everyone will be
barefoot if they want to be and I want it so small everyone will stand
around us and everyone will hold a single flower. Maybe we will toss
them into the ocean afterwards. I dont know. I will wear a simple
dress. Nothing is silk or satin and NEVER with sequins or beads or any
of that crap. No ruffles or lace. No veils or headpieces, no fancy
music or candles. No expensive diamond rings, no tuxedos. No insanly
expensive invitations, no guest lists, no massive reception. None of
that stuff is important.

But I digress. LOL!! I wouldnt give them anymore of your money. Just
cut your losses and find another alternative. Depending on how many
dresses you need you might be able to pick a pattern and material and
find someone to make the dresses for you.

I'm not saying that the color doesn't exist... but the site does not
list lilac as an option. Perhaps they showed you the wrong swatches
for that style dress?

Okay... after further research, David's Bridal Prom have that same
dress and color listed as lilac. There is an obvious difference
between peri and lilac in other dresses but this particular dress is
peri in the bridesmaids area and lilac in the prom area... hmmmm....

I really hope they will help you but I doubt it will be in time for
your wedding. You may want to talk to a smaller boutique and see if
you can still return these dresses.