PFB Investigates - David's Bridal's Missing Customer Service

Leslie Baptist-Varner, Las Vegas, Nevada
My dress was special ordered for me. It took 6weeks longer to arrive
than estimated, which was fine because I was shopping early. My dress
arrived and fit, was beautiful. The sales personel and store manager
couldn't have been nicer. Pleasant every time I entered the store
start to finish. THEN it was time for alterations. I needed a bustle
(which was an additional LARGE charge) and 1/2 in. taken in on either
side of the waist. My nightmare began with a string of alteration
errors. I'd swear the women working in the alterations department
weren't qualified to sew on a button....after 4 attempts to sew in the
hooks for a bustle on my dress their mistakes were becoming
increasingly noticable with the wear of the fabric on my dress.
HOLES, PIN/NEEDLE MARKS, STAINS AND STRETCHED FABRIC. The store
manager was trying to reassure me the entire time that "they would
make it work. everything would be made right" Finally a new
alterations manager was hired, someone with years of experience. She
was there to save the day. Long story short, at my reception it took
6 women to try to tie up my bustle. We never did get it to tie up
properly. Giving up after 30mins and a lot of frustration. We
improvised, tucked and utilized the ties that had been sew onto my
dress at random. I tripped & stumbled over that train for the entire
evening. The highlight to this was my parting gift from David's
Bridal....a preservation kit. All I have to do is trust them to
properly clean & preserve my gown. haha!
The staff has since ignored inquiries about the contact information
for their corporate office, kicked me out of their store, refused
calls and the last time I had my husband call they hung up on him when
they heard my name.
What a rip off. I ordered, paid for a brand new dress...what I got to
wear on my big day was a ripped, stained and battered used dress. The
staff makes promises they can't back up.
I WILL NEVER REFER ANYONE I CARE ABOUT TO DAVID'S BRIDAL.

I hope the word gets out about their darker side of business.

Leslie

Good investigation Greg. Just wanted to pass a recent
experience-maybe your post helped. It is from Priscilla of Boston
which is currently part of David's Bridal.

Priscilla of Boston has a fantastic product line, but my fiancée’s
shopping experience was mixed. It began with very good service from
her sales associate in the Orlando store. The associate was very
helpful, but unfortunately the store just didn’t have the dress she
was looking for. By the end of the day, the associate found something
close enough and planned a series of alterations to make it perfect.
The associate really put in all she had to make my fiancée happy, but
unfortunately the help was perceived as a bit pushy at the end of the
day. None the less, my fiancée purchased the dress right at closing.
After she left, she just knew it was a mistake and didn’t feel right
about her decision. Furthermore, there were additional circumstances
that just didn’t make the purchase work for us. Before the store
opened the next day, I asked the store to consider the circumstances
to make it right. The manager indicated that it was against corporate
policy and that she could not do anything about it. She directed me
to her district manager who considered everything that had been
involved. The next day, I received a very nice e-mail grating an
exception to policy and resolution to the issue.

Overall, I was satisfied with the experience. It occurs to me that
the Bridal Apparel industry must operate with strict policies to
protect being taken advantage of by clients. And balancing that with
good customer service can be difficult. After my experience, I have
to say they can definitely improve their customer service, but in the
end they ensured we were completely satisfied. Thank you Priscilla of
Boston.

Boy can I relate. My name is Cindy Curtis My daughter just quit
david's bridal. Managers in the Spokane Wa store frequently used the
"F" word and spoke badly about customers and employees. If you did
not workthat day you were on the menu. I will attach a copy of her
letter of resignation. Can't we do something to warn prople about
david's bridal? My email address is dccurtis1985@msn.com Here is her
letter:

To Management at David’s Bridal,

I regret to inform you, that I am resigning my position as Wedding
Consultant at David’s Bridal.
I need to inform you that a family friend was in the store, at my
recommendation to look at accessories for a special occasion. She and
her cousin overheard someone talking in a very disrespectful and
negative manner towards me. She does not know who the person was,
because as soon as she heard it she left the store and called me. I
am very hurt and disturbed by this, as I have heard many complaints
about customers being talked about as well as other staff members when
they are not there. My parents and family members are very upset that
a business would conduct themselves in such a manner, my parents
don’t want me working in this type of environment.
I really loved my job, and was really passionate about it, but I cant
come back to work for a place where I know I’m not appreciated or
respected by my supervisors. Even though I loved my job, I found it
extremely stressful having to try to pressure a brides into purchasing
when I know I would hate it if it was done to me. Some of these
brides have limited budgets and I was just not comfortable shoving it
down their throat. This should be a wonderful experience for the
consultant as well as bride, but when there is so much pressure on
selling its hard to enjoy each and every experience.
I can work in stressful environments, but I cant work in that
environment when I know I’m being disrespected. All of my dresses
have been steamed and cleaned, and all my shoes have been dyed.
This resignation is effective immediately.
Please mail my check to the above address.


Sincerely,



Whitney Curtis

My wedding planner and I went to David's bridal in Austin Texas by 360
yesterday to try on wedding dresses. This is my first wedding and
never been in a wedding dress before. I have to say my experience
with David's bridal was by far the worst customer service I have ever
had. First, the store hours were incorrect on the automated system
and we arrived an hour early after driving more than an hour and a
half. Second, they told us we had to have an appointment, which also
was not told to us in advance. Then my wedding planner said well
that's ok, I have worked in a wedding store before and she would help
me. The mean lady said, oh no you won't and then sent the manager
over to us. The manager of the store said we aren't going to throw
you under the rug, we will get to you as soon as we can. Just fill
out your paper work and we will get you an appointment. I filled out
the papers and the lady on the phone took it and said nothing. While
I was filling out the paperwork, she was taking calls, and being very
rude to everyone that called in, She said, I am to busy and don't
have time right now and would have to call them back. This went on
and on, then spoke to the manager again, and she said if the other
appointments didn't show up within 15 minutes she would slide us in.
She spoke very rude to us. We then waited about 5 more minutes and
said this isn't worth it and walked out. I will never do business
with David's bridal again because I bought a dress at the dress shop
in Lakeline mall in Austin Texas and am very happy we left that store.
I will never refer anyone EVER to David's bridal.

I'm not even sure where to begin...

1- All of my information was incorrect in their computer system when I
arrived. Information I entered myself online prior to my appointment.

2- They 'fixed' it when I arrived, however when they went to put the
sizes in for my bridesmaids, all of their names were incorrect,
still.
3- The consultant was very rude to one of my girls who is less endowed
then the rest and told her that she will never be able to wear a
strapless dress, it will look ridiculous.
4- We decided on adding small straps to her dress, but when it came
in, they did not have the straps and told her she had to make that
clear when she ordered, which she did. However, every other dress has
a small bag with the straps attached, except hers, the person who
actually wanted them. Then they charged her to put them on. Told her
they would put buttons on the inside so she could remove the straps
for the ceremony, which they did not, they sewed them directly onto
the dress. Add to all that, the size she tried on in the store fit
perfectly, but when it came in, it fell off her immediately when they
zipped it up. Then charged her another $90 to take in the zipper. A
zipper that didn't need taken in when she originally tried the dress
on.
5- Another bridesmaid tried on her dress, fit perfectly in the store
but when the actual one came in, it was EXTREMELY too tight and they
said it wasn't their problem, she could have it altered. She
practically fasted for a few weeks so she wouldn't gain any weight.
6- The consultant was rude the entire time, took phone calls during my
appointment, went missing constantly and even began helping other
people while she was supposed to be helping me.
7- After choosing everything, we went to the register and they charged
me $10 for a garment bag. So basically I was paying them to advertise
their horrible company. I was appalled that I spent almost $1000 on a
dress and when I asked for it to be taken off my bill and I would
provide my own, she looked at me plainly and said, "All sales are
final".
8- When my dress came in, it was missing the eye for the hook in the
back and they did offer to add that for free. You know, because it is
only supposed to BE THERE. How nice of them. I needed cups sewn in
and a bustle. The bustle pricing was insane and it was going to cost
an extra $160 to bustle my dress. God forbid they just put one hook
for my lace dress that was not full at all with a very short train.
They had to put 30+ hooks and you only get 3 at the $30 price and each
hook after is $5 each. Um... no thank you. When the woman who does
alterations came to my dressing room for my dress, I told her that I
decided not to get the bustle because it was just getting too
expensive and she slammed the door in my face. My MOH was with me and
her eyes about popped out of her head.
9- At this point I'm only getting the cups sewn in and the eye for the
hook and she tells me it will take 3 weeks. I could pick it up on
April 29th, which is the day I was leaving for NC for my wedding.
10- I did not receive any notification, I simply went praying that it
was ready. We stood out front and no one came out for almost 30
minutes. People walked by getting dresses for other clients, but no
one said a word to us or the other people who were also waiting.
11- Dress came out and i simply felt to make sure the cups were in and
we left.
12- Put on my dress the day of my wedding and the eye wasn't sewn in
for the hook. So basically my dress continued to unbutton the entire
night.

I have been searching for a way to do something about all of this, but
continued to hit dead ends. My only last straw is write a story and
send it to the local paper and pray they care. Thank you for having
this blog.

1 - I was pretty much ignored while trying on dresses, at two
different stores. Unless of course we tried getting our own dresses
off the rack, then the sales people came right to us. It took over an
hour at each store to try on 3 dresses because no one was any help.

2 - The Bride and I were given a fitting room directly next to a huge
bridal party that was already taking up the whole area, despite the
fact that there were several other fitting rooms open on the other
side of the store.

2 - Nobody notified me that my dress was ready. I had to contact them,
only to find out that it had arrived a MONTH prior to my phone call.

3 - I was told I should have received an email because they normally
email. Really? Then why didn't they ASK for my email when I purchased
the dress?

4 - They may not have had my email, but they DID have my phone number,
and the receipt even states "contact NUMBER and/or email provided".

5 - Can't find a customer service number or email.

I will never use David's Bridal again, and if I hear anyone is
considering using them I will make sure to tell them about my
experience. If there's no Customer Service to hear my complaints, I'll
voice my complaints to potential customers instead.

I have had nothing but bad customer service from david's bridal. The
sales girls totally blow you off, no matter how much money you are
spending. They treated me like crap when I picked out my wedding gown,
and again with my bridesmaids..but our limited budget had us in a
corner..thier corner. I understand they aren't a high end bridal
boutique, and i never expected them to be. But selling products for
less is no excuse for providing horrible service. The sales girls have
huge chips on their shoulders and act like everything you ask is a
pain in their a$$.When asking questions you get referred to the
website, who then will refer you back to the store. Ridiculous. Their
lack of contact information is like a huge admission of guilt., they
obviously don't want to deal with their problems.

I went DB today 5-2-11 in Paradise Valley,Arizona.I walked in and said
I was looking for a wedding dress,and was told that I would'nt be able
to try any on without a consultant.Since when? I was then told that
they had a appointment available at 8pm.It was 4:30 at the time.First
of all I said I was looking,I guess I can't even look.I kept my cool
and politely said no thanks and left to take my business where it
would be wanted.I left there and went to Brilliant Bridal and received
excellent customer service and bought a dress.

I visited the location in Mesquite, TX and I really wish....REALLY,
REALLY, REALLY WISH I had not walked into their store in the first
place when I first found my dress. I put my dress on layaway in hopes
that when I came back some of my bridal party would be there with me
(I was by myself the first time) to choose dresses to match. The
bridal consultant was very nice I think her name was Robbie. But
several of the bridal consultants kept trying to butt in and "help"
and tried to make me try on dresses that had just come in..that
definately did NOT fit what I was looking for and wasnt even close to
what I was describing. The only reason they were nice to me in the
beginning(i figured out later) was because they had no customers when
I first came in. Even the alterations lady came out and was a total
witch to me because I didnt want to buy a dress that what brand new
and "rembrandt white" that made me look glow in the dark. That
experience was not amazing, and the only reason I half looked over it
was because Robbie was nice, I put the dress on layaway, and my dress
was a discontinued dress...so i thought...why not..maybe it will be
better next time...i was completely wrong.

I go in a few months later to pick up my dress with my sister (my
maid-of-honor). I wanted to try on my dress once more to make sure. my
sister found a dress that she liked and we wanted to try them on
together. every employee there was rude, had a BAD attitude and wanted
my sister to try on in the main area, and made me go to alterations to
try mine on. First of all, I had to throw a fit (nicely) to get my
sister in alterations with me so we could see our dresses
side-by-side. It was like pulling an arm and a leg to get someone to
help me get into my dress, and finally after some help..they left
right away as for us to fend for ourselves. I got out of my dress and
wanted to purchase it but I noticed it had some makeup stains that
were not on there when I first put the dress on layaway. I am
caucasion...so i know that makeup definately was not mine is it was a
darker hughe...duh....NOT MY MAKE UP STAIN...I also noticed the arm
pits had some dirt on them?? i have no idea...all i know is there were
several places that needed to be cleaned. my wedding is not until
september so i have about 6 months. I wanted to take home my dress
and possibly bring it back in 3 months for alterations. (as they
usually need the dress 3 months before your date) i wanted to MAKE
SURE I WOULD NOT HAVE A PROBLEM GETTING DAMAGE FIXED THAT I DID NOT DO
WHEN I COME BACK IN THREE MONTHS....DID NOT WANT TO GET STUCK WITH THE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR "wear and tear" WHEN IT WAS LIKE THAT AT THE TIME
OF THE PURCHASE. they threw a fit and acted like it was the end of
the world that i was asking this question. the manager was a complete
a total waste of space and really made me even more mad when she
looked at me and stood in front of me as to not let me by and asked
rudely..."what do you need help with?????hmmmm???" not a happy
camper...

also...my sister found the dress she really wanted. only one in stock.
it was on sale for 99. i have 2 other bridesmaids and need the same
dress. come to find out after 3 or 4 hours of calling/researching
stores around the country, that only a few stores have the size i
need, and only one of the size. I would have to pay for the dress in
full over the phone to a store i have never even visited and then I
have to pay $15 in shipping for each store. there is no main number or
customer service number that can search for me and do it all at once.
also, each time i called one location, they said oh...michigan has it
or amarillo or some other place..id call...and they wouldnt have
it...just re-routing me to someone else. i chatted with someone online
and cant find the item number anywhere. i find out as well that online
doesnt have the same stock as in store. WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE A WEBSITE
IF YOU CANT LOCATE ANYTHING YOU SELL IN THE STORE????? also, what was
icing on the cake....i find out the dress my sister purchased
yesterday was a final sale purchase...but it went on sale "today" $20
cheaper. SO NOT ONLY AM I OUT 20 FOR OVERPAYING YESTERDAY, I ALSO
CANT FIND THE DRESS ANYWHERE EXCEPT ONE STORE...AND I NEED 2...AND IF
I DID FIND TWO I HAVE TO PAY EACH STORE OVER THE PHONE PLUS SHIPPING
FOR EACH STORE...ONE BIG CLUSTER **** if they had one person or one
number to call that could help me i would have probably not gone to a
store at all and dealt with them over the phone. at least then i
wouldnt have felt like gum under their shoe on my supposed to be
special day, and i most certainly wouldnt have had to look at their
snooty smirks and listen their snyde comments......
MORAL OF MY LONG STORY.....DONT EVEN TRY TO GET WARPED INTO THIS
++++HOLE OF A COMPANY BECAUSE YOU WILL FEEL MORE OVERWHELMED THAN WHEN
YOU STARTED PLANNING.

I really wish I had read this BEFORE I went there yesterday! I had a
truly awful experience, called and complained to the store manager
about it, and got nothing! I then did exactly what this gentleman
did, which was to try to find a corporate contact number or e-mail and
I also came up blank. I have listed my experience on theKnot.com and
hope that brides take heed before their stuck in this mess too.

In a nutshell:
1. The consultant insulted me.
2. The consultant insulted my bridesmaids and complained about them to
me.
3. The consultant underquoted the price on Everything I was looking
at. My price tag was over $150 more than originally quoted!
4. Their discounts only work under very specific circumstances. To
get the $20 off bridesmaids gowns, the bridesmaids gowns have to be at
full price or no deal. To get the 15% off bridal accessories, you
have to purchase the Same Day as your dress.
5. Free alterations with dress purchase is a MYTH!
6. The colors shown are their website are in no way even similar to
the acutal color, at least the color I was looking at wasn't. I feel
very sorry for women who order completelly off line. Their going to
get a surprise.
7. They offer color swathes to help with planning, but couldn't get me
one of my dress because they couldn't promise it would be anywhere
close to what my dress would actually end up being. Scary thought.

If you're thinking of going to David's Bridal, Please be careful!!!

This is hardly research. Who wrote this? Good job, you think you can
use the internet. Is that it? You didn't go into or call a store? Is
PFB so spineless? No user friendly method?! It's called Google, oh
computer savy one. Call the number you get from google maps.

A few things.

1. I did work there
2. I don't anymore

But I think you should actually do a proper investigation. You looked
at a web page. Congrats. But you're missing the bigger picture here.
If you spent the time had actually looked into this, you might be
surprised at what you find.

David's Bridal is a corporation. You might call it the WalMart of
gowns. This means that they are indeed looking at that bottom line.
However, they have recently signed onto a deal with Vera Wang who is
now holding the company by the balls, and for the better in a lot of
aspects. She required that the customer come first before she signed
on.

Meaning this past year, new customer service managers have been hired
to make the big service decisions. There were SO many times we gave
our regional managers email and phone number to our clients and worked
through problems together.

So if you had actually bought a dress, dear Greg, and had an issue,
the new policy would have fixed it for you.

Now the problem with this is that it's loosing the company a lot of
money. Doing returns and exchanges requires that cuts be made
elsewhere. That's because special occasion dresses cannot be resold.
It's a wedding dress. Not radio or toy that can be repackaged. So when
all this money is lost, you have to balance that out.

Such as, with the pay of the employees.

The sales staff make minimum wage sir. Minimum. That's like McDonalds.
And they are required to display top service and wear office attire on
minimum wage. Girls will find themselves not being able to afford
working there.

Look. I'm not mad or anything but these girls who shop here are
spending $75 to $300 on average for a dress, and the girls who are
busting their butts to help are getting paid nothing. If they want
that "Say Yes to the Dress" experience, they can go to New York and do
it there and spend $6,000 to $10,000.

So maybe you should look into it more before opening your mouth about
something you know nothing of. I don't think you have a right to an
opinion on this until you go in, make an appointment, try on the
undergarments, try on dress after dress, put the 2 you like the best
on a 24 hour hold, try to clear up some money by getting the year same
as cash credit card, purchasing the dress, fighting with your fiance's
mom about it, going to alterations, and taking it home. Tell me what
you think about it then.

Good day.

I have a complaint for David's Bridal that has been on my mind for two
months. It's frustrating to know that they not only suck at life, but
their system is set up where many more people will have to go through
the same conditions I encountered because DB has no way of correcting
its errors when customers first get screwed!

I just had my very first and LAST David's Bridal experience. Since we
decided to bump up our wedding at the last minute, I had 7 weeks to
find a dress and plan the whole wedding. I knew I'd probably have to
find something off the rack or online, and I'm an online shopping kind
of girl, so I started browsing. I ended up choosing the "perfect"
dress for my casual beach wedding on the David's site and it was an
online exclusive.

So I forked over the cash and anxiously awaited my dream dress'
arrival. When it arrived I tore it out of the box and to my dismay it
looked NOTHING like the dress in the photo. The seemingly light ivory
looked like a musty yellow and there was a pattern on it that
literally looked like a dirty coffee stain. Yellowish brown. Not to
mention it was two sizes to small even though I followed their size
chart.

So I decided to return it. You have 14 days to issue and RMA and 14
days after that for it to arrive there. I have been really sick so it
took a week until I could get to shipping it. Today the UPS guy
didn't show up so I wanted to call customer service to make sure they
could still accept it if it arrives one day late or whatever. They
have no published customer service number - you're supposed to call
the store. So I call the store THREE times since nobody is available
to take my call three twice in a row. So I ask my question to the
customer service rep and she had no idea, she says they're policies
are totally different from the online store.

She gave me this number 800 (823)2403 x4126. Yes, there is ONE
extention dedicated to online customer service. And guess what, it
was past their hours of operation. So it's Friday and I'm stuck with
no answers. Guess I'll have to ship it more expensively to make sure
I'm not going to be stuck with it.

To top it all off, I really wanted to make sure other girls wouldn't
be as disappointed as I was when they saw the dress in person, so I
wrote a well worded and calm review including a picture of what it
really looked like. On their site you can't just write a review, it
has to be accepted. And guess what? They never "accepted" mine even
though I carefully followed their guidelines (yes, you have to follow
the guidelines just to post a review) So I'm certain they knew this
would kill sales for that dress and they refused to publish it.

With their knack for trickery, hidden costs, lack of customer service,
and bad quality, I do not suggest David's Bridal. I am severely
disappointed. And I'm no Bridezilla, not even close. I'm pretty
easygoing but this one just got me fired up.

Greg...Mr. "Helpful"
While your little blurb is very helpful to point out all of David's
Bridals faults and what seems to be almost a CRIME to actually sell
wedding dresses on commission I need to share a few "helpful" things
to "complete" you.
1. FIND a bridal shop that doesn't sell on commission. Get real....do
you know how much the women there make? Less than 19k a year if they
are lucky! (I know this to be fact) So ...wait for it...THEY have to
bust their asses to make a dollar and on top of that deal with the
bitchiest brides on the planet! Brides who are usually pregnant or
worse...getting married only weeks from their wedding date. (gasp
here)
2. Customer service is an in store issue. But I assure you your little
bridezillas are capable of raising a stink and causing decent women
getting fired for stupid crap every day!
3. Complaints are useless if they are not done on a store level. What
kind of a company has a "complaints" department anymore? Give me a
break.
4. For the record for you and all your BRIDEZILLAS out
there....David's has an area to complain right on their website and if
your a legitimate bride and not some wannabe you will be registered
and then asked to comment as you leave! OH and a manager will follow
up with you a day later.....So complain away.
Karma is a bitch baby!

I can say for a fact that David's Bridal has the most HORRENDOUS
customer service I have ever encountered, aparently there's only one
lady that handle's all the call backs and no matter what you have to
leave her a message in the voice mail. I will say i got a call back
the same day w/in about 7hrs and basically to get anything returned
b/c the store is full of idiots you have to go through her OR do like
I did at one point to get some answers and tell one of the managers
that I can RAISE my voice and tell every person in here to go shop
somewhere else for their dresses before they do anything. Most of the
managers there are also condescending witches too. I told one that I
felt she was being condescending and she just continued to do so.

FOUND THEIR EMAIL: customerservice@dbi.com

I also had the EXACT same problem trying to contact them to tell them
a big problem with their website. Being an IT person I was able to
find an email but never heard back from anyone. I think I was so mad
that I didn't even save it or I would post it on here so other people
could get no response. LOL

I live in a small town. There are two Bridal shops. So I went in to my
one of two choices which was David's Bridal in Macon, GA.
David's Bridal
4696 Presidential Pkwy
Eisenhower Crossing
Macon, GA 31206
Phone: 478-474-3202 Alteration: 478-474-9862

KENDRA was my "consultant" who from the second I walked in, acted like
I was 1. Annoying her by even being there and 2. Like she had way
better things to do than help me. There was ONE OTHER CUSTOMER IN THE
STORE.

I tried on the first dress and she was short & very snippy and when I
didn't like it at all she acted like I was the only bride ever to not
like a dress. She also acted like I was insane by coming in by myself
on a weekday during business hours. Um, my friends work, dur.

When I didn't like the TWO they actually had in stock for me to try, I
told her I really just wanted something flowing & simple. Again she
acted like I was bothering her and she had way better things to do. So
of course I assumed this witch was NOT on commission. And THEY ARE ON
COMMISSION!!! How freakin ridiculous. For being the first time I ever
have tried on a dress, this was a HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE and I would
rather drive to Atlanta and have to drive back for fittings and such
then drive the 5 minutes to that David's Bridal. Actually, I'd rather
stick nails in my eyeballs then go back there. What a joke. No wonder
they seem to be hiring all the time. I don't think companies should be
allowed to have crappy customer service or more like NO CUSTOMER
SERVICE just because they offer lower-cost dresses. The greeters at
WalMart consistently treat me better than Kendra at the Macon, GA,
David's Bridal did.

I Hate Davids Bridal. I purchesed everything from there. When I
purchesed my Bridal Gown I was told that The bussle was free because
it came with the dress. They got all my bridesmaids sizes wrong. The
dyed shoes were disgusting looking. They didnt clean them at all. I
went to get my dress altered a day ago and ALL the BEADS on my straps
had just gone missing. When I called they said if they couldnt fix it
I would hafe to purchese a brand new dress. Plus There was not going
to be a return on my dress or exchange. I've been looking for a week
on how to write a letter to corporate. The lady at my mens warehouse
even told me to write a letter. This is completly absurd. Everyone on
the site rants and raves how great they are. Davids Bridal is a
terrible place. I found a email site to email them. Which I did and
told them how I felt and that I would never recommend any one to them
ever. Sorry I just had to vent!

I purchased my dress, shoes, veil, all 4 of my girls dresses and shoes
at David's Bridal. The lady helping me was pleasant and I had no
problems until after I had paid for everything. I chose a tea length
dress very simple and the lady who sold it to me said that I could
bring it in a week before the wedding and have it steamed for free
since it was not a huge dress. I called to find out when I could drop
it by and the lady said there would be a $40 charge to steam it. Now I
know $40 is not a lot of money, but I was told it was free and the
dress was not a big dress so I don't think it was fair. I politely
spoke with a manager that was stern and refused to come through with
what was promised. So I did not get my dress steamed and I looked for
customer service numbers or websites and was disappointed that there
was none. I found the number that I had to leave a message on...we
will see if they will respond in 24 hours as promised. I am really
nice and I don't plan on "going off" on some little girl answering a
customer service call. But I think that David's Bridal should care if
people are not representing their name well in individual stores.
Shame on them for their lack of customer service. I plan on warning
ALL of my single/engaged friends about David's Bridal.....and I happen
to have a lot of those friends.

I'm having a nightmare of a time with david's and I am looking for
their Mission statement or customer service beliefs and can't find it
anywhere! Does anyone know if they have any? . . .BBB here I come!

I decided at the last minute to attend a masquerade ball and didn't
want to spend too much money as I was going to spray the dress with
glitter so I went to Davids in Columbus, Ohio. I too had heard VERY
negative things so I was surprised to have a girl who was pleasant and
attentive. So much so that I wanted to let Davids know but I can't
because there's no contact info. Too bad as they could use more people
like her. She explained the cost and polices up front before I even
settled on a dress. That was the good. The bad part was the
alterations dept. I had to make an appt immediately as to avoid the
"rush" charge for items within a 14 day of the event. I was told it
would take one week. The next day I called back to change the appt as
I had to leave town unexpectedly. The woman told me that no one would
have told me it would only take one week as they were on a one month
turn around. When I pointed out that my original appt was only 2 1/2
weeks before my function how was it going to be done. She got angry at
that and wanted to know why I'd be gone for a whole week! I told her I
didn't really think it was any of her business which made her more
angry and she told me no one goes away for a week! What??

I purchased a dress from David's Bridal recently. The consultant was
attentive but when it was time for me to purchase the dress the
manager informed me that it would take 12 weeks to receive the dress.
THIS WAS UNTRUE! The manager even tried to get me to buy the sample
gown which many people had tried on. YUCK! I left the store and
decided to look elsewhere. I still did not find a dress that I was in
love with so I returned to David's Bridal. It purchased the dress and
was told by the sales person that the dress would be in the store in 4
weeks. What a difference! The dress actually arrived in 2 weeks. They
were truly deceptive. They will say anything to get a sale.

Disappointed by the experience!

I just went through something similar. I went into David's Bridal in
Greensboro, NC the other day to look at gowns. I found the one I
wanted and wouldn't you know, it was on sale. I went up to pay for it
(after waiting in the store for over 2 hours), and when I got up to
the counter they said the dress was $100 more than what it said on the
price tag. I tried to reason with the manager and she said she had no
authority to change the price (isn't that what a manager is supposed
to be able to do?). Anyway, she said she had to contact her main
office and she would get back to me by mid morning on Monday. By the
time 5;00 rolled around I decided to call them. It took nearly 30
minutes to get the manager on the phone and she told me that there
would be nothing done about the dress. The price would stand. I was
livid! I demanded the number of her supervisor and called. Big
surprise, no answer. So I left a 2 minute long message describing the
situation and how upset I am about the whole thing. I'm still waiting
for a call back.

I decided to go online and try to contact someone in the corporate
office. I don't know how they run things, but I would assume it would
be better to eat the $100 mistake made by an employee handwriting
numbers on tags than to piss off a person who was obviously diligently
pursuing this mishap. I could not find a location to contact anyone.
I am so upset with David's Bridal at this point that I am about to
launch an anti-DB campaign in Raleigh. I have never been treated this
way by a store before, and others should know what they are getting
themselves into.

I had the worst experiance ever with Davids bridal. I went to the
store in oklahoma city. Found the dress of my dreams. They only had it
in a size 4 i'm a size 2. I called the little rock store in Ar. They
had it in my size. When i told the ladies in the ok store i was just
going to purchise the dress over the phone and pick it up. They said
it'd be best for me to buy the four then exchange it for the two. Take
into mind i was already exchanging a 99 dollar dress for this 499
dress. So i did as they told me. Both stores were in agreement and
told me to do it this way. SO i drove six hours to little rock ar.
They did not want to exchange the dress. They were rude and heartless.
I broke down into tears holding my eleven month old baby in my arms.
Finally as she is shutting the door in my face. I'M CRYING AND SAYING
I DID WHAT THEY SAID. She snatched the dress from my arms, tore it out
of the garment bag and shoved the new one in it. Walked to the dorr
and threw it at me and my baby. Then slammed the door in my face. I
have complained to several people with just an i'm sorry and when i
couldn't get through to them that i'm sorry wouldn't be good enough i
had my mother in law call. Then they proceed to tell her i was
curseing at them. I wasn't even when i should have.

Last week after much deliberation I purchased a dress at a David's
Bridal location in Mishawaka Indiana. Meanwhile my mother was calling
salons all over Chicago to find this gown by Impression that I have
been wanting so badly,but could not afford.The very day after I
purchased the gown from David's she called to inform be that she had
found the gown and it would be her gift to me.

Assuming that it would be no problem because, #1)I had my receipt #2)
the dress was on order and not even in my possession as of yet. I
called David's Bridal to have the amount credited back into my
account. In a very short tone the sales associate on the other end
told me that" ALL SALES ARE FINAL".

I am in complete disbelief ,mostly because( I don't even have the
dress yet!) Why wouldn't they be able to cancel an order ?I don't
understand.I have not touched the dress I purchased and I'm stuck with
all 700$ worth of it.

If anyone knows of some angle that I can use against them to get my
money back, please let me know.

Angie

I have just come from David's Bridal with my future daughter in law
and her bridesmaids in an attempt to shop for wedding party attire. We
had an appointment. Our "consultant" greeted us after a few minutes,
told us which dressing rooms to use, and showed us where the dresses
were. She advised us to look and begin trying on and she would be
right back with us. After an hour and 10 minutes and trying on 9 or 10
dresses, we left the store, never again having contact with our
"consultant". She was in full view of us the entire time tht we were
there. never once were we asked how we were doing, did we need help,
can I suggest something...nothing! When she saw us don our coats to
leave, still nothing! I get better service at TJ Maxx!

I am very grateful that I have come across what you have to say about
David's Bridal, because I am currently making attempts to put in a
complaint. I was informed at a newly opened store that the
alterations for my bridesmaid dresses were included and when my
bridesmaids went back to the store for their fittings, they we slapped
with an alterations fee equaling the amount of their dresses. When I
called to store to get clarification, I was told that I was miss
informed, and they would also not give me the name of the consultant
that assisted my bridesmaids. When my bridesmaids went in for refunds
of the alterations, since we were able to stop it in time, the
consultants issuing the refunds did not know exactly what they were
doing and would go back to the managers office. Not once did the
manager appear, instead my bridesmaids needed to wait in the store
about 30 minutes at witnessed nerved consultants and a cowardly
manager.

Without going into much detail, because it's been said over and over
again accurately already on this site,... I also had a horrific
experience at this particular David's store. My bridal party were
beyond appalled at how in-your-face rude they were. Kathryn and
Meredith particularly were plain straight up unprofessional, rude and
lazy!!!!! Tiffany S., on the other hand was quite pleasant our FIRST
day, of which we almost never met because of our initial impression of
the store. In short- Our appt was at 4. We arrived early. 4 came and
went and after approaching the desk twice..finally someone got
Tiffany. She was great, which is why we came back. BIG MISTAKE!
Second arrival was far worse than I could've scripted for a movie!!!
Kathryn was 'assigned' to us, since Tiffany wasn't there. KATHRYN
said she only had 10 minutes. 10 minutes???!!!!! I said 'uhhh we're
gonna need more than 10 minutes?' Anyway, I gave her my list that
Tiffany had printed for us. She started quickly pulling dresses- some
right, some wrong and all wrong sizes!!! When we expressed this to
her, she was unphased. She never smiled once. She kept looking at her
watch and kept expressing her anger and frustration regarding how
she's got an appt across town that she's gonna be late for and that
the girl that's suppose to be coming in is late. Anyway, when the
late girl got there- MEREDITH, KATHRYN grabbed all her bags and then
said she's gonna help you!, so when you're done trying those on just
put them on the rack there. REALLY??!!!! Then MEREDITH's lazy a$$
just sat at the front desk and never even approached us. When we
approached her and I asked for my list back, she was rude and unphased
by my concern (I had notes written on that form). I finally said
'that's it! I'm done! Let's go!!!'. And I walked out. That place it
beyond belief!!!!!

In Kalamazoo we have a shop that advertises that you should not buy
your dress from a "high pressure, carbon copy chain store". The
independent shop has a wide selection according to the advertising,
and an exclusivity registry so that nobody else in the area can
purchase the same one.

People should continually skip these chain stores and go to
independent places. The management and ownership is all local, and the
firm is small enough to care. Whether it be a bridal store,
restaurant, or specialty retailer, I have found local ones are always
the best.

I'm probably significantly older than most of the people who post here
(57 years old)...I've known David's Bridal since I was old enough to
know about bridal gowns- I don't know anyone who would shop there
unless they wanted something very cheap and their feeling is you get
what you pay for (there's always been plenty of word of mouth about
them). Apparently they're still in business so their poor service
doesn't seem to effect them and I doubt a blog on PFB will do anything
either.

I am single, but if I ever plan to get married, I will absolutely
convince my fiancee NOT to use David's.

We'll go someone that values its customers...and there's plenty of
competition.

Thanks for the story and the input!

Well i'm glad you did this! And found out that they all are on
commission. interestingly, when the 'store manager' called me back,
she insisted my consultant was NOT on commission. Feh.

I did not receive an apology from them either, but it just proves what
kind of company they are.

Caveat emptor.

1001 Washington Street
Conshohocken, PA
610-943-5000
Press 2 for Customer Service, I think it's 8 for all other
departments

Granted this information is not on their website but I found it in
about 30 seconds.

is the warnings not to leave multiple messages. That is a hoot,
considering that leaving one or ten results in the same response.

I can't see why they would care if the voice mailbox filled right up,
and people were told they couldn't leave a message. They aren't going
to bother returning the calls anyway.

What a poor way to do business. That is sad.

A few years ago, during my own wedding planning and dress research, I
got addicted to reading all the David's Bridal horror stories. (And
though I didn't join until later, that addiction is how I found PFB).

I wasn't surprised by all the stories as I had my own negative
experiences with a local store. But I was truly shocked by the depth
of many of the complaints and though many (if not all) were 100%
valid, I was stunned by how many didn't get resolved despite being the
store's fault.

The bigger the chain, the higher the number of complaints you'll get.
As Venice says, it means more people are shopping at David's Bridal
than at say, Ye Olde Bridal Shoppe. However, from what I've read from
disgruntled customers, David's isn't too proactive in resolving the
complaints they get, including the ones where they are clearly in the
wrong. And while I agree about contacting the manager, from what I've
read, in many cases the management IS the problem. So where do you go
in that case? The lack of a phone number was a frequent comment made
by customers seeking satisfaction. I've always felt that a company
that makes a customer jump through hoops to contact them and hides
behind voicemail is a company that doesn't really want to hear from
their customers. And that always makes me wonder why.

This isn't to say ALL David's locations are bad. I know Harleycat had
a great experience as did Venice and her daughter. I also had a great
experience at another location. Despite it being a hectic Saturday,
they were nothing but pleasant and patient with me even though I
wasn't making a huge purchase. So, the good ones are out there.
Perhaps even the majority of locations are well run, but the poorly
run ones tend to stand out.

Oh, as for the salespeople being on commission? No big shock there. I
didn't believe what they said in the "Heartless" letter one bit.

I knew David's Bridal was bad from stories from friends, but when it
was time to get my dress I decided to go with my fiance' if for no
other reason than to show him what a bad bridal store looked like. I
was 21 at the time, but to be fair I do look young. When I first went
in they wanted me to sign in, which I knew was a bad idea since they
promptly sell my information (which happened to me 4 years earlier
when I went in for my prom dress shopping). I made up an address and
then waited. And waited. And asked a consultant if she would help me
(since you're not allowed to touch or look through dresses without
permission) and she said sure, and lead me into the prom dresses. To
which I said no, I was here for my wedding, and she laughed and walked
away. Rinse, repeat. Every consultant insisted I was too young to be
getting married, I even offered to show my ID but they laughed me off
again. I left.

I figured I would go to a different store and have my fiance' wear his
army dress uniform to see if they would take me seriously, but still,
no luck. He even pulled out a few hundred in cash (thank god for
deployment money) and said if anyone helped me here was the money we'd
use. Still nothing. Promptly got my dress elsewhere and had a fun and
wonderful experience shopping.

On the "Contact Us" page (which was the top link when I googled
"contact site:.davidsbridal.com," so I didn't bother trying to find it
using the Site Map), it says "The Store Manager at each location will
be happy to answer your questions and discuss your concerns. The store
locator will provide you with the phone number and address of the
store closest to you." It includes a link to the store locator. The
same page includes a form for asking "online" questions. At the
bottom of the page, they provide the number 1-800-517-1820 if you want
to talk to "an Invitations Specialist" "regarding invitation
etiquette." They've also got the number 877-923-BRIDE on the top of
quite a few pages, if you want to call to make an appointment. And
the press information page seems to me to be pretty easy to find, just
like the "Contact Us" page.

It really doesn't sound as if they are all that worried about the
press they get (on this site or perhaps on websites in general, or
maybe at all), and it doesn't sound as if they are particularly
interested in helping customers who are dissatisfied with the service
they got at the store level.

But then again, they're in the business of offering customers a
"personal" relationship (I imagine that the point of paying commission
is to give employees an incentive to form that kind of relationship
with customers) with someone at the store level (because the things
they sell are the sorts of things most people want to see in person,
to try on when appropriate, and to match to other products), over a
short period (because by the time brides go shopping, a lot of them
are already on a deadline). If someone isn't happy, it's in their
best interest to resolve the problem quickly, because the longer the
process of trying to keep the customer takes, the closer the wedding
gets and the more likely the customer is to just go shopping somewhere
else and restrict their relationship with David's Bridal to "being
heard." It seems to me that it would be cost-effective to retain the
easier brides, the ones who are going to be satisfied by being
assigned a different "consultant" or going to a different store or
having the store manager do something for them, and not worry too much
about trying to keep the ones who are upset enough to want a more
time-consuming intervention.

I get why you aren't happy with them. If I were going to get married,
David's Bridal isn't a place I would go to. But I guess I just have a
hard time getting all that upset that they want to steer disgruntled
customers back to the store level. It makes sense to me that that's
what they'd want to do, and as I say it only took me a few seconds to
discover that, yes, that's how their website says they want to deal
with complaints.

I was 21 when I got married. Apparently that means I didn't have money
to spend on my wedding. David's totally gave me the shaft when I went
in the first time to look for a dress. They sized me (not a big
person), and told me I would wear a size 11, because wedding dresses
run small. Then I was just pointed in the direction of the size 11
dresses and when I found ones to try on, they pointed me in the
direction of the fitting rooms. I ended up finding a modest spaghetti
strap dress with no train, perfect for our wedding in Jamaica. No
thanks to the consultant.

Fast forward about two months. We decided to cancel our destination
wedding and bump up the date and have a small, local, winter wedding.
I went to David's Bridal with my MIL and son in tow, and asked for the
11s. The woman SNORTED at me, looked me up and down, and said "The
FOURTEENS are over there."
Not to mention I had lost weight in those two months. I told her the
dress I bought two months previous when I was 15 lbs. heavier was an
11, and no thanks, I would buy a dress elsewhere.

I found a very nice little shop owned by a sweet old Italian woman
named Tina who customized me the most beautiful dress and called me
"my little bride!" every time I came in. Size 8, thank you very much.
I wanted so badly to send a copy of the $1000 receipt to David's to
show them what they missed out on for being a bunch of jerks.

They only stay in business because they have their $99 bridal gown
sales during the year and most brides will buy one of these than spend
thousands on something else they will never wear.

They have gone downhill rapidly and I think customer service is the
first to suffer when a company is not doing well financially. The
staff usually knows something is going on and they pass this on to the
customers sometimes. Maybe this is one of those times???

David's Bridal is horrible. I don't know how they stay in
business.When I got married 2 years ago my bridesmaid ordered her gown
there. They ordered the wrong color and first they refused to do
anything about it, then said they would reorder but could not
guarantee she would recieve the right color! Then when we asked then
to do it on a rush basis (my wedding was just 7 weeks away!) they said
even a rush would take 6-8 weeks. They were completely and utterly
horrible and made it clear they really don't care about their
customers.

David's Bridal is the worst! I'm getting married this summer and I
would walk down the aisle in a trash bag before i would ever buy my
dress from David's Bridal. I went in the other day to look at
bridesmaid dresses, because my mother wouldn't listen when i told her
how bad David's Bridal is. As soon as i walked in, I was shadowed by
one of their employees insisting I register with a consultant. I told
the woman I just wanted to look around and I did happen to look at a
few of the wedding dresses. I was scolded for taking the dresses off
the rack to get a closer look at them. Needless to say, that was it
for me. David's Bridal will never get one measly cent of my money. I
don't need to be harassed just for coming in and looking around.

My experience with David's was the complete opposite. I ended up at
David's after being completely ignored at a local upscale bridal shop.
I guess I didn't fit the image, older woman dressed as bikers dress.

I headed over to David's since I had seen something I liked on their
website. I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on a dress. I
was immediately greeted (on a Saturday) and taken over to where the
dresses were in my size. I saw the one from the website and my family
saw some others they wanted me to try on. One of those was perfect
and fit like a glove. I purchased it that day. From the purchase to
my wedding, I lost about 25 lbs. My consultant tried to find the
dress in a smaller size at another store but that style had been
discontinued. I ended up having it altered and they did a beautiful
job. My neighbor, a skilled seamstress, was impressed.

We did have an off putting exerience at the store where my sister,
niece and mother got their dresses. Everything was fine until my
mother picked up her bag and they had ruined the dye job. They
wouldn't give her a refund without her receipt, she only had her
claimcheck. They wanted an 80yr old woman to go crosstown in the
August heat to get it. She asked me to drive (35miles) to her house
and get her and the receipt and I really didn't want to do that. I
called the store and was treated to the nastiest person I ever had to
deal with. I just hung up on her, went online and found the number to
their corporate headquarters. It only took a few minutes. I called
and got someone who handled everything. She called my mother, got
some info off the receipt and issued a refund.

My thought's on David's is that it is a big chain. The Wal Mart of
the bridal biz. You are bound to have some people who have bad
experiences. How many complaints have we seen here about Wal Mart,
Target, etc? Are they all bad stores? Does everyone have a horrible
experience shopping there? No, it's by sheer volume alone. They must
be doing something right. I know of three other brides besides myself
who got their dresses there and were all happy.

I will never utter a positive word about David's Bridal, even if I had
something positive to say. The negative experiences of friends is all
I need to know. One friend took me with her to pick up her dress for
moral support, because she'd already had run-ins with them. They
purposely ordered her dress to be several sizes too big, so they could
charge for alterations (which really is how they make their money).
THen when they altered, they took it in too much and it was too small,
and they weren't even sure they'd be able to find enough fabric to let
it back out.

MEanwhile, my friend is in tears, and the store employees (all under
20) WERE JOKING AND LAUGHING. Even as we left the store, one of these
brats called out "If you find some free money, let me know." WTF?

Anyone spending money on a dress for their wedding should do some
internet/BBB research first, and that will be all they need to know to
avoid that store. At the very least, buy your dress and find your own
seamstress.

but David's is a cutrate dress store. It's like the WalMart of
wedding dress shops. You really should not expect any kind of service
in there and should only shop there if you know what you want and
don't need any help because that is exactly what you'll get.

I bought my dress from them a million years ago when I was young, dumb
and broke. It lasted about as long as the marriage did, so there ya
go!