Special Occasions Bridal House

Everything I stated was the truthI call all my customers when their gowns arrive so I can arrange fittings, pick ups and remind them of their balances dueUsually the customer delays picking up the gown until they can come up with the money for the final payment, which is what I thought was the case with the second gownWhen I called the customer’s work number, I spoke with someone who told me that my customer was not in and was out of the countryThere is no way for me to know this, unless I was told this from someone there Then a message was left at the customer’s home number immediately following that call This is the first I have heard that this customer was not satisfied with any gownShe never made any complaint about the first dressThe customer accepted the first one, after stating that she liked it and realized that other than the bust and length, the gown fitThese items came in with more than enough time for her have any alterations made if needed either in house or an outside seamstress As for the customer being unsatisfied over the second gown, I do not know how one could be, if they never came in to try it onIf you felt that my business practices were oppressive, you could have gone to any other dress shopHowever, there is no designer in the bridal industry that makes a gown per your request in a certain size and color that would allow you to return it or cancel an order after it is placed There is nothing more I can do These gowns were ordered by you and you knew there were no returns As it stands right now, there is still a balance owed that has been incurring interest per your signed contract

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: Almost all of what she has said is untrueThere was no message left on my home phone or at work She didn't deliver on what was promised and now has my money for no goods delivered except for dress number I was never rude to her and yet another lie where she states that I said do whatever you need to doShe said that not meExtremely unfair business practice to have someone sign a contract where you cannot return an item if it is unsatisfactoryI will be pursuing this with the attorney general's office and small claims court if this is not resolved Sincerely, [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:I am done dealing with this transaction.  I paid for dress #1 in full which was not correct for me but non the less I fulfilled my end of the agreement of the sale.  dress #2 did not come in time for my event which was not cancelled nor did I not attend since it was my son's wedding.  Again I will state that the ONLY CALL I received was on June 18, 2016 for a July 3, 2016 event.  I was never notified at any point about it being available for pick up. I called 4 times prior to May 13, 2016 and was told it had not shipped yet. If it was delivered in time  I would have bought it but now it is no use to me since the wedding had passed. Obviously this is not going to be resolved here in this forum so I will seek other legal action. Sincerely,[redacted]
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Everything I stated was the truth. I call all my customers when their gowns arrive so I can arrange fittings, pick ups and remind them of their balances due. Usually the customer delays picking up the gown until they can come up with the money for the final payment, which is what I thought was the case with the second gown. When I called the customer’s work number, I spoke with someone who told me that my customer was not in and was out of the country. There is no way for me to know this, unless I was told this from someone there.  Then a message was left at the customer’s home number immediately following that call.
This is the first I have heard that this customer was not satisfied with any gown. She never made any complaint about the first dress. The customer accepted the first one, after stating that she liked it and realized that other than the bust and length, the gown fit. These items came in with more than enough time for her have any alterations made if needed either in house or an outside seamstress.
As for the customer being unsatisfied over the second gown, I do not know how one could be, if they never came in to try it on. If you felt that my business practices were oppressive, you could have gone to any other dress shop. However, there is no designer in the bridal industry that makes a gown per your request in a certain size and color that would allow you to return it or cancel an order after it is placed. 
There is nothing more I can do.  These gowns were ordered by you and you knew there were no returns.  As it stands right now, there is still a balance owed that has been incurring interest per your signed contract.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Almost all of what she has said is untrue. There was no message left on my home phone or at work.  She didn't deliver on what was promised and now has my money for no goods delivered except for dress number 1. I was never rude to her and yet another lie where she states that I said do whatever you need to do. She said that not me. Extremely unfair business practice to have someone sign a contract where you cannot return an item if it is unsatisfactory. I will be pursuing this with the attorney general's office and small claims court if this is not resolved. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is in response to a complaint made by [redacted] She ordered 2 gowns from us on February 2, 2016. One was needed for 5-14-16 and the other 7-3-16. The first one by Christina Wu # [redacted] was ordered in a size 18. The reason for this was I took three measurements from her, Bust 37 Waist 33 Hips 45. This measured a size 18 in the waist and hips from the designers size chart. The bust size was that of a size 14. She tried on our sample of this gown which is in a size 14. This gown in no way fit her. It was extremely small and would not zip up. Please understand that these gowns are made overseas and their body to garment measurements is different than those in the US. You usually need 2 number sizes bigger than what you wear every day. The second dress is made by designer Impressions #[redacted] sample was also tried on by her. Our sample size is a size 14 and by their size chart (which is different from designer to designer) she measured a size 16 in the waist and hips and a size 12 in the bust. The sample was snug on her and would not zip up in her waist. When [redacted] ordered these gowns, she obviously knew that the samples were too small and I show what the size charts represent. I tell her what size I recommend, but there is a spot on the contract that lets her decide what size to order. She even initialed this to confirm that she was explained this. If in fact she was a size 10 in either of these gowns, the samples would have been too large on her and she would not have agreed to the sizes ordered. When the first gown came in on April 19th, she was notified and came in the following day.  As for her calling in to inquire on the status on the gown, I doubt that she would have called 4 times as she was told upon ordering to expect a 12 – 14 week shipping time which is standard in the industry . It shipped well within that time span. When she came in and tried it on, the gown was big in the bust (which we knew would happen) and long in length as they are all cut for a 5’9” height. We offered to do any alterations for her, but she decided that she wanted to have her own seamstress do the work. The second gown arrived at our shop on May 17th. She was called at work and we were told that she was out. On the same day, a message was left on her home number. On June 17th, another call was placed to her inquiring when she was planning on picking it up (she uses her own seamstress). She rudely stated that she didn’t want the garment any longer and for me to do whatever I need to do. Her comment on our contract agreements, that it was coercion, is absurd. I do not know what attorney would give her that advice. The definition of coercion is “the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats”. She was not forced nor threatened to order anything from us. If she in fact bought gowns in size 10, there are only three ways they fit her. 1. They are made in USA which has different body to garment measurements, 2.  She lost inches or 3. The garments were let out. I have made measuring errors in my 28 years of business, but never 4 sizes off. Also, when I have made an error, I alter it at no charge to the customer as I am an honest business person. She signed the contracts of her own free will knowing full well, that there are no refunds, exchanges or cancelations. Our contracts are legal and binding and apply to all state laws and regulations.

Review: Special Occasions Bridal House said that they would have bridesmaids dresses to their shop by the end of June. The dresses are still not in and will not be in until Monday July 15. Due to this delay, I now require the dress to be shipped to me in order to get alterations done in time for the wedding. Had the dress come in prior to the start of July, I had arrangements for pick up. Because of this delay, which Special Occasions says is not their fault, I requested they waive the shipping fee. This request was absurd to the shop and I was berated on the phone. Plain and simple, they said they would keep the dress (although they WOULD charge my card for the remaining balance) unless I paid for shipping or made other arrangements despite any inconvenience to me. The customer service is absolutely appalling and their treatment of me unacceptable.

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: No settlement requested - for

I would like other customers to know what they are getting into before doing business with this company.

Business

Response:

Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2013/07/16) */

Special Occasions prides itself on customer service and providing the very best assistance possible to every customer which we have done so for 25 years. With this said we have to address Ms. Nadeaus incorrect statements and her assumptions.

On 4/5/2013, Ms. [redacted] placed her order for her attendant's dress for a wedding that is going to take place on 8/2/2013. Ms. [redacted] authorized a deposit of $100.00 with her credit card via a telephone conversation. She was told that we had to have all the girls' orders in before the order would be placed. The last girl ordered on 4/23/13.

On 7/11/13, we spoke to the bride and she gave us each girls email address so that we could confirm their shipping address and collect the balance owed on the orders. We were going to do all this on Monday 7/15/2013 even though we are closed on Mondays so that the girls could get their dress one day earlier, which would now have made them 4 days later than expected.

These emails went out to each girl on 7/12/13.

On 7/12/13 we received this email from Ms. Neadau "That is not my address. Please send to 14 spruce street, Lincoln, RI XXXXX.Because the dress took over 3 weeks longer than it should have to come in, I will not authorize the $6 shipping charge. [redacted] Sent from my phone. "

We also had a telephone conversation with Ms. [redacted], making the same statement. But at the end of our telephone conversation, she stated that she would call us back with the final payment of $131.00 so that we could ship her dress order on Monday. 7/15/13. We could not ship Ms. [redacted]'s order since we did not have her payment information as do not keep any customer credit card information on file.

First, Ms. Nadeaus statement of "the dress took over 3 weeks longer than it should have to come in," is not true. We informed the bride, that the order would ship from the designer at the end of June and that it takes about 5 days in transit to arrive to us at our store. We acknowledge that the order did not ship until 7/8/13, which is 5 business days later than what was anticipated which we have no control over. We are not able to give an exact ship date on any order as they are given to us as an approximate ship date.

The other statements by Ms. [redacted] of "they said they would keep the dress (although they would charge my card for the remaining balance) is also false. We are not withholding her dress order for any other reason other than the simple fact that she has not paid the balance on the order. Ms. Neadea became irate and berated us over the $6.00 fee during our telephone conversation. She knew full well that she had a balance owed on the dress and that we could not ship it unless it was paid. Her understanding was that she was going to pay her balance plus the $6.00 (although she didn't want to) and I would ship the dress to her on Monday. Yet, on Monday she makes a complaint to you that we did not ship the dress. The only way she knew we didn't ship the dress was because she knew she didn't pay the balance. I do not know how she expected to receive her dress when she knew she had a$125.00 balance before the shipping charge.

We apologized for the delay to Ms. Nadea but she was not interested in our apology. She also states that this is a contract dispute. Our contract does not state when the ship date was to be. We are given an estimated time once we place the order with the manufacturer and relayed that to the bride.

In closing, here it is Tuesday afternoon and Ms. [redacted] has still not attempted to pay her balance for this dress, so I do not believe that time is of the essence to her. Once final payment and shipping is paid, we will ship the dress out to her as quickly as possible.

Thank you.

[redacted] D. [redacted]

Pres/Gen. Manger

BRIKAT LLC d/b/a Special Occasions Bridal House