I live in Keller, so for me to have to drive from Keller to Fort Worth is a big deal. My initial reaction to the Ava's Bridal staff was that I could trust their opinions and expertise. I tried on one bridesmaid dress and placed an order the same day. TWO staff members measured my waist, bust, hips, and torso. They then preceded to pull out a chart and told me that I should order a size 14 dress. I am 5'2, with a 'B' size cup, and I usually wear a size 6. So when the sales representatives told me that I needed a 14 I TRUSTED that they knew what they were talking about. I assumed that the dress ran small and I NEEDED a dress that was bigger than my usual size. So I placed an order for a size 14.
Before leaving the store, I asked the sales representative if everything was covered and I was done paying fees besides tailoring charges, the sales representative said "yes, you should be covered." A week later I received a call from the sales representative where she said "good news Isabella, we can order the dress and have it here by May! So would you like to pay the $75 now over the phone or would you like to come in and pay it?" My initial thought was "how is paying an addition $75 GOOD NEWS?!!!" We ended up paying for it.
I went to the store today and let the staff know that I would like to try on my dress, for the first time, before leaving the store. They brought me the dress and immediately I noticed it was HUGE. I could've fit a whole other person in this dress with me. The representative walked up to me and acted as if everything was fine with the dress and it's look on my body. She then took in a handful of the dress in the back and said it would also need to be hemmed. I then asked her how much it would cost to have these alterations completed and how long would it take? She said "one week if you pay an express charge of $45 (and that she) wasn't a seamstress so (she) wouldn't be able to tell (me) how much it would cost for these alterations." I took me dress and left.
I called back later that day and asked for the manager, I was forwarded to Sue. I explained how frustrated I was. I told her that I was going to have to spend more money getting my dress tailored because her staff members told me I needed a dress that was too big for my body. She told me that "the store isn't liable for the dress that I ordered." I then told her that I wouldn't have ordered a size 14 if her employees hadn't told me I needed one. She said that I should've "resolved all my concerns before ordering the dress." I responded with "I didn't have any concerns when ordering the dress because I trusted that your staff members would've made the right call." She asked me " what are you trying to get?" I told her I wanted compensation for the tailoring. She said "that's not going to happen." I further explained that the dress type is not a fitted dress in any place besides the bust. They ordered me a dress based on my hip size even though the dress isn't fitted in that region. She went on to say she would "help" me with the express charge if I signed a waiver stating that I wouldn't give them "any bad press." I told her that's only $45 of express charges, she said it's actually $75. This deduction still left me with a total of $101.65 of tailoring charges and two trips to Fort Worth. I told her I would think about it.
I went to a different tailor and said the dress was a size 14. She said "No, not for you. You're about a 6 or an 8." She said "It would've been easier if they would've ordered you a dress that fit my bust better than my hips because letting a dress out in the hip area is easier than making the bust smaller." I tried it on and she told me that it would cost $80 to hem, and to make the top into a size 8 from a 14, and that she could have it ready in time.
After all of this, I have come to the conclusion that Ava's Bridal staff members need to be better trained in how to measure a body for a specific dress. They also should take ownership for mistakes they make. I am not an expert on bridesmaids dresses and I shouldn't have to bring my own seamstress to make sure I get the right size dress. I was contacted by Sue after having time to think about it. I told her that decided to take my business elsewhere and write a review. I also told her that they could pay for the tailoring cost to make it right, but she said she couldn't do that. She then said that in her notes it said that I had "had a baby." I told her that I had lost all of my baby weight already and am still the same size that I was when they originally measured me. Honestly, I was a little offended that she was trying to find a way to blame the incorrect order on me. I also looked up a size chart on several websites. ALL of the charts, based on my measurements, indicated that I definitely shouldn't have gotten a 14. I hope that after the manager sees this post she realizes it might have just been worth it to compensate me fully and apologize for their mistake. read more