BUYERS BEWARE!!!!
This shop is run by a group of inept thieves!! In addition to the store and its horrendous customer service and policies, their website -
WWW.SHOPDIVINE.COM - SHOULD ALSO BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS! (Since both the website and the boutique are run by the same people, I feel it is important to list my issues with both. It is information that I wish I would have had before shopping with them.)
I will now give detailed accounts of my interactions with both the boutique at the above address and the website so that the owner/manager can not again contact Yelp and have my review removed. It seems he didn't like my earlier review because it reflected poorly on his business so he flagged it and had it removed for "not detailing a first hand account of a specific location".
My first visit to the Beverly Hills location of Divine started off on a pretty good foot. I was visiting Los Angeles from out of town and I was impressed with the interesting selection of merchandise in this boutique. It all went downhill from there.... It was eerily similar to a scene from Pretty Woman. We had gone into the location after being out for a quick run, so admittedly we were not 'dressed to impress'. (It's too bad that the staff didn't pay attention to our Cartier and Rolex watches and our 3+ carat diamond rings!!)
We were completely snubbed and ignored by the staff who proceeded to snack and chat amongst themselves despite our asking for help. Finally, we were acknowledged but it was clear that they had no interest in us or our business. We asked questions about designers that we were unfamiliar with, we asked if items were available in other sizes, and we tried to make general conversation with the staff - all of which were met with one word answers or shrugs. We continued to shop despite this behavior - having fun being on vacation and just trying not to let their behavior bother us. (I realize that we were 'out-of-towners' and unfamiliar with the 'Beverly Hills culture', but this behavior is unacceptable anywhere in the country. It is just rude and unnecessary!)
I was extremely interested in one particular dress, enough to continue pursuing information about it despite the lack of response from the employee(s). I finally learned that "all those dresses are out", meaning none was available in my size in the backroom. I asked a few more questions about the designer which they couldn't answer (or perhaps just didn't want to bother to answer?). This was the final straw for us and we left the boutique.
A month or so after returning home, I stumbled upon their website and found that they carried much of the same merchandise that we had seen in the store. Perhaps I should have 'learned my lesson' about Divine by this point, but my hope was that I could now take advantage of the great merchandise without having to deal with the rudeness of the staff... it seemed like a good idea at the time. I ordered a gorgeous dress (not the one I had seen in the store but great nonetheless!). I entered all of my information and my order was confirmed and I was told that 'you will receive an email confirmation of your order shortly'. This email never arrived. I waited until late the next day and called the 800 number to be sure that they had my correct email address. They did. I told the woman on the phone that I never received the email and she said "Oh well, we sent it". And I was told that I would receive 'another' email when my item shipped and then I was hung up on!
After a week, I still had not received anything from Shop Divine - no package & no email. I called back - again met with disinterest and disdain. I told the woman that I wanted to cancel my order. At this point, she informed me that the item had shipped 8 days prior. (In case you are not doing the math - that is the day of my original phone call, when they had no record of the shipment..... strange!?)
Anyway, in my frustration, I mentioned that I would probably be returning the item. This is when I was informed of the "8% RESTOCKING FEE". This fee it seems is in the small print on the website under the Customer Service section. I realize that it was my fault for not reading all of the tiny print but I do A LOT of on-line shopping and this has never been an issue before. A few stores do charge restocking fees but this information is always fully disclosed at the time of purchase, not buried in the fine print on the FAQ page. Please benefit from my mistake and read the fine print EVERYWHERE on the website not just on the order page!
I am happy to report that I will not be shopping at Divine ever again! It's just not worth spending my money at an establishment where the staff behaves this way! What I do now is look for items on their website and then find/buy them elsewhere (usually for less)! I don't give Divine business they clearly don't want & I still get great stuff.... Everybody wins! read more
