I had a total nightmare using this shop for my wedding in 09. We spent a large chunk of our budget in one place, ordering my wedding dress, three bridesmaids dresses and five mens suits..
One of my bridesmaids went for her first fitting in June, and when she arrived there was some confusion over where her dress was. The bridesmaids dresses were being stored with my wedding dress in the main bridal shop. Using her name, AND my name, it still took a long time to locate the dresses before she could have her fitting. During her fitting, it was decided that her dress needed taking in around the bust. The girl doing the fitting pinned the dress down the boning at the front - and caught my bridesmaids chest with a pin at one point. There was then a discussion between her and another member of staff where the girl doing the fitting was told the dress had to be pinned down the sides as it could not be taken in along the boning at the front, so my bridesmaid then had to be unpinned and re-pinned along the seams down the sides.
On the morning of my fitting a week later, I phoned to check a few details about the dresses. The person I spoke to on the phone was very helpful, and even confirmed the appointment time with me. We had to leave Taunton once my bridesmaid had arrived from Yeovil, and travelled to Bristol for our midday appointment. At 10:50am (once we had already left) I got a phone call on my mobile with a voicemail saying the dresses were not ready for fitting. I called back immediately and spoke to the person on main desk. She said there was a note in the book that the dresses were not ready as they were still pinned. After some discussion we agreed the bridesmaid dress must be a misunderstanding as only one of the bridesmaids had been fitted. However, my dress was not ready for a fitting. Having telephoned and re-arranged the appointment a few times and even phoning the shop THAT MORNING, I was unimpressed that I did not get told until just over an HOUR BEFORE the fitting that my dress wasnt ready. We had a voicemail left on our house phone the evening before the appointment, but it was not picked up until we returned from Bristol - but no one had called my mobile. However, the evening before an appointment is enough notice, my Mum had to take the day off work to travel to Bristol and even if we had got the message the evening before, it would have been too late for her to change her day off. I was then told when we arrived that it is standard practice for your shop to contact the bride when the alterations are done to make an appointment - this makes sense, but contradicts what we were initially told. It was almost 8 weeks since my initial fitting when we travelled back to the shop, so I was concerned that nothing has been done to my dress.
We ordered extra material for the mens cravats and some added detail to my dress, and when it arrived we were told that not enough had been ordered, and were then told there was not enough time to guarantee any more was able to be ordered but they would do their best. We negotiated to order the mens suits as well as the shop matched the Moss Bros offer, and were told the price we were given was inclusive of everything.
When the men arrived, they discovered the details were not written down, although fortunately I had given them the information to take with them as well, and the man who was meant to be doing the fitting was not there. The fitting was done by two women who didnt seem to know what they were doing (my Fathers words). After the fitting the deposits were paid for the suits, the sales staff tried to charge for the grooms suit, although they explained it was agreed this would be free, so they accepted that. Then when they were paying, an additional £6 per suit was added as ACCIDENTAL COVER!
When we eventually got to just before the wedding we went to collect my wedding dress and took it back to my parents house, upon opening the bag (as we had been told to lay the train out in order for it not to crease) there was a massive dirty footprint in the middle of the train!!!! We phoned to complain and were told to send the dress back with the men when they went to collect their suits two days before the wedding - I stated that I was categorically NOT sending my wedding dress up with my husband-to-be as given the amount of problems, I would not have been surprised if they'd unzipped the bag there and then in front of him. Eventually we used pampers baby wipes (!!) to clean the footprint, although it was still slightly visible.
All in all the service was atrocious. I sent a formal complaint, and received nothing further than an acknowledgement and apology, nothing was rectified. I would NOT buy from this shop, although their range is good and it would be good for research purposes if nothing else! read more
