I have been waiting to write a review for LBR, as I was hoping the store and its owner Maria would…read moreresolve the issues that they caused for me, or at least refund me for the ridiculous amount they charged me for alterations that did not even happen. However, after an extremely stressful week, I find myself feeling taken advantage of, dismissed and deceived. WARNING TO ALL: Save yourself from the stress and overcharges this "business" creates.
I bought my reception dress from LBR in 3/2021 for my wedding in 9/2021. The sales woman who initially helped me seemed friendly and great, and I felt confident buying a dress from this store. However, that was the last time anyone was friendly to me there, and the last time I felt confident with the store.
My dress arrived and I was scheduled for a fitting in 8/2021. I went in for my fitting, was literally rushed to the back of their store by a seamstress telling me to "hurry" because she had another appointment at the store next door. Mind you, I was EARLY for my own scheduled appt. She rushed me into the dress, didn't even let me strap my shoes on and then pulled me onto the stand to begin alterations. I asked her continuously to make specific alterations and she waved her hand at me and said 'yes yes I know what I'm doing'. My MOH was with me, and works in fashion herself, and pointed out several mistakes the seamstress was making but was completely ignored.
Not even 5 minutes later, she told me to take off the dress because she had to leave. There was no air conditioning in the store and I was already feeling shaky, and the last thing I needed was to be pushed into a tiny dressing room. I changed and came out and was told alterations would be nearly a thousand dollars. I was shocked, and questioned this but she became loud with me and stated she knew what she was doing and this is what the price would be. I didn't question this again - because, I mean, she's the professional right? So I paid and I scheduled my next fitting to be for the first week of September.
A week before my fitting, I received a call from Maria. She told me that her staff quit and I would not be able to pick my dress up from the store, or even go to the store for a fitting. She said my options were to drive to the seamstress's house (which is nearly an hour and a half away from where I live... whereas the store was only ten minutes), she would credit my "gas expense" for the drive; or she would "uber" my dress to me.... I'm sorry, WHAT?! After thousands and thousands of dollars spent, I was essentially being told 'tough luck, there's nothing more we can do for you'.
I eventually was able to have the seamstress take my dress to the store next door because that is where I bought my ceremony dress. I was guaranteed by Maria that the specific design/cut of my dress was "easy to alter" and there would be no issues when I received it. Well, other than the train being shortened, IT WAS HORRENDOUS. There were piles of extra fabric at the sides, which made it seem like the seamstress had just clumped a bunch of fabric together to "alter" it. I ended up having to pay this other store for their alterations team to fix this mess of a dress.
So here I am, two weeks before my wedding, having spent not just thousands on a dress, but an additional thousand on alterations that didn't even happen, and apparently can not happen because the store no longer exists. Maria refused to refund me for the alterations I had paid for, and does not even seem to care about the unnecessary yet enormous amount of stress she has placed on me, and I can imagine dozen of other brides who they have closed their doors on, literally, with little to no compassion or empathy.
