On December 3, 2009 a friend of mine and I placed an order for our bridesmaid dresses online with House of brides. We knew with the wedding coming up of Feb 13 we had to rush this order, regualr service takes about 12-14 weeks and a rush order would take 6-7 weeks as per information provided on the site.
On December 4 I received an email from Karen my customer service rep. Her email and i quote said.....
Jennifer,
We have received your order and the vendor is requesting a
super rush be added for an additional $20.00 a dress. Currently--with a rush,
we have an estimated ship date to us towards the end of January or so.
Please respond with your credit card information(number, expiration
and CVV) so we can charge you for the added fee.
Once I hear from you, we can order the dresses.
Thank you
Karen
HBO
Having read this I understood that unless i paid the additional super rush fee I might get the dress a little before the end of Jan. That would still provide enough time to have the dress altered. On Dec 5 I called House of Brides spoke with a woman named Gaye who claimed she could assist me. I gave her my order number as well as my credit card information.
On Dec 8 while at work I received a call from Gaye asking me to call her back. When i called her back she claimed that she had taken down my credit card information incorrectly and that the dress still hadnt been ordered. I was very angry as this was a time sensitive case. I asked if her mistake would delay the dress she said yes. I became more angry as this was not my fault at all.
On Dec 9 I again called to make sure there were no other issues. I spoke with Debbie who researched my case and told me everything is on track the dress was ordered and that i would receive my online confirmation in 7-10 days.
Still a bit nervous around Dec 15 I began emailing Karen saying I had yet to recieve my confirmation was there an issue..... I emailed her on Dec 15 Dec 25 Jan 1 and Jan 4 none of these emails was answered.
On Dec 5th I began calling House of brides 1 800 number I spoke with Debbie first who said she would research my case and call me back so that i didnt have to wait on hold. By 2pm she had not called me so I called back. This time the phone kept hanging up on me so i dialed *67 to block my number and sure enough them someone picked up.
I spoke with Lori this time who said my case was on Gaye's desk. I explained that Karen was my rep and that i really didnt trust Gaye to handle my issue. She said Gaye would be in shortly and she would have her call me. By 5pm there was no call. So I called again this time i am not sure who i spoke with but the woman was RUDE.
I told her who i was and she said Karen emailed you in regard to this at 4:30. So i went home to get this email.......
Jennifer,
I have received your e-mail. I have been off for the holidays
and the flu. I was told that you called today so I researched your order and
even with a super rush, Bari Jay is unable to meet the event date of 2-6-10 . The
designers have been closed also for the holidays. The factory is closed for a
few weeks in January due to Chinese New Year. This will effect some of the
designers shipping.
We are looking at other options for you. We do have style
757 by Bari Jay that is available to ship out shortly. Please do take a look at
it on the website. We also recommend that you look at the designer Forever
Yours. They do have a ship date that can meet your event date. We will absorb
the rush fee for you for the dresses.
We do apologize for the inconvenience. We do appreciate your
patience and understanding
Let me know what you find and we will work with you.
Thank you
Karen
HOB Order Department
I was sooo upset Looked at style 757 it was nothing like what we had ordered. I sent emails to Bari Jay directly. They informed me that if i were to order today I would have the dress shipped to me on Feb 4.....not a lot of time but in a crunch.....she also said if my order would have been placed back at the beginning of Dec I would have the dress in the next 10-12 days considering I had paid the rush order.
So I called House of Brides one last time.....and asked them to order my dress, i even emailed karen to do the same. The woman who answered said she was tired of going round and round that they were unable to order the dress and then basically called me a liar, that Bari Jay had not told me any such info.
I asked for a refund, and i called my cc company to dispute the charges.....Then went to a local bridal shop paid an extra 150 dollars and now the dresses will ship to me Feb 4..............
please stay away from these people when they mess up they take no responsibility at all.....
I wish i could sue them in small claims court for the additional money i put out and the pain this was ............
