Wedding World, Kaufman's Wedding World ripoff--prom dress promised, not delivered, money not refunded Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

My daughter's Senior Prom was on April 24, 2004. On March 5, 2004, I ordered a prom dress from Wedding World's McKnight Road store to be delivered for the week before April 17. The sales clerk and I agreed that it would be wise to order it for delivery one week early so that there would be enough time for alterations. I was told by the sales person that dresses were received in the order of prom dates, regardless of when they were ordered.

On March 19, I received a phone call from the McKnight Road store informing me that the dress could not be guaranteed to arrive for the week of April 17, but probably could be delivered by the next week. I was asked to have my daughter choose an alternate dress, just in case the ordered dress did not arrive. We came in on March 22 and picked out a back-up dresswhich had a stain and several loose beads. I was assured that the stain would be removed and the beads reattached. The store clerk told me that she would call me within three days to let me know whether the original dress would be delivered on time. I was never contacted.

I made a number of phone calls to the store to check on the dress. I was told that it was not possible to know whether a dress would be delivered on timejust wait and see. The clerks were not permitted to call their home office or the manufacturer. And, because there is no computer system, they could not check the status of the order at all.

I followed the clerk's advice and set up an appointment with the seamstress at the store for April 21three days before the prom, to alter whichever dress we ended up with. When my daughter and I arrived for the appointment, we were informed that our appointment had been set up for the week before, but that we could be squeezed in. The alternate dress was brought out because they said that the ordered dress had not arrived. The stain was not removed and the beads were not fixed on the alternate dress.

Just then, a gentleman was carrying new dresses into the store. We saw the dress that my daughter had ordered being brought into the store. However, when the sales clerk checked the paperwork, we were informed that the dress could not be sold to us because it had been ordered by someone else. The order date for the other customer was March 6 (the day after our order) for a prom on May 15 (three weeks after my daughter's prom). The bottom line is that six frustrating weeks after we ordered a dress from Wedding World, my daughter was left without a prom dress--three days before the Senior Prom.

To add insult to injury, I was told that I could not have a credit to my credit card. I would need to wait 2-3 weeks for a check from the home office. I have now waited the five weeks. No check has arrived. On April 21, 2004, I sent an email to Wedding World's customer service department explaining the situation. On May 11, 2004, I left a message on Their customer service telephone line. On May 12, 2004, I sent a letter to Ms. Margaret Kaufman, the owner of the chain of stores. No response from anyone.

Besides the disappointment and frustration that this situation has caused us, we were forced, at a very busy time in our lives, to run around to stores in search of another prom dress--looking like fools who had procrastinated until the last moment.

Needless to say, this far into the prom season, there was very little selection left in the stores. I was forced to pay overnight shipping fees for a dress from another store. There was no guarantee that the dress would fit, so I would have to find a seamstress willing to alter a dress in one day & then to pay extra rush fees to have the alterations done the day before the prom. In addition, we had to return the accessories that I
had purchased to match the dress ordered from the Wedding World store--then I had to hurry around trying find accessories to match the new dress. Then, my daughter had to call her prom date and have him call the florist to change the color of her flowers. Further inconvenience and embarrassment.

I paid for the original dress in full on March 5, 2004. My credit card was charged on that date. No dress was delivered to us. Then on April 21, 2004, I was told by the store representative that I must wait 2-3 weeks to receive a refund from the main office. I have waited five weeks. I have not received a check or a credit to my credit card. There is no way to get in touch with the people who control the money at this company. I believe that these are deceptive and fraudulent business practices.

Linda
Wexford, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.

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