House of Brides Houseofbrides.com AVOID at all costs, WORST customer service ever, Internet

Young ladies reading this, if you've been contemplating buying from this "company" , PLEASE save yourself unnecessary agony and frustration and don't. No venting here, just clear facts to save you some trouble. After all, the internet is useful to share information and avoid scams and hassles, and horrible customer service.

I'm a guy, and my wife and I bought a Mori Lee wedding dress for my sister-in-law, that she chose. We were advised that the dress cannot be finished in the time frame given (we ordered 15 weeks 3 days before the wedding, and were told that they needed 16 weeks). Fair enough, right? We decided not to reorder again and get a refund. Here are  in plain English 4 reasons why you should NEVER do business with  this company.

1- We were then told that the refund could take 30 days.  Thirty days for a refund is an absolute joke and horrible standard of service. It may very well be legal and in compliance with law (and also listed somewhere in their FAQ's), but you, the customer or anxious bride , deserve much better. Thank God we're well to do, but what if we needed the money to buy a dress from another vendor? You should buy from a vendor/company who values your money and your business, and places some interest in you as a customer, especially in something so sensitive or joyful as a wedding occasion
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2- We were promised that someone will be contacting us within 24 business hours to discuss, and no one did and it has been as of this writing 12 days. Total lack of communication, disrespect to you the customer, is again, in this day and age with infinite choices, competition and variety , absolutely inexcusable. We called again, and again were promised that someone will be in touch. 5 days later, nothing. Any company regardless of the issue at hand or who is at fault that fails to communicate is simply disrespecting you and is unworthy of your business.

3-We found the exact Mori Lee dress (same style and size) at 187 dollars less delivered in 4 weeks only. Self-explanatory. If you feel you want to take a risk with House of Brides because they are "cheaper", please do yourself a favor and think again. I won't post the name of the other bridal store here but to anyone reading this, if you want me to send you the name I will. (I'm not in the business of promoting other stores but specifically to point out why you should not deal with this one)

4- Have you looked at the complaints thread at this site alone? It seems that the above problems especially the lack of communication have been a running theme and not addressed,  save for the perfunctory reply by some PR guy on this site (which per some customers' followup also has not lead to resolution of the problem). This should raise a huge flag

There is a reason I or my wife shop at some stores, and avoid others at all costs. House of brides will never have my business or that of anyone who wishes for half-way decent level of service. I wish I'd stumbled on this site before, then again I'm a dude and last time I dealt with wedding dresses was 8 years ago! I hope this serves as a helpful caution.