Complaint Review: Exclusives for the Bride

My fianc and I came into this store on January 24, 2001 for a 5:00pm appointment to purchase a wedding gown. My Salesperson, Muriel, was focused and helpful. We decided on a dress and then inquired how quickly it could be delivered, and whether a rush' charge would be due. Nancy said that she would call the designer right now to find out if delivery was a problem. She came back and said that it was not a problem. I asked where the designer, Lazaro, was located, and was told that it is located in New York. (It would have been 7:00pm in New York at that time.) When we asked again, Are you sure it's not an issue? We will be traveling for business and if we can't have the dress in that time frame, we will pursue other options. Nancy was emphatic that there would not be a problem, and that Lazaro said that the dress would be ready in 8-10 weeks. Again, we asked whether that was definite, and asked if she would call the following morning to confirm, at a time when the full Lazaro staff would be in. Nancy repeated that they have worked with this designer and they already told her, this evening, that it would not be a problem.

We then asked again about the rush charge, as we had heard that it can be as much as $600.00. Both Nancy and Muriel told us that the rush charge would be waived if we bought the gown that evening. We gave a deposit of $1900, under the condition that the gown was delivered in 8-10 weeks, as we needed to have it by mid-to-late March. Nancy repeated that it was not a problem, that she is the owner of the shop and she would make sure that this occurred.

Muriel then offered to order a swatch from Lazaro, so that I could begin to shop for shoes until the dress arrived in March. She told us that it would take 2-3 weeks.

Monday morning 2/26/01
After 4 weeks had passed, I had not received a swatch from Exclusives, nor had I received a phone call. I called at 10:00 am on Monday February 26, 2001 to inquire about the swatch. I spoke to Muriel, who was surprised that I had not received the swatch. She asked me to hold while she went to pull my file (I actually heard her ask someone for the file and then thank them upon receiving it). She told me that she didn't know why I had not received anything yet. She said she would order it today (I thought it already was ordered?!). I then asked her if there was also a delay on the dress. She said, No, the dress should be here in May. I almost dropped the phone. May? It was supposed to be March. There was a RUSH on it. She said, No, there's no rush on the order, I'm looking right at it. It was ordered two days after you were in. I said, Wait a second, could you be looking at the wrong file? She said, No, this is you, and confirmed my address and personal information. I reminded her that this was ordered as a RUSH, and that she and Nancy had told us that dress would be delivered in 8-10 weeks. Muriel said, Oh, no, we would never say that! These dresses take 20 weeks at a minimum, even a rush order is a minimum of 15 weeks. HUH? I reminded her that those were not the conditions by which we purchased the dress, and this new ship time was not acceptable for us we would never have purchased the dress in the first place! Muriel told me that there wasn't anything she could do. I asked to speak to Nancy. Nancy was not in, so I left a message for her to call me.

Monday Afternoon 2/26/01
I called Exclusives again on Monday afternoon, as I had not heard back from Nancy and was extremely nervous about this new information. It was as if you were playing Bait and Switch by promising one product to procure the sale, and then delivering another after you receive a 50% deposit. I was told that Nancy was not in. I called three more times on Monday, and was told that Nancy had been in, but is no longer there, and that no one was aware of when she would return. Meanwhile, I had detrimentally relied on Exclusives' promise to deliver, when apparently; you never had any intention of complying with our agreement.

Tuesday Morning 2/27/01
Having not heard back from Nancy, I began calling her again first thing on Tuesday morning. I left several messages with the receptionist at Exclusives. I finally reached Nancy at approximately 12:30pm. I told her what Muriel had told me, and that this was not acceptable for us, as we purchased the dress in good faith of her promise of 8-10 week delivery. Nancy's response was, How would Muriel know? She is a salesperson, she does not place the orders. I told her that I couldn't know that, that Muriel is her agent, and what reason did she have to lie? She was reading from the file. Nancy told me not to worry, she would call Lazaro right now and confirm the delivery date, and call me right back. I told her I needed something in writing from the designer confirming the delivery date.

Tuesday Afternoon 2/27/01
The business day ended, I had still not heard back from Nancy! I called numerous times, but was told she was not in.

Wednesday 2/28/01
I called Exclusives throughout the day, looking for Nancy and her promised response from the designer. I never reached her, nor did she call me, as she had promised 2/27/01.

Thursday 3/1/01

I continue to call Exclusives. No Nancy. At 12:30, I called and cancelled a headpiece/veil appointment that I had scheduled a month prior. I'm going to pay them another $1000.00 to hear more lies???? The owner hasn't even called me back, as she had promised to do days earlier!

Approximately one hour later, I received a voice mail message from Nancy. The message stated that she spoke to Lazaro and that the dress would be in on April 28 or so, but that she couldn't give me anything in writing because it had the store's account information on it and that is private information. IT CANT BE COVERED UP TO FAX? She also stated that 8-10 weeks is never possible, the best they can ever do is 12 weeks minimum.

It seemed that now the Owner, in addition to the salesperson, was calling me a liar, and insulting my intelligence, and my integrity. Meanwhile, WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU SAY AT THIS POINT? YOU DENY THAT YOU PROMISED THE DRESS WOULD BE DELIVERED IN 8-10 WEEKS!!!!

My fianc called Nancy at 4:30pm to tell her that April 28 was unacceptable particularly without any proof that it was a firm date. He reminded her that the transaction was predicated on the fact the dress would be delivered in 8-10 weeks. Nancy told him that she would have never promised that all dresses take 20 weeks. So now you are calling me a liar? My fianc asked. She told him that well, no but that it wasn't possible, and anyway, it doesn't matter, because we have a contract, which does not allow for cancellations. She then insisted that per the fine print of the sales order, she has until the date of the wedding to deliver the dress! So you are saying that what you tell the customer is irrelevant? He told her that the order, under her new conditions, was unacceptable and that it is cancelled. She responded that there are no cancellations, and that we had no choice but to accept her terms. He told her that we had already notified VISA of the cancellation, and that he was doing her the courtesy, as one retailer to another, of notifying her immediately, so that she did not get stuck with the dress from the manufacturer. Nancy responded, Oh no, it is you who is stuck, because if we did not comply with her new terms she would take legal action against us.

This bridal shop would not take our phone calls, did not call us back with the promised answer for 4 days, and then insulted us and threatened to sue us!


Bottom Line: Nothing stopped this woman! She has VISA convinced that there is a no cancellations policy that I was aware of. I told VISA that I did not got a dress, because they told me it wouldn't be in until May, which would be too late! VISA said that the merchant keeps fighting it, and cannot do anything unless I have the promised delivery date in writing, which of course I don't. Who is thinking about getting ripped off when buying their wedding dress????
So she now is getting away with charging me $1900 for a dress I didn't get!!!!!