House Of Brides - Beware!

I am so sorry to hear that. Did you order the dresses from them online, by phone or from a house of brides store? Thanks Jess

I feel for all of you! My daughter and I were fortunate. I almost went with House of Brides, but in searching the internet I found a terrific site. It is called Elegant Bride. What we did was go to a local wedding shop (NY Bride). The first dress my daughter tried on was the "one". I went to Elegant Bride and we got the dress and the matching veil for almost half price! This is designer gown that came directly from the manufacturer. It did take six months, but that was explained up front and we had plenty of time. You can also order bridesmaid dresses. Just have the designer and the style number. You have to find your own seamstress for alterations but the money we saved on the gown was worth it. She looks like a princess. I can`t say enought about this site!! As for David`s Bridal--here in Syracuse, NY you want to stay away from that store. We did go in there when they were having a sale (I wanted pics for an album of her trying on dresses) We were also looking for bridesmaid dresses. We got minimal attention, even though my daughter was trying on wedding gowns. The selection was poor (found that out from their website) and the minute we weren`t interested in buying a wedding gown the salesgirl was gone. Absolutely no help with the bridesmaid dresses. I have had a bad experience with them before. The store manager is rude and I turned her in to the main office in Albany. They almost had my mother in tears when she went to pick up her dress for my second wedding. I do have to say their seamstresses are fantastic. My mother`s alterations were perfect, but expensive for having bought her dress there. Good luck to all you lucky brides!

While it is true that House of Brides IS listed with the Better Business Bureau (so to calm the nerves of the HOB employee who claims the complaints being made are lies), in my humble experience as a bride and as friend to many brides, the consensus regarding the customer service at House of Brides in Chicago, Schaumburg, and Glen Ellyn has been deplorable. So while it is commendable that HOB has somehow been able to avoid poor representation with the BBB (I would think someone`s palm has been greased), after my personal 8 month history with HOB, I would still do whatever I could to discourage anyone spending a red cent with their organization.

I had attempted earlier to post the long version of my experience, but apparently it was too long (longer than this one, unbelievable!) and generated an "error," so suffice to say that between myself and my bridesmaids, our experiences at the House of Brides Couture on Franklin in Chicago were ridiculous and right out of a bridal magazine horror story.

They ranged from lies about delivery dates (I was told that my dress was four weeks late because it was being made in China, "What with Chinese New Year and everything...." and was later told it was "absolutely shipped" on 5/3/05, only to find that the sales associate had been given the wrong information and it hadn`t been shipped at all....Oh, I could go on and on!), to being mislead about the appropriate size dress to order to extort the cost of alterations (my size 4 bridesmaid was told to order a 12 because of her "hip size," even though the size 10 sample all but fell off of her), to my maid of honor being ridiculed, berated, poked, prodded and accused by the seamstress (my maid of honor was told when her dress had been altered waaaay too tight in the bosom, "It is loose, are you crazy!" though her breasts were squished into her armpits, and "I alter thousands of dresses, are you saying I`m WRONG??" ), topped off with rude service and almost pathological mistruths (I was told by the receptionist--same one who told me about the Chinese New Year--that the $325 flat alteration fee was a "bargain" because she had paid $1500 for her gown alterations--either she`s too rich to work there, stupid, crazy or a liar). I had a good experience working with Carmen (who was subsequently "let go," presumably for using fair sales tactics), the first woman who sold me my dress in the first place (I wish I knew her name), and Ebonie was fairly nice (after I had to harrass the store to get a straight answer, and to try killing everyone with kindness....I had a head full of gray hairs by the time I got my dress!).

The alterations for my bridesmaids who chose to use HOB were messed up (all of them too tight in the bosom, even though they had brought their strapless bras to the fittings; one chose not to wear the bra and was fine, the other had to fight about getting alterations, and the third didn`t try hers on till the wedding day, so found out too late her breasts were squished) and they were overcharged ($75 flat fee in order to alter the dress to their own size they would have ordered in the first place were they not told that "the sample is stretched out" and that HOB "is not responsible if you choose a size we don`t recommend." Which means what? You still have to pay for alterations, so HOB is still not "responsible" when it`s too big!). Plus, the girls were made to come back at least twice before getting a "fitting" with the seamstress to see if they needed alterations in the first place, because the seamstress "didn`t have time" to meet with a bridesmaid if it turned out she didn`t need alterations. How would a bridesmaid know she needed alterations without trying it on? And how much free time might she have on her hands to ensure that she gets in for her alterations in time for a wedding, when the alterations themselves take two weeks??

And I was trying to keep it short!....Anyway, all`s well that end well. Despite the House of Brides` concerted effort to ruin my day (I swear I`m not paranoid!), I was blessed that all the rest of my vendors (photographer, florist, DJ, baker, caterer) were all WONDERFUL (if anyone needs referrals to them I`d give`em in a heartbeat!!), and the independent seamstress who I did use to do my alterations was a sweetheart, did a beautiful job, was trustworthy, quick, and saved me almost $100. So if the only wrench in my otherwise perfect experience of planning my wedding had to be the House of Brides, so be it. I had a beautiful wedding, a beautiful dress, wonderful friends, I danced the night away, and I came home with Prince Charming. So there.

But don`t go to House of Brides.

And another thing (sick of me yet?)....the same dress on their own website (though I had already paid for it) was $1000 cheaper than what I paid in the store! I wish I was exaggerating, because I sure felt stupid. Sure wish I had "done my homework." I was told by a sales associate that was because "Online you don`t get a consultant, and the dress isn`t ordered to your specifications." HA! What consultant is worth $1000 (especially ones who are rude and condescending), and the dress "ordered to my specifications" still needed alterations. Whatta scam. I had to take a deep breath and resign to the fact that I loved my dress, who knows what would have happened had I ordered it online, I was a pretty-pretty princess, and nobody at HOB was going to ruin that for me. But I wanted to scream and pull hair.....theirs, not mine.....

I was just at the store in Oak Lawn! SAME THING! BEWARE OF EVA`s too! I filed a BBB complaint against them same type of experience. I have found all of the bridal stores in IL have sucked! I bought my gown in CA! Saved about 800.00! what a joke!

I bought my dress from one of the House of Brides locations. I must say after hours and days of me trying to decide on my dress, my salesperson at HOB was amazing. She supported me through the whole decision even when I was deciding originally against HOB. She was flexible, supportive, honest and most of all understanding of how big of a decision this is. It is too bad a few people at other locations seem to have given HOB a bad rap. However, like any big company you are going to have those people who aren`t the most helpful or friendliest. That is not always, or necessarily, a direct reflection on the company itself. I`ve had bad days where I`ve probably been the same way towards someone else-- Very good experience...would recommend it.

BRIDESMART in Schaumburg is the WORST service experience I have ever had in my life. They are rude and greedy.

They did not contact me when my dress came in and I even called and they said my dress was not in. The next day they said it was in for two months and threatened collections, and completely misfitted all of my bridesmaids and their store was DIRTY and hot. And the manager was very un-service oriented, rude, would not accept any accountability for her poor service or her staff, and nearly gave away someone else`s dress to one o my bridesmaids after I verbally spoke with her and wrote her.

No deals here, that is for sure. Go to a private shop... You will be better off. None of these big shops are any good.

This contributed to us wanting to elope due to the hassles that BRIDESMART promoted. Bad place to go. DON`T DO IT. They have a horrid reputation in the area.

Hi
Have been reading the other threads with horror as I was about to order my dress on line. I live in england and found the dress I love on HOB on line. Has anyone ordered online and had similar problems?? I suppose there is always a reason something is so much cheaper !!

I tried to go on House of Brides to just check out if they had the bridesmaids dresses I was looking for or any others. The RUDE receptionist would not let me in to even look because I didn`t have an appt. I did not plan on going there and just decided to check it out at the last minute. I was very polite and told her that I did not need any help; I just wanted to check it out. She continued to tell me over and over that it was their "policy" even when I told her that I lived 45 min away and just wanted to look without help. She also told me how there were absolutely no appointments available for that day and that they could not make room. She looked at me like I was crazy when I asked her to let me in. It`s like a freakin` high security headquarters or something! Finally I realized it wasn`t worth trying to convince her when they are so rude and I walked out.

As for Bridesmart, they suck too! I did some price shopping for the flower girl dresses (3) and bridesmaid dresses (6) by calling around. I called Bridesmart 3 times leaving messages where I was promised a call back with the info. The third time I finally talked to the manager, Laura, who assured me how wonderful their service is, that they treat everyone like family and that their prices were the best. Well, they did have the best prices and dumb me, I decided to give them a chance. You sacrifice service to save a measely $30-$50. I made the appt for all `maids to get measured and ordered and that day was pure chaos. We did not get full attention. Laura kept dissappearing and we spent a great deal of time just waiting around. She told me she would call the next day to tell me the order went through and of course I never heard from her. When I called a few days later (yesterday) she was "on a long distance call and would call me right back"... Still haven`t heard from her. THIS IS A MANAGER! I am getting nervous now that the order wasn`t even put through. I am cutting it close--My wedding is May 26--four months and I am very worried that this terrible service will include the dresses not comming in on time. When you spend that much $ you would expect some service. Thank God my wedding dress is from somewhere else.

By the way, my dress is from Kathren`s in McHenry. They are wonderful there!!

Well thank you all for the wonderful information regarding all of those Bridal stores. I`m helping my soon to be sister-in-law with her wedding and the info helps alot. We have not bought or even gone to House of Brides yet and never will. I must say we went to David`s Bridal here in Chicago and the treatment was fenomenal. FYI: David`s Bridal Company just bought After Hours formalwear for men so they are offering discounts and perks! Of course is just a way to attract more customers, women and now men but regardless we had a beautiful experience at the store and my soon-to-be sister-in-law got the princes dress she always wanted. The consultant was honest and direct. Even offered her most sincere comment about a dress that didn`t look right on the bride (Her opinion was so assertive because the dress really didn`t look good on the bride).

And I must say that even though a bad sales rep. Or consultant should not be a direct reflection on the company like in the House of Bride`s case, companies and their human resources are responsible for hiring personnel. The company should assure to hire consultants that are not only good on the $$$ money part but also that possess people`s skills.

House of Brides in Schaunmburg , ****Krys Richards*** she is the salom manager who is most noresponsible for anything of the customer`s care and service and kind of doing descrimination for Asian people. She keeps lying to the customers and finally gave ** SAMPLE** when she knew my orderd stuff did not make on time .
For everyone ** DO NOT GO TO HOUSE OF BRIDE **
**DO NOT TALK WITH KRYS RECHARD **

Just to calm some people`s fears who may have ordered on-line from House of Brides...I ordered from them on March 25, and I just received my wedding dress yesterday. My bridesmaids received their dresses with no problems too. Overall, it was a good experience, especially since I was able to save $300 on my dress alone! While it may be difficult to get ahold of anyone from customer service, once you do, most of the people are really nice and go beyond to help you out. I am very happy with House of Brides online.

I ordered my wedding dress from HOB May 2 and litteraly less than 24 hours later the money was out of my account. I did recieve the first e-mail letting me know that my order was recieved and now when I check it, it says it has been processed however there is no tracking number available. I`ve tried calling the customer service line 3 separate times (once I woke up at 8:45 just so I could call at 9 when it said they are open and was still put on hold for 25 mins and never once spoke to anyone because "they were all assisting other customers".) I have also written several e-mails and all this just to get some confirmation that they have submitted my order to the manufacturer. I still have yet to hear from anyone

For anyone who has ordered their dress online.. Did you even get your dress? Was everything with the dress fine (ie: right size & color... Not dirty, I read on another site that a woman recieved a dirty dress)

I checked the better business bureau before ordering my dress from them and they have a satisfactory rating. After not being able to get ahold of anyone I searched just their name and have found about 150 separate posts with numorous complaints about them. So I`m sitting here in tears wondering how in the world I am going to either get my dress or my money back. I swear that if I do not get either I will be taking legal action (luckly my fiance is a lawyer).
Anyway, if anyone has any information on if they got their dress or how I may go about actually talking to someone I`d appreciate it.

Thanks so much!

As a bridesmaid ordering online from HOB, I know your frustration, Gage. I have tried for two weeks to get a hold of someone at House of Brides (email and phone) to no avail. I got someone to call me back on Saturday, who was reasonably nice, but said that I needed to follow up on my request the following Monday. Yeah, that`s the last time I heard from a live person. This frustration was definitely NOT WORTH the fifteen dollars I saved by not going through the designer directly- 20/20 hindsight...but hopefully someone else reading can avoid a similar experience.

I am about to snap!!! Brides truly beware!! The House of Brides store in Oak Lawn is a joke. The store manager Lucille Smith is a joke and has no concept of customer service or customer satisfaction. I called the store in December of last year to set a date for my girls to go into the store to get measured for their dresses. The associate Alma gives me a date of Feb. 25, 05 to come in to get the dresses back by mid June. Well, today is June 20th, my girls have no dresses and they don’t have a ship date to give me. After calling several times I went into the store and spoke with the Lucille. Lucille who was supposed to return my call twice during the week tells me that my dresses could arrive the second week in July (2 weeks before my wedding). At that point I asked for the corporate office information and she gave me her stores website. I have called this store everyday for the last 4 days and at the end of every conversation I am told that I will get a call back. I have yet to get a call back from a House of Brides representative. My next step is to call a lawyer & the Better Business Bureau. I followed all of their instructions and did what I was told in order to get my girls dresses back as promised by mid-June. Right now I am so outraged that I can see red!!!!

::UPDATE::

Ok so this is a follow up message after my first. I was able to get a full refund not only for me but for all three of my bridesmaids as well. The best thing to do is to call the Glen Ellyn store (you can get the phone number from the better business bureu website) and ask to speak to Joan. If they transfer you to her voicemail hangup and call back and DEMAND to speak to her or to someone of equilivant status. It should work and if all else fails file a complaint with the BBB at www.bbb.org and in the section asking what you would like them to do for you simply say you would like a full refund.

Another quick comment is that my husband actually got in contact with an owner of one of the HOB`s (the HOB Couture) And she said [after gettting over the shock that my husband not only got her home phone number but actually called her] that she is completely ashamed and embarrassed to be associated with them [they are fanchised] but that we would be lucky to get one out of the four dresses we ordered. Then she kindly followed that up with "thats what you get for ordering your dresses online" .. Ha.

Anyway, I hope that all of you that have already ordered your dresses find this helpful. Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful wedding day dispite this awful expierence.
Posted 06/20/06 by Gage

I wish I would`ve done my homework first. After reading the posts here, I was ready to cry. I was shocked tthat so many other people have gone through teh same crap I went through.

I had the same problem, false advertisement from the website and store. They tried to put my girls in dresses like 3 times their needed size, so they could make $$ off alterations. They were rude and arrogant. IMy girls and I went ot the Oak Lawn store and the manager Lucy was a big b!tch and liar.

I sent them a letter. They have one week from teh date I mailed it to reply to me, after that I`m off to teh BBB!!!

BEWARE everyone!!

Actually the HOB chain is not franchised, or wasn`t four years ago...It is very much a family owned business, and unfortunately a family that can not manage money. They take your money, but hold orders, meaning that they use it for what ever in the meantime. Often the delivery dates that are dropped off so close to the weddings are becuause the accounts need to be paid before the designers will ship the dresses out. No matter how wonderful the consultants are, They have very little power when it comes to delivering the gowns. The owners often refuse to help the managers and consultants, and yes, they will often provide a sample if the order is in danger of not coming in due to outstanding bills. I would never reccomend this shop. I know that not every story ends in horror, but there are too many chances to take. Go to a business that KNOWS how to manage their money. Save yourself the headache. There are so many other places to order a dress, why put yourself through the hardship?

I feel like I remember some scandal about a bridal salon in Chicago selling "fakes". Ask the girls on the chicago board on the knot. One of them will remember the store`s name. Although I live in Chicago, I did not dress shop there. I went home to Ohio instead,just to avaiod a potentail bad situation. The thing is, there are so many brides in the city, and people from towns around who will shop and buy from Chicago stores, that the bridal salons dont feel the need to be nice or fair. They get enough business anyways, so a lost sale here or there doesnt even phase them.

My advice, don`t buy in Chicago, if you can aviod it, unless you hear great reviews many times over. I f you find a dress you like or just want to try on, I say go for it, but when it comes time to order, call a more reputable salaon and see if they can order it for you, most will try. Most will also try to price match.

I did have to buy a BM dress form HOB once downtown and they tried to force me to get a 16, when the 10 fit perfect. I told them noway and stuck to my guns. Then they charged me $80 for a hem and shortening the strps a bit. Damn, should have the lady a the drycleaners do it for half. Oh well.

Marian--- can you share the name/phone # of your wonderful independent seamstress? Thanks

Reading your story was like reading my own diary! I was looking for a pink wedding gown (no easy feat!) and phoned ahead to House of Brides who had 5 on their website. They said they had "SEVERAL" pink dresses I could try on, so I made an apoointment. When I got there, they had NO pink dresses, and brought me 3 white dresses with pink on them. They were rude when I insisited on pink, and proceeded to bring me more extremely expensive white dresses, telling me they were "more elegant than pink, which is out of style." My saint of a Maid of Honor found the perfect pink Alfred Angelo dress across the street at Bridesmart. We went in, tried it on and were out in an hour with the reciept for my perfect dress. The salesgirl was very sweet and gave me her full attention with NO ATTITUDE! The store doesn`t look like much from the outside, but don`t let it deter you, I`m glad I didn`t!