Boycott Gown Retailers Who Remove Tags
Hi everyone:
I`m not sure how many of you have come across this phenomenon, but in a couple of the bridal shops I visited, the tags are removed from the gowns and they will not tell you who the designers are.
While one admitted that they remove them, others lied and said the gowns come in like this, and they have no idea who the designers are.
I really feel that this is a very unethical business practice - in some cases, an illegal business practice.
I think it`s very unfair for retailers to do this - it`s apparently to prevent you from shopping around and finding a bargain at another shop. One shop I visited in Halifax claims that `they will not knowingly be undersold." But of course there`s no way for you to prove that you found the gown cheaper elsewhere, as the shop won`t tell you who the designer is.
This is simply wrong. After all, if I`m going to drop $800 - $1200 on a dress, shouldn`t I have a right to know who made it before I lay my money on the table?
As a consumer, I feel that I have a right to shop around all I want. Retailers have no business preventing me from doing so.
And so, I`ve made a concious decision to not purchase ANYTHING from a retailer who does this.
Let`s talk with our money and tell these retailers that if they aren`t going to tell us who made the gown, we`re just going to go shopping somewhere else!
K
Posted by Kimberly; updated 03/11/03
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I applaud you for your comment and I`m anxious to see how many other people feel the same way!
Recently I went to Cincinnati Bridal and Formal, my first time in a large bridal store such as this and was amazed at how these bridal stores work. For starters, I knew the designer of the dress that I wanted but couldn`t remember the dress`s name. I asked my "personal consaltant" if I could see a book and point out the dress (this stores claims to have over 3000 dresses in the store, there is no way, with not tags, I would ever find it) and she told me that it was against store policy to show me but if I described it to her, she would go look and let me know if they have it. It was ridiculous. I had traveled nearly 3 1/2 hours to get to this store and was very disappointed in the attitude I was given every time I asked who made a gown that I liked. We were also told that no pictures could be taken of me or anyone else in any of the gowns until "the gown" was paid for and purchased. This leaves no room for taking the pictures home and getting the opinion of other friends or family. After spending several hours there, I left from sheer exhaustion, feeling like I traveled all that way for nothing. In the future I will be going to my local, hometown bridal stores, where I can sit down and look through their books, try on their gowns and know who made them. It just makes sense...
I understand the reasoning behind this for each store that finds this practice as "good business"...but weddings are stressful and personally, I just don`t need the stress.
Mandy
Posted by Mandy; updated 03/12/03
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In addition, I`m making it a point to find the dress I really like at their shop, waste as much of their time as possible, then order it from someone else.
Spiteful aren`t I? :)
PartyPop removed some of my earlier comments on this particular shop (called WInchester`s) because I apparently need to have a vendor`s membership to mention their website by name. So oh well. This shop also refused to honor a coupon, saying it was only for store stock, even when they had told me three weeks before that store stock was ALREADY discounted by this amount!
So, since these folks aren`t doing an ethical business, I`m not going to act ethically toward them either.
K
Posted by Kimberly; updated 03/14/03
