House Of Brides - Beware!

For all you soon to be brides out there, a warning goes out to anyone shopping at any House Of Brides store in Chicago, IL. They also have a website, boasting "the world`s largest bridal mall". Let me tell you that this was the absolute worst shopping experience I had ever had in my entire life! The website has very, very good prices on nearly all designer wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. I printed out a copy of the bridesmaid and flowergirl dress I intended to order and took it to the store in Schaumburg. I wanted five bridesmaid dresses and two FG. The snotty receptionist told me the dresses were ugly and gave me a quote $100 per dress higher than the website. She also could not guarantee me shipping, and told me that she had never even seen their very own website. Their wedding dresses were dirty, and the consultant offered me a slip so dirty I would not let it touch my skin. After an hour of being treated rudely, I left. The consultant never once attempted to help me with anything, even though I had made my appointment six weeks in advance. Everyone at the store was extremely rude and arrogant. Unfortunately I drove four hours to get to the store. The great thing is, I found my dress the same day at the BrideSmart across the street. When I got home, I looked on the Better Business Bureau`s website and was appalled at all of the complaints all five stores had lodged against them. One store had even closed down after 111 complaints in 18 months!! So brides, beware of this store and their website! The website is merely a ploy to get you into the store where the dresses are much, much higher priced. And the way the consultants and other workers treat people while they shop for the "happiest day of their life" should not be tolerated. Good luck to all of you, and don`t visit those stores!!
Posted by jodi; updated 12/12/08

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I ordered a dress with Houseofbrides.com back in August, 2008, with a shipping date to them of mid November. December came and still no updates, so I started calling them. I called 3 times in 2 weeks, and was told to quit calling them everyday and harassing them with this problem. I asked to speak to someone higher up, and was told it was simply not allowed. They told me to email them instead, something I had already done as well, with no results. My wedding is now in two months, and it would still have to be delivered to me in canada after they receive it there. So If I dont hear anything by the end of December (6 weeks after their delivery date promise) I guess I will more or less kiss my money goodbye, and purchase a second dress. I will keep this updated if something changes!!! GRRRRRR
Posted by Julie; updated 12/12/08