Bridesmaid dress debarcle

[V8]

Hey everyone

Just wondering i am a bridesmaid for a wedding in 5 weeks, we ordered our bridesmaid dresses in about August i think, there are 5 bridesmaids and we have just tried them on and none of them fit us!! The one i tried on in the store fit fine, just needed some minor altering, but otherwise fine. I have also lost nearly 10kg since trying the dress on so figured i'd have to take it in a bit, turns out when i tried the dress on, it doesn't even zip all the way up!! :banghead: I am so so very mad, the dress cost us $350 each and that was after they discounted it from $390, plus when we rang to tell them she basically said that that happens all the time and they have a seam allowance and to get it altered, i'm worried we go to the expense to get it altered and they still don't fit! Surely they should have fit in the first place!! So now we are all meeting at a dressmaker's house next week to see what can be done, but i am very annoyed that all the store did was palm us off to a dressmaker, the wedding is in 5 weeks, and none of us have a dress that fits! I am so very annoyed at this and the lack of service, is there anything we are entitled to, or do we just have to lump it? Anyone had a similar issue, we are so mad about it!

Thanks for any help. :)

[Pregnor]

Thats so wrong... I would totally go bridesmaid-zilla on them! If there is seam 'allowence' (which in itself seems odd) then they should have warned you... and you would think that after losing 10kg (congrats BTW!) you should be well inside said allowence, as that would be a huge discrepancy. $350 is a lot of money for a dress you arent going to wear again, you would at least like it to fit in the first place!

Maybe try threatening to go to fair trading?

[NibbleCurlynBub]

You should have received dresses the same size as the ones you ordered.
The ones you tried on in the shop should be the same size as the ordered ones.

THEY should be the ones to calculate the seam allowance, not you!!

I would be taking them all back to the shop and explaining that if you order a dress in a particular size, you expect it to be delivered in that exact size.

Certainly sounds like a problem with the place you brought them from, they should be prepared to take responsibility for their own mistake.

[treasurehim]

Hey everyone

Just wondering i am a bridesmaid for a wedding in 5 weeks, we ordered our bridesmaid dresses in about August i think, there are 5 bridesmaids and we have just tried them on and none of them fit us!! The one i tried on in the store fit fine, just needed some minor altering, but otherwise fine. I have also lost nearly 10kg since trying the dress on so figured i'd have to take it in a bit, turns out when i tried the dress on, it doesn't even zip all the way up!! :banghead: I am so so very mad, the dress cost us $350 each and that was after they discounted it from $390, plus when we rang to tell them she basically said that that happens all the time and they have a seam allowance and to get it altered, i'm worried we go to the expense to get it altered and they still don't fit! Surely they should have fit in the first place!! So now we are all meeting at a dressmaker's house next week to see what can be done, but i am very annoyed that all the store did was palm us off to a dressmaker, the wedding is in 5 weeks, and none of us have a dress that fits! I am so very annoyed at this and the lack of service, is there anything we are entitled to, or do we just have to lump it? Anyone had a similar issue, we are so mad about it!

Thanks for any help. :)

Sounds exactly what happened to us! wasnt in Perth by any chance was it?

[V8]

Thanks everyone, am so mad, went to another shop today same name store different location and they were more helpful and said it can be altered but it needs to be taken out about 4 inches in the back and taken in at the bust, and hemmed all up looking at $170 to alter the dress, so that means the price of the dress is now $520!! Very unhappy! We are seeing a dressmaker on Tues to decide what to do, it's too late to order any other dresses and i feel the lady should pay for the altering or at least contribute no way should we be out of pocket, and if we are not happy with what she says we will take it further i think to me it's just unacceptable.

Thanks for the congrats on my weightloss Felicity, though this stress isn't helping me maintain or lose any more weight! lol

[meggs11]

Consumer Affairs - write to the store and tell them and forward it to CA - that is **** - they haven't given you what you paid for......

[angelickaren]

its makes me so angry i think customer service is gone and dusted my wedding is in 22 days and yeah i had the same problem with two of my girl dresses and they fixed one straight away which was great but 1 of the dresses is STILL not here and my wedding is 22 days away i rang them tuesday and they just said we will ring when it gets in i said err no its not good enough i need to know when to book it in with my dress maker as she gets booked up easy and they repley was dont worry it will be here

grrrrrrrr
all i can say it blo#$Y well be here or im going to go bridezilla on them :devil6:

[PookieLady]

Vee thats just bull ****, there is no way i would stand for that. you paid for dresses that fit and thats what you should get. If they are not specially made once she should be able to get more in b4 the wedding, 5 weeks is plenty on time. make a big complaint to whoever you can, name n shame i say lol. is it a chain store?? take it to the company not just the store mananger.
Man id be a super bridezilla about this, its a tad different when one doesnt fit compared to them ALL not fitting. however this happened at my wedding and 2 girls swapped dresses and it made a big different but the 3rd had to hold her breath for most of the ceremony lol. come the reception she had a zipper undone lmao. We still have a good ol laugh about today.
Hope something works out

[V8]

Meggs - Is consumer affairs the same as like the office of fair trading? Cause if we get no joy we are definately going further up to complain! :D

Angelickaren - How can they be so blase about someone's wedding i just have no idea, weddings are stressful and notoriously expensive, like people need to be stuffed around even more hey! I hope your other bridesmaid gets her dress back very soon so they can alter it, it's so frustrating hey!

Sarah - I am pretty ropeable, it is kinda a chain store but each arae owned independantly there is one store the same in Chermside the abbreviation is HIH If that makes sense, anywho they were nice at Chermside but the sunny coast one where we bought them are just not coming to the party to try and help us out. Mum is fuming, she rang the head office and spoke to the Managing Director, he was very non-committal with what they would do about it, all he said was take it to their dressmaker where she will measure it to see if it matches with what their sizes should be. If it doesn't they haven't said what they would do, just have to wait and see what the dressmaker says. I am just so utterly angry they have no idea what a rigmarole this whole thing is.

Really am just looking forward for the whole thing to be over now rather than actually being excited and looking forward to it, which is really upsetting as i should be enjoying it with my friend not having these things to deal with.

Thanks for letting me vent ladies i appreciate it. :hugs:

Treasurehim - Nah it was on the sunny coast.

[V8]

Well thought i would quickly update. Turns out the bridesmaid dresses were made incorrectly, they were 2 inches too small around the back, so the store are prepared to pay for the alterations we need which means we have to get a lace in back, which is annoying as we will now look different, but we still have to pay for the other alterations, so only $70 which is fine for the hem and bust alteration. So yeah, least it's something, so over it! lol

[Chunkydunks]

Being a dressmaker myself I get so irate hearing things like this. Its not that hard to check and check again when making things up. And 2 inches is a huge difference. The should have been able to notice that when looking at the dress.

[V8]

I think they send the details offshore and get them made in china or somewhere really cheap, so it would be pretty easy to stuff it up i reckon, but still doesn't make me any happier! lol

Thinking about what to do with the dress when i'm finished, if i were sewing machine savvy (and if i had one) i'd cut the dress to bits and make cushions out of it or something! lol