we all know i'm losing weight. i went into the first appt making everyone fully aware of this fact. they sized me and strongly pressured me to buy the size that would fit my measurements at that time, overemphasizing that it wouldn't be a problem at all to alter it once it go here. the dress came in in only 3 weeks, a full month ahead of schedule, so we scheduled my first fitting for last night.
enter the scam.
when you order, you have to sign this document that states which dress your ordering, what size you're ordering it in, and color. under all this descriptive crap is the following paragraph:
ALL SALES ARE FINAL. No refunds, returns or exchanges.
Deposits and payments are non-refundable. Our staff will assist
in determining your size, but you, the customer are ultimately
responsible for the size we order.
did i read this the first time? no, not really. you tell me a bride that would! i just found the dress of my dreams. you could take a kidney in exchange for it and i probably wouldn't pay attention. if you have to have this particular statement in a document you make your customers sign not just once, but THREE times, you're scamming folks.
well, of course by the time i get there last night i'm down a full 8 lbs from the time i ordered the damn thing. the result - they have pinned my dress (with me in it), taking in a full inch on either side all the way to the floor. plus they've pinned the length. well, that was a shit-ton of pins. so i asked the alterations lady (for the 3rd time) if it wouldn't just be easier to order the next size down? "oh no, we can just take it in, it won't be a problem." i get out of the dress and come back out to find my seamstress lady doing some paperwork. i ask her how much this is going to cost. mind you, the fucking dress cost $500 to begin with. she hands me the requisition: $344 for alterations. $110 alone for taking it in on the sides. um, no. big problem with that. she proceeds to tell me that since i'm still losing weight, they'll just leave the dress pinned where it is now, and i'll come back in on 2/1/12 for the final fitting. then she'll start cutting and sewing. it doned on me later that this is an additional scam. they're taking my money now for alterations they won't even do for 2 months. however, when i come back in 2 months, i have zero doubt in my mind that if they have to move the pins in even further, they'll find a way to charge me even more all over again.
i took my requisition to the front where a lovely large black lady was waiting for me. i looked at her and said "ok, now can we talk? i mean, no bullshit, just talk?" of course she said sure. i asked her what the big problem was with ordering a size down. she gave me bullshit. i asked her to please look how long it'd take to order the next size down and get it in. after looking in some binder that probably had pictures of some chicken wings on it, she told me "it'll arrive here mid-March." um, no. this one took 3 weeks from order to arrival. she looked on the computer and told me indeed it'd take another 3 weeks to order. but that was it. no "would you like me to order it? would you like me to look into it?" nada. i then informed her that i wouldn't be able to pay the $344 until the next day, and that i'd call with all my card info. yeah, i couldn't leave the store without signing an authorization sheet for the credit card. i signed it. you better believe i put a stop payment for $344 this am when my bank opened up.
so i'm screwed. i now have a dress that will be a total 2 sizes too big come february. they prey on brides and it's very disturbing. i now realize that it's just like a car dealership, but with more fat and bad makeup. they don't really make a lot of money on the dresses themselves. they make their money in alterations. because they charge you roughly the cost of your dress to alter it. it's a racket. and it really gets me.
so, my new plan is to find someone i actually like to do the alterations on my dress. anyone know of anyone out here in LA for alterations?
i go pick up the dress tonight. luckily i wore my ironman neon red kswiss tennies for the event. watch the 10 o'clock news, might be interesting...
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