House of Brides Couture

Reviews 3

AM

Amanda Mattefs

Id first like to clarify that this is the address listed for the ONLINE House of Brides Store.. this review is NOT for the physical store. ONLINE ONLY. I was shopping for bridesmaid dresses in my local area, and found exactly what I wanted. Thankfully, House of Brides ONLINE had those SAME dresses for about $100 cheaper then in a different local independent shop! SCORE! So, I placed the order in the middle of May, with a timeline of 3 months- plenty of time before my November wedding. I was expecting them to be here in the middle of August. Welp, I was wrong. Not only were they not here in the middle of August, they JUST got here a couple of days ago. Over a month 1/2 late, with no update via email, call, telegram, ANYTHING. First I tried the online customer service chat feature back in August... 4 different times. I tried talking to someone during their "open" business hours and nobody answered- even after I had submitted my question via email. NOTHING. So I decided to call to see what was going on... which ended up being a total of 3 times over the course of the month to find out where the dresses were! On the first call I made, they were "coming soon". On the second call, the rep told me "your wedding isnt until November, and you only need 2-3 weeks before a wedding to alter a dress"... ummm, EXCUSE ME? Im not calling to get advice about alterations, Im calling to find out why my dresses are late, thanks. Then on the third call, the woman finally tells me that the dresses were delayed, and thats why its taking so long. That would have been VERY nice to know 3 calls ago so I wasnt wasting my time continuing to call back. Then, they finally were "shipped", so I was in the clear.... NOPE. I figured they were being manufactured and SHIPPED from China or somewhere over seas because it took over 2 weeks to ship them... from CALIFORNIA to Illinois. Funny thing is, Im here in California, why couldnt they just SHIP them here to me? Anyway- logistics isnt my thing, I digress on that point. Continuing on... when they got to the warehouse in IL, they still hadnt shipped, so I called back again to find out why and the lady said that they needed to "inspect" them. "How long does inspection take?" I asked.... "I have no clue" the rep said... WHAT? Doesnt this happen with EVERY SINGLE DRESS ORDER YOU GET? How can you not know? UGH. End Rant. My experience, to say the least, was frustrating and I wont ever order from them again nor recommend them to my friends. The only reason I gave them 1 star is because, I have to give them at least 1, and the dresses are beautiful... so that deserves at least a star. Really, truly, be careful ordering from them online!

AR

Ariana Palacio Marmol

As a plus size bride I didnt think I would find anything! I went here without an appointment on a Sunday. I would have to say that my personal experience here was GREAT!! Now also keep in Mind that I went in having just gotten engaged the weekend prior and am planning to get married within 3 months, so in order for me to have a dress ready in such short notice it was going to be close to impossible without either having to buy a store sample or have a super super fast rush order.... I had previously read several bad reviews on this place, but they were great with me. Since Im "plus size" I went in with only the intention to get a feel for what type of dress I wanted and was NOT going to buy anything BUT walked out happy as can be! Now since I didnt have an appointment scheduled and was just a walk-in they did let me know that they were very busy but would have a consultant for me as soon as one was available. I really liked that, it gave me the time to look around and get a feel for the style of dress I wanted for my wedding. I identified a few and kept looking around which was great! I hate being hounded and followed around by sales people!!!! Now once there was a consultant available for me she came and greeted me and was just lovely!! She was so helpful and helped me pull the dresses I wanted to try on. I semi had an idea of what kind of dress I wanted so I tried on 2 of them, unfortunately neither fit well or looked good on my body type :( .. So she took one more look at me and brought me a a few dresses she thought I would love, I tried the first one which she informed me was a brand new floor sample and sure enough THIS WAS THE ONE!! I fell in love with this dress! It fit me like a glove! This was only the 3rd dress I had tried on and I knew it was it! I still tried on 2 others 2 make sure but I kept going back to this one. It was perfect!! Now my dress originally was just over $1500 but there was a sale going and she knocked off $300 off my dress! My original budget was about $800 and since I was going way over my budget she gave me the option of paying 75% of the total cost and having them hold it until I could come in and pay the rest! I have yet to pick up my dress but will do so this weekend, Im really hoping things continue to go as well as they have. House of Brides made it possible for me to have my dream dress!

MA

Mariel Curran

BEWARE HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!! I will say that the store does have a good selection and variety. However, that really cant make up for the serious lack of any type of customer service. My 6 bridesmaids ordered their dresses there. Their payment options are miserable - you are charged extra for paying via debit card. The bridesmaid of mine that decided to pay via debit card, was charged 2 times. The first time they swiped it, they claimed it didnt go through "due to bad weather" (REALLY?!?!). So then they swiped it again without asking. My bridesmaid was charged 2 times. We were told that 1 of the charges would just go away. It never did. So when my bridesmaid called back to inquire as to why, they told her that there was nothing they could do about it. When she asked if they could reverse the charge, they said that it was impossible and that she would have to file a claim with her bank (which we all know takes at least 2 months to see any money). As if this isnt ridiculous enough, when I asked if they could at least comp the bridesmaids alterations, they flat out refused. My bridesmaid was out an additional $180 for 2 months because of THEIR MISTAKE...THAT SHE HAD TO FIX ON HER OWN...and they couldnt even throw in an alteration for free??? Thats crazy. Also, trying to get a hold of anyone there is next to impossible. They have a phone queue that loops you around so that you can never actually speak with a live human. And when you finally reach someone, they put you through to another person who never answers and you are forced to leave a voicemail that is never acknowledged or returned. I have missed 2 phone calls from them that I promptly return. When I call the number back it says I have reached the Order Message Center and that no one can answer. Of course, it prompts me to leave a voicemail. So when that gets me nowhere, I call the main number and they seem to have no idea who called me or why. The one woman I spoke with told me that it might be them letting me know about a sale going on!??! I DONT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ANY SALES! WE ALREADY ORDERED THE DRESSES! We ordered them in March, it is now June and I still havent heard ANYTHING about the status of our order. I rarely leave feedback for things. But I feel so strongly about this, I feel that I should warn people to stay away.