Bridesmaid dresses

By Linds | March 20, 2008

I ordered Alfred Angelo dresses online from House of Brides. I chose HOB based on their testimonials, however so far I have been unimpressed by their (lack of) customer service and would not recommend them to any of my friends or colleagues getting married. I chose Alfred Angelo dresses because of their reputation for outstanding quality.

Ordering from HOB saved me a ton of money compared to buying them at one of the Alfred Angelo distributors here in Calgary, but it turned out to be a huge fiasco and was not worth the money I saved!

The good news was that the dresses came on time even though I only ordered them 5 months before the wedding. Upon arrival of the dresses, I inspected them for any damages or flaws, as their terms and conditions state. However, I could not try them on since they are not my size. And my bridesmaids were unavailable to try them on at that time.

A month later, when my bridesmaids where available for a fitting, they tried them on and we went to a seamstress here in Calgary to get a quote for alterations since the dresses were slightly large on both the girls.

The seamstress took a look at both dresses and said they were sewn defectively and had they arrived in her store for retail she would have sent them back immediately. The size 2 dress has been sewn will too much fabric in the bust area and is all bunched up and the line
along the chest has been sewn crookedly.

The size 4 dress had one breast cup that has been sewn completely defectively. It has a huge out-jetting of fabric and came to a huge point in the middle. It looks terrible!

With my wedding 3 weeks away, I was in a bind. The seamstress said it will cost me $85 for each dress to fix the imperfections since she will have to pick apart all the seams and re-sew them. She also said it would take her 2 weeks to fix them.

I asked both House of Brides and Alfred Angelo (who passed the buck to HOB) what they could do to help me. I suggested they reimburse me for the cost of the alterations, providing I could send photographic evidence of how bad the dresses were sewn. Or, I suggested they send me new dresses ASAP? This would be a risk as the new ones might have to be altered as well.

This is the reply I received from HOB:
"Return authorizations can only be given within 5 days of receipt of the merchandise. This policy is very strict and there are no exceptions. You have had the dresses so long that Alfred Angelo could not correct any problems within the time frame you have given us.

The average cost for alterations is $80 per dress. $85 per dress is your case is standard in the industry."

Moral of my experience: If you chose to order from HOB, inspect and try on your dresses immediately so that you can return them within 5 days. Also, order them early so that you have time for them to be replaced if they are sewn badly. Another option, order from another company!!!