written by on 14/09/2013
My bridesmaids and I had a difficult time finding dresses offered both in the USA & UK as we are an international group. We finally ended up going for Alfred Angelo (lovely dresses by the way!) and Love Me Do was the 4th shop we visited.
We were initially impressed and so after they took measurements, my 3 UK bridesmaids and I decided we would order through Love Me Do despite the 1 1/2 hour drive from us... instead of going through a shop closer, we wanted to give our custom to the shop we felt deserved it.
However we were very wrong...
The dresses were already quite expensive and when they came back, the girls drove the 1 1/2 hours to the shop to try them on.... and they were ALL way too big!
So here is a summary of our horrible experience from this point onward....
- they tried to get us to use their 'recommended' alteration services.... but all were too far away from us and at this point we did not want to trust a company they recommended
- ALL of the dresses were 1 1/2 to 2 sizes too big as confirmed by the alterations shop near us (the lady was shocked how wrong the sizes were)
- when discussing the matter with staff at Love Me Do, they were defensive rather than helpful and difficult to get consistent information out of; often they contradicted themselves and each other
- when ordering, they quoted sizes that shocked all of us because of how big they were - we compromised and they took them down 1 size but we were still worried they were too big because the dresses the girls tried on in the shop (which fit) were still smaller than those they ordered for us smaller... but we trusted their professional judgement so went with the sizes they recommended - big mistake
- when the dresses arrived they were very wrinkled despite being told they would be fully steamed... the staff finally admitted that the dresses were only partially steamed but still forced my bridesmaids to sign a waiver before they could leave with the dresses - what were they to do.... we live far away and are all very busy professionals so with the wedding date looming they had to take them that day!
- when discussing the 1 1/2 - 2 sizes too big dresses and comparing them to the sizes the girls tried on in the shop, Love Me Do told us that one of the dresses was a 14 like they ordered however I have a photo of my bridesmaid in the dress and of the tag which clearly says size 12
- we asked Love Me Do about helping to cover some of the costs of the alterations since the sizes were so off but that was to no avail - they seemed to forget that customer service is a key foundation to successful business practice
Hence, we recommend never using this shop - though things seem nice there, if you run into an issue the customer service disappears and you will be left a lot more out of pocket than expected.
As rated by our community of reviewers
Lovemedobrides's Comment
Written on: 19/09/2013
As with all reviews, its always a personal opinion, but it is always important to make sure that for the person reading it, that all the information is correct and no bits are left out. i hope in this reply that you can see that we have done everything correct in this case. If anyone has any questions we would be more then happy to answer them for you. Thank you for taking the time to read our response.
All our gowns are priced at Alfred Angelo's RRP, we even price match all our products to ensure you get the best price possible. At no point did this customer mention the price.
We did not try to get them to use our recommended alteration service, most bridal companies tie you into a contract to use their alterations service, we do not! When our customers buy gowns from us we give them a information sheet which has a step by step guide to what happens from when they order to when they take the gowns for the final time. On the reverse of this is a list of Seamstress contact details who are spread through London and the home counties. All our alterations are done at cost price there is no add on for the store, even if the bride chooses to have them done in store rather then going to the seamstresses studios. It does not surprise us that her alteration lady was shocked, she made double the money in the tailoring of them! She is hardly going to say anything different!
Here are the sizes of the girls and here is the sizes of the gowns ordered, and also the notes we sent the bride when she complained, as you can see we have ordered the correct sizes. When the girls were measured, the bride and the bridesmaid were present when choosing the sizes, Not only that but we emailed over the measurements and the sizes options for the bride, who then choose the sizes! If the girls had gone into the sizes that they are now suggesting, then it would have put enormous strain on the zip and seams and would have 100% resulted in the zip or the seams coming open. All gowns will need tailoring to fit correctly, this is common place in bridal and the bride was aware of this.
This bride has also neglected to tell you that one of the girls actually lost quite a bit of weight after ordering!
The dress was pinned at the hip on our sample. The 14 did do up but it was with a little force and our sample would have been tried on, the last thing you would have wanted on your wedding day would be to have the zip to break because it was under pressure. the dress ordered for her is correct, we ordered the dress based on the biggest measurement which was her waist the was 32.5 and the dress on the 16 was 33, her hip was a 42 and the dress is a 43.5 so it would be bigger on the hips. her bust was a 39 and the dress a 40.
Measurements for her
39 bust
32.5 waist
42 hips
Dress for her
40 bust
33 Waist
43.5 hips
The dress she bought was this one [removed] as you can see its a tight fitting dress
[Name removed] dress was pinned at the bust and lower back, she was governed by her hip and waist measurement, her hip measurement was 42/42.5 (is remeasured as a 41 when she was in) the dress is 42 on the hip, her bust was a 37 the dress is a 38.5. her waist was a 31.5 (she remeasured when in at 29.5) the dress is a 31.5.
Measurements
37 Bust
31.5 Waist
42/42.5 Hips
Dress
38.5 Bust
31.5 Waist
42 Hips
This is the dress, as you can see its a tight fitting dress [name removed].
[Name removed] was actually over on her hip into the 13 (hip on this size is a 40.5) as her hip was a 40, the dress ordered was a 40.5 her bust was a 35.5 the dress is 36 her waist was 29/29.5 and her dress was 29 so again she should have gone over to the 13.
Measurements
35.5 Bust
29/29.5 Waist
40 Hips
36 Bust
29 Waist
39.5 Hips
We were not difficult in getting information to the bride or did we contradict ourselves. We emailed over the girls sizes and the gowns sizes so she could see for herself why the gowns were ordered in the sizes she wanted. We don't have any size 12's in the store in bridal or bridesmaids, we pride ourselves that our samples range from 14-24 in store so we can fit arrange of girls, The tag she refers to is a US size not a UK size which we have explained to her. We answered all emails promptly and often out of hours and factually
The girls did try the gowns on in the shop and although a couple of them did do up, the sample gowns would have stretched from trying on and they were very tight! which we explained at the time of ordering, and after when the bride emailed. The bride was also not present at the inspection day. This bride has also contradicted herself in this review by saying that she went with the sizes recommended by us, but then she says in the same paragraph that they took them down a size!
All our gowns are lightly steamed for us to check, its important not to over steam them as they will soften too much and will not hang nicely for the wedding, we then they are sealed back into the bags to protect them. As the gowns will have been handled a lot before the wedding through transporting, storing and alterations we offer a free steam service just before the wedding, if the girls are not local, its normally common practice for the seamstress to do it. All this is again explained in the notes on ordering, and in this case explained in the shop, the bride was particularly keen to know the procedures at the point of sale.
The bride did ask for her alteration costs to be paid, however in this case as you can see from the measurements to what we ordered, we have actually done nothing wrong, so why would we give her money? The cost of the alterations were double the price because she used someone who was very expensive, if she had chosen from our vast list or contacted other people for a quote, she would have been charged the correct amount of money for the right amount of tailoring that would have been needed for the girls.
Customer services is in deed key to a successful business, and as you will see from all the other reviews we have, our brides are very happy. Of course with any business you can never keep everyone happy, especially when someone wants money out of you and you say no, then they write reviews to attack a lovely company which has now been trading for 11 years. The bride is out of pocket because she choose to use an alternative service.
Jax083's Comment
Written on: 21/09/2013
Please note that the alternative alteration service closer to us did not charge any more than the average amount you quoted for your preferred alteration services. You are remembering the total amount I told you for all three dresses; the amount per dress was about the same and we did not pay double.
Additionally, when I spoke to the employees over the phone they told us that it was illegal to tell me or the bridesmaids their sizes when measured the second time. Yet when I called again it was fine to release that information. And the dresses were very wrinkled despite being told they were fully steamed. Only after querying did the employee finally admit to my bridesmaids that they were only partially steamed (not as it was stated in the release form they had to sign when taking the dresses). Also, when the bridesmaids discussed the sizes in shop on pick up and when I discussed them over the phone, the size the dresses are ordered by kept changing. Hence my comment regarding conflicting information.
Furthermore, we did not select the sizes in store; only the measurements were taken on that first visit because we were not sure where we would be ordering them from yet. We decided the final sizes over the phone, not via email. Initially the sizes were even bigger which we were worried about and only after a second phone call did we agree to the sizes you suggested. I did not pick them myself nor did I contradict myself above. We were told one set of sizes. I said that seemed a bit big. The shop phoned back and gave another set of sizes (1 size smaller). We still said we were worried they were a bit big but were told that was normal bridal practice by the shop so we trusted your recommendations. No contradiction there.
Lastly, I feel that it is very unprofessional and inconsiderate to be copying in our personal email correspondence (which includes my bridesmaids sizes) for the public to see. Your response clearly demonstrates the argumentative approach we have faced ever since raising the question of the sizes. Regardless of whether the sizes ordered are correct or incorrect, we have moved past this point and merely want to point out the poor customer service we have received in response to this issue. It is fantastic that other brides have had a good experience with your business. However, when encountering a query from a customer, it is not good practice to become defensive and argumentative as it only exacerbates the situation. We are not money hungry, ignorant customers, just ones that expect good service with a smile. This could have been explained and resolved much more calmly and less defensively with the same outcome and we would have been very happy customers.
Lovemedobrides's Comment
Written on: 24/09/2013
It is not normally our policy to respond a 2nd time on post, but feel it’s important to address your post. It is by no means to distress you or to argue with you, as I agree with you that it can only it is not good practice to become defensive and argumentative as it only exacerbates the situation, however when they do post on a national review site it is important that we put our side of the events on for viewers to make their own opinion.
We have never been argumentative with you, however when you are being accused of a wrong doing, it is natural for anyone to defend themselves.
My apologies for stating that your alteration lady charged you double; this was an error on my part after reading your post. You say that the total for the 3 dresses cost you the same as it would have if you used our seamstress which underlines that the normal amount of tailoring has been done in this case, so really perplexed as to why you would want us to pay for the alteration costs if you thought it would have been the same, and one of your girls had lost quite a bit of weight which you had clearly stated when we spoke.
However I do need to point out to the email conversation we had previously. When initially questioned on the alteration cost
“The alterations costs with us would have been approx £30 each, some less and some a little more depending on the design, but we do ours at trade price, not shop price.”
your reply
“The dress alterations are £170 total not each:
[Name removed] £45
[Name removed] £65 (because of the pockets)
[Name removed] £60 (because of the pleating detail)”
So you can see the prices are not what they would have been if you did them with us.
Because of protection she was correct on this point, however as you had signed the order form and because of the nature of the complaint it was important that we demonstrated the measurements against the sizes ordered, this was cleared with our legal team before I called you.
As for the dresses being partially steamed, I can only go over what we have already discussed over the telephone and on this review, and as per the paperwork given to you with your order. The gowns are partially steamed to ensure that we have checked the fabric, it’s important that the gowns are not fully steamed at this point as you will lose the crispness of the fabric. The gowns are handled a lot before the wedding, so it makes sense to have them steamed fully a few days before the wedding. If you wish to have the gowns fully steamed we would have done so if you had requested it, there is no charge for steaming with us.
Sizes were discussed in the store because I was present to this, we did highlight the fact that one of your bride maids thought the dress was a perfect size and we did say that it was tight to get the zip up and there was overhang slightly. Yes there was another phone call with different sizes because Alfred Angelo had just bought out new sizes, which takes an inch of the bust and puts on the waist and hips making fitting a bit better. At the time of deciding the sizes we did discuss it over the telephone, but you were party to all the information and the choice was yours on what sizes to go for, but you did go with our suggestions which you were correct to do so.
As regard to the fact we have listed the girls sizes, and emails, (we have not printed full names or disclosed email addresses) it was important to demonstrate that we are not at fault here, and this was the only way in doing so. You must remember that if you are attacking someone on a public review site it is natural for the other person to defend their selves.
It is never our wish for any of our customers to feel that they have been treated badly or unfairly, and sometimes it is un-avoidable if the customer truly feels that they are in the right – no one wins in this situation, but it is important for the viewers of these posts to see both sides of the debate.