First Bridezilla moment?

[NakedFinger]

Ok so i think I had my first twinge of "Bridezilla-ness" and its still bugging me. I dont know if I was being a b*tch or if my aggravation is justified.

I set up an 3:00 appt at a very high end elegant bridal boutique (wont name names though), with the expectation that its reputation would proceed itself and the customer service would be outstanding. I rarely get off on a Sunday in my line of work, so when the rare occasion happened that I was actually off this past Sunday, I jumped at the chance to get an appointment and get everyone together. I got my mom, sister (MOH), little sister (flower girl) and FMIL together to go shopping and then out to dinner afterward.

A few days before the appointment I was on their website, and noticed they closed at 4pm. Knowing how irked I get when I have people show up right as I am about to leave for the day, I called the boutique and said "I scheduled an appointment for 3pm, and I noticed that you guys close at 4pm. So I just wanted to make sure I'm not going to get kicked out at 4pm, because if so then I will book another day/time". The woman on the phone said "oh no no, absolutely not! You're fine, dont worry". So I said ok and went.

So we went, Im trying on dresses, and I'd put a dress on and walk out to show everyone, have the dress on for like 10 seconds and the attendant would be like "ok next one!". So I think "ok well maybe she can just tell I dont like it and doesnt want to waste time on a dress I dont like" so I let it slide. But then she did it with every single one, even ones I really liked and wanted to accessorize etc. I get through all the dresses, and put the one I liked the most on again, walk out, and my mom isnt there. So then she comes back and says " I had a bunch more for you to try on and all of the employees over there told me I had to put them back and you couldnt try on any other dresses because they are closing".

Needless to say, I was pissed. So I go to the dressing room to put my clothes on and they turn off the music playing and start turning off lights, etc. I was so pissed I stormed over to the desk and complained (takes a lot for me to complain to people). I told them if they just told me I was limited to an hour, I wouldnt have bothered. But I got everyone to come, drove 45 minutes to get there, was going to do flower girl dresses, MOB/MOG dress, Bridesmaid dresses, the works! t was a royal waste of time and now I am so aggravated with them, I'm not buying my dress there anymore. And I can appreciate them wanting to get out of there on time, but if thats the case, THEN TELL ME!!

Ugh, sorry vent over.

Am I overreacting??

 

[meresal]

Not a Bridezilla at all. I used to manage a bridal salon, and our latest appt was ALWAYS 1.5 hours before closing time. We never took appointments any closer.

You need to call back and speak with the management. At least, I would.

 

[princesss]

I'd be mad, especially because you specifically ASKED about this situation.

Based on this, if it were me, I would not give them my business. You asked a straight-forward question, were given an incorrect answer, and then treated poorly because the SA/person answering the phone screwed up. Not cool.

ETA: And I agree with Mere that I would calmly let management know what the problem was, especially if you have names. They need to know what's happening, otherwise it'll never get better.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

i agree with meresal, that is ridiculous! I would call and speak to management.

1. they should have been up front with you when you asked over the phone
2. they shouldn''t have rushed you out. even if they wanted to close, there is a much better and more graceful way to handle that.

personally, if I am going to pay high-end prices (or even consider high-end prices) I want high-end treatment. that does not include being pushed out the door!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I don''t think you''re being a bridezilla at all! I think your annoyance and disappointment is totally justified and we''d all be feeling the same way if we were in your shoes. I second the suggestion of calling and speaking to the manager and reiterating that they lost THOUSANDS of dollars in business because of this.

 

[BeachRunner]

Ditto everyone else on this situation.

 

[junebug17]

I don't think you were a bridezilla at all... I think you have every right to be irked by this, especially since you had the foresight to call and check that you wouldn't get booted out the door at 4. And at a high-end store?? Turning the lights off on you?? Just goes to show, a high-end store doesn't always mean quality salespeople. My gosh, my friend owns a pottery studio and lets people finish their painting if they are still there at closing, she's sometimes there an hour or more after closing. She would never DREAM of shutting the lights off on people. I can't believe you were treated so rudely. The only thought I have is that the person you spoke to on the phone wasn't there that day. But IMO that doesn't matter, you should have received better treatment. Maybe it's the mood I'm in today (a bad one) but I am very pissed for you. If I were you, I would call back and complain to a manager. If the store closes promptly at 4, then fine. But then the staff should be instructed to tell people that, instead of misleading a potential customer.

My only thought is that maybe you should have followed your instincts and re-scheduled for another day, it sounds like you had an inkling this might be an issue. But again, that doesn't excuse the shabby treatment you received, and you were assured it wouldn't be a problem. Turning the lights off?? Sorry, I can't seem to get past that! I'm really sorry that happened to you, IMO those salespeople were totally in the wrong.

ETA: Just wanted to say, my mood has improved and I'm STILL very angry about how you were treated lol

 

[princesss]

Date: 2/2/2010 5:14:49 PM
Author: junebug17
I don''t think you were a bridezilla at all... I think you have every right to be irked by this, especially since you had the foresight to call and check that you wouldn''t get booted out the door at 4. And at a high-end store?? Turning the lights off on you?? Just goes to show, a high-end store doesn''t always mean quality salespeople. My gosh, my friend owns a pottery studio and lets people finish their painting if they are still there at closing, she''s sometimes there an hour or more after closing. She would never DREAM of shutting the lights off on people. I can''t believe you were treated so rudely. The only thought I have is that the person you spoke to on the phone wasn''t there that day. But IMO that doesn''t matter, you should have received better treatment. Maybe it''s the mood I''m in today (a bad one) but I am very pissed for you. If I were you, I would call back and complain to a manager. If the store closes promptly at 4, then fine. But then the staff should be instructed to tell people that, instead of misleading a potential customer.

My only thought is that maybe you should have followed your instincts and re-scheduled for another day, it sounds like you had an inkling this might be an issue. But again, that doesn''t excuse the shabby treatment you received, and you were assured it wouldn''t be a problem. Turning the lights off?? Sorry, I can''t seem to get past that! I''m really sorry that happened to you, IMO those salespeople were totally in the wrong.

Yup. I worked in a retail store as an SA (not even a high-end store) and if somebody so much as walked in 1 minute before closing, we had to stay and give them the same service we gave anybody else, and we couldn''t do ANY of our closing up procedures until they left voluntarily. Did I like staying an extra hour and a half so some girl could flirt with my manager and try on (quite literally) everything in the store without buying anything? No. But I did it with a smile on my face and cleaned up after her when she left (she wanted all of the clothes in the room so she could see how they worked together).

Bad customer service makes me really mad, because it''s just not that hard. It''s inconvenient sometimes, and it''s not always fun, but it''s rarely HARD.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

I don''t understand why they would give you a 1 hour appointment. An hour is extremely short to me, we usually do 1 and a half hour appointments. But, we let brides know in advance how long they are. I work in a small boutique where it''s not a problem, and we also only work with one bride at a time. Working in the industry it''s understood that sometimes you will have to stay late, though. And even if they just HAD to close, there are much more polite ways of going about it!!

There is one thing I would keep in mind if I were you, thought, and that is that all of this takes time. Sometimes the store allots a specific time for a bride. And we often take appointments for bridesmaids separately from bridal. Bridesmaids can take another hour and a half sometimes!

I don''t think that you were a bridezilla at ALL, but for your next appointment, maybe have them block off two appointment times for you. Bridal first, and then BMS, MOB, flower girl, etc after that.

 

[caribqueen]

That''s so annoying.

It''s one of those things where this is your big moment, the whole bridal experience, and sometimes these vendors and SAs forget that because they do their jobs everyday and to them we''re just another bride/customer.

It''s easy to second-guess whether you should have still gone so close to closing, but you did everything right by calling ahead and asking. What else could you have done if they told you, you''d have plenty of time?

I hope that you find another place that will fullfill all of yours and your bridal party''s needs.

 

[NakedFinger]

Thank you ladies for making me feel better. I was so frustrated but at the same time thought maybe I was a little too b*tchy with them. I tend to dwell. lol.

And special thanks to JUNEBUG for your aggravation on my behalf lol.

I guess this does prove higher end doesnt necessarily mean higher level of service, although I expect it should. And they have totally lost my business now. I didnt want to play the "im in the business" card with them either, I didnt even want to get into it and get fake enthusiasm from that point on. But as a wedding planner, I recommend vendors ALLLLL the time (i'm sure everyone as seen me recommend names on this website alone). And you can sure as hell guarantee that if I have a great experience with my vendors for MY OWN wedding, I will promote the heck out of them. So they not only missed out on my business, but other brides I would have recommended as well.

 

[meresal]

Date: 2/3/2010 3:41:23 PM
Author: NakedFinger
Thank you ladies for making me feel better. I was so frustrated but at the same time thought maybe I was a little too b*tchy with them. I tend to dwell. lol.

And special thanks to JUNEBUG for your aggravation on my behalf lol.

I guess this does prove higher end doesnt necessarily mean higher level of service, although I expect it should. And they have totally lost my business now. I didnt want to play the ''im in the business'' card with them either, I didnt even want to get into it and get fake enthusiasm from that point on. But as a wedding planner, I recommend vendors ALLLLL the time (i''m sure everyone as seen me recommend names on this website alone). And you can sure as hell guarantee that if I have a great experience with my vendors for MY OWN wedding, I will promote the heck out of them. So they not only missed out on my business, but other brides I would have recommended as well.

I would call and tell the management this, or send them a handwritten letter on your business Letterhead.

You can stop brides that you talk to from going there, but the managers in the salon need to make sure that their SA''s are not treating other brides the same way.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Date: 2/3/2010 3:58:38 PM
Author: meresal

Date: 2/3/2010 3:41:23 PM
Author: NakedFinger
Thank you ladies for making me feel better. I was so frustrated but at the same time thought maybe I was a little too b*tchy with them. I tend to dwell. lol.

And special thanks to JUNEBUG for your aggravation on my behalf lol.

I guess this does prove higher end doesnt necessarily mean higher level of service, although I expect it should. And they have totally lost my business now. I didnt want to play the ''im in the business'' card with them either, I didnt even want to get into it and get fake enthusiasm from that point on. But as a wedding planner, I recommend vendors ALLLLL the time (i''m sure everyone as seen me recommend names on this website alone). And you can sure as hell guarantee that if I have a great experience with my vendors for MY OWN wedding, I will promote the heck out of them. So they not only missed out on my business, but other brides I would have recommended as well.

I would call and tell the management this, or send them a handwritten letter on your business Letterhead.

You can stop brides that you talk to from going there, but the managers in the salon need to make sure that their SA''s are not treating other brides the same way.

DITTO