The season is now in full flow, the snow has gone and that little bit of sunshine makes us all feel better. The fashion show was enjoyed by all and I want to thank everyone who came along and the fabulous models for showing the outfits off so well, we had mums from all over the country and some even flew in from Jersey and Guernsey!
I've just come back from the British Bridal Exhibition in Harrogate, Europe’s leading bridal trade fair. We were invited to the award ceremony as guests of the managing director of Benjamin Roberts, we had a really wonderful night, it’s great to catch up with other shop owners around the country and have a good old natter.
I wanted to touch on the subject of discounts. We all like a bargain and to think that we have got the most for our money, wedding dresses are expensive and if you fall in love with a dress over your budget it’s natural that you might ask the owner for a discount. Please, please, beware if you are offered a really good deal, it could turn out to be a nightmare, as was the case with a bride who contacted me last month. It was a normal Monday morning and I took a call from a bride who asked if we had a particular Pronovias dress in stock, I could hear she was crying and when I asked if everything was OK, she started to sob uncontrollably.
She’d ordered her dress from a local shop over a year ago for her wedding in May. She was told to expect the dress in the store around July/August time, she called when she had not heard anything, and was then told Nov/Dec, which then turned into January then after all that chasing they told her that Pronovias had never received her order and that she would not have her dress in time for her wedding day and was offered her money back. As you can imagine she was very angry and upset having ordered her dress so far in advance. I know that sometimes Pronovias do hold some stock, so as the bride was so upset I rang them to see if I could do anything to help. I couldn't believe it when they told me they had a dress the exact same style, colour and size in stock for immediate delivery. I was puzzled, even if Pronovias had not received the shops original order surely she could have just asked to have that dress dispatched, something wasn't right.
It was only when I phoned the bride and she asked me if I would match the price of the shop that had let her down that the penny started to drop, the shop didn't have the dress available for her to try on, she had tried it on in Harrods and the local shop had offered to order it for her. The dress was priced at £2250 and the shop had offered it to her for £1550 a whopping £700 discount. I'm sure that sounded like a really good deal at the time and we would all be tempted by such a good offer, however what tends to happen is the shop gets into financial trouble because they are giving such huge discounts and they can't pay their suppliers. Bridal companies have very strict credit terms and will not send out dresses if you get behind with your bills. I'm sure that the dress they had in stock was indeed that brides dress and that it had been ordered for her, but the shop just couldn't pay their account and Pronovias would not release the dress. It was cheaper for the shop to give the bride her money back than pay an account that might run in to thousands. I understand that the shop has now ceased trading; I'm not sure how many other brides have been affected.
If you're buying an ‘off the peg’ dress it may well come with a good discount, we have lots of brides that are getting married last minute and have sold lots of dresses like this recently. It’s good for everyone, we get to clear some space for new dresses coming in and the brides get a bargain, the difference being we have already bought and paid for the dress, there is no invoice to be paid at the end. The dress companies are now clamping down on shops offering enormous discounts, because what starts off being a good customer for them (as they take brides away from other local shops), then becomes a liability when they can't pay their bills and close down owing them thousands.
I'm glad I've got that off my chest!
Nicola Garton
www.theweddingshop.co.uk
1 comments:
My fiance had an awful experience at the Wedding Shop Colchester. First, someone made a mistake with the booking and booked the allocation as a second fitting rather than a first fitting. Ok, so we're all human and we make mistakes, but my fiance, her mother and my mother were constantly being moved around the shop and the staff and especially the manager were exteremely rude and unhelpful.
In spite of this, they ordered a dress, but my own mother came back very upset and angry at how my finance was treated.
A wedding should be the most special day of a woman's life and the dress is a very important part of it. The experience of trying on dresses should be equally magical, but at the Wedding Shop, Colchester it was quite the opposite.
I convinced her to cancel the order which she did so 3 hours after placing it.
The Wedding shop had the nerve to charge £50 "administration fee". Of course terms and conditions were signed, but really exceptions should be made in this kind of case where the ordered was cancelled immediately. Or at least a credit note offered.
My fiance's friend is also getting married this year and upon going for the fitting of the dress she had ordered, she found they had ordered the wrong size.
A wedding dress is by no means a low-cost item, and in this business it is simply unacceptable to make mistakes like that. I believe they are trying to sort this out, but you can imagine how upset she was.
Finally, in *every* other dress shop my own fiance has been to try on dresses, she has been made to feel like a princess. So to anyone reading this... really, you do have alternatives. I understand the Wedding Shop, Colchester has a very large range which is one of it's key appeals, but based on these experiences, it might be best to avoid, or at least make sure your first experience trying on a wedding dress is not here.
And although these are only 2 examples of bad experiences, there is no excuse such poor customer service in an industry where customer service should be everything.. ever.
I would be interested in any response from the wedding shop. I hope if nothing else, this is useful feedback with regards to the customer experience.
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