omg they sent me the wrong dress... :(

[Shreggor]

Hi ladies, I need some advice and have a warning about a very bad web site. First off, never ever use Gothique Bridals. The woman who runs the site, Ruth is absolutely horrid and does not respond to emails. When I was ordering the dress, it would take her 2-3 days to get back to me but since I loved the dress so much, I ignored that.

Well, I got the monstrosity this past Tuesday and this woman sent me what appears to be two different dresses stitched together into the ugliest thing I have ever seen.

When I ordered, I sent her a pic (from her own web site) of the dress I wanted, which was white and had burgandy roses on the skirt and burgany laces tying up the corset. The bulk of the dress was white. I sent her that photo and requested my dress be on ivory with black roses and black laces up the corset. Never did I say make the entire top half of the dress out of black lace. But that is what she did. And she put ivory laces tying up the corset. It's so ugly I don't even know what to do.

I can not afford to have it remade and I can not afford to buy a new dress while I wait for a paypal dispute to go through. I expected I'd have to adjust the size a bit but not have to have the entire top of the dress ripped out and remade into what I actually ordered. None of my friends or mom can sew. I wasted 1/4 of my wedding budget on this dress and on having it rush delivered.

Ruth from Gothique Bridals now refuses to answer any emails I send and there is no phone number. I am at a loss.
Am I really out 1/4 of my wedding budget because this woman is ignoring me?

She is in England and I am in the USA. I don't think I have any legal recourse. She'll probably just say that "oh, she asked for black lace on the corset"… because I did. But the fact that I circled the tie up laces on the photo she had should have been enough to show her what I meant. The dress in her photo did not have a solid burgandy top. I basically just told her to replace the burgandy accents with black. How could she screw up so badly??

I can forgive a place for making an error. BUT when a place I buy a big ticket item from screws up and sends me something entirely different, I expect them to be apologetic and do everything in their power to help fix the problem. I guess that's naive of me.

My wedding is in 2 months. Even the best man saw a picture of it and told me it was hideous. I told my fiance that it was half black and I thought he was going to cry.

I really just don't know what I can do other than try to go through paypal to reverse the charges, and beg someone for a loan to try and get a new dress in 2 months. And warn everyone not to use this web site.

 

[Belle2Be]

Yikes! OK, your paypal dispute shouldn't take horrible long, I think 4 weeks at most if you take action NOW. Escalate the claim, take a TON of pictures, Call paypal to make sure all your bases are covered and send the dress back. You ordered it from Ebay I assume?
If not, you may not have any recourse, as paypal only covers "item not as described" in Ebay purchases.
Second option, can you take it to a local seamstress and have them remove the lace and re-lace with a color you want?
Third, check Ebay, craigslist and Preownedweddingdress.com for a second dress that is to your taste but a fraction of the cost.

So sorry you're dealing with this!

 

[2nd Time Bride]

OMG!!!!

I felt so bad for you I immediately started looking for contact info on this Gothique Bridal. Well, it appears they also own Blissful Brides Online -I got to this second site by reading thru the FAQs linked on the Terms & Conditions page (about halfway down). I cross referenced the PO Boxes and they are the same. Here is the number:

Tel: +447717088316

Here is the link:
http://www.blissfulbridesonline.co.uk/contactus.htm

Also try David's Bridal, I saw some dresses there with colored accents, one was red and one was black. All their dresses are off the rack so what you see is what you get.

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

I am so sorry you are dealing with this! I would keep trying to contact them and get you money back, but in the meantime I would deff. start looking for another dress, since your wedding is only 2 months away. David's Bridal often runs $99 dress sales, and if you could get something reasonably priced as a backup, and then if everything works out and you get a refund, you can look for a more expensive dress then.

 

[gules]

That's a horrible thing to find out! On the bright side, though, you still have 2 months. It seems like so little time in the midst of wedding planning, but trust me, there is still tons of hope for you.

My first step would be to keep trying to contact this woman through any way possible. Tell her you want a refund and that the dress is nothing even close to what you ordered (and that she confirmed).

My next and simultaneous step would be to keep on paypal about getting your money back.

After that, try to scrape together some money for an emergency dress. You can check retail stores like David's Bridal for sales, or even go shopping locally for any kind of dress you want to wear to your wedding. I got my dress for something like $200 and it was still gorgeous, and I've heard of other brides getting wonderful dresses for still lower (like $100 or even $80). It may not be your 'dream' dress, but you will be surprised what a few personalized touches can do for you. Add your own belt or ribbons. Find a cool veil or hairpiece. Attach an elegant brooch to the waist of the dress. These things can make a 'stock' dress into something unique and completely you. Just look for something that doesn't need too much alteration to fit you, and that has a design that, even if it's not perfect, can be personalized with ease.

I hope some of this helps, and that you get your money back! I hate it when people trying to cash into the wedding industry do something so heinous and then don't take responsibility for their work. I mean, really, have some pride in yourself as a seamstress!

 

[ColeV]

Is the fabric under the lace the same as the rest of the gown? If it is, I'd recommend finding a seamstress (not through a tailoring/dry cleaning or bridal store). It may cost a little, but it should be less than a whole new gown and it would keep it the same as what you wanted. If that's the only issue, that is. Depending on where you live I might know a good seamstress in your area or you could mail it out to someone.
Honestly, I can see how black lacing can mis-translate to black lace, but if I was that seamstress I would have gotten the lace itself approved first and that would have made the issue fairly obvious. I never use a new fabric on my gowns that isn't approved. I even check on lining fabric!
If you have any questions about whether fixing the bodice is possible or how much it should cost, please ask. I know in the tailoring world it is sometimes hard to get a full refund, but it is generally very easy to get your money back on alterations you had to pay someone else for. If you do have to buy another gown, or hopefully find someone to fix it, keep good records of it (including shipping costs).

 

[ColeV]

Oh, and I would HIGHLY recommend taking their name off of this post. I know you want to warn people, but just ask them to PM you if they want to know the name. Companies will sue people for slander over such things. And, yes, they will search regularly for their name online. I've seen a number of people have to go to court over a simple post like that, and if the company is ignoring your valid issues, I wouldn't put it past them.

 

[Belle2Be]

Oh, and I would HIGHLY recommend taking their name off of this post. I know you want to warn people, but just ask them to PM you if they want to know the name. Companies will sue people for slander over such things. And, yes, they will search regularly for their name online. I've seen a number of people have to go to court over a simple post like that, and if the company is ignoring your valid issues, I wouldn't put it past them.

I would think if the company takes the time to sue her for slander (which since its a legitimate issue I'm pretty sure that's not slander), then she can sue right back for her dress $$ and get what she wants. I personally wouldn't take the name down, and also would go on every google-able review site with this information.

 

[PrincessShea]

1. I'm so sorry.

2. You have do what everyone else has said and start looking NOW for something else. There has to be some place you can scrape from to get a couple hundred dollars together for a dress. Maybe cut the tux and have DF wear a black tie with a suit he already has? Eat ramen for the next two months?

 

[adisneygal]

I know you went through paypal but how did you pay? Via credit or debit? Do you have to do the dispute through paypal?

I had a company outright refuse to work with me on the colors & placing the order for our flowergirl dresses up to a month before the wedding. I had paid with my debit card and called my bank and they did a reversal/dispute. It was almost immediate for the money to be returned to my bank acct. Thankfully I was able to score awesome dresses off the rack that were much cheaper. Goodluck!!!!!

 

[angel81uk]

I'm so sorry this has happened to you! I've done a bit of digging for you and it seems as though this woman trades under quite a few different names on many different websites.

I see someone has already posted a phone number for you (this cell phone number is associated with many of her websites) but if you don't get any joy with that one I also found what I think is her home address (along with old planning applications to turn part of it into a hair salon and then into a bridal store). There is a transportation company listed at this address also which has a landline phone number and Ruth is listed as the main point of contact. I won't post the details here but I'll put them in a pm for you.

I really hope you manage to get this sorted.

ETA, I forgot to mention, it appears as though she has just got married herself in the last couple of weeks, she should know better!

 

[ColeV]

Hmm. With so many businesses I can't imagine she's the one making the gowns. I'd hazard a guess she's putting the orders through to tailors in China (which are usually pretty good quality). That might explain why she didn't have a lot of contact to you, the mistake with the lace due to translation, and why she refuses to fix the problem (she couldn't do it herself!). And even the transportation company.

 

[angel81uk]

Hmm. With so many businesses I can't imagine she's the one making the gowns. I'd hazard a guess she's putting the orders through to tailors in China (which are usually pretty good quality). That might explain why she didn't have a lot of contact to you, the mistake with the lace due to translation, and why she refuses to fix the problem (she couldn't do it herself!). And even the transportation company.

She definitely doesn't make the dresses herself, I've just found an advert for the sale of the company . It says that all gowns are made by UK suppliers and the list of suppliers will be provided as part of the sale. I can't tell when the advert was posted, I wonder if she's selling up as it's all too much hassle for her or if she's recently bought the business and is having trouble finding her feet. Unfortunately I've seen a few bad reviews from brides who have received gowns that are different to what they have ordered and had trouble getting hold of her. Very sad.