I do not recommend anyone purchase from Elegance Bridal & Prom Boutique based on the poor customer experience I’ve received.
When my fiancé and I got engaged, I returned home to go bridal dress shopping with my mother on Black Friday. It was... important to me that I shop local to support our hometown/surrounding area. We looked at Elegance and I found my wedding dress. I paid for it same day to take advantage of the sale. They offered to store it for me for free as they carry insurance for all customer dresses left in their care. I agreed. I also signed a no return document stating all sales were final.
During the course of the following months by finance and I called off the wedding. I live out of town and returned to pick up the dress about 13 months after I purchased it. When I walked into the store, I asked the girl behind the counter if she would please pull my dress from the back so I can take it home. She sent a 2nd sales associate to retrieve it for me. While the 2nd associate was looking for my dress, I asked the 1st associate if there were any exceptions to their return policy, as my fiancé and I had broken our engagement. She then became very defensive with me and stated “we have a no return policy. You’re welcome to talk to the owner if you’d like.” I agreed, and instead of calling over the owner, she called the manager over to the counter.
At this time, the 2nd associate had returned with my dress and hung it up on the hook for me. I now have 3 women standing behind the counter, essentially ganging up on me, all to tell me that they have a no return policy. Out of no-where (I presume because the store wasn’t busy) a 4th sales associate comes to stand behind the counter and see what’s going on. The manger stands firm and says there’s no return policy and I am stuck with the dress. One sales associate stated, “well, this dress is old anyways, if we did return it, what would we do with it?” Thank you for insulting the perfect dress I had chosen for my big day.
It is important to note, I am not faulting the business for upholding their return policy. I signed a no-return document when I originally purchased the dress on Black Friday, and I understand this. Given I spend a large sum of money on this purchase, I wanted to see if there were any exceptions to this policy while I was there. I am faulting them for handling a delicate situation with no tact or empathy. I have over 15 years of customer experience myself, and also deal in an industry where we celebrate engagements, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. These sales associates (and manager!) could have handled this situation with empathy and understanding instead of ganging up on me and trying to push me out the door as quickly as possible. While it was important for me to shop small and help support my community, this business handled this interaction very poorly. I felt like once they had taken my money, I was just another number to them. If this was the kind of service I was looking for, I’d have purchased from a large chain. Shame on you for treating your customers like this. I will never be returning to your company, and I suggest other brides to be look elsewhere for their perfect dress.