I went to Le Marriage Couture on Saturday November 5, I came in with my mom and was helped by Nelson. I tried on 9 dresses and found one dress that I thought was ok, and was wavering. I asked if I could come back to look at the dress since... I was hesitant. Nelson, my bridal consultant, said that if I walked out the door that day the discount would no longer be offered. He then used every single sales and pressure tactic in the book to get me to sign a contract on the spot .
He rushed my decision by stating that he had a doctor's appointment that day so he was leaving early and needed a decision from me immediately. When he asked me if I was saying yes, I responded “oh, I don’t know” yet he brought over a “say yes to the dress” sign. I was unsure about the dress, but ultimately chose the dress thinking it could work, although I still wanted time to think about it. When I went to sign the contract there were many other brides waiting to be helped. Nelson rushed me through the entire contract, told me where to sign without regard for any of the terms and conditions (apart from price), and then rushed me out the door so he could get to the next future bride to help. I put down the deposit that day as well. I also ordered a veil.
I fully understand I signed a contract. I should have taken the time to read out. But I was in an awkward and unconformable situation with Nelson rushing my decision and not even bothering to explain the contract to me because his next bride was waiting.
I called the store, wanting to cancel the dress. Nelson explicitly told me “I will send attorneys and collection agencies after you” if I did not complete the purchase by paying the remaining amount due. Again, he threatened to sue me and ruin my credit.
I then contacted the store manager, Danny, and told him about this. He wouldn’t offer a refund. He said it was impossible for his store to cancel the order even though it had only been days since I signed the contract. He offered to let me come in and pick another dress and use my deposit as a credit towards a new dress. But this completely ignores the fact that, after being threatened by Nelson, I had no desire to shop there anymore and I did not feel comfortable dealing with Nelson or anyone else. I went in anyways to put forth the best effort not to waste $3400 or have "attorneys come after me."
As I expected, I did not find another dress I liked and shopping was awkward and uncomfortable. My mother and I even suggested that we forfeit our $1700 deposit and Danny yelled at my mother. My mother is 5 feet tall, not exactly an intimidating woman. I told him do not yell at my mother and he looked at me like I was nuts and claimed he was not yelling. In my definition when you raise your voice to a woman, it comes across as yelling. While Danny may have previously emailed me trying to rectify the situation with an exchange, his actions spoke louder than his words.
There was no resolution. Only threats and I ultimately paid the entirety of the $3,400 contract and received a dress I did not want. upon picking up the dress, the veil I ordered had a BLACK clip. The veil I tried on in the store had a clear clip. And of course, the store did not offer a refund or exchange but told me that all the veils come with black clips. I am stuck with another additional expense I have to incur because of this store. You can count me out of their “40,000 happy brides."