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Maybe because she knew you weren't going to buy she didn't feel the need to spend a lot of time with you. She probably makes money based on commission so she wanted to focus on buyers.
I'm very price-conscious, so I'd go to the cheaper store. There's a good possibility that one consultant just wasn't having a good day- everyone has their off days. Maybe she was sick, or tired, or just got dumped (could you imaging working in a wedding dress store if you just got dumped? Gahhh). If you like the dresses and the prices and the sales person was polite and helpful, go back, give it another shot. In the end, isn't the dress (and the price I guess) what it's all about anyway?
Honestly, I would rather go to the boutique who is committed to providing good customer service. Here's why:
1) You can always ask for a discounted price or price-match. Did you get prices from the 2nd salon?
2) Typically dress alterations are done at the salon you buy from (not always the case however!). I would rather go to a place where I felt my needs and wishes mattered. Even though consultants are paid via commission, if that's all they are concerned with at the time then they aren't going to help you when you're doing fittings and possibly having communications problems with the fitters/alterers.
3) Blowing off customers is not very respectful; I have a hard time giving money to people who don't respect me.
If you think the consultant was having an off day, you can always book a second appointment and see what she's like during your second appointment.
There are so many bridal salons in my area that I simply won't deal with one that has crappy customer service (and I went to a couple). I ended up at a small shop in my neighborhood, that was family owned, that gave me my dress for 1/2 price off their window display on my 3rd visit (because I am ocd and tried on dresses for weeks before deciding).
YOu guys rock lol I love the difference in opinions and reasoning! Well... oculd kind of tell this wasn't just an off day, other customers that she obviously had worked with before came in and she perked up and it was somehwta rude because she started conversing with them almost ignoring us. It was like Ok my job with you is done goodbye. And she didn't know we weren't buying today. I made sure to tell my mom to act like we were ready today so that we wouldn't have to worry about less than enthusiastic service cause yea they work on commission and who wants to waste an hour for no $.
On the OTHER end... other stores I had been to weren't going to work with me on price much but were willing to help with a payment plan. This place gave a ridiculous price reduction that had my heart thumping lol
Also, mom took some pictures sneaily in the dress I love and we can't seem to find them on her phone! OH no! :/
Have you thought about using one of the infamous sites like netbride or house of brides?
@Carnival_Bride: Haven't heard of them but looking them up now ;) Thanks! However, I do wish to purchase in person and try on. Now if I saw it in person, tried on and could get the exact thing online for less $ that's another story!
Did you have an appointment at either place before you went? It's possible that the clients who came in that the girl left you to help were actually a scheduled appointment. Granted, if that was the case, she should have excused herself to help them and found someone else to help you, (though by that time she had probably guessed you weren't serious about buying anything), instead of pretending you ceased to exist. She wasn't rude until that point, so other than her dismissal of you, I don't think you can fault her behavior too much.
However, just the fact that the second place was the experience you were looking for, I think I would go with them. I certainly wouldn't give my money to a place that was dismissive of me as a client.
Yep always with an appointment :)
Yeah she wasn't rude beforehand just kinda ehh ya know. I know I'M the one getting married and not them but I was still hoping for a more cheerful person. You know that whole smile is contagious thing? I want them to be smiling with me. LOL! I want to steal the girl from the 2nd store which was for head pieces and have her sell me my dress lol!
Yea maybe you weren't going to buy but if she had blown you away with her willingness and enthusiasm and kindness, you would DEF go back and buy from, I guarentee you that. So I don't like the excuse of just because we are window shopping and getting ideas that people should be treated any less. With that said I understand people have their off days but there have been many days where I had to check my issues at the door and do my job. I find it VERY bothersome when sales/customer service people are not helpful and happy. Turns me offfff :-\ boo.
@StarIzInkd: My personal opinion is this (and comes from working in customer service for a looooong time): if you do not get good service right off the bat, you won't get good service even if you buy from there. Period. They may be nice to you but if anything is to go wrong, you're gonna be in that boat by yourself, sister. I went to 2 salons, both very nice and equally happy sales ladies, so I can't say from personal experience what I would do. I did end up with a more expensive dress...but it was perfect for me. I think you should go with what is perfect for you--if you want this dress, this is your wedding day and buy it! My FH told me he didn't care what dress I bought as long as it wasn't Lady Gaga's meat dress and I was happy. He's getting what he wants on both accounts :) lol
I'd go with the better service.
As someone who worked in sales, and was on commission, that isn't a person or a business I would want to give my money to. While I understand it sucks to talk to people and not get an immediate sale, she still should have been conscious to the fact that you were not only a potential wedding dress purchase, but also someone that could purchase multiple dresses and that could have meant a lot of money for her. I've had to ignore customers in the past, but it's because they demanded a lot and weren't going to even buy enough for my time to break even. Even then I gave them all my energy until they became serious pains in the butt and started to actually cost me money. That wasn't the case with you. I tend to spend more on service because I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for and I think you should buy from who you like.
That being said, I had a similar experience. Same dress at 2 stores. One had terrible service but was 17% less expensive than the place that gave me great service. I called my consultant that I liked and explained to her that I really enjoyed working with her, and I wanted to buy from them but I found a place that had the same product for less and, when it came down to it, I had to go with the less expensive place because it was a very expensive purchase. The consultant called me back 10 minutes later after talking to her manager and matched the price. It was a win-win for me. Go with who you like. Then try and get the discount.
To her you are the car dealer equivalent of a "tire kicker" and you're really just wasting her time. I don't know of a salon that isn't comission based. If you went in with the intention of buying it might have been different.
Also, consider you might be overly sensitive because YOU are the bride and she should be paying all of her attention to YOU. Unfortunatly, this is not the case and your wedding is just under 2 YEARS away.
It doesn't matter if you weren't buying that day. You might come back (or not) because of the service despite the prices. If for nothing else, you also came to this forum to discuss your experience which speaks volumes in this industry. Word of mouth and recommendations are huge.
^^^^^^^ EXACTLY. Every person is a potential client regardless if they are buying that day or not.
@ananeele: omg how have I not even thought of going somewhere i like and trying that! GReat idea thanks!
Oh and I forgot to mention.. just to pain the picture,. I was the ONLY customer in the store until the other girl walked in and stole the attention. The owner was there and gave me the amazing discount. The owner was SO NICE! Just this sales girl was lacking. I don't know that I could even make it work if I bought now but really she was giving me 30% off which was just amazing to me!
Hmmm...if the owner was nice, and it was just this girl who was blah, I would try going back there again. But, make an appointment with a different consultant. This might make a huge difference! I'm thinking, if the owner was nice, maybe the "store" itself is nice and will treat you right. It might just be this one girl. So I would try it out with a different person.
But, you can also try getting another store to price match like others have mentioned. I did this also! I found the dress at one store, the girl was just okay who was helping me. Another salon I liked much better, they were super nice. I got them to beat the other store's price and bought it there.
Look up reviews for these two places, and see if the store with the "ehhh" consultant has any negative reviews. If it does, I would stay away for sure. I get turned off by the opposite--sales consultants who tell you that you look great in everything and are pushing the sale way too hard! haha.
@Alleycat: Yea I don't like that either. I'm always afriad of having some pushy and it influencing me. Like I said I'll be paying this off for a log time. It's definetely not an easy sale on me so I want to be absolutely certain and enjoy my time as well. I think they had some bad reviews and some awesome ones. There was another girl in there who seemed friendly. I was thinking of maybe going back and asking for a different consultant but probably only if I can't get a price matched.
Which btw... crazy to realize how much the dresses are actually marked off. I mean if they can give me 30% off without me even arguing price that's crazy! The owner explained how she can do that but still... why would I want to pay full price when I KNOW they can give it to me for much elss.
I appreciate everyones help and opinions :) Taking them ALL into account.
@StarIzInkd: I would not settle for poor customer service. Perhaps you could try the first salon again but I personally would not give them a dime for that kind of service! I have gone to a few salons and there are defintely places out there that offer GREAT service. Obviously saving money is great too, so keep looking until you find great service and cost. On a side note, I decided to purchase my gown from Church Street Bridal which is a salon in Virginia that gets floor model gowns donated from major stores like Kleinfield and the prices are incredible! I just purchased a $7200 Pnina Tornai gown for $700 over the phone and the service that I received was AMAZING. Not to mention that 100% of what you pay goes to women and children who are victim's of domestic violence!
I tried on the dress that I ended up buying in three different stores and I ended up spending the money in the store with the best service. The "experience" without a doubt affected my decision.
Well I went to a salon had an appointment and it was a small shop and the owner said the consultant just went to lunch. She then showed me what was new what was on sale and what was on clearance and then she sat back down and did whatever she was doing when we walked in. I saw a dress I loved and asked about it she said it wasn't my size and walked away again.My aunt and cousin helped me in the dresses. I told them I don't care how much I loved that dress I was not ordering from that salon.
My sister is also getting married and she flew up to our other sister's house to look for gowns so I drove up to go with her. I made her appt and the salon had my dress in so I was able to try it. I love my consultant she was friendly an attentive. I was suppose to go back the next day to purchase my dress but we had an emergency and had to leave town.
I made an appt to drive back up there which is 3 hrs away then found out the weather was going to be really bad that day. I was in a really bad accident when it was raining so I am really terrified of driving in the rain. So I went back to the salon in my area to give them one more chance. I even told her that I had an appointment at a salon 3 hrs away and how terrified I was driving in the rain and she just stood there and looked at me.
I took my $1300 3 hrs away and got my dress. I wouldn't by a clip for my hair from that other store. She could've said even though we don't have it in your size we do have similar styles for you to try to get an idea of how it would look or something to try to get me to buy it there but nope she just stood there looking at me.
I have actually been dealing with Churchstreet Bridal via email and their emails are friendly as well. I have been trying to find my party dress which is actually a wedding dress and Sabrah I think her name is will email me just to let me know to cross my fingers because they just got some more dresses in.
Pnina would flip out if she found out her dresses were being sold that cheap. I always laugh at her on SYTD
@kill1nmesmalls: I emailed them a while back about a St. Pucchi that's number 1 on my list. I could only afford it if they got it in. They were very friendly and I would consider going there if I knew they had one of the dresses I'm in awe of.
@mrsjjohnson2b: That's just plain awful! I don't understand how these places stay in business!!! The only thing that saved this place for me was the owner being there and being very sweet... how does she keep this sales lady there though is beyond me. So glad you got your dress and had the GOOD exoerience! I just want it to all be amazing!! I waited 8 years for my ring and when we are married we will hve been together over 10 years so I feel like I expect THAT much more out of EVERYTHING! lol
When I went dress shopping with my fam I made rating sheets for everyone to mark off the dresses but I also had a spot for salon experience. I wasn't going to spend my money and reward bad service. That was a big factor.
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After my mom mentioning here n there and my intense craving to try on more wedding dresses (even though I am about a year ahead of NEEDING to) mom and I spent the day doing bridal related activites. We started at a salon she's wanted to see. Straight off the bat, I wasn't reallty impressed. The associate seemed just ok, not overly happy to see me or help me. I tried on the dresses I liked, she didn't seem too enthusiastic on helping me find more options. She wasn't rude just didn't sem as happy as I had hoped. She was willing to work with me on price with the owner and gave me such a great price (killed me that it is way too early for me to actually buy). Then, we looked at some mother of the bride dresses since mom was sooo eager (she ahsn't looked at ANY yet). Mom is starting to go to the gym and work out so this is excellent incentive for her. The sales lady said we should come back for the new shipments, didn't give mom any advice but let her talk. Other customers walked in stepped through my mother pretty much and the sales lady started talking to them and didn't even seem to care she hadn't finished with us, didn't excuse herself or anything. I told mom, let's just go, we're good.
I left feeling very blah. My spirits weren't up, I was feeling eh. I really liked one dress and loved another A LOT yet I left not excited at all. We then went to a store for head pieces and omg the girl there was SOOOOO sweet and perky and fun. She was patient even knowing I wasn't buying today and let me try on 2 different head pieces 3 times each. I apologized for being a pain and she said not at all. TOTALLY what I wanted. SOmeone patient, eager and HAPPY to help me.
WHat do you think? Am I asking too much? I just want the whole experience! This is the most money I will EVER spend on anything (I don't even have the $$, will be paying it off for a LONG time!), I want the whole dress shopping/try on/BUYING experience to be exciting and happy with sales ladies smiling and excited for me. Would you buy form a store that gave the whole experience but the dress was very expensive OR a store with crappy service but an AMAZING discount?