Don't Buy Your Formal/Dress for Prom Here!

My daughter just had a very bad experience with a small local business when she bought her prom dress and I wanted to warn others - as word of mouth is the best way for small businesses to grow - or fail - in this economy or any ohter time. My daughter placed a special order for a dress from a catalog at this business and was told this was an individual dress - not mass production. She paid for the dress - $200 and when she was showing it off to friends and family was informed that the same EXACT dress was in the JC Penney catalog for $99.99 The dress was purchased last Friday. She called the business owner today (with a copy of the JCP information in hand) and explained that she was sure this was an honest mistake and asked to be given the difference or a refund in the interest of good business. The business owner flatly refused and was very rude as well. Even though there is a no refund/exchange policy there is misrepresentation in the terms of sale so there should be some concessions. The owner informed my daughter that she could not beleive she would "take food from her children's mouths over one dress". I can not beleive that she would take $100 from my daughter over one dress and risk ruining her good name. I, as well as my daughter have referred numerous people to this business over the past 2 years but will not do so again and just wanted to pass this along to others in the hopes the same thing won't happen to you. The name of the business is THE FRENCH BUSTLE in SELMA, NC!!:

 

Go to Carolina Bridal World

 

Make sure to share your experience on Insider Pages (http://www.insiderpages.com/b/15249381640)

This is where I always look before using a business, and they feed into google (so when you google the business and it comes up with the address, your rating will show).

 

I really feel that it's up to us as informed consumers to find the best deals before we purchase something. I am not saying that this dress shop is doing the honest thing, but we do have choices out there. She can really charge whatever she wants, and unfortunately your daughter didn't research a little more before buying it.

 

Go to Jewels Formals in Smithfield. They will treat you right!

www.jewelsformals.com

 

Ewww. . . for wedding dresses maybe, but their prom dress selection is lacking.

 

Caveat emptor

 

I agree but she bought a dress from this business last year so she assumed the owner was honest and she would get a fair deal. Obviously, this is not the case. Jewel's in Smithfield is great, but very expensive. I guess you get what you pay for but we wanted to patronize the "small busimess owner" as well.

 

Thanks for the information. I will definately do that today.

 

Not necessarily, they have $99 dresses (or at least they did when we were in there) and they have a pretty easy layaway plan. They are also small business owners.

Sorry for what your daughter went through. I'm pretty sure that Penney's paid a lot less for the dress than the small business did. I would be very upset too and would do the same thing you did.

 

does the store have a return policy?

 

Always, always, always shop around! We all learn lessons the hard way!

 

OP, I hate your daughter learned the hard way, but realistically, how can you expect a small business to provide the same dress for the same price as what Penny's can? That is like expecting the Mom and Pop grocery store to sell stuff for the same price Walmart does, it's just not possible. Granted, I'd be less than thrilled that it was twice as much, but no one twisted her arm to buy it there. 8) The owner probably should have handeled it better to be sure.

 

I agree, but she was not informed that it was at JCP and she did not look because she "trusted" the owner. She looked through a catalog and supposedly ordered a "special" dress. She was not aware until afterwards and although there is a no return policy, I feel the business should make consessions since they misrepresented themselves. I am in the process of filing a complaint with the BBS in the AGs office. Yes, my daughter was "naive and trusting" and I guess you just can't be that way anymore. I should have raised her to be more "cut throat and scheming" as it seems most places /people are now. That is not how she was raised. It is really sad.....

 

Well...............good luck with that. Once again, I feel for the both of you. Sucks to not get what you thought you were. BTW, are you absolutely certain it is the exact same dress? Same manufacturer? Maybe your dress has a higher end material or something?

 

Why would you expect them to know that JC Penny's had the dress? And if they did why would you expect them to tell you this?

Looks like a lesson learned, hopefully.

I think the shop owner was fully in the right here based on the info provided.

 

If they sold her the dress under the pretense that it was a "one of a kind" dress then the OP has a case. I would make signs and stand in front of the business if the dress turned out to be the EXACT same thing (brand, material, etc.). If that is the case then the business owner LIED and misrepresented her merchandise.

 

It is exactly the same, manufacturer and all. Lessions learned first hand are the hardest. I guess we just expected the owner to be as honest as we are. I think they should check before they tell us "one of a kind" and it is just a matter of "good business".

 

We are all entitled to our own opinion. I hope this kind of thing never happens to you.

 

And why would you expect a dress that you picked out of a catalog to be one of a kind? Wouldn't more than one store be selling out of the same catalog?