Tuesday, February 28, 2012

David's Bridal: Not the place to go if you want good customer service



First I just want to say that you cannot just walk in and try on dresses. You have to make an appointment.  I wouldn’t try just walking in either. I went in one night to see the dress that I had picked out online. Seeing the dress in a picture and in person are two separate things. Anyway, they showed me the dress after telling me not to touch anything, take the dresses out of the bag or off the racks. And they never came back to offer any other help. Plus, when I left they didn’t even look up to say “Have a goodnight”. Strike one.

I decided I would give them a second chance, maybe if I have an appointment, they will actually help me. Wrong!!!

This weekend I had an appointment at David’s Bridal to try on some dresses for my wedding which is next year. I went in a little early and let the associate up front know that I had an appointment at one o’clock. I filled out some paperwork and let her know I just wanted to try some dresses on and I would be back to purchase the dress.

For the sake of identity I will change the name of the consultant who helped me. The associate introduced me to Mary. Mary asked me if I had any dresses in mind and I said yes, right away, she took me over to the dresses on the rack and picked up two (and only two) which were close to each other. She asked me to look at the clearance dresses and came back a few minutes later as I was browsing the rack. This is all within 10 minutes of walking in the door.

She says, “Let’s get you in these dresses we’re already running out of time.” Rushed already! I've been here for all of ten minutes and I'm running out of time? Seriously, you don’t say that to a customer, it’s a very good way of losing them. She kept commenting on how they were “so busy” and this was “bridal Christmas” and they’re always this busy. Like she was too busy to help me very long.  I was there to find a dress! I wanted to try on more than just those two but she never offered to go find any more of the dresses I picked out. When I did try on the dress she didn’t help me get it on. When I finally was able to get it on, she didn’t make any comments about it she just let me talk. This was the dress that I found online and said, “That is the dress I want.” I liked in the picture and I loved it on.  But seriously she didn’t tell me if it looked good, she didn’t offer to take pictures for me. She didn’t offer any advice whatsoever.

So I tried on the other one and yet again she didn’t help and when I didn’t come out for a few minutes, she finally came in and helped me. Although, she apologized I don’t think she meant it. I felt like she was only doing it because she had to not because she wanted to help. I felt like I was not important as a customer to her.

Anyway, what really makes me upset is the fact that the consultant helping the bride next to me was going out of her way to help her. She commented on the dresses she was trying on saying that that particular material looked nice, that color looked good on her, the style fit her body type. She even offered to find her some more dresses with a particular material and style for her to try on. Yes, I was listening to her exceptional customer service and wondering why I wasn’t getting the same service?

I went through the trouble to make sure that I had an appointment so that I could try on the dresses, and this is the service I get?  I have worked in retail long enough to know that you should give every customer excellent service. I don’t see how David’s Bridal is any different than Wal-Mart except for the fact that they should be even more attentive to their customers who will probably be shelling out a good chunk of change (try at least 500 between bride’s dress, shoes, accessories, undergarments, and bridemaid’s dresses). These consultants should do everything they can to make the customer happy.

I also did a little research and read reviews on DB’s around the country and it is no better anywhere else. That is truly sad.
and around the country ( I just picked random places)


All in all, I give the customer service one star out of five stars. If I could find another dress similar to the one I want from them I would not give my money to David’s. Horrible customer service equals bad reviews and that is what you are getting Springfield, David’s Bridal! I tried to do the customer experience survey on their website but you have to have the store number off of the receipt and since I didn’t buy anything that day, I cannot fill it out. L

See why didn't I get this kind of attention and service? They weren't going to buy anything, just to review the dresses!

I wish I had had the other consultant, maybe this would have been a bit more positive. Oh well every experience can’t be positive. But something I’ve learned is that negative experiences have a greater effect on a person and that person is more likely to do as I’m doing and posting it on the internet for everyone to see. In other words, negative experiences spread faster than do positive experiences and we tend to have more experiences that are negative in shopping, dining, etc…

One last thing the appointments are supposed to be an hour long, I left after about 30 minutes and declining the offer to get a store credit card, as well very displeased. Strike Two.

On a positive note:
The dress I am in love with is exclusive to David’s Bridal and it looks amazing on me. I am going to go to the Columbia store and give them a chance so I can try on the dress for my mother-in-law-to-be. So this is my solution, if all fails, I am going to order it online and have it shipped, that way I can skip the hassle at the store since I know my size and someone who can do the alterations  for me(probably much cheaper than DB).

Strike three and I will find another store to shop, we will see.

My dress and with this color too:

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