A bridesmaid and I traveled to Alexandria to check the color and fit of some bridesmaid's dresses we'd found online. We were left in a little back room by ourselves to look through their selection. The lady that was helping us was nice but basically put some books out in front of us for us to use as a selection guide. We thought that was a little weird but chose to overlook it because they seemed busy, nice, and we appreciated the selection. Once we had made our decision (days later), the bridesmaid returned to Ellie's to select and purchase a dress. On 3/17 they recommended rush ordering for our 6/25 wedding, which she paid and she was quoted a ship date of 4/20 with 2-3 business days after that to expect her call back to pick it up. On 5/1 she still had not heard anything, despite calling them multiple times and being told that they would check on it and call her back. So, I called to find out the exact reason for the delay (was it the dress maker or was there a problem with the order?). As BETHANY looked into the original order, she said that my bridesmaid had been improperly charged (by TONI) for the rush ordering - that she should have been charged $80 for a 4 week rush instead of $30. She said they expected the dress within the next couple of days. She had a very bad attitude and did very little to answer any of my questions so I asked to speak with her supervisor. I was told she was out to lunch and would call me back (no call back was ever made) and THEN she said that since the dress would arrive in less than the 8 week expedited shipping, the one that costs $30, they would hold the dress until the bridesmaid paid the additional $50 to equal the $80 for 4 week expedited shipping or until 8 weeks had been reached. At that point, I just said I'd work that out with her supervisor. My bridesmaid got her dress just after 6 weeks. She said she worked with someone else and didn't have to pay the additional charge.
I would not recommend this dress shop unless you have no other option. Our experience was horrible but in the end, we did get the dress we were looking for - not in the amount of time that we were promised and not with ease, but we did get the dress.
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