A David's Bridal Bride wonders where they got their bad rep

Like any large company, it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the bunch...

Disney did some research...

If someone has an exceptionally good experience at their parks, they tell 7 people...

If someone has a bad experience, they tell 13, 4 of whom, tell 2 others.

So for every positive, 7 people know, every negative, 21...

You need 3 good experiences just to even the rep with the bad experiences...

Now realize, thats just a halfway decent rep..,

Davids bridal has a bad rep for treating plus size brides like shit. But its where i plan to go and i am plus size. If they are rude ill shop elsewere. If not then I guess the hype just isnt true

I am a plus size and abnormally tall and I was treated wonderfully!

My experience wasn't so great. The lady helping me was sweet but she kept dissappearing. There were a few points where my SIL was going and getting dresses because my consultant was MIA. The dress I wanted to try was not in the store, after being told over the phone it was, turns out it was an online only. I went in with a list of dresses I wanted to try on, once I got there and saw the dresses, half of them looked cheap.

There were two dresses that I liked, but just weren't "the one"

Over all, I think they are a decent store but with it being a major chain they lose that personal connection which I just loved at the boutique I ended up puchassing from.

I think there are a lot of beautiful dresses there, and some are a great buy (good quality, decent price), others I feel like you get what you pay for and look cheap.

I totally agree with you! I didn't end up purchasing my dress at David's, but I tried on there twice (once with only my MOH and back so that my Mom could see the awesome dress we found there), and I had a fantastic experience at both locations! That dress ended up being my "runner-up" but I'm definitely looking at BM dresses from there because of my great experience, and the fact that they're affordable for my girls.

It all depends on the store and consultant. Ive been a few times for my dress, for dresses for my bridesmaids, and with my friends when i'm in their wedding. I've had bad experiences, amazing ones, and in between. So it really depends. When I bought my wedding dress it was a good experience. My consultant wasn't perfect but the manager came out and talked to me a lot too and made sure I had everything I needed.

I've heard horror stories from brides hence the reason I steered clear from there. Plus I fell in love with a designer that they didn't carry.

Pezzy has a great point. Thanks for sharing that Disney research Pezzy that was interesting

No problem Kayla, if you havent noticed, i know the weirdest crap...

I've had a pretty good experience with them so far.

I'll be honest, I've been in two David's Bridals in my lifetime, and I walked out never having tried anything on either time. The first time was in 1999 prior to my first wedding. I don't even remember the circumstances but apparently my Mom does. When I asked her to pop in to David's during a girls weekend last fall, she ominously asked if I remembered the first time?! Telling her I didn't and that I have matured and mellowed in my "old age" (I'm 37 now, opposed to 23). She rolled her eyes and placated me. We were not in the store 9 1/2 minutes before I looked at her and said I'd had enough! I think for me it's the utter disorganization of the place. The dresses are crammed on to racks in no order whatsoever. Smaller, more customer service oriented privately owned shops have a different look, feel and vibe. I'm sure there are good and bad David's as well as indy shops. I'm just personally not a fan. And the bell, yea, they can keep that too! Lol!

The thing is, David's Bridal is a franchise. So the experience at one store can be wonderful, and the next terrible. You just can't generalize.

However, a few things are true of all of them. First, they take all your information the first time you visit, and sell it to every wedding vendor out there. I would suggest creating an e-mail account just for them, so you can close it once the wedding is over.

Second, their prices tend to be low for dresses, but high for alterations. Thus, you may want to consider getting your alterations done by an independent seamstress rather than David's.

As for me, my experiences at our local David's weren't great. I ended up buying a David's Bridal dress, but buying it used from a wedding consignment store, and having it altered by an independent seamstress.

I had a wonderful experience at David's bridal and I am plus size girl. I honestly was disappointed the first couple of times that I went there though. The third time l went there it was with my two moms and me and no appointment and that's when I finally found my dress when I was not with a consultant.

Now, I will admit that maybe it's based on the location, but I have never had a good experience at a David's bridal. I will never step into another one. Ever. When a friend of mine was getting married, we went there, and we decided on one dress that was about $200, and mind you, there were 7 bridesmaids. Well, the bride was given her wedding dress by a friend who cancelled her wedding and didn't want it. It was also originally from DB. We wanted to make sure that the bm dresses would go with the wedding dress, so we asked if she could try on the sample they had of her dress to see what they look like together. She said no. Because my friend wasn' t going to buy the dress, we couldn't even look at it. We asked to see her manager, and she said the same thing. Btw, the entire session, the sales lady was impossible to get ahold of, plus she and her manager were exceedingly rude the whole time we were there....

I've been there on 3 separate occasions, all for different types of appointments.

1st time 2004: prom dress. I was ignored, but it was busy, and I eventually got a dressing room, but no further help from the consultant. Bought one though

2nd: last year as a BM. We had an appointment on a Saturday around noon, and we were ignored. We left after pulling and trying serval on.

3rd: last year, for my wedding dress. Wonderful service, 2 consultants. Appointment in mid afternoon on a weekday. I did not find my dress here though.

Also, one of the bm's talked to the alterations lady, and not olny was she rude, but she quoted a price at least twice what it would have been anywhere else. We checked later to confirm. So, really, the not being allowed to try the dress on was just the last straw. We gave them the dresses back, and picked out some $80 dresses from boston store.

I have also been in there multiple other times just to pick up a catalog, look at mother of the bride dresses, etc, and every single time there has been a bride, not just crying, but bawling at their counter because of something they scewed up (wrong color, ordered wrong, order delayed so it won't get in on time, etc.

Lastly, I realize they are like a "discount" bridal store, but I rarely like the quality of the material on the dresses there. I usually can pick out their dresses at a bridal fashion show before the announce the shop solely on the material. I find better value in going to a boutique and picking something less expensive there.

As a former David's Bridal employee, I'm surprised anyone anywhere could have a good experience there. I have seen almost every bride treated like crap from all three David's Bridal in my area - including the one I worked at. ESPECIALLY plus sized brides. I wonder if the consultants are just so inexperienced and it's a downer from the get go because you feel like you will never help them find a dress they love or feel "pretty" in, but it's the consultants issue. I know a lot of my issues were with brides above a 25W, we had only one or two dresses for them to try on.

A lot of it is management as well. They really treat their workers poorly which lowers moral in the stores. The company pays VERY low, especially for the amount of work that actually goes into it. I didn't realize how stressful and physically demanding the job would be, I thought it would be fun. Plus with the high turn over in the stores, the majority of consultants truly are brand new to bridal fashion.

You know great crapoola, pezzolino and you put it so well, too!

my dil loved her db dress. her mom thought the alterations cost a lot but if she saw what mine cost...

I have shopped at davids bridal in monroeville pa for my weddinb (where I got my dress) and my sisters. We had great experiences both times. It ALL depends on location, which can cause them to get negative feedback. This is definitely a see for yourself situation.

I am a DB bride. My daughter was a DB bride. I purchased my MOG dress with DB. But in all honesty, it is sort of a monopoly, in my opinion. They monopolize the wedding industry, in most areas...with the biggest selection, the best prices, and you can purchase off the rack, or made to order. So they slack on their customer service skills. With my daughter...it was a lot of misinformation and outright rudeness. They told us her dress would be in, in 12 weeks...4 weeks later, they were leaving rude messages about returning it to the warehouse if she did not pick it up. They made a HUGE deal out of putting her dress in a BAG...to where we ended up going to another salon way across town, purchasing a proper garment bag for $10, and returning. She also got the eye rolls when she did not pick from the first 5 or 6 dresses...I mean, come on...trying on a multitude of dresses is NORMAL, right? With me....(continued)

...(cont) my 1st try on was not an appt and so I was rushed. Made appt for next day since we were in town, and it was HORRID. Almost cried in the dressing room, horrid. She left me in a dress I HATED, for 20+ minutes, while she assisted other brides...TWICE. She was NICE...but not too skilled. It all sounded so rehearsed. With my MOG dress...the zipper was defective, and they discontinued the dress...so the day before son's wedding, I am in trying on EVERYTHING. Granted, they let me have WHATEVER I wanted, as an even exchange, but still. I did end up with a dress I LOVED. =) (photos) 2nd one is my BEAUTIFUL familia...the only great pic I have of me with all four children. =)