Jeri and other staff were very friendly when we met them at a Bridal Expo and when we had our first shopping experience in the store. We ended up finding my dress at another store, but enjoyed working with Jeri so much, that we ordered the dress from Francesca's because we wanted to give them business and continue working with Jeri. My mother and mother-in-law both ultimately ordered their dresses from Francesca's as well. Despite our initial positive experiences, things quickly went downhill and never quite redeemed themselves.
The staff was very unresponsive, rarely returning calls until we had left repeated messages. Jeri stopped recognizing us and we rarely saw her at the store. My mother's dress arrived without the extra material she had purchased from the designer for a shawl. Francesca's showed little interest in finding the material until my mom repeatedly urged them to track the material so that it could be located in time to make the shawl for the wedding. Once it arrived, the employees did not communicate with each other and the seamstress was never told that the material had arrived, thus further delaying completion. The seamstress altered my mothers dress and made the neckline uncentered and did a horrible job creating the shawl. A second seamstress at Francesca's luckily corrected the alterations one week before the wedding.
My mother-in-law ordered her dress and was under the impression from Francesca's that it could be shipped to her in Illinois without additional cost. However, this did not prove to be the case and my mother-in-law had to pay for shipping.
My dress took multiple alterations to get correct, during which Francesca and the seamstresses blamed me for losing weight, despite my weight maintenance. The first seamstress did not know what a sweetheart neckline was, despite her promise to create one for me when we ordered the dress. She created a terrible neckline that required a second seamstress (also at Francesca's) to correct her mistakes. The first seamstress also dripped blood down my dress before realizing that she had stuck herself with a needle. Thankfully the blood stains came out. The seamstresses created pleats down the back of the dress that were not a part of the original dress, then claimed that they were supposed to be there. I had to show them the dress on the designers website to prove that the pleats were not a part of the dress.
Despite ordering my dress nine months before the wedding, my bridal gown was only ready two days before the wedding due to all of the alterations problems. Francesca and her staff showed little remorse for all of the complications we encountered. Each time I went to the store, I was terrified that there would be more setback and new problems. By the time I picked up my dress for the wedding, I could hardly bear going into the store because I was so tired and frustrated with their poor service, lack of communication, and low standards. Overall, I would never recommend this store to anyone. If you find a dress that you like there, please try to order it from another store; I wish I'd ordered the dress from the original store I found it in.
Through my experience, I truly believe that once Francesca's gets the sale, they immediately stop providing any customer service.
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