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Review content:
I went to Gabrielle's and put down a deposit for a gown in December of 2009. I would only recommend going to this place if you only wanted to browse and try on dresses, but I definitely would NOT recommend you to buy from them. Everything was fine and dandy until I put down a deposit for a gown. I went to Gabrielle's because I was recommended by a friend and also from reading some of the yelp's reviews; I was also told that Gabrielle does price matching (through friend and reviews posted here). Trust me, price matching at Gabrielle's is not as easy as it sounds; she doesn't tell you up front the criteria for price matching; first it was ""i need the designer's approval to give discount"", then when I got a quote she told me ""a phone price quote does not work, it has to be a written quote""---ok sounds reasonable, so I got a written quote, then her excuse was ""oh this is not an authorized retailer""--- OK fine, then finally I got a written price quote from an authorized retailer, but still she came back with ""oh the designer is not willing to give a discount"". So really, it's just a slew of excuses not to provide a price match. Instead of telling you straight in the face what information is needed for a price quote, she gives you the run around and endless excuses. The criteria for price match seemed to change every time I came back with a cheaper price from many different retailers, to me, it was just because she didn't want to sell me the gown at a cheaper price. I was in contact with many other Authorized Retailers (legitimately listed on the designer's website) of the gown designer, and let me tell you, many of them, NOT one, MANY of them are selling the same gown for a much cheaper price, and when I say much cheaper, I meant $400 to $600 cheaper, and all in written proof. And she never fully disclose all the options that I have when I order the gown; my gown would be cheaper by $600 if I ordered it without beading, but she never disclose this information to me, I didn't find out until another bridal shop told me this was an option, and when I told her about this, she then admitted that it would make the gown cheaper. And through 2 to 3 other Authorized Retailers (also in writing), I found out that Gabrielle sold me the gown at the 2010 price; I was told by these other boutiques that the price for 2009 is cheaper, and the 2010 price will go up by $250. Now I bought the dress in December of 2009, it was clearly not 2010 yet, so why on earth did she charge me the 2010 price, and when confronted, she didn't explain herself and simply ignored my question. And to clarify, I never disclose any information from Gabrielle about her pricing or discounting to these other stores, all I asked for was a price quote, and all these other boutiques were 10x more honest and helpful than Gabrielle was. After hearing from all these other boutiques, I felt sooooo cheated and I felt that I was charged unfairly for the gown, but of course, stupid me had already put down the deposit, so there is no way out for me. Gabrielle refused to price match even after I provided her what she asked for, and I'm pretty much stuck with paying for the high price for the gown. But most importantly, she had ruined what was supposed to be a special moment for me. To be completely honest, I have been planning my wedding since July, and I was never stressed out (planning for the venue, the menu, the guest list, the photographer, the make-up/hair artist) until I encountered Gabrielle. She made this experience so miserable!!! So much unnecessary stress! So to summarize, Gabrielle over charge my gown, and I felt totally cheated and lied to. My recommendation about this place is RUN as far as possible!
Cons: Rip off, over charge for gowns
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