Shocking Service: Your dress isn't ready for your wedding ...

On 08 March 2018 I met with Fiona, the owner of Glass Slipper, at her home to view her corsets and dresses. She discussed my requirements for my wedding dress, took my measurements and provided me with an estimate cost for the dress. She advised that she would have to make contact with her dressmakers to confirm the cost of the dress and she would get back to me the following day. Our wedding date was 27 April 2018 but she advised that this was no problem and that she has good dressmakers and they shouldn't have any problem meeting the deadline. On 12 March 2018 I received the official invoice from Fiona along with fabric colour swatches. I made my selection and paid the required deposit a few days later. Fiona also advised that the dress would be ready on 21 April 2018. I followed up with Fiona twice prior to 21 April 2018 to determine whether everything was still on track as I hadn't heard any progress reports/feedback from her during this time. She confirmed everything was on track as scheduled. On Friday 20 April 2018 I sent Fiona a message to confirm when I would be coming for my final fitting & collection of my dress. She responded saying "Everything is on track. I will check with the dress makers when they will be sending it to me" The following day I had not received any response from Fiona and followed up with another message requesting feedback. Fiona advised she would check with her dressmakers again that afternoon. (Just a reminder that this is the day my dress was meant to be completed) I proceeded to advise her that I needed some indication of when I was to do a final fitting and collect my dress as my then fiance and I had a busy week leading up to our wedding on Friday 27 April. She responded asking "Is your wedding THIS Friday?" I immediately began to panic and tried to call her to clarify how she could be unaware of our wedding date? She didn't answer he phone. I called her again shortly thereafter and she said she said that she wasn't in front of her invoice book to see my wedding date but she would contact her dressmakers and customs to see where the dress was. Firstly, she never informed me that the dress was being made out of the country. My guess is that these dresses most likely get ordered online from the East somewhere. Secondly, she said she would find out when the dress would be sent and yet a few hours later it was apparently in customs. Just another piece of info she herself was unaware of. On Monday I had to follow up with her again, similarly on Tuesday as well. Throughout this entire nightmare she never came back to me or my fiance with any feedback by way of a message or a call. We had to call her each morning and afternoon to obtain the latest feedback from her. On Tuesday 24 April we could not wait any longer for information on a dress that might or might not be arriving on time and I proceeded to visit a bridal hiring boutique to try and recover from this nightmare. Fiona offered no further help, suggestions or alternative soloutions. She refunded our deposit to us on Thursday 26 April. She advised that the dress would only arrive after the long weekend and that if I still want the dress after my wedding I should please let her know. This was our one time, never to be repeated, special day ... and all I could ask myself was how does this happen? How did she not know her client's wedding date, how was she not able to identify that there would be a problem when the dress was evidently not on schedule?

Please be ultra cautious when trusting Fiona with any commitments she makes regarding your special day or a special occassion or event.