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Katharinas Bridal Boutique
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Published by Katharina Mueller
Published by Katharina Mueller
Published by Katharina Mueller
Published by Katharina Mueller
Published by Katharina Mueller
Add your review
JeNnIfErRrRrR
March 07, 2012
Speaking my Mind
August 29, 2011
Katharina Mueller
March 11, 2010
Reviews [3]
English
Seriously? Are you kidding me???
Ok...so if Doreen and Josie are your family, and helped you find your dress because they work there...how on earth did you NOT know the store was in business for an entire year? Simple answer...the whole thing was fabricated and posted by the store owner to make her store look like a great place to shop, wow!
Horrible Time
*** JUST NOTICED THE POSITIVE REVIEW POSTED BELOW IS POSTED BY KATHARINA HERSELF... ***
Back in April of this year my daughter began the dress hunt for her
wedding. After checking out several dresses she fell in love with an
Alfred Angelo dress that she found at a local bridal boutique called
"Katharina's Bridal Boutique " (www.facebook.com/katharinasbridal)
www.katharinasbridalboutique.com/
The dress that was on the rack was a couple of sizes too large and we
were told that we would have to order in another because altering the
one on the rack just wouldn't be possible. This doubled the cost of
the dress (off the rack was roughly $500, the ordered in version was
around $1000) but my daughter loved the dress so we asked for it to be
ordered in. We were told the arrival date would be around July 17th.
July 17th came and went and we heard nothing from Katharina's,
figuring things might be busy we held off from reaching out until July
22nd. We began to send emails and left a few voicemails however none
of the messages were returned. Getting worried we went into the shop
on the 28th and got a less than warm welcome. Katharina (owner of
the shop) seemed annoyed that we were pressing her for info on this
dress and with a rolling of the eyes explained that she is at the
mercy of the supplier and that she has since put a rush order on and
that the dress will arrive on Aug 5th. Why this couldn't have been
communicated in a reply to the voicemails and emails we sent was never
explained.
August 9th we head in for a fitting as the dress has arrived.
Looking forward to seeing her dream dress the bride was quickly in the
corner in tears as not only did the dress arrive in the wrong size, it
was the complete wrong dress model. The wedding is now three weeks
away and there is no dress. Katharina's response was less than
empathetic instead choosing to blame the mistake on Alfred Angelo and
saying there was little she could do about it. In fact she was
shocked that it was the wrong model. I called my husband to come in
and talk as I was furious and my daughter was in tears. After an
angry talk from my husband Katharina has agreed to the following:
1. Full refund
2. The model she has on the rack would be given free of charge.
As I mentioned earlier this dress was a couple of sizes too big and
would require significant work to make it fit and look like it's
supposed to. At this point we had obviously lost faith in the shop
and it's owner due to the lack of communication prior and the mess-ups.
We agree to her deal of the refund and her attempting to correct the
dress but since the wedding date is fast approaching we begin the
search for a replacement dress.
We called several boutiques in the maritimes and ontario trying to
find anyone who had that model of dress in her size. The shop owners
we were speaking to on the phone were incredibly helpful and we heard
back from several of them in minutes and anyone we left voice mails
for or emailed called back within hours - showing how customer service
in the wedding industry should be. Eventually we got in contact with
the supplier that Katharina uses for her dresses and after speaking
with them they revealed that the error was definitely on Katharina's
end - the model that was faxed to them is what was shipped. They
also knew of the mess-up as earlier that day (prior to our arriving at
the shop) Katharina's had been in contact with them. This was
frustrating as Katharina acted very "shocked" that the wrong dress had
arrived as she obviously had known about it before we had even
arrived.
The supplier contacted every shop in N. America looking for this dress
however finding that model in that size seemed to be a losing battle.
We gave up hope on the dream dress and started looking for a plan B.
We found one at Casleys (www.caseleys.com/). While looking for
a replacement dress we spoke with other bridal shops and
mentioned what had happened. one explained how complicated the
process to modify the dress would be and said she had a seamstress with lots of
experience and offered to do it for us for a very reasonable price.
We contacted Katharina's and asked if she would release the dress to
us unmodified and we would take it to our own seamstress. We were
told no - Katharina said she had seen this seamstresses work and
wouldn't release her dress to her. Katharina's seamstress was much
better and she would release to no one else. We agreed however at
this point wanted no more todo with Katharina and asked that we only
have to deal with
the seamstress and we would deal directly with her - we
didn't want to speak with Katharina or enter her shop again. this
was agreed on.
So now we have a dress we've purchased and another one off at
Katharina's seamstress that we honestly don't have much hope in.
However a week later we get a call from Elizabeth Miner (Katharina's
seamstress) and it looks fantastic. She some how had pulled it off,
the only thing left was some beading and we could pick it up in a
couple of days.
In this couple of day lapse we start hearing from other people who
have had bad experiences with Katharina on facebook, one of the
threads sent to me had a very detailed story and several replies to
it. I replied to the thread stating that we also had some issues at
this same boutique but didn't really get into any details.
Once the beading is completed we get a phone call from Elizabeth
saying the dress is done but she can't release it to us, instead we
now have to go back to Katharina's - Elizabeth isn't sure why but said
she had heard something about facebook.
So we are three days away from the wedding and we go into Katharina's
for one last visit. I bring my son with me to do most of the talking
as my frustration level is at an all time high and I'm not sure if I
can be all that civil with the lady.
We ask for the dress and told that we will need to pay for
alterations. The reasoning was that Elizabeth wasn't her employee
and that if we were willing to have a our seamstress do it that we
could pay for Elizabeth to do it. After explaining that this was
never communicated and a bit of arguing we got passed this point.
Then we got to the heart of the real issue. Katharina had been
informed about the facebook posts and had taken them very personally.
This lady, it seemed, had no ability to see the difference between a
personal attack on her and a criticism of her business. She was very
angry and started spouting off on how it was all slander and that she
had contacted her lawyer and the RCMP. My son explained she really
needed to lookup what slander was and that he welcomed a letter from
her lawyer. She seemed most upset that in my particular comment I
hadn't told the ENTIRE story - by ENTIRE story what she meant was the
part about the refund and free dress.
Still refusing to release the dress without payment on the Alterations
she finally relented after my son pointed out to her that the wedding
industry was 90% word of mouth and that if she thought facebook
reached a-lot of islanders to think of what would happen when the story
reached the journal or the guardian.
We walked out with the dress and a very sour taste over all dealings
with this boutique and it's owner. We also left with a guilty
feeling that the seamstress isn't going to get paid for the excellent
work she had done. Katharina if you are reading this please reply
and let us know that she did get paid for her work.
Morals of this story:
1. If a mistake is made, regardless of whose fault it actually is -
own the mistake. Show empathy and instill confidence that you will
make it all correct. Weddings can be stressful enough we don't need
your issues piled on top.
2. Stay in contact with your customers, a lot of these issues were
magnified by the fact that we were in the dark during most of the
time.
3. When you make a deal to fix the issue - honor it without conditions.
4. If you are criticized either give your side or take it on the
chin. You are in the service industry and people are going to talk.
If you take everything as a personal attack you are going to burn out
very quickly.
5. Be careful what you wish for - you wanted the whole story and here
it all is.
an experience
So if after reading this if you are wondering what my recommendations are:
1. Do not go to Katharina's shop. I would recommend ordering from
sears before her - sears rarely gets my orders wrong and are very
polite when I talk to them.
2. I highly recommend Elizabeth Miner as a seamstress - she did an
amazing job on a very difficult project in a compressed timeline.
Review of Katharina's Bridal Boutique
I have just returned from the most amazing wedding dress shopping experience I've ever had.
First, let me just say that I was a little anxious to go dress shopping again after my last trip to an establishment on the Island. The lady helping me at the dress shop would only pull dresses that she thought would fit or be big and seemed in an awful rush to shoo me out the door. Unfortunately, the few dresses that fit me well enough that I could try them on seemed to be the wrong kind of old fashioned and a little on the homely side... nothing like I had envisioned myself trying on. I left feeling like finding a dress would be like wrapping a whale in taffeta and tulle and sending it down the aisle.
So yes, I was more than a little nervous walking in to Katharina's Bridal Boutique, but I decided to keep an open mind. I was greeted at the door by Kim, one of their wedding consultants. Her warm and welcoming personality made me feel instantly like I was shopping with an old friend. We walked up to the racks of dresses and I mentioned a few of the characteristics I thought I'd like in a dress. Right away she pulled one off the rack, and I instantly said "that won't fit". Kim then told me something I hadn't heard before; forget about the size of the dress, that's just a number. She told me to try it on and, even though it might not fit, I could see if I liked the look of it. And try on dresses I did!
With help from my soon to be mother-in-law and sister-in-law Doreen and Josie, we picked out a number of dresses I wouldn't have even considered trying on because of the size at the other shop. While I was trying them on, Kim made me feel so confident, telling me which were her favorite dresses, telling me stories and making me feel special. She told me what worked and what didn't; a kind of honesty that seems to be rare.
Because of Kim, Doreen and Josie, I found a dress I fell in love with. I wouldn't have tried it on anywhere else, but it looked stunning. I even got to meet Katharina, who came out and told me the best part: They only sell 3 dresses of one particular style a year. This was the best news I'd heard all day; after all, what bride wants to see her dream dress on 10 other brides on Facebook by the end of the season? I left the boutique with loads of information and even a booklet with a picture of the dress I love in it - even though they only get a few booklets and are supposed to stay in store (thanks, Katharina!).
To wrap it up, the ladies at Katharina's Bridal Boutique made me feel so positive about the whole experience. They were amazingly friendly and outgoing, knowledgeable and made the whole thing so memorable. I can't believe they've been open for a year, and I've just heard about them this week. Thanks, guys!
Info on Katharina's Bridal Boutique:
Facebook group: Katharina's Bridal Boutique
Website: www.katharinasbridalboutique.com
Address: 12 Cedar Street, Summerside PEI
To book an appointment: (902) 724 - 3222
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Business Description from the Web
English
June 12, 2012
We are located in the heart of Summerside directly accross from the Shipyard Market and the beautiful Summerside Baywalk
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