Chesterfield bridal shop causes wedding chaos

KSDK -- A Chesterfield bridal shop accused of creating a nightmare for brides-to-be is under new ownership.

According to the Better Business Bureau, customers of I Do I Do Bridal said they have experienced shipping delays, amateurish alterations and an unresponsive staff. A St. Louis woman blames the business for destroying one of her bridesmaid dresses.

NewsChannel 5 called the store to get a response to these allegations. It now has new owners. One of them, Jenna Bell of Dellwood, said she and a co-owner are opening a completely new bridal store with no ties to I Do I Do. She said the store is being remodeled and will reopen by August 25. It will be renamed Happily Ever After Bridal.

Bell said brides who had done business with the previous owner, Charlene Cagle, would get their dresses on time.

The complaints against I Do I Do began in September 2006 and most involve delivery or customer service issues. The BBB has received more than 60 complaints about the shop in the past 36 months, more than 20 of those in 2009.

According to the BBB, Happily Ever After Bridal was incorporated with the Missouri Secretary of State on Monday.

Michelle Corey, president and CEO of the St. Louis BBB, said I Do I Do has a long and troubling record of consumer problems. "A wedding is one of the most important occasions in a person's life, and for a store to do anything to jeopardize that is simply wrong, and not good business," Corey said.

The BBB shared the following stories regarding customers who dealt with the business:

A St. Louis bridesmaid said she was measured for her dress at I Do I Do in early December 2008 for a June 2009 wedding. After several delays, she said, the dress arrived on May 23 and the dress was pinned for alterations. When the work finally was done, just days before the wedding, she said she noticed multiple problems. Stitches were coming out or "popping open," the hem was coming undone and the dark brown dress was sewn with light brown thread, she said. She said the dress of another bridesmaid was so poorly altered that she could not even get her arms in the arm holes. The woman said the wedding was rescued only by the last-minute heroics of the mother of one of the bridesmaids who was a seamstress.

A Winfield woman said delays over the delivery of her dress and severe problems with the shop's alterations almost forced her to bow out of her brother's wedding. She said at the time of her original order, she had tried on a size 10 dress which was too large. But when the dress arrived, it was a size 18 and alterations from I Do I Do made the $170 dress not wearable. She said she had to pay $160 for emergency alterations. She called the problems with I Do I Do "ridiculous."

Cagle, the shop's owner, dismissed the complaints, saying some customers were using the BBB to try to "extort" money and services from her store. "Some people, you just can't make happy," Cagle said. She said she believes some customers "just out and out lie" to the BBB and says the complaints against her shop represent just a small fraction of her business.

Another bridesmaid from Wright City, Mo. said when she first visited the shop, I Do I Do "seemed like it was going to be the perfect place to get a dress." But when she tried on her dress after the shop had completed alterations, she discovered several problems. The neckline, which was supposed to be horizontal instead was at a "20 or 30-degree angle." She said four inches of the inside lining of the dress were hanging below the bottom of the dress. She said the hem looked like it had been cut by "a 2-year-old" with scissors. The woman said an outside seamstress "had to rip out every seam and remake it."

The BBB has the following advice for women shopping for wedding or prom dresses:

- Give yourself plenty of time when shopping for a special occasion dress. Orders typically take several months and alterations, when needed, may take several additional weeks.

- Do not make full payment for a dress until after you receive it and know it fits properly. Some complainants to the BBB say that once a shop has received full payment, it is less likely to continue to work closely with the customer.

- Ask who does the alterations for the shop and request referrals, and then check out that business with the BBB. Poorly altered dresses are one of the main reasons for complaints.

- Pay with a credit card whenever possible, so that you have the ability to challenge the credit if the shop does not perform satisfactorily.

- Know any additional charges up front before finalizing your order.

- Check out a business reliability report through www.bbb.org or by calling 314-645-3300.