Left At The Altar?

Alabama Mobile Bridal shop on Airport Boulevard suddenly shut down leaving customers high and dry.

by Chad Petri

Published: Wed, November 12, 2008 - 4:58 pm CST Last Updated: Thu, November 13, 2008 - 12:29 pm CST

Call up the House of Brides and this is what you'll hear.

“Effectively immediately the house of brides has closed due to the economy we regret any inconvenience this has caused,” says the pre-recorded message on the store’s business line.

“Irate, I tell ya,” says customer Jeremy Messer. “If somebody had been here in person I probably would have talked to them sternly to say the least.” Jeremy Messer and his bride-to-be Amy Fletcher say they sank more than $400 into the House of Brides before it went belly-up. They're getting married in 10 days.

“So I called a week ago and asked if I needed to move my order to another store how I should handle it,” says Amy. “They told me they did not have any knowledge that they were going to close.” Under the front door, small hand written notes with desperate pleas from brides wait for someone to take notice. Guys like Andrew Tewell are making other plans. He's getting married in three weeks. He says his 9 groomsmen are out 150-dollas a piece. He says a little notice would have been nice.

“To me that's crooked you should let somebody know but obviously the fact of the timing and hassle I’m going to have to go through now trying to everybody's measurements and everything back in,” says Andrew. A sign on the front says the store is only open for drop-offs. The Better Business Bureau wants to know if you were affected by this. Their number is (251) 433-5494.

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Ithink Says:

Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 9:02 pm

It only makes a terrible situation worse to finally get around to communicating with your “victims” by offering a hotline number and then not clearing out your mailbox. I’ve tried for two days to leave my contact information, but the mailbox is full.

ellysianfields Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 5:41 pm

I was so upset when my fiancee told me about this yesterday! My dress was in storage there to be pressed before my wedding and I thought I had lost it permanently, but luckily the seamstess I was using got it out before they closed the doors. I feel so sorry for these brides and grooms who are having nightmares over this. I feel very blessed that I only sunk $ 25.00 in a deposit for my bridesmaids dresses and we had made no other orders. I’m sure my bridesmaids will be grateful that I held off getting them the information for the dress! My heart goes out to all you brides!

myturn01 Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Well you guys finally ran it to the ground in HOB fashion. This is terrible thing to deal with for any bride and groom.

Turners09 Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 3:12 pm

I work at David’s Bridal and this whole situation really upsets me!!
Where is the owner/store manager/district manager in all this?? How can you not know you are closing? If you can’t afford employees due to the economy, then why isn’t the owner there making sure that all his clients that have already paid for services being taking care of? How would that hurt your business, those people have already paid for the service!
Have they not sent out any form of notification to customers who have already paid for services that they are not going to be able to provide them? Have they let people know that a refund will take place ASAP??
There has to be some fine print somewhere (recite, contract) that if they can not come through with their services that a full refund will be in effect.
I personally would sue, you cant take money from customers and not give them what they paid for!
Best of luck to you all! As a bride to be myself, I couldn’t imagine the stress and complications. Sorry!

glamblitz Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 1:53 pm

agrayson12 if everyone had your thinking, this would happen alot less. Everyone who they did this to needs to sit in the owners front yard & not leave til he or she makes it right!!! I know of another store in bridal store in Mobile that did that same thing a couple years ago. I truely hope that it comes back to these people who have wronged so many!

KxVicious Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 12:03 pm

CONGRATULATIONS JEREMY!

(This is Rachel H. from youth group!)

NTHand Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 10:48 am

To add to the post below from Jo Solorzano at Anthony’s - she and her staff are wonderful! She will absolutely go above and beyond to make YOUR day special. I promise, when your wedding is over you will miss your communications with Jo - she becomes a dear friend through the process.

Jo Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 10:14 am

MAY WE OFFER SOME HELP? We know that weddings can be extremely stressful. Vendors from New York, California, and Atlanta have already contacted our store about receiving merchandise for brides. We are in Foley, and we offer many of the lines that House of Brides carries. We cannot offer to do anything but to obtain gowns, dresses, tuxedoes, etc. for your wedding. The tuxedo and gown companies will have your order information. However, you must contact us so that we can TRY to get your merchandise. If we do not carry your wedding gown line, we will gladly call the company for you to learn what we can do. Please let us know how we can help you.
God bless you.

JO SOLORZANO, OWNER
ANTHONY’S BRIDAL and TUXEDO SHOP
1021 NORTH McKENZIE (HWY. 59)
FOLEY (251) 943-3929

M - F 10 - 5:30 SAT. 10 - 3

cmb1 Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 7:46 am

I don’t understand if you can drop off clothes then where is that person? Sorry for all of your loses. Didn’t this happen some years back with this company? Good Luck!

agrayson12 Says:

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 4:04 am

I am calling the better business bureau tomorrow as soon as I get up. I’m going to contact the credit card company and try to reverse charges. I’m also going to try and track down one of the employees named ***** and find out what the hell is going on. See if she can’t give me some contact names. If anyone wants to contact me about this my email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). I’ve now got to try and get our money back and find a place to get all new tails rented. I’m so stressed…this is not what I needed right now.

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