Oml Bridal — Local services in Lake City

My daughter chose to purchase a dress from this establishment. The initial agreed upon timeframe was a purchase date of February 1st and dress in hand prior to May 16th, which was documented on the contract which they required my (Minor) daughter to sign. Then, they stated half of the total cost was required to place the order for the dress at that time, which she paid. Three weeks later, the remainder of the total cost was paid in cash. At that time, they stated their "printer was down and could not produce a receipt" but that "one would be emailed." When my daughter did not receive the receipt via email, she contacted them and they stated they had received no such payment. Granted, she should not have given the cash payment without some form of receipt being provided. We will accept that as a life lesson. After weeks of "searching", they stated it had been paid and sent a receipt dated for that day, rather than the actual date of payment. At this point, a month had elapsed from the original date of purchase. The dress had still not been ordered even though the entire payment had been received by OML. Another month passed and having received no status on estimated arrival date of dress, my daughter contacted them on April 3rd to be told the dress would ship on April 16th. On April 23rd, she had still heard nothing and contacted them to check the status and was told it "might ship sometime around the end of the month (April)." Keep in mind, the nefarious contract that was signed by my daughter stated OML did not provide refunds for any reason and the event that the dress was ordered for was on May 16th. On May 8th, my daughter was told by Sales Rep, Megan, that the dress "won't be shipped from India until May 17th."

At this point, I contacted legal counsel to make certain we were aware of all legal action we could take in this situation before reaching out to the owner directly. On May 13th, I contacted Ms. McGee in an effort to resolve the issue. When I explained the situation, she quickly replied saying that the "dress was indeed located" in a different location than they had thought that it was, and that it was "scheduled to arrive by the end of next week" (May 22nd, after the date guaranteed in the original contract). We did obtain the dress the following week (May 26th) after yet another "tracking error."

I'm quite certain Ms. McGee will enjoy commenting back on this review, citing that delays were based on shutdowns and her dealings with international companies, rather than US based manufacturing locations (keep that in mind). Trust me, we have heard them all. What I want others to understand is that, this business preys on young ladies, locking them into agreements that they don't fully understand and quite frankly, are not legally permitted to enter into. They work to sell the highest priced, most elaborate dress they offer, and then struggle to live up to their end of the deal (not providing timely, concise communication throughout the process; delivering the dress beyond the agreed upon date; or even providing sound information on an order from one staff member to another) all while serving them drinks and cookies, and acting like their best friend. This was our consumer experience with OML. From a business standpoint, yes, you want to make the most money off your sales. However, when those tactics are at the expense of young ladies from your own community and surrounding counties, you should rethink your business's mission and values. Shame on you Ericka McGee! Perhaps one day your own children will experience a business who takes advantage of them, seizing their hard-earned money, and you will have a taste of the very thing you have done to so many! The truth has a way of revealing itself when you start sharing your story and learn of how many other young girls have been exploited by OML. My daughter learned what could have been a nearly $500 hard life lesson. But no worries, one lesson that was gained from this is where she will NOT purchase...

If you are looking for a stress free wedding experience, I suggest you look elsewhere. I saw the mixed reviews and attempted to buy more “locally” as we live over an hour from this shop but there aren’t many other options. We had to buy 3 bridesmaid dresses from here in July in two separate visits as one girl was leaving state for a few weeks before my last bridesmaid could go to the shop. They took her measurements and said when my last bridesmaid came to pick hers out we could order them all together to be sure the colors matched. Ended up buying the dresses all that second day (paid extra for rush shipping for them to ship the first week of September) along with the promise that the dresses were being ordered that SAME DAY. Get a call four days later that they lost the first girls measurements so my mom attempts to measure her while on vacation and she’s no seamstress….fast forward, I call about a week after my expected ship date for an update and the sales girl says they haven’t even shipped yet but she will call the manufacturer and call back. I receive no more info until almost a week later I get a text that my dresses are in and to call and schedule pickup times. I called for 5 days and left multiple voicemails. None of my bridesmaids ever received any type of notice/call/text. BM #1 finally got ahold of the shop and was able to get her dress (hers was about a size too big). BM #2 goes in, they don’t even offer to let her try it on so she tries it on at home and it’s about 4 sizes too large in all areas. BM #3 goes in and her straps are a bit large but she’s a younger girl so the shop offers to have them taken in after my mother expresses how unprofessional this whole situation has been and explains the second dress to them also. We come to the conclusion that they will take dress #2 to be altered if my BM drives the hour and a half back to the shop and it will be done Tuesday at the latest. She receives her dress Thursday before my Saturday wedding and it still doesn’t fit so she asks them to at least pin it so she can just take it home and we can try to make it manageable before the wedding. On the other dress, they altered the straps sideways! At this point, I call the shop to ask for someone in charge and reach Erica who claims to be the owner. She offers to meet my BM to bring the dress back Thursday night and alter it for the 2nd time but we decided against it as they’ve not kept their word this entire time and she only opted to give us the rush fees ($10) back to make up for it and say it’s my bridesmaids faults for not picking them up the same day they were delivered (again, they got NO notifications other than me contacting them.) We paid $200-250 for each individual dress. This is not okay! I’m so glad my wedding dress came from elsewhere as it was no hassle at all compared to this whole mess. I wouldn’t recommend this shop...

I wasn’t going to leave a review, however, some things need to be cleared up that were said on my brides review. I personally could care less, but others should know of the experience, considering I spent close to $300 to get a dress and have it altered and it still not fit, for me to ever be able to wear again.

I paid for rush shipping to have it here the last week of September. Apparently it came in then. Common practice should be to contact the individual who purchased the dress. Not the bride. She wouldn’t be picking up dresses anyway. I stopped by to pick up the dress 13 days before the wedding, which was only a week after it arrived. I was not given the option to try the dress on for size. However, no big deal. I can do that at home, and have it altered elsewhere if needed. The dress was literally 3 sizes too big. So I had to go back to the store. I live over an hour away, I work full time- on night shift at the hospital- and I have 3 kids. So my time is extremely limited. However, I was able to get there that same week, 9 days before the wedding. My measurements were off by at least 5-6 inches. Things happen. I was told my dress could be altered and ready by the Tuesday before the wedding. Again- I am over an HOUR away- work full time etc. I can’t run around 4 counties to pick up a dress, so I scheduled for the Thursday before a Saturday wedding. Pick up the dress, and it STILL doesn’t fit. No, I could not wait around over an hour for you to alter it. I had 2 hours to get back to pick up my children from school. The fact that it wasn’t altered properly is the problem, not that my schedule doesn’t allow for that. The wedding it self is almost 2 hours away from the bridal shop. I was offered to have it picked up, altered and dropped off. There is rehearsal, dinner, plus just LIFE that doesn’t allow me to wait around.

I completely understand that people are human and things happen, but the fact that no one will just own up to the mistakes, and point the blame at everyone else involved is not good business. I still had to pay for my alterations, for the mistakes that your shop made. I was given $5 off when it finally didn’t fit...