Couture House — Local services in The Woodlands

My daughter and I visited the shop on Apr. 1 to purchase a prom dress she found on their website. She called ahead to see if they had the dress in stock. She was told over the phone they didn't have the dress in stock in the color she wanted. However, it was in stock in another color and she would be able to try it on to get an accurate size. We live on the other side of Houston so it was an hour drive. When we arrived we communicated to the salesperson the dress we wanted to see, and after she briefly looked for the dress she said they didn't have it in stock in any color. She mentioned if we wanted to order the dress, we would have to pay for it first. Well I do quite a bit of shopping and whether it's in person or online, I'm more than aware you have to pay for it when the order is placed. After that she walked off. Shortly after, another salesperson approached and asked if we needed help. I explained that my daughter was told the dress was in stock in a different color and it's not in stock. She briefly spoke with the initial salesperson and then proceeded to look for the dress. She came back and inquired if she wanted to try on another dress by the designer. We agreed and the second sales lady stated if we wanted to order the dress we have to pay for it first. At this point I was starting to get annoyed as I wasn't sure why they kept reiterating I needed to pay for the dress to place an order given that's common sense. When we went to place the order, it was obvious the salesperson placing the order was fairly new. I wasn't surprised to see the first salesperson assisting her, but the second one was watching the transaction as well. That's when it dawned on me as it doesn't take three sales ladies to process one transaction that they assumed I couldn't afford to purchase the dress because I was black. I almost walked out of the shop before they finished processing my card. But I could tell my daughter was almost in tears as she knew that I was annoyed by their ignorance. Therefore being a mother first, it wasn't my day to take a stance against ignorance as this was the dress my child wanted for prom. I am a EEO practitioner and have been one for 10 years, I know the difference between poor customer service and racism. This has only happened twice in my lifetime while shopping. Ironically I mentioned the interaction to my hair stylist and she remembered two years ago she went to the exact same shop to rent a dress and had a very similar experience. She also stated that she spoke with the manager as she believed that their attitude was because of her race. I called the manager as well and she attempted to defend her sales persons ignorance, but when I questioned why it took so many to make sure my transaction went through she became very quiet. I would have given this establishment zero stars, but you have to at least give one in order to post a review. Therefore, I decided to do this review and sincerely hope that future customers think twice about patronizing...

Horrible service!!! My daughter and I drove over an hour to this place. When I pulled up I was not impressed by the location or outer appearance of the building. I know that doesn’t always mean anything... I had looked up this place on Facebook and on their website for all the details etc. No where does it tell you that you need an appointment to look at most of their dresses they have available. Now I was searching this store on my iPhone which most people do so maybe that’s why I didn’t see anything about an appt. When we got to the store the workers were some what friendly but basically told us that the front part of the store and a room where the dressing rooms are were dresses that could be purchased and the very back was rental. So my daughter and I started to look. We had a girl come up to help us and started pulling dresses for us. We also showed her a dress that we were looking for that was online. She then put the dresses and put them in the dressing room and then we started to look more. All of a sudden she comes up to us and takes us to a front room that is basically unseen when you walk through the doors. Proceeds to tell us that this is all we can purchase because everything she pulled for us is rentals and she put them back. Um what??? We were so confused!! The room we were in was closet size and a very small selection. So then I asked her again this is all we can purchase in this room? She said oh no you can purchase the dresses in the front of the store before the wood floor. I proceeded to tell her that isn’t that we’re we just pulled the dresses from?? She said yes but the ones we pulled were rentals... So once again I was very confused because why did you even pull these dresses for us if we can’t try them on because they are rentals and we don’t have an appt. I tried to explain to her that we had traveled over an hour and she rudely said you need an appt. I also explained that I looked on Facebook and their website and I did not see that any where. She just stared at me. I then asked to speak with a manager and she took me to some young girl working the front desk and I asked her again to explain what dresses we could purchase and what the girl had done and how she had just our dresses back that where in the room they said were for purchase. Instead of pulling me to the side she loudly spoke down to me in front of everyone standing there. So instead of being rude I just walked out. So please be aware that if you want to visit this shop you NEED an appt. and most every dress they have is rental. Also, their workers don’t know what dresses are rentals or purchase apparently. Don’t waste your time!!! We ended up going to Muzzies with fabulous service and a million dresses to pick through and you don’t need to make an...

Worst service ever! I've never been you a formal gown shop that did not have impeccable service, but this place takes the prize. I should have known from the first impression. The first word that were spoken to us was not "Welcome". It was "What is the event/prom date?". Next statement "Do you have an appointment?". I have never felt so unwanted or unappreciated as a customer. We did not have an appointment, so we were literally ignored after being told we could look but not try on. After browsing the rental gowns, we quickly moved to the purchasing section. The rental gowns looked very worn. There was missing sequence, multiple snags, small tears, other visible imperfections. I, like other reviewers, felt like my business was unwanted. I must add the staff was comprised of very young ladies. Their attire reminded me of the attire with at Memorial park by runners. Their attire mimicked their professionalism. It was non-existent. We purchased because we were one week away from prom. But, I will never return nor would I refer anyone there. I have had hundreds of people ask me where I purchased the dress. I refused to tell them. This business will not continue to benefit after getting it so wrong.

Suggestions to management: Be sure to greet your customers upon entry. Ensure they feel important and valued throughout their purchasing experience. Take a page from Chic-fil-A! 2.Assign a designated staff member to assist customers who want to purchase. We purchased a $495 dress. We were spoken to upon entry and at checkout. Neither encounter was pleasant . It's a formal dress shop. Consider your staff dressing the part (at least business casual). You would be surprised how a professional look impacts your attitude. Don't patronize me with your response trying to justify the staff's actions and/or the business's past accolades. That won't change my horrible experience. Just take note of my feedback. I hope it grows you and makes you even stronger. Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful...