Bridesmaid Dress Fury! What do you make of this Customer Service?

I don't think they're doing anything legally wrong, so I don't think taking it to a higher authority will do much good. Having said that, large companies like HOF will normally give in just to keep their good reputation.

This happens every year at Christmas, my MIL buys something for me (or one of the others) that doesn't fit, we take it to swap and get told that we can't get charged the sale price as it was bought before the sale... which I always thought was fair enough.

The op is saying that she should be given the dress at the previous sale price, regardless of the fact that it is no longer in the sale. My point is, if it was the other way round and she had previously paid full price, THEN it went into the sale, would she offer House of Fraser the difference? No she wouldn't, she'd thank her lucky stars that it worked out a bit cheaper. But on this occasion it worked the other way, and the shop are doing everything above board and legally, so all the threats of Trading Standards in the world won't make any difference because they haven't done anything wrong. It's a bit of a pain that it worked out this way, but the op can be as furious as she likes because she has no legal leg to stand on.

It makes no difference that the dress could then be sold to someone else at full price. They had their sale between certain dates, and reserve the right as the retailer to charge full price outside of these dates, regardless of who buys it.

Not sure I fully understand...

You ordered a dress in the sale, it didn't fit. You will get your money back for it so no problem there.
The sale has finished so a new dress ordered would be full price?

I'm afraid that's life! I don't see them being in the wrong at all... Granted, it's an annoyance, but that's all...

The price now or before the sale was made is absolutely irrelevant. She should be charged the price of the original transaction, whether that's more or less than whatever the same item is selling for now. Simple really.

If she'd bought the item full price and it was now in the sale, HoF would hardly say "oh, seeing as it's cheaper now, here's some money back as well". It has to work both ways. Anything else is abysmal customer service.

I think that the key point here is that the OP had no way of knowing whether the dresses would fit as no measurements were given, she could only go by the sizes... therefore she should have the right to exchange and not have to be charged extra.

If the OP is in the right, OFT will tell her, if she is in the wrong, they will tell her that too. End of.

WSS. She bought online and therefore needed accurate, full information in order to buy. This was not provided by HoF. She was therefore forced to guess which size to buy, based on average sizes in most stores. She could not have known that this particular dress was small in the bust, and HoF did not say this on their website. So she bought the dress in good faith and it was too small, due in part to their lack of information given in the first place. They should therefore allow her a straight exchange in order to have the correct size, which she would have bought had she known the sizing of the dresses in the first place. ('Should' being morally speaking, I don't know about legally.)

Was it small on the bust? Or was the bridesmaid bigger on the bust than her waist and hips? Not necessarily a dress that is small fitting, and therefore not HOF fault, could possibly be a bridesmaid with a big bust!

She said her BM is a C-cup... pretty average-sounding to me and therefore an average dress should accommodate this bust size. If sizing information is provided then that's fine, you can check. However the OP clearly states that no such sizing information was given and so she ordered the size her BM usually fits.

Well hello Ladies!

To the Hitcher who said I have no legal leg to stand on bla bla...I'm not saying I am, I just think it's crappy customer service. As for your reasoning on why what I'm asking for is unacceptable, I think that's poppycock - for all the same reasons everyone responded to you with.

An update!

I didn't get my managers call. I rang last night and they said they'd ring me before 10. They didn't. I checked HOF website tonight an THEY ARE ONLY IN THE SALE AGAIN. They have been full price for 1 blinking week! Alas they only have a 16, I want a 14. So I ring up, and say I didn't get my managers call and I see they are now reduced again. She said someone tried to call me but my number didn't work. Odd as the guy read the correct number back to me. So I explain my situation and she says she will check all UK stores for a 14. There are 13 in the UK, closest one is Meadowhall in Sheffield. Hurrah! I still want the managers call as I still disagree with the principles they have followed. Also, I have to pay £7.50 for delivery to my home from one that is in store, and they don't transfer to other stores. Groan. Going to try and get the online people to waive this fee although not holding my hopes up!

Thanks for all your help lovely hitchers, fingers crossed it all goes smoothly from here

That is appaling customer service. I was a retail manager for years and havenever heard of that being done. I thought HOF were supposed to be a premium brand??

As for the manager not calling back...thats poor. I NEVER miss call backs to my customers.