Countless teens attend prom each year and because of this the online marketplace for prom dress sales is enormous. In our last blog post, we shared research based on Sitejabber.com reviewers’ online prom dress purchases gone wrong. There are widespread poor reviews ranging from undelivered promises, poor quality, bad customer service and even credit card fraud. Despite this, Sitejabber.com reviewers have also shared numerous positive experiences. There are plenty of good online shopping sites that offer legitimate, high quality dresses. We’ve provided some tips and highlights for happy online prom dress shopping based on consumer reviews and research.
1. Genuinely Great Deals
Undoubtedly, there are some online stores that sell fake merchandise or fake brand names, but there are other online stores that sell authentic brand names and consumers can find great deals. Sitejabber reviewer Susan writes a review of Gilt.com, “Gilt is what it tells you it is. Upscale goods, good prices for what you’re getting. STELLAR customer service….. I have authenticated many of the items I’ve purchased from them. They’re always the real thing. For this reason, I trust them. They pack the things in a way that makes you feel that they care about the quality of what they sell, and you feel like you’re getting a present from yourself when you open one. Their cardboard boxes look & feel glamorous.” Finding a “great deal”, is a great deal more than just a low price for a great dress. When the company can combine low prices, excellent products and easy to navigate policies it’s surely a site worth checking out. As Julia writes in her review of HauteLook.com: “This is probably one of the best discount online stores. Their customer service is amazing – I have received the wrong items a few times and they return it with no questions…the products from Hautelook are amazing, the discounts are amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone.” By shopping online you can find discounts on name brands that you probably wouldn’t find at your local department store. Plus, shopping online offers the time-saving convenience of shopping from your own home. However, reviewers have expressed that some companies have hidden shipping fees which only defeat the “great deal” you thought you found. Some reviewers have recommended making a smaller purchase rather than an all-out spree the first time you use a new online company just to get a feel for the company and their policies.
2. Friendly and Responsive Customer Service
Bad or non-responsive customer service can be a sore spot for all consumers alike. Where many sites do lack in their customer service, there are sites who have excellent customer service and will respond promptly to customer inquiries. If a customer has a bad experience, some companies are quick to make it right. Chris’ review of Shopbop.com is a great example of excellent customer service: “Ordered a Tory Burch smartphone wristlet from Shopbop but there was some discoloration on the logo that was pretty obvious. Contacted customer service to have it return internationally and they made everything such a breeze for me. Within a week of returning my item, I received the replacement (which was in perfect condition) as I mentioned I would be away soon after.” Other positive customer service reviews have shown that some companies will go above and beyond to make sure you leave with a positive experience. Susan shares her review of RueLaLa.com, “I gave an extremely poor review earlier this week for this site. The next day I received a phone call from Ruelala about my complaint. This company went over and above what they needed to do to resolve the situation I was in. My daughter not only received her gown for the ball this weekend they also gave her some beautiful earrings to go with it. If you think they don’t care, your wrong they really do.” Positive customer service experiences can make up for hiccups and small mistakes and transform an unhappy customer into a very happy customer. Effort, apology and display of proving the customer matters will lead to happy customers and in turn, a better business reputation. Wouldn’t you choose a friendly and responsive company over a defensive or elusive company?
3. Easy Peasy Return Policies
When looking for an online dress store, keep in mind that you may want to check the company’s return policy. Companies who have outrageous return policies or restocking fees may ultimately cause you unnecessary stress and charge a substantial amount of money to return an item. Good websites have straightforward and reasonable return policies. Some companies make returning an item very simple and will charge you a low standard fee no matter what the cost for the item is. As Stephanie points out in her review of MyHabit.com, “You can return most things (even a 1K wedding dress) for a flat rate of about $4. Shipping to you is free”. If a website wants to maintain a good relationship with its customers it will more often than not offer an easy and low-cost return option. As the majority of online shoppers would agree, sometimes items just don’t fit or look as you want to once they arrive. A return policy that is easy to use and has little or no cost to the customer will provide a positive online shopping experience and you’ll be likely to order from there again.
4. It’s Here!
As shared in our last blog post, some companies will take much longer than the promised delivery date and to make matters worse when the shipment arrives, the item is nothing like what you thought you purchased. There are however, sites which ship items within the expected shipping time and the item looks exactly as you imagined. Liana says about BlueFly.com, “I ordered a dress early on Friday 3/14 morning and it was at my house by Saturday 3/15 afternoon. That quick. And they weren’t trying to get rid of bad quality clothing either; the dress I ordered is absolutely GORGEOUS quality and a cobalt color true to the picture.” Many times the company will send you a tracking number with your payment receipt. If you are ordering a dress that you need by a certain date, say for prom, check the status of the dress delivery so you don’t wind up feeling aggravated or defeated if the dress takes longer than expected. But what’s even better, as shared by Sitejabber reviewers, is when there’s no need to track down your order from the company or postal service because it arrives on or before the expected delivery date.
Dress Site Reviews
Checking out reviews in advance can be useful in making sure you have a positive shopping experience. It’s always a good idea to do your research about a company prior to submitting a purchase to an online store, especially for the first time. In addition to some of the sites mentioned above that have positive reviews by consumers, there are many more great online sites to buy dresses. Visit Sitejabber.com dress sites to view Sitejabber’s entire list of dress sites reviewed by consumers like you. Happy shopping! Photos 1 2 3 4
