DO NOT SHOP HERE unless you are ok with being ignored and/or verbally abused. Let me start by saying I have lived in Manhattan for 26 years (so I am not a snowflake and can handle unhelpful or dismissive behavior from a salesperson) but I have NEVER experienced rudeness on the level I was just subjected to from the saleswoman at Dress Me Up.
I arrived and hit the buzzer. It took several times as she was apparently towards the back of the store putting away dresses and had no urgency to open the door (and not that it matters, but I do not recall anyone coming out when I went in so she was not helping anyone but I suppose their in store video would show). But no biggie.
Finally, the saleswoman came and opened the door. She opened the door without saying A WORD and then walks away from me towards the store again without saying a word. I was quite surprised - I felt like I was nuisance to her by her having to come open the door for me. But okay… I was looking at a dress on the mannequin and at no point does the woman acknowledge my presence of offer to help me. I was the ONlY customer in the store. Given that I have done all of my shopping for the formal dress I am looked for at department stores with salespeople who help you find sizes and styles, I wasn't sure if I should be expecting any help given that I was not even acknowledged (and this is not a store that is easily navigable by yourself like a department store is - it is not organized by designer and it is somewhat hard to know where things are). So, I calmly - not loudly or aggressively- asked to the saleswoman - "should I be expecting any help from you or should I be finding everything myself?". That set her OFF. She aggressively and nastily raised her voice and said can't I see she is doing something (I could not - looked like she was simply standing by a dress maybe putting it away- but even if she were she could have at least acknowledged my presence and said I'll be right with you) and then she angrily shouted that she felt my question was very rude and that I needed to leave right now. I was honestly stunned. I informed her it took me a long time to get to the store, I'm here to buy a dress and I am not leaving. She then aggressively insisted again that I leave the store. I said absolutely not. It was surreal. I almost expected that the police were going to be called because there was no way I was leaving given I did not do anything wrong and given how this woman was verbally attacking me, I then called the store's owner through the website who assured me he was on his way back to the store, asked me to please stay and he would help me.
When he arrived I started to tell him what happened and he seemed very embarrassed and asked his employee to apologize. She refused. She asked to tell her side of the story - fair enough- and when she did it was ALL lies. Not a grain of truth in what she said. She even denied telling me to leave! She would not admit that she did exactly what is factually beyond dispute. Given the way she spoke to me - and her OWN boss by the way - there is no way this is the first complaint against this woman. From what I witnessed, I almost feel like maybe the owner is afraid of her. I told him that I was going to be sharing my experience online and he asked me not to - while I feel bad for potentially hurting his business I am more concerned about any other woman experiencing what I experienced today. I ended up leaving after only trying on two dresses as I was literally shaking I was so upset. By keeping this employee on his staff this business owner is choosing to allow someone on his employ to interact with his customers in a totally unacceptable way. If I ever learn this employee is terminated, I will take my review down.