This is really to anyone who is stressing about their dress not getting to them in 3 weeks: I think that the storms and holiday have everything to do with being able to provide honest customer service. If you lived/worked in a place where you rarely got time off from the city to see your family in the country except for a 6week time period around Christmas/New Years - and EVERYONE took this time off it wouldn't seem odd at ALL that no one was able to return you emails in a "timely" fashion. I've emailed back and forth a LOT with the babyonline rep (and I won't be ordering my dress for almost a YEAR, so I'm not even a POSSIBLE sale yet), and have always got my replies within hours (as long as it wasn't night time in China). I'm not Chinese, but I live in San Francisco, and understand how HUGE New Years is (Almost ALL Chinese businesses are closed for the week at least) - so I haven't even been trying since mid January LOL! Also keep in mind it's not JUST the dress factories that shut down - it's almost EVERYTHING!!! Remember, it's the one time workers can relax and spend time with families... we can't expect them to make dresses in 10 days 365 days a year It just happens that Chinese New Year falls around the same time Westerners are done with their Holiday stuff and ready to tackle ordering a wedding dress, I dunno about you, but I'm the biggest I'll EVER be after Xmas To be honest, I doubt ANYONE (even the person returning your emails) is AT the factory right now. So they only have the same information you have in trying to figure out what is going on... and doubt it's very accurate since no one is there to see your dresses. They are not trying to LIE to you, but to get you as much info as possible whenever it comes up; which sounds few and far between. They would rather you not freak out and cancel your order, and generally, there isn't just ONE person in charge... it's a whole team, so when that team is gone - UGH! On top of that, the Holiday has fallen when half of the North America is experiencing one of the largest storms ever recorded (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49085) meaning that domestic and international shipping methods are all in a confused state - the storms seems a likely culprit in any shipping mishaps. I ordered something from amazon with 2 day shipping, and it took 9 (NINE) days to get to me... and it's sunny outside of MY house right now And their workers "didn't return to work" because they aren't SUPPOSED to yet... not like they went on strike or anything, lol. If they see that you are going to pullout because it's taking longer than 3 weeks, then they may try to find someone who will make the dress - if it's at all possible. Also, Bonnie ordered her dress from babyonline - that was her point. That NORMALLY, if you were to pay $3-30k for a dress, it would take you six months to get to the bridal salon where you ordered it - at LEAST. In China, EVERYONE knows when New Years is, and everyone knows that it means that factories shut down. It's not up to the company to remind it's clients of when New Years falls... it's just common knowledge. It's like us saying "Well, you know that the 4th of July is one the 4th right?" Lastly, Shipping from China usually takes 10days - 3 weeks.It's just kind of how it is. I DO hope everyone gets the dresses that they want, but just be careful to not be too unrealistic in your expectations. Everything here moves slow during the winter holidays, and everything is slow in Europe during the summer holidays... it's a cultural thing. I know each of our wedding dresses are the most important items in the world right now, but if it's 6+ months to your wedding, it should be alright. Babyonline, Jeff Liu and monica bridal have GREAT reputations for their dress making, so as long as you GET the dress you want, what does getting it a couple of weeks late really matter? Good lucky ladies, and I hope all of the issues are resolved by the end of the month (yes, it may take that long, lol)
This is really to anyone who is stressing about their dress not getting to them in 3 weeks: I think that the storms and holiday have everything to do with being able to provide honest customer service. If you lived/worked in a place where you rarely got time off from the city to see your family in the country except for a 6week time period around Christmas/New Years - and EVERYONE took this time off it wouldn't seem odd at ALL that no one was able to return you emails in a "timely" fashion. I've emailed back and forth a LOT with the babyonline rep (and I won't be ordering my dress for almost a YEAR, so I'm not even a POSSIBLE sale yet), and have always got my replies within hours (as long as it wasn't night time in China). I'm not Chinese, but I live in San Francisco, and understand how HUGE New Years is (Almost ALL Chinese businesses are closed for the week at least) - so I haven't even been trying since mid January LOL! Also keep in mind it's not JUST the dress factories that shut down - it's almost EVERYTHING!!! Remember, it's the one time workers can relax and spend time with families... we can't expect them to make dresses in 10 days 365 days a year It just happens that Chinese New Year falls around the same time Westerners are done with their Holiday stuff and ready to tackle ordering a wedding dress, I dunno about you, but I'm the biggest I'll EVER be after Xmas To be honest, I doubt ANYONE (even the person returning your emails) is AT the factory right now. So they only have the same information you have in trying to figure out what is going on... and doubt it's very accurate since no one is there to see your dresses. They are not trying to LIE to you, but to get you as much info as possible whenever it comes up; which sounds few and far between. They would rather you not freak out and cancel your order, and generally, there isn't just ONE person in charge... it's a whole team, so when that team is gone - UGH! On top of that, the Holiday has fallen when half of the North America is experiencing one of the largest storms ever recorded (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49085) meaning that domestic and international shipping methods are all in a confused state - the storms seems a likely culprit in any shipping mishaps. I ordered something from amazon with 2 day shipping, and it took 9 (NINE) days to get to me... and it's sunny outside of MY house right now And their workers "didn't return to work" because they aren't SUPPOSED to yet... not like they went on strike or anything, lol. If they see that you are going to pullout because it's taking longer than 3 weeks, then they may try to find someone who will make the dress - if it's at all possible. Also, Bonnie ordered her dress from babyonline - that was her point. That NORMALLY, if you were to pay $3-30k for a dress, it would take you six months to get to the bridal salon where you ordered it - at LEAST. In China, EVERYONE knows when New Years is, and everyone knows that it means that factories shut down. It's not up to the company to remind it's clients of when New Years falls... it's just common knowledge. It's like us saying "Well, you know that the 4th of July is one the 4th right?" Lastly, Shipping from China usually takes 10days - 3 weeks.It's just kind of how it is. I DO hope everyone gets the dresses that they want, but just be careful to not be too unrealistic in your expectations. Everything here moves slow during the winter holidays, and everything is slow in Europe during the summer holidays... it's a cultural thing. I know each of our wedding dresses are the most important items in the world right now, but if it's 6+ months to your wedding, it should be alright. Babyonline, Jeff Liu and monica bridal have GREAT reputations for their dress making, so as long as you GET the dress you want, what does getting it a couple of weeks late really matter? Good lucky ladies, and I hope all of the issues are resolved by the end of the month (yes, it may take that long, lol)