Not Happy with Dress

So I ordered my dress last February in a well known Dublin outlet. Loved it when I tried it on, it was really flattering to my figure which was the main thing that drew me to it.

Finally got the call last month to say that it was ready and I made an appointment to go in and see it. Got an appointment for yesterday afternoon.

I called them yesterday morning just to confirm the appointment and I had a couple of other general queries but when the owner of the shop (the lady who sold me the dress) heard my name mentioned she took the phone and in a very matter of fact/cold tone told me that yes my dress was "ready for collection and the balance was to be paid today".. Fair enough, I had planned on paying the balance anyway!?

So in I went with the Sister and the Mother. The place was quite busy and we were seated for about a half an hour and eventually she came out and told me that my dress was hanging in a dressing room.

What I noticed straight away was that the dress was hung in a rather odd way on the hanger, almost just hung on by one shoulder for some reason. Then she said to me "now it hasn't been pressed out or anything so bare that in mind"... This was the same lady who told me earlier on the phone that it was "ready for collection".... ready for collection to me would indicate that she deemed it to be in a satisfactory condition to be taken home.

Anyway, she told me to step into it and the minute I put my arms into it I could feel that it was way too tight around the tops of my arms.. and I definitely haven't gained weight since last year, if anything I've lost weight.

Also, it was sagging around the midriff, which was where I loved it so much the last time.. so basically it was tight in the wrong places and loose in the wrong places. Also the lace at the top part was really odd looking, like it was much smaller than on the sample dress, so I kind of looked like I was wearing a childs communion dress or something, even though it looked fine on the bottom half, if that makes any sense? Just really weird looking!

When I went over to the mirror I could see my Mother and Sisters faces.. not good. I wanted to cry in the middle of the shop. It looked like a potato sack on me

I asked her about the ill fitting and she just kept telling me that it would all be rectified in the alterations, but she was saying it in a way that sounded like I was just being a bit neurotic and that this was standard procedure. Again, I'll remind you that she told me it was "ready for collection".

Anyway, in the heel of the hunt I paid her the balance as I didn't want to make a scene in the busy shop, and she was reassuring me that the seamstress would be able to alter the arm holes or whatever they're called. But today I'm livid with myself for not kicking up a fuss.

She obviously either gave them the total wrong measurements or the designer made a balls of it, and I now have to pay them a further (at least) €250 to pretty much re-design the whole dress. I don't even know how they're going to make it look anything like the dress I tried on back in February.

I feel like I should have walked out with the balance and bought a dress off the peg somewhere else. My wedding is in 9 weeks.

What's really annoying me is that if I didn't try it on, she would have happily handed me the dress in a bag and sent me on my merry way.

I was of course expecting there to be alterations needed, but this is a bit ridiculous. She told me I'd be needing three fittings. THREE fittings??? Is that normal?

I feel like the lady knew the dress was botched and was just going to say nothing and hope for the best.

I don't know what I'm looking for here, I just needed a rant!!! I'm so disappointed, and stressed!