Once in a Life Tyme Bridal

They just closed with no notice leaving Lord knows how many brides and bridesmaids in the dust. They literally moved out in the middle of the night after dodging phone calls for at least a week.
They have at least 30 unresolved complaints against them at the BBB and I know of at least 2 cases with the commissioner’s office. They were also just on 3 on your side!
If you’ve been «had» by these weasels I suggest you try to sue them instead of just filing compliants because obviously they don’t care about their reputation and never have.
Check out the Anti-​Once In a Life Tyme Bridal group on Facebook!

This place ended up on 3 on your side!!! What an absolute joke!!!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but according to this link, this shitty store has officially closed its doors, moved out, and disconnected their phones:
Unbelievable. In addition to the absolute worst customer service I have ever received in my entire life, they have now also stolen money from my bridesmaids, who paid for their dresses and never received them.
I feel so awful for my best friends, as well as all the other brides and bridesmaids that will not receive their dresses and have been hustled by this fraudelent and thieving store.
Once in a Life Tyme Bridal, you suck at life and should all go back to the white trash hole you crawled out of.

WORST BRIDAL SHOP EVER!!!
This company is absolutley horrible! Do not give them any of your money. I am sure they will be out of business soon. Just as MOST of the other reviews on here, I was treated horrible.
My dress was not shipped on time, because they could not afford sample dresses. They held my dress from shipping so they could «negotiate» how many sample dresses they could afford. I ended up recieving my dress over 20 days after it was supposed to ship. I spoke to the manager Rebecca (who was extremely hard to get ahold of) and she told me about the sample dress issue. Of course this was after I was lied to for over a week by her employees. Saying it was delayed because of weather conditions, and it was sent, but had NO tracking number! Rebecca sent me the tracking number as soon as she had it because I wanted proof that it was on its way. UPS attempted to deliver my dress 3 times, but because it was COD they wouldn’t deliver it without being paid. Of course Rebecca was «MIA» all week and she was supposed to be the one getting the «check». She NEVER responded to my emails, I was given the email of the owner as well. They never responded to me either. I was lied to, and even hung up on by Cherish.
Being in this industry you would think that they would have better customer service, and better employees. Angel was very nice and apologetic. She should be the manager if you ask me. It is unfair the way they treat their employees, making them deal with unhappy customers while they hide in the background. Buying your wedding dress should be an exciting experience, they completley ruined mine! I wasn’t even excited to get my dress, just more RELIEVED that I actually had it!
I never recieved an apology, or offered any compensation whatsoever.
The day I actually got my dress the owner ran in and dropped it off, and ran back to her car before we could even speak to her. Way to manage a business.
If you are in a situation with them, the only way to actually get things accomplished is to go down there and stand in front of them. Although, I’m sure Rebecca or the owners will hide from you.
Bottom line… DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME! EVEN IF IT COSTS LESS, IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!!

The owner writes checks that bounce, and will not pay up when informed that the checks bounced. She doesn’t return callls, and wont deal with the situation. Stay away from this company!

After seeing all the previous reviews of this place, it’s a wonder they’re still in business. I definitely agree that if they treat all their customers this way, they deserve every bad review they get.
I went to this place to rent a tux for my wedding. My first impression walking into the store was that it looks very simplistic inside, with a bunch of ugly racks and little else for décor. I wanted to rent the most basic tux they had, including shoes. I was being helped by one girl who was okay but she called a second girl to fetch me my tux to try on. I was absolutely appalled by this girl’s demeanor. First of all, lets just say her hygiene left something to be desired. And her choice of dress, a revealing tank top and raggy denim shorts, was no where near what I’d expect to be appropriate for something more glamourous like a bridal store. And her FOUL MOUTH!- she didn’t talk about anything business related and she would drop string after string of four-​letter words about nothing in particular. I was literally stunned that I had walked into a place of business and I was hearing such language from the employees, when she is face to face with a CUSTOMER nonetheless! And this is coming from a guy in his mid 20’s who is otherwise rarely offended. I couldn’t believe it.
The day of the wedding came, and I was furious when the shoes I had rented were completely falling apart after I had only been wearing them for maybe 2 hours. They didn’t even last for the ceremony. I was just lucky enough to have a pair of my own dress shoes in my car, so I was at least able to walk around for my wedding. The tux and tie they had given me did not seem to be the exact ones I had tried on at the store, and they were fraying and faded.
When I returned the items back to the store, I showed the girl at the counter what had become of the shoes. Not even a SORRY from her! She just said «Oh man» and put them behind the counter. Wouldn’t refund my money, no discount, no coupon. NOTHING.
If you really feel like taking a chance, this would be the place to go. I wonder if maybe they stay in business because people go here just to see how bad the service is. That is the only explanation I can think of.

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME! This place is dirty, dingy, and extremely disorganized.
First of all, I tried calling this place from the moment it opened on a Sunday. The line was busy for 2 hours, so we finally decided to get in the car and drive down there. When I walked in, there was not a single customer in the store, and I didn’t see the counter from the door (it’s hidden to the right in the front of the store), and yet neither of the sales girls (who were just being lazy behind the counter) greeted me or let me know they were there. I finally found them and gave them a list of 30 or 40 dresses I was interested in trying on. They told me that the store was organized by size, not by designer or style, so I would have to walk up and down every aisle to find the dresses I wanted. They had an outdated list of their stock, and weren’t sure if they had most of the dresses I was looking for. It took them an hour (no exaggeration) to let me know that they thought they MIGHT have three of the dresses I wanted to see (I had already found two of them on my own, and the third was nowhere to be found).
Meanwhile, I walked up and down the aisles looking for the dresses. I found several to try on, and my friend ended up pulling them for me and taking them back to the fitting room.
The dresses were dirty and ripped. The lighting was poor, the industrial carpet in the store was gross, and the sales girls (Angel and Cherish, I believe?) just seemed to disappear and were not helpful at all. My friend helped me into and out of the dresses. When one of the sales girls saw me in a dress that I had to hold up to keep on me (the zipper was totally broken), she acted shocked that the zipper was not functioning and almost insinuated that I had broken it (even though the dress was 2 sizes too big for me…).
The salespeople — if they can even be called that– are not friendly or personable, and the manager smells like she just licked an ashtray.
I cannot believe that certain higher-​end designers (e.g. Maggie Sottero) actually allow them to carry their dresses.
Despite the negative things I’ve heard about David’s Bridal, I think you’d be better off there. At least DB is a national company with some sort of accountability. This place is just a nightmare and I can’t imagine ever buying anything from them!

Really glad Unilocal is smart enough to filter out the 5 star reviews. If you notice, the exact same people, with the exact same 5 star reviews posted them EVERYWHERE they possibly could.
This place is quite possibly the biggest joke of a business I have ever encountered. My best friend «bought» her dress there. I’m not going to bother typing out how horrid our experience was, but I will say it was RIGHT ON PAR with what everyone else has written.
Do yourself a favor, just don’t do it. Ever.

Worst experience with a bridal shop ever. 4 of my sister-​in-​laws wedding party dresses (including my dress) were ordered here. 3 were ordered in March 2011, due in by July… today 9÷25÷11, 9 days before we leave for the wedding and they aren’t in. I finally got my dress (1 of 4) yesterday. It’s poorly constructed (I look like I have a tail, the zipper is jacked!) I have 9 days for alterations and I’m the one who will have to pay to have the alterations «rushed.»
Overall, most of the staff has been rude, unhelpful and unapologetic. I’ve encountered multiple customers in the store sharing my same frustration.
My sister-​in-​law has a complaint in with the BBB (because she’s had to order her dresses rush from another store and Once in a Life Tyme refuses to refund her order)…and Once in a Lifetyme won’t return the BBB calls. If you have any unsettled issues with Once in a Life Tyme, the BBB should hear about it!

Some people have said that this place doesn’t need another bad review? I’m giving them one because they more than deserve it.
I went into their shop in Nov to look at Da Vinci dresses & find about prices for a couple styles. It took them a month to get back to me & that was after I called every week. They kept saying «Well so and so is handling it and they’re not here.» I finally just went somewhere else before getting any prices.
I ended up at I do I do in Phoenix who were more than helpful. The dresses were ordered after all my girls paid their deposits in April 2011. Unfortunately, the owner went bankrupt in July & the shop closed w/​no notice.
My Maid of honor called Da Vinci directly to see how we could go about getting their dresses. They informed us they’d have to send them to another shop. They called her back & said «Were sending them to Once in a life tyme in Tempe,. I personally talked to the manager about it so when you guys call or go in, they’ll know what you’re talking about.» That was in July. My wedding is in Sept .
As of 2 weeks before the wedding 2 of my girls had not gotten their dresses. One had come it 2 ½ weeks prior & had to be shipped to Washington DC. They insisted that they send it rather than me. When she finally got it (16 DAYS before my wedding) she sent me a picture of the label. It had been written on paper that had black squiggles all over it, her name was spelled wrong, & they sent it to «Washing DC». The other dress was ordered by I do I do after the 1^st 2 so Da Vinci said it would come in a week later. Every time I or my girls called it was either busy or would ring and ring. We left countless messages w/​sales girls for the manager to get back to us. The ONLY answer we ever got was «Uh we dont know where it is, try back next week.» Finally, I went in. The shop was empty, I rang the bell. Mona came up The minute she heard my name, started apologizing profusely. She showed me the tracking label for the DC dress, & went back to get the tracking label for the other. While she was gone, I noted the utter disarray of the entire place. As well as the phone… sitting off the hook. I have a picture of it. When she finally came back she said the mgr would be up to see me. She then tried to make VERY uncomfortable small talk in which I told her about the conversation I’d had w/​Cherish the week before in which she informed me that I should «Just wait, since were doing you a favor and all. Its not like you bought the dresses here.» Mona informed me that she was Cherish’s mother & she raised her better than that. She noticed me eying the phone & the minute she placed it back on the receiver, it started ringing. She answered, It was my maid from DC inquiring again about her dress. Mona pointed at me while saying «I just showed her the tracking slip it should be there tomorrow.» When she hung up, it rang again. After that call she again placed it off the hook. When the mgr asked what the 1^st call was about Mona replied «Oh it was about the birdcage veil girl. Not her.» pointing at me. I could hear my maid on the other end, the volume was so high, she also texted me that she was on w/​them. The mgr assured me that the DC dress would be delivered the next day as well as the other dress, she showed me the tracking slip. They said they’d call my maid the next morning to inform her that the dress would be in between 3 – 4 that day. They never did. She called them and finally when they actually answered they said it should be after 5. 5:22– still not here, the manager is going to UPS to get it. 6:16– shes not answering her cell phone, we don’t know where she is, but she should have it. Meanwhile, my maid was told that her dress was in the mgrs (Rebecca) car.
Today I went in w/​my maid at 4:30. The doors were locked & there was another bridesmaid who had driven in from CA (for the second time) because she was assured her dress was in. When Rebecca finally got there & opened them she yelled at us & left again to «go chase down the UPS truck». A half hour later we *finally* had the dress. Rebecca listened to our complaints and was very apologetic (too little too late IMO).
I’m absolutely outraged that it took 2 ½ months to get these dresses. The girls at this shop should have been on top of things calling them & getting them here in an appropriate amount of time. They have NEVER busy when any of my girls or I have been there, we were the only customers in the shop. My girls have less than 2 weeks to get alterations. The ONLY reason we went here is because the designer sent us here. As far as the «favor» Cherish was talking about is concerned, a «favor» would’ve been giving us a discount on the dresses like every other shop in town was offering to do for I do I do customers.
I’m writing a review of them here as well as any other website that will take reviews. Ive also drafted a letter for the BBB, the owner (who’s email address I was given by Rebecca), and the designer.

I don’t know how these people are still open. I wish I would have done my research. I’ll try and keep it short bc there are PLENTY of bad reviews already on here:
Ordered my dress in January and paid in full that day. Was promised my dress in May for my July 31^st wedding. No word from the salon throughout May and into first week of June. Called 1^st week of June. Left message — no return call. 3 days later called again. Girl said «dress has shipped, should be here any day.» TWO more WEEKS go by with no word from salon. Begin calling again — everyday. No answer. No answering machine. Finally drive down there. Girl (owner’s daughter) tell me the dress has yet to be shipped bc the manager hasn’t called the manufacturer to «have the dress released.» Why did they tell me it had been shipped 2 weeks ago when it hadn’t? Why hadn’t it been released when it was promised in May? More weeks of this back and forth go by. NEVER receiving a call from the place. I finally called them July 1^st (wedding is in 3 weeks at this point) and it had arrived. I drove down to pick it up. They didn’t offer a single solitary apology nor any amends for the tardiness of the dress or lack of professionalism and lack of communication. They offered nothing. Even tried to send the gown home with me without a bag «because they were out of bags.» I made them give me a bag from one of the dresses on the rack. I hope these reviews save others from the displeasure of working with this horrific business. I’m afraid the owners really do deserve to go out of business.

Obviously, this place doesn’t need another bad review, but they are BAD.
I called one afternoon to see if they had a particular bridesmaids dress that I needed for an out of town wedding. On the phone, they kept me on hold for over 30 minutes without checking back in. Eventually the woman came back and said that sure enough, they had the dress. I asked if I could make an appointment to come and try it in. They said no appointment was needed; I could come in at any time.
I thought, great! They have just located the dress, it’s 5 minutes from my house, I’ll run right over. When I arrived, they didn’t acknowledge my entrance into the store for over 10 minutes, so I started looking for the dress myself. There was one bride trying on her wedding dress, but there were 4 salesgirls helping her.
Eventually, one came over to me. I identified myself as the caller looking for the dress, and the lady said, «Oh yeah, she set that dress aside for you.» Only, apparently she didn’t. Instead, they rummaged through the racks forever, checking back with me occasionally to verify the style number with me describing it to them. (Clearly they had never found the dress before.)
One by one, each salesgirl would come over, rummage through the racks and leave. None of them ever found the dress, nor acknowledge that they lied to me over the phone. Finally, they just walked away and left me alone, completely speechless.
Obviously my experience sucked, but the salesgirls were incompetent and sloppy. The store was a mess. Everything looked cheap and dirty. I found a dress tht KIND OF looked like a style I was looking for, so I went in the dressing room and tried it on. The dressing room had holes in the wall and clothes piled everywhere.
How is this place in business!!!

I bought my wedding dress here. I thought what a great opportunity. I can get a great deal on a nice designer dress. What I didn’t know was that there were some strings attached which included delayed delivery dates, poor service, no phone call backs, and getting the wrong thing when I ordered something different.
So my story with this business starts when I bought my dress. I was quoted 4 – 6 months for my dress to arrive .when six months came I had not heard anything so I called the company and they said it should be arriving in the next two weeks. Well two weeks came and went and I didnt hear anything so I called again. They told me any day now it should be in. A week past and no word. So this time I went into the store to get an answer, while at the store I was told my dress wasn’t suppose to come in until aug. Which is 1 year after I ordered it. I told that would not work because I was quoted earlier and I needed it for alterations. So after me dealing with them I lost all my patience so
My wedding planner called and she was ignored so finally my mother called and threatened credit card fraud because she had put down half for this dress and we had nothing to show for the huge sum of money we had paid. Bottom line they had charged our card and we had nothing to show for it and none of the promises they said were being followed thru with. After eight months I finally got my dress. All I can’t say is I am happy i planned so far in advance.
I also ordered a veil from them and when I went to pick it up it was a completely wrong. It was nothing like what i ordered. At this point all I wanted was my money back for the veil,
Before the veil came in my fiancé, groomsmen, and fathers went to ordered their tux. They had no idea how to measure them. It was a group of seven and they had to wait 20 mins before anyone even helped them. They had put the deposit down for the tux but to be honest I am so tired of dealing with them that I am going to walk away from my deposit money and take my business else where.
My advice for anyone thinking of going here for anything — – DON’T. It will give you a huge headache. Paying a little more at another store is very much worth it in the long run.

This place doesn’t need another bad review but I am giving them one because it’s worth it to me to write this all out. I am an MOH to my best friend and we just had the WORST afternoon with these people, essentially the most horrific bridal situation.
My best friend (the bride) bought her gown at the Phoenix Bridal Convention back in January through this bridal shop. The sales people were pushy the day of the convention but my friend loved her dress so much, and the price was right, so we over-​looked it. The bride’s mom put down half of the $$ for the dress, and they charged her credit card the wrong amount.
They were supposed to call the bride when the dress came in the first week of May, and she didn’t hear from them. She basically had to call every week to finally get an answer that the dress was in the shop, and to schedule her first alterations session with their seamstress.
We show up this afternoon, the bride came in from Flagstaf, the MOB came in from Colorado for this fitting. We get there and first they cannot find her dress, of course we are panicking right away. Then they find the dress, and for some reason mixed up her appointment and thought it was at 4pm rather than 1pm, so the seamstress was not in the shop and wasn’t available in the afternoon to come in. This place contracts out seamstresses, they do not have an in-​house seamstress — and this was NOT made clear to the bride when she made the alterations appointment. When we asked if they could call in another seamstress, they couldn’t find their contacts and didn’t even understand when we asked «how does your seamstress contracting work» — they had no answer because they didn’t even understand what that meant.
Finally we decide we are going to take the dress elsewhere to get altered because the bride at this point doesn’t trust this place, and wanted to get out ASAP. She got a free veil and tiara at the convention when she bought her dress, so we needed to get those items from the store and then we were going to leave. It took them an HOUR to figure out what veil and tiara she had pre-​ordered, people would say they were helping us, then walk away. Essentially the worst customer service I have ever experienced.
We walked out with the bride in tears, the mother extremely angry, but at least we had the dress and no longer need to deal with these people. Long story short — DO NOT order your bridal items from this store, they are disorganized, it was disgustingly dirty in the shop, and they will rip you off without even knowing it.

If I could rate this store a zero I absolutely would. Hands down the worst experience with a bridal shop I have ever encountered! DO NOT USE THEM if you value honesty and accurate results.
I ordered my bridesmaid dress on February 20^th which was a Sunday, so I was instructed to call them back on Monday so that they could contact the designer for timeframes. I called on Monday and was told that the dress would not be in until the first week in May if I did not put a rush on it, so I told them that I would need the rush because the wedding is out of town on May 16^th, They said they woud add to my order and that my dress would be in the first week in April.
I did not hear from them the first week in April, so I placed my first of many calls to them on ⁴⁄₁₂. I was told that the dress had not come in yet, but that they would call the manufacturer and call me back; no one called.
I called again on ⁴⁄₁₃ and they said that the dress would ship the following Monday and would be in by the end of the next week (4÷21−22) and they would call when it came in.
I called again on ⁴⁄₂₅ because I had not heard back YET AGAIN and they said that it didn’t come over the weekend, but that it would be in the afternoon shipment and would call when they got it.
AGAIN no call back, so called again on ⁴⁄₂₆ not in said they would call manufactuerer and call back. Nothing. Called again ⁴⁄₂₇ spoke to Cherish — no one ever contacted the manuf. would call me back. by noon, but didn’t get a call so called again and they said it was shipping, but they were not allowed to release tracking numbers, so I asked to speak to manager (Rebecca) who was «out running errands and would call me back», but never did.
This same back and forth went on until Saturday ⁴⁄₃₀ when I finally had to have my husband take over the phone calls because they said that my dress had been delivered to a PUB in Tempe somewhere and they couldn’t find it.
They finally found it that afternoon and I had the bride go get it for me for fear of what they would do with it if given the opportunity. Laughably, they still asked if I wanted to schedule and alterations appointment… FAT CHANCE!

A one-​star rating for this business is generous. The staff are rude, flippant, immature, and obnoxious. The manager is never in the store, but you will be placed on hold for 30 minutes and speak to 3 different people before you are informed of this. Don’t bother requesting that the manager be called, too, because she flat out refuses to speak to her customers. No assistance is provided in the dressing rooms, no organization is evident behind the counter (beware your credit card receipts!), and no dress ever arrives in a timely manner.
Repeating other reviewers’ concerns, that this business is still up and running is shameful.

First I want to say that finding your dress is supposed to be so inceredibly special and after dealing with this place, I have to say that feeling is gone. I ordered my dress back in August for a May wedding and my bridesmaid dresses (8 of them) in November. Not only that but we got ALL of our tuxes there as well. They were all so reassuring that I definitely felt like this was going to be a great, once in a life time experience. After ordering my dress, I was told that it would be in no later then January. I called in January to find out and of course it wasn’t available but they would call me back once they contacted the manufacturer. I never got a call back. I called again and once again they said it would be there at the end of January. I wasn’t there in January and it wasn’t there any of the other times the told me it would be. This went on for several months where I would call and they said they would call me back but I never got that call. The last time I called I was but on hold for 30 minutes and then hung up on. I called back and was put on hold for 45 more minutes and then hung up on. By this time I was so overwhelmed and so pissed off that I called them back and told them I was coming in. When I arrived, I waited and waited until I got an answer. They were completely unprofessional from the way they dressed to the way they behaved. Not professional at all. After I made a huge deal they told me that my dress would be in by the following Thursday along with all of my bridesmaid dresses. I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t made such a big deal I would still be waiting for my dress. My dress came in but not my bridesmaid dresses and to top it all off they ordered me an 8 instead of an 8P which means now I have to get more alterations done then I would have originally needed. We counted on this company to do the right thing by us but of course we were utterly disappointed. If you’re thinking about using this company, please re-​consider. Don’t ruin your special moment by using a company that truly doesn’t care about you or your special day.

Please be aware that every positive review on the internet is almost certainly a lie made by the owners/​employees of Once in a Lyfe Time Bridal or their friends and families. This is a dishonest, disreputable business that should have gone out of business by now.
Note that the people posting the positive reviews on various sites have all of the following in common: Similar writing styles, only one review, all made on similar dates, etc.
My wife is the maid of honor to-​be at my sister-in-law’s wedding and she has gotten the complete run around by these liars. She has been told no less than 4 different dates when her dress would be in (beginning in early February, it is now March 1). Each time, something happened where the dress wasn’t ready.
We’ve now been promised the dress by March 4. This will be the 5^th promised date. The wedding is 4 weeks away. They did offer 20% off alterations, but I wouldn’t trust them to cut the crust off my sandwich, much less do good timely alteration work. Plus, their alteration prices are already indefensibly high.
My wife also received the same lie that many others here report, that it was «UPS’s fault» somehow. This seems to be part of Once in a Lyfe Time’s business model. They have all of their standard lies. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were written down somewhere.
Also, the girls who work there don’t give customers their real names. I don’t know if this is because they are ashamed to work there, or don’t want anyone contacting them outside of work to yell at them for their unacceptable business practices, but they sometimes forget their fake names and will start saying their real names before remembering to lie.
Managers either don’t exist or are never in the store.
These are BAD PEOPLE and they are liars, and you will get screwed. Take your business somewhere else and be wary of any positive reviews of this place, as they are almost surely planted reviews made by the professional liars at Once in a Lyfe Time.
My name is Chris, and if you want to hear more about my experience, shoot me an e-​mail at
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My fiancée ordered her wedding dress in February, paid half up-​front and was told it would be ready by July. It has now been seven months, and they still don’t know where it is. The only answer they can give us is «I’ll call the manufacturer». This is easily the worst customer service I’ve ever had in dealing with a retailer.

Geez! Where to start with the headaches! I would give this place of business a HALF STAR!!! This place is soooo un-​organized and the employees are soooo rude that I still can’t believe they are still in business!!! I ordered my bridal dress in January of 2010 they told me I would get it by March, March comes around then they said May, then they said finally will get it by June. My dress came extremely wrinkled and when I wanted to try it on none of they employees bothered to help me out! They just pointed to where the fitting rooms were. On top of that as I was paying for the remainder they wanted to charge me an additional charge for the custom bag to protect the dress! Also, the place a business had an auction for wedding stuff and the bids were super cheap but as we were ready to check out they charged $ 30 each item for shipping tax!!! and they would not ship to your home only to the business. SUCH A RIP OFF!!! In addition to that, I called a month later to check on my order, they said my purchases were not ready yet, MONTH 2 I CALL AGAIN STILL NOT READY!!! MONTH 3 TWO ITEMS WERE READY. MONTH 4 THEY TOLD ME EVERYTHING WAS THERE I SHOW UP, STILL NO RING PILLOW OR FLOWER BASKET!!! MONTH 5 FINALLY WALK IN EXPECTING TO YELL AND ASK FOR MY MONEY BACK, WHAT A SURPRISE MY STUFF WAS THERE ALL DUSTY!!! THIS PLACE IS RIDICULOUS!!! AND THE OWNER IS EXTREMELY RUDE MONEY HUNGRY BEEEP! I RANK THIS PLACE ½ STAR!!!