This is the letter I wrote to customer service regarding this after my bad experience. I was sworn at and well I would reonlinemend NEVER buying from Alfred Angelo.
Dear Alfred Angelo Costumer Service,
I received your ad from a friend who was thinking of me. She knew that my husband had been in the Middle East and we got a quick Justice of the Peace marriage so I could know how he was when he was deployed. It was no fairy tale moment. We went to the court house after a 48 hour notice that my husband was to be deployed to the Middle East. Therefore, as the ad states I have a valid military ID. Its an active dependent ID, but no where does this ad say that does not count. We’ve wanted a beautiful gown to take wedding photos in for a long time, but we haven’t been able to afford it. So when I was given this, I jumped and made the appointment. I was on cloud 9 all day!
I then called today to see if I could change the time because my mother wouldn’t be able to Skype with me at the time of the appointment (And I was going to be driving 3 1/2 hours out of state for the dress). When I called, I was crushed. The manager who answered the phone rudely told me that I was not included because I myself have not served, even though I already had an appointment and told the assistant manager our circumstances and that I had a military ID prior. I’m sorry but being a military wife who never got a wedding due to military circumstances, I have served. I serve everyday by living in another state miles away from my family and husband so I can continue my own job (which ironically is doing Human Factors work for military operations. Most of those operations involve our men and women overseas). He is not with me because he is serving on another base where he is needed by our country. I do not put down any of the wonderful women who serve this country. But, my husband has served for 6 years and we’ve never had a wedding. He just enlisted for another 4 years. The dress meant so much to both of us. FEW military wives want a wedding dress because they’ve never had one. I’m a military bride at a time of war.
NO WHERE DOES IT SAY YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO BE A WOMAN CURRENTLY SERVING AS ACTIVELY ENLISTED OR a WOMAN vet. IT SAYS “The bride must present a valid current military ID or DD214 on the day of the appointment in order to receive a free bridal gown.” I have a current military ID. By the letter I qualify. After calling customer service I was sworn at on the phone for asking simple questions about the ad’s restrictions, told again that I never served, and said things to that left me crying until my husband called me on Skype after work. Regardless of what the woman said (Linda Lyon). I do have special circumstances. Few women get married and still need a dress. You opened this up to women vets but left out those who haven’t gotten a wedding due to our time of war. You actually INCLUDED those people like me, but chose to discriminate from your own ad. In fact even the USO recognizes in their “Brides Across America” campaign found here https://www.bridesacrossamerica.online/register. Problem is I do qualify for this but its limited by number of people. I thought when I was given your ad and got an appointment that this was my chance. As someone from USO says who actually does care about military families and not just their business “Planning a wedding is challenging when your loved one is on deployment. This is our way to bring joy into a military couple’s life and say thank you. They sacrifice their lives to give us freedom. This is the least we can do! I want to make sure our brides put away their camouflage to be a princess for the day.”– Heidi Janson, Founder of Brides Across America.
AND YOUR WRONG we military wives (with military IDs) DO SERVE!!! The divorce rate for the military is extremely high due to the tough life we live (Especially during this time of war). “The military divorce rate reached its highest level since 1999, as nearly 30,000 marriages ended in fiscal 2011, raising the prospect that troop withdrawals may lead to more divorce, according to interviews and Pentagon data released Tuesday.” You can see more stats here https://usatoday30.usatoday.online/news/military/story/2011-12-13/military-divorce-rate-increases/51888872/1 Not to mention that I only get 2 weeks to a month with my husband every year because of our choice to serve this country. His choice to serve as active duty and mine to work in another state (1/2 way across the country) in Human Factors Engineering to further military operations.
BOTTOM LINE: This onlinepany does not want to make military dreams onlinee true by giving away gowns. You are only doing this to make it look like you care about military people. ALL YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT IS PROMOTING YOUR BUSINESS!!!!!!!!!!!! You chose a tiny sector of the population to give gowns to so you didn’t have to really give anything away. Even when someone TRULY qualifies you try to exclude them. FURTHERMORE, ITS WRONG TO SWEAR AND MOCK CUSTOMERS! Its NOT PROFESSIONAL nor is it good customer service. Sadly for you, I am an active part of the military world I feel its wrong for military members to be deceived into thinking you care and buying more of your products. I will be letting other military members know to get their dress but buy nothing from you.
I know you don’t really care about me, my experience, or your promotion as I was told in many ways, many times over the phone by Linda Lyons. But I thought it was worth telling you SOME of my terrible experience with your onlinepany anyways. (I’ll leave out the part where I was told that my husband could get a dress for me if he came in and got fitted like a girl by your customer service agent). To end, I can’t say how excited we BOTH were when we thought we would have a wedding dress to enjoy. My husband who love a photo of that to keep in his wallet. I also cannot express how crushed and heartbroken we felt when we were mocked and told we don’t serve and basically are looking for something free. If you don’t want want to help military people who qualify, don’t post your ad. I hope you treat other people better than we were treated. I also hope you were educated about real military life.
Sincerely,
Ally
According to this page these are the restrictions as you can see: (I have pasted them here in case you change them after reading this.) I have also linked it to the page for you.
Offer is valid at Alfred Angelo Signature Stores exclusively.
An appointment to the store must be made for Wednesday November 11, 2015 to qualify.
Offer is available on Wednesday November 11, 2015 only.
To ensure we offer the best service, the event will be limited to appointment only.
Appointments are limited so please book early.
The bride must present a valid current military ID or DD214 on the day of the appointment in order to receive a free bridal gown.
The bride must choose from an existing assortment of designated in-store sample bridal gowns.
Assortment will vary in each store by style, color and size.
Not all stores may carry all styles, colors or sizes.
Offer excludes Disney Bridal collection.
Free gown offer is limited to one bridal gown per valid military ID.
Offer is ONLY valid while supplies last and cannot be pre-ordered.
May not be onlinebined with any other offers, prior sales excluded. Alterations are offered as a separate service.
– See more at: https://www.alfredangelo.online/operationgowngiveaway…
