Angry Brides Say Shop Left Them At Altar Without Their Dresses

ORLAND PARK, IL — Brides who visited a Chicago suburban bridal store chain claim they’re being left at the altar without the dresses they ordered months ago. House of Brides Couture is under fire from nervous brides who still haven’t received their wedding gowns or bridesmaid dresses, with their weddings just days or weeks away.

Couples are plastering “buyer beware” warnings on BBB, Wedding Wire, Yelp, Google Review, Rip-Off Report and Facebook about the lousy service they claim to have received from House of Brides at its stores in Orland Park and Schaumburg. The customer reviews all have a consistent theme, “DO NOT GO HERE” and “HORRIBLE.” Reportedly, the Orland Park store was swamped with angry brides on July 21, demanding the dresses they ordered and paid for.

“Our wedding is this Saturday and we are now told after months of broken promises our bridesmaids dresses will arrive on Friday,” a groom-to-be posted posted July 14 on Wedding Wire. . [The] order was placed in mid January. According to to the manager no refunds will be given and as long as we receive them before the wedding (which is out of state) it’s not their problem. We all have rooms booked for Friday and Saturday which makes it impossible for alterations and after reading the reviews (I know I know should have read them before we made any purchases) I have no faith in this business with alterations as well. Buyer beware do your homework look at reviews google them because there’s no way I would have ever thought of going there if I did.”

“Just want to put a warning out there for any brides considering getting anything from House of Brides in Orland Park IL,” another Wedding Wire reviewer posted on Feb. 24. “I ordered 5 bridesmaids dresses paid for up front (over $1000.00 in dresses) from them on 8/31/17 with the wedding date 1/24/18. I started checking on my dresses in December, every time I called they would tell me they were just waiting on the shipment. Finally Jan. 16, 2018,(when they were suppose to be in according to one of the phone calls I had made in December) I called and they still were waiting on shipment so I asked if they could give me a tracking number so I could see where the dresses were and they told me they don`t get tracking numbers … [I] did not get the dresses until 4 days before my wedding, so no one had any time for alterations.”

Houses of Brides claims to have 89 years of experience in dressing brides and their wedding parties on its website. At one time boasting 10 stores in the Chicago area, that number has since dwindled down to three.

Dale and Eva Busiecki’s names appear as the corporate owners on Illinois Secretary of State records, under the names House of Brides, Inc, HOB Holding Corp, House of Brides IV, House of Brides Couture and House of Brides World’s Largest “On-Line” Wedding Store Inc. The records show a pattern of name changes and involuntary dissolutions dating back to when the bridal chain first incorporated in 1972.

In 2010, Dale Buziecki, president and owner of House of Brides, Inc., in Glen Ellyn, pleaded guilty in Cook County Circuit Court to one felony count of filing a fraudulent sales tax return. According to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office, Buziecki was sentenced to serve 30 months of probation and pay $279,569.71 in restitution. Buziecki was also required to perform 250 hours of community service and to make a donation of 500 dresses each year for the next three years to the Glass Slipper Project, an Illinois organization that collects formal dresses and accessories to distribute to Chicago high school students who are unable to purchase dresses for prom.

A few years later, in June 2012, House of Brides was evicted from Ravinia Plaza in Orland Park because the business supposedly owed $232,428 in back rent. Cook County Judge Maureen P. Feerick was unreceptive to the Busieckis’ pleas for an extension. The bridal store moved to its current digs at 16001 LaGrange Road, Orland Park forming under a new name, House of Brides Couture, in August 2012 in the midst of the bridal chain’s rent problems.

The manager of House of Brides’ Orland Park location would not come out to speak to Patch on Saturday about the delivery delays. A couple was leaving the store after they went in to inquire about a bridesmaid dress for an upcoming wedding in September, following news media coverage of brides alleging that they had not received their dresses in time for alterations for their upcoming nuptials. The couple claimed employees were non-committal about when the dress would arrive.

Ronia Ghusein, the third-generation owner of Eva’s Bridal of Oak Lawn, at 5269 W. 95th St. said the Oak Lawn location and her family’s other store, Eva’s Bridal International at 15180 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park, has been fielding at least ten calls a week from House of Brides customers fearful that the dresses they ordered won’t arrive in time for their weddings.

She said one House of Brides customers ordered bridesmaid dresses last December from Eva’s Bridal of Oak Lawn. Ghusein said the bridesmaid dresses were already picked up, but the woman was still waiting for the wedding gown she ordered from House of Brides in Orland Park.

“She came into our store with her mother last week with the saddest face ever. My own eyes welled up with tears,” Ghusein said. “Sure enough, she found a dress that she loved and left here grinning ear to ear. All you can do is console them and open to turn the situation around.”

While it’s not uncommon for manufacturers in the bridal industry to be a month or so behind, manufacturers don’t typically run a year and them some past delivery.

“That’s not a manufacturer issue, that’s an internal issue,” Ghusein said. “It’s our policy to include a 4-to-8-months delivery, and at least eight months or more for a custom order, but a lot of brides aren’t doing custom orders. Regular orders don’t take nearly that long for delivery.”

Some House of Brides customers who bought elsewhere were able to take advantage of the wedding industry’s annual National Bridal Sale event that took place July 21 to July 28 at area stores, in which over 1,000 independent, family-owned bridal retailers participated. Eva’s Bridal of Oak Lawn has extended their sale to Aug. 4.

~ House of Brides Couture in Orland Park. | Patch Editor Lorraine Swanson