I apologize in advance, this is a very long post Overall Rating: FService Rating: F
Quality Rating: C-
Tuxes rented:
1 Groom (won): Tommy Hilfiger 2 button notch
4 GM's (1 free, others '$20 off'), same as groom
2 Dads (basic 2 button)
DO NOT GO TO AFTERHOURS!!!DH and I had a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE experience with them. I would not want any bride to have to go through that.
Here's my (horror) story:
Back in April of 2006,
I won DH a Tommy Hilfiger Tux at the 'Great Bridal Expo' in Times Square. I was so hysterically happy, b/c we were already on a budget as it was, so I knew this would help out alot. In addition, they had this 'spin the wheel' thing, where I actually won a free tux rental (which was supposed to be on top of the grooms free rental). now, THEY tell me that we would get, in turn, DH's tux (brand new) for free to keep, then 2 free tuxes, and everyone else's rental $20 off. sounds good, doesn't it? I even had them write it down to ensure we would get the same deal when we register the bridal party.
Then everything goes downhill...When we finally go to the Westbury Afterhours (in Roosevelt Field- 'RF') for DH's fitting in May, and the place is utter chaos. It was prom season and the store is
tiny. I saw the manager, Maria Hiotis, who was at the expo and was the one who personally handed me the gift certificate as well as wrote down the deal for me. She was busy with other clients and handed us off to someone else, Allen. The 'regional manager' was there also, and claimed that Allen was his 'right hand man', so we'd be taken care of. After 20+ mins of waiting, Allen finally measures DH, and we register our bridal party. Only upon registering the regional guy comes up to us and says, 'there's a mistake, we can't give you 2 free tux rentals. Maria made a mistake'. DH and I didn't think it was a big deal, so we agreed to pay the extra tux fee. (Now, had I known how much trouble they were going to give us later on, I would've been more petty and fought for the extra tux, but I digress...) We REGISTER AND PAY IN FULL for the entire bridal party.
We were told that it would arrive in JULY. I call in July.. NO TUX. I call in mid-AUGUST... NO TUX. I finally call again later that week and throw a b1tch-fit on the phone. The rep said 'Well when's your wedding?' I tell them 'October, but---'. He cuts me off saying 'Oh, you'll have it by October.' THAT'S NOT THE POINT. I explain how we won the tux, yada yada, and we were promised it sooner. He looks in the computer.
THERE IS NO RECORD OF DH'S NAME, MEASUREMENTS,
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or that he was ever even in the store. (Allen apparently did not do a thorough job of entering DH's info. I ask to speak to Maria, who, of course, is busy or not there. I tell them to give her the message to call me back.
A week later, NO CALL. I call back. 'I WANT MY FIANCE'S TUXEDO.' Maria finally gets on the phone with me, tell me that it was delivered from the factory and will be in by the end of the week. I call at the end of the week, where a salesgirl put me on hold for 15 mins... then comes back with 'Afterhours, how can I help you?' 'um, I was on hold for 15mins...' 'Oh yeah, Tommy Tuxedo, hold on...' I'm on hold for another 10 mins... SAME GIRL picks up again 'Hi, are you being helped?' I answer 'APPARENTLY NOT! I'm waiting for confirmation that my FI's tux came in!' She finally says DH's name with 'Oh yeah, yeah, I see the receipt his tux is here.' I tell them I'm coming in that Saturday to pick it up.
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I get there Saturday (already September), and I see a familar clerk, Keenan, who back at the expo was one of those that promised 'we'd be taken care of'. He looks around the store, while two other yokels are texting and laughing on their cells (WHO DOES THAT AT A PLACE OF BUSINESS?)
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. Keenan says he can't find it, and I get nervous. He says he's going into the storage basement and disappears into the mall. Meanwhile, yokels 1 and 2 are standing around stsill texting. I ask if they can check their computers and their files to find DH's name or at least our records.
THEY CAN'T FIND ANY RECORDS OF US, ANYWHERE. Not even our deposits, nothing. ![]()
Keenan comes back empty handed, calls Maria, who says it's in the basement. He leaves again to go check. I throw a fit and tell them this is absolutley ridiculous how they run their business. Keenan says he will have it straightened out, and will give me a call. I tell them 'don't bother,
I will be calling here EVERY SINGLE DAY until it magically surfaces.' and I storm out.
I never got a call from Keenan that week, and indeed, I called the Westbury store everyday to find Maria to get it straightened out. Finally after multiple days of 'she's not here, she's busy', she answers the phone to apologize for the mix-up, and that she suspects (like I suspected),
one of her reps rented out DH's tux. She tells me she already called the factory to have another one cut and shipped express. She told me it would take 2 weeks.
2 weeks later, *surprise* I got a call (gasp) from Keenan, saying that the tux arrived, it has been put away in Maria's office with a large sign that said 'DO NOT TOUCH, BRIDE TO PICK UP'. DH and I go that Saturday to pick it up. When we enter the mall, we see the gate to Afterhours down.. the STORE CLOSED.
NO NO NO NO, it's the middle of the day, why is the damn gate down!? The handwritten note on the gate said
'Due to flooding in storage, we have shut down this store until further notice. All customers who have rented items can pick them up at our other store in The Source Mall.'
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DH and I could not believe our luck. We call the Source Mall AfterHours, where I immediately asked for Maria or Keenan. They kept insisting they could help me (no they couldn't), and I had to explain the whole story to all over again. They FINALLY call Maria, and said 'In the meantime, why don't you come over to the Source if you're already at RF?' As we're pulling out of the RF parking lot, when ...who do we see walking into the lot... Maria and Keenan. They notice us two in the car, and apparetnyl stopped in front of the mall entrance (Maria apparently got a call from the source).
DH u-turns the car, jumps out, and follows them into the mall, finally reemerging 10 mins later with his Tuxedo in hand. ![]()
We ended up telling our GM's to go to the Source Mall, since their store was bigger and actually had a fitting area. Additional tales of the angst I have with AfterHours include
- our GM's told us their complaints of waiting over 20 mins for a rep
- my FIL getting the wrong colored vest
- the store telling my GM's the wrong wedding date, and return date.
- AH not having any computer records (AGAIN) of the GM's when they went to get measured
- AH attempting to charge each GM $20 (for multiple reasons), even tho DH and I paid in full on the first day
- my dad getting a tux jacket and pants WAY too small. They replaced it with a bigger one, which was still too small for him to button, despite the fact that they guaranteed we'd have perfect fitting tuxes by the day of the wedding.
When I was there, I even saw a woman sitting and waiting for a rep... and for some reason I got served before she did. She complained, and I felt so bad, b/c she
was there before I was.
Whatever you do, don't be suckered into the really tempting offers from AH. That '$20 off' is a sham, b/c you have to pay they charge you $40 for accessories and SOCKS (???). Pay a bit more for the time and headaches you'll save. I really liked the one my brother used, Tuxedo Park, on Glen Cove Road behind Bridal Reflections.
