Please be aware that this Aria Couture is NOT the shop in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. My business is a one-woman operation in Washington State making custom items while they sell off-the-rack stuff on the east coast. As of right now, their website, AriaCouture-dot-NET, isn’t even working, and hasn’t been for a while now. That company has been far too happy leaving me to deal with their dissatisfied and confused clients. I don’t blame their clients, but am furious enough at the company to take it public. I can’t keep it hush-hush anymore, not with how often people contact me looking for them, or are unable to contact them and want me to help. They’ve been made aware of this MANY times, and what have they done? Nothing.
I’ve directed numerous clients to their correct contact information, and have contacted them more times than I’ve been able to keep track on on behalf of their clients who’ve contacted me, and that business’s managers have either ignored me or come up with pathetic excuses for why they “can’t” contact their own clients. They have chosen to do nothing to make sure that their clients clearly know how to reach them, nor to make sure their clients are even aware that the top-level AriaCouture.com domain isn’t associated with them. In a day and age where it’s Business 101 to make sure to come up with a business name with an available dot-com, they didn’t stop to think about how they were going to cause confusion. (To be clear: Aria is a pretty name to them, but to me, it’s my actual legal real-life legit name.) Instead of a different dot-com, they chose a secondary-level domain. A simple “Not associated with AriaCouture.com” on their cards and website would go a long way toward making their clients aware of the difference. Have they done so? Nope. They’re happy to take your money, then good luck to their clients if there are problems, and tough luck to me for having to deal with the fallout that belongs on them.
I won’t give prom dress refunds for them, can’t cancel orders for them, etc. I didn’t receive money for them, can’t access their database, etc. This company is the sole reason I had to shut off my Facebook reviews. I was the one getting their negative reviews!!! And I’m sick of it. But please, PLEASE be aware that our businesses are entirely unrelated. I am the very original, and started my business back when most people couldn’t even say Aria right. “AIR-ea” and “are-EYE-uh” were common mispronunciations at the time.
If they rip you off (and some of their clients who’ve contacted me have done so regarding orders they never received and they’ve been unable to reach the correct business), please contact me though and let’s see what I can do to help you. I can’t replace orders they don’t deliver, but may be able to work with you on a discount of some sort for something custom to offset your losses with them, but please don’t expect custom work done by one woman in the United States to be price-matched to off-the-rack items made in Chinese and Indian sweat factories. This’ll be the absolute best I can do.
Please don’t take your anger at that company out on me. I am truly a one-woman business operating out of my house in Washington State, not in any way associated with the stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.