Perfection Bridal - Cardiff - returns

eLZyBee_2

Hi, a friend of mine has been paying a deposit towards four dresses from Perfection Bridal and unfortunately it has become necessary to cancel the order due to the wedding being cancelled.

Delivery of the dresses was due to be July 2011 and £400 had been paid at the time my friend raised the cancellation news with the company last month, £200 of which is non-refundable deposit. Upon contacting them she was told a cancellation was impossible, that the dresses would be completed, collected and paid for in full.

None of the agreement materials include any cancellation or return information, except to say:

'No order which has been accepted by Perfection may be cancelled by the Buyer except with the agreement in writing of Perfection and on terms that the Buyer shall indemnify Perfection in full against all loss including loss of profit, costs including the cost of labour and materials used, damages, charges and expenses incurred by Perfection as a result of such cancellation.'

This strikes me as a bit over the top, and totally based on the whim of whomever you get over the phone or in store to accept your cancellation.

Firstly I'd have thought that being in the business of bridal wear, this may be a common occurrence, and they should be sensitive to the matter of relationship breakdown. Secondly with a due date of delivery being some time July 2011, I can't see them having incurred any costs of labour, and certainly not beyond the £200 deposit.

As far as I'm concerned (if they have not started) they should offer their sympathies and make the cancellation, snapping up the £200 deposit and being grateful for it. Certainly if they aren't willing to resolve this I'll see to spreading the word, and I find it odd they seem unable to anticipate that, or not even care.

My friend has requested details of the progress of the order and invoices on any materials ordered so that they may personally work out reasonable compensation. I also want to mention they haven't spoken out negatively, or made any rude or unreasonable comments to Perfection Bridal thus far.

So, my questions are:

Can they place a 'whim' in their legal conditions?

Is the fact they spelt undersigned incorrectly (undersiged) any kind of loop hole? :-P

Is there a legal precedent that allows them to force this purchase?

Does having a deposit not legally imply, cancellation is possible?

Does anyone else have experience making a cancellation through this company?

Thanks for reading, and thanks for helping out if you can indeed do so.

Cheers

Techhead_2

In my experience, in the bridal industry there are very long lead times and these sort of conditions are common. Which is why wedding insurance is so popular.

A lot of this depends on the sort of gown and where its coming from. If its a made to order gown from Europe or the US, then it will be too late to cancel as work will have started.
If its being made locally, then you have a chance. The material would already have been ordered and the dressmaker would have been booked. But I doubt any work has started.

RadoJo

WRT your fourth question, you could ask if legally the payment of a deposit qualifies as a commitment to purchase the dresses. On the other matters, as long as it's reasonable to assume that work has already started (and unless you could prove otherwise) then your friend would be bound to purchase the items - could she perhaps sell them on to recoup some of her costs - maybe even ask if she can alter the sizes to make them suitable for someone else?

themull1

Did she not have wedding insurance?

peachyprice

themull1 wrote: »

Did she not have wedding insurance?

Wouldn't have made any difference, wedding insurance doesn't cover you if call the wedding off because you change your mind.

eLZyBee_2

Thanks for your responses.

I confess I had never heard of wedding insurance, but if it wouldn't have covered her anyway I'm not so bothered by that.

Further to the original post, my friend has phoned to ask (very politely) if any work had commenced on the dresses, to which an equally polite young woman replied 'I shouldn't think so, certainly not before February' before the phone was taken by a "superior" who then accused my friend (unprovoked) of bullying an assistant. She went on to very rudely (offering no sympathy) tell my friend she must legally pay or risk being taken to court.

I have been prepared for bad results on this front, but I heard the conversation and I couldn't believe the rudeness. I can't help but feel my friend should have grounds to reasonably expect proof the company would take any loss from the cancellation.

Can this company legally put the initial amount down as profit before they have fulfilled their obligation to provide the dress?

Optimist

Has she cancelled in writing ? If she has only cancelled by phone then I would suggest she confirms in writing, sending it recorded and keep a copy.

She needs to decide how far she wishes to go to get her £200/£400 back. My initial thought would be to ask for a large proportion thereoff, and go to court to get it. The penalty they are trying to impose for breach of contract is disproportionate to any losses incurred by the retailer at this point in time.

If she just wants to wash her hands of the whole thing then I would suggest telling the retailer that she will happily see them in court if they wish her to pay the complete amount. In my opinion given the facts as you state then the retailer would be very silly to go down that route.

omen666

Agree with Optimist here totally. I would go for the lot back considering nothing has been ordered.

The reason as well you are getting so much insistence to pay the full amount is that the Perfection. Bridal shops are all Franchises and therefore this will be in essence free money to the franchisee, quite possibly the one that told the young girl off.

Bridal shops are not doing too well in the current climate, nor the perfection franchises, I believe the one in Peterborough has closed down owing dresses recently.

omen666

http://www.hitched.co.uk/Chat/forums/p/204314/2016133.aspx