Section 75 Wedding Dress hell....HELP

Weddingdressdreamer1981

Wedding dress hell! - HELP
Hello
Was wondering if anyone has come up against this one before.....
My mum recently ordered my wedding dress without seeing a sample in the shop and paid 50% deposit on her lloyds tsb MasterCard. She did this for peace of mind. The dress arrived far too big looked completely different to the designers pictures online and we refused delivery. We tried to work with the shop for either an exchange or mutual resolution but the owner was vile and adamant all sales are final. I contacted the designer to not avail and finally turned to lloyds for a section 75 claim. I was originally told my claim had good chance of recovery as the shop owner emailed to say I could not expect the same look in a size 16 and the website was airbrushed.
Within 12 hours claim declined due to stock order and other rubbish excuses from the shop. Still no offer of help was forthcoming and the shop owner actually gave me 14 days to pay the remaining 50% and collect the hideous dress. Refusing I escalated my claim with lloyds and they said as mum had bought the dress as a gift for me the buyer-seller chain was broken and claim declined. Madness so every wedding dress shop in the country has a free reign over consumer rights..... It's tradition and ultimately mum is in debt for a dress we don't have. I have passed to FSA and they are looking into it but wedding in 15 days and jus feel so angry! Wish I had checked reviews of the shop first. Certainly not the first time!

dazza.mk

Weddingdressdreamer1981 wrote: »

Wedding dress hell! - HELP
Hello
Was wondering if anyone has come up against this one before.....
My mum recently ordered my wedding dress without seeing a sample in the shop and paid 50% deposit on her lloyds tsb MasterCard. She did this for peace of mind. The dress arrived far too big looked completely different to the designers pictures online and we refused delivery. We tried to work with the shop for either an exchange or mutual resolution but the owner was vile and adamant all sales are final. I contacted the designer to not avail and finally turned to lloyds for a section 75 claim. I was originally told my claim had good chance of recovery as the shop owner emailed to say I could not expect the same look in a size 16 and the website was airbrushed.
Within 12 hours claim declined due to stock order and other rubbish excuses from the shop. Still no offer of help was forthcoming and the shop owner actually gave me 14 days to pay the remaining 50% and collect the hideous dress. Refusing I escalated my claim with lloyds and they said as mum had bought the dress as a gift for me the buyer-seller chain was broken and claim declined. Madness so every wedding dress shop in the country has a free reign over consumer rights..... It's tradition and ultimately mum is in debt for a dress we don't have. I have passed to FSA and they are looking into it but wedding in 15 days and jus feel so angry! Wish I had checked reviews of the shop first. Certainly not the first time!

Ignore Section 75 for the minute, in the event that this is sucesful you have to prove misrepresentation in relation to the dress in order to get a refund, are you confident that you can do that? (As the comments by the shop owner to say the dress would look different in a Size 16 and the website was airbrushed are a little flimsy unless you were specifically told they were accurate prior to the purchase).

chattychappy

Weddingdressdreamer1981 wrote: »

My mum recently ordered my wedding dress without seeing a sample in the shop and paid 50% deposit on her lloyds tsb MasterCard.
....
they said as mum had bought the dress as a gift for me the buyer-seller chain was broken and claim declined.

We can be clear about one thing.

If your mother ordered the dress and paid on her card, then the buyer-seller chain was not broken. They are wrong to deny the claim on that basis. It doesn't matter that the dress was a gift for you.

IF you bought the dress (eg signed the order form) and your mother paid for the deposit on her card, then the chain would be broken.

chattychappy

dazza.mk wrote: »

you have to prove misrepresentation in relation to the dress

You could go that way. "The dress arrived far too big looked completely different to the designers pictures online". I would argue breach of implied terms (or even express terms) - ie that it would be right size and as described.

No harm arguing both ways.

opinions4u

Did the seller comply with Distance Selling Regulations?

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft913.pdf

If not, pursue this angle.

chattychappy

opinions4u wrote: »

Did the seller comply with Distance Selling Regulations?

I assumed this dress was custom made so no right of cancellation via DSRs?

InsideInsurance

It is unclear, given the mention of both a website and seeing samples in a shop, if this was done online or in person. Likewise just because they are made to order doesnt in itself make it invalid for DSR but if it was customised or made to specific measurements rather than a stock "size 16" then its a different mater.

What is however very unclear is what is actually so wrong with the dress that it is a breach of contract for you to be able to rescind the contract of sale. It goes without saying that clothing will look different in a size 8 than it will a size 16 and again a size 28. You cant go to FigLeaves.com and buy one of their skimpy outfits in a size 28 and expect it to look the same as it does on the size 8 model.

As to airbrushing, again this is common practice. Name a single brand that doesnt airbrush their models? Evidently the question is the extent of airbrushing, if they are doing the norm which is to fix imperfections in the models then this is fine, removing the occasional loose thread etc. Evidently significantly changing the garment isnt acceptable but again I'd be surprised if that was done.

ILW

So, what is actually wrong with the dress?

dazza.mk

chattychappy wrote: »

IF you bought the dress (eg signed the order form) and your mother paid for the deposit on her card, then the chain would be broken.

If this was the case I'd press the importance of the bride's family to being part of the ceremony and (traditionally) the bride's parent's would pay for the wedding and even HMRC allow parent's to gift £5,000 to their children without any (inheritance) tax implications as a result of a wedding as they recognise the part they play in planning (and funding) the event.

Weddingdressdreamer1981

Thanks for all the input guys. The dress was not made to measure but stock order and the shop owner did not have sample instore. The manufacturer told me that it is important to buy from an actual sample as otherwise is it DSR?
The issues with the dress are that the bust measurment was taken 2 inches wrong so it would be a whole size too big and the detail that made me buy the dress was missing. The dress should have had 4 equidistant pleats which draw in the waist, these were missing completely and it totally affected the whole look. When I challenged the shop owner she said she had probably pressed them wrong. A tad worrying on a £1000 dress!
I was asked to sign a tatty bit of paper about the dress when we ordered and I never thought this would be classed as the order. Surely the contract should be with the person paying the invoice as I didnt enter a contract to pay the remaining 50%.
I can see how the buyer-seller chain in some cases can be argued but I notice that gifts can be covered under this section so I struggle to see what the difference is.
Thanks

dalesrider

Weddingdressdreamer1981 wrote: »

they said as mum had bought the dress as a gift for me the buyer-seller chain was broken and claim declined. Madness so every wedding dress shop in the country has a free reign over consumer rights

No you still have YOUR consumer rights. YOU can still take the retailer to court.

Time that S75 was amended and was only a option after ALL legal options were exhausted.

TBH. Can you not get someone to alter the dress to fit for the wedding and then resolve this issue afterwards.

I just hope that no matter what you can enjoy your wedding day and forget this matter.